Thoughts from the International President...

Accused of doing wrong...

2011-12-22T12:47:00.005-07:00

So often the media use Christians and the Church as its "whipping boy", but the following story is an example of how this recently backfired mainly because of the integrity and reputation of those leading the ministry of Youth for Christ in the Ukraine. The story comes from Tyoma Kondrashov (who is YFC Ukraine's Sports Ministry Coordinator) and refers to the Christian Soccer League Awards ceremony in Ukraine at the start of this month, attended by about 1,500 people and many famous names in Ukraine:

Awarding Ceremony of the Christian Football League had a great resonance in the mass media in Ukraine. More than 100 publications printed good feedbacks on the event, all of them admitted the positive role of the church and Christians in a social life. All… except one TV channel, which showed a scandalous shot. This ‘BallFoot’ program had the video from "Dinamo Kiev” TV but put totally different sound: comments and story, combined with a few videos where people were howling and crawling on the floor. So they showed us as a crazy sect and called poor Dinamo Kiev football player who came for the first time at the Ceremony a member of sect and participant of in the ceremony. And then it all began...

But the scandal turned good for us! God stood up for His children. Can you imagine that other secular media got very angry on this ‘BallFoot’ and worried about us and our reputation! Many secular media people called me and said kind words of support and assured that they would not leave it as it was. Their righteous anger went so far that this ‘BallFoot’ program was close to shutting down. The editor-in-chief of this program called me, apologized and offered financial compensation. But we refused and instead asked him to make official apology to Dinamo Kiev team and the Church in his next program. And thank God they agreed! The best in this situation is that huge numbers of unbelievers interceded for believers! Just think how nice it was to hear the calls of support from the chief editor of “Football” magazine (circulation 100,000), from a journalist whose web-site has tens of thousands of visits a day etc.

This story reminds of the verse in 1 Peter 2:12 - Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Entrusting Others to Jesus

2011-10-05T12:10:00.002-06:00

Our ultimate desire for those who are touched by the Kingdom should be that they become all that God designed them to be; that through a relationship with Jesus, and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, they will take up their unique role in God’s Kingdom and become more and more like Jesus every day.

I think one of the biggest challenges for those of us who have been part of the Church for some time is trusting God with the transformation of new believers. Our tendency is to map out the development of novice followers of Jesus, projecting onto them what we think they should be, and setting agendas for their compliance with our understanding of the principles and expectations of the Kingdom. It is easy in this context to get ahead of God and start to meddle in the development of a new believer, missing what God is already doing in their life, and overriding his agenda for their spiritual development.

What we often overlook is that behaviors are generated from the heart. The Bible tells us that out of the heart come all kinds of bad behavior. But only God can change the state of the heart; so when we try to address behaviors alone, we are only treating symptoms and not the cause. Symptomatic treatment of a heart condition will never bring about permanent healing and change.

Our calling is to love people, no matter what their behaviors, and share with them the principles and values of the Kingdom; and then leave it up to God to bring about heart and behavioral change.

Jesus was unpredictable and unconventional in his approach to those he encountered, often focusing on issues in a person’s life that didn’t at first appear to be the main issue that needed to be addressed. However, in his interaction with individuals or groups, Jesus consistently honed in on the very thing that was the key to their transformation, exposing through seemingly superficial conversation the core of a person’s worldview, and revealing to them the radical change that was necessary for them to follow him.

If we truly believe in the transformational power of Jesus, then we should be able to confidently hand people over to his care and trust him to mold and change them into who he wants them to be, following his timeline and sanctifying agenda. I believe that the best we can do for fellow followers of Jesus—particularly new believers—is to nurture their relationship with Jesus, walking the journey with them rather than directing their spiritual development, spending time with them in prayer, talking to them about Jesus and his work in our own life and in the world, studying scripture with them and sharing what we are personally learning from God’s Word.

We need to steer away from the temptation to recreate people in our own image and let God have free reign in their lives; to recreate others into what he has designed them to be—unique and authentic representatives of Jesus.

Religion vs Relationship

2011-09-11T13:54:00.000-06:00

Jesus doesn’t call his followers to seek “converts” to Christianity. He calls us to introduce others to him—to offer people the opportunity to be his disciples. Our task, our calling, is simply to introduce people to Jesus.

