I spent six seasons as a high school varisty basketball coach, having been named to the position when I was 24 years old. I remember a parent at our school stopping me one day and telling me, "You're so young! How can you be a varsity coach?"
You'll always find people who will be surprised at the accomplishments of a youth. Sometimes they can't understand how others with so little of life's experience behind them can assume positions of responsibility. Perhaps they think of themselves as somehow better by the simple fact that they are a few years older.
Apparently Paul was aware of that kind of thinking back in the first century. As he was writing to Timothy about dealing with some false teaching that had arisen in the church, Paul sought to give Timothy a bit of direction. Among the things he told him was this: "Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).
Paul didn't say, "Tim, you're just a kid. Wait till I get there and I'll handle this problem for you." Paul trusted Timothy with this vital church issue, despite his apparent youth.
Experience is a great teacher, and sometimes it takes a while for a young person to develop the needed confidence. But don't let that stop you from pursuing the area of service you think God wants you to fulfill.
Youthfulness brings with it enthusiasm, vision, hope, fresh ideas, and so many other things that the body of Christ can use. Use those traits to "be an example."-Allison Stevens Food For The Soul!!
"As you think of being an example to others, how does Jesus' life inspire you? What Christlike traits should you be seeking to develop this week?"
Article selected from “Our Daily Journey”.
This Week @ Detonate: We give thanks to the Lord for the powerful sermon last saturday. The sermon is able to impact us simply because the Word is life. Likewise, we have someone from our midst to share with us, his life testimony, his struggles and challenges and how God turned things around for His glory. Get ready! See you at 5:00pm in church!
Believing is Receiving
"I'll believe it when I see it!" That was the response from a woman who was told that she had won a cash prize, no strings attached.
This woman's response clearly showed that she didn't put her faith in the empty promises of a telemarketer.
There are many things we shouldn't put our faith in - promises of easy money with no effort, tropical vacations with no money down and sight unseen, and buy-now/pay-later marketing schemes. But there are some things in life we can count on. For example, we don't question whether the sun will rise every day. When we exhale, we don't wonder if there'll be enough oxygen left for our next inhale. We can even trust the weather.
We can count on life being ever-changing. But prayer can bring stability to it. Inner peace comes in knowing that whatever we're praying about can be left in God's hands. It's important to Him. He won't forget about it, nor will He ignores us. Faith assures us that God cares about us and that He's working for our good.
Faith doesn't demand that God must come through for me exactly the way I want Him to, or even in my own time frame. Faith doesn't wring its hands with worry, wondering if anything will come of my request.
It's normal to doubt from time to time. But when waves of doubt threaten to capsize the ship of faith, remember Christ's words to believe and then receive.
-Allison Stevens Food For The Soul!!
"Why does God sometimes answer our requests with a "No" or with a "Wait"? How has your faith in God been tested as you've faced recent changes and challenges?"
Article selected from “Our Daily Journey”.
This Week @ Detonate: Detonate Youth Ministry has specially invited Brother Ronald Yew from Grace Assembly to speak to us the Word. Thank God that we have had many speakers and we were ministered by God through them in many different ways. Likewise, we expect no less from this coming gathering in the House of the Lord. See you at 5:00pm in church!
How was I to KNOW?
It was concert season in high school, and the music students were getting ready for the big choir extravaganza. The music teacher handed out all the information every student needed to know about rehearsals and times and responsibilities. She gave out copies a couple of times just to make sure everyone was without excuse and that everyone knew the details. The notes and the teacher's statements to the students made it clear, for example, when rehearsal was scheduled, and that it was absolutely, unequivocally mandatory.
So what happened on the day of rehearsal? Well, one mother called in a panic, wondering what time her teenager was supposed to show up for practice. How was she to know? she wondered. Another called the teacher and said, "Oh, we're taking Tommy to Grandma's for the day. I'm sure it's okay if he misses rehearsal. right?" When the teacher kindly reminded the parent that practice had already started and that if the student didn't want to fail he'd better be there, she heard the mom say, "Well, why didn't somebody tell me? How was I to know?"
