THIS IS THE GENERATION!!

According to the Durham Public School website, there are between 16,000 and 17,000 kids in 6th-12th grade. According to the Department of Education website, there is somewhere between 14 and 15 million students enrolled in high schools across the country. The International Mission Board website lists the Unreached People Groups at just over 6,000. Now my math skills are shaky at best but if I am right then if less than 1% of the students go to the nations then we will reach every people group in the world and that is why I get so excited to think about student ministry today. They are going to reach the world with the Gospel and they are going to bring God great glory in doing it. They are more outwardly focused and globally aware than any generation in history. Social justice initatives are at an all-time high. Probably 98% of students today have Facebook and the numbers for Twitter and Skype are growing rapidly. They have unlimited reach throughout the world because of the internet. They can also be anywhere in the world in within a day's travel because of airplanes. I believe in this generation and I see the potential within them, if I was an NBA GM then students would be my first round draft picks. They have so many talents and other resources that it is scary to think what they could do if they put their minds to it. Would you take a second today and pray for student pastors, that they would proclaim the Gospel clearly week in and week out? That they would live it out in front of students and that students would come to know Christ in a real and personal way? Pray for the students, that God would give them big faith and bold dreams to accomplish things for His glory. Pray that the give up on the American Dream for something bigger and something much better. THIS IS THE GENERATION AND THEY WILL CHANGE THE WORLD! We just better make sure they do it for the Gospel and not for something or somebody else.

God is Great, God is Good

We have all heard children recite that famous prayer but I never thought about how accurate it was in terms of theology. A.W. Tozer once said, "What comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you." God is great but how often do we think about that? We are talking about the God who created the universe out of nothing and is big enough that no matter what you are going through in life, He can help you overcome it. God is awesome in power. He can provide whatever it is you need. So often I find myself lacking faith in God's greatness and I try to rely on myself or something else in my life to satisfy me or meet my current need instead of trusting in the greatness of God. God is much bigger than we can conceive in our little finite minds. I was recently reminded of how great God is on a mission trip to Ethiopia. What I saw there was very different from modern America and how we do church in the United States. I saw a beautiful country full of people that God has created and I worked with missionaries who are giving their lives to reach all those people. I was also reminded of what heaven will be like one day and that Revelation 5:9 is so true that we will be gather around God's glorious throne with people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. It will not be white people speaking English and singing Chris Tomlin songs. I saw God's greatness and how big He is. This great God can work in your life too. He can meet any need, He can bring to fruition any dream, and the best part is that God is not only great but He is also good.

God is good and the good news is He has displayed His goodness for all to see. God is so good that He gave His Son so that sinful people like you and I could have a relationship with Him. God is good and He has a plan for your life that is beyond your wildest dreams if you will trust Him entirely with everything in your life. He desires what is best for you and knows what is best for you way better than you know what is best for you. Today I just wanted to remind you of that simple prayer that God is indeed great as we see in Scripture and as we look at life but also that it goes a step further because God is good. I hope that you believe that God is both really great and really good. I hope you pray with bold faith for whatever you are asking God for and that you trust your entire life to His goodness. What do you think about God? It is the most important thing about you!!!