Thank you for everyone who helped remove the rock from beside the teen center.  The removal of the rock reminds me of our life.  When we see something in our life that others view as a negative or makes them think wrongly of God, we desire to take care of the problem.  When we live our lives above reproach we even avoid things that we have freedom in Christ to do.  This is not something that we do with anger, but with love because we want what is best for others.  The rocks at the teen center are not the center of a big problem, but there are some that think it is bad.  So, we got rid of them and hope that God will receive the glory.  Is there something in your life you have willingly given up even though you have the freedom?

Rock Removal

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At Reality Check on Wednesday evenings we have been looking at doubt.  One of the biggest doubts people have is how a loving and all powerful God can allow bad things to continue to happen.  This is a great question.  This question led the youth group to talk about who Satan is and where he came from.  We will continue to talk about this on Wednesday, but there are a few important things that each of us should remember.

First, the Bible does not go into great detail about Satan and his band of followers we call demons.  The reason we do not have great detail about when Satan fell and how all of the details worked out is because the Bible is telling the story of how God is redeeming humanity or calling us all back to a relationship with Him.  The main goal of the Bible is not to understand what Satan is up too.  When we read the story of the Bible we see a God that loves us and does not want bad things to happen to us and that is why Jesus is the main part of the Bible.  We have a lot of details about Jesus and what He did because that is what God is doing.  God has made it possible for us to have a relationship with God through Jesus.

Second, I think it is important that we remember that Satan is opposed to all things that are of God.  The word for Satan literally means “the adversary”.  Without knowing any details about Satan’s fall, we still understand that Satan is opposed to who God is.  This reminds us that God is not happy with evil and suffering that results from Satan.  These things are all opposed to God.

Last, we might ask why God does not just take care of the problems.  The quick and easy answer is that God already has.  Our short life on this earth will have difficulties and problems, but we already have victory in Jesus.  If we pray and ask God why bad things are in this world we are asking a question He has already answered.  God is going to fully wipe away evil one day but He is giving us a chance to turn to Him.  That is the biggest lesson we can learn when we think about evil.  Evil is the opposite of God and the only reason it has not been wiped away is because God is giving me, my family, my friends, my enemies, the whole world, a chance to chose Him.  Have you turned from evil and turned to God?

We might not have the full details about the fall of Satan, but we do have the details about what God is doing about evil and we know that one day God will get rid of all evil and then we will be free of the results of Satan and his followers.

I grew up near a railroad track that was supposed to be used for trains, but I thought it was mainly made to ride my bike on.  It had places that were difficult to ride over and other places that were impossible.  There was one particular place along the path that I was told could not be ridden over.  It was very rocky, steep and skinny.  Even though my friends told me it was too difficult I did not believe them.  I had to figure this out for myself.  I did not try to go accross when my friends were around.  I took my black bmx bike with very cool front spring suspension and two hand brakes up to the trail when it was just me and my doubt.  I decided to get a run at the “impossible” part of the trail so that my speed would carry me to the other side.  It all went well except that I did not stay on the trail.  I went down into a ditch that was about twelve feet deep and full of big rocks and water.  I will not tell you whether it hurt or not, I will just tell you that I then believed what my friends had told me.  It was indeed “impossible”.

How about your faith in God?  Have people told you about God and you are just not sure?  I encourage you to trust in God and go to Him.  You will find that God is indeed true and trustworthy.  In the same way I proved for myself that the bike trail was “impossible” to ride across, you can prove that God is real and true by trusting in God and watching to see how He proves Himself.  Make your doubt work out for good by watching and seeing if what God says is true.  Trust in God and watch for Him to prove Himself true!

Have you ever wondered why “Friday the 13th” is something that is feared?  I was wondering, “ why it should be feared?”, and “who started it?”  It was surprising to find out that the history is both pagan and Christian.  Christian?  Yes, I did say that right. 

The fear of the number thirteen is called ”triskaidekaphobia”.  The fear of Friday the 13th is so strong that many tall buildings skip from the 12th floor to the 14th floor, people chose not to travel on Friday the 13th and some people don’t do any business on Friday the 13th.  What I find most amazing about the fear of this day is that some of the fear seems to come from Christian history.  Jesus was crucified on Friday and there were 13 people at the last supper.  Apparently this was enough to get some people to reject Friday the 13th.  In parts of Asia people are afraid of Friday the 17th.  In other parts of the world people are afraid of Tuesday the 13th. 

Neither of those two days sound too scary to me.  Friday the 13th does not need to be scary to anyone.  As a follower and believer in Jesus Christ I am reminded that God is in control of every day and there is no one more powerful than Him.  In Isiah 44:6 it says, “This is what the LORD, Isreal’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty, says: ‘I am the First and the Last; ther is no other God.’“

How about you?  Have you ever been afraid of Friday the 13th?   Do you know anyone who is?  What makes this day so scary?

Pizza Hut February 2009

The first Wednesday of every month we are heading to Pizza Hut for a time of fellowship and to discuss in small groups.  This past trip to Pizza Hut we discussed faith.  We asked, “What is your biggest doubt?” and “What is your biggest encouragement?”.  With both of these questions we were following up on our first lesson in our series from “The Case For Faith”.  I hope that you are looking for truth and that your search will lead you to a strong faith in Jesus Christ!

Can you tell what Bethany is doing in the first picture?

Pizza Hut 2-09

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Super Bowl Party February 1, 2009

Super Bowl 09

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