If this upset the music teacher, imagine how it must grieve God when we ignore His message to us in the Bible. What must He think when we live by our own rules, get ourselves in trouble because of our wrong choices, and then say, "How was I to know what God wanted?" The Bible is God's note home to us, telling us exactly what He expects. It teaches us how to treat each other, how to behave in a godly way, and most important, how to glorify God by trusting Jesus as Saviour. - Dave Branon.
How much time have you spent this week studying God's "note" to you? What verse will you think about over the next 24 hours?
Article selected from “Our Daily Journey”.
This Week @ Detonate: Hi friends, we are pleased to have Sister Mei Ling this Saturday to share with us God's Word again! Let us be ready with an open heart as we listen to God's message. Have a fruitful week ahead! =)See you at 5:00pm in church!
Elijah's Training
1 Kings 17:7-10
And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. Bible teachers believe that Elijah was in the wilderness for over a year.
And even though food arrived daily, his anxiety level must have been rising. For as the drought continued, the river became a stream, then a creek, then a mere trickle. This was part of God’s training of Elijah. Imagine what must have been happening to the prophet’s faith as the water level in the brook dipped lower and lower. God could have brought water from the rocks, as He had for Israel in the wilderness, but He didn’t. The water was running out. Remember, Elijah was “a man like us.”
How might he have responded: • Wanting to panic? • Wanting to give up and die? • Wanting to reverse God’s judgment because it was affecting him personally?
This is all part of the training process. Elijah needed to know that he could trust God far more than water—even in the desert, and even when the brook dried up.
He needed to learn that: God knew all along that the brook would dry up. It was inevitable. The wadi was dependent on the heavy rains of late autumn and early winter. And when those rains did not arrive, the brook disappeared. God’s care was not hampered when the brook dried up. It would be easy for Elijah to assume that he had been forgotten by God. But he had to learn that he was dependent on God, not the brook.
God was still in control, even when the brook dried up. In fact, God was so in control that He totally disrupted the comfort zone that Elijah had become used to. Why? To stretch him in new ways.
When our comfort zone is shattered, it doesn’t mean that God has lost control. But it may mean that we’ve stopped hearing the voice of God because we’ve grown too comfortable. Even as the water receded, Elijah stayed at the brook until he was instructed to go elsewhere (“Arise go” [v.9]). The lessons of trusting and obedience were being imprinted on his heart.
So God sent him from the wadi on a journey to Zarephath. What do we know about this town? • It was 80-90 miles northwest of Cherith, on the seacoast in Gentile, not Jewish, land. • It was in the heart of a land dominated by Baal worship. • It was the homeland of Queen Jezebel, priestess of Baal, the god that Elijah had challenged.
He was moving from the frying pan directly into the fire. What would Elijah find there? A widow to care for him. That’s not very promising. Widows were normally the poorest of the poor. In a time of famine, they would be the first to run out of food, not the last. Elijah, then, is commanded to go into hostile territory to someone who will have nothing with which to care for him. Why? Because God is training His servant to walk by faith, not by sight— and nobody said it would be easy.
Applying It What lessons can we learn from the “Wadi Cherith Training Center For Spiritual Service”? • Sometimes God’s children suffer along with unbelievers. • Sometimes when we think we are ready for Mount Carmel, God sends us to Cherith because we are not as ready as we think. • Sometimes God’s hiding place isn’t an easy place. • Sometimes the lessons we need to learn require that things get worse before they get better.
Welcome to Elijah’s world, as he personally experiences the power (and price tag) of spiritual training.
Author W. J. Petersen writes: Sometimes we don’t understand God’s dealings. We don’t know why we were sent to Cherith in the first place; we don’t appreciate the fact that God uses dirty ravens to feed us; and we certainly don’t understand why the brook has to dry up. The fact that we don’t understand is simply a sign that God’s educational process isn’t complete yet. He is still teaching us and we’re still learning
Article selected from “Discovery Series”.
This Week @ Detonate:
Come to find out more for yourself and join us for a great time in knowing more friends and a time filled with knowledge, joy and love! =)See you at 5:00pm in church!
