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I learned a lesson at the expense of someone’s face. Great lessons are learned when you are a kid. It just takes adulthood to remind you of the lessons you learn. When I was in sixth grade I was sitting in the back of the classroom with a friend of mine name Chris. I think the back row is where they put all the really smart people, at least that’s what I like to tell myself. Our teacher was up there in front of the class explaining stuff you learn in sixth grade. Algebra, trigonometry, something to that effect. It was probaly more like “see spot run”. Chris and I were not interested in what ever she was saying but more interested in spitting spit wads in the back of Trish’s hair. I was a child of the big hair movement and Trisha was a trendsetter. We were having so much fun because Trisha could not feel all the spit wads that we had managed to get in her big hair. Everyone that was behind her was having a hard time listening to our teacher. We had managed to spit the constellations in the back of her head without her even knowing it. It was getting very comical when all of a sudden our teacher quit talking. You know what that means, we are caught! Our teacher’s face became very red, vains popped out of her neck and it actually looked like steam was coming out her ears. As our teacher was staring us down, she asked us what we were doing. I told her we were making a chart of the stars. By this time Trish noticed all the spit wads in her hair, which only made matters worse. I knew life as I had known it was over. I knew what was about to take place. See, when I was a kid, you did not get a time out. There was no such thing as detention they only knew one thing and that was the big paddle. The principal of the school was not there to run the school; his job was to beat kids. The bigger and meaner the principal the better behaved the school. I was about to get it and get it three times. One from the teacher, one from the principal and one from my dad when I got home. The teacher looked at Chris and I and told us to get out in the hall. As the class sat there in silence except for Trisha who was crying and making things worse, we got up from our chairs and made our way to the classroom door. On our way to the door, our teacher jumps up from her desk storms over to the door, she grabs the door knob, and in a fit of what I thought to be rage, she flings the door open as hard as she could, I guess to make a point. She did! At the same time she flung the door open at 90 mph., there happened to be this poor kid running down the hall at 80mph. The sound of those to elements meeting at the same moment in time was incredible. This guys face creamed into the back of the door stopping him dead in his tracks. He fell backwards and was knocked out cold. I know you are thinking that is awful, but to a 12 year old kid it had to be one of the funniest things I had ever seen. While our teacher is trying to wake this guy up, Chris and I are doing our best not to laugh up a lung. Have you ever been in one of those situations where you want to laugh, but are not supposed to? That is exactly where we found ourselves. The pressure on my vocal cords was so bad that sweat is running down my face and I am trying to think of every bad thing that has ever happened to me.What made everything worse was that our entire classroom is trying to figure out what that loud noise was. As soon as a trickle of sound came out of Chris’s nostril I lost it. We could not stop laughing. After the kid finally woke up, we were headed toward what I remember as the worst paddling of my childhood. The lesson that was learned that day would not be realized for years to come. The only thing I remember learning that day was to pay attention to my teacher and not laugh so hard. As I grew older there is something there that is so true. Everything you do, and everything you say not only affects you but other people as well. My attitude and my mischievous actions affected my teacher’s attitude. She was ticked off! Her attitude and anger affected some poor innocents kids face! The way we act, and the way we talk gets to people. Everybody has been in a situation were you were in a good mood and then someone did something to change it or even the other way around. People affect other people. You and I have heard for years things like, “you catch more fly’s with honey than vinegar”, “What goes around comes around”,  “You reap what you sow”…etc. These saying all come from God’s principals. I have learned that most people will be nice to you if you are nice to them. I have also learned that my actions not only affect me but the people I am around. I also have learned that God put certain people in our lives to point us toward Him. Their actions and words get to us. Are these people perfect? Of course not, but the part they play in our lives are so important. I thank God for the people like my youth pastor and others who allowed God to use their actions and words to affect me.

