He Needs To Hear It!

As Valentine’s Day passes by, I am reminded of all the different ways to tell someone you love them. When you truly love someone you tell them; when you say goodbye, when you say hello, when you hang up the phone, when you go to bed at night, etc. When you truly love someone, you want to give that person the best of yourself. When you truly love someone you cry when they cry, you cheer when they cheer, and you hurt when you see them hurting. There emotions become your emotions, and just the simple fact that you love that person will begin to change everything about how you treat them.

Think about this…it says in the bible that; “There is no greater love than to lay down our life for somebody else.” Who do you love that much? Who would you give your very life for? Think about how much love it requires to say that…now think about Jesus hanging on that cross dieing for our very sins. What did He do to deserve that? Nothing! Did He do something wrong? Nope!

It’s crazy…He loves us so much, with so much passion, and intensity that He was willing to die to defend that love. I am reminded this Valentine’s Day that after all He has done for me…whens the last time I told Him I loved Him? Sure I pray everyday, talk with the creator of the universe everyday, spend time in the scriptures everyday…but did I say I love Him? There was a movie a while back that came out with Luke Perry in it called “8 Seconds” and it was about a pro bull rider named Lane Frost. Now I don’t wanna ruin the movie for you if you haven’t seen it, but he dies, and his father is filled with so much remorse because of how hard he was on him. His dad says in the movie; “I remember telling him he did a good job, and that I was proud of him…but I don’t remember ever telling him that I loved him.” And as the father is saying this he is filled with so much emotion that he can’t hardly get the words out. Just because he didn’t say “I love you” because he knew Lane needed to hear it from him.

What about God? Do you think He wants to hear it from you? Of course He does! The creator of everything, the perfect God that can hold the stars in His hands, the very God that came down to our level and protected a love by doing the unimaginable, the very God that completed a task so that we would not have to suffer for all eternity…is it really too much for Him to ask us to love Him back? Is it really that hard to say: “I LOVE YOU”?

He is a BIG God…but He needs to hear it to. Tell Him today that you love Him!

To Save a Life

I went to the premier of the movie “To Save a Life” last night, and while I’ll agree “Christian” movies really aren’t all that good – this one was different. Now don’t get me wrong, there have been some good “Christian” movies come out lately; “Facing the Giants”, “Fireproof”, and “Flywheel”. All of them good movies in general, but where those movies lacked - ”To Save a Life” picked up. All of those other movies were good yes, but none of them challenged me as a youth pastor.

In the movie “To Save a Life” a teen walks into a youth group as kind of a last chance effort to be accepted, and the youth pastor gets pulled away from him by another teen. That teen is one of the focal points to the movie as he commits suicide. Now that is NOT the reason that teenager committed suicide and you’ll have to see the movie to get the whole story, but I related to the youth pastor. He felt guilty because maybe, just maybe had he not gotten distracted he might have had a chance to show that teenager that someone loves him.

Now I’ve never had to deal with the death of a teenager as a youth pastor (I hope I never do) but I have seen teens leave my youth group feeling rejected or because I was just to “busy” to notice them and the next time I saw them they were pushing a baby stroller, or running with the wrong crowd, or isolated from everything and everyone. What kind of impact am I making as a youth pastor….what kind of impact are we making as children of God? We are called to be ambassadors for Christ…but yet we sit on the sidelines watching. This movie challenged me to get away from the “status-quo” of how I operate as a youth pastor, as a Christian, and as a human being

We have no idea what is going on in the minds and hearts of the lost – we will never know where they are hurting in their lives – we will never understand the battle that wages in their world – and you know what…we never will, unless we get off the sidelines. As true followers of Christ, can we honestly sit back (being comfortable) and watch the lost…watch their lives unfold before our eyes. If something were to happen to someone you know that DOESN’T know Christ, and you had the opportunity “To Save a Life”….could you live with that?

I have been content with doing what I have to as a youth pastor…I have been guilty of doing the bare minimum…I can’t do that anymore. I can’t bare the thought that a teenager might be in a place to where they think NO ONE cares whether they are alive, or that they don’t matter, or that they are not loved…and that I might have been able to do something about it – and didn’t because, well…..it wasn’t convenient.

I would encourage all to see this movie – I’m sure it has impacted others in a different way…I am just speaking through the eyes of how it has affected me as a youth pastor. One last question – if how we treat others could save a life, would you treat them differently?

