questions I can't get out of my mind.

1. Why is destroying ones life with alcohol the current in thing to do?
This has been on my heart for a long time. One of the joys of being a youth worker is seeing the guys you care so much about growing up, making their own decisions, and becoming who they were meant to be. Unfortunately, it's also one of the hardest things when you see people you still care so much about destroying their lives drink by drink by drink. I know it's easy when one is young to not make the connect between current decisions and the future consequences, but as an outside observe I'm just seeing too many people destroy their lives and never pulling themselves out of it. They are worth so much more - their lives are so valuable - and I just wish they would see it. I pray they will see it.

2. How do we often entirely miss the point of Jesus' teaching and work?
It was a funeral for a young man awhile back where this hit me so hard. The priest began by speaking about the hymns, and then he pointed an accusatory finger at the grieving students exclaiming "and YOU WILL SING." I didn't sing a word at that funeral, and I left the cold ornate impersonation of a sanctuary reminded that all the religious tradition in the world means nothing if the truth of God's love for us through Jesus Christ isn't clear and present and alive in what we do.

3. If we all struggle to honor God with our lives (whether we know it or not), why do I often feel so alone in my own struggles?
Heck, the apostle Paul goes off at one point about the everyday struggle with sin in Romans 7. "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Man... it's often the story of my life- and when I know I've failed (whether it be by thought, action, whatever...), I feel alone. The thing is... in my mind I know it's a lie. God's promises are good and true, and as much as the Bible does a very good job of showing us what's wrong with the choices we make, it spends much more time painting a picture of the loving, just, and all powerful God who offers us absolute freedom and who will never leave us alone. So.. I guess ultimately even though human emotion often takes over, I need to remember that I'm not alone in my struggles, and I'm not alone due to the consequence of them either. "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

4. Why does my mind seem to dwell on these questions at midnight when I should really be sleeping?
Ah... some questions will never be answered I suppose.