Ever watch the Discovery Channel or National Geographic? I know as a kid I was always fascinated by the big cats. I’m talking cheetahs, tigers, lions, jaguars, etc. The panther in the Disney movie, “the Jungle Book” was my favorite character…what kid does that? EVERYBODY  KNOWS BALOO was the man (bear), but I loved the panther.

So naturally, I’m all about Daniel chapter 6…yeah you know it, “Daniel and the lions den”.

Short recap. King Darius (thank you mom for not giving me that name) signed a decree that everybody was to worship him and only him for thirty days. I guess this appealed to his ego because Darius didn’t think through the implications that would cause, especially for Daniel. Truth be told, it was a set up anyways by Daniel’s co-workers because they wanted him out. No two week pay, no “I’m sorry but…”, instead they opted for the “let’s kill’em plan”. The only way they could do this would have king Darius stand in the way of Daniel worshiping the true King!

So let’s get to the point of this post! (I know you’re thinking…FINALLY!).

When Daniel got thrown into the lions den, God was there. In fact He shut the lions mouth (see Daniel 6:22) which was ridiculous! How amazing is our God that He cared to save Daniel’s life out of the millions living on the earth? I can answer that for you…really amazing. Take it one step further, because He allowed Daniel to live, the miracle caused a revival to hit the nation, even Darius realized the awesomeness of God. He decreed to quit worshiping him, and worship the one TRUE God!

Good stuff…but it gets better. 1 Peter 5:8-10 talks about satan – devil, aka bad dude on every level – is compared to a “roaring lion” that is out to get us. Have you seen a roaring lion, YIKES! This isn’t Simba we are talking about it, we are talking about a mad, thousand plus pound cat with very large teeth and claws, ready to turn you into spam. BUT. Remember how God saved Daniel, in fact the Bible said “shut the lions mouth”. So we have a powerful roaring lion out there ready to pounce and a God that is ready to shut the lions mouth. Now bring on the awesomeness!

Who is your lion? What is your lion? Do you hear it roaring in the distance, behind you, or even so close you can smell the bad breath? God is there to shut it’s mouth! Don’t be fearful of what the lion (aka devil) could do, instead be amazed at what God can and will do in the situation that you are in.

My hope is for you to dare to dream, and live the vision that our awesome God…who shuts lions mouths…has for you! Read more at: http://robbiebridges.blogspot.com

There is a distraught father begging and pleading for his daughter’s life to be spared. He was at his wits end. There was no hope. Death not only knocked at his family’s door, but entered in and was stealing life. Can you pictures his daughter’s bed room? Mom is crying at her bedside. Her brother is next door sitting at the table pounding his fist into the wooden chair beside him, asking why this would happen to his sister? The air is stale inside the house. There isn’t a lot of food around because the house hold finances are gobbled by medicines that promised relief and possible cures.

Enter Jairus. He was a prominent figure at the local temple. In fact, he was a leader of the synagogue! He heard about this “Jesus” that had been wandering the countryside healing and now causing various commotions amongst the people…right outside the temple…his temple! “Maybe he could help my daughter?” he thought……

Then we read in Mark 11:22, “A leader of the synagogue, named Jairus, came there, saw Jesus, and fell at his feet. He begged Jesus, saying again and again, ‘My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live.’ So Jesus went with him.”

Jairus hit the point of desperation. He was a leader of the synagogue (meaning he was a big shot at the temple) and he fell down at Jesus feet. He didn’t care what others thought. He didn’t care if it would put his job on the line. Instead of caring, he fell down!

Are we that desperate? Is there something today that we need to bring to Jesus? Do we need to forget what others think? Do we need to step up, and humble ourselves to ask God to do something in our lives?

Passion. As I look around our youth ministry, the church as a whole, and hear stories about other ministries –  a common theme occurs: lack of passion or full of passion. You can tell when young people are passionate about something and when they are not. They don’t hide it as well as the adults do!

Webster defines passion as: intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. WOW. Take a quick look at your ministry (regardless if you are a plumber, pastor, teacher, or door salesmen) and ask the question is it lacking passion? We all have different vocations that God has put us in for a reason and I wonder if we are fulfilling the calling that He has for us IN THE NOW. It’s easy to get passionate about TOMORROW, because tomorrow never comes. It’s harder to get passionate about the now, because that would mean you would have to roll up the sleeves and go after it…now. What if you did? What if you lost control of yourself and went after it 100%. No looking to the left. No ducking to the right? Not turning around to see what’s behind…but looking forward, aiming straight. Turn your passion into reality!

