What Is Your Trajectory?

"God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible- what a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves."
                                                           A.W Tozer



Yesterdays shooting in Parkland, Florida breaks my heart for the families and school officials at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School. Today, sixteen high school students and one heroic football coach are deceased and sixteen more are hospitalized (some in critical condition).  I cannot even imagine the level of devastation that must be reverberating within that community. Yet again, violence sends shock waves through a community and even through our nation. (Please pray for everyone that is affected by this tragedy).

My heart hurts for the teenagers today in our culture and the challenges they face. Being a teenager in todays culture must be not only confusing, but also filled with many temptations. Our society has convinced them to be tolerant of all people, but then they are barraged on social media with every sort of messed up lifestyle. In addition to the normal physiological and psycho-social changes that every teen experiences, we now have an opiod epidemic and far too many teens that are not sure how they identify sexually. Ungodly words and images flow through the internet like a tsunami and how easy would it be for a floundering, young soul to get swept up in the current that rages around them on every side?

While followers of Christ understand that Jesus is the Rock that keeps us grounded,  how must that appear to the youth that is inundated in a Babylonian type society? Many think that religiosity is the answer, but that is as powerless as a paper tiger. A.W. Tower said that, "One hundred religious persons knit into unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team."

In far too many churches, the important issues of our society are ignored and not addressed. In order to be a light to our youth, we have to be willing to address the tough subjects in a way that teenagers can experience God's grace and know the power of His transformation. The love of God really can make a difference, but the Church needs the understanding and vision to be effective with the youth today.

For years, too much of the Church thought it would be a good idea to be "relevant" with the culture today in order to attract more followers, but following fads and trends without the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Gospel  seems to have led to an inefficacy in the Church. Oftentimes today, many churches don't even realize that they are operating without a third of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit vacated, but many did not even notice. The power to be saved and healed and delivered left, but few people cared.

As a result, the culture around us has lost their respect for Christians and the Church. If are lives are no different than the people who don't know Jesus, why should it attract those who are floundering? Why should no more that 10% of Christian teens who go away to college hold onto their faith? ( A study done by the Southern Baptist convention shows that we lose between 70 to 88% of our youth after their freshman year of college). Compromise has lead us to this place of impotency.

According to Tom Bisset, in his book entitled,  Why Christian Kids Leave The Faith, there are four primary reasons that teens cite for abandoning their beliefs. They state:
                         1. They left because they had troubling, unanswered questions about their faith
                         2. They left because their faith was not "working" for them
                         3. They left because they allowed other things to take priority
                         4. They left because they never personally owned their faith

It occurs to me that this mass exodus of our kids is happening because there are far too many adults who never fully made their own exodus from Egypt. In other words, when our children see adults who only embody only parts of the Gospel, they will be much less likely to fully espouse the Gospel themselves. God called the Israelites to leave Egypt completely and to serve Him in Canaan. We play with fire if we try to play church while we entertain ourselves with idols.

Kids today yearn for something in which to be passionate. If they can't find the true, good, and authentic One to be passionate about, they will find the counterfeit to get the attention they crave. We should not be surprised that they would resort to doing ridiculous things like eating tide pods and posting it on You Tube. We cannot legislate our way out of a problem that eminates from a cavernous soul.

Anxiety is another factor that is greatly affecting teens today. It has been said that anxiety is the spirit of this generation. Teens are being affected in unprecedented numbers. According to the American College Health Association, the percentage of teens who reported bouts of "overwhelming anxiety" rose to 62% in 2016, as opposed to 50% in 2011. Anxiety now outpaces depression and is the number one reason college students seek counseling. It now affects nearly one-third of both adults and adolescents.

Social media has a large role to play in the anxiety levels of teens. When they respond night and day to texts, post incessantly, and snap chat continually, the constant stimulation from digital habits takes its toll. One teenager, who was in in-patient treatment for anxiety said, "I don't think we realize how much social media affects our moods and personalities. While social media is only a tool, it's become this thing that we can't live without, but that's making us crazy" (NYT article, "Why are more American Teenagers than ever suffering from severe anxiety?").

All of us are created to have an impact on the world around us, and our teens are no exception. They long to make a difference, yet the enemy of our souls will gleefully seduce them to carve out that niche in a way that destroys them and dishonors God. To navigate that quagmire, they need wisdom and insight, as well as the power that only the Holy Spirit can provide to them. As adults, we need to heed the warning signs within our culture and within our teenage population.

When adult followers of Christ see the shaking in our society and then warning signs that are screaming so loudly, it should cause us to pause and understand that God is now calling us to a higher level of holiness. If goodness is the only thing that overcomes evil, then what is my role to accomplish this goal? It is easy to decide that there are just too many things happening in the world for one person to make a difference, and, yet, this is not what the Word of God  tells us.

When Daniel found himself, as a teenager, thrust into the wicked and degenerate society of Babylon, he understood that he was called to a more radical level of obedience in his own life. He positioned himself to make a true difference by evaluating every aspect of his life, including personal indulgences and prayer. He decided to get down to the nitty-gritty details of his life to effect reals changes in the culture around him.

