I’ve wondered, at times, what kind of man this Judas was. What he looked like, how he acted, who his friends
were…

But for all the things we don’t know about Judas, there is one thing we know for sure: he had no relationship with
the Master. He had seen Jesus, but he did not know Him. He had heard Jesus, but he did not understand Him. He
had religion, but no relationship.

As Satan worked his way around the table in the Upper Room, he needed a special kind of man to betray our Lord.
He needed a man who had seen Jesus, but did not know Him. He needed a man who knew the actions of Jesus, but had missed out on the mission of Jesus. Judas was this man. He knew the empire but had never known the Man.

We learn this timeless lesson from the betrayer. Satan’s best tools of destruction are not from outside the church, they are from within the church. A church will never die from the immorality in Hollywood or the corruption in Washington. But it will die from corrosion within–from those who bear the name of Jesus but have never met Him, and from those who have religion, but no relationship.

Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ. Let’s make it our goal to know…deeply.

Max Lucado – “On the Anvil”

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Like you, I often take a look around the net for other websites that might have something I can use in in my own Youth Ministry.

Recently while researching for ideas related to doing a “Survivor” type event for youth I came across this site:
Youth Ministry ( <– click this link to take a look)

The site belongs to Steve Blanchard and his goal is similar to mine, to keep having fresh ideas and to share them with other youth leaders! He’s been in youth ministry almost 9 years so he has the experience and wisdom to help you with your own youth ministry!

There is always something you can learn from someone else who is also in youth ministry. As far as I am concerned our only competition in youth ministry is the world – not other youth leaders. We are all here to win young people to Christ and help them to grow in that relationship! We need to work together with other youth ministers whenever we can!

There’s a lot of other practical things on his site to help you in your own youth ministry. The best ideas and most creative ideas are those that have been tried and tested by people who are also regularly working with youth! He covers a lot of areas and things I simply don’t have time to cover here on Creative Youth Ideas.

While you are there, be sure to check out his “Survivor” Lock-in pages. He’ll also be happy to send you a copy of the document he uses to plan his own “Survivor” lock-in! Just give his youth ministry site a visit and he’ll tell you more!

With YOUth on my Heart!
Ken

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“There are the places I was so sure I’d find Him.
I’ve looked in the pages
And I’ve looked down on my knees.
I’ve lifted my eyes in expectation to see the sun still refusing to shine, but–
Sometimes He comes in the clouds.
Sometimes His face cannot be found.
Sometimes the sky is dark and gray.
But some things can only be known
And sometimes our faith can only grow
When we can’t see.
So, sometimes He comes in the clouds.
Sometimes I see me, a sailor out on the ocean.
So brave and so sure,
As long as the skies are clear.
But when the clouds start to gather,
I watch my faith turn to fear.
Sometimes He comes in the rain and we question the pain
and wonder how God can seem so far away
But time will show us He was right there with us.
Sometimes He comes in the clouds…”

Source: Stephen Curtis Chapman, “My Utmost for His Highest” CD Vol 1

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Peter was sharp.
…He kept his distance from Jesus.
…“I’ll stay close enough to see him,” Peter reasoned.
…“But not too close, or I may get caught.”

Good thinking, Peter.
…Don’t get too involved—it might hurt.
…Don’t be too loyal—you might get branded.
…Don’t show too much concern—they’ll crucify you too.

We need more men like you, Peter.
…Men who keep religion in its place.
…Men who don’t stir the water.
…Men who reek with mediocrity.

That’s the kind of man God needs, yessir.
…One who knows how to keep his distance:
…“Now, I’ll pay my dues and I’ll come once a week,
…but… well… you can get carried away, you know.”

Yes, you can get carried away…
…up a hill
…to a cross
—and killed.

Peter learned a lesson that day—a hard lesson.
It is better to never have followed Jesus, than
to have followed and him and denied him.

Mark these words—
…Follow at a distance and you will deny the Master. Period.
…You won’t die for a man you can’t touch. Period.
…But stay near to him, in his shadow…
…You’ll die with him, gladly.

