Windy Gap

Today is Day 4 at Windy Gap! Our campers and leaders are having a blast! Please continue to keep them, along with the work crew, summer staff, and assign team in your prayers. Pray for transformed hearts and lives. To read more about camp and the work God is doing so far, go to Gregg Stutts' blog, I Believe God. He is an adult guest at Windy Gap this week.

Spiritual Warfare

Hey, guys, it's Amy again!

I have two brothers-in-law, one, a sergeant in the Marine Corps, is currently in Afghanistan, and the other, an Army Ranger, will deploy shortly. I won't even try to paint a picture of the things they see or hear or feel because I would not be able to do it justice. For them, there is no mistaking that they wake up every morning in the middle of a war. Most of us will never experience that. I have the utmost respect for my brothers and other men and women serving our country. But there's another war, one that we are all a part of.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against... the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

You have an enemy who hates you. Very much. And he has a goal for your life. He wants to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you. (John 10:10)

When we think of Satan, we think of a little evil red devil with horns and a pitch fork. But he used to be absolutely beautiful. He was a beautiful angel who grew prideful and rebelled against God. God then cast him out of Heaven and condemned him. Satan is angry with God. He hates God.

And he hates you. He hates you. And he wants to destroy you.

He lies to you. He accuses you. He deceives you, tempts you, and schemes against you. He tells you you'll never be good enough; that you're just a disappointment; that no could ever love you or forgive you or want you, not after what you've done. Or he tells you that if you just had that one thing or that one person then you would be happy.

You may be asking, "Why? What have I done to him to make him hate me so much?" The answer is quite simple, really. He hates you because he hates God. And God loves you. He wants to get back at God by hurting the ones He loves.

I said earlier that we were all in a war. But instead of a physical one like my brothers experience, this one is in your mind. And it's for your heart. If God created you to live in friendship with Him, then that is what Satan wants to thwart. He wants to prevent you from experiencing all that God has to share with you. He will do whatever it takes to keep you from pursuing a relationship with Christ. He will make the pleasures of this broken world seem like the point of life. Satan isn't stupid. He's been around for years and he has studied the human race. You're really not so different from someone else. He's seen your weaknesses before and he knows exactly where to target you where it will hurt the most. He knows where to attack so that it will be the most effective in keeping you wrapped up in anything and everything but God. It could come in the form of money or fame or another person. He can attack in anyway because he controls this world system. Things like the media or education or government are under his influence and he'll use them to manipulate you. I'm not saying everything or everyone in media, education, or government is bad. But Satan does have influence there.

God is sovereign and ultimately in control. Other creations in this world, like mountains or sunsets or stars, shout who He is. He is good. He loves you. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to be friends with you. One day, God will restore things to his original design (Genesis 1-2, Revelation 21-22). But we don't live there yet.

Both God and Satan are pursuing you. But it is your decision. If our identity is in Christ, then we know to "set our minds on things above" (Colossians 3:1-4). We can recognize a lie for what it is, take it captive, and focus on Truth instead (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:1-2

We're in the middle of a war literally between good and evil. And you're the prize.

Dylan's Story

We'd love to share with you all one of our high school friend's story! Our Wyldlife and Young Life leaders have walked with Dylan over the last four years, and we are excited to continue walking with Dylan through Young Life College. Here is part of his testimony:

Young Life has been an amazing part of my life. I come from your typical broken kind of home, I grew up never knowing my dad, my mom was a bit of an alcoholic, and I didn't see my family a lot either. So when I first became a part of Young Life it was kind of more of a haven at first. But through the leaders and friends that I made I came to know God.

And with that it gave me the confidence to fix a lot of the problems I couldn't before. So, I can now gladly say that my mom's been sober for almost two years, and although at times it's still a bit of a challenge, our relationship has improved by leaps and bounds. And now I've been visiting my grandparents basically every other weekend. And I can't say enough about the friends I've made, both because of God and Young Life.

Dylan's story points us all to truth--to the One who wants "to give us the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). 

We are so thankful God allows us to be a part of Dylan and so many others' stories in Fayetteville and Springdale! 

The Holy Spirit

Last week at Taco Tuesday, we talked about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, one part of the Holy Trinity, is just as much God as the Father and the Son are. Ephesians 4:30 says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." He is a person. He has a will and He has emotions.

Ever since I was little, my dad has hammered into my head to make logical decisions, not emotional ones. Now... Any one of my friends will tell you that I'm pretty rash. I'm not a planner and I don't really care about details. I tend to do things on a whim and I just wing it. Needless to say, I'm not the most logical person in the world. In my head, I think those logical rules don't, or shouldn't, apply to me and I'm going to be fine ignoring them. Obviously, I'm wrong every time, but, thankfully, I have the God of the universe living inside me to, if I let Him, guide my steps. He is loving and He is joyful. He is peaceful, patient, kind, and good. He is faithful and gentle and self-controlled. On my own, I am not capable of producing those character traits. On my own, I am irrational and illogical. I'm impatient and bitter. But when I am abiding and presenting myself to Him, I am saying, "Holy Spirit, share yourself with me." And He does.