As a youth pastor I am constantly examining myself. Am I passionate about the next big event? Am I passionate to bring numbers in and filling the seats? Am I passionate about making sure the lighting works for the stage? Am I passionate about ending on time? STOP. Those are great CONCERNS but it’s not what I should be PASSIONATE about. My passion should be: meeting the needs of every student that walks in our doors. I am not full of myself and think that I could and would meet every need, but I should be the one that tries…to stand in the gap for our youth. But as I write this God is convicting me…that isn’t big enough…what about the youth that aren’t in our doors? How can I reach them? Hmmm…any suggestions?

My prayer for you and for myself is that we would become more passionate for God and for His people. Examine your motives, your dreams, your visions, and see where your true passion exists. Are you rocking out with the passion that God has burned into your soul? Do you lack any passion today? Ask God for a RENEWED PASSION today!

I pray that you would dare to dream, and live the vision that God has given you today!

Is it important that the church get the Word out to people? Don’t automatically say yes. Look at your local church for second. Is your church doing that? OK, before you start to judge…look deeper. Are you doing that? Are you sharing the love of Christ to people in your circle, and beyond?

The word “witness” appears in the Bible:

• 108 times in the NIV
• 125 times in the Message
• 135 times in the New American Standard
• 175 times in the New King James
• 176 times in the Amplified
• 199 times in the New Living

No matter what the translation, witnessing is extremely important to get the Word out. We aren’t talking about sport scores or the latest on Miley Cyrus…we are talking about eternity!

So think about this for a minute. How can you you witness today? God has put you specifically in this city, family, school, occupation, and country for a purpose. Are you living out that purpose? Are you fulfilling the great commission? Don’t be one of the ones that holds back.

Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. (Matthew 28: 16-20)

Dare to dream that dream that God has given you, and live the vision!

I dare you. I dare you to take the plunge. To take the leap. To do what you thought you could never do. To be the person that you thought you could never be. I dare you.

I dare you to have faith. Faith by definition is simple, but faith by actions isn’t as simple. It’s tough. Our culture expects us to conform to the norm. To be average. I dare you to do something different. Watch the video below to understand my dare.

Will you take the dare, the dare to put your faith into action?

“The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.” Matthew 17:20.

Do you get that’s Jesus talking to you today? Check out the last sentence. Yeah, hard for me to swallow too. So why aren’t we living that out today?

Bored with your life? Bored with your church? Bored with your ministry? Bored with your career? Bored with that dream?

I’ve talked to so many different people at various churches, and a common theme occurs: being bored. They are ready to do something, but either don’t know how or not allowed too. Each is equally depressing and will destroy the visions/dreams that God has placed in their hearts. If you look in the Bible (yeah, the one that you carry to church….sometimes!) it’s all about doing. So many of us are trying to do something, some actually do it! But if you look even closer in the Bible (it’s the same book I referred to in the previous sentence!) they all did something outside the box. To often the church looks like this picture:

What if you were to take your dream and not only think or meditate on it….but bring it out physically? What if you take that leap? What if middle school teens decide to start a Bible club before school and followed through with it? What if high school teenagers hosted a post game football tailgate and spread the Word during the event? What if college students became more vocal and active on their campuses? What if young graduates based their new careers and marriage on Biblical principles? What if parents not only took their kids to Sunday school but did nightly devotions and physically demonstrated Christ love to others in front of their kids? What if the church (as a whole) made Monday – Saturday the ministry focal point and not the hour or two on Sunday mornings/evening? What if…..Can you imagine if the church got off the hamster wheel that is full of ideas but stationary, and stepped onto the streets to their homes, their communities, their world? What if you did that too? Enough talk, let’s get it going beyond our mouths!

See You At The Pole is coming up and my mind races back 10yrs ago to Columbine shooting. I wonder if anyone at the school reached out to those young men? I wonder if anyone invited them to See You At The Pole?

It was one of the scariest moments of my generation. I still remember opening my books to do some homework and seeing the image of the student being lowered out of a window on tv. 10yrs later, I turn on the news this morning and hear reports that some government officials are trying to pass a law that would take the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag out of the classroom, or at least to opt out of it because it mentions, “God”.

