This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a part of a county wide D-Now event sponsored by FAYMA (Fayette Area Youth Ministers Association). I thought it was an awesome weekend. I had prayed for many weeks that this years Disciple Now would not just be another event to "get the troops excited", but that it would actually make an impact. I felt like the theme and curriculum for the weekend could truly do just that. Our theme was "Redefining Normal". The students were really challenged to repent, which one of the speakers pointed out means to "rethink" or change the way we think. This is exactly what I hope comes from this weekend. I hope that we see some students truly repent. And I am not just talking about the standard church definition of "turning from their sins". I hope this weekend really causes these students to begin to rethink the way they view everything. We have all been trained by the world around us to view and think about things a certain way. The question is whether or not Jesus thinks about things the same way. I believe the answer to that question is a big fat NO! So much of what we do and think, is absolutely contrary to Christ. When He came to earth as a man He totally flipped this world upside down with statements like,
"if anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark9:35),
"Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you" (Luke 6:27),
"anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life" (John 6:54), and
"the one who loves his life will lose it" (John 12:25).
Jesus so dramatically challenged the norms of the time that the world has still not recovered from it some 2000 years later. If we are going to truly follow Him and take on what He views as normal, the world around us just may call us crazy! It is my prayer that this weekend might have caused a few students in our community to absolutely go crazy! Only time will tell.