Author: Max Lucado, On the Anvil, p21-22

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“As a young idealist, Dostoyevsky believed that political revolution was the essential route for the life God willed for him…But his efforts to create the kingdom of God by over-throwing the czar came to naught…He was imprisoned by the czar and, so he thought, sentenced to death.

But he didn’t die!

Those who challenged the czar’s totalitarian power were sometimes subjected to a cruel psychological trick designed to break their spirits. They were blindfolded and put before a firing squad. The commands of, ‘Ready! Aim! Fire!’ were given. The sound of shots would ring out. But then–nothing! The bullets were blanks. The victims had been forced to go through the agony of dying, but then there was not the deliverance that death itself can bring.

The painful process was designed to destroy the emotional life of the czar’s victims, but in the case of Dostoyevsky it ironically provided a new perception of reality and an ability to apprehend life with an appreciative passion. As the moment which he was sure would be his last approached, he found himself living life with a hitherto-unknown heightened awareness. In the face of death, each event that remained in his existence, regardless of how apparently ordinary, took on momentous importance.

As he ate his last meal, he concentrated on the taste of every bite, savoring each morsel, because he believed this would be the last food he would ever eat.

As they marched him into the courtyard where he was to be executed, he took in the sun and breathed the air with an intensive appreciation he had never known before.

To the condemned Dostoyevsky, every sensation was enjoyed with a heightened awareness. Each experience was felt with a powerful sensitivity.

He studied the face of each and every soldier charged with the grisly task of shooting him, because these, he was convinced, were the last faces he would ever see.

Dostoyevsky was *living* in the face of death. Later, he would confess that he had lived more in what he had been convinced were the last moments of his life than he had ever lived before. Each moment and each experience leading up to that mock execution had been seized with a passion, and he had tried to suck out of what remained of life all that it possibly could give. He had learned in the face of death to live out the ancient Latin admonition ‘Carpe Diem!’ (Seize the day!)”

Tony Campolo in “Carpe Diem” (Word Publishing Co.)

Seize every moment and live it for the glory of God!

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Winter.

Just the sound of the word whistling through our lips puts a mental chill up our spines. Winter seems to speak of barrenness, frigid feelings of discomfort and discontent, icy shadows sprawled across frozen ponds, naked branches reaching up as if in supplication for relief. Short days, long nights. Fast-fading memories of yesterday’s fun in the sun, bike rides along the beach, the World Series, Thanksgiving. Heavy, gray clouds and harsh winds sting our faces and steal our smiles. With grim determination we trudge on, sometimes alone and isolated, within our own little world of heavy garb and frosty windows. “The dead of winter”–ah, an apt description!

Not all agree. Ski buffs and snow lovers resent such a depressing portrayal of their favorite season. So do artists who prefer a quaint cottage in New Hampshire rather than an ocean view at Malibu or a sandy beach at St. Thomas. For many, a year without winter would be a devastating disappointment. What better time to warm up alongside a crackling fire, listen to some fine music, and stare away an evening? Toss in the joy of Christmas, the celebration of New Years’ Eve, the Super Bowl, a Valentine’s Day kiss…and you’ve got enough to make anybody forget ninety-five degree days, along with flies and mosquitoes at an August picnic. What a difference perspective makes!

Winter—the ideal occasion to slow down. To invest a few extra hours in quiet reverence. To take a long walk over the freshly fallen white manna delivered earlier that day. To remind ourselves that ‘our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.’ (Psalm 115:3).

Is it winter right now in the season of your life? Are you feeling depressed…alone…overlooked…spiritually on ‘hold’…cold…barren? Beginning to wonder if your soul will ever thaw? Entertaining doubts that behind those thick, gray clouds there exists a personal, caring God?

Take it by faith, friend; He is there, and furthermore, He is neither dead nor deaf. What you are enduring is one of those dry-spell times when you’d rather curl up and cry than stand up and sing. That’s okay. Those times come. They also pass.

When this winter season ends, you’ll be wiser, deeper, stronger. Therefore, in reverence, look up. Be still and discover anew that He is God. That He is doing ‘whatever he pleases’ in your life.”

