That’s what Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 when he says, “Rejoice always.” That is certainly a tall order. In my life, melancholy emotions are a recurring reality and I know that I am not the only one. I have been relieved to hear of many men and women of God ranging from Elijah the prophet, to Spurgeon the preacher who dealt with gloom. I recently read that Billy Graham’s family nicknamed him Puddleglum. Puddleglum is a dour character from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia (he is not a dwarf as I said in my message this weekend but rather a Marsh-wiggle, which is some sort of amphibious creature) who always expects the worse. That is a strange nickname for someone like Billy Graham who has been a constant beacon of hope and optimism to the world for many decades. His family knew that though he trusted the Lord he also struggled with pessimism and skepticism like many of us do. But God calls us to fight those feelings and rejoice anyways.

Now when Paul tells us that, he isn’t saying we need to always be happy (that’s not realistic) or that we need go around singing songs from Mary Poppins all the time (that would be super annoying.) But what he is saying is that we should never stop being full of joy. Joy is a supernatural fruit of the Spirit that enables us to delight in God’s goodness no matter what we are going through. Joy operates independently from circumstances. It doesn’t require us to be ordering happy meals in order to for it to function. Joy goes deeper than that. In fact, even when we are suffering we can rejoice, remembering that God uses trials to make us more like Him. Paul’s life attests to this fact, and his great book on joy, the epistle to the Philippians, was written from a Roman jail cell. So whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore by nature you can rejoice. Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!”

To hear a whole message on this click here.

Last week I wrote about fragile nature of movements, even powerful ones. Every vibrant work of God has an ever nearing expiration date, that date is the day the humans that make up the movement will expire themselves. We move closer to that “best by” date every day. That is why we must must always have the mindset of our need to pass the baton on to those who will be running when we have “spoiled.”  This mentality is a feature that can be found in some of the most prolific stories in scripture. What do Moses, Elijah, Mordechai, Naomi, Barnabas and Paul have in common? Besides a passion for the Lord they all focused time and attention on reaching and raising up young people. As a result, Joshua, Elisha, Esther, Ruth, John Mark and Timothy knew that they shouldn’t let anyone look down on their youth and so the movements continued. If we want what God has done in our lives and churches to continue we must have a similar focus.

I believe that the first step to take in effectively reaching young people (or any people) is simply having the desire to reach them. You have to have a burden from the Lord for them. It wasn’t until Paul was provoked within His spirit in Acts 17 that he went out and preached Christ in Athens. Similarly, we often read of Jesus being moved with compassion in the gospels and then speaking or ministering. If our actions flow from anywhere other than a genuine burden for lost people that comes from the Holy Spirit we will find the challenges to be too great. If on the other hand we ask the Lord to ignite a fire in our hearts and to give us His love for the lost then it won’t matter how challenging the road and how many obstacles are in our way.  If our hearts are set ablaze from on high, we will be unstoppable!

Once you have a burden for a particular group, audience or people, next you must take radical steps to target them. I am no fishermen but I know that if you have decided you want to fish for trout there are different things you will bring than if you want to fish for salmon, and that is an altogether different equipment list than will be needed if you are fishing for marlin. Companies realize this–that is why they are constantly addressing and readdressing the intangible attributes of their brands. From Cadillac to Nike to Nickelodeon–companies are never satisfied with how their brand is perceived right now, they know that in a few short years (or months) everything can change and they are constantly targeting youth.

