Hi! - Hey there! 00:00:18.91\00:00:20.25 Welcome. - Thank you. 00:00:20.29\00:00:23.09 Hi my name is Cheri Peters, 00:00:23.12\00:00:24.53 Thank you for joining us on Teen Pathways. 00:00:24.56\00:00:26.38 Today we are going to talk about the fact that 00:00:26.41\00:00:28.33 God is crazy about you. 00:00:28.36\00:00:30.24 And I love that, I love to think about all the things that 00:00:30.27\00:00:34.00 God has done to show me that He is crazy about me. 00:00:34.03\00:00:37.13 But more importantly when I watch it happen all around me 00:00:37.17\00:00:39.95 I have a ministry now called True Step Ministries 00:00:39.98\00:00:42.75 and there are times when I go out to different places 00:00:42.79\00:00:44.79 and do the youth rallies. 00:00:44.83\00:00:46.07 I went to Alaska one time and when I went to Alaska 00:00:46.11\00:00:49.85 I flew to four different places, little tiny villages, 00:00:49.88\00:00:53.03 and I was talking to youth from all over the place, 00:00:53.07\00:00:55.45 but one of the places we went to we had to get into a Jeep 00:00:55.49\00:00:58.71 we had to drive in the interior of Alaska, which 00:00:58.74\00:01:01.45 we had to drive 2.5 hours, we were in the middle of nowhere. 00:01:01.49\00:01:05.01 We had to get out of the truck, get in a little boat, 00:01:05.05\00:01:07.47 take a little boat across the river 00:01:07.51\00:01:09.70 and when we got across the river there was a small village, 00:01:09.73\00:01:13.15 a small native village and there was a little girl named Laura 00:01:13.18\00:01:16.41 in the village and she had been abandoned by her parents 00:01:16.44\00:01:20.46 who are alcoholics and she was given to her grandparents 00:01:20.50\00:01:23.81 who then had Alzheimer's disease and went into the hospital 00:01:23.85\00:01:26.27 and so Laura ends up going from place to place 00:01:26.30\00:01:30.12 and because she's an Eskimo there's federal laws that 00:01:30.15\00:01:32.93 protect the village but also do a little bit of harm to the 00:01:32.97\00:01:36.79 children that are abandoned because nobody can take them out 00:01:36.82\00:01:38.94 and care for them cause they have to stay within the village. 00:01:38.97\00:01:40.98 And So I was looking at this little girl who looked about 00:01:41.02\00:01:43.99 nine she was so tiny and she was so abused and so abandoned 00:01:44.02\00:01:47.62 and I felt so sad for her that I hung out with her and we talked 00:01:47.66\00:01:51.63 and encouraged each other 00:01:51.67\00:01:52.98 and I took her with me everywhere I went on that trip 00:01:53.02\00:01:56.28 and what I heard from God in my prayer one night 00:01:56.32\00:01:59.48 when I was so sad that she had to live the way she lived 00:01:59.52\00:02:01.91 God told me that the reason I brought you to Alaska 00:02:01.95\00:02:04.63 is to give her some courage and some encouragement. 00:02:04.66\00:02:07.23 And I said, NO! 00:02:07.27\00:02:08.72 So we have a God that says, "You know what, 00:02:08.75\00:02:11.65 there's a little girl in Alaska in a small village that nobody 00:02:11.69\00:02:14.67 is going to walk past and I need to get you over there 00:02:14.71\00:02:17.92 and I'll do anything I can to get you over there". 00:02:17.96\00:02:20.32 And so we are going to talk about that God, 00:02:20.35\00:02:22.46 the God that says, "I don't care where you are, if you need help 00:02:22.49\00:02:25.35 and you ask Me, I will bring someone to you, 00:02:25.39\00:02:28.05 I'll bring a situation to you and I will make sure 00:02:28.08\00:02:30.64 your needs are met and your pain is comforted. 00:02:30.67\00:02:33.17 And so that's the God we're going to talk about. 00:02:33.21\00:02:35.45 Before we get into the conversation though 00:02:35.49\00:02:37.08 I want to introduce you to the folks that are here today 00:02:37.11\00:02:39.30 and are here from all over the country. 