Conversion is a religious concept. Following Jesus is all about relationship, not religion. Jesus didn’t come to this earth to create a new religion; he didn’t ask people to convert to a religious ideology; he simply asked people to “follow” him; he invited them into relationship with him. (Matthew 2:14; 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21)

The early disciples of Jesus declared themselves to be “followers of the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22), rather than identifying themselves as members of a new religion or sect. Jesus was “The Way” and his disciples simply committed themselves to following “the way of Jesus”. They didn’t ask people to “become Christians”; they just “lived” Jesus and provided opportunity for others to meet, believe in, and follow him.

In many cases Jesus’ followers still retained their cultural and religious identity. There were Jewish followers of Jesus, Greek followers of Jesus, Arab followers of Jesus, Cretan followers of Jesus. The problems came when the members of one of the cultures imposed their religious practice on others.

If Jesus and the early disciples didn’t ask people to convert to a religion or ideology, then neither should we. Becoming citizens of God’s Kingdom has little to do with accepting a catalogue of rules or aligning with a religion—it is all about a relationship with Jesus. The mandate of the gospel is to provide people with an opportunity to be followers (disciples) of Jesus.

As citizens of the Kingdom of God our primary task is to introduce people to Jesus, not to try to get them to commit to a religious system called Christianity.

OSAMA IS DEAD!

2011-05-02T16:08:00.011-06:00

Listening to President Obama announce the death of Osama Bin Laden last night and then watching as hundreds celebrated outside the White House, I had mixed feelings. I was somewhat troubled by the expressions of jubilation.

As I sat in my office early this morning, the day after the announcement of the killing of Bin Laden, I heard someone in the reception area of the Youth for Christ building yelling out, “He’s dead, he’s dead—yea!” A little later someone stated, “at last he is dead, now he will rot in hell!” Again I was troubled, asking myself if this was how believers should react to the violent death of an “enemy”.

As followers of Jesus how should we respond to this announcement? What did you feel when you heard Bin Laden was dead? Should we celebrate?

What does God’s Word say about our enemies?

“Do not gloat when your enemies fall; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.” ~Proverbs 24:17

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” ~Ezekiel 33:11

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” ~Matthew 5:44

How many of us who follow Jesus prayed for the salvation of Osama Bin Laden? I didn’t.

HOW DO WE REACT WHEN WE ARE VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE?
Recently Jenny and I and our family have experienced injustice. We have been victimized by a system that seems to reward the most accomplished liars and supports the powerful, the influential and the oppressor. How do we react?

As Jenny and I struggled with the injustice our family has been experiencing, I asked one of my prayer intercessors to join with us in prayer. I requested that she and her prayer team pray that the truth would prevail and that justice would be done. But that didn’t happen. A hearing before a magistrate went very badly and lies and manipulation of the system won the day. Honestly, my reaction was to wish ill of the perpetrator of the injustice. It didn’t help when our family’s lawyer said, “I have never felt this way before, but I wish that person would just drop dead.” This lawyer felt powerless to do anything about a great injustice, and his response fed our desire for the demise of those who were victimizing our family.

When I reported the outcome of the hearing to our prayer intercessor she asked what I wanted her to pray for now. I didn’t know how to answer her. I knew I couldn’t tell her to pray that the one who was persecuting us would “drop dead”. So I said I didn’t know what she should prayer for. After several days she came back to me and said the only thing she felt she could pray for was the salvation of the person who was hurting our family so much. She was right; when it comes to praying about those who we consider to be our enemies, we are directed in the Bible to pray for their salvation.

God’s Word clearly instructs us to pray for our enemies—to intercede for those who seek our demise and are intent on hurting and oppressing us.

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ~Luke 6:27, 28

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ~Romans 12:14

Jesus prayed from the cross for those who were crucifying him:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” ~Luke 23:34

Stephen’s prayer for those who were stoning him

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” ~Acts 7:60

SEEK JUSTICE
In Isaiah 1:17 we are told, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.” And in Isaiah 58:6, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Proverbs 31:8, 9 instructs us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” And Proverbs 29:7 declares, ”The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” God clearly directs us in his Word to address injustice.

Defending the defenseless, championing the cause of the oppressed and protecting the vulnerable from violence are Biblical imperatives for the believer. We should never waiver in our struggle against injustice. And we should be proactive in seeking justice. There is much truth in the well known quote by Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

But when great injustice has been done should we seek vengeance? Osama Bin Laden has been the perpetrator of much violence, suffering and death in this world. Many have sought vengeance for what he has done and have been waiting years for Osama Bin Laden to be found and “get what he deserved”. But is vengeance a worthy pursuit for a believer?