Now in saying that, I know that many will immediately wonder, what we should be willing to change exactly? I suggest you tweak the Style not the Substance, your Methods not the Message. To use the fishing analogy–adjust the bait, chum and lures not the hook, the line or the net. We must not try so hard to be just like the world in order to reach the world and in the process give up what we had to offer to the world in the first place. The message is unchanging but the media delivery vehicles employed, graphic design, vibe, feel, sound and expression should be fluid and changing with the culture.
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I have been teaching through the life of Elijah at skull church. One of the things that really hit me hard this week was the fact that as Elijah’s chariot ride to heaven approached God had him focus on raising up his protege, Elisha. While we may not have such an impressive trip to heaven, the reality is that none of us are long for this earth. Reaching the next generation for Christ must always remain an urgent priority in the church if we are to wisely use the time that remains. If we don’t, it won’t matter how vibrant or powerful the work in our day was, because just as “there arose a Pharaoh that knew not Joseph,” (Exodus 1:8) a generation will rise after us that knows not God.

We must not only reach young people, but we need to do what we can to integrate them into the church in a meaningful way. In 2003, George Barna published these troubling findings: “Many twentysomethings are reversing course after having been active church attenders during their teenage years. As teenagers, more than half attended church each week and more than 4 out of 5 (81%) had ever gone to a Christian church. That means that from high school graduation to age 25 there is a 42% drop in weekly church attendance and a 58% decline from age 18 to age 29. That represents about 8,000,000 twentysomethings alive today who were active church-goers as teenagers but who will no longer be active in a church by their 30th birthday.”

I secretly wonder how much youth groups are to blame for this trend. Not that I am opposed to youth groups (quite the opposite) but I don’t think that churches ought to think that because they have a great youth program the “church of tomorrow” is being taken care of and so they can continue to cater everything that happens in the main sanctuary to the adults. Often youth groups tend to be mini-churches within the church. A student could potentially graduate high school without ever feeling like they are woven into the fabric of the larger church body. It makes sense to me that after college they wouldn’t return to a church they were never really apart of beyond student ministry.

At fresh life we have it set up so that through their teenage years students will be connected into the larger church body as they attend and hopefully serve, both at skull church and at weekend services. The student ministries don’t compete with but rather complement what happens in the main-sanctuary. They provide specialized student teachings, small groups, accountability, events and discipleship, but are not intended to be a student’s sole church experience. (That’s why we don’t offer student programs at every weekend service or any on wednesday night.) I see myself as a youth pastor at fresh life as well and always will. (even when I get super old)

Of course for this to work, the style of the services and opportunities for students to serve have to be addressed, and with that discussion there comes the fear that those who already enjoy the way things are in the church will be upset. But that deserves it’s own blog entry. I will muse on that later this week. For now, I’ll leave you with this haunting thought–Every movement is just one generation away from becoming a monument. We must pass it on.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that today you and your family have a special and happy day together as you take time to SLOW DOWN and appreciate all the many blessings that God has given. Since we don’t get to sit at the table together and go around during the meal sharing what we are thankful for I wanted to share a few items off my list:

My Savior who loved Me and gave Himself for Me. His love takes my breath away and I can’t wait to see Him face to face.

My Bride who is my love, partner in crime and my best friend. She is such a wonderful mother and encourager.

My two beautiful girls who make me smile & laugh and make me want to love Jesus more.

The amazing people at fresh life. It is a thrill to teach the Bible to hearts that are hungry for God’s Word and so eager to see people meet Jesus.

Skull Church, The Liberty Theatre, Fresh Life Radio, and Fresh Life Groups–all incredible doors of opportunity that God has illuminated and opened in the past year as we have taken steps of faith so that those stranded in sin would find life and liberty in Christ.

Aisle Seats in the Emergency Exit Row. For just that little extra bit of legroom and the ability to get up whenever I want. And “yes,” I am ready, willing and able to help in the event of an emergency.

Technology. Because I believe it exists to make Jesus famous (and because i am a big nerd.)

Billy Graham. Because he has shown what a life looks like that is focused like a laser on the cross. I am inspired to live my life as passionately obsessed with the gospel as he has.

What are you thankful for? Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done (1 Chronicles 16:8)

Here are some mobile musings on the following subjects: knowing and doing God’s will, Beatle’s Rockband and why (most of the time) I’m not tired.