aftershock.org.uk
devotional mp3 podcasts for young people

Much of my early life as a Christian was done in secret. I was just like those in the passage, who believed in Jesus but kept it quiet. I, was a secret agent. I snuck here, and I snuck there. I prayed, but only on my own, without anyone else’s knowledge. I read my Bible but only when no one else was looking. You could have looked at me, and never have known I was a Christian. Why? Maybe, because I didn’t want to get challenged about my faith. Maybe, because I felt that I couldn’t answer anyone’s questions. Maybe, because I simply was not sure myself yet. In truth, I don’t know why I was a secret agent, and I don’t know when I stopped being a secret agent. All I know is one day I simply mentioned the word Church in a conversation. Before long, I heard myself saying, that I would pray for people. Then I knew, my cover was blown. I was no longer a secret agent for God. So the question is, could God use me better when I was a secret agent, or can he use me better now? I think the answer is plain God has plenty of secret agents, but what he really desires is, for those who have the guts, to blow their cover. For the guys and girls, who have the real courage to blow their cover at school and college, to step forward. God can use you now, if you blow your cover.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

Weren’t the disciples lucky they physically had Jesus with them? They could see him, touch him, ask him questions; they had his light to see by. Imagine having Jesus, actually living in your house. You could go to him and say. “Jesus, I had this problem with this guy at school, he got right on my nerves, how do I deal with him?” Or maybe. “Jesus, my parents are driving me nuts, what is it about them, that makes them think they know it all?” I’m sure Jesus would smile at you and then give you words of wisdom, or maybe tell you a parable. But in a similar way, we do have Jesus with us; we too can walk our lives by his light. If, we get into the Bible every day. If we pray, if we hang with Jesus, just by being quiet, we can walk in his light. But ,just as the disciples must have found it hard without physically being with Jesus after his Crucifixion, we too can miss him, if we don’t spend time with him. If we skip reading Gods instruction book, the Bible. If we don’t talk to God, in prayer, then his light in our lives can fade. The decisions we make at school or college, begin to reflect Jesus, less. When we hit choices to be made, our first thought, is not how would Jesus handle this. But if, we stick with Jesus, then we know that our decision will be based upon what he wants in our lives. But hey, you are listening, to Gods word, so that is the first step, now all you have to do is speak to him.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

Can you imaging worshipping Jesus with such freedom that you cheer and wave palm branches as he rides a donkey into Jerusalem? Ok, let’s put it like this, your favourite football star, strolls out onto the pitch, after your team win the championship. The place goes wild with ticker tape and the whole crowd including you scream like lunatics. Or maybe you favourite film star, walks into you college canteen, do you think they might get a bit of attention from you and your mates? You see, these days there are plenty of things in our lives that we can get enthused about. There are plenty of pop stars, film stars, or so called celebrities that we can get infatuated about. We read about them in magazines, we watch them on reality TV, we listen to them at every opportunity. There is only one problem with that. They are false idols. Not only will those guys fade away, they will let you down, because they are only human. No different to you and me. Also our God has a few things to say about worshipping false idols, the least of which is don’t do it. If only we could get as enthused about worshipping Jesus, as we do about sport, film and pop stars. Maybe then we would catch a glimpse of what Jesus really wants us to see and feel.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

Judas gets a bad rap really doesn’t he? We look at this situation and we think yep, Judas is up to no good, moaning about wasting the money. We think, all he really wants, is the money for himself. Why do we think that? Because we know what Judas ends up doing, we know that he betrays Jesus. And we are right, we can sit here, and point the finger at Judas, knowing that he ends up the bad guy. It’s probably like that at school or college as well. Let’s say that I told you, that someone had their wallet or purse stolen from your school or college. Who do you think did it? I bet, someone came to mind, didn’t they? Yep, you thought, I bet it was so and so, they are bound to be the thief. But who put us into the judgment seat? Who said we were the ones to point he finger? Actually God is pretty straight about this, we are not to judge people, we are not to judge anyone, that’s his job. We don’t know what caused Judas to do what he did, and we don’t know about his past. In the same way, we don’t know about the guys who do things we don’t like in our lives. We don’t know what makes them do it, or about their past. Maybe next time something happens, our first thought shouldn’t be, who’s to blame, but maybe it should be, who needs our help?

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

What is it about Jesus that scares people? Two thousand years ago, people believing in Jesus as the Son of God, scared the authorities and the police of the time. Two thousand years later, it doesn’t seem that much has changed. You can go about you life at school and believe that fairies live at the bottom of your garden, and no one will bother you. Mention that you believe Jesus died for you on the cross, and that’s where the raised eyebrows start. Of course, you can drop into conversation at college that you believe we evolved from a blob of jelly, and everyone’s chilled. But once again, tell those around you, that you thank the creator God of the universe for you life, and you might get accused of being a narrow minded nutter. Why’s that then? I believe, people are scared of Jesus, because if you acknowledge that he is the Son of God then you have to change your approach to life. Believe in jelly as the origin of life? No problem, just carry on as you are. Believe in Jesus, then following his teachings, mean that you must live life to the full. Believe in fairies? Ahh, that’s cute, just stay as your are. Believe that Jesus died for you? Then you are going to follow his teachings, seek to help others, and that’s not the easy route. Still don’t worry, people thought Jesus was a nutter and were scared of him too, so you are in good company.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »