gregstier.org

I have held you in my arms for ten million minutes.
You have held me in your heart for the same.
In spite of our fights and our struggles,
I would do it in a second again.

*Written for my wife on our 20 year anniversary (today!) Although 20 years technically equates to 10,512,000 minutes, that number is much harder to rhyme with so I rounded down. Yes, I’m an idiot, but I love you sweetie. Thanks for 20 awesome, intense, lively, fun and life-changing years together!

As the former preaching pastor of a thriving church who has intentionally chosen the ministry pathway of working with the hormone/adrenalin saturated segment of the church-going population (aka “teenagers), I often get asked why in one way or another. Why would I resign from what many consider to be the most powerful position in a church (“the pastor”) to pursue highly distracted and super twitchy teens? Why would I give up the security and stability of preaching to adults week in and week out to travel the country and train teenagers to share their faith…at a $23 per student financial loss mind you! Why would I subject myself, staff and family to the endless stress that comes from trying to raise money and run a non-profit during what many consider to be the worst recession since The Great Depression?

Sometimes good intentioned Christians ask me, “How long do you think you’ll be doing Dare 2 Share?” I know what they are getting at. It’s almost as though they think that, when I hit a certain age or level of maturity, I will say “enough is enough” and put on my big boy pants so that I can pastor again.

So, for those of you who are involved in youth ministry or wonder why people like me are, let me give you some answers to the question “why teenagers?”

1. God has a “bad habit” of choosing teenagers to accomplish his greatest causes.

From Joseph, a teenager sold into slavery by his brothers, to Esther, a teenager who won a beauty contest, God has used young people in big ways to do big things. He used both Joseph and Esther to save the nation of Israel in two very different ways.

In 1 Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel goes to the house of Jesse it is not the ripped and dapper men of the house that God chooses. It is the underage runt of the litter that got annointed as the future king of Israel. One chapter later this kid named David, who was delivering cheese and crackers to his older brothers in the war, got ticked off that a nine foot six inch Philistine giant was talking smack against the God of Israel. His anger left an impression on Goliath…a deep one.

But its not just in the Old Testament where God demonstrates his predisposition to choose and use teenagers. Jesus primarily picked teens to be his disciples. In Matthew 17 when Jesus, Peter and the disciples go into Capernaum, only Peter and Jesus pay the temple tax (although all of the disciples are there!) According to Exodus 30:14 the temple tax was only applicaple to those twenty years old and above. If I’m reading that right that means that Jesus was a youth leader with only one adult sponsor…and one really rotten kid.

2. God receives maximum glory when the “foolish things of the world” confound the wise.

1 Corinthains 1:26-29 makes this crystal clear, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

If this passage is not a case for working with teenagers I don’t know what is. Teenagers are foolish, goofy and crazy. I love it! God loves it! He wants to use them as twitchy revolutionaries to change the course of nations and to launch a global awakening of Biblical proportions just like his Son did 2,000 years ago!

3. It just makes sense.

Teenagers are wet cement. They form to the forms layed out for them. While working with adults is definitely important sometimes a jackhammer and wheel barrow is required before the wet cement can be poured in their souls.

Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the brightest mind in the 1st Great Awakening in the United States, records that the “revival has been chiefly amongst the young….” As a matter of fact, teenagers have been on the leading edge of every major spiritual awakening in the history of the United States.

Teenagers are idealists, visionaries and unrealistic. This lack of realism allows them to see visions and have dreams that thoses of us who have been worn down by the realities of life may no longer see. Adults tend to use microscopes and teenagers telescopes. We tend to get worn down by life and they tend to get fired up by causes. We wonder how much money it will take and they just don’t care.

If ignorance is bliss they are in heaven. But it’s this same ignorance that will get many into heaven. They don’t know that they can’t reach the world for Christ just by spreading the gospel so they are willing to do it. They don’t know that they can’t reach their school without demographic research so they just reach it. They don’t know that it takes more than prayer, proclamation and good intentions so they pray and preach with pure hearts and God uses them as a result.

Hitler hijacked teen culture and used it to advance the Nazi agenda. Communists harness and unleash the idealism of teenagers to spread the message of communism. If evil people and evil philosophies can mobilize young people for their causes then why can’t the Bride of Christ unleash young people to spread the gospel for the best cause ever, the spread of the gospel across the planet?

Teenagers are the most underutiziled, underestimated and underchallenged group of people in the church. As a result our churches are dying.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor Admiral Yamamoto was asked about how he felt. His answer was stark, “I am fearful that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve.”

