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Going all the Way: Q and A Top Questions

Alltheway Oct thumb Going all the Way: Q and A Top QuestionsWe’re wrapping up a series at Rev called Going all the Way. This past Wednesday as well as the weekend we had the Rev staff and 2 of our leaders answer students questions on sex, dating, and the single life. Here are some of the best questions we got:

  1. How much does a kiss mean to you?
  2. Is it ok for gays to have parades or whatever according to God?
  3. How far is too far?
  4. How do you know when you’ve found “the one”
  5. How do you tell someone you don’t love them when they tell you they love you?
  6. Is masturbation ok?
  7. How sacred is marriage? If it’s so sacred how did it get so demoralized in our culture? What is God’s view of marriage?
  8. Where do we need to get our love? Not the dating kind, but the kind where you know who you are and than you’re loved and that we’re important…and how?
  9. What sort of situations should you avoid being in with the opposite sex?
  10. How do I get over the brokenness of breaking off a bad relationship?
  11. My entire family has never abstained from sex before marriage. How do I keep myself pure when I’m surrounded by that negative influence?
  12. Is sex before marriage ok if you’ve been together a long time or if you’re engaged (you know you’ll be with them the rest of your life.)
  13. What do you do if you have a bf/gf and your parents don’t know about it?
  14. Is it possible for relationships that aren’t God-centered to survive? How does our society do it?
  15. What are some specific standards and boundaries in your relationships with others of the opposite sex?
  16. What if one of your friends cheated on their bf/gf… what do you do?
  17. What is the difference/line between infatuation and real love?
  18. What do you do if your parents are encouraging you to wear make up and date the “right” guys for your reputation?
  19. How do you get over a broken heart?
  20. Where do you see most people “miss it” when it comes to dating?
  21. What if I’ve had sex with my bf/gf and can’t stop… I know it’s wrong, but it’s so hard. What can I do?
  22. What if I’m in a relationship I know I shouldn’t be in, but I’m afraid to break it off?

Some great questions and there were many more… these were students 12-18 years old… it’s cool to see they’re interested in what God has to say on these subjects! The podcasts should be up soon if you’d like to listen…

YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE!

Every student and twenty something ABOSLUTELY MUST LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE! (In fact, if you’re breating you need to hear it!) bqe small YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE!

This message by Andy Stanley just took me to a new level! It’s going to be an unbelievable series. I read the book a few years back… it’s a must for your library!

To access message Click Here and subscribe to: THE BEST QUESTION EVER.

Without Love, We are Nothing

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

I Cor. 13:1-3

I want to talk about love for a minute. No, I’m not talking about love in relationships or in marriage, but it certainly applies in both of those arenas. I think love whether it’s in our families, friendships, community, or any other arena of life is a journey. We literally have an unlimited capacity to love don’t we? A husband and wife who are in love and have a child don’t split the love they had for each other and give 50% to their spouse and 50% to their new child do they? Their ability to love increases. Literally our ability to love is limitless.

While I don’t think we’ll ever come close to tapping into our full capacity or potential to love, I do believe love is a journey, love is something that grows. Most importantly I believe that we’ll never learn to love anybody the way we should until we experience the Love that God has for us. We can’t give something we don’t have and if we’ve never experienced God’s love (He is love!) then we’ll never know how to love the poor, the lost, our friends, our families, our communities, our nation, and even our world.

I Cor. 3 goes on to say that love has these characteristics:

  • Love suffers long and is kind
  • Love does not envy
  • Love does not parade itself
  • Love is not puffed up
  • Love does not behave rudely
  • Love does not seek its own
  • Love is not provoked and thinks no evil
  • Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth
  • Love bears all things
  • Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres
  • Love never fails

I think often we hear these things and think that is nice and I’ll rehearse those versus at my wedding and everyone will think I know what love is! If I were to be honest with you, I think I am just starting to tap into (only touching the surface) of what true love is. It’s one thing to quote a scripture, it’s an entirely different thing to live it.

It’s easy to love someone when you get something in return and everything is going alright. It’s hard to love when we get nothing in return and perhaps, frankly, the other party doesn’t deserve to be loved (the poor, the lost, someone who hurt us, our families, etc.). When these opportunities present themselves in our lives, I believe they are some of our first opportunities to love.

It’s when we realize that when we didn’t deserve to be loved and even though we deserved to go to Hell, God chose to love us. In fact, the Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Thought I’m not going in depth on that, that is a love I cannot comprehend or understand.

If you want to experience a love that suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked and thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails then you need to run straight to the feet of Jesus. It’s only when we’re willing to lay down our lives and all that we are: our faults, failures, dreams, and desires at His feet that we’ll experience His love. And I would submit to you, until we’ve experience love (God) we’ll never truly know how to or have the ability to truly love anyone else.

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