Underground Church

Last night we had "Underground Church".  While everything didn't go according to plan, I hope that you got the message that I was trying to get across to you.

Today I would like for you to do a couple of things:  1. Check out a website that I'll tell you about later, and 2. Tell me how last night might have changed your perception of persecution.

1.  I would love for you to check out www.persecution.com.  That is the website where I got the stories from.  Click around on the site and read some of the stories.  One thing that I would like for you to do is to click on the "Restricted Nations" tab and get an idea of how many countries it is illegal to be a Christian in.

2.  We looked at persecution.  There were two aspects of that topic - ours and others.

How did the police guys busting into the meeting help you get a better picture of what other Christians your age face?  How did that make you feel?

I have to say I was pretty impressed that I didn't hear a single one of you disown your faith!

We looked at a few passages of Scripture that deal with persecution one of which was John 15:18-24 you can click on this to go there now http://www.youversion.com/bible/niv84/john/15/20.  How does knowing what Jesus says here help you in dealing with persecution?  How can that help us change our perspective on it?

We also looked at Matthew 5:10-12 http://www.youversion.com/bible/niv84/matt/5/12. How does this passage help you in dealing with persecution?  Why?

The last thing that we will talk about today is probably the hardest one.  Are you persecuted for your faith?  Are you facing any trials at all?  If the answer is no, then you are either really lucky - or not living out your faith to the fullest.  Because Satan does not like God (no duh, right).  He also doesn't like when God's children live out their faith - because that's when we become dangerous to him!!!  Take a long look at your life and ask yourself the question, "Have I been living my life the way God wants me to live it?".  I can guarantee that if you live your life totally on fire for God, you will encounter some resistance from this world.

So let me know what you think!!!!!  Who's going to be one of the first to EVER comment on this blog - I pray that it's YOU.

I love you guys, and I am so proud of your commitment to our Youth Group.  It has been an awesome year so far and I am really excited to see where God takes us this school year.

God bless,

Chris

Daniel

Today we will look at one of the stories that I talked about on Monday.  In Daniel chapter 6 we looked at the beginning of that chapter.  We saw how Daniel distinguished himself far above the people around him.  Today we are going to develop this in greater detail.  We will also see that God is taking away many of our excuses for not living a Godly life and that it comes down to the fact that we need to choose whom we will serve.

We think things are hard now to live for God.  We think that if we just read our Bibles, or go to church, that is enough.

Daniel and the other Israelites had a much different situation that they were living in.  First off, the Babylonians capture and overtake Jerusalem.  When they do this, they disperse the people all over the face of the know world.  They did this so that their culture and hope would be destroyed.  At this point, we wouldn't really hold it against Daniel if he was a bit resentful!  We wouldn't really blame him either if he felt like "taking a break" from serving God.

But he doesn't. In fact, Daniel is elevated to a high position because he can interpret the kings dreams.  He served two kings of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar.

Our story picked up with Daniel serving Darius.  Well, Darius was the conquering king from Persia.  So now Daniel has not only been taken captive by the Babylonians and forced to serve them, now they are overthrown and the Medes and Persians are now in power.

Once again, we would forgive Daniel if he was a bit jaded.  Many things have gone on in his life.  His life is turned upside down three different times, and yet he still serves God!

I would like you to read the whole book of Daniel if you have time.  It is an awesome book of God's power and provision.  It is also the book where we get the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  If you don't have time to read the whole book (it's only 12 chapters), then concentrate on chapter 6.

As if all the junk that has happened to Daniel in the past isn't enough, now he is facing a new challenge!  We looked at verses 1-5 on Monday night, but the real plot develops after that!  The other governors despise Daniel because he is making them look really bad.

Which leads me to my first point: Are people around you able to see their own sin by the purity in yours?   

They came up with a plot to kill Daniel by tricking the king.  They could find NO corruption in him whatsoever!  And therefore the only way to get rid of Daniel was to have the king say that everyone needed to worship him!!!

Point number two:  When faced with a crisis in your life, do you obey God or worry about what others think?