00:02:39.34\00:02:42.99 Can we start here with you? 00:02:43.02\00:02:45.45 My name is Cari Chenoweth and I'm from Medford, Oregon 00:02:45.89\00:02:48.66 and I know that God is crazy about me. 00:02:48.69\00:02:50.57 - Good, good! 00:02:50.60\00:02:51.97 My name is Gavin Sailsbery and I'm from Yakima, Washington 00:02:52.71\00:02:55.51 and I agree with you a lot, absolutely. 00:02:55.55\00:03:00.56 My name is Cherry Malott and I am from McMinnville, Oregon 00:03:01.50\00:03:04.82 and I agree with both of you. 00:03:04.85\00:03:06.58 I'm Lyle Alley and I'm from Weiser, Idaho 00:03:07.52\00:03:10.51 and I agree with everyone. 00:03:10.54\00:03:12.29 My name is Jason Henry and I'm from Sweet Home 00:03:13.53\00:03:15.97 and I'm glad to be in such an agreeable bunch. 00:03:16.01\00:03:18.46 I'm Patrick Earl and I come from Salmon, Idaho and I'm glad 00:03:19.59\00:03:23.77 to be with people that do this and do agree with each other. 00:03:23.81\00:03:26.47 - You guys are so funny, you are funny. 00:03:26.51\00:03:29.47 So I know one story that I just love, is your story 00:03:29.50\00:03:36.04 in particular Lyle, how we met and how you got here 00:03:36.07\00:03:40.22 and in that story, I think is really clearly stated how much 00:03:40.25\00:03:43.60 God is crazy about you. 00:03:43.63\00:03:45.07 So can you say a little bit about how you got here? 00:03:45.10\00:03:48.37 Well, let's start out, I have watched the shows for awhile. 00:03:49.50\00:03:54.24 We've taped them and we had just got done moving 00:03:54.28\00:03:57.29 and we were staying with some friends 00:03:57.32\00:03:59.69 and I was interested in coming and 00:03:59.73\00:04:01.67 they were calling and I'd say that I was interested 00:04:01.70\00:04:07.37 and so you knew about it and 00:04:07.41\00:04:10.13 the next day we got home really late 00:04:10.16\00:04:13.77 our friend says, "Cheri called wanting to know, 00:04:13.80\00:04:18.13 do you want to come?" I said, "Sure!" 00:04:18.16\00:04:21.05 And it was just amazing how quick it worked out. 00:04:21.09\00:04:23.78 The part that I think is funny, on my end 00:04:24.52\00:04:27.32 is that I get a call from a woman named Sharon 00:04:27.35\00:04:29.44 that knows Lyle, that knows you and says, "You know I have this 00:04:29.50\00:04:33.42 guy that is incredible. He's a neat guy". 00:04:33.45\00:04:36.99 She told me about some mission trips you've been on and 00:04:37.03\00:04:40.15 some of the stories about that and what you could share 00:04:40.18\00:04:42.23 and that he really wants to be involved with you guys 00:04:42.26\00:04:45.04 and your ministry and I was thinking, oh, you know, 00:04:45.08\00:04:48.05 right in the middle of going back to 3ABN and doing another 00:04:48.09\00:04:51.64 season of Teen Pathways and we're going to do all this stuff 00:04:51.68\00:04:54.15 but everybody is already booked and we have all the plane 00:04:54.18\00:04:56.32 tickets and there's no way to get you on and I told her, I 00:04:56.35\00:04:59.49 said, "I'm sorry we can't do anything until maybe next season 00:04:59.53\00:05:02.01 or when we get back. I'll call him". 00:05:02.04\00:05:04.06 And after I hung up the phone with Sharon, within a few hours 00:05:04.10\00:05:07.92 somebody called and canceled and we had their plane ticket 00:05:07.95\00:05:11.21 in my hand and I said, "Oh no, what am I going to do with this 00:05:11.24\00:05:14.72 plane ticket?" and God said, "Well you're going to call 00:05:14.75\00:05:17.43 Lyle". And is was so funny to me and you weren't home 00:05:18.57\00:05:21.37 and I called Sharon, I said, "Can Lyle come tomorrow morning 00:05:21.40\00:05:24.40 can he be at the airport at seven o'clock?" 