Check out Rhett & Link's new YouTube sensation video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=email&v=01TL9bUWr6I&ytsession=SOET13r6xBsU64W1tLL0XJcnHnNvwAK7Vswi3y6Uq4hTmKFb60__BrcA6dCmmajEJFYNtgfLkd4_Ie_jLW3C8oM-4Po6YCRXHWKi0WDRMbdcRkKXZ0zfb_vmlOazpPJOQcoQq6HwTOV-X28tcBCiiLZISGoywQ2Ung-1ZfUdvKwYoPk93RmmOvSgWWuWRTBVyKXvKy_nNPTp4Hk9AJl39R6dFpI_tXTrNaTspxj-quBMM46ko1MH-qYxj1me9GUadjJckeLqlcs
These guys have such a love for writing quirky lyrics to memorable tunes, and when I saw the "2 Guys 600 Pillows" music video, it reminded me of a question that I ask myself many times, "What if I could go back?" What if you and I could go back in the past and do things differently? What if we could change the memories we have in the past that we wish were not there?
Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica and says, "You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath" (1 Thess. 1:9-10). The key to our desire to return to the past and remove the bad memories we find there stems from our desire to turn from wickedness and seek righteousness that comes from a new life in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; behold, the new has come." Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."
We all recognize the need for spiritual death to take place in order that we can be made new in Jesus Christ. The big letdown in salvation is that once we're saved, we are not yet perfect. Sometimes, the concept of salvation is presented to us as if we will no longer struggle post-conversion. Sometimes we seek Christ only for what He can do for us rather than what we can give back to him after we receive mercy and forgiveness for our sin problem. The problem, of course, is that the problem of seeking self and idolatry does not disappear just because a preacher dunks us under water in a raised platform bathtub!!!
I have written several thoughts about the need for repentance that I see in the next generation; however, I have been criticized for being judgmental and hypocritical, so allow me to be as clear as I know how to be. The reason that I see need for repentance in the lives of our teenagers is because I see daily a need for repentance in me. Some people might hear me challenge students to repent and believe in Jesus and think that I do not have the right or authority to confront teenagers on their sinfulness. Well, if I was confronting them as an unborn Christian who only wanted to focus on other people's problems in order to avoid my own, then my critics would be correct. Instead, I know that I am right to confront sin when I see it and challenge students to raise their standards for their lives because I am fighting through my own sinfulness and pride. I am putting up a fight against the devil who hates me and longs to destroy me.
Do you not understand that the devil rejoices as long as I am ineffective as a youth minister? Do you not think the devil would be happy if I was fired from my position? Do you not think that the devil rejoices when people focus on all the negative things like lack of quantitative growth rather than working together and encouraging and building each other up? That is the spiritual war that we wage even now in this hour. As long as the devil can keep us focused on ourselves, then he has won and we are not truly after God's glory in our church and in the community. However, if we can learn from the mistakes of our past and stand on the shoulders of the spiritual giants who penned in ink and blood the pages of our glorious Scriptures and work together with wisdom and humility for God's glory, then God promises that the past can change us today indeed! God can take the failures of my past, and use them as motivation to wake up, repent, and change today. God can take sinners like you and me and make us new every day, throughout each blessed new day so that we can be effective as Christian ambassadors to a dark and war-torn world.
So, as I challenge myself each day, fail, pick myself back up, and try, try again, I challenge you: Let the past change you today. Let us allow God to release us from the prison and torment of tradition and apathy, and let us focus on the King who alone can effectively lead us in the spiritual warfare that consumes our lives. Let us open our eyes and ears to see the needs of our community, and let us bond together in unity and love to reach out and wash the feet of our neighbors, no matter their background, past, culture, language, or religious preference. Let us heal from brokenness in the past and live for a new day where God has made all things new.
I love you. I pray for you. I hunger for revival to happen among us. Breathe, Oh breath of God!
James
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