We see what Daniel chose.  I love the fact that he went home, opened the windows, and prayed right out in the open - even after hearing the new law!  Not a whole lot of compromise in Daniel is there?

The king is confronted with his new law and the new lawbreaker - Daniel.  We see in verse 14 his reaction to what was supposed to happen to Daniel.

Point three:  Do the "pagans" in your life love you?  Do they desire to be with you?  Or do they run and hide when you walk into the room?  We see that the king, although he was not a believer, truly LOVED Daniel!  He even went as far as to hope that Daniel's God would save him (vs. 16)

We know the end of the story, God saved Daniel, the king was happy, the bad dudes and their entire families were destroyed, and the king issued a decree that the people must fear and revere God.

This is obviously an epic story, fitting of a dramatic musical score and the best Hollywood actors and directors!  But what if the story didn't end with a "happily ever after"?  What if Daniel was mauled to death by the lions and the other guys got away with their plot?  Would that have made God any less powerful, or present?

My answer is no!  We will never fully understand God's Will and purposes this side of Heaven.  But we are called to trust and obey His leading.  Shad, Me, Abed..... had it correct in chapter 3:18 when the said that even if God chooses not to save them, they will never serve any other God.

What is your answer?  What do you think?  More importantly what will you do when you are put into a situation that isn't easy?  Even more important than that is what will you do with your life BEFORE a tough situation comes up???

Daniel was prepared for the tough situations in life because he was grounded in God.  Are you?

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us

Those were the first words that we looked at last night.  For today's post, I want to see how many of you would actually post a comment on this!  

What does this passage mean to you?  I would love to hear some stories of people who have done this and seen results.

We went to the funeral of the neighbor kid that I was telling you about last night.  We were able to minister to the family yet again this morning.  The mother is going to be coming over soon to talk about things.  We praise God for this opportunity - an opportunity that we wouldn't have had if we didn't live out this verse.

Ask yourself do I look strange? (no not that kind of strange...) But seriously, do I look like an alien in this world, or just another person that is blending in?

We will look at the other passages in the upcoming days, but please answer the following:

1.  What does this passage mean to you?

2. Have you had any positive stories based on this passage?

3. What are some things that you can do to be "Strange"?

Bait and Switch - Part 3

We will wrap up our review of the lesson today by touching on the last areas of my message.  We finished off on Monday with a look at three characteristics of both God and Satan.  We will start with the bad dude.


1.  Satan is the "Father of Lies"


John 8:44 says in part: "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.".


How can you tell when Satan is lying?  Whenever he opens his mouth!  Anything that is contrary to God's Word, or His leading is of Satan.


2.  Satan is a thief.


John 10:10a says: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy".


Nothing that Satan does is for your benefit!  He has a mission, and that mission is to bring you down.  To render you ineffective, to crush your spirit.  He wants to blind the eyes of nonbelievers.  He wants to make Christians fall and fail.  His sole purpose in life is to destroy you.  Why do we go along with him so often?  Why do we leave the protection of God?


3.  Satan is a roaring lion - who wants to eat you!


1 Peter 5:8 says: "Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.".


I don't know about you, but I don't go and pet lions.  They are killers and that is what they do.  Yet far too often we all "cozy up to" sin and treat it like it is something that won't hurt us.  Mainly because Satan disguises the fact that he is a lion!  But the fact remains the same - his sole purpose is to bring you down.




We then looked on the other side and observed three characteristics of God.


1.  God is love


1 John 4:8 says: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."


Chapter 4 is a beautiful description of what God's love really looks like.  Take a minute and read it now.  We spent a LOT of time on God's love a couple of days ago, so I won't get super in depth today.


The only thing I want to touch on this is - God IS love.  It doesn't say God can love, or sometimes loves.  By definition God = love!  His picture should be in the dictionary!!!  If he IS love, and He loves us, that love will never change!  It is so foreign to us to experience total unconditional love here on earth - but that's what God gives to us!


2.  God disciplines us


Hebrews 12:7-12 (look it up!) 


