Winterfest Trip

Got back from Winterfest last night, and I AM TIRED! This weekend drained me in so many ways, both good and bad, but good won over the bad, Thank the Lord! Let me just say that being a youth minister is NOT an easy job, but the rewards far outweigh the junk that goes along with it, and honeslty I feel blessed to be put in a position of influence over kids, and I hope that I can be an accurate reflection of Jesus to them. I am thankful for Leslie and the support she gives as well as all of the chaperones that went along with us, you guys are truly a blessing.

The theme this year was Rock Solid, and we looked at the truth of Jesus, Jesus as fact, not just some great story we like to tell. We covered five basic things to help us understand and rely on the fact of Jesus, they were the ABC's of this weekend, or I guess they were the ABCDE's.

A = Archaeology
B = Biblical Reliability
C = Creation
D = Divinity of Jesus
E = Environmental Evidence

These five things were meant to solidify our faith in Jesus Christ, and I pray that it did that for the people there, but what is more important (which was shared at Winterfest as well) is that we live out the reality of Jesus Christ in our own lives. How can we believe he is real ourselves when we haven't allowed him to change us to be more like him? And how can other people believe he is real if we are fakes? Jeus was a man, but he was also the Messiah who came to save us, to renew us and to bring us back up from the dead to take on the world with our new life and to share the good news with all who are willing to listen. But when we claim to know Christ and his saving power yet blatantly live the opposite type of life, we make Jesus out to be a lie, and quoting Jeff Walling are "an embarrassment to the name of Jesus". I wanted to stand up in my chair and say Amen when he said that.

I want so much for the kids to see Jesus, to know he is real, and let others see that in them. There is so much noise out there that is telling us to believe something else, we must block out the noise somehow. Honestly, it's not easy, but nothing that is worth having is ever easy, the sooner we learn that the better off we will be. I know Jesus, I know his power and love, although I can't fathom either one. I want you to know it to, and I want everyone around me to know, I want to be him to my wife, the youth group, the church family, my neighbors, my co-workers, people I pass by at Wal-Mart, etc., etc. I WILL fail, I WILL stumble, but Jesus Christ will pick me back up, dust me off, tell me...and show me that he loves me and will lead me once again. That is how great and wonderful God is. That is how real he is. We must choose to believe for ourselves if Jesus is real, then we must share with the world the good news and pray that all will listen and believe themselves. But don't just tell them that Jesus loves them. Show them.