Youth Blog

Hey guys

Taste and see is this Sunday, are you excited? I am. Unfortunately I don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday, so it has made me think about unexpectedness, how do you feel when something happens that you just don’t expect to happen?

God is the ultimate unexpected random person because he does things that we wouldn’t expect to happen. When Jesus walked on water do you think that the fishermen expected it or was it something random that they couldn’t have even imagined?

This weeks blog isn’t aimed for thought provoking or life changing moments, its designed for all of you to reply and say what god has done with you that was random and unexpected, so read all the replies and be encouraged by each other.

See you all on Sunday

Hey guys

I have one simple question for you all to think about!

How close are you to God?

Im kind of cutting straight to the point today and im sorry if it’s not what you expected but its something that we need to be constantly reviewing.

Try and imaging something like the Grand Canyon, you are on one side and god is on the other, there isn’t any bridge and everything you have tried to do to get to the other side just won’t reach, so one day Jesus comes along and fills the gap and allows you to get to the other side, what do you do?

Are you standing on your side and doing nothing or are you slowly going onto the bridge, or are you on the other end of this Jesus Bridge being very close to God?

Jesus wants us to be close to him and spend some quality god time.

Now unless this is the first web site you have been on you have probably been on this for a while, it’s a shame that generally we have no problem doing stuff for our leisure but loads of problems spending time with God.

I have a challenge for you all, it’s called a challenge because it can be hard but it’s always good to do it. I want you to try and spend 30 minutes a day (morning, lunch or evening) praying and reading your bible. On Sunday evening we will be spending the entire evening in Gods presence which I always enjoy doing because spending time with god, the creator of everything, is the most amazing experience ever.

Some basic points to think about

How close am I to God?

Do I spend enough time with God?

What can I do over the next week to spend more time with God?

 see ya sunday

Ok, I was away with YFC for a week at a conference and I had arranged for a friend of mine to come and join me. However, he said he couldn’t and the way it was put across, his reason, was that he wouldn’t go unless someone else would go with him. So I ignored him, and had a minor falling out. Do you think I was childish? I do! He has been a friend of mine for as long as I have been a Christian. We all do stupid things; I like to call this the sheep complex (this is where evil Japanese sheep came from). Basically it’s a story of a field of sheep on top of a cliff. One day a sheep decides to run off it because it had nothing better to do, what happened next? The rest of the sheep followed and jumped off the cliff! Why am I telling you this? Because sheep are stupid, and so was I! http://www.zealoty.com/html%20files/weird%20news.html follow the link and it will tell you the full story. I see people around me ending friendships because of the most stupid and petty reasons going! In the end I spoke to my friend and ended the “sheepieness!” I believe that we are all called to fix broken relationships because Jesus was the ultimate friend-maker. I think that all relationships should have God at the centre of it. Even friendly relationships with someone that doesn’t believe in God can be Godly because of the way YOU act. Your attitude can affect others and encourage even non-believers to act in a Godly way. So I challenge you to fix your broken relationships, keep them strong, and remember you only get out what you put in so don’t be afraid to put in the extra hours work! And most importantly don’t be a sheep!!! J

Do you think that Christmas is important?People today have many different answers to this question - even Christians. Sometimes we focus on the commercial side of Christmas, whilst others try to focus on different parts of the Christian Christmas story. Perhaps for you the most significant part of the story is the role of the wise men, or maybe the part where Jesus is born in a stable. The part I try to focus on is not only the story of Jesus being born, but also that fact that the Bible says “he will save people from their sins”. And if you read on further, he does! Have you heard the phrase XMAS? For me this is a term which tales Christ out of Christmas. How do you think you would feel if you were told that you weren’t getting any presents this year?  I don’t know if this is me being old but it wouldn’t particularly bother me because I’m not very present focused. I want to encourage you all this year to be Godly about your Christmas - don’t become another commercialised Christian. Anyhow - a very wise man once said “its better to give than to receive” and I for one happen to agree.

Hey guys.

It’s been great to get to know each of you over the last couple of months but I have some stuff to tell you so you can get to know me even better. Did you know that I got bullied really badly in school? Did you know that out of the entire school I would be the only one to have NO friends? Have you noticed the Billy no-mates in your school, because in my school I was him! Now you’re probably thinking why did he tell me this and like most things I do have a reason. The reason is that no-one was willing to reach out to me in my lowest days and it almost drove me to do things that would not have a great effect on my being, and yet, in the days where young Christians are making more of a stand in their schools and colleges it still happens.

Just ask yourself the question do I care about those in need in my school/college/work?

If you do then that’s great, prove it! Get out there and change someone’s life, be Jesus for someone.

If you don’t then do you want to want to care? Someone that loves God cares about what god cares about, and if you don’t care about what God cares about then you need to think why and what can be done to change that.

I want to challenge you this week to go and make the difference, to show compassion and love for people you normally wouldn’t, be Jesus for someone!

Do you dare to be different?!

Everyday we have choices to make, the choice to speak to someone, the choice to hang out with a certain kind of person, the choice of what we watch, but sometimes we make bad decisions with those choices. If you had the choice of helping someone in financial need or buying a Nintendo wii (ultimate gaming experience) most people would pick the wii, because it’s awesome, but also because as humans, we all have selfish desires. We all make bad decisions from time to time (if you don’t, let me know because I would love to know your secret).

‘The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.’ Galatians 6:8

Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians and he was trying to say that even though it’s our nature to make sinful decisions we must change and make spirit focused decisions. As Christians we need to be reflecting Christ in our lives, which includes decisions that we make. I remember in college I made a decision to use my phone in class which was against the rules, and the teacher (who was an atheist) made an example of me to the entire class. Then he went a step further and said “YOU CALL YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN!” That made me think about what I did, and if my actions in that class were representing Christ in the right way.

I want to challenge you all this week to not only make good choices, but make choices that are outwards focused, to stand out from the crowd and honour god. “Do you dare to be different?”

For the last few weeks on Sunday evenings we have been thinking about friendship and praying for friends. We have also talked about how to build up and encourage one another. I believe that friendship is one of the most important things in the world. When I was younger close friendship was something that I lacked in my life, and I missed this very much. I would see people take advantage of their friends and treat them badly and so I thought that this was the way to have a friendship. Obviously I was wrong! The question I have for you to think about and discuss this week is “do we take our friends for granted and do we take advantage of them?”