New AYM series, “Refuel” start tonight 6.16.10
by Jason Gosselin on Jun.16, 2010, under New Series
6.16.10 - 7.7.10
This 4 week series will focus on not living life on “E.” Most of us drivers know, that more often than not, we’ll drive until our gas light pops on before we even think about stopping to refuel. After all, we’ve got so much to do, and don’t have time to stop! That mindset has even caused some of us have to walk to the “nearest” gas station with a red gas can that assures every car that passes by us that we ignored our gas light for too long :’(
Isn’t that how we view our spiritual tank too sometimes? Are we trying to go as far as we can, before we stop and refuel spiritually, ignoring all of the spiritual “gas lights” that may be going off along the way? Why is that?!
That’s where this series, “Refuel” comes in. Over the next 4 weeks, we’re going to look at why we wait so long sometimes to refuel spiritually, and why we allow ourselves to run on “E” when it comes to our spiritual life. We’ll look at some spiritual “gas lights” that may be on in our lives trying to tell us we need to stop and refuel. We’re also going to look at God’s word for some direction about connecting with God. When we’re living on “E,” as alot of us tend to do sometimes, connecting with God isn’t always easy because of our perspective!
Throughought this series we’ll see that connecting with God is not what we think it is, it’s easier than we think it is, and it’s potential impact is so much bigger than we think it is!
Make a pit stop at AYM Wednesday nights at 7pm, and “Refuel.” It’s never too early for a fill up!
Thoughts after today’s devotions…
by Jason Gosselin on Jun.04, 2010, under Whaddya think?
"Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." 2 Timothy 3:17
One of the scriptures I read this morning was Proverbs 29:9, “A sage trying to work things out with a fool gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.”
I looked up the word “sage” and found this…
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A profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.
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Someone venerated for the possession of wisdom, judgment, and experience.
Ok, so if a sage is all of those things, it’s fair to assume their approach in “working things out” with someone would be near flawless. Probably calm, well thought out, communicated in love, and above all else, right on the money. So why in the world would this other person, this fool, respond with scorn and sarcasm?! I mean who does that?! Who freaks out on a sage?! Who is scornful and sarcastic with someone who is known for their wisdom, experience, and judgement? What a perfect word for a person lik that. A fool!
My brain was flooded with names of people who were fools according to this definition. People who scorned me and my correction/advice. How underappreciated I am sometimes. Table for self-pity, party of 1 
Then my brain shifted gears, thankfully, and I had to admit, I play the fool quite a bit to when it comes to people trying to”work things out” with me. I respond with scorn, and sarcasm at times. However I instantly begin to defend myself and say think that when I play the “fool” I’m justified and it’s warranted because the person “working things out” with me isn’t exactly a sage, and their approach is all wrong, so my scorn and sarcasm should be easily overlooked and almost allowed or expected by them. Sound familiar? (continue reading…)
Thank You!
by Jason Gosselin on May.25, 2010, under Uncategorized
Hey everyone,
This past Saturday night, 5/22/10, AYM hosted their 2nd annual Missions Banquet & Silent Auction in support of our upcoming AYM missions trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a huge success, and a great night! Before I share with you just how huge a success, let me get you up to speed…
For the past few months, our team of 14 students, and 2 leaders had been sending support letters to friends and family, and selling tickets to our banquet. The cost of the trip is about $1200 per person, and that covers the airline ticket, transportation while in the DR, food, lodging, supplies, etc. Multiply that by 16 and you get a grand total of $19,200. Through our support letters, and banquet tickets, we were able to raise $12,000 towards our goal, and were praying that our silent auction would yield $7,200 in order to cover the remaining funds we needed. Last year our banquet raised $3,500, so quick math says we were in prayer for double last years funds, and I admit, at the beginning of the night I was in prayer, but can’t say I was 100% confident.
Enter, our very big, and able God, working through the many generous people in attendance that evening. At the end of the evening, our silent auction had raised $5,200! I was in awe of God,s provision, but he wasn’t done! As I was thanking our guests for their generosity and sharing with them what we raised, God spoke to one of our guests, and they listened, by writing a $2,000 check! That brought our total to exactly what we needed! Wow, I was floored, and hugged and thanked this couple with unspoken words, and lots of tears…
2 Corinthians 9:8-11 says, “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.”
Does He ever!! I look forward to God continuing to bless the generous guests we had at our banquet so they can continue to be a blessing to others in a way that causes many to be in awe of God! Our team’s goal, is to now respond to what God has given us, by in turn giving it away, and hoping that it results in full lives full of praise towards God not just in the people we serve in the Dominican, but in us as well!
