Excuses are like armpits...

Everyone has them and they all stink.

Tonight we talked about excuses. The kids wrote down a couple that they would use if they had not finished a science project:

"my mom forgot to do it." -- Jordan

"My mom said she was going to die yesterday, so I spent the day with her, then she was miraculously healed." -- Jacob

"I was sucked into a space time continuem where my project was destroyed." -- Jason (a sponsor)

"I'm a cripple." -- Austin, who is recovering from a nasty cut on his wrist

"My little brother is teething." -- Hannah

"I got kidnapped, but now I'm back" -- Beetlejuice

The excuses we use can cause us to miss out on the great plan that God has for us. John Ortberg wrote a great book on Peter walking on the water called, If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat, that discussed the great life of adventure that awaits us if we trust in God. Moses, through his many excuses, attempted to miss all the great things that he was to experience.

His excuses:

"I'm a nobody. Who am I to go?" Sounds a lot like Gideon in Judges 6. A question Jr. High Schoolers face on a daily basis.

"What if they don't believe me? What if they don't care?" The message of Jesus often rolls off people's backs.

"I ain't got good speaking abilities. I don't know enough." A hurdle that many of Jesus current disciples let defeat them. David Ring, one of the greatest speakers of this generation, didn't allow earthly speaking abilities stand in the way of a heavenly message.

The excuses come to an end with an outright plea to pick someone else.

Excuses can stand in the way of a great adventure with God. The same excuses Moses used, are the same ones that stand in the way of our Middle School students. Jr. Highers have great power. Texting is a $50 billion dollar industry, because of teenagers. 50% of commercials on Television are specifically geared to this demographic. Excuses stand in the way of them realizing the world altering power they have...No excuses.

ON A SIDE NOTE:

Some of my high schoolers who set in on Jr. High youth group decided the Exodus 4 was cut short, so they adapted it and lengthened it in a manner that makes you really think about the future of this nation as well as humanity. This is exactly as they (Austin and CJ) have it written, blame our public school system for the misspelling.

Following verse 17 insert:

Then Moses said I would rather burn in hell than do this. The Lord said "I am who I am." Then using the powers of the Dragon, he schorced Moses face off. The Lord laughed and then watched the Office on NBC with Jesus. Moses spent the rest of eternity with no face. Until Chuck Norris put him out of his missory. Then the Lord stoped watching the Office and imediatly sent Chuck Norris and Moses to Star Wars times, where Chuck Norris became a master jedi and Moses became the leader of the Sith. Then 3 katillion years later, Moses and Chuch Norris were watching the Office and had a disagreement over who was funniest, Dwight or Micheal. Then they got into a huge light saber battle ending in a atomic force backhand by Chuck Norris ending time. Then the Lord said "I am who I am" again he reserected Moses because the Lord felt bad because he had no face. Then the Lord sent Moses, Chuck Norris (who can't die according to CJ), and Rambo to Lord of the Rings times where Moses was a hobbet and Chuck Norris and Rambo was a Dwarf. Chuck Norris and Rambo found the all powerful ring where they buit a huge continent called ChuckRamboland where everybody hated Moses. When ChuckRamboland had the pwoer to defeat Moses's crappy country of Nofaceland where Moses still didn't have a face. The people of ChuckRamboland invaded Nofaceland blowing it up off the face of the earth. So Chuck Norris and Rambo combined their powers and ended time where they contenued to make great shows and movies and watched the Office.

Sometimes there is no words to express the utter confusion that is found in the human mind.

Jesus saves us from worry...

The brutal end of summer has arrived. Not 20 seconds ago, I said good bye to one of our graduates, who is heading to MCC for the school year. A little over 20 minutes ago I finally got to tell kids to go home because it was a school night. CIY and VBS, composed the last push of the summer and my last a3 weeks of insanity.

Tonight, Aaron Jones taught us about worry. He asked the kids what they worried about. It was interesting to hear their answers. I originally thought worry was an adult problem. It is something that many adults struggle with, but you wouldn't think Jr. High students would have a problem with it. Then I thought back to my own days in Jr. High School. Worrying about: whether anyone would set beside me at lunch; who do I set with on the bus; can I actually fit in my locker; do I have to shower in gym class. These thoughts coursed through my mind as Jr. High school approached. I laugh on them now, but it was a scary ordeal in those days. You might not know it now (and I do a pretty good job of hiding it), I suffered from a crippling shyness during my prepubescent years, an insecurity that followed me around until college. Jr. High is an anxiety attack to many kids. Aaron challenged us from Philippians 4 and Romans 8.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Aaron showed us that through prayer and a relationship with Christ, we can be free of the worry that traps us in our lives. He then took us to Romans 8 and showed us how the very things that we worry about are the things that Paul says that will not separate us from God's love. School, making the team, death, grades, money; all these things Paul has addressed in Romans 8. They are all part of creation; or challenges; or our future.

It makes me think about the things that I worry about, for I am convinced that our lives our filled with much more worry than Jesus ever wanted for us.