What Do You Fear?

"Fear. It was fear that killed my parents. On the far side of the world, I tasted fear in it’s purest form and thought I’d conquered it. But, fear followed me home...” - Batman

I have to make a confession; I am afraid of most animals. I think they are all cute and stuff, but at the end of the day I want to keep myself at a distance and be ready in case they attack. Perhaps my fear of animals is silly and I just need to get over my dog destroying my G.I. Joes when I was a little boy, but don’t we all have fears?

What do you fear?

Fear will always cause a person to react. If you are afraid of getting pulled over by a cop, you will drive slower. If you are afraid of getting caught cheating, you will either avoid cheating or be more secretive about it. Fear might cause you to run away or it might cause you get ready to fight. Depending on how you view God, you might look at him with fear. If the thought of God causes you to be afraid, it will cause you to react.  You might react by rebelling against him, you might react by ignoring him, or you might even react by doing what he says with hopes that you might appease him.

If you are afraid of God, what do when something bad happens? Certainly fear would lead you to think, “Perhaps God is punishing me.” In 1 Kings 18, there are a group of prophets worshipping their god in hopes that they will get him to pay attention. They shout, they dance, the cut themselves. But nothing. In their view of god, what do they do? Was their god too tired? Was he busy dealing with somebody more important? Did they screw something up and he didn’t care anymore?

“In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because he first loved us.” - 1 John 4:17-19

We don’t need to be afraid of God. We can approach him confidently because of what we know about him. While we are certainly sinners, because of the fact that Jesus suffered and died to pay the price for our sins, we can approach God confidently knowing that our relationships have been made right with him.  Because of Jesus, we don't need to be afraid.  The sacrifice of Jesus drives out this feeling of being afraid that might creep into our relationship with Him.

At the same time, Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” This is another kind of fear. This is the fear that looks at God in awe and reverence. This is the fear that doesn’t cause us to react in a way that’s afraid of God but in a way that trusts God. The devil seeks to drive us to being afraid. He seeks to make us afraid, which might lead us to react in anger or rebellion. But God seeks to drive out that kind of fear and instead drive us to a fear that trusts because “He first loved us.”

Let's Make a Name for Ourselves

In the Old Testament there was a group of people who wanted fame. They wanted nothing more than to make a name for themselves, and they decided the way to do this was to build a giant tower. In Genesis 11:4, they say “Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves...”

Isn’t this exactly what we so often do? We do whatever we can to make a name for ourselves. We try to get tons of friends on facebook, followers on twitter, or likes on instagram. But, why? Because we want people to be impressed with us. This is called “pride.” Pride the feelings you get when you do something good. So you feel prideful because you feel popular if people follow you or like your stuff. You might feel pride if you are the prettiest girl in the school. You might feel pride if you get paid more than your co-workers.

When I was growing up, I had dreams of being famous. My dreams meant I would be a famous basketball player. I dreamed of the day I would run out onto the court as the announcer called out my name. Maybe for you, you have similar dreams. Maybe you dream of being a famous actor, athlete, or writer. There’s nothing wrong with those dreams, but I want to challenge you to make it an even greater priority to pursue making Jesus famous. I’m not saying not to pursue your basketball career or writing, but in the midst of those make your goal to make Jesus famous, not yourself.

HE > ME

When Jesus first comes on the ministry scene, he’s not the big deal in town. In fact, there’s a guy by the name of John who is baptizing a bunch of people and has gotten quite the following. As Jesus‘ following grows, John is questioned about what he thinks about all this. In John 3:26, some of John’s disciples ask, “that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan - the one you testified about - well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John responds with an answer that I think should guide the way we live our lives. John says, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Nowhere in our world will somebody tell you that you should pursue becoming less of a big deal. But John is pursing this. He has no problem that he is becoming less of a big deal because in his case that means that Jesus is becoming more of a big deal. What would your life look like if you lived in a way that everything you did was so that Jesus might become a bigger deal?

“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:3

In everything you do, you can glorify God. When you go to school, live in a way that makes a big deal of Jesus. Let your choices be guided by making Jesus a big deal. When you hang out with your friends, glorify God. When you are with your family, make Jesus a big deal. When you are playing video games, glorify God.

Castaway Bay 2013

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Harlem Shake

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Dunes + Lake Ann Camp 2012

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Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx1-q0KP3NI This fall for one of our middle school events we are going to be taking our students to an indoor trampoline park called Sky Zone.  I just recently heard of them popping up all over the place and was pumped to find out that we have one less than an hour away.  I've never been to one, but I can't imagine it not being a hit.  What could be better than tons of trampolines to play dodgeball, basketball, and do flips on.

Have you been to a Sky Zone yet?  What did you think?

The Teenage Brain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KQb3Mx2WMw I have read articles, books, and blog posts about the teenage brain several times, but none of those quite compare to this video of Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the Office) explaining why teenagers are the way they are.  The teenage brain is incredibly fascinating and greatly affects how we minister to students.  If you work with teenagers in any capacity or are a parent of teenagers, I think you'll find this video amusing.