It is time to awaken the sleeping giant in the church called teenages and fill them with holy resolve.

It may come as a surprise to you that, the President of a ministry called Dare 2 Share, hates evangelism. But I do. Let me tell you why.

Evangelism forces me to decide whether or not I believe in Jesus enough to tell someone else that he is the only way into God’s favor. It puts me in the awkward position of telling a fellow human being that the core of what they believe about salvation is wrong, what the Bible says is right and that they need to repent (i.e. “change their minds”)if they expect to make it into heaven. Say it twice or say it nice and it still stings.

Evangelism makes my neighbors whisper about me and strangers laugh at me. It makes family members, who have yet to trust in Christ, roll their eyes when I engage them about the claims of Jesus at family reunions (aka “funerals” or “weddings.”) Evangelism makes for awkward moments everywhere I go.

To be honest it would be much easier just to preach the gospel with my life and leave the words out of it. Wordless evangelism doesn’t spark outrage. It doesn’t spark arguments. It doesn’t spark anything. No discussion. No faith. No transformation.

Maybe I should ditch evangelism completely and just live a good life. I could seek to eradicate poverty, stop human trafficking or adopt orphans. Nobody will get mad at me then. Most people would probably think that I’m pretty cool. And, to be totally truthful, that’s what I want, to be cool and accepted, not mocked and rejected.

Who wants to be marginalized? Who wants to be persecuted? Who wants to come off as a stark raving lunatic?

Actually, who wants to be treated like the early disciples? Sure they took care of orphans and widows (very cool!) but they evangelized everyone they met (not so cool!) These Christians just wouldn’t shut up. In the midst of all their service to the poor they passionately proclaimed to them, and to everyone else who would listen, that this wood-working rabbi named Jesus was the exclusive way to God. As a result they were crucified upside down, beheaded right side up and gutted inside out.

Not fun.

I don’t want to take a punch for Jesus. Heck, I don’t even want to be a punch line on his behalf. I don’t like the feelings of shame that come from preaching the Name of Jesus Christ. Yeah, yeah, I know that 2 Timothy 3:12 promises that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” And I know that this persecution erupts from declaring that “Jesus is Lord” to a scoffing world. But there has got to be another way. Right?

After all doesn’t Peter sound kind of arrogant when he declares in Acts 4:12 that, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”? The gall of that chief disciple of Jesus who was given the keys to the kingdom by the King of kings himself! The arrogance of that leader of the revolution that was the early New Testament church!

Yes, I hate evangelism. I don’t like at all what it does to me. It puts me smack dab into a camp of Christians that are sure of what they believe and confident in what they proclaim. It puts me in the crosshairs of Satan, the world and the too-cool-for-the-old-school Christians.

But, on the other hand, maybe this was what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:11-12 in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Okay, maybe I don’t hate evangelism. Or maybe it’s the old me (the one before I met Jesus) who hates it. But, as I think about it, getting mocked or marginalized for the sake of Jesus isn’t nearly as bad as getting crucified for crimes you didn’t commit.

Here at Dare 2 Share, we’re working on a teen devotional book that has an evangelism emphasis and I need your help. I’m looking for stories from teens that talk about their own particular unique faith-sharing styles. So check out the following four styles of sharing your faith and tell me what you thinkn Talk about your own experiences. Which style do you think you are and what approaches have you personally found that work for you when it comes to sharing your faith with others using your own unique style?

Here are just four basic faith-sharing styles. I call them: talkers, “stalkers,” buddies and brains.

Talkers are winsome and wordy. Their strength is their contagious excitement for the good news of the gospel. They tend to be friendly, funny, very persuasive and highly relational. The Apostle Paul in Acts 17:16-33 was a talker.

“Stalkers” are strong and blunt. They tend to be powerful personalities who are relentless in their witness. They are unapologetic in their presentation of the gospel. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:1-14 was “stalker.”

Buddies are super relational and caring. They tend to empathize with people and be great listeners. They come through the side door when it comes to evangelism. Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18:24-26 were buddies.

Brains are intellectual and factually convincing. They tend to embrace apologetics and can present people with well-reasoned arguments for accepting Christ. Luke wrote the book of Luke and Acts to make a case to one man named Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1).

No one style is better than the others; they are just different approaches. And some people may be a blend of several. In fact, I believe that Jesus modeled the ultimate balance of all four styles.

What do you think? Which are you? And what from your own personal experience makes you think that’s your particular style?

Keep in mind as you give us feedback and comments, that we may include your sotry in the book!! (In other words, you are giving us permission to use it!)

