An Open Letter to my Senior Class of 2015:
Tonight, just before church started here at Crossroads Baptist Church, I checked my phone like I often do before service. (Am I a little addicted; possibly, but I am working on it.) There, on my screen, I had a notification from one of my Senior girls. She had sent me a picture of our seniors (minus Jacob Cosgrove and Ryan Corbin). I opened the message, and the message in turn opened my heart. I was flooded with emotions, and I thought it appropriate to type them out. I love to give honor to whom honor is due, and tonight, Impact Senior Class of 2015, is your night!
When I moved to Virginia last October, I knew that I was getting a good group of teenagers. Did they need some work? Haha. You better believe it. But did they have a stupid amount of potential? Absolutely. I knew I was getting some seniors in the mix. There were 7 seniors when I got here, and now, with the arrival of the ever-amazing Kayla Schages, we sit at 8 graduating seniors. On the surface, these kids were pretty good kids. They were well-mannered, eager to learn, respectful...ya know, the average run-of-the-mill Christian, Baptist-church-youth-group-Bible-believing kids. Ya know, those types!
But I was wrong. Drastically wrong. They weren't pretty good kids. Not even close.
They were amazing kids. Unreal kids. Unbelievable kids.
Over the last several months, I have adopted near 40 new teenage kiddos of my own. My wife and I have had our hearts opened up to an incredible amount of joy knowing all of these aggressive Impact Teens (inside joke right there if ya missed it.) The young ones in our youth group are set to do great things, the middle schoolers are growing at a fast rate and the sophomores and juniors are chomping at the bit to lead.
However, my heart has been especially knit to a small group of kids inside this large group called Impact. This small group bares the name "Seniors." Never have I been more tried spiritually and emotionally as a Youth Pastor than with these knuckleheads. Never have I cried more for a group of teens like these seniors. Never have I had a burden to help a group of kids like these seniors. BUT...never have I ever been given a greater privilege as a Youth Pastor than to know, lead, advice and love this group of seniors. Yes, they have had their bumps in the road, but I have never, and I repeat, never, seen a group of teens respond like they have. These seniors have time and time again risen to the occasion and pushed the bar up for those to follow.
We have talked together, cried together, loved together and led together. I know that anytime I need someone to step up and lend a hand, they are reliable. I know that if I ever need to rebuke or reprove, they will listen with a teachable spirit and make the necessary moves to be better. I have been encouraged to see these teens pray together and meet together to be the best senior leaders they can be in our church. I have witnessed a bond of unity that is rare amongst teens these days. I have been able to watch them mature on a pressurized stage and take honor with humility and chastening with grace.
If I were to build a youth group, I would choose these 8 seniors to lead my group. Do they still need work? Yes. But I wouldn't rather jump into any other trench to fight a battle with teens other than these guys and girls.
I tear up this evening because things are a little bittersweet. I am going to immensely miss the friendships that have blossomed and flourished in the last several months. I am going to miss having these 8 together again all at the same time. I am going to miss teaching these teens on a weekly basis. I am going to miss the late night chats, spur-of-the-moment advice sessions and laughter that billows through the halls of our upper wing. However, my tears are also those of pride...immense, deep, heart-felt pride in a group of kids that will indeed change their worlds for Jesus. I trust these kids with my testimony and will be in their corners until the day we get to Heaven.
I have not only had the opportunity to be their Youth Pastor. I have had the privilege of being their friend. I love you Kayla, Rachel, Josh, Ashley, Dustin, Whitney, Jacob and Ryan with all of my heart. Y'all have made me proud, and y'all will be leaving Impact Youth Group better than when y'all got it. This is in no way the end. It is just the beginning of greater things y'all will go on to do for the Lord and His Kingdom.
Live for Jesus always. Love unconditionally. Serve with abandon. Follow Christ whole-heartedly. Stay in the Bible. Pray often. Cry frequently. Laugh always.
I honor you tonight, Impact Class of 2015. Congratulations on graduation and just plain awesomeness. I love y'all!
Bro. Levi
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Youth Man: Levi Smith | 1 Cor. 15:10: Unplug Your Label Maker
Youth Man: Levi Smith | 1 Cor. 15:10: Unplug Your Label Maker: [Before you read this, I challenge you to go read 4 short verses: Mark 9:38-41] Life is full of labels. We meet a person and before we can...