God is very clear that hatred and vengeance are not valid options for those who would follow him:

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is
written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
~Romans 12:19-21

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
~Romans 12:17

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.
~Leviticus 19:18

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
~Matthew 5:43, 44

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

It seems to me that what God asks of us is that we be defenders rather than aggressors. Our role is to defend the defenseless and to proactively intervene wherever and whenever we encounter injustice. But the motivation for this should never be revenge or hatred. Our motivation should always be the cause of the victims of the injustice.

So how should we view the death of Osama Bin Laden? From many perspectives the killing was justified. But as representatives of Jesus and His Kingdom our response should not be driven by vengeance but rather the necessity to defend the defenseless. We should view this event with sadness because the life of another human being was taken to prevent the further violation, victimization and death of others.

Osama Bin Laden is dead and he can no longer hurt others. But if we delight in his death and respond with celebration and glee, rather than evil being defeated it will have triumphed once more and the enemy will have been given a further foothold in the world.

Availability...

2010-11-04T16:17:00.004-06:00

“God doesn’t care about your ability or your inability; God cares about your availability”

Throughout our ministry life my wife Jenny and I have had “moments of calling” where God has called us to do something that is way beyond our abilities and often involves great sacrifice and disruption to our life. Every time this has happened, before God told us what He wanted us to do, He first asked us to be available.

God wants us to be totally surrendered to Him. When we say to God, “Lord, my life is Yours, do whatever You want with it;” that is when He uses us to do great things for Him; but it is also the time that it costs us the most to serve Him.

Recently I was travelling with our National Director from Mexico, Jose Carlos Gutierrez and his wife Sara. He was speaking at a school assembly in Arizona and shared a message on being available for God. He told the story about how Sara and he had married 12 months ago, had set up their home and were comfortable and content with their life. But God came to them and asked them whether they were “available”—whether they would be prepared to do anything or go anywhere for Him. Without knowing what God had in store for them they said “yes” to Him. Not long after this God clearly told them both that He wanted them to move to Juarez, Mexico to establish the YFC ministry in this city.

Juarez is currently the most dangerous city in Mexico and one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It is controlled by drug cartels and is known as “murder city”. The drug cartels recruit and pay large sums of money to young teenagers to kill people. They have recently started demanding protection money from churches and schools and have killed Pastors and Principals who refuse to pay.

When it was clear that God wanted Jose Carlos and Sara to move to Juarez, Sara cried every night for three weeks. But they were obedient to the Lord and moved to Juarez and for six months now they have been faithfully reaching out to young people who desperately need the love and salvation of Jesus. They have a great vision for the young people of this city and God is using them mightily to reach lost young people who have no hope without Jesus.

God calls us all to be available to Him. Are you prepared to say to the Lord, “I am available; I totally surrender my life to You; do whatever You want with me to grow Your Kingdom”? When we do this God can and will use us to do great things for Him.

Operating in the Truth...

2010-04-22T17:47:00.001-06:00

I have a close friend who is an international negotiator. In this role he often ends up in meetings with national leaders brokering agreements and contracts that involve major infrastructure development that have the potential to significantly impact national economies and millions of people. In such situations, with much at stake, it is very hard to navigate through the relational and political complexities to arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome.

Last year my friend was in a meeting with the political and religious leaders of an Islamic African and Middle Eastern nation. Things were not going well as each of the participants tried to work themselves into a better negotiating position. As my friend observed the games being played and lies been told, he became increasingly frustrated. Eventually, seeing no progress being made, he interrupted the meeting, pointed at one of the Presidents, and said “You are lying!” A stunned silence ensued.

My friend quietly explained that unless everyone started to operate in the “truth” he would no longer participate in the meeting. He would only continue if he could get a commitment from each of the participants that they would stop playing games and tell the truth. The silence continued. My friend then did an extraordinary thing. He stated that he was a follower of Jesus, and at difficult moments like these he had found that the best way to get through was to pray to Jesus and ask for His help. He asked if anyone had any objection to him praying to Jesus. All appeared to be OK with this. So my friend simply stood up with all these national leaders and asked Jesus to help them be honest with each other, to conduct the meeting with integrity and truth, and to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

Inviting Jesus – the author of truth - to this meeting was transformational. So many people in this world long for truth, hunger of honesty, and search for integrity. And there is really only one place to find all of these things – in relationship with Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The meeting continued with a completely different atmosphere. Honesty and truth prevailed, trust was developed, and resolution was reached. My friend is now in great demand as a negotiator. He gets many calls from business and government leaders. He is getting to be known as someone who can be trusted, as someone who operates in the truth, as someone who follows Jesus.

