The summer pandemonium has begun! After a few weeks of prayer and preparation we have officially kicked things into high gear…. Last Sunday, after preaching in Greenfield Iowa, I traveled to Kansas Bible Camp near Hutchinson where I gave 10 messages at their Leadership Training Week. About 165 young people came and that put the camp right at maximum capacity. It was fun to preach to a totally packed out auditorium full of souls that were eager to hear from Gods word. It seemed like every square inch of camp was put to good use as each bed in the dorms was occupied, and every seat in the dining room was accounted for.
After each meeting there were broken and repentant teens to deal with. The Lord really seemed to be working in the hearts of many of these high-schoolers and throughout the course of the week there were several professions of faith. This was a week of training for leaders and yet many found that they weren't saved yet.... so I decided to major on the gospel and as a result the Lord brought about great blessings! Many of these young people were in tears as they related to me their struggles with anxiety, identity and various besetting sins.... More often than not, I wasn't sure what to tell them, other than: “Go get alone with God” which they usually did and then often times came running back with great joy on their faces saying that the Lord had given them a major breakthrough.
In each of my messages I put an emphasis on biblical manhood.… and there was a tremendous response! We live in a day and age in which there is so much confusion about gender and identity and roles and biblical men are becoming more and more of an endangered species.… Many of the young men that I was preaching to acknowledged the problem and could see where it’s taking our culture. Numerous times I was in a conversation with a young man and soon several other young men would gather around with great interest as I tried to field their questions about manhood. Right from the beginning of the week I started inviting some of the guys to come exercise with me in the mornings. So each day a bunch of guys met me at the gym at 5:30 am to do an epic workout (such as: run 2 miles, do 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 200 air squats). We wrapped up each workout with prayer and when we finally got up off our knees the cement floor would be soaked with sweat…. A reminder that prayer is work. Prayer is battle…. Prayer is wrestling with God.
Working out and pushing yourself physically has very little to do with biblical manhood but it does teach discipline and endurance and perseverance which I pray will carry over into the spiritual lives of these young men.
Hi Tuttle family, what part of Texas will you be in during October? I would love to take my son to hear you speak.
ReplyDeleteIn Christ,
Ryan