Normal????

"Sometimes you got to step out of the normal that you live in to realize that your not the norm! There is a lost world out there that is within our reach if we will just take that one step."

This was the thought that came to mind tonight sitting in a living room in a poor area in Springfield. The smell of cigarette smoke, alcohol and drugs were present in the place. Cigarettes hung out of mouths while they sipped on alcohol. It was like a stop and smell the roses moment, OR RATHER STOP AND REALIZE APRIL THAT THIS IS THE WORLDS REALITY WITHOUT GOD. OUCH!!!

This is the thought that comes to my mind every week when I encounter the issues of students who were not raised in church. They don't know how to be a Christian...and certainly don't know how to act at church. We point our fingers, yell at them, but forget that it is our responsibility to first teach them in love how to be a Christian!

If we would just step out of "NORMAL" in church ministry, I have a feeling that God would begin to do huge things in the blocks of Springfield and Willard. If we would begin to think beyond "NORMAL" I think that the church would be actively reaching into unchurched students lives and reaching the alcohol smoke filled homes in America.

What is it going to take for us to have a "UN-NORMAL" thought? What is it going to take to help us realize that our normal as Christians is not the reality of America.

I think its time for us to pray that God would help us to reach the NORM! I think its time for us to seriously take that step....get out of our norm.

Visit an unsaved person's home...come to my youth group on Wednesday...go to a basketball game and listen to how the people act and say!

Its time for us to realize....WE ARE NOT NORMAL! How can we reach the NORMAL? How can we reach our world!????

The Victory is worth the FIGHT

"If you want a great victory, you have to be wiling to get into the battle and fight!" Henry Reiber

We tell God that we want to do great things for him. Yet, God doesn't always give us EASY stuff to do. The things he calls us to do come in packages that are quite intense and require that we fight for them. So before we tell God we want to do great things for him, we should ask ourselves first, "Am I willing to literally do whatever it takes to accomplish what God is calling me to?"

Lately, I have been in the fight of my life for some things. Last Wednesday, I was driving home seriously asking God why he chose me for these challenges. He asked me a question that is pretty basic. He said, "April you said you wanted to do great things for me right? Did you think it was going to be easy to see great victories and accomplish great things for me?"

Doing great things for God requires fighting. I daily fight in prayer for the souls of students who are addicted to drugs, pornography, alcohol, sex, sexting, cutting, suicidal thoughts, and a whole long list. I fight for the kid from the broken family who wan't raised in the church. I fight for the student who has never been given a chance or told he/she could do anything of worth in their life. I fight for girl who has been molested and abused and feels no worth. I fight for the unchurched students of this generation. I refuse to believe that drugs, alcohol, broken families, the lies of the enemy will enslave them.

I fight for the single mom who lost her job and doesn't have any purpose. The woman who has yet to discover God. I fight for her son to know the lover of his soul, a Savior.

Why? I know the God who breaks the chains. I know that God who frees from sexual addiction, pornography, drugs, alcohol. I know the God who heals the abused and broken. I know the God that restores broken families. I know the GOD WHO CAN BRING VICTORY IN THESE STUDENTS LIVES.

Call me stubborn, but I am rolling up my sleeves, putting on my boxing gloves and refusing to give up. I will not give up until we see the VICTORY!

Will you join me? Will you fight with me to see a GREAT VICTORY, in Element Student Ministries, or the place God has placed you!!!