Revive Us! April 24, 2009

2 Kings 4:1-7 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

How do you raise a generation who fears God and seeks holiness? How do you teach that humility precedes holiness to a people of such independence and pride? How do you seek to have broken vessels filled with the spirit of God. The task is daunting and at times seems unattainable. I know this, it cannot be done by the ideas of man. It will not happen because we have some cool new way of presenting God. It will not happen by implementing some new program. When the widow went to Elisha, she had nothing to stop the creditors from taking her sons into slavery but some olive oil. I can tell you this, if someone told me that the mortgage company was coming to take my little one, olive oil would not be a comforting thought. I would probably panic, had a prophet given me those instructions! However, as a youth worker, I see the enemy taking our kids onto slavery on a weekly basis. As ministers, parents, leaders, we having nothing in and of ourselves that could snatch them back from becoming slaves to the enemy of our souls. However, we do have the oil of the Spirit of God. I am praying and asking The holy spirit to be released in a powerful way among the teens that I work with. I am asking for deliverance from bondage, freedom from fears and a group of teens who can say that they have seen God. I am not interested in a youth group full of kids who can play church, talking the talk and faking holiness, I want to see the fire of God resonating from them as they seek His face. Messy? Yes, but nothing worth having comes easily or without cost! What about you, have you come to the place where you have exhausted your man made efforts to see change in a situation? It’s time to seek the face of God…not just his hand and what He can do for us, but His face! That is my heart right now! I pray that you too will begin to come to the end of human resources so that all you can do it seek Him.

emotional sex? October 31, 2007

I am reposting this for the girls of inside out youth group.

Yes, for those of you who read Just another day’s blog, I am referring to her latest, go check it out!!

See, the two of us lead a girls small group that meets weekly. One of the things that came up last night in our little group of wonderful and honest high schoolers, was the issue of boys! Shocking, huh? I think we spend a lot of time in the Christian community warning our kids about the perils of premarital sex but very little is ever said about the emotional side of relationships. We spend little time talking to our girls about the fact that as females, we crave an emotional connection. We crave intimacy, not necessarily sex. The common misconception with the teens that I have come into relationship with over the past ten years or so, is that intimacy just means sex.

Last night, we talked to the girls about the issue of the emotional side of relationships. That when we share our hearts, our pain, our disappointments, our fears, our dreams and our hope with a man, we feel bonded to them because we just gave them a piece of our heart. Then if by chance we have a friendship with a man who shares his own heart, oh my goodness, we begin thinking we have found THE ONE! Somehow we feel that he obviously feels the same, or he would never have shared such “intimate” things with us! The truth however, is for a man, he is just talking! No big deal! He does not feel that he just got “naked” in front of you! He is not feeling that he just bared his soul to you!

Can you see where the confusion can come in between males and females? We really are a different sex! We are wired very differently. I see it too often that a girl ties her soul to the soul of some boy who listened to her heart, and shared his own with her then when the relationship ends, he takes off with a small piece of her fragile heart. I just feel that we need to do a better job at preparing girls and guys for that matter, for relationships and the boundaries that should be in place. We must teach them how to guard their heart. It does not mean we teach them to be fake, or to have up impenetrable walls! We just have to teach them how to “do” relationships. We are not born knowing how to be in a relationship.

Any thoughts?

AACC World Conference September 19, 2007

For those who are curious, the conference was amazing. I am still exhausted and overwhelmed by all that I learned. I have information and statistics coming out of my ears!! I saw Joyce Meyers, Tim Clinton, Larry Crabb, Natalie Grant, Avalon, Michael O’brien, John Ortburg and many many more.

I think the thing that sticks out the most, was this: the World does not need a church full of wounded healers. God wants to heal his bride so that they have something to give. This is my heart. I was walking around bleeding all over the people I was “ministering” to before I began my own healing journey. I am grateful that God placed people in my life to help me to grow into who He wants me to be! I believe He is doing a new thing in the church, he seems to be merging emotional healing programs into the church body! I love it!!

Anyway, i am still processing, and probably will still be for a while! : ) Oh, I did purchase the next course for my Diploma of Biblical counseling…It is called Caring for Teens God’s way. I am very excited about that!

Here is the website of the ministry that I was a part of for my own healing.  It is called living Well Ministries

thoughts about the ‘wonder years’ August 18, 2007

I have been thinking about the tumultuous teen years. Wow, it is amazing that the older I get, the more fun my teen years seem.  The cruising of Altama Ave looking for boys to flirt with. The funny things that happened with friends. Like the time I was at the gas station with my friend, Jessica. I opened my door, and then preceded to back up to get closer to the pump… yeah, ripped my door completely backward and had to drive home holding my door closed! It never worked right again. My friend Jess, just laughed at me the entire trip home! Ha ha.. While it was funny, I was terrified that I was going to be grounded for months. I dreaded telling my parents that I had destroyed yet another car.

Then there were the fads. Wow, I have been a goth, a prep, a redneck and a wigger. Yes, I have died my hair black, maroon and pink. I have worn my pants hanging off my butt with big chains and the hideous dark lip liner and light lip color combo. How embarrassing for my parents. Well, for me too.  : )  There were fun times but here’s the thing , I was miserable as a teen. I was depressed, suicidal and angry. I felt like I did not fit in with anyone, my teachers hated me, my parents never understood  me not to mention the fact that my friendships were like walking a tightrope. God seemed like a mystical creature that was all knowing, all powerful and scary! He was like that cop in the sky that was waiting for me to screw up…which by the way I felt like I WAS a screw up!  My relationship with God was extremely polarized too. For example, for a little while I would be doing good and acting right…until I got tired of trying to be perfect, then I would rebel. It was rules…no relationship.

Now I have been out of high school for eleven years and I work with teenagers. When I listen to their lives there are times when I wonder how I ever made it and I am convinced that I could never make it in today’s high school. It is so much harder with so many pressures that I never experienced. Kids seem so much more mature than they were in my day. They are thinking about things that never crossed my mind until I was in my twenties. Don’t get me wrong, emotionally I know they are the same age for the most part, but they have street smarts that I did not get close to until marriage! They have concerns that I did not have to concern myself with. Frankly it has the potential to terrify me about my own daughters teen years. I really have to just take it one day at a time.

It makes me realize more than ever that time is getting short here on earth. Satan is waging an all out war to rip people away from God. He knows that if he can get them young, there is a great likelihood that they will never live radically for God. Satan loves complacency. That is one thing that as adults we do well. Life just gets in the way. Teens on the other hand are idealistic and passionate. Yes, their lives get chaotic and busy but their passion is not drained…yet. There is a song by Nickel creek that says it all too well: “with so much distraction, it’s hard not to wander away.”

Another trick I see the enemy targeting our kids with is the idea that sex is no big deal. The bible says that Sexual sin is the only sin against our own body. I think there are evident ways this is true (std’s) but even more than that, Shame! It is the most prevalent overall feeling that I see in girls in particular between the age of 13-18. Shame destroys our ability to see God accurately . Shame masks the truth of who we are because shame tells us that we are bad, we are beyond help, forgiveness or redemption. Sounds like the voice of Satan himself doesn’t it?

The Word of God says that Satan is a Liar and a thief. He has come to steal, kill and destroy and He is angry because his time is short. So guard your heart!