Don't Die Until You Die: Don't give up; don't give in; keep fighting; and keep moving.

By Boyd Crook

And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. (Genesis 37:34-35).

Jacobs’s sons brought him the bloody coat of many colors, the evidence of what Jacob perceived was the death of his beloved son. Joseph was the elder son of his first love, Rachael. Now the evidence was staring him in the face—Joseph was gone, dead. All of Jacob’s dreams were in Joseph.

Jacob had received an erroneous report; he believed a lie and it led him to a life of mourning. He could not be happy when grandchildren were born or when sons or daughters were married. Although he was the patriarch of the family, no one wanted to go near him because of his attitude, which was steeped in grief. He had died before he died!

Nothing more is mentioned of Jacob until the time he tells his sons they are starving and that he heard there was corn in Egypt. He did not do as David did when he knew his son was dead. David rose from petitioning the Lord for the baby’s life, washed himself and asked for food, saying the child can no longer come to me but I can go to him (2 Sam 28:23).

You know the story well, but Genesis 45:27 says, “And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.” All the false reports his sons had brought him were demolished in a second; when he saw the wagons, his spirit was revived. His spirit was dead for perhaps 17 years. When Jacob arrived in Egypt he was 130 years old and he was 147 when he died. He was able to see Joseph’s children and to bless them. His spirit revived, the dead parts of his heart were raised and God gave him another 17 years.

In the year 2000 my mother had to have a leg amputated; she was 86. It seemed life was over. She soon realized things would be different; she had already given up driving, but could still get around some in her home. She could no longer do the things she had done, dressing antique dolls and making quilts, keeping her hands and mind busy.

She had lived in the same home for over 30 years, living alone for 25 of those years. Finally, there was no choice; a convalescent hospital was the last resort. To her, like Jacob, life was over. It took several different nursing homes and a couple of years, but her family kept working with her, encouraging her. My sister Neva bought beads and materials for her to make bracelets and necklaces. Neva, being an evangelist, would then take these items out and show them. Several were sold and Mom became excited; she could do something! As Mom worked with those beads, making sets for grandchildren or friends and a few to sell, her spirit revived and she began to regain muscle and be strengthened. She even went out Christmas shopping for her seven children!

She also got a promise box and began to use it to minister to the staff. As each would come by, pick out a card and read it, they asked Mom for the meaning.

Mom continued to minister until she died at the age of 93. An additional seven years of life, real life. Don’t die until you die!

What are some things you can do?

Have a plan
Have a schedule, start your day with devotions, make a prayer list, honor God, give Him praise, spend time in worship. The first part is the Lord’s so give Him the first part of the day; don’t delay, thinking you have to do this or that because it is so important. Nothing is more important or necessary than spending time with God. Make it a practice; put it into your schedule; plan and do it. Your day will be much more profitable if you put Him first.

Eat right
Maintain a good nutritional diet. We are what we eat. Watch what you eat; count carbs and calories.

Exercise
(Make sure you have your physician’s OK before doing exercise). Physical exercise is necessary for good health, and good health includes not only diet and exercise, but good mental exercise too. Read, get a hobby, make friends. Plan it and do it.

Ministry:
Every one of us is called to minister.
“Even so send I you,” were Jesus’ words (John 20:21). Regardless of your physical or mental condition, everyone can pray.

Do some worthwhile volunteer work.
Use the life-skills you have and offer to help the pastor. There are many things you could help the pastor with; just ask him or her.

Get involved with the senior adult ministry in your church.
If your church does not have an official Senior Adult Ministry, ask your pastor to start one. (Check out the Ministering to Senior Adults Training Manual available at messengerpublishing.com or 1-888-444-4674. The cost is $10.00. The item number is 150114.)

Make phone calls to help raise funds or to get others to volunteer.

Go to a rest home and visit with the residents.
A touch or a smile will do wonders for these shut-ins. Every one wants to feel loved and to know someone cares about them.

“The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day.” – Charles Spurgeon

Harvest Impact: And Both Are Preserved

By Wayman Ming Jr., General Secretary
What a contrast! In the previous edition of The Messenger, the focus was “next gen. ministry.” In this edition, senior adult ministry! One of the greatest tensions existing in every generation is ministering to the younger generation and the older generation. And yet, Jesus brought such a simplistic answer to this generational issue when He uttered the words: “and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17).

Of course, Jesus is speaking here about wine and wineskins. Unfortunately the contextual pitfall is to only focus on the wine and miss the attention that Jesus gives to the wineskins. The reality is that we can’t have new wine without new wineskins and old wine without old wineskins. The wineskins are necessary to preserve the wine.

