We had a great morning this morning… I spoke on what it means to really encounter the Gospel and hundreds of teenagers responded. To those of you that prayed, thanks. I am praying that these teenagers (and ours who are at Crossroads) will develop a “hunger and thirst” for righteousness… one that is so strong that it doesn’t require careful wording, great entertainment, or flawlessly executed conclusions for the kids to respond. I am praying the Spirit give them a love of God and righteousness, hatred for sin, fear of eternity, and amazement at the grace of God.
If you’re interested, they are live streaming the sessions here.
Today I biked up to the hillcrest overlooking the valley. Pretty spectacular. When I finally made it to the top, I felt like I was somwhere near death. My heart beat more in the hour it took me to get up there than it has in the last 12 years. I sprawled out on the grass in a Mormon church yard at the top of the mountain to try and return to some sense of muscular normalcy… and after about 20 minutes this kid walks up to me, identifies himself as part of the Challenge conference and wants to know if he can ask me some survey questions. It was then I realized that he didn’t recognize me… and he began to ask me the series of evangelistic questions (i.e. “Do you think a person can know for sure he’ll go to heaven,” “Who was Jesus,” etc.)
Of course I couldn’t resist. I told him that I believed God and Mary and Joseph Smith made up the Trinity and that I couldn’t wait to get to heaven to have thousands of spirit wives and babies… he seemed a little taken back but handled himself well… we argued for about 5 minutes and then I took off my sunglasses and told him who I was. He got a kick out of it… and will probably never witness to anyone ever again. Just kidding. He’s a great kid and I was proud of him for taking the initiative of walking up to a stranger to share Jesus. We prayed together and he headed out to tell someone else. Awesome.
Hey man! God is doing a great work here among our students. Thank God for His grace and salvation. Praying for you
I am a 20 year old college student from Wisconsin who went to Challenge as a youth sponsor and I just wanted to say thank you for coming and speaking the truth and love of Jesus to those kids. You said so many of the things we were praying that the kids would hear and I have seen God work in their lives already. Thanks again.