Unplug Your Label Maker
[Before you read this, I challenge you to go read 4 short verses: Mark 9:38-41]
Life is full of labels. We meet a person and before we can ask their name, we have usually labeled them. Whether our labels are created from previous knowledge of this person that we received from a "reliable source", or from the fashion or stature of this new friend, we all tend to hand them out. It is inevitable. It is part of our human nature to judge a person immediately. Now before you jump ship because I said "judge", let me reassure you, I do not mean a demeaning judgment. I simply mean that we are programmed to judge, discern and size up everyone we meet. Everybody does it. Even you.
(1 John 4:1) With this knowledge, let's delve a little deeper into this subject of "labeling", and put a Christian spin on it; because yes, God even labels people.
Christianity has become quite an ordeal hasn't it? We have more denominations than we have fish in the sea, and every single church member of every single small group class of every single church has different opinions of the Bible and the way the country, home and church should be governed. It is a tangled mess to be completely honest with you. Opinions have replaced doctrine. Preference has replaced principle. The Bible has been replaced with commentaries and round table discussions. By doing this, our "label maker" has become over-worked and over-heated. We are pumping out stereotypes and labels at an all-time high. Half of us are labeled Fundy, Bible-Thumpers, Legalistic and Judgmental. The other half of us are labeled Liberal, Contemporary and Shallow. Everybody has a name, association and denomination. We side with our group until death will do us part. FYI, this is not how God intended it to be.
God sent His Son into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15 / John 3:16). He sent Jesus, the Christ, the Second Part of the Holy Trinity, to seek and to save, to redeem and reclaim, to lay His life down and bring it back up (Luke 19:10). Man sinned. God was merciful. Jesus came. Jesus saved. This was God's plan. The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now hang on to your seats, and fasten your seat belts.
God did not label us Baptists, we did. Actually, "Baptist" is only used in the Bible in the name of one singular man. God did not even label us Christians, man did (Acts 11:26). He didn't send Jesus to start the Baptist Church or create a clique. He sent Jesus (and Jesus came willingly I might add) to redeem anyone who would call upon His name (Rom. 10:13). You know the label God gave us first? He called us "Man" (Gen. 1:26-27). Then, when we sinned, He called us "sinners" and "wicked" (the Bible is riddled with this label of man). But, thanks be unto Jesus, He sent His only begotten Son into this dark and egregious world to save us; if we accept this gift of salvation that was purchased on Calvary by Jesus laying down His life for you and me, He adopts us and gives us a brand new "label", or name. Do you know what that label is??? He calls us His son! Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:5 tell us that through Christ, God adopts us into His very own family. We become heirs to God! God, the King reigning over all the universe, becomes our daddy! He re-writes our birth certificate and changes our name. Their is no legal system He must go through, because the government rests upon His shoulders (Is. 9:6). It is finished. It is settled. Your old label is taken off, and God has given you a new name that cannot be erased, voided or vetoed!
Now think back to our previous conversation. We call each other all of these unnecessary names, and I wonder today: How does this make God feel. The majority of His sons and daughters are scurrying around, placing labels upon the hypothetical foreheads of their brothers and sisters. The family of God is divided because we refuse to unplug our label makers.
Yes, I am a Baptist. Yes, I am an Independent Fundamental Baptist. Yes, I am Conservative. Yes, I use the KJV Bible only. Yes, I fully believe that Baptist doctrine is based on correct Bible doctrine. I am a Baptist because I personally believe it runs as parallel to the teachings of Christ as possible, not because God labeled me such. No, I am not sliding down the slippery slope of liberalism, and no, I have not tasted of the non-denominational kool-aid! I am just burdened for Christianity as a whole. We refuse to work with each other because of the sign above our doors, and if we do pray for each other, it is probably just to try to persuade God to change their hearts, and not our own. Jesus told His very own disciples to basically lay off of the people because they didn't "do ministry" the same way as His disciples did (Mark 9:38-41).
May we realize today that we don't have time to fight amongst the body. Preach doctrine. Preach the Truth. Preach the Bible (the KJV I might add). Our job is not to make the Baptist church larger or the non-denominational community more extensive; our job should be that of seeing more people become sons and daughters of the King. Preach right, live right and let God hand out the labels.
Life is full of labels. We meet a person and before we can ask their name, we have usually labeled them. Whether our labels are created from previous knowledge of this person that we received from a "reliable source", or from the fashion or stature of this new friend, we all tend to hand them out. It is inevitable. It is part of our human nature to judge a person immediately. Now before you jump ship because I said "judge", let me reassure you, I do not mean a demeaning judgment. I simply mean that we are programmed to judge, discern and size up everyone we meet. Everybody does it. Even you.