00:05:24.43\00:05:26.12 And she started laughing, she said "seven o'clock 00:05:26.16\00:05:28.64 in the morning? He's not even home yet. He would have to 00:05:28.68\00:05:31.22 pack". And I said, "Just call me back if he can because we would 00:05:31.26\00:05:34.17 love have him". And then you were at the airport 00:05:34.20\00:05:35.91 when I showed up the next morning. 00:05:35.94\00:05:37.19 See I didn't know about it until about 9:30 that night. 00:05:37.22\00:05:39.19 It was awesome! - That is funny! 00:05:39.23\00:05:42.25 And I think God is funny in that way. 00:05:42.28\00:05:44.39 - He loves to surprise us. - Exactly. 00:05:46.02\00:05:49.01 Keep us on our toes. - He loves us to be happy. 00:05:49.05\00:05:51.59 - God's really surprised me once when I was in a situation 00:05:51.63\00:05:55.55 where I didn't feel like I had any friends 00:05:55.59\00:05:57.86 at school or at church, because there was no one my age 00:05:57.89\00:06:01.07 and I prayed about it and within a week 00:06:01.10\00:06:04.92 I became friends with some really good neat people 00:06:04.95\00:06:07.65 at school and at church and so He showed me that 00:06:07.68\00:06:11.14 instead of just giving me one friend 00:06:11.18\00:06:13.06 He gave me a lot of friends. 00:06:13.10\00:06:14.65 I was just going to say that I can totally relate to that. 00:06:15.89\00:06:18.24 This last Christmas vacation in December of 97 00:06:18.27\00:06:21.40 I went to visit my dad in Florida 00:06:21.44\00:06:23.55 and I'd been there several times before, but 00:06:23.58\00:06:25.83 I'd never made contact with anybody really. 00:06:25.86\00:06:28.71 I'd visited different churches and just felt isolated. 00:06:28.75\00:06:32.09 I would've been staying at my dad's for 31/2 weeks 00:06:32.13\00:06:36.25 this vacation and I thought, 00:06:36.29\00:06:38.00 I don't know if I can endure this, 00:06:38.04\00:06:39.48 I had all ready been their a week and nothing had happened. 00:06:39.52\00:06:42.99 Lord, I really need somebody that I can pal around with 00:06:43.03\00:06:48.89 I don't care if it's a guy or girl, 00:06:48.92\00:06:50.58 I just need somebody that I can be friends with 00:06:50.62\00:06:52.55 and it turns out I went to church one week and there was 00:06:52.58\00:06:58.31 this kid there that I'd remember seeing before but never 00:06:58.34\00:07:00.47 made contact with him 00:07:00.51\00:07:02.27 and I asked if I could share a song with him 00:07:02.31\00:07:04.86 and he says, sure, so we went outside, it was nice weather, 00:07:04.89\00:07:07.38 I played him a couple songs and we ended up agreeing that 00:07:07.42\00:07:10.61 we should get together and play and what really started out as 00:07:10.64\00:07:14.89 just a musical related venture 00:07:14.92\00:07:17.22 turned into a really good friendship. 00:07:17.26\00:07:19.19 You know how you meet somebody that's kind of a kindred spirit, 00:07:19.23\00:07:22.28 and you feel like you can communicate more than just words 00:07:22.32\00:07:27.62 it's like a heart to heart kind of thing, 00:07:27.65\00:07:29.34 that's how it was and I really still feel bonded to that guy, 00:07:29.37\00:07:33.78 he's just a really good buddy pal and I know that God 00:07:33.81\00:07:37.77 did that for me because it happened right after I prayed 00:07:37.81\00:07:41.12 and just really cried to God. 00:07:41.16\00:07:44.46 - Like me, I shouldn't even be here. 00:07:44.49\00:07:46.44 I had planned to come and do this with everybody and meet 00:07:48.08\00:07:52.39 everybody and build my spiritual relationship with God 00:07:52.43\00:07:55.26 with all you guys, but I just couldn't. 00:07:55.29\00:07:59.48 The phone got disconnected, and one thing after another. 