Dreaming to Connect Past and Present

by Chris Bobblett

Through the Genesis accounts, we can see the purpose and power of the tree of life is to provide the first family with life to fulfill purpose.  It shows us where we have been.  However, in Revelation 22:2, we again see the tree of life not as where we have been but where we are going.

Here, we see the tree of life providing healing for the nations.  The source of nourishment for the tree is the river that proceeds out from the temple.  Jesus teaches us that we are now the temple of God and the river of God is to flow through us. From the Genesis account of the tree of life to the Revelation account of the tree of life, we can see where we have been and where we are going; but where are we now and how can we bridge the two? How can we connect the past and present in the here and now.

Today’s Tree of Life

Proverbs 13:12 – “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

Religion has robbed us from the liberty of co-laboring with Him.  Most Christians have a very small, boxed-in vision when it comes to working with Christ.  They have been programmed to think robotically.  What I mean by this is simply that many Christians see themselves as remote-control beings in which their personal desires and will is flawed and faulty at best and only God’s is good.  This has caused many to view Christianity as a mindless religion where one is to be puppet-like and God will move the strings.   This is far from the heart of the Father and from what Jesus died to give us.  He desires an intimate relationship, which involves communication, the sharing of ideas and thoughts.

For so long we have taught and believed that desires are bad.  This is not true.  God is after your desires; He is after intimacy with you.  The major mix up about desires comes because we do not know which of our desires come from God and which come from the carnal.  The very word “desire” means “of the father.”

Desire, dreams come from the Father. Before we come to Christ, our  dreams and desires are corrupted because they spring up from whatever we are in communion with.  If we are in communion with greed, our desires will be greedy.   If we are in communion with anger, our desires are bent toward revenge and hurt.  The good news is that when we truly put Him first and we truly commune with Him our desires, our dreams  will be pure.  Some people struggle when it comes to prayer.  They begin to pray and their mind begins to fill with business ideas or ventures, schoolteachers begin to get witty ways in which to teach and they feel less spiritual than others do because they feel distracted.  This is a lie of the enemy.  God is using your desires, your dreams that have been purified through Him to make you a more effective co-laborer to release the kingdom wherever you are in life! The bridge between where we were to where we are heading is connected to your desire, your dreams, so dream big!

Nothing is Impossible

by Adam Kolosik

Luke 1:37 “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

This verse comes in a timely place, at the heels of an angel of the Lord telling Mary that she, a virgin, and her barren cousin are about to have babies. Ironic enough these same children born to unlikely women go on to be game changers in their culture and change the entirety of history. If that isn’t ‘impossible’ by man’s efforts, then I don’t know what is.

This same God with whom nothing is impossible, changed your life as well. You know who you were before Him. I pray you never forget that, because when we forget where we come from, we lose sight of a hope and dream in others still far from Him. God has placed people in your life that you need to dream for. Dream of what God could do in their life. Dream of bondages and addictions broken, relationships mended, marriages restored, and deep pains healed.

As we dream of what could be, we must realize we cannot do anything on our own power. This drives us back to Him who nothing is impossible with. To Him who placed children in what seemed to be the impossible wombs of two unlikely women. These dreams we have for others force us to a humble place with our Creator. Big dreams force us to pray big prayers, because without big prayers, we are attempting to do the impossible without God. Which in turn counteracts Luke 1:37 that says, nothing is impossible with God.

Dream and pray big for those around you. You won’t be disappointed, for nothing is impossible with Him.

Dreaming Together

by Heath Adamson

The privilege we share when we work alongside of others in ministry enables us to become privy to the dreams residing deep within everyone regardless of their age. I have never met someone who didn’t have a dream! One of the conversation starters I use frequently as I meet new friends is to discover what those dreams are.

Leaders are vision-driven. There is a focus in our training, development and execution of how to strategize to bring vision to fruition. Leaders are also given the privilege of coming alongside others to see their goals come to pass as well. I absolutely love it when I am able to dream with others to see them reach their greatest potential! Something invigorating to many of us isn’t reaching one of our goals alone but doing whatever we can to come alongside of someone else and become a catalyst for them to reach their dreams! Someone once said that “as a leader, our fruit is intended to grow on the branches of others in ministry.”