(1 John 4:1) With this knowledge, let's delve a little deeper into this subject of "labeling", and put a Christian spin on it; because yes, God even labels people.
Christianity has become quite an ordeal hasn't it? We have more denominations than we have fish in the sea, and every single church member of every single small group class of every single church has different opinions of the Bible and the way the country, home and church should be governed. It is a tangled mess to be completely honest with you. Opinions have replaced doctrine. Preference has replaced principle. The Bible has been replaced with commentaries and round table discussions. By doing this, our "label maker" has become over-worked and over-heated. We are pumping out stereotypes and labels at an all-time high. Half of us are labeled Fundy, Bible-Thumpers, Legalistic and Judgmental. The other half of us are labeled Liberal, Contemporary and Shallow. Everybody has a name, association and denomination. We side with our group until death will do us part. FYI, this is not how God intended it to be.
God sent His Son into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15 / John 3:16). He sent Jesus, the Christ, the Second Part of the Holy Trinity, to seek and to save, to redeem and reclaim, to lay His life down and bring it back up (Luke 19:10). Man sinned. God was merciful. Jesus came. Jesus saved. This was God's plan. The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now hang on to your seats, and fasten your seat belts.
God did not label us Baptists, we did. Actually, "Baptist" is only used in the Bible in the name of one singular man. God did not even label us Christians, man did (Acts 11:26). He didn't send Jesus to start the Baptist Church or create a clique. He sent Jesus (and Jesus came willingly I might add) to redeem anyone who would call upon His name (Rom. 10:13). You know the label God gave us first? He called us "Man" (Gen. 1:26-27). Then, when we sinned, He called us "sinners" and "wicked" (the Bible is riddled with this label of man). But, thanks be unto Jesus, He sent His only begotten Son into this dark and egregious world to save us; if we accept this gift of salvation that was purchased on Calvary by Jesus laying down His life for you and me, He adopts us and gives us a brand new "label", or name. Do you know what that label is??? He calls us His son! Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:5 tell us that through Christ, God adopts us into His very own family. We become heirs to God! God, the King reigning over all the universe, becomes our daddy! He re-writes our birth certificate and changes our name. Their is no legal system He must go through, because the government rests upon His shoulders (Is. 9:6). It is finished. It is settled. Your old label is taken off, and God has given you a new name that cannot be erased, voided or vetoed!
Now think back to our previous conversation. We call each other all of these unnecessary names, and I wonder today: How does this make God feel. The majority of His sons and daughters are scurrying around, placing labels upon the hypothetical foreheads of their brothers and sisters. The family of God is divided because we refuse to unplug our label makers.
Yes, I am a Baptist. Yes, I am an Independent Fundamental Baptist. Yes, I am Conservative. Yes, I use the KJV Bible only. Yes, I fully believe that Baptist doctrine is based on correct Bible doctrine. I am a Baptist because I personally believe it runs as parallel to the teachings of Christ as possible, not because God labeled me such. No, I am not sliding down the slippery slope of liberalism, and no, I have not tasted of the non-denominational kool-aid! I am just burdened for Christianity as a whole. We refuse to work with each other because of the sign above our doors, and if we do pray for each other, it is probably just to try to persuade God to change their hearts, and not our own. Jesus told His very own disciples to basically lay off of the people because they didn't "do ministry" the same way as His disciples did (Mark 9:38-41).
May we realize today that we don't have time to fight amongst the body. Preach doctrine. Preach the Truth. Preach the Bible (the KJV I might add). Our job is not to make the Baptist church larger or the non-denominational community more extensive; our job should be that of seeing more people become sons and daughters of the King. Preach right, live right and let God hand out the labels.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Why I Am Here
My purpose is not self-glorification. My aim is not the proof of personal knowledge, nor is my purpose of personal gain. I truly desire to be an extension of Jesus in some form or fashion. Whether that be preaching behind an old-fashioned pulpit, or blogging on a social media site, I pray that Jesus be glorified and other sinners be helped. The ultimate goal of all I should do and be as a born again child of God should be to point lost souls to Christ and Christ alone, and love my neighbors as myself, aiding them in whatever way possible. Maybe, just maybe, this blog site will do just that! Trust me, I am the chief of sinners, like my brother Paul. I am saved by epic grace, learning as I go, just like you! Love you, friend!
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