00:07:59.51\00:08:02.52 For a long time, I thought, I got to work this out 00:08:02.55\00:08:07.47 and finally after a week... - I have to interrupt though, 00:08:07.51\00:08:09.18 cause I was trying to get you a plane ticket and I called 00:08:09.21\00:08:12.27 and they said, oh the phone is disconnected 00:08:12.31\00:08:14.38 and I said no I have to get the information about the plane 00:08:14.41\00:08:17.68 and I have to get sent to him and I don't know if he's going 00:08:17.71\00:08:19.85 or where to go and all that kind of stuff 00:08:19.88\00:08:21.44 and so, that was a big deal. - And finally, 00:08:21.47\00:08:24.48 we couldn't get a hold of each other me and Cheri 00:08:24.52\00:08:26.78 so I finally just said, you know what 00:08:26.82\00:08:28.27 God, it's in your hands. 00:08:28.30\00:08:30.80 You'll let me go if I'm supposed to 00:08:30.83\00:08:34.38 and then the next day my ticket showed up. 00:08:34.42\00:08:36.60 And then the day after that I got a ride to Spokane so that 00:08:36.63\00:08:40.95 I could catch the plane and everything worked out perfectly 00:08:40.99\00:08:44.70 it just fit together just excellent. 00:08:44.73\00:08:47.68 It was such a blessing. 00:08:47.72\00:08:49.42 He's really crazy about me I know that. 00:08:49.46\00:08:51.37 I had something like that happened to me. 00:08:51.41\00:08:52.94 I was trying to get into a place called Project Patch. 00:08:52.98\00:08:55.64 I thought it was a really cool place and I needed to go there 00:08:55.68\00:08:58.17 to take care of some problems I had in my life and so, 00:08:58.20\00:09:01.06 there were about 700 kids or so trying to get into this place 00:09:01.10\00:09:04.81 and we went down and visited and I said, cool, 00:09:04.84\00:09:08.05 I want to go here and I was sitting at the dinner table once 00:09:08.08\00:09:12.26 with my parents and they said, we have a surprise for you. 00:09:12.29\00:09:14.73 Well what is it, is it something cool? 00:09:14.77\00:09:17.17 And they said, yah, you've been accepted into Project Patch. 00:09:17.21\00:09:19.97 I said, whoa, God really must love me to send me their. 00:09:20.01\00:09:23.51 - 700 applicants and how many could they accept? 00:09:23.54\00:09:27.03 I don't know maybe 19. 00:09:27.57\00:09:30.11 I just wanted to share a verse 00:09:35.51\00:09:36.89 that has always been really special to me. 00:09:36.92\00:09:38.96 Its Jeremiah 29:11. It's God saying, 00:09:38.99\00:09:47.01 I want you to know what I really think of you, 00:09:47.05\00:09:49.26 because it seems like you get confused every once in a while. 00:09:49.29\00:09:51.55 Jeremiah 29:11, it says, "for I know the thoughts that 00:09:51.59\00:09:54.94 I think towards you, says the Lord, 00:09:54.98\00:09:56.50 thoughts of peace and not of evil 00:09:56.54\00:09:58.77 to give you hope in your latter end". 00:09:58.80\00:10:01.78 It just goes on and He just talks about how, 00:10:01.81\00:10:04.46 I really like you, not only do I love you, but I like you 00:10:05.59\00:10:10.40 your cool I really enjoy your company and I want you to know 00:10:10.43\00:10:13.62 the thoughts that I think about you. 00:10:13.66\00:10:15.57 Actually David says in one spot, he said, I can't even count 00:10:15.60\00:10:19.98 Your thoughts towards me they're more than the sand of the sea. 00:10:20.01\00:10:23.32 So, even David knew that God actually was thinking about him. 00:10:23.36\00:10:27.19 David had that understanding. - You'll be enlightened too, 00:10:27.23\00:10:30.56 knowing that something that awesome and that wonderful 00:10:30.59\00:10:33.72 and that powerful has feelings for us, affection, kindness 00:10:33.76\00:10:38.16 and cares for our well-being and our happiness and wants the best 00:10:38.20\00:10:42.00 for us more than we want for ourselves 00:10:42.03\00:10:44.06 and that kind of power watching over us 00:10:44.10\00:10:46.73 helps me sleep better at night. 