Grace and the Next Generation

I couldn't do it alone.

My life radically changed in college. I accepted Christ and began this journey of walking with Him. During my college years, I was trying to figure out who I was and the big things of life. Maybe not much has changed. I often see my struggles replayed out in students.

That life stage brings out deep questions:

How do I live?
What will I end up doing?
Who are my true friends?
What is life about?

I believe with my whole heart these are discipleship questions.

I felt those same questions in college and wondered how to factor God and Gospel. But I needed help. I walked around with so many unanswered questions and unaddressed struggles.

In the late nineties I would often return to Greensboro between semesters at App State. I remember asking my family and friends who might be good to walk with me in a spiritually way.

Nearly all the seasons of my life I have experienced the blessing of a spiritual mentor walking with me. God has allowed me to have a long list of men who have influenced me over the years. Honestly, I tear up as I think of these men. No blessing exceeds a trusted mentor in Christ.

I somehow connected with a man from Westover Church named Gary. He had helped with the discipleship classes there in the mid-nineties. He was a radio DJ, had a mustache and a huge heart for Christ. I reached out to him and we met a few times. He helped me sort through the daily implications of God's amazing, staying grace.

I think we met at Shoney's on Wendover. Great time.

Another was Mike and he had started a ministry that had ties with a ministry my mom and sister were influenced by in Charlotte. He helped people understand how they were trying to make life work without God, leading them to discover their identity in Christ. My college-aged, transient soul ate up what these men put before me. Those were important, formidable years.

Being in youth ministry for 12 years has amazing perks. I developed relationships with so many people who are not necessarily "youth" anymore. Many of my recent students are still in college and this time of year they return to Greensboro and often touch base with me. I love this!

Many college students who return to Greensboro don't have community or even spiritual mentors to connect with. It can be a bummer for them especially if they aren't traveling much or not doing more than working.

Over the years, this has stirred me to step out in faith and try to connect with these students. Sometimes that means having coffee and other times, like last summer, it means huddling with a small group and talking about a deeper walk with Christ. I love being with this age group and consider it a big part of my work.

I feel called to care for the soul of the next generation and re-introduce deeper truths of God's grace.

Meeting with students during the summer is full circle kind of thing for me. I hope to be a blessing to students I cross paths with in the same way mature Christian men where to me.

By the way… the man named Gary who I met at Westover those many years ago? He is now my father-in-law. Yup, I met with Gary before even knowing my wife, Emily. Can you believe it?! He is truly my spiritual father!

And as many of you know, the Mike I mentioned before was Mike Moses who graciously allowed me to take over this non-profit ministry, Grace Discipleship: a soul care ministry teaching God's grace and the believer's union with Christ.

That is why our ministry's logo has "Established in 1995" - though I've only been at it about a year and a half, this ministry has been alive through Mike for decades. I am so proud to be apart of Mike's legacy.

So cool right?!
Thanks for your support and encouragement,

Love,
John

 

contentment

During the past couple months God has stirred in me a desire to be content. I've wondered why I have a frequent restlessness and need to sit down on the inside.

I remember when Evander Holyfield fought Mike Tyson a number of years ago. I recall Evander walking out in his red boxer robe with the Bible verse on the back: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That seemed funny to me. I mean all things are all things. If Christ is to strengthen Evander to beat up Mike Tyson then awesome. But what was on Paul's mind when he penned those words found in Philippians 4?

Christ's strength according to the context of this verse was for contentment. When Paul abounded circumstantially or when Paul experienced "suffering need" he leaned into Christ's strength to be content. Maybe that verse is relevant for a boxer who wants to win. But maybe the verse is especially relevant for the box who loses. Or the boxer who is knocked out early, embarrassed or even has his ear bitten off.

The power of Christ's strength is everything we need for contentment. When we trust Christ in this deeper way then He will impact how we live and relate.

Larry Crabb said this: "the deepest desire of the human heart matches perfectly with the provision of the divine heart." That is good news! Christ in you is the hope in any circumstance and therefore you can sit down on the inside.

So, may your busy new year be anchored by your contented heart.  May you discover that God's provision frees you to be present to those around you. May you rest in the one thing that couldn't be taken from Mary as she sat at Jesus' feet. And may you enjoy Christ more than anything this world offers.

 

Coming Alongside of Students and Families Part 3

In November 2007 I invited my friend and counselor Steve Lynam to speak to our staff in our youth ministry. He shared some helpful thoughts while my friend Kendra took some wonderful notes. Here is the third Q & A.

What are a few encouraging words for weary souls?