There is a subtle shift that occurs when we walk into a room with the focus off our goals and agenda and we look for someone to serve. Creating a culture of honor is vital to enabling this occurrence. For many of us, the younger generation simply needs encouragement from those of us who have already traversed the road they are about to walk on. Acts reminds us that “your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.” Ministry is seldom without someone who is visioneering or dreaming. Remember to focus as much on serving the dreams of others as much as you are on realizing your own!

Change Your Mind

by Chris Bobblett

Matthew 9: 14-17 says “¹⁴Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁵ Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’”

This passage contextually is dealing with fasting but beyond the surface I believe there is so much more. Part of the more I believe is in there is a teaching on paradigms.

Jesus says, “You can’t put new wine in an old bottle”. New wine is going to go through changes, it is going to aerate, ferment, within the skin it will develop pressure and because the old wine skin is no longer malleable, it is no longer flexible the pressure causes a problems, it will bust and both are wasted. New wine has to be placed in something flexible, malleable, something that can handle the changes and pressures that will take place through the stages, something that has the ability to make adjustments.

Jesus is telling them that the problem they were having with Him is that He came to bring new wine but their religious framework of thinking is so antiquated and outdated that it would burst them to receive what He was getting ready to say and do. There is no pouring without a new paradigm. The only way to experience new wine and not burst is to change the wineskin, or to change the way you think.

Every year during this time there are always lots of decrees and proclamations made. I remember that I was supposed to “Get more in 04”, “Come alive in 05”, “Get it fixed in 06”, “Manifest heaven in 07”, “Go through the gate in 08”, etc…

What happens is that many people gather together, they talk, they even pray the new things being said, they are hungry, ready to receive a new slogan in hopes that this year will truly be different than the one they just went through yet 1 month, 2 months into the new year they discover that they still needed more in 04, nothing came alive in 05, it didn’t get fixed in 06 and we look bewildered and disappointed that these things did not come to pass as we had thought.

For many it is because they have faith in the wrong thing. Faith cannot be in a watch night service, stroke of the clock, or the latest slogan. It has to be in the Lord whom the bible says, “daily loadeth us with benefits”, every day is an opportunity from the Lord if we would sieze it, if we would maximize the moment and stop waiting for a certain day, time always placing in our future that which God has for us today by the renewing of our mind!

There is no need of us having a new year, with a new slogan if were going to go into it with an old mindset. If it is going to change its not because of a calendar day or a clock, if your going to come out from where you have been and experience something new, you have to come out head first! True Resolve will come from true repentance which is a change of mind. If He can get our heads out everything else will follow!

Resolve: Another Fresh Start

by Adam Kolosik

January and August are two great times of year. In August, we start a brand new school year with brand new students. Vision fresh on the mind, goals and expectations set high and we go. Then the winter hits, frustrations arise and we fall back into the same old routine. But here is January and we have another opportunity to set goals, resolutions and expectations for a fresh year.

January is a great time for new goals, but think long term and not just 2012. As Mark Batterson says here, “Don’t just dream big, think long.” He claims “we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in 2 years, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years.”  What are those goals you’ve always wanted to accomplish? Relationships you’ve wanted to mend? Dreams you’ve felt God promise? Aim long with these things and dream bigger than just the next 12 months.

Maybe it is time to start dreaming again, but don’t just dream as ‘someday’, dream and make some tangible goals and steps toward those dreams. Maybe you won’t finish them all this year, I know I didn’t accomplish all my goals from last year, or even the year before that, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming and stepping forward again.

It may also be a good time to take those goals you’ve failed in the past, and reevaluate them for 2012. What is the new game plan that will help you accomplish them this time? I set a few monstrous goals in the past and failed, but I’m reevaluating them to do what I can to accomplish those same goals this time around. Failure is not bad, we can always learn from it. I’m hopeful, and you should be too. It’s a new start, what are you going to do with it?