00:10:46.77\00:10:48.54 I rest assured that He will watch for me 00:10:48.58\00:10:52.67 and I have a verse in the Bible it's in 1 John 4:8, it says, 00:10:52.71\00:10:58.14 "He that loves not, knows not God, for God is love". 00:10:58.17\00:11:00.85 That really struck me when I first read it, 00:11:00.88\00:11:03.67 because love, everybody that I know who has loved 00:11:03.70\00:11:07.80 can't describe it, it's just this indescribable feeling, 00:11:07.83\00:11:10.59 so is God, I can't describe what it feels like when you know that 00:11:10.62\00:11:14.35 God is out there watching over me and I know He's there, 00:11:14.38\00:11:19.14 because too many things have happened for it to be 00:11:19.18\00:11:21.76 coincidence. It's just such a blessing. Praise God. 00:11:21.79\00:11:27.67 I have to tell you a story. 00:11:28.57\00:11:31.03 My husband was a brand-new Christian, 00:11:31.06\00:11:33.84 this is before he was a Christian actually. 00:11:35.07\00:11:37.10 He was raised in a Christian home but totally walked away 00:11:37.14\00:11:39.90 from that and so he saw all these miracles happening with me 00:11:39.94\00:11:42.87 and he knows that I love God and God is the most important thing 00:11:42.91\00:11:46.06 in my life and he started to really want that kind of 00:11:46.09\00:11:49.69 relationship. He said, God is very real it seems like to you. 00:11:49.73\00:11:52.24 He really wanted that. 00:11:52.27\00:11:53.50 I said, every day do one thing you don't have to pray 00:11:53.53\00:11:56.52 you don't have to do anything, but do one thing 00:11:56.56\00:11:58.63 and every day get up and ask God to just show you 00:11:58.66\00:12:01.45 how real He is and in a real personal way. 00:12:01.49\00:12:05.11 So Brad started that prayer and he's a golfer. 00:12:05.14\00:12:07.84 So one day he is out playing golf and he hits the ball 00:12:07.87\00:12:10.13 and he hits it further than anybody I know 00:12:10.16\00:12:12.76 even pro golfers, I mean, he hits it far. 00:12:12.80\00:12:15.02 But when he hits it in the wrong direction it's really awful 00:12:15.06\00:12:17.40 when you hit it that far. 00:12:17.43\00:12:19.55 So he hits it way off in the wrong direction 00:12:19.58\00:12:21.97 and it's out in this wooded area and so he says, alright 00:12:22.01\00:12:25.59 and he starts praying he says, Lord if you love me 00:12:25.63\00:12:30.07 help me to find my golf ball. 00:12:30.10\00:12:32.78 And he looks down and the ball is by his foot 00:12:34.52\00:12:38.66 and he came home like a little 11-year-old and he just said 00:12:38.69\00:12:42.28 Cheri, God loves me you wouldn't believe what He did today 00:12:42.32\00:12:45.52 He helped me find my golf ball. 00:12:45.55\00:12:48.17 And I said, If that's all He has to do for you, you are easy. 00:12:48.20\00:12:52.30 You are going to be an easy one. 00:12:52.34\00:12:54.47 But I think it's that kind of thing, God is so funny and that 00:12:54.51\00:12:57.98 it's not always in our tragedies 00:12:58.02\00:12:59.97 it's not always in great big things, that sometimes 00:13:00.00\00:13:02.22 He'll just find your golf ball. 00:13:02.25\00:13:03.90 And something silly and you'll know that He did it for you 00:13:04.54\00:13:08.07 I mean, you just know that. 00:13:08.11\00:13:09.55 - And you know that there's someone out there that loves you 00:13:09.58\00:13:12.38 and is so crazy about you that they actually died on a cross 00:13:12.42\00:13:15.59 you couldn't even tell that was a person 00:13:17.02\00:13:19.43 and they died for you and me and that's so awesome to know that. 00:13:19.47\00:13:24.54 It's just cool! 00:13:24.58\00:13:26.38 - You know one picture that I have in my mind of 00:13:26.41\00:13:28.83 of someone who knew that God was crazy about him 00:13:28.86\00:13:31.73 was