Wouldn’t we all like to be known as someone who can be trusted, as someone who operates in the truth, as someone who follows Jesus.

The Power of God's Word

2010-02-24T14:25:00.003-07:00

Whilst appearing on a Christian TV talk show recently I met a fellow guest named Brian Hardin. I was captivated by Brian’s story and how it demonstrates in a unique way the transformational and miraculous power of God’s Word.

In 2005, Brian was a very successful music producer, graphic artist and photographer with over 150 Christian music albums to his credit. But God had different plans for Brian’s life. Using a financial crisis in his business, God upturned Brian’s world bringing him to a point of brokenness and rededication. Realizing he had strayed a long way from God, Brian told God he was prepared to do anything for Him. Amazingly, all God told Brian to do was “read the Bible”.

At the time Brian had been experimenting with podcasts as a means to expand his business (a podcast is a series of audio or video files that are released and downloaded through web syndication). Brian decided he would record himself reading the Bible every day and invite people to listen to his Bible reading by downloading it as a podcast. It was at this point that God began to miraculously bless Brian’s obedience. Surprisingly, over 200 people downloaded the first podcast. Soon hundreds more people started downloading the podcasts, and then thousands, then tens of thousands, and finally millions! Now, after reading the Bible “on-line” daily for 1,519 consecutive days (as at Feb 20), there have been over 26 million downloads of Brian’s daily Bible reading. Every day thousands more join the Daily Audio Bible community from all over the world.

Brian has numerous stories of peoples’ lives being transformed by hearing the daily reading of the God’s Word. A rapidly growing global community of “Bible listeners” has emerged, populated by people collectively praying for the advance of God’s Kingdom. One third of Daily Audio Bible listeners are from China!

Brian Hardin is impacting the world for Jesus; and all that he is doing is simply reading the Bible to people every day. In the “Bio” on his website Brian concludes, “I want to finish well and have ripples of my life going on for generations to follow. I want it to matter for the Kingdom of God that I was here.”

The power of God’s Word to transform lives is amazing; all we simply need to do is share it with others.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Trusting God...

2009-12-18T09:23:00.007-07:00

After returning to Denver from a deeply encouraging and uplifting trip in November to South America meeting with Latin American Leaders; I arrived back to be confronted with the challenges of funding our end-of-year needs for Youth for Christ International. As I focused on the financial shortfalls facing the ministry in such difficult economic times I was somewhat overwhelmed with the challenge of raising the funds to meet these needs. I was especially burdened for our donors and ministry partners. As I have met with many of our faithful supporters and friends throughout the year I have been confronted with their pain and the impact this recession is having on these much-loved servants of Jesus. I found myself laying awake at night worrying about finances, deeply concerned for our many friends who are battling to survive in business, praying for them and wondering why things need to be so hard for us at a time when we are overwhelmed with opportunities to grow the ministry and impact so many more young people.

One of the great blessings God has given me is that He has surrounded me with godly men and women who mentor me, support me and pray for me. They soon picked up that something was bothering me and confronted me about this. They reminded me of a special word the Lord had given me recently about His miraculous provision and they challenged me to stop relying on myself and instead trust God. They prayed for me, that I would be able to give this burden over to the Lord. They prayed for our ministry partners that I felt so powerless to help, that God would meet their needs and encourage them in these times of financial famine.

I realized that like Peter, I had taken my eyes off Jesus, looking instead at the storm raging around me. In fear and helplessness I had begun to sink. As I turned my eyes back to Jesus and trusted Him with the burden and fear He lifted me up and carried me into the security of His care, love and sovereignty.

It is now a month later and as I prepare to leave for a trip to Australia to be with family for the holidays, I find myself in a different state of faith. We are half way to meeting our year end financial target and still have some way to go, but God has been so good to us in providing funds and encouragement through His people as well as giving me absolute assurance of His continued provision. So, I am resting in His promise and am confident that He will supply the remainder of the funds we need before the end of the year. I have an amazing sense of peace about this financial challenge and the needs of our friends and supporters. God has given us many reminders about His Sovereignty, providence, care, grace and love.

I pray that you and your families also experience God’s peace and the assurance of His love and provision as you celebrate the coming of Jesus to our world. May you have a wonderful Jesus-filled Christmas and a blessed and God-directed New Year.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen ~ (Eph 3:20-21)

The Word the Lord gave me...

