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Currently our Youth Director has been called to protect our countryin Guam for a couple of years so, for the time being, we are without a youth leader for this ministry but our prayers go with Doug and his family while they are abroad. |
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COMMUNITY
TEEN
PROJECT Trinity has been working for months with 1st Assembly of God and Church of the Living Water to initiate an outreach to teens, providing them a safe place to play their own music and develop a relationship with their peers, adults and the Lord our God. As we began to look forward to making this a reality, questions were raised concerning lots of things such as how many times would we host this event, how many kids are we looking at, who is doing all the work, what part does Trinity play, what about liability? Well, stop right there! You would not believe the issues that came about from investigating liability...and they were good ones, even some that we never considered and that we need to put in place for some things that we do have going on here. In the meantime, as we were taking precautions regarding this undertaking, one of the congregations began a venture something similar with another church in the area. So, one of our partners in this venture of ours has moved on. This is not a bad thing, as I must say, I had some serious reservations about how the events were organized and just what was really going to be accomplished through them. Were we just providing a place for kids to hear bands, or was this actually a disciple building mission? So, for now, we will not be moving too far forward on this front. It has given me ideas as to how we can do something similar with ourselves and do it in the right Spirit. |
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PLAN B A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."
The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery an d suffering. The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, "I don't understand."
"It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves."
Life Is All About How You Handle Plan B
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The Basics of Listening To Godan excerpt from the writing of Seth Barnes
Beginning
How do you listen to an all-powerful but invisible God? The Bible has a lot to say about it. Over and over God interacts with people in a variety of ways. Our God is endlessly creative in how he communicates with them. He spoke to Daniel through visions, Balaam through a donkey, Peter through a rooster, and of all things, he spoke to Moses out of a shrub. He is a God who says, “Listen for my voice.”
Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
I don’t know about you, but for a long time, this verse bothered me. I was supposed to be listening for his voice, but mostly all I heard was silence. And this pointed to a deeper frustration. All my life I had struggled with this problem: I had accepted Jesus as my savior and was supposed to have this personal relationship with him, but it didn’t feel very personal.
How discouraging that the relationship that was supposed to be the most exciting and wonderful in my life had become a check on my to-do list.
Maybe you are like me – you grew up having monologues with God and have never heard before that he wants to talk to you. You’ve not really learned how to hear his voice. It shouldn’t be unusual for those of us who listen for God’s voice.
Christianity is a personal faith. God wants to talk to us. He wants to guide us, but we have to listen.
There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of God speaking to people in the Bible. It’s his modus operandi – and he gives detailed instructions for this in both the Old and New Testament. We also have a rich history of God speaking to man from Jesus’ time until the present - people like Augustine, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, and Brother Lawrence.
In our relationships, we are so distracted and busy that it’s often the exception rather than the rule that people listen to one another, much less listen to God. We need to learn how to listen.
Frankly, almost everyone struggles to hear God and many people have never heard him.
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So how do you do this?
1. Set aside at least half an hour to start. When you are ready, quiet yourself. If stray thoughts come through your mind, write them down on a separate piece of paper.
2. Read some scripture. Ask the Lord to speak to you through it in a way that you can understand. Ask God to protect you in Jesus’ name from deception.
3. Then write down your question for prayer. Pause. This is where you wait and listen. God may direct you to another passage of Scripture. He may share a tender word. Whatever you feel he may be saying to you, write it down.
Ask him to confirm anything he shared with you.
Some Simple Strategies
1. Use a journal; it will help you focus. Plus it’s a great resource to look back and see the journey the Lord took you on. It also helps fine-tune your spiritual ears to better hear him. Writing down your impression of the Lord’s responses creates in you an expectancy that he will respond.
2. Use two different pens. I like to use the first color to record my thoughts and the second pen to record what I sense God is saying. The different colors clarify “who’s talking.”
3. If, when you sit down to pray, you often have a to-do list pop up in your head, then have another piece of paper handy to make a list with any other thoughts that pop up. It’s okay and it’s natural. Just let them come out so you can focus.
God’s voice is distinctive. He promises that we, his sheep, will hear it. The more you pause and listen for his voice, the more you will find that your ears tune in to it – you become familiar with it. It just requires your listening.
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Music: Shout To The Lord