Peter, because if you remember the story 00:13:31.76\00:13:34.28 of when Jesus was resurrected 00:13:34.31\00:13:35.81 and the disciples didn't really know it yet, 00:13:35.85\00:13:38.60 I don't really remember how it happened, 00:13:38.64\00:13:40.22 but they were out fishing and there was this stranger 00:13:40.25\00:13:42.49 on the beach, remember, and somebody realized it was Jesus 00:13:42.53\00:13:46.48 and as soon as Peter looked and saw that it was Jesus 00:13:46.52\00:13:49.23 he tore off his upper garments and just dove into the water 00:13:49.26\00:13:53.45 who knows how far away from the shore he was, but he just 00:13:53.48\00:13:56.04 tore into that water and just went for it. 00:13:56.07\00:13:58.54 I mean he was so excited to see Jesus and undoubtedly he 00:13:58.58\00:14:03.90 as soon as he got to land he probably ran and hugged Him. 00:14:03.94\00:14:07.87 And here is Jesus God in the flesh and what is he doing? 00:14:07.90\00:14:12.61 He's cooking breakfast for his disciples. 00:14:12.64\00:14:15.80 I just can't imagine that. 00:14:15.84\00:14:17.99 God loved them so much and He was just so crazy about them 00:14:18.02\00:14:22.49 and wanted to provide for their needs and wants and everything 00:14:22.52\00:14:24.98 that He cooked them breakfast. 00:14:25.02\00:14:26.39 - And there's someone up there that is always providing needs. 00:14:26.47\00:14:29.20 You could have something going in something messes up 00:14:29.23\00:14:31.63 and there's no way you can get to this thing that you need 00:14:31.67\00:14:34.18 or you got to get to school or something like that 00:14:34.21\00:14:36.83 and there's no one to take you or something like that 00:14:36.87\00:14:38.87 and then somehow something just comes up and it's God 00:14:38.90\00:14:41.91 He's just like, I'll put this person here at the right time 00:14:41.94\00:14:45.14 so he can get their, you know, it's like, alright! 00:14:45.17\00:14:48.26 - And I think it's so awesome that He encourages us 00:14:48.30\00:14:51.55 and loves us to talk to Him and to pray to Him 00:14:51.59\00:14:54.04 He says, "Rest your burden upon my shoulders". 00:14:54.07\00:14:57.55 Rest, rest yourself. 00:14:57.58\00:15:00.81 He talks about taking our burdens off of us and 00:15:00.84\00:15:05.00 that's just amazing you don't know many people 00:15:05.04\00:15:07.78 who live with you every single day who are willing to do that 00:15:07.81\00:15:11.15 and something that awesome, that powerful 00:15:11.19\00:15:14.34 cares for each individual like that, what an awesome being. 00:15:14.38\00:15:17.93 Two Step is a new ministry so we have very little funds 00:15:17.96\00:15:22.33 and so on the way here we had to raise money for everybody to fly 00:15:22.37\00:15:26.25 from different states and I knew how much money was going 00:15:26.29\00:15:29.66 to be left in the bank, so I prayed Lord stretch that money 00:15:29.69\00:15:32.12 so that I could feed everybody. 00:15:32.15\00:15:33.87 I mean, their parents really want them to eat. 00:15:33.90\00:15:36.53 So we got off the plane and from the time we got off the plane 00:15:36.57\00:15:41.40 till now, we have so much food that we are going to leave here 00:15:41.44\00:15:44.93 with a refrigerator that was empty when we got here 00:15:44.96\00:15:47.51 totally packed, do you realize that? 00:15:47.54\00:15:49.87 That we have above and beyond what we need and good stuff 00:15:49.91\00:15:52.62 people have made homemade soups and sandwiches and they've baked 00:15:52.66\00:15:55.25 fresh bread and so to me, I even smile and I think 00:15:55.28\00:15:58.36 we wanted junk food too and God didn't provide that. 00:15:58.39\00:16:02.22 Most people wanted junk food but we have incredibly healthy food 00:16:02.26\00:16:06.66 everywhere, everywhere! 