I've grown up in the church and I've grown up as a Young Life kid and, really, not until last summer when I went through a discipleship program in Branson, MO, did I begin to understand the Holy Spirit and His role in my life. He is the Spirit of Truth. He is my Counselor. And He "dwells in me richly." (Colossians 3:16)

After Jesus died and was resurrected, and before he ascended back into Heaven, He said that it was for our benefit that He go away and the Holy Spirit come. Why? Because the life God calls us to is a life of faith. It's not always comfortable or easy or secure. In fact, He promises it's going to be hard. But He doesn't ask us to do it alone. He gives us the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide, counsel, teach, remind, and reveal to us Truth (John 14:15-31). The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus (John 15:26-27).  He convicts us (John 16:5-11). He helps us in our weakness and prays for us (Romans 8:26-27). He pours out God's love in us (Romans 5:1-5). He gives us power to serve (Acts 1:1-8). He manifests gifts in us (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). He produces His character in us (Galatians 5:22-25).

I'm only 19 years old and I know that God has barely scratched the surface in revealing Himself to me. The Holy Spirit seems like a pretty neat guy and I'm excited to see what adventures He has for me.

Amy

Wilderness Crew Back in Town!

Saturday night, we ("we" meaning two leaders including myself and 4 high school students from Northwest Arkansas) pulled back in to Fayetteville after a week-long backpacking excursion through the Rocky Mountains. The trip, known as "Wilderness," is a branch of Young Life camping that takes groups of students, along with trained wilderness guides, backpacking throughout the San Juan mountains in the Rio Grande National Park just outside of Creede, Colorado.

Although I had heard from a handful of friends who had done the trip before how wonderful the experience is, I was still uncertain on what to expect, how to adequately prepare myself and the other, etc. After an over-night van ride and a few hours of being lost on back roads, we pulled into Wilderness Ranch (Young Life property where the backpacking trips leave from), greeted by the ecstatic Summer Staff and team of guides that were to take us out on our excursion.

After learning how to pack a 50 lb. pack to live out of for a week, we had a country-style lunch and a standard Young Life Club with the other five groups, like us, anxiously awaiting their departure.

Then we loaded up a van that took us to the trail head and hit the trail. The trip consisted of 4 full days and 2 half days out on the trail led by our wonderfully energetic guides, Tony and Travis.

The days that followed were some of the toughest I'd ever faced. Not only had the other guys and me never done any type of backpacking to this extent, but the altitude in Colorado is, to say the least, slightly higher than in Fayetteville, Arkanasas.

We learned how to set up and take down a communty-style camp site. Every meal was shared as we sat in a circle in our Crazy Creek Chairs (Crazy Creek Inc. is not an official sponsor of this blog post). We hiked, hiked, hiked, and hiked until our glutes and quads would shake, and then we'd hike some more. And amidst all of the fatigue, we were all able to share of life stories. Everyone was able to share the nitty-gritty of their own lives, and thus, experience the transforming and unconditional power of the Lord in a new way. We were able to have our own alone time with God every day, and were able to share what God had shown us when we met as a group.

Besides boring you with moment-by-moment details of every day, it would be a sure failure if I were to try to explain a Wilderness trip's impact on a life. The combination of exhaustion, community, absence of anything gadgety or electrical, feeling small as the dangerous wonder of the Rocky Mountains engulfs you, and having time alone to be vulnerable with God is an experience that can only be fully understood in those that have actually experienced it. On a trip like this, one has time to come face to face with struggles and insecurities while being with God, away from all of the other things in life that beg and scream for our attention, and learn how the God who is bigger than the mountains that surround us wants to relate intimately with us. It's a unique experience. On the last night, most of us slept outside of our tent under the blanket of stars that filled the Colorado sky. Once again, feeling small, yet more significant and loved than every star in the universe.

After 6 days on the trail, we met our pick-up van that took us back to the ranch. We talked about what we took from our experience and what we are leaving behind.

We all experienced God in a new way.

We then showered for the first time in a week, and ended the week with a hot meal a Young Life Club, and ice cold IBC root beers.

Last Saturday night, we pulled back into Fayetteville exhausted, yet transformed, with a few more chest hairs to prove it.

Signing off with love,

Carlyle Aguren

Apologetics

Hey guys! This is Amy, a Young Life College leader at the University of Arkansas. Last week at Taco Tuesday, Gregg (Check out his personal blog: I Believe God) walked us through understanding our SHAPE. We looked at spiritual gifts and the heart or passions that God has given us. We looked at our abilities, things we enjoy doing and do well. We also took a personality test and looked back on our experiences. All of these things define how God has uniquely wired each of us.

