If you’re unfamiliar with the Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC), it is an every-four-year gathering of young people from all over the USA and Canada for the express purpose of glorifying Jesus. We do this through partying, connecting, laughter, music, learning, serving, giving, eating together, digging deep into spiritual conversations, listening to renowned communicators of God’s Word, spend time putting love in action for the sake of others, enjoying incredible music concerts, and all together refocusing on attention on Jesus so that Jesus can recalibrate our hearts of His Kingdom’s mission. That’s NYC, in a nutshell.
This year’s NYC was hosted by Tampa Bay, FL. Ten-thousand or so of us met twice daily for several consecutive days in the Amalie Arena, where the Tampa Bay Lightning (Stanley Cup Champions) play. It was…in a word…phenomenal.
Now, let me get a bit more granular. I reflected on NYC while still in the midst of NYC just a few days ago so that I wouldn’t lose the fresh thoughts I had. I’ll include that post (smuggled over from Facebook) in this post as well. The reason I’m writing on my blog and not on Facebook again is two-fold: 1. I think Facebook might have a limit to how long a post can be and I’m fairly certain that whatever that limit is, a full-hearted reflection like this one would more than exceed it. And 2. I think my blog is something people can enjoy, benefit from, and even share. I’ve been accused of being “the world’s worst self-promoter”, so if you’re here, welcome. This is my blog. I love it and I love you for coming to it. Wander around, be encouraged, and share it with someone. There. That’s about my extent of comfortable self-promotion. You can’t see it, but I’m blushing and sweating. Okay, let’s move on to the NYC at hand.
I’ll break this reflection down into titled chunks so you can peruse whichever/all that you desire.
Coffee with Ray
Ray is one of the volunteer youth leaders who came on this trip. I’ve been serving students with Ray on my team for many years now and I can say unflinchingly that Ray is the real deal. I’ve seen few people love people like Ray loves people. He’s the genuine article. Authentic, caring, giving, clear, inclusive, and humble. That’s a pretty sweet combination. Ray is a tad older than I am but looks at me as a type of student ministry mentor. On this trip, we decided that we’d spend each morning at 7 am taking a walk to a local grocery store in downtown Tampa and sit in their lovely cafe and sip coffee, a liquid we both consider an elixir of life. As we sat, we’d chat and reflect on the previous day, on spiritual matters, on youth culture in general, on life’s issues, and on the day ahead. I hope you have a Ray in your life that you can connect with like that.
Soon after His resurrection, Jesus went to the beach. (As a beach-raised boy, I love that.) He invited His disciples to breakfast. He provided them with fire-grilled fish and bread and in the early morning and called them to rest and refreshment. Many times we equate rest with what we deserve only after hard work. But what if your every day started with rest and any work you did came from a place of refreshment provided to you by Jesus Himself? Needless to say, that morning coffee and chat with Ray was more than just a cup of Joe and time with a friend.
Redefining Worship
I eluded to this in my FB post a few days ago, but I was reminded at NYC that we still cling to a rather narrow definition of worship. We equate worship with a time, place, and activity. This is nonsense. When I asked students what they’d remember as a highlight of NYC, many/most responded with “the worship”. I know what they mean. I get it. They’re referring to the corporate gathering of 10,000 voices in an arena, the atmosphere created by God’s Spirit being magnified through music, dance, laughter, prayer, and singing/screaming out praises set to melody. That’s what many mean when we say “worship”. They mean “worship music”. And it’s not wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete. Worship is single-minded living. Worship is seeing the need in another and stepping toward it in the power of God’s own Spirit. Worship is listening to the very voice of God to the exclusion of every other voice. Worship is choosing conviction over convenience. Worship is giving at the level of pain. Worship is speaking boldly the truth that comes only from love given only by God, so that others may know His heart for them. Worship is stillness and waiting on God’s promises, especially when His schedule seems to differ from yours. NYC was a powerful reminder that while worship is certainly a musical activity that draws us together, it is more accurately the singular commonality that Jesus-followers share when it comes to life’s purpose. We were made to worship; to live lives of worship that point all of creation to the Savior of creation, Jesus.