  • Hebrews 4:9,10 says there’s a Sabbath rest for the people of God. We’re meant to rest. We’re meant to enter into His rest. What does that mean? We think if I just rest and let God handle it (let go and let God) that nothing will get done; that’s believing that God is passive. God is full of divine activity. We’re like the glove and He’s the hand; the glove is animated by the hand. If we’re willing to be clothed in the activity of God, He’ll work through us. But we if we’re trying to do something for God, it becomes performance based.
  • Spend time in the Word and stay centered in Jesus and living in union life. We sometimes think we’re independent operators, but we should offer everything to Him. His yolk is easy and the burden is light; there’s still a yolk, but it’s light. How do you rest your soul with God? Jesus said that the man would save his life/soul will lose it. If we try and manage the outcome of every situation, we’ll wear ourselves out. But if we lose our life/soul by giving it and surrendering it to the Lord for His sake, we’ll find it. We’re not asking God to bless our works but to do His works through us. The work of God is to believe in the one He sent. Cooperate with Him; we’re not independent operators. We’re either operating under the influence of the flesh which is the stage for the devil and the world, or you’re operating under the influence of the Spirit – thinking His thoughts, feeling what He’s feeling, choosing what He chooses.
  • Our soul is always asking two things: Do I have worth and value or am I loved? Will I get my needs met or am I secure? If the flesh is involved, it will tell us to get busy and drive us by our fears. But we can turn our souls towards the Spirit and rest. He will come and will deliver and will bring rest.

Coming Alongside Students and Families Part 2

In November 2007 I invited my friend and counselor Steve Lynam to speak to our staff in our youth ministry. He shared some helpful thoughts while my friend Kendra took some wonderful notes. Here is the second Q & A.

What do you think teenagers really need… spiritually and beyond?

The obvious answer is that they need Jesus. Kids need people around them who help point them to Jesus. Teens at that stage of development, they’re struggling trying on different identities. They want to know they have a purpose in life and have a destiny. In Christ, we know they have an identity and a self-worth that’s beyond what they can imagine. They have a destiny in Christ. Parents are the ones, specifically fathers, who need to come alongside and be a voice of affirmation that kids have an identity. A lot of adults see teens as a problem. If you see kids as a problem, then you react to them and live in reaction to the problem and not in response to God toward the person. We need to develop a vision for their purpose. How do we do that? Ask God. Train up a child in the way they should go as a specific person; what did He have in mind when He created them? If we don’t ask God ourselves about who we are and who He has created us to be, we can begin to have God’s eyes to see others. 2 Cor.5:16 – We regard no one the way we used to see them; we are starting to see with the Spirit’s eyes and see people the way God sees them. Kids need to have a vision and have people who see them the way God does. Learning who they are in Christ and who they are to Jesus and because of Jesus is crucial. Kids are a unique expression of Jesus. We all are. If kids know that Christ is with them and in them, they know they have His mind, not their own. You notice people differently. You’re not thinking about what people are thinking about you but listening to what God is thinking about them. Think about God has in mind, and those thoughts changes things as simple as how to walk into a room. See kids according to how God sees them. Help them stand up in what God has in mind for them. It’s not about comparisons or appearances even though that’s what the world says. Live with the settled knowledge of who we are in Christ as unique expressions of God. They need to be loved, to be disciplined, to see a model of how their parents interact, to see how adults deal with struggles. Teens need to know what we need to know. Gal.5:6 – The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love. That’s what counts with kids.

Coming Alongside of Students and Families (Steve pt. 1)

In November 2007 I invited my friend and counselor Steve Lynam to speak to our staff in our youth ministry. He shared some helpful thoughts while my friend Kendra took some wonderful notes. Here is the first Q & A.

What is the best thing we can do in difficult situations to come alongside students and families?

  • Christ in you that is the hope of glory. (Col. 1:26-27) It’s not your knowledge but the reliance on Jesus. You can overcome because He has overcome; we count on the presence of Christ. When you wonder what to do, start praying. The problem is that we don’t believe He’ll say anything.
  • What did Jesus do in overwhelming situations? In the story of feeding the crowds, we learn from Jesus. First, He exposed the situation to the Father. Offer the situation to God in prayer and in the moment; factor God in. Second, He gave thanks. He thanked God for what He did, what He is doing, and what He will do. Remember that He is good. Third, He does the next thing in obedience and by faith. Each step is in obedience. Count God in. Sometimes we live as practical atheists and don’t believe that God will respond, but He will respond and will use us as we obey. Paul said “I know whom I believe,” not what. As we make ourselves available to God, He’ll make Himself available to us.