Courtney Clark Cleveland is highly invested in the lives of those involved with Young Life in her area. Here is one of our favorite moments with Courtney from Young Life Capernaum Camp. Listen and learn from a girl not much different than you.
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Standing Up For Truth
2 Kings 10:16
When people ask about your faith, how do you usually respond? Do you eagerly tell them about your beliefs or quickly change the subject? If you’re more inclined to run away than boldly share your faith, it may be because you think talking openly about God is risky. Because it’s popular to believe all paths or religions lead to God, others may think you’re narrow-minded for believing that Jesus is the only way. In our culture, it’s just not cool to believe there’s only one God or only way to Him.
Jehu also lived during a time when believing in one true God wasn’t so popular. Influenced by religions of other nations, and the example of their former king, Ahab, most people worshiped pagan gods. To them, claiming there was just one true God seemed crazy. But Jehu followed God’s commands and demonstrated just how serious he was by destroying anyone who worshiped Baal. And for this extreme obedience, God rewarded him. Tragically, Jehu didn’t stay faithful, but for a short time, he showed Israel that unfaithfulness to God has consequences.
Standing up for truth and following God’s commands may not always be easy or popular- and Jesus never promised it would be. In fact, he said his followers would be hated because of him (John 15:18-19). But this shouldn’t stop you from boldly showing the world how serious you are about God. What’s the best way to do this? Follow his commands.
Want to know more? Find more devotionals in the Revolve Devotional Bible here!
Excerpted from Revolve Devotional Bible. © 2010 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Blanca from Group 1 Crew shares her heart at The Revolve Tour in 2009.
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There’s always a backstage in someone’s heart. Maybe there’s a divorce behind the popular girl’s pomp. Maybe there’s abuse behind the quiet girl’s heart who always sits in the back row. That guy who always cracks jokes in class? Maybe he has never met his dad. And that guy that always picks on people? Yeah, maybe he’s never been told, “Son, I love you.”
Let’s try and look behind the mask, behind the popularity, behind the swollen egos, behind the humor or the quietness. Let’s make a pact to really get to know people’s hearts. The real stuff. Before we judge, let’s pray- pray that God will show us how we can love someone better, even when that person is the LAST one we want to love.
Jesus always looked past clothes, social class, gender, and race and focused straight on the heart. When we do that, we see that everyone needs love. Everyone needs Jesus. But who is going to be the person to give that love? I hope it’s me. I hope it’s you. Let’s pray that we see the need and do something about it.
Excerpted from You Were Made To Make A Difference copyright 2010 by Jenna Lucado. Thomas Nelson, Inc. pg. 96-97. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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Stop and think for a moment about the things and people in your life and how they affect the way you feel about yourself. Maybe it’s the people at your school. Maybe it’s the social hog who talks over you and everyone else. Maybe it’s your parents or siblings and the way they treat you. They probably don’t mean to make you feel dumb or incompetent. Most of the time people don’t even know that they are doing it to others. But it happens. And when it does, don’t be like some trained animal. Don’t just sit back and take it. Decide for yourself that you have a voice, that you can express what you think and what you need. Decide to be competent.
Excerpted from The Truth About Dating, Love & Just Being Friends. 2011 by Chad Eastham. Thomas Nelson, Inc. pg. 207. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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The Conformist Myth
Everybody’s not doing it. Sometimes it does seem that way, but a perceptive young person will eventually discover that a lot fewer people are “doing it” than the crowd would have them believe.
Everybody’s not having premarital sex. My research indicates that more than 50 percent of high school students aren’t “doing it.” That’s a significant number.
Everybody’s not using tobacco. In fact, smoking is at historically low levels, with a recent survey conducted by the National Institute of Health indicating that as many as 80 percent of teenagers do not smoke.
Everybody’s not using alcohol. The latest national survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that only about 50 percent of teens engage in underage drinking by the time they graduate high school.
Everybody’s not doing drugs. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s “Monitoring the Future” survey found that in 2009, less than 47 percent of high school seniors had ever engaged in any illicit drug use. In particular, recreational use of stimulants has sharply decreased in recent years.
Everybody’s not losing or “outgrowing” their faith. The Washington Times reported a teen survey that revealed that nearly 70 percent of all teenagers consider faith to be an important part of their lives. Another survey of 3,000 U.S. households found that around 50 percent of teens consider faith to be extremely important, and only around 8 percent did not value religion at all.
The lie that everybody’s doing it is often used by teenagers to manipulate their friends and peers into conforming to the rest of the crowd. Well, don’t believe the Conformist Myth. Everybody’s not “doing it.” A hefty percentage of teenagers know how to say no. And they’re doing it more and more.
Excerpted from Don’t Check Your Brains At The Door copyright 2011 by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler. Thomas Nelson, Inc. pg. 162-163. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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We wanted to share a few videos of our favorite Revolve Tour moments. Here’s an inspiring clip from Austin Gutwein in 2009.
Get a copy of Austin’s book here!
Here’s another peek into Jenna Lucado Bishop’s adventure in Guatemala. Don’t forget to check out her blog here.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
One hundred and twenty. One hundred and twenty hours of continuous rain.
