SABBATH.
I'm the kind of person who would work every day of the week if I could. In fact, last Sunday I really wanted to do a bunch of work just to catch up and get ahead on some things. But sitting in church that morning I had a strong sense that the Holy Spirit was reminding me that I need to observe the Sabbath. Honestly, I've been pretty sloppy about treating the sabbath like the important day that it is, but three thoughts hit me last week that reminded me why I need this day off from work. 1) Taking a weekly day of rest is a sign that I trust God. There's so much that needs to get done - but do I trust God enough to take care of it all why I'm resting? Do I trust God enough to provide for me and my family? Or am I only relying on myself? 2) Taking a day of rest is a sign that I worship God. Over the years, I have definitely been guilty of worshiping my work rather than worshiping God. If I can't obey God's command to take a day to rest it is not only disobedience but idolatry! 3) Taking a day of rest is receiving a gift from God. God gave us this pattern of work and rest as a gift for our souls. A gift that restores us, renews us and helps us continue the work we need to do without destroying ourselves. What arrogance it is for me to say "God, no I don't need that gift You want to give me." We went to church this morning, then I took a nap, and now I'm sitting on our porch enjoying the backyard. Work will be there right where I left it tomorrow, but today I want to put God first in my life and enjoy the gift He has given me.
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Relationships.
Why do so many relationships fail? Why do some people go from one relationship to another to another to another? I think the biggest reason relationships break up is almost never talked about. Most people go into a relationship putting a God-sized expectation on a finite human being. Most people say things like "I hope this relationship makes me happy." The problem is there is not a single person on earth who can make you happy forever. That is putting an expectation on someone that no person on earth can live up to. We were not made to make each other happy. We were made to find joy in a relationship with God who made us! The love of God gives us unlimited, overflowing, neverending joy and happiness - when we look for this anywhere else we will ALWAYS be disappointed. When our souls are filled up with the infinite, eternal love of God, then we can do what human relationships are meant for - we can love another person with full hearts not expecting them to make us happy. Two people with hearts full of the love of God can go into a relationship able to give more than they take. Two people coming to each other with empty hearts just suck the life out of each other. The ironic thing is, we find the most happiness in our relationships with other people when we are not depending on them to make us happy! So today, take your empty heart to God let Him fill you with the love that He proved to you by giving His life on the cross to save you. Salvation.
The older I get the more I realize that the salvation I need - that Jesus died for - is deeper and wider than I ever imagined. Yes, I need salvation - Jesus dying in my place for the forgiveness of my sin. But Jesus also saves me from the sin behind my sins (pride, jealously, greed and more). He saves me from the ways that I cope with the consequences of my sin. He saves me from the pain and hurt caused by other people's sin. He saves me from the shame of my sin. He saves me from the fear that causes me to sin and the fear that sin causes in me. He saves me from the emptiness, disappointment, and despair of worshiping my sin. He saves me from the addictions that tempt me to save myself from the effects of sin. He saves me from putting God-sized expectations on other human beings by causing me to put all of my hope and trust in Him. He saves me from the regrets of the past, anxiety about the present, and concern about the future. He saves me from lying to myself and others to cover up the shame of my sin. He saves me from needing to impress others, from needing the approval of others, from wanting to earn love from others. He has saved me from relying on myself to get through life. He has saved me from the consequences of my sin and He has saved me from an eternal destiny apart from Him. He saves me from more than I ever knew I needed saving from! He patiently and persistently shows me that I need His salvation in ever deeper ways. His salvation is perfectly complete and yet He is perfectly completing it in me from now til the day I receive His ultimate salvation to eternity. People today are desperate for some good news - and followers of Jesus have good news, REALLY GOOD news to share!
> WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE! There's a God who made us and loves us! God’s intellect astounds us, His creativity inspires us, His holiness awes us, and His power humbles us. He made us in His image and therefore, every human being has a great purpose, eternal significance, intrinsic value. > WE ARE NOT ABANDONED IN OUR SIN AND SUFFERING. There’s a God who has shown us what is good, right, perfect and just, and although human beings have rejected God's ways, rebelled against God's laws, and broken God's heart, He made a plan to rescue us. He made a promise that he kept - although we could not make things right with God, He would make things right with us. > WE ARE NOT ABLE TO SAVE OURSELVES, BUT HE CAN AND WILL! There is a God who, despite humanity’s unsuccessful efforts to save ourselves, came into our world, became one of us, suffered pain and heartache like us, took our guilt and shame and died for us so that He could save us, forgive us, and transform us. But He’s not dead - He's alive and because He took our sin, we can be given His goodness and righteousness. > WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF THE FUTURE, ANXIOUS ABOUT THE PRESENT, OR OBSESSED ABOUT THE PAST There is a God who, no matter what this life throws at us, is always there for us! We have a Father who has adopted us, a Savior who has rescued us, and the Holy Spirit living inside of us! We have peace that cannot be shaken, a freedom that cannot be taken away, joy that cannot be broken, and love that cannot be overcome. And we haven’t even mentioned heaven yet! When this life is over, we know there is life - eternal life - beyond the grave! Let’s share this incredibly good “good news” with everyone that we can! Christmas Eve…
To appreciate the power, mystery, and “magic” (in the C.S. Lewis sense) of this night, it helps me to try to imagine what the world would be like if Jesus had never been born.
But thank God, the maker of the stars announced he was coming with a star! The Creator of the world entered that world as a member of that world! The light of the world pierced the darkness! Instead of destroying life like a conqueror, he sacrificed his life to give eternal life to all who believe! Instead of putting us in the bondage we deserve, he died to set us free from the guilt and power of sin! I believe there is no night quite like this night. FOR MY YOUTH MINISTRY FRIENDS, I had the privilege of working on a project with several east coast Youth Alive missionaries a couple weekends ago and recorded this video as part of that. Please watch and SHARE! Special thanks to my friend John Ginnan for making it possible for me to record this. THE MISSING PART OF OUR DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS: Every new school year we encourage Christian students to think of it as a 9 month mission trip. After our latest 9 Month Mission Trip live stream event we got this email from a student. So cool to see God using students for His glory! I love the last line of her story. WOW.
Hey Travis! I have already seen God at work. Here's an update on how God is moving at my school! "What’s your mission field?" When I heard that question, a lightbulb went off and my excitement to return to school started to grow. A lot. This is the time to witness Christ to my classmates and community!! I heard about the 9 Month Mission Trip and decided to join! The goals are to pray for others (privately and publicly), care for others (genuinely get to know them), and share the Gospel. Today was day 1 of the trip, being the first day of school, and I saw God at work in so many ways! I’ve been nervous to go back, as the last time I sat in a classroom was 529 days ago. (What would school be like? What about the pandemic? Who will I sit with at lunch?) This morning before school, I prayed that God would silence my fears and use me as a light for Him, fulfilling the purpose He’d given me to influence those around me. Two things happened! (Well actually a lot more than 2, but here are the highlights) 1. At lunch, a freshman came and sat by me. She said she had just moved to Fargo and I got to know her a bit more. I looked at her and said, “Crazy question! Would you want to come to our youth group tonight? We have a weekly bonfire and we’d love to have you!” I sent her mom the details, and honestly, I didn’t expect her to show up. SHE SHOWED UP!!!!! Right on time, she came to youth group, heard the Gospel, worshiped with us and got to hear more about God’s love. She told me that her family would only go to church a few times a year and only if they were invited by family, she doesn’t have a relationship with God, but really enjoyed the experience tonight and would for sure come back. God is so good! Now I get to have lunch with her and other new friends and share Jesus every day!!! 2. All of my fears and worries were completely gone. I walked through the halls, and it felt like God was saying “I made you to be different! You were chosen, purpose-filled, and born to be unique. Own it!” Not once today did I feel less than, lonely, pressured by peers or perfection, sad to be back, etc. Thank you Jesus!! “Fan into flame the spiritual gift God gave you. For God has not given you a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.” - 2 Timothy 1:6-8 Can’t wait for tomorrow! - Zoe IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR!