2009-11-16T11:35:00.010-07:00

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19

The following quote by D.L. Moody has encouraged me lately as I have felt burdened by the needs of our donors and ministry partners who have been struggling in this economic downturn. Please read my most recent 'prayer update' on my website to understand the full impact of this story about D.L. Moody and his encouragement to R.A. Torrey which in turn has encouraged me to hold fast to what God has called me to do and trust Him to provide all we need.

Moody quote - by R.A. Torrey.....

One day Mr. Moody drove up to my house at Northfield and said: "Torrey, I want you to take a ride with me." I got into the carriage and we drove out toward Lover's Lane, talking about some great and unexpected difficulties that had arisen in regard to the work in Northfield and Chicago, and in connection with other work that was very dear to him.

As we drove along, some black storm clouds lay ahead of us, and then suddenly, as we were talking, it began to rain. He drove the horse into a shed near the entrance to Lover's Lane to shelter the horse, and then laid the reins upon the dashboard and said: "Torrey, pray"; and then, as best I could, I prayed, while he in his heart joined me in prayer. And when my voice was silent he began to pray. Oh, I wish you could have heard that prayer! I shall never forget it, so simple, so trustful, so definite and so direct and so mighty. When the storm was over and we drove back to town, the obstacles had been surmounted, and the work of the schools, and other work that was threatened, went on as it had never gone on before, and it has gone on until this day.

As we drove back, Mr. Moody said to me: "Torrey, we will let the other men do the talking and the criticizing, and we will stick to the work that God has given us to do, and let Him take care of the difficulties and answer the criticisms."

On one occasion Mr. Moody said to me in Chicago: "I have just found, to my surprise, that we are twenty thousand dollars behind in our finances for the work here and in Northfield, and we must have that twenty thousand dollars, and I am going to get it by prayer." He did not tell a soul who had the ability to give a penny of the twenty thousand dollars' deficit, but looked right to God and said: "I need twenty thousand dollars for my work; send me that money in such a way that I will know it comes straight from Thee." And God heard that prayer. The money came in such a way that it was clear that it came from God in direct answer to prayer.

Yes, D. L. Moody was a man who believed in the God who answers prayer, and not only believed in Him in a theoretical way but believed in Him in a practical way. He was a man who met every difficulty that stood in his way -- by prayer. Everything he undertook was backed up by prayer, and in everything, his ultimate dependence was upon God.

Blessings to you and yours,

Calling

2009-08-07T11:17:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine has a quote at the end of his emails from Howard Hendricks:

"Your career is what you get paid for; your calling is what you were made for."

I believe finding your calling – particularly in service to God – is pivotal to living a life of meaning and purpose.

The Bible says “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18 (KJV). Burnout is a form of perishing; it doesn’t occur because people are working too hard, or are too tired or too driven – it occurs when people lose their meaning and purpose in what they are doing with their life.

Many people trudge through life, just going through the motions of living without ever finding what they were made for; never reaching their full potential, never following a dream. I have lost count of the number of people who have told me they are counting down the days to their retirement. It appears they are finding little fulfillment in what they are doing and are literally wishing their life away.

A calling is a personal vision – a dream of what can be, of who you can be and of the impact you can have in the world. I believe the best way to find our calling is to ask the One who designed us what we were designed for. Why don’t you ask God what He wants you to do with your life, what He made you for – I am sure He will tell you.

Empowering our Youth as World Changers

2009-07-01T16:15:00.007-06:00

I often find myself meeting with small groups of adults and talking to them about how to respond to the current generation of young people - a generation who desire to change the world and who are actually looking for inter-generational relationships.

On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I was with such a small group and one of the people in the group happened to bring along their 18 year old daughter. I found myself sharing about young people, describing the current youth generation and all the time wondering how this was being perceived by this 18 year old. One of the things I shared was the various ways we can respond to young people who have dreams and visions to change the world and a desire to be heard by older generations. You can get a better overview of what I shared by going to the article I recently posted on my website by clicking here .

After I finished speaking, I gave an opportunity for people to respond, share their thoughts and ask questions. A number of the people in the group commented about young people and asked questions to gain further clarification of what I had shared. Eventually, Ed, my colleague who was travelling with me, asked this 18 year old what she thought about it all. She said that she had been captivated by what I was saying. She stated that she had many dreams and visions for changing the world for the better and for getting involved in church, but she said that nobody wants to listen. She also said that she longed for inter-generational relationships - she longed to hear older people’s stories and for older people to listen to hers. She expressed a great desire to be validated and affirmed by older generations. She expressed in a very heartfelt way how the disillusionment and alienation she felt within the Church was actually driving her away from involvement in local church community. She was very insitent that we all understood that her love for Jesus and commitment to her faith was not diminshing, but that she was drifting away from the Church because she simply couldn't find a place there.

