Fighting for the Kingdom of God

Thanks for the great response to my first blog, it's good to know that it spoke to and was helpful to some people.

This week's blog is another one that has come around from thoughts that have really been on my mind recently. It stems from seeing our young people battle against a world that is more and more coming to the conclusion that it does not need God anymore.

The world is not an easy place for anyone to be a Christian, but the more I look at the world the more I think it is an even bigger danger for youth that want to follow Jesus. Peer pressure to be involved with drugs, sex and alcohol amongst other things alongside the belief from a lot of people that church is judgmental and not willing to change, means that young people are in a battle on a daily basis, one that as a youth minister I can't ignore.

This video is amazing, and it really sums up what i'm trying to write about in this blog. We live in a world where there are 2 kingdoms, a kingdom of darkness and a kingdom of light - one good and one bad. It's a battle that Jesus will win, but until he comes again we have a fight on our hands.

I want all young people to live in the kingdom of light and that is why I do my job. It's a massive challenge though and we can't expect young people to do it on their own.

I wrote my dissertation for uni on this subject (please get in touch if you want a read) and my passion to serve young people in this area has not changed. School seems to be one of the hardest places for young people to be a Christian and to be who God wants us to be.

It seems that the world has got to a place where condemning other religions and beliefs is a definite no go area, but dishing out criticism of Christianity is fine. I'm not in anyway suggesting other religions should be laughed at but surely it's not OK for schools and other people to be belittling Christianity - all that does is make it acceptable and therefore creates an environment that has no respect for people's beliefs. Christianity should be treated with as much respect as other religions - not forced on young people but taught in a way that lets young people make their own decisions.

I know growing up for me, school was not a fun place to be a Christian and I hid my faith, it's even harder for young people now and I want them to be able to stand up and fight for what they believe.

It's not a case of giving up all hope though, it's a case of standing by each other as men and women of God and providing support as much as we can.

At GBC we want to provide opportunities for young people to meet together and talk about the big topics in life and how they affect them on a daily basis. To create a community where young people can be discipled and then go out in to the world confident in their faith and confident that they are not alone. That's what has brought us to putting on Easter Eve, which will give the chance to find out more about what Easter is about and just how much of an impact Jesus' death has on the world, because it means a lot! Jesus died so that we can be forgiven and we can live out our lives without condemnation. It doesn't make the battle easy, but knowing what Jesus did means we have a reason to fight against the kingdom of darkness.

Welcome...

Hello,

This blog comes with the idea that I want to talk about my vocation in youth ministry and use it as a tool to tell people how things are going and how God is working through the youth work at Guiseley Baptist Church. I can't promise you a highly academic insight in to the world of teenagers and what goes on in their lives but I can promise my honest views of things and updates on how things are going in the ministry.

Disclaimer: my spelling and grammar is definitely not not my strong point, so apologies to those that it offends...

Here we go...

I have been at GBC for 6 months now as the youth minister and my role here is really starting to take shape as we work out what God wants to do and how that is going to look over the next few weeks, months and years.

One thing that God has been speaking to me about over the last few weeks is about our call to serve Him in all areas of our lives, one that whilst exciting can some times appear restrictive if we look at the bible as a set of rules and regulations. However I have felt God pushing me towards John 10:10 and the call to live life to the full.

John 10:10 says: 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.' (NIV) 

Reading this verse shows me that God does not want us to feel restricted, but instead wants us to live a live of abundance, a life that delights Him, a life that is full.

This is what I want my youth ministry to be like, I want the young people I work with to see that God is not a boring God that holds us back but instead is a God that wants to use us to do amazing things. In terms of doing this practically we have been trying to make the youth ministry accessible to all people so that they can hopefully see us living our lives in positive ways and see that God does not hold us back but instead gives us new life. 

We have done this my trying to be more open and welcoming with the youth work at GBC. We had a really great movie night where we chilled out, chatted, ate some food and watched a movie. It was a great opportunity for young people to bring friends along too and get to know the team and other people their age. These sorts of things are what we want to happen more often so that we can provide safe environments for young people to come along and bring friends knowing that we are not going to try to force Jesus and the bible on them.

I want the youth ministry to be about building relationships with young people and meeting them where they are at, through this we can show them the love God and how a life with Him can be a life to the full.

Thank you for reading.

Ben

We've got loads of things coming for the youth at GBC, such as an Easter sleep over, more movie nights, trips bowling and laser questing and loads more. Get in touch if you want any more info.