I’ve never seen anything like it. Concrete walls with no insulation, plus no air conditioning, equals a humidity inside our apartment so thick that nothing will dry.
Toothbrushes, towels, clothes… all wet, wet, wet.
But complaining about wet towels and toothbrushes is trite compared to the devastation of 100,000s in Central America and parts of Mexico. A tropical storm has moved in, while forcing residents to move out. Here in El Salvador, family after family is evacuating.
Please pray. Pray that the rain will end before more devastation begins.
In spite of the rain’s efforts to slow us down, we refuse to let it stop us! So here are some of our favorite highlights. Rain or no rain, here we come.
#1 - Kara Has A Happy Cara (“Cara” is “face” in Spanish. Terrible pun. Sorry.)
Kara is back with a vengeance after a successful surgery in the States. Thank you so much for your prayers. She is recovering quickly and hasn’t skipped a beat.
Since she has been home, her project has officially begun. She and her team are working with seven families who have been impacted by a new law implementation. The law is forcing children out of orphanages and back into biological family homes. But the homes are too poor, too broken to provide these children with physical and, especially, emotional needs. Kara, her social worker and psychologist are literally knocking on the doors of these homes with beans, rice, bunk beds and counseling. Each family has cried, “You are the answer to our prayers!”
She is the hands and feet of Jesus. And Brett and I have loved having a front-row seat to watch her story unveil.
#2 - Singing At San Martin
Brett and I learned a couple of children’s worship songs in Spanish. He brought a guitar, and we headed out to San Martin, an orphanage for the disabled. Most are adults with mental retardation and physical impediments. The orphanage consists of casitas – each house containing a different level of disability and sleeping 8-10 people.
We drove up to the orphanage and the kids flocked. All eyes were locked on Brett’s guitar. I herded the kids to a shady corner and began to teach them the songs in my broken Spanish. Brett began to strum and feet began to stomp. They sang on a 100 different keys, clapped off beat, laughed and bounced. We then visited the different casitas.
Bodies confined to wheelchairs sang, “I’m gonna walk just like Jesus” as loud as they could. A little boy who was blind and mute banged on a table and threw back his head with a smile as we sang the words, “Jesus loves me.”
As we traveled from one casita to the next with our guitar and voices, the more stable kids followed us and sang with us at every house. We looked like Christmas carolers. And in a way we were – singing about a God who loved them enough that He, too, was disfigured. He too was scoffed at, neglected. Just like them.
I’ve never heard such beautiful singing in my life. And I’ve never felt the presence of God more in my life. These are “lasts” who will be first in heaven.
#3 – Bus Ride!
We road the public bus for the first time! Everyone stared at us Gringos. But for 20 cents the stares were worth it.
#4 - Student Hang-Outs
Brett and I have been invited to teach some high school and middle school students in the homes of some moms we met while volunteering at local schools. Teens here are not much different from teens in the States. They have curfew, love to shop, play video games and wonder why in the world two “old” people want to hang out with them and talk about life and faith.
With Kara, I’ve had the opportunity to lead a Bible study with teen girls at a local government orphanage. This center houses kids who are brand new to the orphan system. A very sad place. The girls are hard. And who can blame them? Most keep a straight face until prayer time when they tearily ask us to pray that their family will visit them. They cry to us about wanting to leave, longing for a real home, a real family. We hold them and give them a promise that they are loved by a Perfect Father who will be their family, their home. And I pray that the promise will take root in their hearts.
We left youth ministry in San Antonio only to find it in San Salvador.
As the rain pours outside, God continues pour blessing after blessing upon our experience down here. We are exactly where we need to be.
Three more weeks in El Salvador before we head to Guatemala. We love you guys!
- Jenna
See Jenna Lucado Bishop at The Revolve Tour: Dream On 2012!
Find event dates here.
In a world that worships instant gratification for every desire, patience is a rare quality. We want stuff, and we want it now. But patience is vital. It should be a deep-rooted way of life for Christians.
God is patient with us (1 Timothy 1:16; 2 Peter 3:8-9). As God-followers, we must realize that God is pleased when we patiently wait on him and have patience with other people, just like he’s been patient with us.
Patience is the ability to endure anything…waiting on God, suffering through trials, resisting temptation, dealing with imperfect situations, and loving people who seem “unlovable.”
Patience comes from the Holy Spirit working in your life (Galatians 5:22) – it certainly doesn’t come naturally! Second Corinthians 6:6 says that we show we’re servants of God through our patience (among other virtues). Ephesians 4:1-3, Colossians 3:12-17, 1 Timothy 6:11, 2 Timothy 3:10, and Revelation 13:10 clearly teach how patience is an important piece of the puzzle. Living to please God always includes the quality of patience.
Love requires patience (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Hope and faith both include the idea of patiently waiting for God (Romans 12:12; James 5:11). Definitely don’t underestimate the importance of being patient!
Want to know more? Find more devotionals in the Revolve Devotional Bible here!
Excerpted from Revolve Devotional Bible. © 2010 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Hi there!
Here’s a video from The Revolve Tour archives! Jenna Lucado Bishop shares truth she’s learned throughout her travels. What do you think?
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