Crossroads Youth

I don’t know any of their names, nor have I seen any of their faces. They are not people that most folks would have characterized as heroes, but as the old saying goes: “when the going gets tough…the tough get going.”

The Fukushima 50 are way beyond tough. They are a collection of nuclear plant workers who are looking death right in the face with unflinching courage. They have volunteered to stay behind in A Salute to The Fukushima 50 a rapidly deteriorating situation so their colleagues and possibly even their nation can survive disaster.

In case you hadn’t heard of these amazing individuals, they are a collection of employees at the Fukushima nuclear plant who are on a mission to prevent a deadly total meltdown. The horrific earthquake and tsunami kicked off a lethal chain reaction that could produce a worse fate than the natural disasters themselves. They are immersed in a living hell and they are exposed to more radiation in one hour than a normal nuclear plant worker is in an entire career.

In other words…they have chosen a likely and excruciating death so that others might live.

As I reflect on these amazing individuals and their self-sacrificing attitude, I am caught in a torrent of differing emotions. My heart is broken for their families – I cannot even imagine what darkness must be enveloping their existence. On the other hand, I am shamed at my own lack of courage when I realize that in a very real sense I am called to help avert a different kind of impending meltdown – a spiritual meltdown that could happen at any moment:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation (2 Peter 3:9-14).

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that when Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom, it will be an event more catastrophic than anything the world has ever experienced. But the difference is that this calamity doesn’t need to take anyone by surprise! Christians are equipped and called to have the courage to warn this generation that the return of Jesus Christ is a reality, and ignoring this fact or simply rejecting it from unbelief does not change the truth of Scripture.

Ironic, isn’t it? Halfway across the globe is a group of people who are so concerned for the fate of their friends and nation that they are willingly exposing themselves to toxic levels of radiation. And here we are, entrusted with the ultimate life saving message of the gospel, yet afraid of a little “heat” that we might get in the form of persecution or rejection.

A Salute to The Fukushima 50

I’ve wondered what might turn ordinary people into extraordinary heroes, and I’ve come to the conclusion that at some point they recognized the honor they’ve been given to fulfill a life saving role.

So think about it my friends…you rub shoulders with the doomed every day, and you have the same power within you that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The world is heading towards a meltdown, and you have the knowledge and experience to save people from the coming destruction.

My challenge to you is simple. As you grieve over the unfathomable tragedies that are unfolding in Japan and admire the uncommon valor of the Fukushima 50, don’t forget to stand in the gap for your friends who either don’t know about or don’t believe in the Day of the Lord. Make THE Cause of Christ your cause, and I promise that God will use you in ways you couldn’t imagine.

Ask your friends if they know about the Fukushima 50 and the incredible bravery they are demonstrating to the world. Discuss whether or not there are things you would die for, and pray for an opportunity to share about Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save others.

PRAY ~Jesus you are the One who suffered and died the cruelest death in the universe. Help me to have the heart for the world that caused You to leave Your heavenly home and come to earth to save us.

READ John 15:12-14. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

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God Has No Adjustment Bureau

If you believe in free will…

If you believe in chance…
God Has No Adjustment Bureau 1
If you believe in choice…

Fight for it.

So…do you? Of course if you believe that God doesn’t exist and human beings are soul-less products of undirected evolution, then you truly don’t have any of those things. If that definition of us is correct, then choice is simply an illusion, since all we are is a collection of chemical reactions and survival of the fittest.

But deep down you sense that isn’t true…don’t you? You are not just a physical machine that plays no significant role in the universe. You are self-aware and conscious of your spiritual side, because that is who you truly are: an ever living never dying work of art created by the God who spoke reality into existence with just a single word. You’ve been given complete free will, and life is filled with opportunities to exercise our free will choices.

Unless, of course, you are Matt Damon playing Jason Bourne David Norris in a conspiracy filled world God Has No Adjustment Bureau 2where everything is planned out for you in a Moleskine notebook that looks like a map of the New York sewer system.