I would like to commend all the heroes at their school today. I am praying for you. I want you to know that you are making a difference. Our country has turned it’s back on God in the classroom and we…..you…are paying the price for it. See You At The Pole is a great way to pray for your school, familly, and country. I don’t know what’s happening in the classrooms beyond meeting at Bible Clubs or the cafeterias…but know this you can be a hero today to the person that sits in front of you in Math class. You could be a hero to your locker neighbor. You could be a hero to that teacher that counts you tardy (although you did come in late!). You could be the one to show them who God is through your words and actions.

You could be a hero at See You At The Pole and pray for your school next Wednesday morning. Do you dare to be one?

So in case you were out of the country last night or this morning, check out what happened last night at MTV’s VMA show:

Wow. MTV doesn’t shock me to much anymore…but last night was crazy. Nobody knew what to say or do. I felt horrible for both of the ladies…talk about awkward!

So while I was driving to the office this morning I could help but think, what would Kanye do in this situation. It’s easy really, when you are faced with a major decision to speak out or be silent…think about what would Kanye do?

This has already helped me: I had an old lady pull out in front of me. What would Kayne do? I stumped my toe at the backdoor of the office. What would Kayne do? I realized to late somebody got crazy with adding extra coffee scoops. What would Kayne do? I got one of those emails. What would Kayne do?

Without realizing it, Kayne’s outburst has saved me from making outburst myself this morning. So think long and hard….What would Kayne do, and do the opposite!

Ok, so what do you see wrong with this picture?

I was at my favorite book store working on a lesson for 412 and came across the Teen/Young Adult section on my way to get a refill of coffee. This was the display that they had up for the #1 books out right now for this age category  based on sales (it’s a popular bookstore that serves over priced coffee…chances are you have it in your town as well). Since I pretty much try to keep my finger on the pulse of what teenagers are into, I stopped and looked at the display.

I was a little shocked. I knew “Twilight” was huge (I admit it, I saw it…b-o-r-i-n-g) but I had no idea how big witchcraft and wizardry was with this generation. Am I that out of touch? When I was a teen I remember the “dungeons & dragons” crowd that lived in the basement and wore costumes (yeah, I am still laughing at them), but it wasn’t mainstream like it is today. Grown men are reading books about sorcery and playing computer games with flying dragons and casting spells!?!

What bothers me more than anything else is the phrase, “at least it has the youth reading”. That’s the poorest excuse in my mind than anything else. Why don’t we have the youth group meet on the edge of a cliff and ask them to run to the edge and back…blindfolded…at least they are getting exercise?! No I don’t think so! Someone would fall and I would be sued!  So why do we encourage our teenagers to read about witchcraft? Why do we want them to read about sorcery? Last time I checked, the Bible is pretty explicit on this subject matter, even the newer translations don’t skip a beat! So why, as Christians is it ok that our teens are reading about something that the Bible says not to have a thing to do with?

Now before you grab the pitch fork and chase me outta town, hear me out. You could say the same stuff about movies, tv shows, music, etc. You could probably ask me the same question of why I do some stuff that isn’t the best for me spiritually. I get that. I also understand that most teens aren’t out there casting spells after reading one of these books, but if the Bible says to stay away…why walk to the edge? I know some are going to question me on this but I have seen some of the results first hand. I’ve had 6th graders that could quote spells (REAL SPELLS!) and cast them on each other in duels after reading a series involving wizards. I’ve been chewed out by parents because I was asked if I thought it was good reading (and all I said was no?!!). It’s like a major backlash if anybody asks the question about the current reading choices. Even a public middle school in our area has a “Twilight Club” and someone reads portions of the book through the intercom! Seriously!

I’m not blogging to say that you are going to hell for taking part in reading books, watching movies, etc that support sorcery. What I do want you to do is think about what you are reading and ask if it matches up with what the Bible is saying? Please hear me out, I’m not judging…I’m just a concerned youth pastor!

Check out this hilarious video of Matthew Fox and Jimmy Kimmel’s staring contest!

How often do we stare at something that we shouldn’t be staring at? How often do we lose track of what we should be doing because our vision is off the goal and onto something else? I get it was a bit, but if Matthew Fox had been looking around and not distracted he would never have fallen into the man hole. Are we doing that in real life?

If I keep my eyes on God, I won’t trip over my own feet. (Psalm 25:15)

What are you staring at today? Is it taking you towards your goal or could it cause you trip on your own feet?