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts

Romans 12:2 – “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Most teenagers are just trying to fit in or be accepted. I like most was no exception. My biggest fear was to be left out or feel indifferent. Nobody wants people starring at them. Have you ever left something on top of your car? You drive down the road and everybody seems to be looking at you. People are pointing and you not knowing what to do just wave back. What is really bad is when you go to a fast food place and buy a milkshake and accidentally leave it on top of your car. When you get to a stoplight and stop the milkshake comes down on your window and you think to yourself that that was a huge bird. Most of us try so hard to be accepted; we spend hours making ourselves presentable to others. When you are
a teenager, you go to bed at night and clean your face. You pray your face stays clear through the night. You awake, go look in the mirror and discover that while you slept a volcano has erupted between
your eyes. Panic sets in as you envision your day at school. You try ever means available to cover this eruption with little success. You spend your day worried that everyone who sees you only sees
the new volcano. I went though this many times and for days I would wipe my face with what I thought was zit medicine. I keep thinking to myself that these did not smell like the last patch I had.
One day I decide I should read what I had been putting on my face.I soon discovered that what had gone on my face was not pimple medicine but tucks, for hemorrhoid flare up. I just want you know
that I did not have one hemorrhoid on my face. Most people, like myself, are so caught up in worrying about what people think we miss the most important things. The only time it seemed I searched for truth was when I was in trouble or I was alone with my thoughts.

Be conformed today. Transform your mind to see yourself how God sees you. You are important. You are His hands and feet. Continue reaching those around you with HOPE of Christ!

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts

“Our most powerful prayers are hyperlinked to the promises of God. When you know you are praying the promises of God, you can pray with holy confidence.” (page 93 of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.)

Will you pray with me?

When I have doubt that the ministry that I am doing is going anywhere…
None of God’s promises in the Bible ever fail. It’s in the Bible, Joshua 23:14, ESV. “…Not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”

When I see schools closing the doors to conversation about God…
“But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27, NKJV.

When I have doubt that helping students share the gospel at school is working…
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

When my heart wanders…
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26, NKJV.

When I am stressed and worried…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV.

If you search for Me with all your heart, you will find Me. “You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (WEB). Seek God with all your heart today. A friend told me yesterday that reputable business men often take an hour a day to read and grow themselves in their trade. The principle is the same here. Let’s take some time together and seek God. He is our promise. He is our path. He is our goal. He is our everything. Pray through his Word today.

Peace,

Brad Schelling

God is Good! James 1:16-17 “Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”

I spent most of my teenage years thinking God was trying to make me some goof. I soon found out that if you are some goof, you did that all by yourself, God did not have anything to do with it. Stop blaming Him. He is good. We all like good stuff, and it comes from God. It is amazing how we are deceived. We always seem to blame God for the bad when nothing bad can come from God, because God is Good. It amazes me when I look back at my life and see the times I got frustrated and mad at God because He, I thought, was the reason for my misfortune. I have since learned that most of the problems in my life are a result of some stupid decision I made along the way. I, maybe like you, thought God was just a cosmic cop who does not want me to have any fun in life, but that is totally the opposite. Everything fun and good comes from Him. Lets quit looking in the wrong place.

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts

Did God say, “No”?

“100% of the prayers I don’t pray won’t get answered.” Mark Batterson

Busted.

Excerpt From: Andy Stanley. “Making Vision Stick.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/EC_gx.l

“While in graduate school, I had a professor who was fond of saying, “If the student hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught.” The same could be said of leadership and casting vision. We are the keepers and purveyors of the vision. If the people around us don’t know where we are going, it’s because we haven’t made it clear. Instead of casting stones, we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves: How can I make the vision clearer? Simpler? More accessible? What can I do to make it stick? How do I drive this vision down into every level of the organization?”

Whether you run a ministry or a business, people (costumers) need to know who you are and what you sale. If you are in the ministry you have the greatest sales item in the world which is the gospel. You also have a great “Closer” in The Holy Spirit. We also have the greatest salesman in the world as our guide, his name is the Apostle Paul. I think sometimes we forget that we sale Christ, and we push Hope, and we push life abundantly. That is the greatest and most humbling opportunity that we have and most of the time we make it complicated. The fact is that the Gospel is simple and the vision and commision Jesus gave us are very clear. The great teacher Jesus has taught us well. He told us and demonstrated for us to love God and love people. If we do that then people will know our mission and vision, because Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Keep Fishing!

