Saturday, July 31 at 19north is going to be one of the most memorable nights of your life… Okay, so we can’t promise that, but it IS going to be sweet.

We’re going to have a short, creative, powerfully inspiring service that you won’t forget, featuring the testimonies of people you know at 19north. If you know a college student or 20-something that needs hope and encouragement, BRING THEM July 31!

After the service, we’re having outside water baptisms and a free luau! We’ll be playing volleyball, basketball, badminton, with tons of free food, an ice luge (pouring obviously non-alcoholic, tropical drinks), hula-hoop endurance contests, three-legged jump-rope contests, obstacle courses, chalk art competition, a bonfire, and did we say a ton of free food? And of course, everything is free. This is a great chance to connect to the people at 19north, so don’t miss it! We look forward to seeing you!

Over 500 years before the death of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah wrote that Jesus would be marred beyond human likeness–his palms and feet were pierced, he was lashed and beaten, a crown of thorns was placed on his head. What Jesus went through cannot be easily described, and it’s certainly not easily understood. His blood brought us peace, freedom, nearness to God, redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and brought us into right standing with God.

Don’t miss our 3-part series, RED, starting August 7

I can’t tell you how pumped I am for September at 19north. Honestly, this past year was a year of analysis, reflection, and tearing what we do apart so we can help people more effectively. It’s been a year of sitting back and letting God do something in me that He could lead us to where He wants us to go NOW. Two things I’ve learned are:

1. Our leaders matter more than outcomes: You matter more than what you do at 19north. You’re more important than a backdrop, than food, than hitting the right note in worship, getting people information, running a small group, greeting people, and anything else you could do at 19north.
2. I’ve closed the front door, and left the back door wide open: Overall, we’ve done a great job of inviting people to 19north, but I haven’t done a great job of leading us to shut the back door through discipleship, connections, and involvement. That’s not a hit on anyone but me hitting a personal lid. All of our groups are coming up with things that will fix this! And here are some….

Invite and Experience: Our annual Pigskin Palooza is September 11. Last year, we saw 15 people born again and 15 people rededicate their lives to Christ. This year, I expect that to be doubled. We’re going to serve our community and make the name of Jesus famous in a way that our generation can hear. (By the way, we need a ton of volunteers to make that event successful, so if you’re interested, email Shannon Oster at soster@19north.tv.)

We’re also having a huge “Ho-Down” at the end of September with a mechanical bull, hay bails, and line-dancing, and a ton of free food. It’ll be a blast! We’re also going to be giving away a ton of Ramen Noodles, 19north snuggies, tee shirts, and some big-ticket items. We’ll be having bands play once a month after 19north (for a 19north after-party)… “The Wrecking” is the first, coming in on September 18.

Connect: Our Fall semester of small groups starts in September. I can’t wait to see people going beyond-the-surface with one another, actually getting into each others’ lives. I’m convinced that a 20-something can’t grow spiritually apart from the right relationships, and our small groups exist to connect people to one another and to God. We’re going to do a night where all small groups meet at Victory and we’ll be having small groups on campuses as well.

Grow: To help people grow on their own, we’re all reading through the Bible in 90 days, starting in September. Ben Rath, Ellie Stanchak, and Kelly Selick are putting together an awesome “NewIn90″ booklet with backgrounds and history of epistles and writers, a reading plan, notes, and more. This is going to be awesome to see people going after God on their own, sparked by what everyone else is doing around them. I can’t wait for this to start for me personally, let alone just 19north!!!

Imact: We’re launching campus ministries and compassion initiatives galore in September for the sole purpose of serving people to make Jesus famous. We’re giving low-income families with teenage daughters prom dresses for homecoming, and in October, we’re hosting a 5k to give the teenagers at Glade Run an extreme home make-over.

We’re also starting to bus students from campuses, and hosting “19north U” at local campuses as well.

Seriously, guys… this is just a highlight of the things to come. God’s going to touch a bunch of college students and young adults in September, and it might be time for you to get boogieing and get involved. Let’s shoot to see 100 young adults born again/redidicating their life to Jesus in the month of September. Let’s think BIG, believe BIG, and live BIGGER… God’s moving in our midst and it’s time for us to recognize it, and start moving with Him.