Resolve

by Heath Adamson

The word “resolve” finds its original meaning in the Latin word for “solve” meaning “to unbind and pay.” This is where words such as “solvent” come from. The modern meaning of the word such as explaining a riddle, finding a solution to a problem, or making up one’s mind is fairly new.

With this as a backdrop, Daniel 1:8-9 takes on a slightly different thought as the word “resolve” meant much more than simply making up his mind. “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.”

Resolutions are rooted in something a little more complex and hidden. There is an inner tension existing when we know what we want to do yet we find ourselves living a different way. There is an unpaid debt within our soul or a lack of freedom fueling our desire to resolve. What do I mean?

We know the story of Daniel. Around 600 B.C. Babylon invades and holocaust ensues. Scripture is fairly vague but history tells the story. This was a very dark time for a country who claimed to serve the only Sovereign One. Daniel finds himself in a foreign land with no Temple, no Scripture, and eventually an edict espousing no prayer to Yahweh. He is learning a new language and will become an emissary for the Babylonian kingdom again in a few years. If anyone had a reason to experience inner turmoil, fear, doubt, and frustration it was Daniel. What is his response as he found himself submersed in a culture foreign to his upbringing and what he knew God purposed? Resolution. Resolution, not in the sense of simply making up his mind, but resolution in the sense of the deeper meaning of the word. There would be no debt he would owe to his culture. Though he was bound physically, Babylon could not bind his soul. His resolution was anchored in who his God was.

Daniel’s resolution was risky. His reputation was on the line. God’s reputation was on the line. He went against the grain. Was he rebellious? No. He took a stand in his culture with a humble heart. We see this in verse 9. After Daniel resolved in his heart, he asked permission from the chief of the eunuchs. Daniel’s resolution was still subject to authority. God saw this and granted favor and compassion. Did God grant favor and compassion simply because of what Daniel resolved? No, God granted favor and compassion because of how Daniel resolved in his heart.

In leadership, our resolutions carry weight. They have the potential to unbind those we serve and relinquish the debt created by this world’s system. Our resolutions are part of a greater plan, however, and we must always remember to align them with the authority and leadership God has placed us under. Producing results from resolutions as a leader is admirable. Creating culture by how we administer those resolutions is even more.

Not Yet

by Adam Kolosik

God has called you to be exactly where you are. There is no accident that you are leading the students that are in your ministry. God has also placed a dream and a vision on your heart. A unique dream and vision that no other leader is prepared to take on. Much like the dream that God gave Joseph in Genesis 37. A dream that none of Joseph’s brothers could have taken on, a dream that only Joseph would be able to take and run with.

Now we know the outcome of Joseph’s story, and how God used Joseph’s unique circumstances to bring about this dream. God may have given you a vision to be the biggest and greatest student ministry in the city, state or even country. But don’t be discouraged when it doesn’t happen next Wednesday night. Imagine how discouraged Joseph was when he was sold into slavery, thrown into prison, accused of adultery or forgotten by the other prisoners. But the dream and vision never left. His circumstances seem to be life and death, yet we can often get discouraged when our students make mistakes or the attendance drops.

God had a bigger plan in store for Joseph than just leading his brothers. Maybe God has bigger plans for you than you know, or different than you expect. Just because they don’t happen right away doesn’t mean that God isn’t in it anymore. God has called you to that place, be obedient to that call and stick with it. Youth pastors are stereotypically known for moving frequently from church to church. Maybe God is saying not yet, because he has big plans in store for you if you’ll just wait and be patient like Joseph waited for the promise God had for him.

The Not Yet is Worth It

by Heath Adamson

Matthew 2:9 declares, “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.”

Bible scholars tell us that the wise men, or Magi, were more than likely zoroastrian priests who were looking to the stars for divine guidance at the time of Christ’s earthly arrival. The Sovereign One drew the attention of those who were seeking to worship someone they didn’t personally know. I have read many accounts estimating a two year journey of the wise men before they finally lay eyes on the Christ child. Imagine with me for a moment: a long journey, filled with anticipation in lieu of meeting the One who makes life worth living, following the star as it rests upon an unsightly place, and peering in to see not a king on a throne but a King with His mother.