00:16:06.70\00:16:08.45 God provides, I mean, when you need something 00:16:09.88\00:16:13.20 He's always there for you. 00:16:13.24\00:16:14.63 It's like this one time, a few years ago, me and my sister 00:16:14.67\00:16:18.39 we had these two rats and this is kind of a silly story 00:16:18.43\00:16:22.18 but we believe that God would answer our prayers 00:16:22.21\00:16:24.61 because we took them outside and were playing with them 00:16:24.65\00:16:27.78 in a shoebox and 00:16:27.82\00:16:29.45 we were playing with them and we went in the house 00:16:29.49\00:16:31.42 to get something, we forgot about them 00:16:31.45\00:16:33.05 and later on we remembered them, and we said, oh no! 00:16:33.09\00:16:35.60 I hope they're still there cause we cut holes in the little box. 00:16:35.63\00:16:38.22 We went running out there and one of them was in the box 00:16:38.25\00:16:42.54 but the other one was gone and Heidi and me felt really bad 00:16:42.58\00:16:47.78 because we loved our rats, it sounds kind of silly 00:16:47.81\00:16:50.60 but we loved them just cause they were special to us. 00:16:50.64\00:16:54.73 We prayed about it and we looked and looked and couldn't find 00:16:56.07\00:16:59.41 them and then the next day it was prayer meeting night 00:16:59.45\00:17:04.34 so we went to prayer meeting and we ask them to pray for our rat 00:17:04.37\00:17:08.26 that we would find her and we came home and we were 00:17:08.30\00:17:12.52 walking along the house and here she was sitting on the top step 00:17:12.56\00:17:17.74 with all these dogs and cats and there were owls around 00:17:17.77\00:17:21.69 and the cats and dogs were around right there 00:17:21.72\00:17:24.57 and this is a white rat and she's just sitting there 00:17:24.61\00:17:26.82 waiting for us on the rock step in front of the door. 00:17:26.86\00:17:29.33 It's just cool to know that God will answer even little prayers 00:17:32.56\00:17:35.44 if we believe. - Exactly, exactly. 00:17:35.48\00:17:38.56 To me it makes me proud of my Father. 00:17:41.00\00:17:44.04 When I think of God I think I'm so proud of you 00:17:44.08\00:17:46.60 that nothing is too small that I can't say, you know what 00:17:46.63\00:17:52.00 I know this is silly but please help me find my rat. 00:17:52.03\00:17:57.59 - It's amazing because the creator of the universe, 00:17:59.03\00:18:02.23 breather of life, creator of all of us, 00:18:02.26\00:18:06.35 can find something like a lost pet, especially one that small 00:18:06.38\00:18:10.96 you figure, how does He find time but that's not even an 00:18:11.00\00:18:15.22 option, that's putting a limit on His power. 00:18:15.25\00:18:16.61 - It says that He notices when a sparrow falls. 00:18:16.65\00:18:21.90 That's amazing and I think sometimes our greatest challenge 00:18:22.63\00:18:25.83 I know our greatest challenge is just to believe that. 00:18:25.87\00:18:29.14 Like at Christmas time at your birthday or whatever 00:18:29.68\00:18:32.68 when somebody might give you this awesome gift 00:18:32.72\00:18:34.99 or do something for you and it's just so hard to accept that 00:18:35.02\00:18:38.11 it's even harder to accept that the God of the universe, 00:18:38.15\00:18:41.13 this all-powerful being would stoop down and just 00:18:41.17\00:18:44.47 come into your life like that in those very practical, 00:18:44.51\00:18:46.86 real-life everyday ways, but He does. 00:18:46.90\00:18:49.84 - And Jason, I love what you said, 00:18:49.88\00:18:51.51 "And He likes me". - Yah! 00:18:51.54\00:18:53.34 It's like, for some reason "love" we've thrown 00:18:53.37\00:18:57.00 the word around so much that it's really tough 00:18:57.04\00:18:59.21 to put any value in it, but everybody's afraid 00:18:59.24\00:19:03.04 that they're not liked, I'm not likable and 00:19:03.07\00:19:05.47 God likes who we are. - He likes us, that's right. 