Teen Challenge

   Teen Challenge came this weekend and they are always a treat to hear them sing and share their testimonies. For those of you do not know, Teen Challenge is a Christian inpatient treatment center for men who have had their lives ruined by addiction. For many of them, it is a last chance and they are there because they were appointed to be there by a judge and the court system. One of the cool things about coming to the Saturday night service here at Journey is that there is often a group of them who attend and the church service has a different feel to it and it is amazing. 

  One of the things that hit me tonight is that how many of these men had a dream to develop addictions to drug and alcohol and all the bad choices that come with those addictions. I can confidently say that none of these guys planned to develop these addictions and bad choices that come along from them. For some of them, life hit them hard with various tragedies and they needed a way to cope. Others were more gradual and one day they wake up in a jail cell wondering where things went wrong. I encourage all of us to take stock on a regular basis to see how things are going and when things get hairy, seek God and Godly people. 

  As Pastor Fred closed out the service he challenged us that we should be looking out for the people who are marginalized and who struggle with addictions and build relationships with them. We don’t do this as a look at me moment or to pat ourselves on the back, but it is to point them to Jesus. The congregation was issued a challenge last week and we were reminded of that challenge this week by Teen Challenge to go and be a Barnabas to people. It is reaching out and inviting people into a relationship with Jesus and walking with them in that journey. 

  I will close with these two things and the first one is the story of Jonah. As Jonah was in the boat running from God and the storm hit, he had the realization that the storm was his fault for running and God was trying to get his attention. Instead of repenting, he wanted to jump overboard, but his boat mates thought it was a horrible idea and tried to stop him. My takeaway is that are “heathens” more caring about the people who are the social outcast society than Christians who should believe that everyone has value and is made in the image of God. As Christians, we can be more exclusive than we should be. My final thought is this. When I lived in Oklahoma, I was befriended by a guy named Mike. He had many issues and he often pushed my buttons, but God kept telling me to pursue the relationship with healthy boundaries. Here is the thing, I don’t know whatever happened to Mike because I ended up moving to seminary and I didn’t see the changes in him that I wanted to see, but here is the kicker, God changed me. I developed a deeper relationship with Him and I grew because of it. Sometimes these relationships are ment so the other person can grow and mature, and other times we are the ones who needs the refinement. The best case scenario is where we both grow in the image and likeness of God. 

Grace and Peace,

Tom Boustead