As you can imagine, it is very difficult to blog throughout the Summer with our schedule here at ythology. The Summer finds our director home about 14 days all Summer. Between poor internet or cell coverage at Camps, and maximizing downtime, we will begin blogging again the first week of Summer.
But, as a Summer sign-off, here is one final blog for a few months. It’s about 100 days long. And summer is legendary.
Cuz 100 days changes everything.
School’s out, Grad parties are in, and Father’s day is coming | We have the NBA Finals, America’s favorite pastime every night and The Summer Olympics | Summer is surprise Birthdays for you and fireworks on the 4th of July for the Red, White, and Blue | Mission trips, family vacations, and National Fine Arts and thousands of teens who are poised for an Awakening | Summer is Camp and Christ, Concerts and T-shirts, and Netflix and (well) |
Summer days are not just about convertibles and carnivals or pop songs about country roads and sing-alongs from the back seat | More than hair toss & checking nails and dance parties and sleeping in | Wake up you need to make money! | It’s 100 days long and summer is legendary
Cuz 100 days changes everything.
See, summer has its struggles, Like her and him, Like wasting time and talents, Like skipping Youth and going off balance | Off the grid and flippin’ your lid cuz you’re “free”, Latch key kids with nobody home gives the mind a place to roam | Because an idle mind is the Devil’s playground, And Satan is walking around in your neighborhood looking for a place to do work
These 100 days could be your friend or foe, Your win or lose, What you gonna choose?
Cuz 100 days changes everything.
100 isn’t almost…Like going to the Youth Group, but not living the truth | Almost. Like going to camp, but not obeying the 'rents, Like raising your hands when Hillsong is leading, but, at the same time, you’re thinking, wow, look what she’s wearing | Almost. I give Him an hour on Sundays and read my Bible on some-days, I almost got to the finish line, I almost won the lottery, but almost doesn’t work you see | I think I’m 100, but I’m not even 50
Christ didn't Almost come to earth, He didn't Almost come by virgin birth, And He shouldn't have made it past 33, Past the Scribes and Pharisees, All the way to you and me | See, Christ didn’t Almost die on the cross, Christ isn't Almost enough |He is all, Christ is 100
100 is all in! We need a thousand personal revivals. The Urban Dictionary Defines This social Media Icon in this way: “To stay true; to be real; to be straight up; to be alive. And there are other words that relate to 100: Money, cash, Benjamins, dollars, percent, and 100% satisfaction guaranteed, and all in, and just straight YES!"
We see 100 everywhere…Social media, 100% money back guarantee, and coaches asking for 100! How you doin? (100) Are you sure? (100) Dude, sweet car or outfit or tattoo (yea, it’s 100). 100 is like the perfect number: It really means all and not ALMOST. It is to be genuine. To be legit. And to have perfect integrity. Perfect. Integer or whole. Or Radical. Radix. Centered. It is complete and all in spirituality. Revival. Re-lifed.
Two things that will guarantee this Summer to be 100: The Bible. Godly friends.
1. The Bible is foundational to your personal revival and becoming 100
The Word is whole. Radical. Centered. The fruit of 100. If you want to know what the Bible dictionary says about 100 it is in Psalm 100. This is like 100. Our standard. It describes our life and how we are to live. This should be the best days of a Teenagers life. You are a kid! It doesn’t get any better than this. Look at the words of our text.
It says it all. JOYFUL, PRAISE, SHOUTS, SERVING, GIVING, GLADNESS, THANKSGIVING, PRESENCE, GOODNESS, MERCY, EVERLASTING, TRUTH, & SINGING. This is the language of 100. According to God.
Our clothes, our hair cut, our labels, and our language do not set us apart from everyone else. It is our spirit that sets us apart. We have the same clothes, cut, label, and the same language as everybody else. But, it is our spirit that sets us apart. And that comes form the Word. Our peculiarity is found in the spiritual realm. Not the physical.
The PRINCIPLES of one generation will become the PRACTICES of the next generation!
The second thing that will guarantee this Summer to be 100 is our friends:
2. Godly friends are foundational to your personal revival and becoming 100
Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future, failures, and your fears. You will probably spend eternity with your friends. Are you okay with that? And you are going to have the same failures of your friends. Are you okay with that? And the same fears as your friends. Are you okay with that?
You can’t hang with friends who are ALMOST and expect to become 100! Eagles do not hang around the hen house – a stallion is not kept in the field in the elements - It doesn’t matter how long a chicken hangs with the eagles, it will never soar to the heights of the sky.
Consider JESUS AND HIS BOYHOOD in Luke 2. Jesus was 100. He said, ”I MUST be in my Fathers house!” He knows who His real Father is! As a teenager He took the Law serious and confounded the Scribes. He took Youth Group to be 100! Remember, the only reference we have of Him is when He is in the Temple. Jesus went to Youth Group and changed the world. What makes us think that we can do the same if we are not committed to the Church?
Can you imagine Jesus as your friend! How would your friends treat you? What kind of things would you do with Him? There are stories in extra-biblical writing and history about Jesus doing exploits as a teen that are not even recorded in the scriptures. You need friends this Summer who will challenge you.
Instead of gaming on Friday nights and going to parties, where are the students in our Youth Groups who will organize a prayer meeting on Friday night? Instead of walking around the Malls Of America and shopping for ourselves again, where is the Youth Group who will do prayer walks around the HS? You need more time in the Church than you do in in Forever 21 and H&M and the local Mall.
If you really want to do this Christian life and your are serious about it, you must have the right friends. Paul was with the WRONG friends and worked against the Church. Then, he changed his friends and built the Church. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6.14-17, warns us to be separate as it relates to union, but, to be in relationship as it relates to friendship.
We should be more interested in Scripture than Culture
If you are going to be 100 and live a personal revival, you need the Word and you need spiritual Friends. This is 100. All in. Whole. Radical. Centered. The fruit of 100. If you want to know what the Bible dictionary says about 100 it is in Psalm 100. This is like 100. Our standard. It describes our life and how we are to live. What will your life look like in 100 days?
God is raising up a generation of young people who are taking their spiritual lives seriously. They are placing a high emphasis upon this. And the Word and our friends are key to this.
I challenge you to get a friend every week and read the Bible together. I want you to challenge each other by reading through Psalm 119. It will take about 20-25 mins to do this. But it will be some of the most memorable minutes of your life this Summer. Spend more time this Summer being interested in Scripture than Culture.
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