One of the core goals we have as a youth ministry here at FBC is to take our students deep into their faith. In a world that is constantly changing, bringing new challenges day in and day out for the ministry of the church, it is absolutely critical that we build a solid foundation for our students. If we can do this effectively, we will build a generation of disciples who can engage our world with the gospel and not fall to the undercurrents of our culture. They will know how to face questions of truth, purpose, and meaning from the core convictions of the gospel, and have a compelling answer for a world longing for something deeper and truer.

That's the goal. But how do we get there? How do we create a depth in our students that can face up to these challenges? Let me suggest two essential components: faithful, biblical teaching, and faithful, authentic community. Think about it for a moment. How do we face the intellectual and theoretical assaults on Christian values and attitudes? It doesn't happen if we simply try to speak values and morals louder into their lives. It only happens when we faithfully and convincingly point to the bedrock of those values, the unshakeable Truths of reality, and build from there. This doesn't happen overnight. This can only happen in a lifestyle of discipleship.

But what happens when our students are faced with the emotional and relational attacks of the enemy? How will they stand up under the assaults of a culture that prioritizes perfection and pleasure, self-image, and self-satisfaction? The only answer is in an identity rooted deeply in the reality that they are known, loved, and cared for by real people, in real ways. In caring for our students this way we image forth Christ's care of His children, and we point them to the great Shepherd of our souls.

We aim to plant trees deeply rooted, that they may grow tall and wide in our world. That's why we call our ministry the Rooted Youth Ministry of FBC. It's also why this month we will be investing in our students through DiscipleNow Weekend, joining with other churches to set aside time for our students to dive deeply into the Word surrounded by a community of faith that loves them. This is a super condensed snapshot of the environment we are attempting to create for our students, where they are loved, discipled, cared for, where adults share the vulnerability of opening their homes and pouring into them and where youth are connected with one another to link arms and march forward with the mission of Christ.

This is where our youth ministry is headed. But these core convictions apply not only to youth, but to each of us. We each need deep transformational truth. We each need real communities of believers, opening our lives and homes to one another, sharing our struggles and coming along side one another to bolster our faith and fight the onslaught of the enemy. Will you pray for us? Will you pray for this church? Will you join in, not just settling for the search for depth in our students, but aiming for that same depth in yourself? Let's do this, together!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Zach

What's Happening:
Disciple Now - March 23-25
MFuge Camp - July 9-14

Have you lost track of your New Year's resolution yet? Did you even have one? It seems like more and more the concept of the New Year's resolution is going out of style. Perhaps its the realism setting in that we are in fact, terrible at keeping them. Or maybe it's just a change in our culture from a focus on goal setting to one of lifestyle changes.

This past week I had the opportunity to speak at WCHS to their JumpStart morning devotional crowd. We gathered at 7:30 in the auditorium and I asked them much the same question. "How many of you made a New Year's resolution?" Two hands went up. It was about what I expected. The challenge I made to them that morning was the challenge of a resolution or a lifestyle change or whatever you want to call it, that I think might just counter balance the kinds of resolutions we are in the habit of giving up. Instead of a burden to load onto ourselves and instead of a goal to achieve, I brought before them and now before you a different kind of challenge.

What if this year, instead of taking on a burden to lift, we took on a strategy to make life more pleasant, more satisfying, more fulfilling? What if we took on an extremely Biblical strategy, one that is reflected throughout the writings ofth&Psalms?

Psalm 37:4 wraps up what a great deal of the Psalms encourage us to do in a simple but profound formula: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Now, consider with me, if our delight is in the Lord, where will our desires be?

George Mueller has a famous quote that I think illuminates this idea more brilliantly than I ever could:

I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished…I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.

So,what do you think? Are you ready for life to be more pleasant, more satisfying, more fulfilling? Let us delight in the Lord. Let us have our souls happy in Him.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Zach

How does the church reach the masses for the glory of God in our current cultural climate?  According to Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism and student ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the recent book Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out, the key is authentic relationships.  We know the gospel, we have been trained in its story and its importance, we believe it and live by it, the next step to move into a life of evangelism is not a 10 step evangelism explosion using 3 circles and an elevator pitch.  We need to step away from an evangelism approach that places performance over personality, lists over love, and sales over sustainable relationships.  As helpful as certain evangelism tools may be, our world is craving more than a prepackaged solution to our problems.