There is a quote that gets under my skin bouncing around religious circles today. Many attribute it to St. Francis of Assisi (even though he may have meant it in a different way than it is being used.) I’m sure you’ve heard it in church, a small group meeting or chatting it up with a Christian friend. It’s this:

“Preach the gospel. If necessary use words.”

While this quote may look good on a bumper sticker and sound good in a sermon I’m not so sure how sound the theology is behind these seven seemingly harmless words.

I think the idea behind this short but potent quote is that we should be living the message of the gospel of Christ as loudly as we are preaching it. And I agree with that part. Jesus himself said that we should let our “light so shine among men that they may see your good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16.

But I think that some Christians have used this quote as a get-out-of-jail free card when it comes to actually sharing their faith. These believers, perhaps unknowingly, are shunning the shame that comes from the Name of Jesus Christ. Many may are avoiding persecution by just seeking to live good and exemplary lives but not sharing the controversial message of Jesus.

Here’s the challenge, living a good and godly life is not enough to save a lost soul. In other words, when preaching the gospel words are absolutely necessary. To say that words aren’t necessary is like saying to a friend “Text me. if necessary use numbers.”

Can you imagine the book of Acts just being stories about a bunch of believers living good and godly lives waiting for someone to ask them why there were so different? No, they preached the message with their lives and their lips. They used actions and words. As a result they were persecuted and many died a martyr’s death. It wasn’t their good deeds that got them beaten and killed. It was their message. And it is this same message we are called to preach with words. Here’s why…

1. There is power in them thar’ propositions!

Better than gold is the power of these powerful propostions. In Romans 1:16 the apostle Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes….” We are not the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, nor are the good deeds we do. The gospel message is the power of God that produces salvation.

I don’t quite understand how a propositional message is infused with power from on high to bring about salvation for an unregenerate soul but my lack of understanding doesn’t negate the reality of it. God uses this truthful, truth-filled message to save. He has injected it with “dunamis” (aka “explosive power”) to blast the sinner out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

According to Colossians 1:6, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” The gospel is like a seed with built in power to sprout, grow and multiply. When triggered, watered and warmed by the regenerational power of the Holy Spirit it will produce a harvest of righteousness in the lives of those who believe.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…” he was unleashing a firestorm of controversy that would eventually lead to a nation being born, forged and formed. The apostle Paul was unleashing even more controversy when he unleashed the message of the gospel on the unsuspecting world. In 1 Corinthians 15:1,3,4 he tells us just what these self evident truths are, “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand…For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….”

This is the original “Declaration of Independence” that, through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, we are free from the tyranny of sin and the king of the underworld, Satan himself. It is the power of these propositions that God uses to set us free from sin and Satan. I don’t get it. I just believe it and I share it with everyone I can…or I try to anyway.

2. God chooses the foolish to confound the wise.

Over the years I have talked to many Christians way smarter than me who have scoffed at the idea that a message alone could save. Many a progressive Christian I have met mock a propositional approach to sharing the gospel. Maybe it was this same high brow perspective that Paul was referring to when he wrote, “The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God” in 1 Corinthians 1:18.

What’s interesting is that word “foolishness” in the Greek comes from the word moria. It’s where we get our English word “moronic.”

To be honest this is why I have come to appreciate being mocked from time to time over holding the simple (some would say simplistic) belief that the gospel message actually saves the lost soul. God chooses to use the moronic things of the world (us!) preaching a moronic message (the gospel!) to confound those who don’t think they are morons (1 Corinthians 1:26-2:2.)

So, instead of saying “Preach the gospel. If necessary use words” I would say, “Preach the gospel with your life and your lips.” Okay, it’s not as catchy, but it is more accurate Biblically. My friends the gospel is a message we must live and we must give. Both are necessary.

My little boy and girl watching Old Faithful blow it's top in Yellowstone

Yesterday I took my family to Yellowstone National Park and, while we were waiting for Old Faithful to blow, my 9 year old son asked me about the famous Geyser.

Jeremy asked, “Daddy what time is Old Faithful supposed to go?”

I said, “I heard it was supposed to blow at 6:29 pm.”

He responded, “What time is it now?”

Looking down at my watch I answered, “It’s 6:30.”

I will never forget his response, “Well daddy, maybe ‘Old Faithful’ isn’t so faithful anymore.”