But wait, there’s more! If someone in a sweet 60’s hat forgets to control your every move because he’s playing “Words with Friends” on his iPhone, your life is seriously jacked my friend. Especially if during that moment you meet the girl of your dreams who was supposed to have been in someone else’s pipeline.

Or something like that. Yep, life in The Adjustment Bureau would be totally lame, unless you could hang out with Matt Damon – but then again that would be your fate, right?

There’s definitely a serious slam on “God” or “gods” in this film. The Leader of the Adjustment Board is called The Chairman – even though he ‘goes by many names’ (get it?). And The Chairman is a rather cranky fellow who enjoys manipulating the fates of humanity for enjoyment not unlike a kid with a magnifying glass near an anthill.

Aren’t you glad that you live in a free-will existence? Oh, some might argue that the God of the Bible is like the Chairman, but absolutely nothing could be farther from the truth. He’s a loving Father who has done everything short of violating our free will to save us from it!

And rather than mapping out our fate in a little notepad, check out this truth about our choice and chance in life:

The days of my life were all prepared before I’d even lived one day (Psalm 139:16).

Isn’t it amazing to know that God loved us before we were ever born? And not only that, but He laid out a perfect plan for our lives from beginning to end before we took our first breath!

So what is that perfect plan?

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10).

The word “masterpiece” used here is the Greek poema…sound like any word you know? Of course it does – it is where we get our word “poem.” In other words, every Christian is a living poem, adding new lines to the story every day!

Think about it – long before you were even a sparkle in your parents’ eyes, you were a completeGod Has No Adjustment Bureau 3 story in your Father’s mind. Before the earth began He already had pulled out a sheet of heavenly paper and wrote your name at the top. And when you trusted Christ, God gave you a pen to write your life poem however you choose…but remember, He also gave you a pattern to follow so your life will be a complete masterpiece.

That pattern in His perfect plan is to simply live life as though it were Jesus walking in your footsteps. And this is really not complicated, because He spelled out the plan by giving us The Great Commission and The Great Commandment:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

No Adjustment Bureau needed here folks. If you believe you have free will to live out THE Cause that God has prepared for you, which is a choice to love God and love others by sharing the gospel with them, then you have a chance to make your life into a poem that is nothing short of a living masterpiece!

Isn’t that worth fighting for???

Discussing human’s free will offers a great opportunity to bring up the Bible’s teaching on God’s offer of salvation that must be accepted or rejected depending on our choice. This week, pray for an opportunity to share the gospel when you talk to your friends about The Adjustment Bureau, and pray that they would choose to trust in Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation.

PRAY
Thank you Father, that you have made us in your image and have granted us freedom toTHE Cause Circle graphic choose you. I pray that you would use me this week to be a light that reveals the truth of the gospel to my friends who live in the darkness of their free will.

READ
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).

GET
Learn from other teens own real life experiences sharing their faith in the 30-day devo Reach Out…Don’t Freak Out. With daily, bite-size ideas, you will be encouraged to find that stepping out and sharing your faith is easier than you might think.

He Caught a Grenade for You

“I’m kinda the best right now. I don’t know what else to say…”

Said Bruno Mars to Fuse.tv a little while back – and I’m sure he’s feeling that way right now as his #1 single Grenade is blowing up the charts week after week.

And then there’s the video as well – currently at 76,000,000 hits and climbing as more and more folks invest 4 minutes of their day to watch a well dressed and neatly groomed Bruno Bruno luggin a pianolug a piano through L.A. to his girlfriend’s house. Along the way, he is spoken to by random people, has an encounter with a less than friendly looking gansta group, and ends up seeing the love of his life with another guy who obviously got there sooner because he didn’t pull a 500 pound object across a major US city.

Dejected and rejected, apparently the only course of action is to follow through with your promise and let a train ruin what could have been a perfect opportunity to go home and write a new version of ‘Grenade’:

I’d throw a grenade at ya (yeah yeah yeah)
Use my hand to throw a blade at ya (yeah yeah yeah)

Or something like that…

To me, this song and video raise many questions.