Charles R. Swindoll- “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life” (Intro to “Winter”)

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… and beyond this there lies in the ocean, turned towards the west and the north, the island of Niatirb which Hecataeus indeed declares to be the same size and shape as Sicily, but it is larger, and though in calling it triangular a man would not miss the mark. It is densely inhabited by men who wear clothes not very different from other barbarians who occupy the north- western parts of Europe though they do not agree with them in language. These islanders, surpassing all the men of whom we know in patience and endurance, use the following customs.

In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound they have a great festival which they call Exmas , and for fifty days they prepare for it in the fashion I shall describe. First of all, every citizen is obliged to send to each of his friends and relations a square piece of hard paper stamped with a picture, which in their speech is called an Exmas-card . But the pictures represent birds sitting on branches, or trees with a dark green prickly leaf, or else men in such garments as the Niatirbians believe that their ancestors wore two hundred years ago riding in coaches such as their ancestors used, or houses with snow on their roofs. And the Niatirbians are unwilling to say what these pictures have to do with the festival, guarding (as I suppose) some sacred mystery. And because all men must send these cards the market-place is filled with the crowd of those buying them, so that there is great labour and weariness.

But having bought as many as they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent to them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labour at least is over for another year. But when they find cards from any to whom they have not sent, then they beat their breasts and wail and utter curses against the sender; and, having sufficiently lamented their misfortune, they put on their boots again and go out into the fog and rain and buy a card for him also. And let this account suffice about Exmas-cards.

They also send gifts to one another, suffering the same things about the gifts as about the cards, or even worse. For every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send to him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. And they buy as gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself. For the sellers, understanding the custom, put forth all kinds of trumpery, and whatever, being useless and ridiculous, sell as an Exmas gift. And though the Niatirbians profess themselves to lack sufficient necessary things, such as metal, leather, wood and paper, yet an incredible quantity of these things is wasted every year, being made into the gifts.

But during these fifty days the oldest, poorest and the most miserable of citizens put on false beards and red robes and walk in the market-place; being disguised (in my opinion) as Cronos. And the sellers of gifts no less than the purchasers become pale and weary, because of the crowds and the fog, so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think that some great calamity had fallen on Niatirb. This fifty days of preparation is called in their barbarian speech the Exmas Rush .

But when the day of the festival comes, then most of the citizens, being exhausted with the Rush , lie in bed till noon. But in the evening they eat five times as much supper as on other days and, crowning themselves with crowns of paper, they become intoxicated. And on the day after Exmas they are very grave, being internally disordered by the supper and the drinking and reckoning how much they have spent on gifts and on the wine. For wine is so dear among the Niatirbians that a man must swallow the worth of a talent before he is well intoxicated.

Such, then, are their customs about the Exmas. But the few among the Niatirbians have also a festival, separate and to themselves, called Crissmas , which is on the same day as Exmas. And those who keep Crissmas, doing the opposite to the majority of the Niatirbians, rise early on that day with shining faces and go before sunrise to certain temples where they partake of a sacred feast. And in most of the temples they set out images of a fair woman with a new-born Child on her knees and certain animals and shepherds adoring the Child. (The reason of these images is given in a certain sacred story which I know but do not repeat.)

But I myself conversed with a priest in one of these temples and asked him why they kept Crissmas on the same day as Exmas; for it appeared to me inconvenient. But the priest replied, “It is not lawful, O Stranger, for us to change the date of Crissmas, but would that Zeus would put it into the minds of the Niatirbians to keep Exmas at some other time or not to keep it at all. For Exmas and the Rush distract the minds even of the few from sacred things. And we indeed are glad that men should make merry at Crissmas; but in Exmas there is no merriment left.”

And when I asked him why they endured the Rush, he replied, “It is, O Stranger, a racket, using (as I suppose) the words of some oracle and speaking unintelligibly to me (for a racket is an instrument which the barbarians use in a game called tennis ).

