Love Yo Sef!

Are you a self-loather?

Many of us are.

That is why we want to destroy ourselves...literally.

We are never good 'nuf, strong 'nuf, pretty 'nuf, smart 'nuf, tall 'nuf, skinny 'nuf, and on, and on, and on, and on...until screaming, crying, cutting, drinking, smoking, sexting ...blah, blah, blah.

And where does all this self-loathing come from? Check it.

Did you understand that scripture? The enemy stands before God and says what a rotten reprobate you are. Could it be that your spirit hears all these accusations? Good possibility.

Watch this video...would you paste an "L" on this guy's forehead?

OK... maybe you can't sing like him or like his kind of music, but you have to admit, his story is inspiring. (didn't you at least find yourself smiling when you watched it?)

Here's the thing...life is hard nuf, and being hard on yourself won't make it any better. There are times when you will screw up and there may be consequences, but you have a choice; you can either pile on more loathing or you can shake it off and wait for a better tomorrow.

More loathing -or- shake it off... those are your options; and this choice doesn't change when you get older. What you do now, you will do later...trust me.

In contrast to what the enemy is saying about you, this is what GOD knows about you.

Discuss with the group what you will do the next time you screw up. Learn new ways to love yo' sef!

prOn

Recognize this object? How many of you would let a baby touch this?

Why not? Afterall, it's pretty...and glowing...and interesting...and new. (Well, that's what the baby thinks when she sees it.)

It is the same with prOn The first time you touch it...you get burned; or better said, your brain is burned. This is why God wants us (all of us...parents included) to stay away from it.

prOn is fast becoming the single biggest threat to your (and my) testimony; they say it is more addictive than cocaine.

Pure and simple, prOn is evil...and an ancient evil.

The enemy has been using this weapon against us for thousands of years. He knows how, when, and where we will fall for it. For most of us, it's right here...on this computer.

In The Arrow, one character falls prey to this temptation, and he is one of the good guys... just like us.

Discuss with your group how prOn destroys God's people and what YOU can do to stop it.

Help me.

Serve...

OK... sorry about that, we're talking about a different kind of serve...

Have you ever wondered why they call it a "church service?"

Where did all this service come from?

Service = Work, Work = Service. This was God's design from the beginning.

Does this describe your church service: We sang songs to God, we prayed to God, we talked about God, we gave money to God?

Yes, yes... good things...necessary things... no problem there. But how do those things serve God?

Consider this scripture....

Did you know that God has felt this way? He gets tired of our self-serving attitudes.

Here is a statistic that you may be familiar with: 20% of church members do 80% of the work. It's called the 80-20 rule. Can your generation can flip that number? I double-dog dare you.

The Arrow features many characters who "serve" in the Sovereign's army. BTW did you notice that we say someone is in the "service" when they join the armed forces?

Discuss this with the group: "I don't go to church anymore, I go to serve."

Word...

What is the point of showing this video?

Simple. I want to introduce you to my all-time favorite movie. (Disclaimer: do not watch this movie without your parents permission. It has bad language that is completely unnecessary but in those days that's what people expected. Aside from the cussing, it's a really good flick. Get the airline or TV version.)

Now this has little to do with reading The Arrow?

Not alot, unless you have told your friends about the book or the latest video you saw on youtube... or if you have told them about our new favorite band or that new movie that just opened.

If you have...done those things.....then congratulations my friend, you are an evangelist.

Yep. Your word of mouth has influenced peer and family alike and hundreds of dollars have probably been spent just on your recommendation alone.

It's the same with spreading the gospel. Exactly the same.

You don't have to be ______________ (insert name of famous evangelist here) to spread the gospel. The trouble is you probably aren't as excited about Jesus as you are about ______________ (insert thing you are more excited about here.)

This is understandable but fixable. Christians are called to be evangelists so here are some recommendations you can discuss with your group:

• Have some good news to tell. (Read and memorize scripture.)
• Energize your faith. (Experience miracles, pray for wisdom, make it yours.)
• Live the life. (Be holy. Get rid of sin in your life.)
• Be yourself. (Use your own words, be sincere.)

Be ready...we're on a mission from God!

Purpose...

Ummm...purpose... not porpoise. Or cow.

But this pic does kinda fit the lesson. How? Well, throughout the book, the characters all seem to be headed in a certain direction; a direction set for them by the Sovereign.

In this pic you see one animal that fits the scene and one that doesn't. Raise your hand if you know which one.

