Every believer will go through times of doubt, discouragement, despair, and disbelief at some point in your life. At our youth life group last night, we talked about growing through these times. It may feel like you’re in a spiritual wilderness and it may even seem like God is silent, but be encouraged that God can use these times to purify you and move you on to greater heights in your walk with Christ.

I shared the story of two men who are battling cancer right now. We have a choice in how we respond to suffering and pain. We can allow it to draw us closer to God and rely on Him for our strength, or we can become disillusioned and frustrating, looking for someone or something to blame. Both these men have decided that no matter what happens in their life, that God is still God, and God is still good. Can we say the same thing when we go through wilderness experiences?

Here is Zac’s story. He is on staff at NewSpring and his story should be an inspiration to all of us.

Matt Chandler has also been in my prayers. He is a pastor that is battling cancer right now. I have been amazed at his strength and wisdom as he has struggled with a malignant brain tumor. He is posting weekly video updates on The Village Church blog. Here is a recent video where he shares both good and bad news.

Will you please join me in prayers for both these men.

We kicked off our study of Crazy Love with the youth and college students from Cornerstone this past Thursday night. I wanted to share the links back to my comments on each chapter of the book. I’ll be adding the later chapters to this list as we go through the study.  You can also find out more about the book at the official Crazy Love Book website.  We have a few more books available if you missed Thursday night so see us at church to get your copy.   We are reading chapters 1 & 2 for next week’s study.

Posts in this series:

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7

Saw this over on Simply Youth Ministry this morning.  It’s a 4-year curriculum for doing small groups in youth ministry.  It looks interesting because it’s based online.  You can manage your leaders and lessons through the web.  It’s a little pricey, but it’s also for 4-years.   I’ll definitely check it out since we’re thinking about expanding small groups for our Cornerstone youth.

We’ve created Live Curriculum as a cohesive, four-year plan for your small group ministry, using a 36-week ministry year. The lessons are designed to flow from one topic to the next, and each year builds on the previous years. But we know that every ministry is different. That’s why we give you the option of taking it apart, shifting around the pieces, and using the lessons in whatever order you’d like. You can pick and choose which lesson you want to use when, if that’s what works best for you and your ministry. It’s all good!

(thanks to Josh for the heads up)

Live Curriculum