Thank God for YouTube
The creator of YouTube didn’t mean for this to happen, but they have created a tool that is as close to a time machine as we have gotten. At any moment, I get to click a couple links and be tranported back to those gatherings, those songs, those laughs, those teachings, those moments of commitment and covenant, surrounded by 10,000 friends. Thanks, Mr. YouTube. I salute you. If you want to also climb aboard this time machine, you can use this link: https://www.youtube.com/@nazarene_youth_conference
The “What Comes Next” Moments
At the start of the week, our NYC Director for the state of VA named Mark asked me if I would do something for him and for our VA District students and leaders. He asked if I would, during each of the messages given at NYC, craft several questions that can trigger conversation as a follow-up to each session/message. I’m not sure Mark knew that in asking someone like me to do something like that, he was essentially letting the dog off the chain. I was thrilled to do it and I listening with the intent of not only gaining for myself, but for the purpose of helping others discuss deeper things in the wake of receiving God’s Word. I’m going to copy and paste all the questions I wrote for each session. You might want to use these after each time you click that time machine link above. Just a suggestion. (Click on each session title to be taken there if you’d like.)
1. Can you identify a place in your life where you’re seeking to find meaning or purpose? What are you learning?
2. Why do we seek life in desert places?
3. Lamorris said: “Peace only comes in a spiritual life.” Do you agree/disagree? Why out why not?
4. What does God say about you? Do you believe it?
5. How are your decisions keeping your heart in chaos instead of allowing God’s peace and purpose?
1. What type of pressure do you feel you’re under? What is the source of that pressure?
2. Is wanting control something you wrestle with?
3. If you asked God, “Am I enough?”, what do you believe He would say?
4. What do you need to release your grip on?…What are you carrying that God wants you to give to Him?
5. What does it mean to you to know Jesus? Do you?
As you pray…” Lord, what am I gripping instead of Your hand?”… listen to Him… What is He saying to you?
1. Where do you see puddles of brokenness in your life?
2. What audience are you trying to please?
3. Can you see God working in the rain storms of your life?
4. Where in your life have you fallen, and God is calling you to get back up?
5. What puddles do you need to surrender today?
1. How do you define holiness?
2. Talk about the spiritual climate in your home.
3. What religious rules have you lived under or seen?
4. How can you discover/nurture your awareness and acceptance of your identity in Christ?
5. How can you introduce or increase dwelling with Jesus in your life?
6. Rich said “The essence of holiness is love.” Where is the love God has for you shown in your life so others can experience it?
1. Respond to the statement “Receiving Jesus makes me an ambassador of Jesus.”
2. If you love and follow Jesus, do you regularly pray for your friends who don’t know Jesus? Why or why not?
3. How have you seen this statement to be true?: “If you draw near to someone, their loves become your loves.”
4. Are you compassionate and broken-hearted for others? Do you want that?
5. Do you or have you ever felt unlovable or disqualified to be loved by God?
Receive this: God loves you HERE and NOW and wants to overflow hope in your life. And remember: Overflow = Enough to share with others.
1. Be honest. What golden idols have you created in your life?
2. What do you consider to be the most important ingredients to a healthy relationship?
3. If someone looked at the things on your phone that you give the most attention to, what would they conclude is most important to you?
4. If God’s deepest desire is to be glorified through his relationship with you, how can you draw closer to him?
5. Have you allowed God’s Spirit to set you apart for His purpose and his glory?
6. What is God calling you to?
Pray with your group about what you’ve shared.
1. Do you know/believe that God has provided you with all you need to be and do all he desires?
2. What is in your life that is holding back your obedience to the overflow of God’s direction?
3. Who is someone in your life God wants you to overflow His love to?
4. Ask God and listen– What am I to do next? Then share what you hear Him say. Commit to His next step for you.
Now, I’d like to zoom out on this section a little bit and suggest to you that a “what comes next” moment lives within nearly every moment you live and breathe. If God is alive, and if God is in motion, and if God is inviting us to engage with Him in what He is doing in the world, then there will ALWAYS be a next step for us to take. I believe that Jesus loathed the Pharisaic mindset so much because the Pharisees stopped living “what comes next” lives. They believed that because they had reached some strata of understanding rules and holding those rules as a standard of living, that they had somehow attained a level of perfection expression of spirituality. I never ever want to stop asking God about what comes next.