But what Hecataeus says, that Exmas and Crissmas are the same, is not credible. For the first, the pictures which are stamped on the Exmas-cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell about Crissmas. And secondly, the most part of the Niatirbians, not believing the religion of the few, nevertheless send the gifts and cards and participate in the Rush and drink, wearing paper caps. But it is not likely that men, even being barbarians, should suffer so many and great things in honour of a god they do not believe in. And now, enough about Niatirb.

C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock,
“Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus”
(1st published in Time and Tide, 1954)

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Saul of Tarsus

“Few backgrounds could have better prepared Saul to be the chief persecutor of the early church. He was born at Tarsus–“no mean city,’ as he liked to describe it (Acts 21:39)–a major Roman city on the coast of southeast Asia Minor. Tarsus was a center for the tent making industry, and perhaps that influenced Saul to choose that craft as an occupation. Teachers of the Law, which Saul eventually became, were not paid for their services
and had to earn a living in other ways…

However, Saul said that he was ‘brought up’ in Jerusalem ‘at the feet of Gamaliel,’ the most illustrious rabbi of the day (Acts 22:3) and a highly respected member of the Jewish council (5:34)…In making that statement, Saul was describing a process of technical training in the Law that prepared him to become one of the Pharisees, the religious elite of Judaism. For many Jewish youth, the rigorous course of study began at age 14 and continued to
the age of 40.

Apparently Saul was an apt pupil. He claimed to have outstripped his peers in enthusiasm for ancestral traditions and in his zeal for the Law (Phil. 3:4-6). Probably through Gamaliel, he had opportunity to observe the council and come to know many of its principals and some of its inner workings.

So it was that he chanced to be present when the conflict between the council and the early church came to a head in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:57-8:1). He had likely watched earlier encounters between the council and members of the Way, such as those with Peter and John (4:5-18; 5:17-40). But apparently the incident with Stephen galvanized his commitment to traditional Judaism and set him off on a mission to seek out and destroy as
many believers as he could (8:1-3).

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

“Ironically, Paul’s background not only prepared him to be the early church’s chief opponent, but also to become its leading spokesperson. Devout, energetic, outspoken, stubborn, and exacting, Paul became far more troublesome to the Jews than he had ever been to the Christians, not in terms of violence, but ideology. Indeed, he lived with a price on his head as his former colleagues among the Jews sought to destroy him (Acts 9:23-25,29; 23:12-15; 2 Cor. 11:26, 32-33).

Perhaps the chief irony of Paul’s life was his calling to be the ‘apostle to the Gentiles’ (Acts 9:15; Gal. 1:16; 2:7-9). Paul had been a Pharisee, the very title meaning ‘to separate.’ Some Pharisees even refused to eat with non-Pharisees for fear of being contaminated by food not rendered ritually clean. They also separated from women, from lepers, from Samaritans, and especially from Gentiles (or ‘foreigners’).

So for Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles was a reversal of his life and a thorough repudiation of his background as a Pharisee. Perhaps three people proved invaluable in helping him make this dramatic change: Barnabas, who like Paul was a Hellenistic Jew and came from a Levite background–he embraced Paul and mentored him in the faith when no one else would come near him (see Acts 4:36-37); and Priscilla and Aquila, fellow tent makers–they joined Paul in business in Corinth and probably discussed the faith and its implications with Paul much as they did with Apollos (18:1-3, 24-28; see Rom 16:3-5).

Paul eventually became Christianity’s leading evangelist and theologian. But even as his status in the church rose, his perspective on himself changed. At first he saw himself as an important Christian leader, but then as ‘the least of the apostles’ (1 Cor. 15:9). Later he realized that he was capable of ‘nothing good’ (Rom 7:18) and was ‘less than the least of all the saints’ (Eph 3:8). Finally he described himself as the ‘chief’ of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)–and threw himself on God’s mercy and grace.

The fearsome Pharisee of Pharisees became the fearless apostle to the Gentiles whose credo was,
‘To live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Phil.1:21).”

Source: The Word in Life Study Bible, pgs 1960-61.