Think about it.  We live in a world saturated by sales and advertisements.  Every time we look at our phone, turn on the tv, drive down the road, or enter a public place advertisements scream for our attention, and in all the noise we have learned to tune out anything that feels targeted to get us to buy a product or attend an event.  At the same time, we live in a world saturated by social media, and all of the impediments to authenticity and deep relationships that have resulted from a highly controlled self-branding culture.

Insert the model of Jesus here.  When we read the gospels, one thing is certain: Jesus wasn’t out to sell a product to an unknown consumer.  He was out to know people, to show them that they were truly known, loved, and cared for.  He sought to show them the bread of life, to be certain, but not without getting dirty first.

Think about that.  The God of the universe came down into the dirt of this world in order to bridge the gap of relationship between God and man.  He took on the bleeding, itchy, sweaty, stinky human flesh we all inhabit, and in the process showed us that He knows us deeply and loves us fully.  What if we tried to reach the world that way?

What if we, like Jesus, took time out of our schedule to develop intentional relationships with stinky people?  What if we set aside our aspirations and goals for a few minutes each day and genuinely sought to know people with the goal of sharing the Jesus who has transformed our lives.  What if we modeled the Emmanuel, God with us, love of Christ, by truly being with and for those we encounter each day?  I think we just might see a few hearts and minds changed, a few eternities redirected, and a few fires lit for Christ. 

Want some strategies for making that change?  You might want to pick up Alvin Reid’s book.  It’s a short read, only around 100 pages, and I think you’ll benefit from it.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Zach

What are we aiming for?  As believers in Jesus, what is the cause that keeps us marching forward into the dark of this world? 

Recently, I began reading through the book of 1 Timothy.  It seemed to me that, being a short book, I would be able to complete my reading of it in about a week or two.  After around a month of coming back to it over and over again, I find myself nowhere near completion.  In fact, every time I read I can’t seem to get further than five verses in!  Even if I force myself to continue reading, the fifth verse keeps pulling me back with the gravitational force of a massive planetary body.  Have you ever had that experience reading through Scripture?  It’s only happened to me a few times to this extreme, but I find that when it does it’s a sure sign that God is showing me something I really need to hear.  Clearly there is more to learn than I have yet grasped.

Paul is speaking to Timothy, his younger protege (in fact, likely around 30 years old, just like me).  He is instructing Timothy on the purpose of his ministry and the teaching they must share with the church.  In this verse we find the core of our role as believers, the purpose for the teaching we receive.  Here’s what the verse says: “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5).

Sounds simple, right?  Perhaps, but it is also incredibly foundational, and contains a formula for ministry that I need to drink deeply of and apply throughout my life and ministry.  Let’s take the verse and break it down for a moment.

“The aim of our charge is love….”  That’s the goal.  Is it my goal?  Is it my purpose?  Am I seeking to love, truly love, in all the messy, difficult, sacrificial ways true love demands?  How do we do this?  The rest of the verse shows us three core realities from which this love “issues.” 

The first is this: “a pure heart.”  That is, a heart whose motivations remain unmixed.  A heart whose desire is fully consumed with Christ.  A heart that is not distracted by the sinful self-centered cravings of the “flesh.” 

But how do we purify our hearts?  Clearly we aren’t very good at this.  I think part two helps us here: “a good conscience.”  That is, living in the reality that we are no longer guilty.  We have been declared innocent through the blood of Christ.  Our clean conscience allows us to live no longer out of fear or human effort, but out of gratitude empowered by the work of the Spirit within us. 

But this only happens if we have truly believed the gospel.  This is why finally, and most foundational, the basis for love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience is a “sincere faith.”  When we taste the good news of Christ and trust His provision for us, we are moved toward the ultimate aim of love.  His gospel transforms our conscience, our hearts, and our lives.  Only then will we be able to love as we ought.

What is your aim?  How is the gospel working transformation in your life?  Do you need to trust Him more fully?  I know I do.  That’s why I can’t get past this verse.  Maybe in another month I’ll be able to read the rest of the book….

Soli Deo Gloria!

Zach