Scripture tells us further that the wise men demonstrated what their name implies. In wisdom, they laid their gifts at the feet of the Master and worshipped. Sometimes the paths we take in life lead us down roads we never expected to traverse. In moments when our destination is less than expected, like the wise men, we must remain sensitive enough to His reality to see His Majesty in the midst of what we don’t understand. Someone once said that “Advent whispers in the dark: the not yet is worth it.”

We are a people who embrace God’s promises. We tread lightly when our emotions and circumstances declare something apparently contrary to His Word. I am thankful for a King who is found in the most unlikely places by the most unlikely people. Wherever His star settles in your life, even if you don’t fully understand the journey or the destination, remember that it is worth it. When He is there, and we are not yet there, the journey is always worth it.

Process: Simple Discipleship

by Adam Kolosik

In youth ministry the discipleship process often gets complicated. We get a student in the door, tell an emotional story for them to raise their hand and accept Jesus into their heart, get them to read the book of John, introduce them to a new believers class, tell them they need to serve, get them to raise money for Speed the Light, and tell them to bring friends. Next we expect them to obey every rule and commandment in the Bible. Now we have a fully devoted follower of Jesus.  Or we’ve created a super busy student that does exactly what we tell them to do instead of thinking on their own.

We, meaning pastors, leaders and other students workers, add so much work to this process that we completely take the student out of their environment, a world they are called to reach. Along the way, we have also taken some of their identity by telling them how they need to live this out instead of helping them be empowered to find the answers on their own. This creates a false maturity of self and of Christian faith, one that is unlikely to remain once their youth group support system is taken out of the equation at graduation.

Maybe we need to cut out some of the programming and simplify the process. I think the process Jesus used for discipleship was must simpler than what is our normal; we can simplify his process into three steps: Follow. Believe. Obey.

Follow:

Jesus first told his disciples to follow him. In fact, his first interaction with them was a question, asking them to just be around him. One way we can do this in youth ministry is by getting students in the door and building relationship with them. By us living out a life following Jesus, we let them see the example instead of simply telling them how to do it.

Believe:

At some point in the process the disciples began to believe Jesus was who he claimed to be. It was at different points for each disciple, and similarly it will look different for each student we lead. In Matthew 16, Peter shares that he believes Jesus but Thomas still didn’t believe until he saw the holes in Jesus’ hands. Belief in Christ is not always about raising a hand or praying a prayer. Belief in Christ is a process created and sustained through relationship and the stewarding of God-ordained moments, both necessary in order for students to grasp the love he has for them. It is also important to note that each student is different, and the biggest moments for each of them will come at different times.

Obey:

After the disciples followed Christ for some time and started to actually believe what he taught them, they started to live out the life he was calling them to live: the life of sacrifice to the greater calling of Jesus. This is where our students start to actually live out what they’re learning through relationship, worship, and teaching, and when they start to act like disciples of Christ. At this point in the process the students want to give to Speed the Light, they want to serve in their church, communities and abroad, and they are hungry and yearn to learn more about their Savior through reading the Bible.

If we can break the discipleship process into these easy three categories, it can help leaders meet our students exactly where they are. Instead of throwing in a bunch of programming, let’s bring it back to the basics of being relational and intentional — a simple yet so effective process that was first created by Jesus himself.

 

Think. Dream. Invest.

On Saturday, November 12th, we will take an offering and make a commitment to our missionaries around the world. Here are a few of the projects we are currently working on:

Stuart German (Asia Pacific)           Video Projector             $825.00

Andy Reed (United Kingdom)         Next Term Vehicle       $35,000.00

Colfax Teen Challenge (Iowa)          Vehicle Grant                $25,000.00

OneHope (South Africa)                   BOH Package                $49,036.00

Richard Lang (Russia)                       Next Term Vehicle       $35,000.00

Richard Lang (Russia)                       Media Equipment        $20,000.00

Chris Mann (Jewish Ministries)      Stateside Vehicle          $20,000.00

              Total:                        $184,861.00

How will you be relentless?