This kid makes me smile…and think. This morning I looked up some of myths and facts about this wonderful geyser on Yellowstone’s website. Here they are…

Myths

• It erupts every hour on the hour
• It is so predictable, you can set your watch by its eruption
• It is the only geyser that can be predicted
• It is the most predictable geyser
• Its eruptions is not as high as it used to be
• Its eruption lasts less time that it used to
• Park rangers can control the eruption of Old Faithful
• No one can predict Old Faithful anymore

Facts

• Its eruption length and height, and time between eruptions varies from day to day and year to year
• As of March 2003, the eruption length ranges from 1.5 to 5 minutes; the average interval between eruptions is 94 minutes
• Old Faithful’s height ranges from 106 feet to more than 180 feet, averaging 130 feet
• Its average eruption length, height and interval will change again–often as a result of an earthquake
• 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of water are expelled per eruption, depending on the length of eruption
• It’s on the more than 300 geysers in Yellowstone

Wow. Pretty cool.

As I think about it, Old Faithful isn’t “set your watch by it” faithful but it is faithful. And the reality that you can’t set your watch by it makes it even more exciting. “It will blow, but when?” becomes the question of the hour and a half (or so) between eruptions. Somewhere within what usually is a ten minute window of time Old Faithful will blow. And when it does everyone freaks, cheers, claps and then rushes to the gift store or cafeteria.

Okay, here’s another truth I thought about after my little boy’s diatribe on Old Faithful, God. He is the real Old Faithful. As Lamentations 3:23 reminds us, “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

The book of Lamentations was written after the fall of Jerusalem by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. His heart was crushed to see his people dying in the streets of starvation from the seige Nebuchadnezzar had inflicted on this city. His eyes were red from crying over the disobedience of God’s people and the inevitable judgment that befell them. But in this verse he pushes up from the sackcloth and ashes to declare a enrapturing thought, that God’s faithfulness is great. Jeremiah knew that God would, after a period of punishment, come through for the Israelites and that Jerusalem would be restored.

Isn’t it true that our God is faithful? He will come through for us every single time in ways that we can’t anticipate. You can’t set your watch by his brand of faithfulness but you can set your calendar by it. In the ten minutes which comprise our lives (in light of eternity) we wait with bated breath, knowing that God’s faithfulness can and will erupt at anytime. When it does we freak, clap, cheer and go to the Christian bookstore to buy another worship CD.

God will come though again and again and again and again and again. Part of the mystery of serving God is not knowing the exact moment when his faithfulness will explode. Part of the majesty of serving God is knowing that it will.

As you live THE Cause make sure you are trusting in Him to come through to give you the courage, words and wisdom you need to tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates and family members about the faithfulness of our great God. He demonstrated with a bang when he sent his Son to die for our sins and rise on our behalf.

Great is his faithfulness!

You probably know by now that I love to inspire and equip teenagers to share their faith. I could train them all day long for five days straight if I could and, even then, I’d just be getting started. There’s just something about training crowds of loud teenagers to share their faith that gets my juices flowing.

But if there’s one thing I love more than training thousands of teens (after God, my wife, and kids – of course) is training a room full of Youth Leaders. As a matter of fact if you gave me the choice of training 5,000 teenagers or 500 youth leaders I’d pick the youth leaders every time. Why? Because youth leaders are field generals that are going to actually go back and “get ‘er done” when it comes to implementing long term change in the lives of their teenagers. The only chance for substantive transformation in youth ministry is systemic change of youth ministry. Youth leaders are the ones to lead the charge for this change on a local church level.

I’m especially fired up for the training we are offering youth leaders this summer and fall, The Ultimate Road Trip. Why am I so excited about this training? I’m glad you asked! (and if you didn’t, you should have).

We hosted our first round of these trainings in the Denver area this past May and I was blown away and humbled by the response of the Youth Leaders who attended. The feedback they gave us was that this training was a great balance of hands-on ministry application and personal spiritual encouragement. Praise God for how He used this training to bless Youth Leaders! Praise Him again for the local youth leaders and other staff members at Dare 2 Share who helped craft this material to be both powerful and practical!

We have 11 more trainings this summer and fall, including 3 additional trainings in the Denver region this August. CLICK HERE for the full schedule.

At The Ultimate Road Trip training we will take a look at how everything you do in youth ministry should drive toward a desired destination. Determining this destination is the single most important decision you will make when it comes to how to lead, structure and advance your youth ministry. The training is designed to provide you with the tools you need to prayerfully begin the process of determining a “GREAT” Destination for your youth group and a customized Road Trip Action Plan to get there.
Check out Dare 2 Share’s YouTube channel and watch a couple of sneak peek’s from The Ultimate Road Trip and you can also watch the promo video for this year’s un.tour!

