They are there , we have to help them

[Boaz]

I was obligated to help at a refuge for battered and abused women yesterday evening.
Our church has a service and we feed them supper , I worked the serving line ladling out food. When the line slacked off I told the rest of the church members serving to go on and eat , I'd stay for stragglers. Finally got a glass of tea and went to the dining hall . Everyone was bout through eating and were enjoying fellowship with the residents. There were only 2 chairs not taken at a table with 2 of our church 19 year olds talking so I sat down with them . Both these young men started college this year , they were intensely discussing . They were discussing prayer, sharing how they prayed , when , why, where ,giving each others tips . I was totally impressed ! They were not even paying attention to me, they wanted to share talking about GOD. I watched these 2 grow up and still thought of them as children but they are men now . I never even said anything , I wanted to listen ! It was amazing!

There are good young people out there if they have help !

[trails4u]

It still takes a village, perhaps more so that it ever did, and obviously you and your church get that. Good on ya.

[thadfz]

You're absolutely right! Too often, myself included, we throw all the younger generations into one useless cesspool. It's an injustice for sure.

Good for you to share too! Positive news is great. We could use more of it these days.

God bless

[aspangler]

There are several "young" people in our church that are working for the Lord. Does my heart good to see them go to the alter to prayer for their friends that are not saved. We have seen several young souls saved in the last three years when we got our last pastor. He is an inspiration to all of us there. Pray that more young people become working Christians. "Work for the night is coming."

[Preacher Jim]

I young people who realize there has to be a God and are searching for something real in their lives. We lost most of 2 generations but I see hope in youth reaching out to the Lord. Every great revival in history has started from a prayer meeting, let's encourage these young folks in their prayer life

[Boaz]

The story I told is like this Chapel . We of like mind are encouraged by each other, we all need encouragement . We are free to discuss and pray together, help each other, try to do good work .

[Blackwater]

Great post, Boaz, as is typical for you. As we sit and look around us, and see all the cynicism, haughtiness and rampant strife, it's hard to remember that there ARE those like those two young men at your church. And they matter.

Life's a relay race, and our time to pass on the baton is nigh. All things have their place in this life, and passing the baton to some worthy younger ones is so very reassuring! Your post is a good reminder, and it's at a time when we can all probably make good use of it. Thanks.

[Boaz]

I feel so sorry for our youth. They have no gage to go by , most are lost. Most of us growing up in church may have strayed or backslid , whatever but we knew there was a GOD. We knew we were not doing right and as time went by we wanted to be with our Lord. And through his unbelievable grace we are with him again.

The youth now will have no place to go back to. They will have to find GOD.

[Blackwater]

Good post, Boaz. I think a lot of the "secret" to life is remaining pliable, or at least pliable enough to change course when that is indicated. We're all as dumb as a box of rocks at times, mostly when our willfulness kicks into overdrive, and if we're not pliable enough to see beyond the limits of our own wills, we'd never find our way back again. And most of us, I think, get "lost," literally and figuratively, many times along our way. I remember Daniel Boone I think it was, being asked if he'd ever been lost in all his monumental exploring, and he said, "Well, no, but I was mighty confused for a week at a time on a couple of occasions." We can be a lot like that, too, but what MATTERS is that we DO find our way back ...... again. Having served on a Navy ship, I know they always keep recalculating their course, and keep refining and changing it as they go along. So life really IS a lot like a ship at sea. And we could, if we but wouild, learn a lot about ourselves by taking a lil' cruise or two. Shuffleboard and pools and all that stuff would have little attraction to me, but to be up on the bridge would again be fascinating, or down in the radar room, or the engine room. I guess they probably don't have a gunnery room, but if they did, that would be a "must visit" place, too.

Course corrections are a natural and inevitable part of life for us mortals, and it never ends, just like it never ends for any ship at sea. When a ship gets close to port, other methods come into play, many of them visual, and tugs help ensure we keep straight to the harbor. Our tug is Christ, our navigation equipment is Christ, and our goal at the harbor is Christ. He's everywhere, and how so many miss Him is beyond me. Apparently, many just don't WANT to see Him, lest they might have to acknowledge Him. Their choice, of course, and none of us can alter their choices, no matter how unfortunate and foolish it may seem to us. God will work it all out in the end, of course, and He'll be very fair to each of us. Maybe that's what some are so afraid of? And maybe that's why Christ advised us to keep together as a unit. It's just sad when I see all the denominations essentially arguing and separating and weakening our collective effect over things that essentially boil down to our "style" of worship, and various interpretations of the Bible and particular verses in it. I don't think such in-house squabbling pleased God or Christ, and I don't think it serves any of us very well. Yet, it continues, and seems to be endless. Truly, our willfulness is our greatest problem, and the one we're fondest of throughout our lives. And it's very, very difficult, if not impossible, to lay it down completely and finally, without at least wanting to pick it up again at times. It's really tough to see what all is going on around us now, and to think about where it must be leading. But Faith overcomes everything, even that.

Thanks again for all you do here. Unfortunately, our focus seems to all too often depend on what kind of dissention is going on about us at any given time, and places like this, and posts like yours and many other regulars here really help us keep our focus on what's really important and necessary, and most pressing in life.

[Boaz]

The distraction's of this world many times keep us busy putting out fires around us . If you notice in prayer many times I ask for help from the Lord to let me focus through the distractions . We know who is responsible for these distractions .