To Be Continued…
Akin to “what comes next?”, another thing I learned from NYC was that we the Church mustn’t be defined by time and space. After all, if Jesus sets us free from ourselves, from the power of sin, from the penalty of death, from the shame of our past, from the expectations of the world to conform to its ways, from striving for acceptance, and from spiritual hopelessness (to name a few), shouldn’t it also stand to reason that we are set from from time and space? What I mean (I think) is that there is no way in which we operate within the framework of the world around us when it comes to spiritual things. When Jesus healed someone–without exception–he also invited them to life on a different level. A life of holiness, set apart-ness, free-ness, hilariousness, and so many other nesses. So when we experience something like NYC, it is by no means captured or contained into a set of dates on a calendar. That is, unless it was just an event. Lord, may it be your will lived out in us that NYC was never just an event.
Amen.
(Please return soon. My brain process things at a certain speed and I’m likely to have more to say in the near future.) … (Oh, and share this blog if you’d like. Thanks.)
Here’s my first blurb about NYC, earlier this week on Facebook….
I want to try and capture some thoughts while they’re swirling around in my mind like one of those old whirlwind glass boxes with the fan that blows the cash around while you try and grab hold of whatever you can. Something like that. Or maybe not.
I’m here in Tampa Bay at #nyc2023 with around 10K young people. We’re here this week to do serval important things: 1) Celebrate Jesus while also deepening our understanding and enlivening our hearts to just who he is, 2) Building community based in a common faith and unified confession that Jesus is all He says He is because it’s that community that shapes us more than anything else, 3) To do exactly what Jesus calls us to do by way of serving those in need; those who represent millions worldwide that are hurdling toward a Godless eternity…the greatest way to reach them is to show the love of God in practical, tangible ways. Partnering with local Jesus-followers, we’ve leaving an indelible mark for the Kingdom of God.
(If you want to see more of the group stuff, head over to the Southside Students FB page. What I’m sharing here is more personal in nature.)
I’m grateful for the Word of God being spoken boldly and clearly. I love worship music, I love the hype, I love the activities, but it’s the power of God’s Word being proclaimed in the power of God’s Spirit that changes lives. Nothing else (as good as it is) can claim that.
I want to share just one thing from each of the 3 sessions we’ve had so far.
Session 1: God backs boldness. When we are obedient despite not having the answers, and when we make bold steps, God honors that with His blessing and power.
Session 2: Ask God: What am I gripping instead of your hand?
Session 3: The puddles/messes we create in our lives are just as useful to God as the areas we think we’re getting “right”. There is no mess God can’t redeem if you’ll let him.
Leading trips like NYC is always such a blessing to me as a pastor to students. They’re very often time compactors because we gain so much relational ground in such a short time by being together so much. There have already been some really great conversations with students and I’m looking forward to more.
I’m blessed to have lived as a pastor in this capacity with young people for this long. I know that.
I also learned that we don’t nearly equate worship with sacrifice and suffering nearly enough. What we consider worship in our time today has little resemblance to the early church. We often are prodded to worship, or worship as a response to some good thing. But the biblical concept of a “sacrifice of praise” eludes us. God, help me get to worship that costs me.
I had a wonderful conversation (yet unconcluded) with one of our students as we discussed worship and how we engage with God Almighty. This isn’t some treatise or clearly formed thesis statement about worship, but anytime I see young people worshiping Jesus with all they are right where they are, my heart rests and every concern I have for the Church as she is melts away.
The dynamic of a unified crowd can’t be overstated. If you know me you know I’m not a huge crowd guy. I love loud crowds, but I love also a quiet corner with one or two people having an in depth chat.
That being said, being in the middle of 10,000 others who are celebrating Jesus which in turn triggers thoughts of vitality and reality and conviction and commitment…well… that’ll do more for anyone’s view of Jesus than just about anything else can.
So yeah, I believe in Bible Dive each Sunday morning where a healthy handful of us gather at 9 to go verse by verse in a very unhype way, AND I also believe in the spectacle of arenas filled with young people who are being drawn closer to Jesus and all he is and calls us to. Each has its place.
I’ll need to wrap it up here not because I want to but because a) I doubt Facebook will allow a post this long and b) I need to meet our group for dinner soon.
Love you all. Thanks for reading and walking with me.
jerrythinks. 
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