From Zack’s message “Two Things That Will Change My Life.”

The book of Colossians says that Christ has “qualified us to become partakers of the inheritance of the saints.” Our inheritance is every promise of God to the New Testament believer. This attached list isn’t all-encompassing, but it’s a start. Confess these scriptures over your life and use them to encourage other people.

Click on the red link above to either open or save this file. If you don’t have Acrobat Reader you can get it here for free.

What is prophecy?

The Bible describes prophecy as a person speaking “to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Corinthians 14:3). Very simply, if someone says something to you that doesn’t build you up, encourage you, or console you in a time of difficulty (or before the difficulty comes), then it’s not New Testament prophecy.

It is also important to note that there are two types of prophecy described in the New Testament–foretelling and forth-telling (as described in 1 Corinthians 14). An example of foretelling can be seen in Acts 11:28-29, Agabus (not an apostle), “stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world… so the disciples determined, everone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.”

Examples of “forth-telling” can be seen throughout the Old Testament (read any of the minor prophets, and you’ll see a specific message, given by God to a specific person, to a specific people). Forth-telling is what is primarily described in reading 1Corinthians 14. If you’ve ever witnessed to someone and the words seemed to roll off of your tongue, and you think, “I don’t know where that came from!” then you’ve been used in the simple form of prophecy.

Why does prophecy come?

Prophecy does not come to lead you in a specific way. The primary way that the Holy Spirit leads us is by the inward witness (if you need help with this, download Pastor Craig DeBower’s podcast of several weeks ago at 19north). If 1Corinthians 14:3 says that prophecy is to build, encourage, and console, I ask, “When are times that I need built up, encouraged, and consoled?” The most glaring answer to that is “When the road is going to be tough ahead.” We can see that the two times that God spoke to Jesus audibly (before people) in the Gospels were the two times that he would have had the most difficult time (before he fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, entering his public ministry, and before he went to the cross, when he was transfigured).

What should I do with the prophecy I’ve received?

Knowing this, if you have received a prophecy this past Saturday, write it down–it’s something that you’re going to need to look back upon in the days coming. You can read it and be encouraged, built up, and consoled in the most difficult times of your life, knowing, “This is what God called me to do–He spoke to my heart through the inward witness, and He confirmed it through a gift of the Holy Spirit.” If what you heard did not bear witness with your heart, sit what you’ve heard “on the shelf.” 1 Corinthians 14:9 says, “…We know in part and we prophesy in part…” What you were given is only a small picture, and yes, Scott could have missed it, you could have brought a wrong interpretation to what he was praying, or the prophecy could be for a later time in life.

Don’t forget it. Let God lead you by the inward voice, and be encouraged, built up, and consoled.

As Paul was on his third missionary journey, the Bible says he had a desire to Asia, but the Holy Spirit had “forbidden” him to go. Again, he attempted to go to another region (Bithinya), but “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Later on, Paul proceeds to somewhere he was allowed to go (Troas), and in the night, he receives a vision from God of a Macedonian man appearing to him saying, “Help me.” That’s a pretty supernatural account, right? Sometimes, it’s so easy to get caught up in the “this seriously happened?” rather than focusing on the amazing way this can apply to our lives.

Paul hit a red-light–straight from the Holy Spirit. And if Paul hit a red-light, we’ll probably hit one or two in our lives as well. You have plans? Great. James 4:13-15 says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’–yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” Red light. I can plan, but God’s plans are always where the Grace is.

God has a specific place for us. A specific church, a specific job, a specific state, county, city, or township. It’s a place where our relationships will flourish, our hearts will be fulfilled, and where God can most effectively channel His Grace through you to someone or something. The adventure is that God gives us the latitude to obey. But to obey, we must first listen.

Notice…:

1. …God didn’t send Paul to the place he didn’t want to go (I’ve heard some say something absurd like, “Don’t say you don’t want to go to China… THAT’S EXACTLY where God will send you…” That my friend, isn’t found in the Bible.)
2. …God didn’t close the door to those regions through a circumstances
3. …God didn’t bring warning to Paul of treacherous upheavals in those places from an escapee.

