Altitude with Attitude (Part 4) DEVOTION

The Danger Is Real

Don’t we know how much we need God’s Word? Yes, we know, but the danger is very real that we forget.

That’s one reason why God urges His people to use His Word. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in

you richly,” Paul urged in Colossians 3:16. The use of God’s Word is to be no “hit or miss”

affair, no “now you do it, now you don’t” kind of activity. That Word is to “dwell” in Christians.

It is to live in them, making its home in them. And this it is to do “richly.” The hearts and lives

of God’s people are to be wide open with room for that blessed Word. How is this to happen

except through regular in-depth use of the Word?

What God urges Christians to do, He repeats even more specifically to those He calls into
the ministry. Writing to his student and co-worker, Paul stressed the need for Timothy to be
“brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed” (1
Timothy 4:6). Timothy needed to be “brought up,” constantly nourished in God’s Word if he was
going to serve well as a minister. See what Paul was telling him. “To the Word,” he was
stressing, “keep on being fed by It. Don’t ever stop. You need that Word if you are going to
serve.”

We’d like to say that it isn’t so, but the danger is very real that this Book which so richly throughout

speaks to us about our Savior and which is God’s power to create and continue faith in that

Savior can be viewed as something for which we just don’t have the time.

Reviewing the dangers we face to our personal devotional life brings a renewed sense of

urgency to the prayer, “Teach me to love Thy sacred Word.”

The Need Is Real

Reviewing also our need for God’s sacred Word will lend urgency to that prayer. What

greater need can I have then my own salvation? The great Apostle Paul knew how real this need

was for him. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” he wrote and then confessed, “of

whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul was keenly aware of the depths of his sin, and by

the Spirit’s working, even more so of the greater depths of God’s forgiveness in Christ. He

marveled that the Son of God could love him and give Himself for him (Galatians 2:20). He

prayed that God would help Christians measure “the width and length and height and depth of

the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18, 19). And he lived in the

Scriptures! Dare we do any less? Can anyone of us claim that he is not the worst of sinners? Can

any close his eyes to his constant need for assurance of God’s forgiveness? The news that “God

was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them,” is not just

something the world needs to hear from us (2 Corinthians 5:1 9). It is something that each one of

us desperately and regularly needs to hear for himself.

The Benefits Are Real

When we love and live in that Word, the people whom we serve will benefit. When we live in the Word, religion classes will be more than “Word o’ God” time which is held each day like all the other classes and which like them receives a grade on the report card. Instead, that hour becomes the highlight of the day and adds the necessary flavoring to the rest of the day. When we live in the Word, there will be devotions which live and personal examples which shine. There’ll be food for the people, the only food which can

nourish the soul. We complain about people’s indifference toward God’s Word and neglect of

His work. We criticize parents for not maintaining Christian homes and not exhibiting Christian

attitudes toward us and their children. Surely reasons abound for such indifference and neglect,

but let not us as God’s servants add to those reasons. When God’s servants burn with love in

their hearts for Christ and His precious Word, our people will know it. And the benefits will be

great.

Devotion to God's Word in a constant passion.  However Christ devotion to us help us because he gave the Holy Spirit to help us be devoted to all that Christ ask.

Altitude with Attitude (Part 3) PASSION

What is this word to a young adult?

PASSION-can be defined as an object of desire or deep interest, many people today only think of a sexual desire

What is this passion to a person personally?  As human we all have a natural drive to be passionate about something,someone to the point the it can consume all we are.  Sometimes it is being passionate about becoming the lawyer or doctor, or just getting good grades.  

We are passionate about people and what they are doing, such as the Royal Wedding, who losing the most weight on a television show, who falling in love, the cure for cancer, AIDS, and such. These are all these we are passionate about.

If you look for the word passion in the Webster dictionary online it come up with a definition of passion all of should know. This definition is the most important and should be what we look at to know what passion is.

Definition of PASSION

1

often capitalizeda : the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death

The Suffering of Christ was for the sins of the world. Jesus shows so much passion for people that did not want it or deserve it. Yet to this day this is the passion that we cannot live without. We are dead without it.  I wonder if Webster thought of that when he made it the first definition for PASSION.  I a poor miserable sinner thank-you for the Passion you show on that cross so long ago.