We’ve got to have the new wineskins, and we’ve got to have the old wineskins. We’ve got to have the new, and we’ve got to have the old. We’ve got to have both. Both must be included. Both must have a place. Both must have a part. Both must be preserved.

The strife that exists in next gen. ministry and senior adult ministry exists because of exclusivity. The exclusive mind-set declares, “The new wine and new wineskins are better so we don’t need the old wine and the old wineskins.” Or, “The old wine and the old wineskins are better so we don’t need the new wine and the new wineskins.” In truth, Jesus is addressing that very attitude when He declares, “and both are preserved.” Nowhere do we see the implication that Jesus desires any of the wine to perish. Allow me to make two simple observations . . . .

We need the new wineskins or we will run out of wine.

Unless we have new wine and new wineskins, we run out of old wine and old wineskins. If we don’t have next gen. ministry, we run out of wine. If we don’t train our Joshuas and Elishas, we run out of wine. If we don’t include our Joshuas and Elishas in the decisionmaking processes, implementation and planning strategies, vision casting and ministries of our churches, we will miss out on the new wine. Some may say that the old wine is better, but that doesn’t change the fact that we still need the new wineskins and the new wine or we will run out.

We need the old wineskins to add value to the wine.

The older the wine skin, the more valuable the wine! Winston Churchill once said, “The farther one looks back in history, the farther one sees into the future.” Methods and programs are not longterm, but the foundational principles that created them and supported them are. The more we affirm the principles of the past, the more we build on a foundation for the future.

Continuously throughout Scripture, we are reminded of the truth that God is a generational God—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There are lists of entire families, such as found in Genesis 5, “This is the book of the generations of Adam” (verse 1). And in 6:9: “These are the records of the generations of Noah.” Scripture obviously took the theme of generations seriously and affirmed the different nature of generations—particularly that some generations were more responsive to the gospel than others. What is more, the Bible affirmed that there is a natural succession of generations: “A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4, NASU). The point is: every generation has value and adds value.

Allow me to close with the brief example of television. Televisions first became available in 1939. The battery-powered television arrived in 1950. In 1956 the first portable black-and-white television set was introduced. NBC began broadcasting all programs in color in 1966. By the early 1980s, 98 percent of all homes in the United States owned at least one TV set, and some even more. Today we have HDTV (high-definition television), and some predict that we will soon have hologram televisions where three-dimensional figures acting out scenes on our living room floors. The reality is that if there had not been a 1939 television, there would not be a 2009 television.

When we connect this example to a ministry perspective, we understand that if there had not been a 1939 generation of ministry, we would not have a 2009 generation of ministry. In other words, we need the old wine and wineskins and the new wine and wineskins. Or, in the words of Jesus, we must value the importance of “and both are preserved.”

Eye 2 Eye: When Seasons Change

By Bishop Charles Scott
It is inevitable. The seasons will eventually change. Regardless of the warmth of the summer breezes it will give way to cool fall nights. And the winter chills will not last forever; spring will announce its arrival with gentle warm winds, soft green shoots pushing themselves from the cold ground and birds that refuse to hush their singing. The Bible declares it: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) This is an absolute.

It is frustrating to be in the wrong season at the wrong time. A recent trip to the Northwest proved this point as our family went prepared for 90-degree weather. We forgot to check the Weather Channel and discovered 65-degree weather. Someone commented to us, “Oh, you must have enjoyed the cooler weather.” We smiled and nodded, but truthfully, no, we did not enjoy the cooler weather; we did not have a jacket or a sweater or a hoodie or a blanket. We were in the wrong season, prepared for the wrong season, expecting the wrong season and suffering in the wrong season. No one can enjoy being in the wrong season. You can pretend, you can put on, you can act, you can make believe, you can confess, but you know when you are unprepared for the season. This means you are not relevant.

Nestled away in the annals of Israel’s history is a powerful verse of Scripture: “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment” (1 Chronicles 12:32). An understanding of the times means that these individuals knew the season, had insight into the proper response to the season, and possessed the leadership credibility to lead others through the seasonal transitions of life. These men matured beyond pretense, refused to live in denial, faced the facts and led others to do the same. This means they were connected.

It is entirely possible to get older but remain immature. It is tragic to anesthetize ourselves with the busyness of religious activity, inebriate ourselves with contradictions, and distract ourselves with non-essentials and miss the next season. It is tragic to age but never move forforward; to get closer to retirement but not closer to a productive life; or to advance in years but refuse to advance in spiritual growth. That tragedy is global.