Wait a second, discipline is a good thing???  It is in the fact that if He doesn't discipline us, then we aren't His sons and daughters!


Are you never convicted of sin?  Are you OK going along with the flow of this world?  If you never confront Satan, maybe it is because you are going in the same direction that he is!


God's discipline is a good thing!  It means that we are legitimate children.  Discipline also corrects little problems and steers us away from making big ones.


3.  God is a planner - with a great plan for you!


Jeremiah 29:11-14a (look it up!)


This is my life passage.  God has comforted me and blessed me with the assurance that He has a plan and purpose for my life.  And that plan is not just one of mulling around, or being a lifeless robot.  No! He has a plan that will give me hope and a future!  Also the promise is that He will be found by us if we seek him with all our heart.  If we make God a priority, and search for him like buried treasure - we will find Him!




SO WHAT???


If we really stop and think about the differences between God and Satan, they are laughable!  If we stepped back and unemotionally looked at the hard facts and data, you would have to be extremely foolish to choose Satan over God.


But we rarely look at things unemotionally don't we?  We also have two natures living inside of us - our old nature (sin) and our new nature (Holy Spirit).  


Just like a pet dog, if you feed the puppy - it will grow big and strong!  Which nature are you feeding?  Which one are you allowing to grow?  My challenge to you this week is to look at these verses and really ask yourself if the sin that you allow to grow in your life is really worth it.  To ask yourself if being 50% committed to God is enough.


Don't be fooled, my friends, Satan is a thief, killer, and destroyer - it's who he is and what he does.  Run from him, not to him.  Stop playing with sin like it's a little kitten, it's really a roaring lion that will eat you first chance it gets.

The sign says, "Free Cheese".  That might be true, but what you will get as well is the trap....


Remember, half truths are lies - and Satan is the Father of them all.

Bait and Switch - Part 2

So yesterday we really took a long look at God's love, and His love for us.  Today we are going to focus on a trick that Satan has used from, well Adam and Eve!

That trick is this: He will do whatever he can to twist God's words, cause doubt to creep into your mind, and make God out to be the bad guy.  Let's dig in!

In chapter 2 of Genesis starting at verse 15, God tells Adam that he is free to eat from any tree in the garden - any tree at all, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

We talked about how God probably had TONS of trees in the garden, all with amazing fruit.  Kind of like this bowl of Skittles!  If I told you that you could eat ANY Skittle, except for the white one on the bottom, wouldn't that be a good deal?  Isn't there a sufficient amount of Skittles there?  We always think that about Eve!  Really Eve!  Why did you have to test God and take that white Skittle?  The other 3,278 aren't good enough for you to eat?


But the truth of the matter is that if we were put in the same situation, we would probably have done the same thing!  It's the classic case of a parent telling a kid not to do something.  As soon as you say that, the kid want's to do it!  Don't play in the road - I wanna play in the road.  Don't eat that cookie - what do we want to do? 


Satan plays on this when he comes up to Eve in verse 1 of Chapter 3, "Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?".  That's not what God said!  Satan is trying to twist God's words!


It apparently works, because Eve adds to God's words in verse 3 when she added the "fact" that she couldn't touch the tree.  She either wasn't listening, or Adam told her additional information.  The important point here is that we need to know that what we believe is ABSOLUTELY from God and His Word!  That way we won't end up like Eve did!

Then in verses 4 and 5 we see another trick that Satan uses in our lives - half truths. We spent some time on this one, so I won't really expound on it, but it is a very important aspect of life to understand.


Satan tells Eve that she "surely won't die" and "you'll be like God".  Were those TOTAL lies, no.  Were they the TOTAL truth, absolutely not!  When Eve heard that she surely wouldn't die, I believe that she might have thought that if she had eaten the fruit that she would croak on the spot!  Satan assures her that won't happen.  But the death that she experienced and that we all experience because of her is two fold.  We die an earthly death - that's pretty easy to understand!  But when she disobeyed God, that ushered a sin nature into humanity that will be around until we are in Heaven.


