Sunday, January 16, 2011

2011 Church Conference - Saturday 11:00AM – Leadership & Making Wise Choices

Saturday 11:00AM
After the break, Randles finished up talking about what it takes to be a leader – character. He told the story of how he got saved. He went to an FCA because he got asked by a guy who’s character he respected. When you bleed leadership and character it will draw people to you! Often we don’t develop godly character because we have addictions: sex/porn, video games, lying, etc…. Dangerous Disciples do what they need to do to break free of addictions. They pay the price. How about you? There are no shortcuts. Don’t let things have power over me, only Jesus!
Making Good Choices: What I DO drives who I am. The price for influence is character. Character is the sum total of your good and bad choices, so we must learn to make wise choices> How do I know God’s will in making choices? 5 Sources:
1 - Is there a direct command concerning this?
90% of God’s will is the same for all of us. He talked about Newton & Keppler. The laws of God are like the laws of physics – you can’t break them, you can only illustrate them. Joshua 1:8, John 14:21, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:9-11, etc… BUT we think God will make an exception with us (i.e dating an unbeliever). Well God doesn’t make exceptions. Voting (the American way) doesn’t make things true either. Even ignorance is no excuse.
2 - God will speak to me with the voice (Holy Spirit) of conviction:
God’s Holy Spirit will convict and convince us in choices we make that are not covered by #1. There can be “bad” conviction though. The devil, peers and even my own feelings can cause false conviction. So how do you tell them apart? Well, conviction will never go against God’s Word. And the more you spend time with Jesus, the more you’ll recognize His voice.
3 – Obedience to Authorities:
God never honors rebellion but does honor obedience. He has placed MANY authorities in our lives, and unless we are being asked to sin, we are to obey them. parents, teachers, police, government, laws, etc…
4 – Checking with Godly Others:
Pastors, mentors, godly parents, families, etc… with experience and wisdom in making decisions are a great resource to go to regularly and share what decisions you are grappling with.
5 – Circumstances:
This one is only good if you keep it at the end of the list. Open doors in circumstances take wisdom but can be great opportunities for the Lord.

Saturday afternoon we had students texting, facebooking, phoning, etc…. all their friends to come to Sonic for FREE drinks and to receive a FREE ticket to a Tedashii concert that evening. It was pretty cool to see Sonic swarming with students!
Then we had some free play time and spent it together with the students from The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch. Fun times.
That evening, Tedashii rapped it out big-time! This was a worship concert you FELT as much as heard!

Lord, the conference is over, but YOUR influence and Impact is not! Transform me. Transform our students. Make us Dangerous Disciples who want to Know Jesus and Make Him Known!

2011 Church Conference - Saturday 9:00AM – Transformation

Saturday 9:00AM
Ok – So Saturday morning Randles talked about change, about transformation. He kicked it off with a series of questions and statements. Do you want a youth group or a youth ministry? Is your student ministry a working at being a holy huddle or helping students turn their schools upside down for Jesus? You’re either married or you’re not. Can’t be kinda’ married and you’re not kinda saved. You either are or you aren’t. The heart issue has to be resolved first.
He went on to remind us that our salvation in Christ was NOT FREE – it cost Jesus His life! Influence, Impact, Significance all cost and you get what you pay for. A Ferrari and a Fiesta are both cars (ok, the Fiesta is debatable) that can get you from point A to point B. But if it’s speed you’re looking for, you get what you pay for. If you want to be a dangerous disciple it’s gonna’ cost you and you’ll be as good a one as you put into it. And you have to have two relationships right: Your relationship with God and your relationship with yourself. Because when we’re unhealthy in our heart, we make unwise decisions.
Romans 12:1 – A sacrifice was a living thing, put to death to honor God. Offerings were not sacrifices. We must daily sacrifice and put to death our own desires.
Romans 12:2 – Transformation begins in the MIND! God not only desires to save our soul but also to transform how we think! So next to getting our heart right, we must think differently
Jesus is not just Savior but Coach, Dad, Shepherd, Builder, Destroyer, etc…Jesus is saying, “Give me your mind and I’ll make you influential, I’ll cause you to live like a leader, not a goldfish with a 3 second memory.
Mark 7:14-16 – Can’t be something you’re not. At this point Randles challenged us as to what we ooze – yes, what comes out of us. It’s what comes out of us that DEFILES or DEFINES. Want to see what’s in a person? Put some pressure on them (squeeze) and see what comes out. And what comes out is a result of the regular deposits of what goes in. We must make daily deposits of God stuff! AND then how do we handle success? Does it make us cocky or humble? Take Job for example. Satan squeezed him and what oozed out? Godly character! No so his wife. Result? Job & his character is remembered and his wife’s is not – don’t even know her name! You is what you is and you are what you are and you do what you do! (Another Randle-ism!) Character matters! Even lost people recognize this! (1 Cor 13 – without love = nothing)
He explained to us that we are not defined by our prosperity or our failure – it is what it is. I am defined by who HE is and who I am In Him! The powerful, the influential, those making a difference aren’t better, they just think differently!
Romans 8:29 – Jesus didn’t die just to save me but also to make me influential, to conform me to Him!
- I know who I am
- I know who I serve
- I know where I’m going
- I’m not a victim
- And there’s a price to be paid, am I willing to pay it?!~
Winners draw winners in order to multiply the work of Christ (Matthew 6:33). Victims draw predators of whom the devil is one – roaming to and fro, seeking whom he may devour! Darkness is the absence of light and it’s a dark world when believers are AWOL, absent!
And then there were more Randle-isms: Iron sharpens iron, deep calls to deep, birds of a feather flock together. He had a 6 pack and a mullet, now had a keg and a scullet!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