* What kind of neighborhood does his girlfriend live in where she’s in constant danger of being blown up, sliced, or demolished by a train?
* Why didn’t Bruno hire a piano moving company? Or at least offer the ganstas some serious cash to help him pull it?
* Why didn’t he pick a different route home – say one that didn’t involve getting stuck on railroad tracks with a deadly choo choo?

And perhaps you noticed something else about the video that struck me the first time I viewed it. It is the image of someone in deep love mingled with sorrow and pain, struggling to move a heavy object to a destination while He is ridiculed by the crowds and scorned by religious people. Remind you of someone else?

They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle… (John 19:17)

Jesus had to carry the 125 pound crossbeam of the very instrument of His death nearly half a mile to where they would drive the nails through His hands and feet and let Him slowly suffocate in total agony.

And why? In one word, it was love:Jesus Took a Grenade for You

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).

In other words, He took a grenade for us. He carried His cross to the place of His death where He carried the weight of our guilt so we could be set free from our sin and declared innocent of our shameful past.

If you are feeling like Bruno Mars in your search for a true love that will never change, you are not alone. Since the beginning of time humanity has been pulling the weight of loneliness in our search for connection, and before time began God had a plan in place to solve our desperate problem. Jesus caught the grenade of an eternity in hell for us so we could enter into a relationship with Him that will last forever.

And speaking of grenades, I can think of a good kind of explosion that should be a part of every Christian’s life:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

The word for “power” in this verse in Greek is dunamis – from which we get our word “dynamite.” That’s what makes sharing our faith so easy! If the gospel is like a grenade that blows open the prison doors and sets people free to live the amazing life God intended for them, then we need to realize that it doesn’t matter who pulls the pin on the grenade. The gospel’s power will do its work whether it’s presented by Billy Graham or a twelve-year girl.

Trust me, there are quite a few Bruno Mars type folks who are walking lonely streets in hopes of finding true love, and we have the message that will turn their thoughts away from self-destruction to the reality that they are more valuable and cared for than they ever imagined.

Jesus caught a grenade for us, now are we willing to throw the gospel grenade for Him?

Grenade is a wildly popular video that brings up several serious and relevant issues that teens face. The story that is portrayed is one of love, betrayal, and hopelessness, which are perfect tie-ins to the gospel. So get moving and talk to your friends about Jesus� matchless love.

PRAYFather, the world is so full of people who are in desperate need of love and a relationship THE Cause Circle graphicthat will last forever. Our hearts are truly restless until they find rest in you, so please use me this week to share your message of love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. In Jesus name, Amen

READ”Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)

GETFor help learning how to explain the message of the gospel to your friends, check out “What is the GOSPEL Journey Message”?

© Copyright 2011 Dare 2 Share Ministries

You are Fighting the Gates!

“Nestled inside a private mountain community are The Gates. The image of perpetual suburban bliss, each street is lined with perfectly manicured homes protected by the massive iron gates, but a dark and delicious secret is buried just beneath the surface of this picturesque neighborhood.”  abc.com)

But as it turns out, one of the ‘dark and delicious’ secrets is that behind The Gates there are vampires and werewolves…where could they get an original idea like that??? And there are other creatures that mix into the blender of drama, romance, and spells. And based on what I’ve seen so far, this show’s title probably should have been Desperate House Witches at Twilight .
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Soul Fuel

When Airplanes Reminded Me of Salvation

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)…

Yeah, I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
To go back to a place much simpler than this.
Cause after all the partyin’ and smashin’ and crashin’
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion
And all the pandemonium and all the madness
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness…

I’m pretty sure that these words aren’t new to you – right? B.O.B. (ft. Hayley Williams) Airplanes is a hugely popular award winning tune – but did you also know that it was written by a 22 year old college student from Cornell University named Tim Sommers? Oh and Eminem also threw in a verse – so we have this unlikely collaboration of Tim, Eminem, B.O.B., and Hayley that produced a smash hit that gets stuck in your head like the Barney theme song did when you were a kid.

Speaking of when you were a kid, do you ever wish you could go back? Airplanes is mainly about Tim or B.O.B or somebody wanting to go back to a time when things were pure, less complicated, and simpler – so for most of us that would be when we we’re children, right?
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