I must admit that it happened to me. I never thought I would see the day. It came in the mail. The application to join AARP arrived just the other day. I tore it to pieces and threw it away, smirking that I am way too young to start ordering off the senior menu. Then I found myself retrieving the invitation in order to learn just exactly what opportunity I had discarded in my state of denial. And then I heard the Lord ask, “What are you missing because you do not know your season, and what have you thrown away because you did not agree with the season?”

As I pondered the unfair below-the-belt questioning of the Lord, I reflected that we are made in the image and the likeness of God. And our Father God is a creator. From the opening lines of Scripture, the Bible declares the creative power of God. Therefore, we who are made in the likeness of God were birthed to be creative. We were born to kill giants, subdue devils, shout down impregnable walls, cross briny seas, preach life into graveyards, see into the eternal, touch the invisible, do the impossible and perform the unimaginable because we are the people of the Most High God. It requires maturity of thought to embrace the next season.

We will fail if we cannot shift with the seasons. We will become crystallized by doing outward religious duty without experiencing inward Godly transformation. We will become formalized by stagnated thinking that is not transformed by the renewing of the mind of Christ. We will become institutionalized by endeavoring to hold to a season that has passed rather than reaching for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Our last days, our next seasons should be better than the last. For those of us who declare, “WE ARE PCG,” we sense a shift is coming in the seasons. There is an expectation that the glory of the latter will be greater than the glory of the former; the anointing will be a double portion; the fruit will be increased; and the last days will be the best days. But when it arrives, let’s pray we can see it and not throw it away. I hope we see that eye to eye, because we are PCG.

Fight Like a Girl

By Teena Skiles, National Youth Ministries First Lady
One of the best sports movies, “The Sandlot,” pegs the saying from Ham Porter, “You play ball like a girl!” as an insult. But we know better, don’t we girls?

Racheal Alexander runs like a girl (first filly in 85 years to win the 2009 Preakness). Mia Hamm kicks like a girl (famous soccer player). Lisa Leslie dunks like a girl (famous basketball player.) Jennie Finch throws like a girl (famous softball player). Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh spike like girls (famous volleyball players).

And you, my girlfriend, what do you do? You fight. Yes, you fight like a girl. Everyday you wake up in the ring of life. You have one opponent and one opponent only. His name is Satan. His goal is to beat you down and to knock you out. He pulls cheap shots. He keeps hitting you even after the bell has rung. You have an enemy that is seeking to devour you, your mind, your thoughts, your heart, your body, your purity, your dreams, your soul. What are you going to do about it?

This is what you’re going to do! You are going to join other fighters in St Louis, Missouri on April 9-10, 2010 for the National Girl Talk Conference. We are going to begin your training on how to really fight like a girl. This is going to be a spiritual workout. You will be surrounded by trainers and managers (spiritual mothers/mentors) that will be there to share some key moves, key exercises, key routines you will need to be a great and victorious fighter.

We are blessed with godly ladies that are willing to put on their boxing gloves and fight for you . . . but you must fight your own fight. We can’t fight your fight for you. It is our responsibility to train you. You must be willing to put on your gloves, step in the ring, stand toe to toe with the enemy and fight.

Impact Student Ministries and Women’s Ministries are partnering together to win this fight. We are in your corner! If you are bruised, if you are cut, if you are tired, if you are ready to throw in the towel — DON’T. We have the equipment to clean you up, to strengthen you, to patch you, to quench your thirst — it’s the Word of God, our fighting manual and rulebook. God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and sound mind. He’s the ultimate fighter and He is your example. You can wear His robe of righteousness, His belt of truth and, you can crown Him the champion of your life!

Don’t be a wimp. Toughen up. Bring your friends! When you leave Girl Talk 2010, you will say, “Hi. I’m (insert your name here) and I fight like a girl!”

Place: Millennium Hotel, St Louis, MO
Date: April 9-10, 2010
For more info: http://www.impactym.com/

Girl Talk began in Southern Missouri District in 2006. The goal was for women and teen girls to establish relationships and to begin a mentoring ministry in local churches. This event is full of powerful praise and worship, dramas, break-out sessions for teen girls and for mentors, and inspirational speakers. This year we are honored that the Southern Missouri District has allowed the National Youth and Women’s Ministries to partner with them so we can reach more girls and women across America. We believe training must take place in our local churches, so you can impact your community.

Eye 2 Eye: When Doves Cry

By Bishop Charles Scott

“How can you just leave me standing?
Alone in a world so cold?
Maybe I’m just too demanding,
maybe I’m just like my father, too bold.
Maybe you’re just like my mother
she’s never satisfied.
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like when doves cry."

The story has been told that a boy of 10 years and his mother were walking down the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the little boy reached to hold his mother’s hand and saw wounds on the back of her hands. When the boy asked her about the wounds she explained that the boy’s father and she were not getting along. She tried to rationalize their behavior to the child and make sense to him that sometimes it is best for everyone if a family allows each other to go their separate ways. The boy knew all too well the atmosphere of domestic violence perpetrated by his father. He was a victim of the constant chaos of a home affected by drunken rage and immorality. His mother made sure he was in church every Sunday and that he knew about Jesus Christ. The boy suffered from epilepsy but one day told his mother, “I am not going to be sick anymore, because an angel told me.” He knew that doves represented peace, purity and protection. He knew that doves are not supposed to cry.

Sixteen years later that child had reached adulthood and became an accomplished songwriter and musician. His lyrics admitted that he had grown into what he despised as a boy. The boy had become like his father, living out what he hated as a child. He had inherited his father’s lust for women, cravings for euphoric highs and uncontrollable temper. He personified carnality; he proclaimed cynicism; he portrayed chauvinism. He was now known as Prince and he knew that doves are not supposed to cry.

The song “When Doves Cry” was voted Billboard’s number 1 single in 1984 and ranked number 5 by VH1’s “The Greatest Songs of the 80s.” Why did the song have such mass appeal? It could be that perhaps a generation can identify with the message of dysfunctional families and disillusioned innocence. And, perhaps because everyone knows that, in spite of the tendencies of society, doves are not supposed to cry.

Each of us carries three generations: the past, the present and the future. We have in us the seed — that which has been passed down from our natural and spiritual fathers and mothers. We have in us the deed — that which we are performing in the now. But we must take heed — the lineage of tomorrow depends on the action of today. It has been well said that God is a generational God: He is the God of three generations — the past, the present and the future. He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Perhaps this is why the doves cry: a generation has forgotten their responsibility to the next generation. Doves cry when they are pacified not parented, pimped not protected, partitioned not perceived, pampered and not pastored. Doves cry when the past is more important than the future. Doves cry when the present is spent with no investment for tomorrow. Doves cry when safety is more important than salvation. Doves cry when acceptance, applause and accolades are desired more than the assurance that there is someone to carry the mantle in the next generation. No wonder so many doves are crying.

The Church of Jesus Christ should be committed to stopping the tears of the dove. We can dry the doves’ tears by focusing on becoming a mentoring church. We can dry the doves’ tears by ensuring each next generational leader has a spiritual coach. We can dry the doves’ tears by determining to have a powerful Christian college. We can dry the doves’ tears by repenting of our materialistic attitudes. We can dry the doves’ tears by returning to the basic foundations of Spirit-filled living. We can dry the doves’ tears by exemplifying the nature of Jesus Christ.

We cannot dry the doves’ tears without changing ourselves. We cannot stop the doves’ tears unless we do some things differently than the way we are now. We cannot stop the doves’ tears by trying to make this generation lose their identity and be like our generation. We cannot stop the doves’ tears without becoming transparent. We cannot stop the doves’ tears without taking a risk.

Somewhere today a little boy or girl is reaching out to find a hand to hold, a heart to love and a church to embrace. We should be that hand. We should be that heart. We should be that church. And we should see that eye to eye.

Harvest Impact: Fighting the Other War on Terror!

By Wayman Ming Jr., General Secretary
Since September 11, 2001, America has been engaged in a focused war against terror! At the time of the writing of this article, 4,906 lives (4,296 in Iraq and 610 in Afghanistan) have been given and approximately 858 billion dollars have been spent since September 11, 2001 in the war with Iraq and Afghanistan. These sacrifices certainly cannot be minimized. And yet, underneath the surface of our culture, another war on terror is raging— for the hearts and minds of our children.

There are about 71 million young people (including an estimated 33 million teens) who make up what is currently the largest generation in American history (John Walker, “Family Life Council Says It’s Time to Bring Family Back to Life,” June 12, 2002). Whether we like to admit it or not, the culture machine has a strategy to capture our youth through video games, websites, music, television and movies. Age 13 has been called the branding age, because many decisions are made for life-long buying habits and practices. If the so called “media moguls” can capture our kids by the age of 13, they believe they have captured our kids for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, these media moguls thrive on the assumption that most parents are irresponsible or completely ignorant of what the media is selling and what the kids are buying. Is it possible that their assumptions are correct and we have allowed the media of our culture to kidnap and brainwash our kids while they sit in our own living rooms? Is it possible that we have allowed another war on terror to enter our own homes?

