So my new favourite English word at the moment is “crackin’.” The word would be used in context like “I had a crackin’ good time” or “that shot was crackin’.”
That said, I had a crackin’ good time at youth club last night. While the numbers were a bit low at the Albert Park youth club God used that to enable us to have deeper conversations with the young people. I had the opportunity to spend about 45 minutes talking with a 16 year-old lad about his beliefs about sex, alcohol, and drugs. We also talked about his program that he is in at the local collage and his hopes and aspirations for life. I was able to affirm him in his desires to complete his college program, applaud him in waiting to have sex, and encourage him to continue to resist substances that are illegal. During all of this I was able to share my beliefs and practices regarding these areas and others.
Some of you might be thinking, “That’s great Chad but did you preach the gospel and did he experience life change?” My response or challenge would be that I did preach the Gospel and that he did experience a bit of life change.
There is a great quote by a man whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce correctly that said:
“The task is not to preach to the unbeliever, but to proclaim to the dehumanized that they are God’s children.”
Here in Broughton our greatest task is reaching out to the dehumanized. We reach out to the young people that are born into a status of being a “non-person.” They are born into an “unearned disadvantage” where there is no hope, no aspiration, and no expectation. This lad that I invested 45 minutes in last night is a rare person in Broughton who has a just a spark of hope and aspiration for something greater or more out of life. It is my hope that as he discovers worth and value that a discovery of his worth and value as a beloved child of God would be part of his journey.
Please be in prayer for this lad as I hopefully follow up with him tonight and continue to build into him worth and value and that he is a beloved child of God.
One of my favourite passages of Scripture at the moment comes from Luke 4. Some might make the argument that this was the underlying or primary purpose of Jesus’ work here on earth. Luke 4:16-21 says:
When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll containing the messages of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, and he unrolled the scroll to the place where it says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that the captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.” (NLT)
That passage, the very words Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2, are the very heartbeat of our work in Broughton.
Will you embrace these words of Jesus? As author Shane Claiborne challenges us, what if Jesus really meant the things he said? I believe with ever fiber of my being that Jesus did mean the things he said and that we are to put the words of Scripture we say we believe into practice in Salford, England or in Norman, Oklahoma or in the work place or in the corner shop.
Author Dave Andrews writes that:
. . . . many of these opportune moments to meet others often come at inopportune times for us. Dave Andrews “Not Religion but Love” p 114
But still you might be saying, “I don’t know Chad, I am just too scared or too busy or it’s just too hard.”
My closing thought is that:
Christ overcame his fear by being more of afraid of what would happen if he didn’t get involved, than if he did. Dave Andrews “Not Religion but Love” p 98
Go and do,
Chaddington
