"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
During a visit to the Pacific Northwest a few years ago, I met a man who told me he had been heavily into alcohol and drugs. His marriage, in his own words, was hanging by a thread.
One day, he took a gun, loaded it, and was planning to kill himself, when, he turned on the TV. There on the screen was a Harvest Crusade, where I was sharing a message called, "How to Get Right with God."
He said, "God began to speak to me. When you led those people in prayer, I prayed and asked Jesus Christ to come into my life."
After he found Christ, he realized he needed to reconcile with his father. So he rode his motorcycle across the country to see his dad. That is a long ride on a motorcycle, but that sounds like a conversion to me. That sounds like a man who had met God, because there was a change in his life.
When God healed Naaman of his leprosy, he wanted to show his gratitude with a gift. Saul, at his conversion, said to the Lord, "What would You have me to do?" The Philippian jailer, after becoming a believer, washed the backs of those he had previously whipped. And Zacchaeus, after he became a believer, wanted to restore what he had stolen from others.
If you have truly found a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will change. That doesn't mean you need to change your life before you can come to Christ. But it does mean that when you come to Christ, you will change and your priorities will change.
Daily Smile:
What did the astronaut see in his frying pan?
A Unidentified Frying Object!
In The News:
See You at the Pole draws prayerful teenagers
By Erin Roach
Sep 26, 2012
| Students at Kingfisher High School, northwest of Oklahoma City, gathered Wednesday morning (Sept.26) for the 22nd annual See You at the Pole global day of student prayer. Students shared photos, including this one, on Facebook and Twitter. |
This year students used Twitter and Facebook to communicate about their involvement, with student Claire Fridey tweeting "One of my favorite days of the school year is #seeyouatthepole! Prayer is powerful!" and a user named Israel tweeting "#seeyouatthepole was a nice way to kick off the day."
See You at the Pole, which began in 1990 among a small group of teenagers in Burleson, Texas, "is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school and nation to God," according to the event's website, www.syatp.com. SYATP is student-initiated, student-organized and student-led.
"SYATP helps launch teenagers and college students -- in unity -- to minister to their peers," said Daryl Nuss, executive director of the National Network of Youth Ministries, which coordinates promotion of the event.
"See You at the Pole empowers students in prayer at the beginning of the school year to take leadership at their schools. What better way is there to begin a semester than to pray for their friends, community and nation?" Nuss added.
Norman Flowers, student evangelism and mobilization specialist at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, told Baptist Press that See You at the Pole is going strong in his state.
"We're seeing a continued movement of God among our students as they're gathering at their flagpoles this morning," Flowers said. "From a handful of students in some of our small towns to hundreds of students at other schools, we're seeing an amazing movement of students gathering to pray that God would move on their campus."
Churches across the nation hold rallies during their Wednesday night services on the day of See You at the Pole, which is every year on the fourth Wednesday of September.
"We know of 41 evangelistic rallies that will be taking place this evening," Flowers said of BGCO churches. "Last year we had over 10,000 students at these rallies with over 1,000 decisions for Christ."
About three years ago, the convention knew of 25 such SYATP evening rallies, Flowers said, so the practice is growing.
Doug Clark of the National Network of Youth Ministers told Baptist Press it is difficult to count the number of See You at the Pole participants because the event is so widespread, but by midday he had heard from people in Australia, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Guatemala and Puerto Rico -- besides countless reports across the United States.
Clark said he would be inclined to estimate that a million or more students took part in See You at the Pole this year. Some groups planned to meet Sept. 27 because their schools were closed Wednesday for Yom Kippur.
This year's See You at the Pole theme was "Awaken" based on Ephesians 3:14-21, the passage in which the Apostle Paul urges believers to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."
"Pray for an unusual outpouring of the Spirit of God to awaken the hearts of students on campuses throughout your community ... and the world!" a prayer guide on the See You at the Pole website said.
At the same time, SYATP participants aren't immune from the hard realities confronting today's youth. A group of students at Stillwater Junior High School in Oklahoma witnessed a tragedy immediately after they gathered for prayer around their flagpole Wednesday morning. An eighth-grade student died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the school's common area just before classes started, News 9 in Oklahoma City reported.
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Erin Roach is assistant editor of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress ) and in your email ( baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
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