While some naïve Christians seem to think we are winning the war for our kids, the statistics show otherwise. According to Thom S. Rainer and the book The Bridger Generation…

• Builders (born 1927-1945): 65% Bible-based believers
• Boomers (born 1946-1964): 35% Bible-based believers
• Busters (born 1965-1983): 16% Bible-based believers
• Bridgers (or Millennials, born 1984 or later): 4% Bible-based believers

Consider the ramifications of these statistics. While the majority of Americans today call themselves “Christians,” only four percent of today’s 71 million young people affirm their commitment as Bible-based believers!

Recently, I had the privilege of spending some time with Ron Luce, the president and founder of Teen Mania. Ron made an interesting statement that burdened me deeply when he said that this present generation will be the first generation raised by technology outside the home rather than their parents inside the home. Ron also went on to say that 88% of our teens in church are leaving the church after graduation. The reality of statistics above and the result of “graduation evacuation” should concern us deeply. Today’s teens will soon be entering their 20s and setting the pace for American culture.

So where do we go from here? Onward Christian Soldiers! Let us not grow apathetic or numb to the battle. Let us not become weary of taking a stand against the media moguls that are seeking to capture our children’s innocence.

Let us not get tired of showing up at school board meetings, desiring “a say” in what our children should hear and read in the classroom.

Let us not get frustrated at being dismissed as lightweights because we want our children to learn solid truth and biblical values.

Let us not grow weary of championing the pro-life cause and being branded as bigoted, right-winged, fanatical, conservative fundamentalist pigs.

Let us not become so hardened by the violence, the killing, the teenage pregnancies, the drugs, the alcohol, the deaths and the suicides that we retreat to the comfort of our churches and just hope it all goes away.

Parents…do not surrender your kids to pop culture.

Pastors…do not disengage from youth ministry and subcontract out your pastoral involvement to your youth pastors and directors.

Churches…do not give the leftovers of your church budgets to the youth ministry department.

LET US ENGAGE IN THE OTHER WAR ON TERROR!

The Good Kids: Interview with Cindy Loven

The following is an interview conducted by The Pentecostal Messenger with PCG pastor’s wife Cindy Loven (AR) concerning “the Choking Game.”

PM: What exactly is “the Choking Game?”

It is a game where kids cut off their oxygen supply for a bit, to get a head rush. It is often called the “good kid's drug” because they can get a buzz without using illegal drugs

PM: What happens when you play this “Game?” Are there side effects?

Well, you get a buzz, a headrush type feeling, but the dangerous thing is, every time you deprive your brain of oxygen, you cause brain damage, irreversible damage.

PM: How did you become aware of the Choking Game?

I had heard of it, but didnt know much about it, but we really became aware of it when the police informed us that they were ruling it as the cause of our 14-year-old son's death.

PM: Can you briefly tell us your story?

On January 22 we were ending up our 21-day Daniel fast, had a day in town, including lunch with my husband and a really nice dinner. After dinner everyone in the family just headed to hang out and do whatever it was they wanted. At 9 our youngest son, John, went in to take his shower. After a hour of hearing water run, our older son started banging on the bathroom door, telling him, he had been in there too long. When he got no response he got my husband and I, and my husband kicked in the door where we found our son hanging by his robe belt. For all intents and purposes, John was dead when we found him, however, the EMTs were able to get his heart beating and rushed him to the hospital where he was then med-flighted to Childrens Hospital. He had been without oxygen too long and died within 24 hours. Our world was turned upside down in one hour. One hour, the time of two 30 minute sitcoms, changed our world so drastically. The pain, the questions and the hurt is often beyond bearable, but God sees us through each day, each minute.

PM: What are some of the warning signs, parents or friends can watch for?

Marks on your child's neck, sullenness, lots of time alone (like in the restroom or in their room), belts, strings or ropes found hidden in odd places.

PM: What do the kids call the Game?

There are all kinds of names for this game. The Choking Game, The Passout Game, The Good Kid's Drug, Flatliner, Funky Chicken, The Fainting Game, 5 Minutes of Heaven; there are tons of names for the game.

PM: How can people find more information?

A really informative site, with lots of information and support groups is www.chokinggame.net

PM: Is there anything you would like to add?

Kids know about this game — parents do not. As adults we have to make sure we educate ourselves, and make sure our friends know about this, so we can all be aware of the things going on with our children. Don’t ever think your kids are exempt. We are a homeschooling family who didn’t get out much, and our boys didn’t have lots of friends outside of the homeschool group and youth group at church. This can affect anyone — even a pastor's family, as we have sadly found out.