Things that I learned...

Last week I went with my youth group to a youth camp called Global. I learned a lot of things and wanted a share of few of those things with you...

      Each day after lunch we would have something called track time. We would split off into different groups to discuss a certain subject. We got to choose which one we wanted to do. On Tuesday then at first I wanted to go to the prayer track time, but as I began to think about it I felt like God was pushing me to go to the evangelism track time. So I did.

The person leading the track, Allie, told us to try to ask five questions to as many people as we could in three minutes. So we did. After we gathered back around she asked how many of us asked a question about God, church, or religion. None of us raised our hand. Then she asked how many asked what their favorite color was. All of us raised our hand. The point is is that sharing the gospel can start with a simple question, if only we’re bold enough to do it. We don’t like to talk about evangelism much because it can make us feel guilty for not doing it. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t share the gospel as much as I should, but I want to start trying.

We make evangelism sound like it’s in its own category. We make it sound very hard and complicated. It is hard. But not impossible. We can talk about Jesus to anyone and it can come up through a simple question. We just have to step out in faith to do it. And we need to be praying every step of the way.

      At Global we’re surrounded by fellow believers and are constantly immersed in God’s Word. That tends to make us more passionate about God there. But that doesn’t need to fade away. God isn’t limited to one mountain or one church. He can’t be contained. As one of the speakers said, God doesn’t want re-commitment, He wants surrender. We can recommit ourselves to Him every Sunday or once a year at a camp, but if we aren’t surrendering to Him it’s not going to mean anything.

      I loved my time at Global. I learned a lot of things. But I don’t want my relationship with God to be limited to one place or one time. We could come to church every Sunday, but if we’re not living for Him Monday through Saturday then what’s the point? Something that one of the speakers said stuck with me. He said that we can’t park on yesterday’s miracles. We can’t go to Global once a year and just milk it for all it’s worth for months, not doing anything else for Jesus. We can’t say that we shared the gospel two months ago and keep living off of that. Those things can be great and we should remember those times. But we can’t live in yesterday because if we do we’ll miss what God’s doing today.

      During one of the worship times the band played a song called O Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship. I've always loved the song and during the chorus I really got to thinking.

This is how the chorus goes...
"O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ"

     And during it it occurred to me that not everyone knows that. Not everyone knows that God is waiting for them with His arms wide open. They don't know that forgiveness was bought with Jesus' blood. They don't know that they can come to Jesus. Of course I know that there are people out there that don't know about Jesus or believe in Him... but during that song it really hit me.

     My neighbors, friends, people I pass by on the street - they may not know that. That's why it's so important that we share the gospel.

      Look, I don't know where you are right now in your life. I don't know the heart - only God does. But if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior then I encourage you to come to Jesus, His arms are open wide. Maybe you are a follower of Jesus but haven't fully surrendered to Him, then I encourage you to surrender your all to Him. It's hard and it's a lesson I'm still learning, but I encourage you to do so. Or maybe you have surrendered to Him but aren't quite sure what to do next, I encourage you to tell people about Him and live for Him daily.

So those were a few things that I learned at Global.

What about you? What has God been teaching you recently? Have you ever heard of Global Youth Camp?