But God did speak to Paul’s heart through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit spoke directly to Paul saying, “I have a place for you, and this isn’t it. Keep moving on.” I think in the same way, some of us may be in an area of our lives where the Holy Spirit is saying the same thing to us. For others, the time will come, and we’ll get the same red light–perhaps not in regard to ministry in Asia, but that red-light may be God saying…

• …Don’t get in this relationship.
• …Don’t take that job.
• …Don’t buy that car.
• …Don’t leave.

In Paul’s case, obedience to God’s leading eventually caused him to be in the middle of God’s place for him. In our case, obedience to God’s leading will eventually cause us to be in the middle of God’s place for us.

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Have you noticed the mind-shift between our parents’ generation and ours when it comes to work? There are a few things my dad never has enough of… firewood, tools, and time. I’ve never known my father to not have a project, and he doesn’t suffer from hyperactivity–the truth is, he’s a very driven person. Examining our generation (as a 20-something), I’m noticing varying trends–I’ve been around young adults who don’t stop, and young adults who never start; young adults who have ideas and no energy, and young adults who have energy and no ideas; young adults who expect everything to be handed to them, and young adults who expect nothing. Somewhere in the middle lies sanity.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from any brother in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

First, this is a great scripture to learn the power of knowing how to study the Bible. When looking at words like tradition, and idleness used together, it’s easy to bring in an assumption that Paul is writing of someone who is spiritually stagnant. However, reading the entire context of this scripture, it’s easy to see that Paul is writing (and God wants us to get) something else.

In the original Greek, the word tradition means “a handing down or a giving up,” conveying the idea of Paul personally “delivering or transmitting something to someone.” In this case, it wasn’t that of some insane ritual one uses to attempt to be right with God; rather, it was a tradition of hard work. Looking at the rest of the chapter, Paul says that those living in Thessalonica should “imitate us… with toil and labor we worked night and day to not be a burden to anyone.” He’s saying he personally handed down a work ethic.

Knowing this, here’s my quick exhortation

Don’t be the person who demands more than gives, who expects things out of others that you wouldn’t expect out of yourself. This type of person drains those above him, below him, and on the same level–family members, leaders, and friends. It blows my mind to attempt to think of how my father could work (at times) 70+ hours a week and keep up with everything it took to maintain a nearly pristine house and still be a good father. Some of us need to look at the example of people like my father and learn something.

On the other end of the pendulum, I’m purposing in my heart that my working grace will never amount to more than my family grace. Some 20-somethings need to learn to work, but others need to learn to play. In Ecclesiastes 2:18, Solomon, looking back at his life, said, “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man that will come after me, and who knows if he will be wise or be a fool?” There is a point where we can “have work,” but there’s also a point where work can “have us.” It’s possible to get so caught up in work/school/life, that we miss out on life. We can overwork to fill the lack in our sense of security, identity, worth. But our compulsions can have us looking back at life and saying, “I wish I would have enjoyed myself a little more.” (By the way, there aren’t many 20-somethings that I’ve had this conversation with, so if you think you’re here, you should probably ask the opinion of a leader in your life.)

I’m purposing my heart to get in the middle of the extremes–to work hard, AND enjoy the ride. What about you?

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PDF Copy of Dr. Phillip Richards notes from his message End Times. Click on the red link above to either open or save this file. If you don’t have Acrobat Reader you can get it here for free.

4 Views of the Endtimes Overview – Dr. Phillip Richards

PDF Copy of Dr. Phillip Richards handout on the four views of the Endtimes. As above you can click on the link above to either open or save this file. If you don’t have Adobe Reader you can get it here for free.

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Timeline – Dr. Phillip Richards

PDF Copy of Dr. Phillip Richards Timeline handout of Daniel’s seventy weeks. The primary scripture Dr. Richards paralleled this timeline with was Daniel 9:24-27 in the Amplified translation. As the other two posts this is a PDF file and can be either opened or saved. If you are unable to open this Adobe Reader can be downloaded here for free.