I remember the first time I met Deana. A group of us were eating lunch in The Bean at Abilene Christian University in September 1990 right after marching band practice. I introduced myself and we talked. She had a boyfriend at the time. I was bummed. I don’t remember what we talked about, what she wore or what we ate but I remember thinking she was so cute; yet she was so taken. Obviously, things changed. That encounter changed me. It set me on a journey getting to know here better. We’ve had our ups and downs the past 17 years, but we’re continually drawing closer, going deeper in our relationship with one another.

The same is true of my relationship with God. I can’t really pinpoint the first time I truly encountered God because I was raised in a church family since birth. When I think about my relationship with God, it seems to be something that has grown and developed with much work like my relationship with Deana. I can look back and see how my relationship with God has deepened. It’s been up and down, full of questions, doubts at times, disobedience and rebellion at other times; but it’s always been a journey.

I’m thinking of Moses this afternoon as I pray about Refuge tonight. I’m thinking about how Moses was aware of the God of Abraham. He was aware of his Hebrew ancestry. He knew his place. Yet, at just the right time Moses has an encounter with God that alters the course of his life. God both reveals his full name to Moses and gives Moses a mission.

God said to Moses (when Moses asked whim what to say when the Hebrews inquired about who God is): “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them ‘I AM’ sent you… This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”

Isn’t that so true of God in our lives. He seems to reveal himself to us in some new way that deepens our understanding of him at just the right time in our lives.

I love reading Moses’ speeches in Deuteronomy because they come from a man who’s been on a long journey of growing deeper in his relationship with God. Like a man who’s been married for years he can see how his understanding of God and his relationship has changed. He can recall the ups and downs.

My prayer for tonight is that students will find the words to articulate their understanding of God; that barriers will be removed so they can share their journeys with each other. Rather than listen to a talk, we’re going to provide space for students to witness to one another about God and what he has done in one another’s lives.

How has your understanding of God changed over the years? How has your relationship with Him deepened?

Jenna’s at the stage where she wants to do everything herself. Our light switches are just out of her reach as well, but rather than ask for help, she’ll go get her yellow stool and flip the light switch. Yet, there are times when she knows she needs us. She still recognizes her limitations. She knows she can’t get her own sausages at of the refrgerator. She knows she can’t reach her Go Diego Go fruit snacks. She knows she can’t drive herself to school. Though she is wanting independence she recognizes her limitations and need for mom and dad.

I can’t help but think of Jenna as I consider what we’re going to talk about at Refuge tonight. I spent most of Monday trying to grasp the concept of God as redeemer. What became evident throughout Scripture is that in every case, God steps in to do for man what man can’t do for himself. Redemption is the price someone pays to free someone from a condition in which he or she is powerless.

The reality is that we are unable to get ourselves out of the mess we’ve made. Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves. Cain tried to lie and hide his sin. Some of us are tempted to make ammends. Others of us justify our sins. Yet, when it comes down to it, we can’t do anything about our condition. God, in his great love for us, stepped in and, “with a mighty outstretched arm,” redeemed us.

I think we do a pretty good job understanding that conceptually. However, I struggle with recognizing my true need for it. Days and weeks will go by when I don’t consider how much I need God. I live under the illusion I have more power than I actually do.

So tonight, we are going to identify the things that tend to keep us in bondage. We’re going to pray for humility to recognize our need for God’s action in our lives. (And yes, we will be done at 8:05 rather than 8:20 like last week. My apologies)

I can’t help but think of the words to this hymn we don’t sing very often:

“I need thee every hour
Most precious Lord
Come quickly and abide
Or life is vain.

I need thee, O I need thee
Every hour I need thee
O, bless me now my savior
I come to thee.”

I had it all figured out yesterday morning. I knew exactly what I thought the teens needed to consider tonight. I just knew they needed to think about God as creator. But, something happened in the past 48 hours. I began to ask myself some difficult questions like the ones mentioned below. I began to realize that I haven’t always considered fully enough the relationship between my own understanding of God and my daily living. As I began to read Scripture I wasn’t overwhelmed so much by the descriptions of God as I was by the forces in the lives of the writers that compelled them to write about their understandings of God in the ways they did.

So, rather than limit our thought to one aspect of God, I’m compelled to create space for our teens to reflect on biblical expressions of who God is and consider the following questions:

1) Do my views of God line up with what I find in Scripture?
2) Do I really believe in what I read in Scripture?
3) How does my belief in God shape my daily living?
4) Am I on a journey striving to know God more intimately?

Anyways, I don’t know if this makes sense or not, but I want to encourage our teens to take a journey. I want to encourage them tonight to seek the Lord with all they’ve got. And I want to do the same.

For 5 years, I spent 4 weeks each summer in Pilot Point, Alaska, a small community of about 36 native Alaskans. Each summer 50 or so of us descended on this small rural village located on the Aleutian chain on the Bering Sea. I arrived each year during the first week of June with my boss, Marv, his wife and son. We would set up camp and begin getting ready for the fishing season. We’d fish for 3-4 weeks, spend 3-4 days tearing down camp and winterizing the gear and go home. In my 5 summers there, I never really got to know any of the locals. I just came in, did my job and left. Though I lived in proximity to people, I never truly lived among them as a community. I’m kind of sad by that because I could have learned a lot about a culture and way of life I never really knew. I missed out on a lot. In fact, those 5 weeks were rather lonely.

The sad thing is that this same story takes place in the very neighborhoods and communities in which we live. It even happens within the church. Tonight, 20-30 teenagers will descend upon our youth room. Some will be new, others were born into this church family. Undoubtedly, some will arrive feeling a sense of loneliness; feeling a little out of place. As I pray about tonight I can’t help but think of the following words I’ve been reading over and over again:

“I need to learn how to truly be among the people to whom I am sent, as Jesus was among us. The character of my presence needs to be like his…
Being among people means being in their midst, not outside.It means being with them, not being over them. It means not looking away from their agony or humiliation, but beholding it, and having the courage to be also wounded by their pain.” - Greg Paul, God in the Alley: Being and Seeing Jesus in a Broken World

I can’t help but think of John 1:14.

” The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and only.”

I can’t help but constantly ask myself whether I’m truly living among God’s people having the character of Christ. My prayer for myself is that I will truly be among those to whom I am sent with the character of Christ. My prayer is that you desire the same, whether you’re in school or working (or both).

Here’s an interesting blog entry by a professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University that is worth reading and following up on. It has to do with girls’ self image and media. I’d encourage you to read the blog and check out the sources. I’ve ordered one of the books referenced in the blog.