You are here: Home › Whats New › 2009 › 01 › 13 › Lets Get Real

LET'S GET REAL!

13th January 2009

I don't know about you, but I don't always like admitting when I'm wrong.

I had a phone call the other day and the voice on the other end said "I've got a bone to pick with you". I hate it when a conversation starts like that. I feel like a naughty little child and think to myself "Oh, what have I done this time".

Now I'm not going to tell you who was on the other end of the line, but don't worry, it wasn't Sandy [my wife]! So, in a little quiet voice I said "what is it".

The conversation flowed and we laughed and I admitted my wrong. What had I done wrong you ask? It wasn't necessarily that I'd done anything wrong but I had been sending mixed messages to people about a divisional event we are holding this month.

We are holding a fun day at a pool and I called it "Wet N Wild" fun day. The problem is, that it's not actually at Wet N Wild. But to my defense, we will get wet and we will get wild [in a nice way!]. This has prompted many youth around the division to get all excited about going to Wet N Wild.

Youth of the nation ... I know you don't want to ... but read the fine print ... it has important info!

And youth of South Queensland ... be at Chermside pool on Saturday 24 January from 10am for a great day!

So, what am I saying? This isn't just a way for me to admit my wrong or a creative way for me to advertise the fun day at Chermside pool on Saturday 24 January from 10am.

There's a deeper element to this that I want to share with you.

When I first became a Christian 13 years ago, God did a very powerful thing in my life and brought me out of the darkness and into the light. He is a miraculous God, a healing God and a gracious God. But you know what? If it wasn't for some key people in my life who were Christ in the flesh I wouldn't have been ripe for that moment when God performed his miracle and I responded to him.

I can laugh off my mistake in calling an event after a theme park and in hindsight it probably wasn't the best thing to do. But think about your life for a moment. And with you I'm thinking about mine.

Does the way you live your life [your everyday life] send a confident message that you follow Christ and love him with your whole being. Do your friends and others around you know without a doubt that you love and serve God? Or is the way you are living send mixed messages?

Not to put pressure on you but if you are not already, it's time to GET REAL!

For your own sake, but also for the sake of those around you. Don't underestimate the influence you have for God with those around you. You are Jesus to them.

Thinking back 13 years when I was a young 22 year old coming out of drug addiction and a gambling habit I needed to see that Jesus was real before I would even consider thinking about Christianity for myself. How did I see him? Through other people. Not through adults either. Through teenagers like most of you reading this blog and through those my own age.

2 Corinthians 3: 12-18

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Don't send mixed messages. Be bold in your faith and reflect Jesus to those around you.

Don't let people have to search for the fine print to discover Jesus in you. Let them see him on the front page. Be real, be true, be bold.

And if you're reading this and you don't really know Jesus ... check him out ... he's living in a person near you! Chat to someone you trust about how you can have a relationship with the coolest person on the planet. He will change your life forever!

Oh yeah I almost forgot ... don't forget to come to Chermside pool on Saturday 24 January from 10am for a day of cool, refreshing fun!

Until next time.

Nigel MacDonald [DYS - Sth QLD]