2011 Church Conference - Friday Night: Marks of a Dangerous Disciple

Last night 8 church student ministries in Katy, Texas came together for “church” like never before. I’m not sure how many people were there since I’m not “Baptist” …..oh wait a minute……I am in a Baptist church…..so……let’s say 400, minus 20% exaggeration…..so about 320 should be pretty accurate…..hehe…..
ANYWAY, 16 year old Nina Grace did an wonderful job of leading us as we sang to God. Then came John Randles……long-haired old guys who repeatedly say “man” & “dude” rule……….…just sayin’. What he did was passionately & scripturally call believers (the church) to Dangerous Change! He spoke of how we live in a rapidly changing world: Within a few years, ¾ of the population will be under 25, 7 of 10 students don’t live with original parents, 15 million in USA are living with grandparents and that there is great spiritual interest in this generation. AND with todays technology, the potential to reach the WORLD with the GOSPEL is possible! But it won’t happen passively, the church (students especially) must step up and live dangerously. The reason Jesus was killed was because of His relationship with His Father. Jesus was dangerous and a relationship with Jesus is dangerous! It begins in the heart and causes us to think differently (Romans 12:1-2). And when we’re dangerous, people listen! (forget EF Hutton…..that was for you old guys)
Then he took us to Acts 2:39-47 and pointed out Marks of a Dangerous Disciple. It takes a spirit of:
- DESPERATION: (39-41) These people got desperate, passionate about something other than themselves. If we are to be desperate disciples, we must get off the unholy trinity of me, myself and I and get focused on Jesus & the Lost!
- DISCIPLINE: (42) Combine this with desperation and look out! Randles hammered us on doiong the “basics” well. He illustrated it by pointing out that the reason it’s hard for sports teams to repeat championships isn’t because of talent, but they relax and get away from the basics. Believers can do the same if we stop spending time with God in His Word, in prayer, in fellowship, etc…SO TRUE!
- EXPECTANCY: (43) Now I’ve read this verse over hundreds of times and never saw it this way! Again, the reason that so often the same teams play in championships is they THINK they belong there – like the Katy Tigers in football (sorry other schools – but it’s true). Disciples, disciplined followers of Jesus, need the same mindset that we CAN Know Jesus deeply and Make Him Known widely!
- UNITY: (44) Don’t confuse unity with uniformity. Students all go to different schools, that’s not gonna’ change, that would be uniformity. BUT desire for God, reaching friends for Jesus, etc… is something we can & must be unified on! And here’s the key – if we lay aside our own desires for the “team” (the church) – we may not get our way, but the whole “team” (the church) wins!
- SACRIFICE: (45) Can’t be a servant leader without this. It will mean not going to some parties, not hanging with certain peeps, etc….I loved his point – In 10 years at your high school reunion, most likely you won’t be friends with even 2 of those you graduated with! Yep. In school, friends are somewhat picked for you, but in life, YOU pick your friends, so be wise!
- SERVICE: (46) This is a biggie – Am I (are you) a giver or a taker? God so loved the world that He GAVE! Be a giver and watch how God uses you (& me) to change the world! Want to know why I know this? READ verse 47!
So, here’s the deal: Want to make a difference in life? Want to impact friends? Want to change the world? It has never happened from just HEARING stuff like this, we must DO something about it! And THAT is DANGEROUS!
Let’s be DANGEROUS for Jesus!