Altitude with Attitude (Part Two) Isaiah 40:28-31

While youth prepared for the conference sponsors and counselors met to talk about what to expect from the teens. They made sure they wanted the teens to get closer to God. To come to find out the main speaker wanted something more important and that is to know what Christ did on the cross and how trusting in Him and what He did helps us through our lives if you trust in  Him. This is what amazed wife and I all week is how everything we did focus on what Christ did for us and not what we can do for Christ. Through the themes of each night they took what Christ did and how we can with the help of the Holy Spirit  we can show this love of the cross to our neighbors and friends.
They are a few thing that are very important  no matter if we are speaking to adult or teens about the faith and how to learn more about it.  First, are we using God's Words to teach them, I'm not saying on a piece of paper or up on a monitor. This world has become lazy and reading the word of God has been lacks. More than ever we think we can learn whatever by the internet and only at church. However everywhere we look that is not the case. It was very evident that this conference wanted to get the teen to know the importance of using the Word of God, How this one book will guide us through good times and bad in this world. They started the day out with a quite time with God. You can tell that the majority of the teens at the confernce never took time to learn about God on a personal level. Considering that most had never done this before they made a small devotion which went with the theme of the day. This was a very good way to introduce quite time. It helps when you can merge what your learn at a conference or church with what your learning at home.  Lutherans have lectionaries just for this purpose so who, would like can know what the scripture reading are and can prepare for what Sunday sermon will be about. We that quite time teen prepare to hear the Word and continue the feed of Christ to his sheep.

The Theme verse of this conference came from Isiah 40:28-31
"Do you not know? Have you not hear? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and stumble and fall; but those who hope i the LORD will renew their strength.  They will sore on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Altitude with Attitude (Part One) Missing Generations from the Chruch

This last week I attended my churches youth gathering. This gathering consisted about two hundred plus teens. As I was preparing to go, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Throughout the week I prayed for guidance from my Savior. I prayed He would help me to keep an open mind.about where  I was sending these smart, yet weak, moody, caring, loving,  hearts of  these young adults. I also asked His guidance to protect them from satin's ability of planting  half truths in their lives. This world is in a constant state of change when is come to the truth.Our youth is tossed two and fro trying to cling onto to something which is grounded in truth and in the same way they want to know what the truth really is.Before I explain the positives and negative of the conference, I should explain some of my experiences as a youth group participant in my younger years.  To all that will be reading this blog I ask that you  keep an open mind, some of you will not agree with me and might even say I'm just knit picking. However if we truly want to help our young adults continue the ministry of the church and become leader in it as-well, there are thing that drastically needs to change with our youth programs.
As a young adult I came from a very small church that consisted of maybe forty members. This church went through pastors very quickly and on top of this the youth  were always trying to find there place in the church.  Many of the teens just figured it was something we did with our parents on Sunday and church really had nothing to do with the rest of our lives.   Growing up I did not attend a Lutheran church, in fact I was kinda of jealous of the Lutheran kids in my school. The Lutheran church offered a midweek confirmation class in which the teens learned even more about God and the beliefs of their church.  As I got older up I realize that a large majority of those kids really didn't care about there church and normally did not continue attending church after they were confirmed.  Perhaps what bothered me more than anything is that at the time I looked at these kids as someone I could connect with yet when they were at school their faith was not  important and rather it was as though they had no faith at all or they were just embarrassed about it or something So I decide to get involve with a youth group thinking it would get me what I need to know more about God and find kids my age that what to serve the Lord as much as I did.
The only church in our 5 town area that had a youth group was the Assembly of God. Now mind you, this was not just a few youth it included the majority of teens  I went to school with.  That point gave me hope that God was more important to these kids that I previous thought. So I started attending on a regular basis. My main reason for attending was to learn more about God and find a friend or friends who believed the same thing I did. As a teen I felt like everybody is against me and faith put just one more target on the back of my head.
I will tell you one thing, the youth group was fun. The youth group met every Tuesday and had approximately 30 teens looking fora good time in attendance. During our gatherings we would listen to christian music,go bowling, pizza parties, and more fun. Most of the time we would have a devotion yet it was very short and if the fun went long devotion was the first to be dumped.  It seem that the adult leader believed that all we wanted was fun.  I had an adult explain it to me that there goal was to keep the teens involved no matter how. Yet very few of the kid from the group went to church.  I remained hungry for the Word and was not being fed by the very person who wanted the teens involved.
The more  I went to youth group the more I realize it was a social club that call themselves Christian, however it was really just another place to segregate people whom they did not like. I did the unthinkable and quit going. I believe that the Lord allows us to fall so we learn to listen to Him and to discover what he has prepare for our live and this was one of those times. I look at the church today now that I am  33 and I notice that my generation is missing from the pews and bible studies. Very few of them  have continued to be involved in the church. Most of them still believe that they don't need church. Youth group which was intended to keep kids involved in the Church has miss the mark.  As a teen I remember thinking that  not only did I feel uncool and but  I also felt like the christian Church in general didn't want to share the truth with me. Why would I want to be involved in a group like that. In the end it makes one doubt that the Christian faith is where they belong.  I praise God that he knows what we need and that he has given us a tool that is better than any youth group around. He gave us the Bible in which we can discover his plan for us. As the pages unfold we learn the most important thing and that is this. God sent his Son Jesus Christ to this earth so that he could take my sins upon him self and die so that I might live! Now that is something to celebrate!

Adventures in Colorado

This week 7 of our students are heading with two other churches to a Youth Conference.  Hopefully with fellowship with other christian they will come out with a better understanding of there Savior and great fun. Today went made it to Evansville Colorado.  We have check-in at four tom-morrow. Go bless all the tee which are heading down that they all have a safe trip.