Just as radical obedience was the answer 2700 years ago, so it is for us today. We must lay down those things that distract and steal our time so that we can intercede and stand in the gap for the multitudes that are perishing around us. It is not a coincidence that the book of Daniel is the sister book of prophecy to the book of Revelation, which, in my estimation, makes it extremely applicable to the times in which we live.

Each one of us has a trajectory in our lives. As the world around us gets darker, the level of our obedience should increase. Merriam-Webster defines trajectory as "a path, progression, or line of development resembling a physical trajectory". In physics, a trajectory is also called a flight path and it "is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time".  An object's trajectory is either controlled by gravity, and pulled downward; or it can be driven forward by forces inside itself, like a missile.  That is consistent with what we see in the spiritual realm as well.  Unless we have the Holy Spirit within propelling us forward and upward, dark spiritual forces will pull us inevitably downward, like gravity.

It is God's desire that we effect change in the world around us.  This will not be accomplished without the power of the Holy Spirit. He has a calling and purpose for each one of us, and that purpose is especially important in these times in which we live. We cannot allow the Church to continue its trajectory to fade into the darkness. We must fight on our knees first and then shine brightly wherever God has positioned us.

2018 will be a year for stepping into our destinies and apprehending the Canaan that God has apportioned for us. Now is the time to assess our own individual trajectories and make whatever adjustments we need to to come into alignment with God's will for our lives. (Remember, that even one millimeter can throw us way off our course). We must step up so that we can push back the darkness that is attempting to suffocate our youth and prevail within our culture. True assessment and revival can only begin on an individual level, and, with the power of God, it can reverberate and have a domino effect!


"He who earnestly seeks after and craves righteousness, mercy, and loving-kindness will find life, and righteousness, and honor."
                                                           Proverbs 21:21

Wonders Without Number

"As for me, I would seek God, And I would place my cause before Him; Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number."
                                                                       Job 5:8-9




There are millions of wonders that occur in our world everyday. From the sun that rises to the sun that sets, and, still, there are wonders that continue to occur in the dark.  Just two nights ago, we had a combination of a blue moon, a super moon, and a lunar eclipse that happened in the same night! (The picture posted is of this moon over our house.) The last time this happened was in the year 1866.

God's wonders occur all the time, no matter what season of life we may find ourselves. They can be seen in nature and in providence and in His grace. The whole purpose, plan and accomplishment of salvation is filled with the wonders of our God.

They are continuous and they are great. In Psalms, we are told that "God alone does great wonders, for His lovingkindness is everlasting" (Psalm 136:4). No one else can do them and they are always unique and powerful, filled with God's wisdom and grace.

Merriam Webster defines wonder as "a cause of astonishment or admiration; a marvel; a miracle; astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience".  Wonders are awe inspiring and should lead us to drawing even closer to the One who accomplishes them. God reveals aspects of Himself through the wonders He performs.

Unfortunately, sometimes we get busy and sometimes we forget. Instead of focusing our thoughts and hearts on all that God is doing in the earth, we sometimes get sidetracked, sideswiped, or sidelined. These pesky distractions can cause us to lose focus on the most important things in our world.

In these cases, we can even pull back from our relationship with Jesus, instead of pressing in to discover the revelation and treasures He has apportioned for us. This is how disillusionment and discouragement take root and why some people even walk away from their faith. This day and time is definitely the time to press in "to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

As I reflect on this New Year, it occurs to me that this may be a year that is filled with the wonders of God. Surely our world would be a much better place if more people saw and experienced Him in a tangible way. It is my prayer that this will certainly be the case.

More important than seeing and experiencing His wonders is to see and experience His presence. This, in and of itself, is the greatest miracle of all. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, it was the presence of God that really knocked his socks off (or sandals), so to speak.

This makes me wonder exactly what was running through Moses' mind as he heard the voice of the Lord call him personally by name. Were memories from his former life in Egypt flooding his consciousness, or was he thinking more in terms of the people there that were still being oppressed? Whatever his thoughts were, he soon reached to cover his face, realizing now that he was in the presence of an Almighty God.

The Lord quickly assured Moses and explained to him that He had seen the oppression of His people and had heard their cries. He acknowledged His awareness of all that they had suffered. This was the day that God chose to come down from heaven to intervene on behalf of His people- the people with whom He had covenanted. This miracle (or wonder) occurred so that God could show that he cares for His people, and that He will guide, deliver, and bless them through His presence.

God commissioned Moses and told him what he was to do. Moses had many objections and doubts, but, once again, God reassured Moses that He would be with him and that He would give him the words to speak and the wonders in which he would be allowed to participate. Moses was still reluctant to proceed in God's mission, but the will of God could never be thwarted by the insufficiency of man. God was sufficient to overcome that too!

The destination of God's people was the Promised Land. No matter how many doubts or insecurities they may have had, God's objective would be accomplished. The same is true for us today. God is commissioning us into our destinies and we are going somewhere.

No matter what has come against us, God is reassuring us that He is with us and that He is sufficient to accomplish every promise and purpose that He has given to His people. Press in to His presence through reading His Word and loving and worshipping the One who really is sovereign over every mess. Take heart, sweet one, because I believe that this is a year in which we will see wonders without number!


                       "I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth..."
                                                      Joel 2:30