|
If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teens.com readers around the world by visiting: http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens
Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com ______________________________________
What's in Your Wonderland? "There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter.Which luckily I am."- The Mad Hatter
I don't know about you, but if I were in an uncomfortable situation with a room full of people, and I saw a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch booking towards a maze, I'd be outta there in a heartbeat.
That's what Alice Kingsley does for the second time in ten years - and this time the stakes are much, much higher.
Welcome to Director Tim Burton's vision of Alice in Wonderland.complete with a goth-esque Alice, Johnny Depp playing the Mad Hatter, and what Disney film would be complete without a smoking caterpillar?
A fun ride to be sure, but traveling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland is not for the faint of heart. And perhaps you do need to be at least a bit mad to survive.
Which luckily for me, I am as well.
I didn't see a white rabbit and follow him down a hole, but when I was 15, I heard a message and an invitation that sounds just about as crazy as Alice in Wonderland. The speaker talked about an invisible spiritual kingdom that co-exists with the physical world we live in. There are good and evil forces locked in battle, and the stakes are the highest in the universe, because the war is for eternal souls.
So I checked it out in God's Word to see if he was correct, and this is what I found:
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins (Colossians 1:13-14).
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12).
Are you seeing the picture here? When I trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, I entered into a spiritual wonderland that has been the greatest adventure I ever could have imagined. I've seen and experienced things that simply cannot be described with human language.and yes, there are those who might call me mad. But who cares? I'm in league with someone else who was labeled similarly:
"I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic.?I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people, who are set apart by faith in me.'"
Suddenly, Festus shouted, "Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!" (Acts 26:17-18;24)
This is a scene from The Apostle Paul's life when he was on trial for being a Christian. When he told them about the spiritual rabbit hole that Jesus called him down, they wrote him off as the original Mad Hatter.
And I guess we all seem a little mad. We appear mad because we believe that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus to save us. We look crazy because we believe life was designed for us to love/serve God and to "rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment" (Jude 1:23). But really, this is the realest reality of all.
Can I be a white rabbit for a second? I'd like to invite you to the wonderland of Christianity. Following Christ is not a boring religious exercise designed to keep us from having fun - that's what Satan would like you to believe. Rather this is what God promises:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). This pledge is not referring to heaven - although that will be amazing as well. This is a guarantee to those who love Jesus, that their lives will be as radically different and more exciting and breathtaking as Wonderland compared to England. It's a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger.
So.what's in your Wonderland?
Ask your friends what they think about Christians and Christianity in general. Talk to them about how following Christ is a radically different way to see life, and pray for an opportunity to share the gospel. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
Source: Dare2Share.org (Used by Permission) ______________________________________
Q: How can a Christian survive secular college? Many Christian parents are concerned that such a secular environment may lead their children to walk away from the Church. This concern is justified, since studies have shown that around two out of three Christian students from conservative churches will leave the church when they become adults. First of all, our research shows that the problem starts much earlier than college. Nearly 90% of those students who leave the church have already begun to doubt God's Word by the time they graduate from high school. Although they may continue to attend church with their parents, spiritually they are already gone. Most Christian teenagers do not understand how the Bible connects to the "real world." They have been taught "Bible stories," but they have not been shown how the Bible's history explains the evidence around us?from biology and geology to astronomy. Conversely, public schools use their evolutionary version of history to interpret the present world. So, students are inclined to think that the secular version of history they learned in public school is real, whereas the Bible is just a collection of interesting stories. Continue reading as Dr. Jason Lisle teaches Christians tips for Surviving Secular College. Source: AnswersinGenesis.org
______________________________________
Thought For The Day "What is the use of praying if at that very moment of prayer we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer."--Thomas Merton Verse for the Day "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Phillipians 4:6 Teen's Thought For The Day "Love is a decision not a feeling." Parent's Thought For The Day "Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper. It doesn't permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for a while." Creation/Evolution Thought For The Day "The driving force behind Darwin's theory of origins was blatant racism, not science. Remember, the evidence that Darwin was a racist is easily discovered, he did not hide it. It can be seen in the subtitle selected for his 'The Origin of Species'. The words he chose to describe his effort were: 'The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life'. That should be enough for anyone. Darwin was out to prove the superiority of the white race over the black. That goal was at the core of his stated thesis! He had an agenda, and that agenda was not scientific." --Mike Carrier, (MA, NYU--Graduate School of Arts and Science) Coach's Thought For The Day "There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either IN or you're OUT. There's no such thing as life in-between." --Pat Riley Deep Thought For The Day When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges. ______________________________________
--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI This Week: March 28
|
 |
|
Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
|