Franky and Forky For Real!

I love it when God does His thing and orchestrates amazing opportunities between strangers!

I got to church tonight and one of the ladies there came up to me and asked me to keep an eye on a few teen boys that she had brought with her (kudos to her for being willing enough and caring enough for these boys to bring them! viva LA Cause!).  They were obviously not excited to be there.  In fact, one of them decided he didn’t want to be there so he called his dad and got picked up.  However, the other two boys, Franky and “Forky” stayed.  I told them they didn’t have to participate in anything but that they needed to hang with me for the night.

They reluctantly came along and endured the Teen worship service we do on Wednesday nights.  They didn’t sing nor stand during worship and they were less than responsive during the sermon.  I was totally good with all of this as they were honoring the commitment they had given to me to simply be there.  Mind you, the whole time I’m praying for these two young men as I know that when it’s time to break up into our discussion groups I’m going to bring up the Gospel.

As I expected they didn’t want anything to do with being in the high school guys discussion group so I took them out into our cafe area and just began talking to them.  I asked them why they were at church and what the believed.  Ironically, the friend who bailed on them is the one that convinced the two of them to come to church.  I learned through the conversation that Franky is a young believer who needs to some accountability and fire under his feet when it comes to his faith.  Forky, however, doesn’t believe in God as he can’t comprehend why God would let the world get this way, but more personally is angry at God because his earthly father is an abusive individual and it sounds like has checked out.

I layed out the Gospel as clearly as I know how and pleaded (without begging) for Forky to consider the truth I was sharing with him.  I could physically see the Holy Spirit working in his life.  It was actually intense to watch Forky mentally and emotionally wrestle with God.  Watching this happen compelled me to make the case again and again and every time I asked him if he was willing to believe I could see him get right up to that point of a decision, but he would only respond, “I don’t know.”

While I wish and have prayed since my meeting with these two young men that Forky would believe in Jesus Christ, he hasn’t just yet.  But his follow-up response to, “I don’t know,” still has me excited and eager.  He said he wants to come back a few more weeks to church and learn more.  He was appreciative of my willingness to talk for so long with them and answer questions.  He shook my hand, gave me a hug, and let me know his real name is Luis.  As it turns out, neither one of the boys lives too far from my home so they both konw they can call me for a ride to church or just to talk.

Please join me in praying for both of these young men!  God, continue to work in Luis’ life and nurture the seed of Your Truth that was planted in his life!  Amen

HS Small Group 2/21/10

Tonight’s study was a little shorter than normal since it had been so long since we met (we kinda lost our groove).  However, we did have some cool discussions about Romans 3 & 4 tonight that encouraged me as my high school boys have been reading and understanding the passages.  Here are a few brief highlights of waht we discussed:

• While God’s grace is what saves us we should never sin in excess to demonstrate God’s unlimited grace.  In fact, it is a greater demonstration of God’s grace to show our own growth as we strive to become more like Jesus Christ.
• Even though Abraham was the first to be circumcised as a sign of the Covenant, the faith that was credited to him as righteousness was something he had demonstrated long before his circumcision (again highlighting that our faith is what saves us and that our obedience to God’s law follows, it doesn’t save us).
• The greatest purpose the law serves is to show us how desperately we need Jesus.
• Everyone has sinned and missed the mark.

High School Small Group 1/24/10

I love my boys!

The 5 us connected again on Sunday night and began our study of Romans.  I was proud of them as the 4 that had attended last week had all read Romans 1 & 2 and they all had comments and questions on the text.  They were even disappointed when our conversation got cut off at 8:30pm because 2 of them had to leave.  The questions and comments they made were pretty deep. 

1. The first question had to do with the pronoun, “you,” that appears throughout.  One of the guys wanted to know who “you” referred to: us or someone else Paul was writing to.  I explained that the answer was both.  We first need to understand the text from the perspective of who Paul was originally writing to and then discern what that same message means to us today. 
2. Questions were also brought up regarding when Paul wrote it, where he was at when he wrote it, and how long after Jesus’ death and resurrection this all took place.
3. Another one of the boys brought up the issue of circumcision and what that meant for the Jews vs. the Gentiles and had even go so far to talk to his dad about it.  He remembered his dad had mentioned something about circumcision of the heart so we discussed what it meant to go through the motions of keeping the law vs. loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  It was a great discussion and got the boys thinking on a whole new level.

The other thing I was blown away by was the fact that 2 of the boys started journals and brought them to group so they could jot down the other questions asked and the answers we discussed.

I cannot wait to discuss Romans 3 & 4 next Sunday night!

High School Small Group 1/17/10

This past Sunday night was great as I got to reunite with my guys High School Small Group.  It has been 7 months since we met together after I took the time off with the addition of Brayden Zachary to our family.  My time with the family was much needed and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I will admit, however, that I love the opportunity to disciple these young men in their faith journey.  You can read a little bit more about our history as a small group at my old blog: http://deepnwide.wordpress.com/category/hs-small-group/

After catching up with what’s been going on in their lives through the fall semester we spent time reading Acts 2:42-47.  We discussed what the early church looked like and drew parallels to our small group.  I was encouraged to hear their hearts and what they desire to get out of this weekly meeting.  They want more than time to hang out and play video games.  They want to read God’s Word, apply it to their lives, and live THE Cause on their high school campus.

We decided that we would start by reading the book of Romans.  Each of them committed to reading 2 chapters a week leading up to Sunday evenings and coming prepared with at least 3 questions to discuss as a group.  I love working with teenagers and doing life with them.  It is definitely a passion and calling of mine.  I am looking forward to doing life together with these young men and being apart of their discipleship process.