August 1st marked one year since I joined the staff of the National Network of Youth Ministries! Judy and I want to say a big public "THANK YOU!" to everyone who has prayed for us, joined our support team, and blessed us in many ways so that we can do this ministry. We are still in the process of raising support but so many good things have been happening and we're grateful for all of you who have helped make it possible. You can read more at... https://mailchi.mp/a5d987eef749/prayerletter25 I recently read through the book of Job.
What Job didn't know was that he was in the middle of a much bigger story that was taking place. His suffering was not random, and certainly not planned by God. He and God were not the only characters in that story. There was another character, an enemy, set on destroying him.* It may not have been til he died that Job found out that God was letting a story play out that for thousands of years would encourage people to keep going in a world full of tragedy and loss. - How often do we forget that something bigger is going on here? - How often do we fail to realize there's an enemy set on destroying our hearts and destroying our relationship with God? - How often do we forget that God can redeem and restore us and use our lives to encourage, uplift, and enable others to keep going? I forget those things all the time. BUT I'm thankful for the story of Job that reminds me that nothing is random, nothing is purposeless, nothing is meaningless. God can turn all of the trial, testing, and tragedy into testimonies of His overwhelming grace, His overcoming power, and even His indestructible joy. * credit to John Eldredge's book EPIC for his thoughts on the larger story and the enemy as a character in the story. Exodus 20:1-6, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tell us to worship God and only God - in the 21st century doesn't that sounds harsh and narrow-minded? Why would God demand this? Here are several reasons...
1. We all worship something - the question is not "Will we worship?" The question really is "What do we worship?" People worship money, power, beauty, fame, and so much more! One of the problems with worshiping things other than God is that "We all have a God shaped hole" (Blaise Pascal) and if we try to fill that with anything else, we will always feel empty. More importantly when we worship other things, we offend the Almighty, Holy God who is really the only one worthy of our worship! 2. We become like what we worship! If you worship money, what do you become? If you worship power, what do you become? You get the idea. Ultimately, if we don’t worship God, we worship evil and we become...evil. But if we worship God who is good, kind, just, and loving then we can truly become all of those things as He changes and transforms us. 3. We serve what we worship! We can't help it - what we worship drives what we do with our time, money, and energy. Basically, if we don’t serve God, we are serving ourselves and we become selfish. 4. We connect with those who worship what we worship. You will gravitate toward people who worship what you do. That's just a fact! Look at the things you love - you love connecting with people who loves those things too. Nothing wrong with that but we must remember that if we don't worship God we won't want to connect with those who do worship him and we'll be drawn to those who worship other things. 5. We share what we worship! We are compelled to talk about what we worship! We can't help talking about the things that we love right? Your favorite sports team, your favorite band, your favorite place to eat - no matter what we love we tell others about with our words, what we wear, how we decorate our homes, etc. Truly worshiping God always results in telling others about Him. |
WHO I AM
I'm a follower of Jesus, husband to my lovely wife Judy, father of Evangelina, Micah, Josiah, and Jeremiah, missionary to the northeast United States and advocate for all things youth ministry. WHAT I DO
I am the northeast regional coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries. I've worked for the last 24 years as the co-executive director of Teens For Christ, a ministry that equips teenagers to share their faith in their schools. I also served on staff at Cherry Tree Alliance Church for 15 years as youth pastor and family life pastor. My Websites
Youth Ministry Consultations Youth Ministry Networking 9 Month Mission Trip Speaking at camps, retreats, youth groups, etc. Archives
March 2022
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