She also probably took the idea of being like God the wrong way.  If someone told me that I could be like God - I would imagine morphing into a Zeus type dude, able to shoot lightning bolts our of my eyeballs, etc.  Once again, Satan was kind of correct!  She did become like God in the area of knowledge between good and evil - but she definitely wasn't shooting lightning bolts anywhere!


This is one of the most important concepts for you young people to grasp a hold of.  To understand that Satan isn't going to come out and tell you exactly what he wants to do to you!  If he did, we would run away!!!  He won't tell you something that is completely against what you believe about God, because he knows that we would see it for what it is - a lie.  Rather, he twists and tweaks things so that they sound SORT OF true.  Not really a blatant lie, just a stretch.  


The ONLY way that we are going to be able to completely understand what he is trying to sell us is to be neck deep in God's Word, the Bible.  When we know the truth, the lies will be easy to spot.

Spotting Satan's lies aren't this easy!!!!

I've heard that when banks train new tellers, they don't study counterfeit money.  Rather, they study over and over again the real thing so that when a fake comes along, it is super easy to spot.  Do you know the Scriptures so well that when something fake comes along that you know it is not from God.  Eve didn't!  She allowed Satan to twist what she knew about God in a very negative way.  Does he do that in your life?


Be like the bank tellers - study the real thing!  Then the fakes will be easy to spot.  That way you won't get your hand caught in the cookie jar, so to speak.  Remember, God has given us SOOOOOO much!  Let us focus on that verses the one white Skittle that we can't have.


Also, remember that he commands us not to do things because of His love for us.  He is our Daddy!  He wan't the best for us, remember that!!!

Jeremiah 29:11-14a

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord

Bait and Switch - Part 1

Today we will do a recap of our lesson last night and touch on a few new areas.


We started off with the three examples of things that you wouldn't normally use to do the jobs that you needed done.


1. A shovel to eat cereal
2. A tweezers to vacuum the floor
3. A leaf blower to dust 


I hope that these examples made sense to you!  We wouldn't use these things to do the jobs that we needed to do (well maybe the leaf blower, cause it's cool).  But what I was trying to portray is how Satan will bend things so far and cover over the end result that we sometimes get tricked into either doing things we wouldn't or becoming ineffective in what we are really trying to do.


My main example was going to be using a banana split to play slip and slide soccer on (as we had planned to do).  Not exactly the intended purpose!  Satan will try and influence us to do things in a manner that God did not intend!!!


I thought that it was really well put in the two cigarette ads.  We spent a lot of time looking at why the first ad was so harmful (happy - catchy music, rebellion, adultery).  We then saw in the second ad how people who listen to Satan can be left holding the bag, so to speak.  Here are the two ads:

  
How do these two commercials represent how we can be tricked by Satan?  Please add your comment below on this one!


We then spent the rest of our time together talking about the first ever bait and switch - Adam and Eve in the Garden.


Here were the passages that we looked at: Genesis 2:4-25, and 3:1-24.  I would like you to re-read them and really look at what happened there.  For today I will look at a couple of the verses, and then we will build off of this for tomorrow.


We looked specifically how God made us, not just spoke us into existence.  His commands in chapter 1 were, "Let there be light", "Let dry ground appear", etc.  Those are awesome to think about!  That God has that much power that He just SPOKE and these things appeared!!!


But just as awesome, or even perhaps a bit more awesome (or awesomer) is the fact that in 2:7 we see how much time and care God took when creating Adam.  He could have spoke him into existence as well, but he chose not to!  He took the time and molded him out of the dust.  Not only that, but then he bent down and breathed the breath of life into Adam!  What a cool picture of how much God loves and cares for us.  Even in Genesis chapter 2 we see how much God wants a relationship with us!!!   


Just stop and think about that for a minute.  We all have earthly fathers who have messed up and scarred us in different ways.  Sometimes we view our Heavenly Father in the same light as our earthly father.  Realize that God is the PERFECT Father and that He created you!  He knit you together in your mother's womb.  He knows the number of hairs on your head.  He knows the exact number of your days. GOD LOVES YOU!  GOD CARES ABOUT YOU!!!


