That's What I Thought!

THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERSION AND DECIDE WHETHER

YOUR YOUTH MINISTRY COULD BE APPLIED TO IT. IF YOU FIND NO APPLICATION TO THIS VERSE, IN JESUS’ NAME, REGARDLESS OF WHAT SITUATION COMES AGAINST YOU, FIGHT IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY AS DAVID DID IN 1 SAMUEL. OUR GOAL IS THAT YOU CAN ACTIVATE YOUR YOUTH MINISTRY THROUGH OUR TRUE LIFE EXPERIENCES EXPRESSED IN OUR STORIES. (NAMES AND LOCATIONS MAY NOT NECESSARILLY BE TRUE.)

THERE SHE WAS, MRS. LYDIA HENDERSON. SHE HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN MOUNT SHALLOW, MONTANA SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH HAD BEEN LAID, UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME. SHE WAS KNOWN AS THE “NANNY” OF THE CHURCH AND BECAUSE OF THAT TITLE, SHE HAD INFLUENCE ON MANY. MRS. HENDERSON HAD SEEN STYLES COME AND GO. SHE LIVED THROUGH EACH OF THEM. SHE, ALONG WITH THE CHURCH, WENT FROM THE ACCORDION AND BANJO STYLE OF MUSIC TO THE KEYBOARD AND DRUM STAGE. FROM THE SITTING AND FOLDING CHAIRS TO THE PATENTED BENCHES. SHE WENT FROM THE STANDING ON DIRT FLOOR TO THE JUMPING ON CARPET STAGE. SHE WAS HAPPY IN THE CHURCH UNTIL THEY GOT TO THE JUMPING

ON THE CARPET ERA. SEE, IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, MRS.

HENDERSON BEGAN TO NOTICE HOW MANY THINGS HAD CHANGED

AND AS DAYS WENT BY, SHE BEGAN TO CONCEIVE A RELIGIOUS

SPIRIT WITHIN HER AND STARTED CALLING EVERYTHING THAT

WOULD CAUSE A BLESSING TO YOUNG PEOPLE: “CURSED”. SHE HAD GROWN UP WITH BIBLE STUDIES AND PRAYER GATHERINGS AND NOW SHE WAS SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE GET INTO CHRISTIAN RAP, CHRISTIAN YOUTH RALLIES, OF WHICH SHE TRULY OPPOSED TO, AND THOUGHT THAT WAS ALL OF THE DEVIL! “LUCKILY”, SHE THOUGHT, “I DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT HAPPENING IN MY CHURCH BECAUSE OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE TRIED TO MOTIVATE SUCH A REVIVAL IN OUR CHURCH, NONE HAVE SUCCEEDED.” EVERYTIME SOMEONE WOULD TRY TO INITIATE SOMETHING THAT WOULD GET YOUNG PEOPLE’S ATTENTION, SHE WOULD USE HER “NANNY” POWER AND WOULD GET MOST, IF NOT ALL OF THE CONGREGATION TO REBEL AND NOT PARTICIPATE. YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD COME AND GO, BUT HISTORY WAS MADE ONE TIME AT FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH BY A YOUNG PERSON WHO TRIED AND FAILED. BUT HOW DID THIS YOUNG PERSON MAKE HISTORY IF

HE FAILED? WELL, THIS YOUNG PERSON DIDN’T GIVE UP. INSTEAD, THIS YOUNG PERSON GOT BACK ON HIS FEET AND GRASPED A WHOLE NEW AND FINAL VISION. JOSEPH HANDLEY, A 17 YEAR OLD GUY WHO HAD BEEN IN THAT CHURCH SINCE BIRTH, NOTICED THAT IN MANY OTHER CHURCHES SURROUNDING HIS, THERE WERE THINGS HAPPENING. HE, TOO, WANTED HIS CHURCH TO BE FILLED WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, HAVE A STRONG RECOGNITION, AND BE A MEMBER OF A HOLY GHOST FILLED TEMPLE, BUT DIDN’T KNOW HOW. HE TRIED CHANGING THE STYLE OF MUSIC, BUT FAILED. HE TRIED BY

READING THE WORD TO THE CONGREGATION, BUT FAILED. HE TRIED ORGANIZING EVENTS FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE, BUT FAILED, TOO. FINALLY, JOSEPH GAVE UP. HE WAS HIT BY THE NUMBER ONE SPIRIT THAT COULD HAVE GOTTEN HIM DOWN: DISCOURAGEMENT. HE GAVE UP AND GAVE MRS. HENDERSON THE PLEASURE OF SAYING HER FAMOUS “NANNY” WORDS, “THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!” ONE EVENING, JOSEPH WAS DWELLING SO ROUGHLY IN HIS FAILURE. HE AROSE FROM HIS BED, LOOKED OUT HIS WINDOW, AND ASKED, “WHAT DO I DO, GOD?” HE WAS LED TO HIS BIBLE TO THE BOOK OF ROMANS CHAPTER TWELVE. HE BEGAN READING CHAPTER TWELVE

AND WHEN HE REACHED VERSE NUMBER TWELVE, HE PAUSED. HE

READ, “...BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, TROUBLED IN TRIBULATION, YET, CONSTANT IN PRAYER...” AT THAT TIME GOD REVEALED TO HIM THAT NOR HIM, NOR THE PASTOR, NOR ANY EVANGELIST COULD RAISE THE SPIRIT OF THE CHURCH, BUT ONLY A GOD SENT MIRACLE. “WHAT CAUSES A MIRACLE?” ASKED JOSEPH TO HIMSELF. HE READ THE VERSES OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND AFTER THE THIRD TIME, HE REVIEWED THE QUOTE IN VERSE TWELVE, “YET, BE CONSTANT IN PRAYER...” “OF COURSE!” EXCLAIMED JOSEPH. “WE NEED A PRAYER REVOLUTION!” JOSEPH IMMEDIATELY WENT INTO PRAYER AND FELL ASLEEP ON HIS KNEES. IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT THE FOLLOWING NIGHT WAS YOUTH NIGHT AT HIS CHURCH. HE AWOKE EARLY THE NEXT MORNING AND LEFT TO THE CHURCH AN HOUR AND A HALF EARLY, BUT CALLED THE ONES OF WHOM HE THOUGHT WOULD BACK HIM UP, AND ASKED THEM TO BE THERE AT THE SAME TIME. UNFORTUNATELY, NOBODY SHOWED UP. SEE, JOSEPH HAD MADE A MISTAKE EARLIER. THERE HAD BEEN TWO GUYS WHO HAD OFFERED THEIR HELP WHEN HE HAD BEEN DISCOURAGED, BUT SINCE

HE DESPISED THEIR HELP, THEY, TOO, BECAME DISCOURAGED. NOW JOSEPH HAD TO DO BOTH, ENCOURAGE HIMSELF MORE AND ENCOURAGE THE TWO OTHER GUYS. JOSEPH KNELT DOWN AT THE ALTAR AND BEGAN TO PRAY. HIS PRAYER WAS, “LORD, PLEASE SEND A SPIRITUAL REVIVAL TO MY CHURCH. SEND A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE, A LOT OF ADULTS, AND LET THIS CHURCH BE KNOWN FOR THE BLESSINGS THAT ABOUND HERE AND NOT CURSES!” DAILY HE WOULD GO TO HIS CHURCH EARLY AND PRAY THAT PRAYER, UNTIL ONE DAY HE WENT UP TO THE ALTAR WITH TEARS AND EXCLAIMED