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“Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw,
knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take
this cup of suffering away from me. However, Your
will must be done, not mine.”
Luke 22:41 (GW)
“It went against every human instinct of survival, against every spiritual, God-implanted longing in His human being to face death and sin-caused alienation from God the Father. Body and soul cried out against it, so that in the teeth of an inner storm of protest He had to say with His naked will, ‘Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’

He said the words by faith. He knew by faith, not by feeling, that the Father was just, omnipotent and trustworthy. But Jesus was human as well as divine, and His body was in revolt against all He was called on to face…

The story of all that follows is well known. Twice more he returned to grapple in prayer with the issue before Him. Why?

Evidently the storms within Him did not abate at once. Again they broke out threatening in their fury to sweep his resolve away. Is not this our experience too? When God calls for a course which our nature cries out against, we may know from the outset that the course is a right one. But storms do not abate simply because the helmsman decides to maintain course. Nor as waves come washing over the decks or the chart grows wet and crumpled does the captain cease to check the rightness of that course…

Let it not dismay you then that in the fiercest storms of life the wind and waves should continue to buffet you long after you have said, ‘Not my will, but yours, O Lord!’ The storm will not last forever. But it need not abate the moment you set your course.

For Jesus the inner storm eventually died down. With quietness of soul and firm resolve He woke His little band while the lights of His captors flickered slowly up the hillside. Standing with His sleepy disciples He waited in perfect composure for all that was to follow.”

Dr. John White- “Daring to Draw Near”
(Counselor, psychiatrist, author of several books, including “The Fight,” “Eros Defiled,” “The Cost of Commitment,”
“Competent to Counsel”)

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“I HAVE ENGRAVED YOU ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS”
Isaiah 49:16

“Smyrna, now the city of Izmir, Turkey, was and is one of the great business and trade centers in that area of the world…

Philadelphia, due east from Smyrna, was built on a plateau looking out across the valley of the River Cogamus…We know almost nothing about either of the Christian churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia except from these two short letters dictated to John by the risen Christ on the island of Patmos.

We do know that both churches were faithful. There is not one word of criticism in the letters to the Christians in either church…

The irony of these two letters is immediately apparent. In the difficult times to come–or, as John writes to Philadelphia, in ‘the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth’–one church (Smyrna) will face terrible suffering. The other church (Philadelphia) will escape unscathed. All the assumptions we can make about suffering are tested by these two short letters. Both churches seem equally faithful. Yet one will suffer ‘even unto death.’ The other will not suffer at all…

In these passages and others we are reminded that suffering has a mysterious, unknown component. John, too, assumes that suffering is a natural part of Christian faith. He doesn’t question why one church will suffer and another church won’t. He doesn’t even expect God to rescue Smyrna from suffering, yet he credits God with protecting Philadelphia from the suffering that lies ahead…

There are several assumptions here that we must not forget in our own days of trouble that lie ahead.

First, expect suffering. Don’t feel surprised or put upon or proud or afraid. Suffering is part and parcel of the Christian life.

Second, don’t look at anyone else and what he or she does or doesn’t have to bear; comparisons are demoralizing either way.

Third, recognize that it doesn’t take great wealth or social influence to be faithful (note how few resources these two churches had), but it does take patience and endurance. Remember; one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience (Galatians 5:22).

Fourth, remember that one day all earthly suffering ill end and that second death, the eternal death of the spirit, will not touch us.

Fifth, keep in mind that, when one bears suffering faithfully, God is glorified and honored. The suffering servants of Christ will be honored in a special way and given a new name which ‘no man knows except he that receives it.’ Christ said to the church at Philadelphia, ‘Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God. (Revelation 3:12).

Some years ago the great Canadian photographer, Yousuf Karsh, sent me a book of his photographs. On the wrapping paper the customs official had stamped the words, ‘Value of Contents.’ Under that had been written, ‘Autographed by the author.’ Inside, it was autographed to me.

Our value is the fact that we are going to be autographed by the Author.”

Source: Billy Graham- “Approaching Hoofbeats – The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse” Word, Inc.

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