Why dwell on this so much here?  Because if you have in the back of your mind these thoughts, you won't question His leading!  You will want to run to God instead of away from Him!  You will see sin for what it is - SIN.  You will also be able to understand who it is coming from - Satan.


I'm going to stop here and pick up again tomorrow.  I would like you to watch this video and listen to the lyrics.  

How He Loves Us!!!!  What a beautiful thought, what a beautiful realization.  Close today's recap off by reading 1 John 4:7-21 and dwell on God's love.  What that means for us, and what He calls us to do with that love.




Then close with a prayer that echos this one:  "Dear God, thank you for your love for me.  Help me to understand even slightly HOW MUCH you love me.  Help me to never - ever forget this as I live my life.  And help me to obey your command to love others as I have been loved.  Help me to stay close to You for the rest of my earthly life! - Amen!"


Love you guys!  Please comment and let me know what this means to you.  Talk to you tomorrow!




In Christ,


Chris

You are better than me - no really!

A big thank you to all of you who have been checking these out!  It makes me excited to see that you are viewing them and I pray that God uses them to help you draw closer to him.

Today will be the last day that we build off the "Monkey see, monkey do" lesson that I gave on Monday.  I am excited and have already been preparing for this Monday night's lesson.

We have looked at several different areas of our Christian walk over the past few days.  There are uncountable others that I could have chosen, but these have been the main ones on my mind!  Just today I started responding in a conversation in a negative way and was reminded to not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth.  What a blessing not to go down that same old road again!!!  I pray that the Holy Spirit has been working in your lives as well.

The last passage that we covered on Monday night was from the book of Philippians, chapter 2.  We will look at three different aspects of this passage.

First, verse 1.  If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 

This is an interesting statement that Paul is making.  It is pretty much a rhetorical question!  Of course we have had encouragement from being united with Christ, etc.  When we accept Christ's free gift of salvation, we are united with Him!  We are enveloped by His love.  Paul's real reason for putting this verse in there was for verse 2.

 then make my joy complete by being like‑minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.


Here is where we get back into the monkey see, monkey do analogy.  As we follow Christ, and His plan for our lives (some of which we talked about in the first three recaps), we will be like minded - because we are following His commands!  We will have the same love because we are serving the same God, the God who IS Love!  And we will also have a common purpose and goals, because they are God's purposes - not our own.


But how do we do this?  How do people of different denominations, different races, and different social status' have a common purpose and become like minded?  Glad you asked!  Verses 3-8 tell us:


 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. 

8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death– 

even death on a cross!   




Jesus was the ONE person of all time that would have deserved to say, "I'm better than you".  He could have said that because HE WOULD HAVE BEEN CORRECT!!!  Who are we to say that we are better than anyone else?  We may not struggle with the same exact sin or areas of weakness, but we are all lost and hopeless without Christ!  


So in a way, I've saved the "best for last".  Although this one for me is not so much the best, but the hardest.  Probably because it goes directly against the "American Way".  You mean that I shouldn't stomp on that person to get where I need to go?  I shouldn't cheat to get ahead?  Etc, etc.


When you really get to the bottom of this passage it boils down to this: Jesus was/is/forever will be God, He didn't need to save us, we were hopelessly lost in our own sin, He humbled Himself, was crucified by HIS OWN CREATION, and paid MY debt for ME!!!  That is either the single dumbest thing that has ever been done in all eternity, or the absolute greatest show of love, mercy, and humility.  


We can't say - ever - that someone is "below" us.  Or that they don't deserve our time.  Praise God that Christ didn't say that about me, or about you!!!  Praise God that Jesus was obedient to the Father's will and suffered, bled, died, and rose again so that we might have life - eternal life!!!  

Monkey see, Monkey do.  It's more than a catch phrase, or a cute sermon title - it's what God desires us to do.  As we copy Him and His ways, we will be like minded, we will build others up, and most importantly - we will bring glory to God!