Oh, did I mention that the training is free? Bring your whole network of fellow youth leaders or come by yourself but be there. You won’t want to miss this training. I wish somebody would have trained me in these principles twenty something years ago when I first got into ministry. These have been hard-fought lessons that God has taught me over the last two decades of ministry that I desperately want to pass onto you.

See you there!

Thoreau once said, “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil there is one striking at the root.”

It seems to me that more and more Christians are hacking at the leaves of evil and forgetting to strike at the root. We are getting entranced by good causes that oftentimes leave the root, the real source of the problem, untouched. While slashing at leaves can be impressive and leave piles of leafy accomplishment if the root is untouched the hacking is simply a pruning that will produce more leaves to hack at the end of the day.

Let me put it plainly, Jesus told us to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations” not “Go into all the world to eradicate poverty and social injustices.” Because Jesus knew that these kinds of efforts by themselves were at best hacking at the leaves of evil.

Jesus understood that the real problem with the world was not physical. It wasn’t a lack of food or shelter or water. THE REAL PROBLEM WAS A LACK OF JESUS!!!

Jesus knew that if passionate disciples were developed and deployed into every corner of the planet that the other problems would be addressed as well. Why? Because fully surrendered followers of Christ have a heart for the homeless and the poor and the marginalized. They won’t say to a hungry neighbor, “Be warmed and filled” without backing it up with a blanket and a sandwich.

What is the real key to social justice, issues of poverty, stopping human trafficking and taking care of the planet that God put us on? In a word…Jesus!

Now before you ride me off as “true but trite” consider the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.

Luke 19:1-5 communicates the story vividly and powerfully, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up….”

Jesus looked up and spotted Zacchaeus, a tax collector, hovering on the branch of a Sycamore tree. Now you have to know something about tax collectors in this culture. They took money from their fellow Jews and gave it to the enemy, the ruling and ruthless Roman Empire. They were considered the worst of sinners and traitors to their own people.

They were notorious for overcharging their own people and skimming the excess cash to get rich. So, not only were they considered traitors, but thieving traitors. The average Jew considered the average tax collector a few notches below a prostititute or a leper.

But Jesus, from the base of a fig tree, had a different point of view when it came to this stature-challenged tax man. Jesus looked past his fancy clothes and opulent lifestyle into a heart that was longing for real fulfillment and lasting hope. Jesus knew that, while Zacchaeus may have been short in stature, he was tall on faith. He had enough faith to humilate himself by climbing a fig tree just to catch a glimpse of the real game changer, Jesus Christ.

It all started when Jesus was travelling in a caravan of excited followers. He looked up at this precarious man perched in the twisted branches of a Sycamore tree and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a ’sinner.’”

Zacchaeus had been a tool of the Roman system to abuse the Jews. He overtaxed both rich and poor so that he would be rich, not poor. How dare this rogue rabbi reach out to this terrible tax collector! No wonder the crowd was upset!

Jesus didn’t even confront him over the way he was abusing the Jews or taking advantage of the poor. He didn’t accuse him of working for a totalitarian government that oppressed millions all over the world. Instead he said, “I must stay at your house today.” While this may not seem significant to us it was very significant in this culture to invite yourself over to someone’s house. This was a sign of 100% acceptance and Jesus was accepting Zacchaeus because he saw 100% faith in his heart.

The crowd may have been expecting Jesus to rebuke this tax collector or, better yet, strike him with a lightning bolt for all the injustices he had committed. Instead Jesus offered him the hope that comes from the gospel. Why? Because Jesus knew that the only thing that could really fix the injustices Zacchaeus had committed was a spiritual transformaton!

Look at Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus in Luke 19:8, “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” In that moment Jesus changed everything. He hacked at the root of evil and the leaves of evil died. He presented the hope that comes through faith in him and it changed the nature of Zacchaeus and, as a result, he gave half of his possessions to the poor whom he had robbed. The injustices were fixed because Zacchaeus got saved!

If we really want to be game changers we must strike at the root of evil in the hearts of others by sharing the good news. Those who respond will become game changers in the process. They will correct injustices, feed the poor and take care of God’s green earth. But, most importantly, they will make disciples who make disciples.

Are you merely hacking at the leaves of evil with your activism? Are you ready to strike at the root? If so check out www.dare2share.org/thecause and follow the links to the “Live THE Cause” podcast series. You will learn how to make an earthly and eternal difference through developing and deploying spiritual game changers into every corner of the planet.

Time to sharpen our spiritual machetes and start hacking at the root of evil.