Let Your Light Shine

Christmas time is one of my most favorite times of the year! I love the whole package that comes along with Christmas; the food, the hanging out with family and friends, giving gifts, the house decorations, etc. One way you know it’s Christmas, is you see Christmas lights all over town. People all over town will decorate their houses with lights as to almost win a contest….the bigger, the brighter, the better.

During Christmas we not only let our Christmas light shine, but we let the light of Jesus shine brightly for all to see. We often get offended when we hear someone say “happy holiday’s” or we can’t buy a nativity scene at the store. We get mad when someone cuts us off in the mall parking lot, or when someone cuts in the check out line…and we’ll say “that they just don’t know what Christmas is all about”, or “they are just taking the Christ out of Christmas”.

Then Christmas passes and on December 26th we will go out and take our Christmas lights down, and often when our Christmas lights go out, so does that light in us that is Jesus. Think about it…we don’t fuss about what society has done with Christmas in January or any other month (except December)

Why does our light of Jesus go out during the rest of the year? We live in a very dark world, and there are a lot of people out there that are living in that darkness…that are just begging, seeking, and desperate for a glimmer of hope. When you’ve been in the darkness for so long, even the smallest light can be a welcomed relief. Even one person’s light can mean the difference between spiritual life or death. One person can make all the difference in the world…it just takes someone willing to not let their light go out. Go let your little light shine for all to see…all year.

Bad Day?

I spoke this past Sunday on Job 1 and as I read it, I am inspired by Job’s faithfulness. Scripture says that after all Job lost in one day, that he feel to his knees and praised God. WOW! I’ve had plenty of bad days in the past…we all have, but in how many of our bad days do we stop what we’re doing and praise the God of the universe? I’m willing to bet not too often.

God felt comfortable enough with Job to allow Satan’s attack on him…God knew what would happen, He knew what Job’s response would be, He knew Job would praise God anyways, and He knew He could count on Job. What about us? Can God count on us? Would the God of the universe feel comfortable placing a bet on us to shut Satan up, as He did Job? Tough question…

I can only hope that if I were attacked like Job that my response would be the same…it’s a mixed emotion, I would like to know, but then I hope I am never tested like that. If God called on you to make an example out of Satan…what would your response be? Sometimes those tests come in the form of a bad day….like I said earlier, we all have them. So in the midst of your bad day, in the midst of your test….do you praise God for it?

God calls us to not only praise Him when things are going well, but when life stinks also. I like the movie line in “Facing the Giants” when they said “if we win…we’ll praise Him, and if we lose…we’ll praise Him”. What was awesome to see in that movie was their faith was tested and they past. They lost a critical playoff game, and praised God anyways….and just like Job they were blessed for it.

What kind of blessings do you think God is waiting to send your way….what is He waiting for….maybe He’s just waiting for your praise.

How Awesome is this Place?

In Genesis 28:16-17 it says;

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

On Sunday, November 15, 2009 I witnessed God move through a room of people. As I spoke my message, and offered the opportunity for the people to come to know Christ, I watched (visibly) God sweep throughout the sanctuary. As I asked the question for people to raise their hands if they had received Christ as their personal savior, I watched 50-60 hands go up immediately.

This passage came to mind, as I watched God work. I said to myself on stage “how awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God”. I was in awe, and amazement as God lead the message in a direction that brought people back to the cross. So many times we are afraid of going back to the cross, because it’s uncomfortable, it’s heavy, or it hurts. God lead us back to the cross on Sunday….and it was AWESOME! God was present that day! I thank Him for using me!

Stepping Up

It has been a crazy past few weeks in the office. With the departure of one senior pastor, and the soon departure of one worship pastor, and the H1N1 threat that wont go away – I have really seen the affects of having these guys out of the line up. I have watched how roles have been stretched between Pastor Sean (Children’s Pastor) and myself. I have watched how we have had to step into roles that were not apart of the original plan. I have watched myself personally have to step into a new role of leadership. It has definitely been a wild ride, and I know things will get more crazy around here as we continue to get busy.

In my message this past Sunday I talked about how Moses felt unqualified to fulfill the plan God had laid out for him. He felt so unqualified that he tried to get out of it, by making excuses to God. After all was said and done Moses was successful because he was obedient.

As we continue in this fast paced time in our church, what will our choice be? Will we choose to make excuses, or will we choose to be obedient? I choose obedience! I choose to step up my game, my role, my call, and my devotion to serve the one true God – the same God that challenged Moses to bring His people out of Egypt. I choose to not make excuses, but make opportunities to serve, to disciple, and to shepard.

What will you choose?

Love Jesus, have fun, & be nice to people,

Pastor Jim