Mark Roberts

I went to a concert with some friends when I was a teenager. We were minding our own business walking from our car to the arena and here they were ….. the “turn or burn church”. You know, the “get right or get left crowd”, the “you filthy sinner scumbag” (said with disgust.) They had signs; they had a blow horn warning of the danger that was to come to us if we were to go in there. They even told me I was going to hell. They proceeded to tell me that I could go to heaven with them instead. Oh, now that made my night! A person asked me if I wanted to live forever, to which I responded, “hey sure but were would you park?” (you know all those people and cars. Ha.) Being a church kid I was nice to these people, but very embarrassed. My friends knew my brother and I went to church. I was hoping they didn’t think I was on the next weekend’s “turn or burn” shift.

A few years back a guy name Huey Lewis wrote a song entitled “Jacob’s Ladder”. The song said he was in Southside Birmingham and he saw a fat man selling salvation in his hand. He said, “Mister, I am not in a hurry and I don’t want to be like you.” Ouch! I am to this day trying to figure out why so many Christians think it is their job to be the Holy Spirit. I know most of them mean well, but come on. The Bible says it is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict and to convert not ours. Our job is to love God and love people. Jesus said in Matthew 5: 16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” Shine a light.

Why do I write?

First things first. I pray that you had a tremendous holiday filled with joy from being with family and friends. I did. I was so excited to get back to the midwest to see family. We celebrated the birth of our Savior. We mourned the loss of my wife’s grandmother. We ate WAY to much food. Followed shortly by the desire to be back home again in Tennessee. Life is good. Glad to be back at work waking up everyday thinking about how to best help the Church reach the middle and high school Campus for Christ.

Now back to my question: Why do I write?

Because I feel like the goal of First Priority, the ministry I am a part of, is missing in America. We have segregated the generations and are suffering because of it. Retirees are thinking golf and nothingness after 65 will be bliss only to find that without human connection and purpose, life is dismal. Teens are put in a building with primarily other teens and left on Friday night to their own wandering thoughts and ideas. It is time to connect the Church to the Campus for Christ. Students are looking for Hope. That is a spiritual destination that an anti-bullying or gun control or don’t do drugs school assembly cannot answer. We have taken the conversation about God out of schools that only the church can legally bring back. Students need to hear about Jesus. They need to learn how to have faith in life. We need to bring them joy through relationship. I want as many people in as many churches to join in this movement as possible to connect to students and change the climate of our culture for generations to come. It is what gets me going each and every morning. That is why I write.

According to Andy Stanley’s book, Making Vision Stick, “An organization can drift further away from the founding vision that energized the original team of Leaders. The gravitational pull is always to the left or right of center. Success lures us into taking our hands off the wheel.”

I have noticed over the years as I have watch First Priority that it is easy to drift away from the original vision. What starts out as a charge to reach the school for Christ
soon looks more like a nice Bible study than a mission trip. Believe me there is nothing wrong with a Bible study, and we think you should study it every day and even twice on Sundays. However, that is not the vision of First Priority. The vision of a First Priority club is to see the hope of Christ in ever person in the school. This of course takes a very intention plan. We must be intentional about sharing the gospel.

Romans 10:14-15 says “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

I have seen some very successful clubs get complacent about sharing the gospel. As soon as that starts to happen you see the drift and then instead of going straight, you get off by just one or two degrees to the right. Soon you are headed in a totally new direction. The devil would love for us to get comfortable and get away from the main vision of sharing the hope of Christ to every student. Keep your eyes on Jesus, don’t look down at a text,  and don’t look at the shinny stuff on the side of the road. Remember, you are sent to preach the gospel of peace.

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts