I had the distinct privilege and honor to speak for one hour to the entire student body at Thousand Islands High School in Clayton, NY this morning. It was arranged through the wonderful relationship I have with the principal, Joe Gilfus, as well as with the many teens that are an integral part of our youth ministry. A big thank you to all the students and teachers at T.I. and for being such an amazing audience!
I opened with a song off my upcoming album called “Feel You,” and then shared a message entitled “Dare To Dream.” Jennifer closed us out with an incredible rendition of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (which obviously brought down the house). We had a fantastic time this morning and can’t thank the staff enough for allowing this crazy, bald white guy to come in and hold a microphone.
For those that know me, and those that are a part of 33 Live, during this morning’s address they’d surely recognize the same passion and zeal I have at a Wednesday night youth meeting, the same Biblical principles spoken, the same cause-and-effect analogies, and the same anointing–except without four words, “God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Bible.” (Well, I guess that’s five words). I even had a public prophetic word for one young lady, though I’m sure everyone there simply thought I was “encouraging her.” Which, I was. Except it wasn’t me doing the encouraging. She came up afterwards with tears streaming down her face and asked me, “How did you know all that stuff about me?” Because the Lord knows everything. All we need to do is listen. It was so beautiful.
I think often times we Christians, and particularly those who have been born and raised in Canaan, if you will, have a hard time relating to the world around us, at least in that we’d be hard pressed to give a moving speech without using the terminology we’re accustomed to, or even without mentioning the name of Jesus. And to be honest, I was certainly challenged. But throughout the week the Lord continued to speak into my life, saying things along the line of, “If your walk with me can’t be relevant to someone who doesn’t have any understanding of faith or [God], then your faith isn’t relevant at all.”
In studying Jesus, I am acutely aware, now more than ever, of how relevant He was indeed. He was relevant to an entire generation, meeting them where they were at, going to their level and bringing hope. And the funny thing is, He never mentioned His name once, save maybe in introduction. But what He did do was remarkable…
…He moved in power.
In our church staff meeting today, Christian Fahey, our associate pastor, said something amazing which I promptly wrote down: “Protesting is a substitute for power.” If someone doesn’t have the goods to carry an argument, what do they do? They start shouting. It’s human nature. But it’s not spirit-nature.
In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul makes this very clear:
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
God has been encouraging me deeply over the past few months to move, once again, in the power of His Holy Spirit. In and of myself I have nothing to offer those students. All my catchy sayings and fun stories mean nothing if they cannot come in contact with the Spirit and person of Jesus. And then comes the old adage, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.”
There was such a beautiful presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit this morning in that hall, but of course they didn’t know that. Why were guys coming up to me afterwards and telling me they were trying to hold back tears? Why did that one girl come forward and ask through tears how I “knew all that stuff about [her]“? Because whether they were aware of it or not, they were coming in contact with the Spirit of the Lord. He just happened to be inside of me.
I’m convinced that we don’t need to protest. We don’t need to blast people with scripture. We don’t need to point out their faults or yell at them. We don’t even need to mention the name of Jesus–as blasphemous as that sounds to many.
We need to be Jesus.
The world around us has heard all the religious talk, and they’ve ever heard us use “the name.” But what they desperately want, whether they can describe it or not, is an encounter with their Creator.
As I was nervously tapping before the assembly this morning (yes, I still get butterflies), my associate youth pastor, Jim Shaw (a graduate of T.I. High!), leaned over to me and said, “Bro, you have nothing to worry about. These kids need a voice. They’re dying for leadership.” And it hit me. We’re not the underdogs, we’re the Sons and Daughters of the King! We are the priests to our high schools, the priests to our businesses, the priests to our school boards and PTA groups, to our employers and clients. We’re the ones called to stand in the gap and actually be Jesus to them. The Church that I believe the Father has in mind is one that will occupy and advance with the power of His anointing at all times. In the grocery stores. In the library. Pumping gas, paying bills and having lunch with co-workers. While baby sitting kids, while returning items at Wal-Mart and talking with your server at a restaurant. If we will understand and release the power of the Holy Ghost inside of us, we will truly turn the world upside down like the disciples did.
In the time it took my to write this, I just heard back from the principal and they’re pitching me dates to come speak to the middle school.
We serve an awesome God.
CH
But lots of great action happening around here today and the next few days, so stay tuned.