It was so refreshing to have this young woman share at this gathering. She so clearly expressed what young people are experiencing and feeling in the Church today and she overwhelmingly reinforced our need to validate them, empower them to lead and have strategic input into who the church is and how we impact the world. Unfortunately, many churches seem to misunderstand where young people are today or know the proper response that needs to be extended to these world-changers. I pray that this young woman, who has so much potential, will find a place in the Church where she can lead now rather than be rejected as somebody who has to wait until they are older before they can have any valid role of leadership or influence.

Doing something you love to do for the Kingdom

2009-05-27T12:49:00.005-06:00

I love being around young people - they are so creative, uncomplicated and practical in their expressions of faith and service for the Kingdom. I was recently reminded of this by two young people – Teddy and Megan - who responded to a need that they heard me talking about when I was staying in their home on a recent visit to San Diego.

In YFC we have selected around 320 world-changing young leaders from 75 nations to lead our ministry into the future. We are seeking sponsorship for these young leaders to enable them to participate in a 2-year leadership and development process that will see them empowered into strategic leadership roles in our ministry throughout the world. It costs $3,500 to sponsor a young leader through this process. We still need sponsorship for some of these young leaders and while in San Diego Teddy (11) and Megan (9) heard me sharing about Jose Carlos – a young leader in Mexico.

They both decided they could do something for Jose Carlos. They committed to raising the money for the sponsorship. Teddy is a keen golfer and Megan is a gifted artist. Teddy planned a two-day golfing marathon involving playing 100 holes of golf. He got busy seeking sponsors for each hole he played. Megan designed gift cards, produced 700 cards and offered them for sale. To-date they have raised over $2,000!

These two young people when presented with an opportunity to serve God, instinctively worked out how God had equipped them to advance His Kingdom. How did they work this out? By assessing what they loved to do and applying this passion and natural gifting to serving God.

As we get older and more analytical about our faith, we tend to develop a perspective that we need to give up any pastimes, hobbies, activities we are passionate about. We feel guilty about enjoying passions and activities and devoting too much time and energy to these things. Maybe we need to reflect on what these activities and pastimes tell us about ourselves and work out ways we can employ our natural giftings and passions in the Kingdom of God. God is not a “killjoy”. He doesn’t look at all the things we are enjoying in life and demand that we give them up just because we enjoy them. He has made us all unique and special and he wants us to use our uniqueness to serve Him and others. Teddy and Megan didn’t feel guilty about their golf and art – they felt energized and empowered to do something for God. I think we can learn a lot from them.

The Global Economic Crisis

2009-04-24T15:47:00.002-06:00

As the world faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930's, I think it is important for us to acknowledge how this is impacting our ministry across the world and to strengthen and encourage each other as together we face the pain and challenges associated with this worldwide recession.

In the International office our giving is down 20% when compared to the same time last year. This has resulted in us having to make painful cuts to our budget, including substantial cuts to our staff salaries and benefits, as well as cuts to financial support and services we had planned to provide this year. Nations and YFC staff supported through our office are also experiencing significant shortfalls in giving.

I know many of you - my YFC brothers and sisters - are suffering much, and some of you have had to find alternative means of income and support to continue to function in YFC and care for your families.

It is tough times like these that define us as followers of Jesus. As we encounter difficult life circumstances it often causes us to pause and review our calling and commitment to ministry. For us in YFC, this is an opportunity to count the cost of remaining true to our unique and strategic calling to reach the young people of the world. I encourage you to persevere, to not lose sight of the prize, to finish the race.

As I reflect on the challenges we all face at present I am reminded of the verses in James 1:2-4~

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

With these verses in mind, I am greatly encouraged by the way in which YFC staff across the world are embracing the pain and continuing to serve under extremely difficult circumstances. Millions of young people are still being reached and discipled, and we are even seeing growth and development of new ministry in several regions of the world. This is a wonderful testimony to the faithfulness and commitment of our YFC family.

I want to remind you that you are not alone. Our God is with us and you are surrounded by a world-wide family that shares your calling, your joy, and your pain. Take time to encourage and pray for each other - call someone in YFC today, pray with someone, send an encouraging email. Let us join hands in unity and Christian community and support each other through this difficult and challenging time.

Your brother in Christ,