aftershock.org.uk
devotional mp3 podcasts for young people

I used to really wind my brother up. I knew what ticked him off and I knew which buttons to push. It was great fun, I used to wind him up and then think to myself “watch out he’s gonna blow.” It’s was daft really, some of the things that wound him up, would never wind me up. How about you? Do you know what things wind up certain people? Do you sit there thinking wow, it doesn’t wind me up, why should it wind them up, but secretly you know it does wind them up. That’s what Paul is on about in this passage, he simply says, don’t do it. If you know that doing something will put someone into a position that they are going to sin, don’t do it. If you know that a mate has a problem avoiding drugs, don’t take them to places where there might be drugs. If you know that a mate has trouble with anger, help them by keeping them away from situations where they may get angry. Sounds simple really doesn’t it? But then, often what God teaches us in the Bible is simply common sense.

Author - Max Cross, Romans | No Comments »

So what if you mate thinks one football player plays better then another. Does that mean that he isn’t a fan of the same football team as you? So you think that one song that your favourite band sings is their best and your friend thinks that another one is better. Does that mean that she can’t like that band too? Who are you to say what band she can like? That’s what this passage boils down to. Two thousand years after Jesus dies for you and me there are lots of Churches that have different views on how to worship him. Maybe your Church says that you can’t take communion yet, maybe your Church says you can. Maybe your Church says that people shouldn’t drink alcohol, maybe they say people should drink in moderation. Who knows what makes your Church different. There are some basics that your Church and you must understand, but outside of that who is to say what is right? Does your Church say that Jesus is the one true way to God. Does your Church understand that Jesus died for us on the cross? Does your Church understand that God is God the Holy Spirit, God The Son and God the Father? Hey does all the other stuff really matter? Whether you have to cover your ankles, whether you should go to church on Sunday or Saturday can all wait until we get to Heaven. Of course by then we might even be a bit too busy to worry about our favourite band and football player, not to mention all the other stuff.

Author - Max Cross, Romans | No Comments »

The Bibles full of rules. You know that and I know that, we know that because everyone tells us it is full of rules and God is a spoil sport just out to ruin your fun. Right, now that we are happy to agree on that we can move on. We can go to college or school everday and look fed up as we say in a down beat voice “Jesus loves me and I am a Christian.” Well if you believed the media, that might be how you thought our God is, but that’s not the God I know. My God is exciting, my God has plans for me, plans to make we do well, not plans to harm me. My God says there is only one rule, treat your mates and your enemies as you would like to be treated. My God says that if I do that and follow him then I had better be prepared for a life that will blow my mind. What God would you rather follow, the one in the Bible that is prepared to die for you, who says treat other people how your want to be treated and who has an adventure beyond belief; or the one your hear about in the media who is only out to ruin things for you. I recommend following the one true God, so lets start by doing the one thing he asks us to do.

Author - Max Cross, Romans | No Comments »

Rules, rules, rules. Do this do that, blah blah blah. It’s doesn’t matter if it’s home, college, school or even youth group every one seems to have rules. And God says obey them. Hold on a minute what’s that all about. I mean it’s OK if I agree with a rule, and I can see that some rules are needed, but what if we disagree with rules? Well our God says obey the rules. It says pretty clearly in this passage All Governments are under God. That means we have to obey the rules of our country. It does also mean that the leaders in our country will stand before God and explain how they ruled us. So back to the big question. What if you don’t believe that a rule at school, college, or even a law in your country is what God would want to do? Good news. You get to do something about it. Don’t believe in a rule at school? Get elected to the school council. Don’t believe in a rule at college? Get on the board. You can make a difference. Don’t believe in a law in your country? Write to your leaders, protest to them, hey get elected when you are old enough make a difference. You come under authority of your leaders, but also under God, and God says you can make a difference. So don’t break the rules that you don’t believe in, get them changed.

Author - Max Cross, Romans | No Comments »

There is an old English saying that people use when they want to show the difference between two things. People would say that they are as different as Chalk and Cheese. We might update that saying a little and say that they are as different as Skaters and Punks or as different as My Space and My Little Pony. It really doesn’t matter what we say the point is the two things are massively different. Wouldn’t it be cool if the saying became as different as Christ Followers and Non Christians? The difference between the way we behave at college and school, and the way others behave becomes so obvious that people use that as a saying. Of course for that to happen you and I would have to treat the homeless different to the way others do. We would have to treat the nerds different to the way others at school do. We would have to live our whole life different to the way others do. We would need to look at each and every situation in our lives and ask ourselves, if Jesus was here with me now how would he have me react in this situation. Of course we wouldn’t need Jesus to be there with us, because you and I both know that when we comes across those situations we know fine well how Jesus would react. Sounds all too hard to me. Shall we go back to dissing the nerds? Shall we go back to laughing at the homeless? Shall we go back to living our lives just like everyone else? Or are you up for a real adventure; are you as different as a Christ Follower and a Non Christian?

Author - Max Cross, Romans | No Comments »