This week, we covered basic apologetics. Our intent in looking at this material was not to gain all of the answers in order to win someone over in an argument. Rather, we studied this for ourselves, so that we may be confident in what we believe and why we believe it. God does not ask us to blindly step out in faith. We have been provided with overwhelming evidence of the truth.

A mother's son is missing. A scream pierces the air. A woman collapses, her starving bones unable to support the bloody skin clinging to it; she prays for death. Disease consumes its victims. A gun fires. A child cries. A man is tricked into willingly walking into a gas chamber. Fear destroys each and every soul. The year is 1942 and Adolf Hitler is in control of Nazi Germany. Eleven million dead. Breaks your heart, doesn't it? Something in you stirs when you picture the scenes. Something in you gets angry and sad that someone could be that cruel. And enjoy it. Something in you says that that is wrong.

Our generation is growing up in a Postmodern world. Postmodernism is the belief that there is no absolute truth, that truth is made rather than found. Just because something is right for you does not mean that it is right for me. You don't judge me and I won't judge you. This is the way many of us think and live. Our society values open-mindedness and tolerance for one another which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But if Postmodernism is what we really believe, then we have no right to judge Hitler for the Holocaust. After all, he was only doing what was right for him.

But let's get a little more personal. The girlfriend who cheated on you. The alcoholic father who abandoned you. The friend who never showed up. They were only believing in their own truth.

Postmodernism crumbles under its own principles. To say there is no absolute truth... is an absolute truth. To say, "It is true that nothing is true" is meaningless.

Nothing produced everything. Chaos produced order and information. Randomness produced complexity. Non-living chemicals self-assembled into living cells. Non-life produced life. To believe in Darwinism, this is what one has to believe.

And then there is the case for creation, an Intelligent Designer. When we look at how complex our world is, "the impression of design is overwhelming." There are six feet of DNA coiled inside every one of our body's one hundred trillion cells. The earth is positioned a perfect distance from the sun so that we neither burn nor freeze. Robin Collins, PhD, earning degrees in physics, mathematics, and philosophy, stated, "The fine-tuning [of the universe] has conservatively been estimated to be at least one part in a hundred million, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion. That would be a ten followed by 153 zeroes. That's inconceivably precise." Stephanie Meyer of Cambridge University said, "... purely from the evidence of genetics and biology, we can infer the existence of a mind that's far greater than our own--a conscious, purposeful, rational, intelligent designer who's amazingly creative."

Picture the most beautiful sunset or the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. Imagine the most powerful thunderstorm. Listen to the wind. Think of how detailed a single blade of grass is. Or of every function your body performs simultaneously without you even thinking about it: breathing, pumping blood; chemicals and receptors reporting to the brain. The purpose of something as simple as eyelashes, not only keeping dirt out of your eye, but adding to your beauty. So simple. And it has purpose. How can the world be an accident, if there is purpose? How can the world be an accident... if our hearts yearn for something more, for purpose.

It is logical that something is either true. Or it is false.

Jesus said, " I AM the way, the truth, and the life."

What if it's true?

YLC Taco Tuesdays

Young Life College: TACO TUESDAY—MORE THAN A SUMMER BIBLE STUDY!

Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” (John 5:17)

Every day, every moment, all around us and in us, God is at his work—redeeming, restoring, transforming and loving.

According to the gospel, we can do no less. To be in relationship with Jesus means to also be on mission with him: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-14, emphasis added)

As the area director for Young Life, I can tell you that we have as our goal to be faithfully and continually on gospel mission to adolescents in Northwest Arkansas, and that includes reaching for the lives of college students and developing them to be missional and fruitful in their relationships with Jesus.

This is what Taco Tuesday is all about. Yes, it’s about a taco bar and community, but it’s also about helping college students and recent graduates understand their identity as children of God and citizens in his kingdom. The college years are incredibly formative for adolescents in setting the trajectory of their lives, and we want to honor God by helping our students determine this trajectory by connecting their story to God’s story!

Led by Gregg Stutts, Executive Pastor at The Church at Arkansas, the remaining weeks topics are:

June 5 Apologetics 101

June 12 The Holy Spirit: who He is and what He does

June 19 Spiritual Warfare

July 3 Heaven: what’s it really like?

July 10 The Mystery of Marriage: the secrets to a thrilling relationship

July 17 Your Questions

If you are in Fayetteville, even if only a week, feel free to drop in! Tuesday nights, 6:00-7:30 at 621 N. Razorback Rd. (across from Reid Hall).

Robyn Stutts

Area Director

Young Life in Northwest Arkansas