In the Beginning

Well, school is off to a strong start - once again! Every time this season of the year comes around, to be honest I feel exhilirated! It could be that I have a love for memories of going to high school football games; or the changing of the weather - finally - you can wear that cool new t-shirt you bought and the happenin' new jeans for all your friends to see AND if it gets a little chilly in the evening - no worries - you just put on your kickin' new jacket from the mall and strut your stuff!

Everything is new! Even though the New Year isn't till January, our lifestyles largely revolve around starting and stopping with the school year and all the events and hustle and bustle that comes with this season!

One of my favorite things about a new school year... is the opportunity for new perspective; re-NEWal of convictions; a new look at how you will approach the year ahead! IT'S ALL NEW!!

As a youth pastor, I see a lot of new attitudes at this time of year. Students have come back from life changing mission trips and camps - they've seen how children and teens live in 3rd world countries like Haiti; they've experienced what it is like to care for someone 24/7 who doesn't have the physical pleasures of walking and talking with ease like everyone else; and they can have a new confidence about themselves that they can truly make a diffenece in the lives of their friends.

Yet, there is one thing about this time of year that makes me a little sad. See, I believe that Fall is the most gorgeous time of year! By far the sky is the bluest, the trees are golden or blood red and yellow-green, the air in the morning and in the evening is crisp enough to taste - the wolrd is just BEAUTIFUL at the onset of Fall! What makes me sad about such BEAUTY ... it fades quickly... all too quickly!

The month of September and into the middle of October (at least here in Kenova, WV) are about all the time you have to enjoy perfectly comfortable temperatures and radient, crystal clear skies. Then it is over.

So what's the comparison? Well, that newness that studetns feel with this time of year is a lot like Fall itself - it's pretty short-lived. My heart breaks when the trees quit producing leaves, the ground is brown, and the air isn't chilly but bites at you when you open the door.

I post this (to espescially students) who will read this blog - and hopfullyyou will hear the Love and Grace in which I say it. Why is it that your spiritual fervor dies so quickly? Why is it that you were ready to share with all your friends who don't know that love and passion that came over you in only a week at church camp, but now it isn't as important? What is it that keeps you from maintaining that zeal that produces such beauty?

I think I have an answer - it's what you do THROUGHOUT THE FALL that will dictate when your "winter" will settle in. This is what I mean: if you are nurturing that committment you made at camp or that humbling experience you had with the less fortunate or the out cast, you wouldn't so quickly lose that fire in your belly to make a difference in others lives. Most of the time though, the worries of this world choke out those desires. And in the chaotic hustle and bustle of this short season - our priorities are turned upside down, our concerns for what is important totally shift, and before you know it you are searching for next years "mission/camp/church whatever "experience" to reignite a fire in you for Jesus Christ that never should have died in the first place!

See, there is a difference between our relationship with Christ and the Fall season of the year. They look a lot alike if we just let our lives run their un-directed course. BUT - if, on the other hand - we nurture our spiritual life, unlike the Fall season, WE DON'T SHRIVEL UP AND DIE UNTIL NEXT SPRING AND SUMMER! Instead, we are more like plants in a greenhouse during the hardest, most scarce and difficult times of the year!! BUT - there are only a few things that constitute that spirtual greenhouse that keeps us from shriveling up and dying: Consistent Bible study; Consistent Prayer, Consistent Service, and Consistent Outreach. IT'S ALL ABOUT CONSISTENCY! Withouth those things - your spiritual life will die! Without being accountable to someone concerning your prayer life and bible study and serving others and sharing about Christ's salvation - you won't do it. Why? Because you and I are no different than anyone else - we think we are - but we aren't! If we don't choose to send our lives in a direction that will cultivate growth - we will die.

This is my hope for the readers: Choose life! In the beginning of your fall you started the school year with EXHILIRATING NEWNESS!! Keep that fervor alive by nurturing what you have expeienced 3, 6, 8 weeks ago - A TRANSFORMED LIFE in CHRIST!!
Go to Bible Study, go to Youth meetings, go on retreats throught the Fall and winter, SEEK WAYS TO SERVE OTHERS!!

THEN... share about that transformation with EVERYONE you know!! You won't be in danger of dying for the winter!

May this be encouraging to you - Love and Grace - concerning the spirit of newness you have now... at the beginning of the Fall... it CAN last all through the year!

Grow in Chirst, Live for His glory, Make others NEW in Him!!