This past week has made me think so much more than most other weeks. Tonight was no different; however, tonight I missed out on something great.

It started with youth at Central as usual. Pastor Rob shared a devotional on Romans 1 and Paul’s three “I am” statements. First of all he said, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.” (v. 14) Basically he was saying that he had a debt that he had to pay back – preaching the gospel. He was indebted to preach it to everyone he came in contact with. Then he said, “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” (v.15) That’s pretty straightforward, but it’s still powerful. He knew without a doubt that he was ready. Finally, he said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (v. 16) Pastor Rob basically said that we should strive to put those three statements to practice in our lives and make them our own. Are we a debtor? Are we ready? Are we unashamed?

That really stuck in my mind, probably because I couldn’t say those things about myself. I’d like to, but I’m not at that point yet. So, after youth, we went out to Tim Hortons and were…Continue Reading

It’s not very often that I have a leadership role in anything. It’s also even less often that I actually take on that leadership role willingly. So if everything works out well, you could just be witness to a historic moment – or at least a rare one.

Last night, Jeff called me up and told me to come to Duey’s Ice Cream to hang out with him and some other people. The other people there were Kristy, Dave, Angelie, and Erica. So I headed off and got to discussing the fate of New Life’s youth group with them. You see, before I got the phone call, I had been at the first youth service we’ve had in a while. Both Jordan and Kyle were away, so it was only Lawrence and me for worship. Only four other people showed up, so Pastor Al told us just to sing one song. After that, he talked about the judges (found in the book of Judges), mentioning Ehud in particular. The point was that we don’t have to have amazing abilities or talents to serve God, just a willing heart. I suppose now that I think of it, that ties in amazingly well with what happened not too long after.

As I discussed the fact that our youth group was dead, or at least at the very brink of death, Angelie told me that I should start up a guys’ Bible study. She sounded like she had gotten this idea earlier and…Continue Reading