Captain Obvious knows that a cow would have as much chance surviving in the ocean as a dolphin (or porpoise) would living in a field.

OK, are you still confused about what this has to do with "purpose?" Yeah, so am I.

So, let's start over. Watch this video.

So what does a sheep dog have to do with a porpoise? (I mean purpose...)

Glad you asked.

A good friend of mine used to have a farm and some sheep. He also had a border collie named Lika (pronounced lie-ka). I was fascinated by the way that dog commanded the sheep but even more so by how the dog acted when it wasn't herding. Whenever he took the dog out of the sheep pasture, Lika stood at the fence and watched...and waited...until she could get in there and start herding again. You see, the dog was designed to herd and it was miserably frustrated until it got to do what it was born to do.

It's the same with you. You have a purpose that God designed you for. In general terms, you are put on the earth to live and worship Him. But more than that, you have specific purpose...a mission that no one else has and one that your life experience is preparing you to do.

You may say, "What? What purpose? I'm young, I'm not experienced, and I don't know how to herd sheep!"

And you would be right. But, so was the puppy in the video...until it was trained and exercised properly. It had the instinct and the drive, but with time and training its owner brought out the dog's potential.

Look at your life and look at what you are naturally good at. What are the instincts and the drive God has given you? Discuss with the group what talents you have. See if anyone can identify other abilities you have and the potential to use them for God's purposes.

Here's a good training ground...

That'll do, pig. (from the movie "Babe")

Blessing...

In chapter 10 of Book One, there is a scene where Ronoh separates from his family. Before he says goodbye, he encourages his son and says words that will sustain the boy for many years to come. In short, he blesses him.

Years ago, my wife gave me a book that changed the course of my family. It is called The Gift of the Blessing, by John Trent and Gary Smalley. Through that book I learned that there are two kinds of homes: blessed or cursed; and there are two types of people: blessed or cursed.

The authors base their premise on a story from Genesis 27. Stop and read this.

That was a lot of reading but that one section of scripture set the stage for a conflict that remains unresolved to this day. You see, Jacob (father of the Jews) took the birthright and blessing from his older brother, Esau (father of the Arabs). Those two groups of people have been fighting ever since...and the world has suffered with them.

The blessing was (and is) part of the Jewish culture. A father's blessing was a powerful catalyst that literally shaped the future of a person.
Are you blessed or cursed? The fact is, if you don't know the answer you may be cursed. Here are some indicators:

• Is your life full of serious conflict or are you at relative peace?

• Do you have a good relationship with your parent(s) or is your home an emotional minefield?

• Do you have destructive habits (smoking, drugs, self abuse, etc.) or do you handle stress with grace?

• Do you feel fairly good about yourself, or do you feel worthless?

Of course there are unique situations and family dynamics and not everyone frolics around like a magical pixie horse, but overall there are definite signs of blessings and curses.

Regardless, we need to start spreading more blessings... there can never be too many! Here's what YOU can do. YOU can start blessing other people. To do that, you need to learn how. There is a process that the ancients followed and it was made up of five elements.

Click here to learn about the five elements...

"You may say, "Hey! this is for old dads with long gray beards lying on their deathbeds..." and you would be wrong. Just as anyone can receive a blessing, anyone can give a blessing.

You can bless your parents (this will freak them out, in a good way) and your friends. In fact, you can do it for your group RIGHT NOW! Try it and get some Kleenex ready.

Be Blessed - R.

The Sword...

I love a good sword fight. And I loved writing Chapter 11 of Book Two; it is not by mistake that I made it my sample read for the whole book. "The Hounds," as this section is titled, contains a couple of good fight scenes, some suspense, some humor, and some mystery. It has nice pacing and is fun to read, if I must say so myself!

Anyway... one the concepts I introduce in this section is the power of the sword, a metaphor for "the word" as found in Hebrews 4. The main character finds himself in a circumstance where his own power fails him, his own weapon is useless; only the weapons of the Sovereign can do damage to the enemy.

The same is true with us. Sometimes (most of the time) we try to fight spiritual battles with physical, earthly force. One prime example is temptation. We continually swing our man-made weapons at the enemy only to find him laughing at us. Eventually, he will strike a devastating blow as we reel from exhaustion.

Stop it... Christian person. Speak to the enemy with scripture, call out perversion, depression, and fear...cast them out in Jesus name. Word.

Discuss with group what "man-made" weapons are. How will you attack the enemy next time?