Thank you for making this trip possible. You are making a huge difference in our world!
-J-
New series, “dating” starts tonight 3.3.10 at AYM!
by Jason Gosselin on Mar.03, 2010, under New Series
Hey guys,
I’m super excited (don’t I say that about every series we do?!) about our upcoming series at ACTIVATE youth ministry, “dating.” Starting Wednesday night, 3.3.10 @7pm, we’ll look at the whole idea of “dating,” and the way it’s viewed in today’s culture. Everyone of us begins looking forward to meeting that special someone, “dating,” and falling in love one day, and that happens very innocently at a young age. I mean most of us were first exposed to the idea of “dating” and falling in love, during an elementary school playground wedding behind the tube slide during recess…
However, something changes as we get older. Our view of "dating" changes, and it becomes something different for us. Rather than an innocent desire at the age of 9, it becomes a driving NEED for us. Culture, company, circumstances, and consequences all creep into our lives and change the way we view "dating," and our motives to "date" change. "dating" becomes the thing that determines our status, our worth, and our value. If we're "dating' we feel attractive, feel like we're worth something and valuable; if we're not "dating" we feel not attractive, and feel like we have little worth or value. That driving need for status, self-worth and value often drives us to compromise, and make not so great decisions in the "dating" arena.
This series isn't about me, and what I think about "dating," rather it's an opportunity for all of us to look at the concept of "dating" and ask some questions about it. Why? Who? When? What? Why date? Who should I date? When should I date? What should "dating" look like? We'll also take a close look at God's word and see if we can't find better reasons, better options, better timing, and better methods to this whole idea of dating!
Hope to see you guys at AYM as we talk about, "dating."
-J-
Decisions, decisions…
by Jason Gosselin on Feb.11, 2010, under Whaddya think?
Hmmm...
Sleep in? Shower? What to wear? Boxers or briefs? What to eat? What to drink? What to do this weekend? Who to talk to? Who to date? College? Work? Sex? Drugs? Drinking? Decisions, decisions…
Every day you and I make several decisions. Some good, some not so good. Every decision results in something. Something good, something not so good. The decisions we make are influenced by a ton of things as well: Our values, our family, our friends, our enemies, our preferences, advertising, role models, convenience, timing, our state of mind, our mood, just to name a few. Today during my journaling time, I read a verse that jumped out at me…
“I don’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, THEN I decide. You can trust my decisions because I’m not out to get my own way, but only to carry out orders.” John 5:30 MSG
Jesus says these words and I can’t help but think, “Do I listen, and THEN decide? Do I make decisions to get my own way sometimes?” If I’m honest, I have to say no, I don’t always listen, THEN decide. And yes, I do make selfish decisions that can’t always be trusted. Often times, I decide something, and then try to find someone (anyone) who agrees with my already made decision so I can feel ” better” about my decision, and choosing to ignore everyone else who is trying to talk sense into me by disagreeing with my decision. Does that make sense? I’m sure I’m not alone here…
I want to be like Jesus in this area. I want to listen, THEN decide, not the other way around. Don’t you?! Whether it’s a simple decisions about what to wear, or a big decision about who to date and when, we should be people who listen first, then decide. If we can form this habit during our “smaller” decisions, we will be more likely to use it when making our “bigger” decisions. Who do we listen to? More often than not, we listen to a world that is constantly changing, and stands for nothing. Who should we listen to? God for one, but also the people in your life that you look up to, or those who you hold in high regard. These people may not always agree with you or your decisions, and their advice may not jive with what you’d rather hear or do, and it may feel like a “lecture”, but if you believe they’re in your life for a reason, you may want to consider listening to their advice. We all have things we want to do, and all have plans we want to see succeed. Check this out…
“Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 MSG
Pretty clear aint it?! In the end though, no matter what advice we’re given, the decision we make will always rest with us. But so do the results of that decision. Even the decisions that seem small sometimes, may have bigger results in the end, results we may not want to deal with. So why rush into a decision? Listen first, THEN decide. After all if Jesus chose to listen, BEFORE he decided anything, shouldn’t we do the same?!
-J-