00:19:05.51\00:19:08.53 We're special to God. 00:19:08.56\00:19:10.35 You think other people don't like me and I'm just an outcast 00:19:11.59\00:19:16.30 but then you look up to God and He says, you're mine, 00:19:16.33\00:19:19.73 don't say that, I like you. 00:19:19.77\00:19:21.59 It's like, okay! I won't do it again. 00:19:21.62\00:19:24.26 - Actually, I had a dream one time that I was 00:19:25.00\00:19:27.83 a prisoner in bondage and there was a whole bunch of people and 00:19:27.86\00:19:32.02 they were really abusing everybody else. 00:19:32.05\00:19:33.19 We were in a prison or jail. 00:19:33.22\00:19:36.54 It was really frightening and I saw a whole bunch of people 00:19:36.57\00:19:39.33 they were setting up chairs and the rest of them were prisoners 00:19:39.36\00:19:42.96 and they had all sorts of weapons 00:19:42.99\00:19:44.57 and somebody looks at me and says, 00:19:44.60\00:19:47.37 so what's a nice boy like you doing in here. 00:19:47.41\00:19:50.12 And all people that ran the prison came in and started 00:19:50.16\00:19:55.00 beating everybody, but the leader says, 00:19:55.03\00:19:57.16 don't touch this one, he's different. 00:19:57.20\00:20:00.21 They put me up and I climbed to the top of the stairway 00:20:00.25\00:20:03.17 and all these thousands of beams of light started coming out of 00:20:03.20\00:20:08.10 me everybody just stopped and looked at me 00:20:08.14\00:20:10.44 and I felt from my dream that God blessed me and protected me 00:20:10.47\00:20:20.61 and people could tell, they said, don't touch this one, 00:20:20.64\00:20:24.12 he's different. 00:20:24.15\00:20:25.25 He watched out for me even when it didn't matter, in my dreams. 00:20:25.28\00:20:29.69 - Like Joseph in prison. Yah, exactly, 00:20:29.72\00:20:32.18 it was just amazing! - Just from what you just said 00:20:32.22\00:20:37.32 Gavin, it makes me think of the thing in the Bible 00:20:37.35\00:20:39.73 where it talks about, that we are the light of the world. 00:20:39.76\00:20:43.10 When I get it, 00:20:43.14\00:20:45.26 when I get the fact that God is so crazy about me 00:20:45.30\00:20:47.72 then I become the light that dispels darkness for someone 00:20:47.75\00:20:51.59 else that gives hope for someone else. 00:20:51.62\00:20:53.20 What you think of that? I loved that. 00:20:53.23\00:20:55.31 - Well, that's definitely true. I mean... 00:20:55.35\00:20:57.40 If I finally wake up one day or I'm reading the Bible 00:20:58.53\00:21:02.95 and I finally understand that God really values me and 00:21:02.99\00:21:06.41 likes me like we said, then 00:21:06.45\00:21:09.07 if I'm doing something and I come across someone else's path 00:21:09.11\00:21:13.17 if Cherry and I were talking and she was down one day 00:21:13.20\00:21:17.25 and I was all psyched out about that God really likes me, 00:21:17.28\00:21:20.05 I finally am starting to understand that 00:21:20.09\00:21:22.30 and I see that Cherry maybe doesn't understand that today 00:21:22.33\00:21:25.20 then God would use me to say, hey I just want to 00:21:25.24\00:21:30.51 tell you something: God really likes you. 00:21:30.55\00:21:31.99 In fact, He likes you so much that He doesn't want to just 00:21:32.03\00:21:35.62 provide for your needs He wants to provide for your wants too. 00:21:35.65\00:21:38.01 He wants to fulfill your life. 00:21:38.04\00:21:39.58 He wants you to enjoy serving Him. 00:21:39.61\00:21:42.35 So we become the light of the world. 00:21:44.08\00:21:45.62 God gives us this little blessing/present and 00:21:45.65\00:21:49.21 we can look at, we get joy, 00:21:49.24\00:21:51.13 and we can pass it on to someone else. 00:21:51.16\00:21:53.16 - It started with one person, and it just snowball effect 00:21:57.09\00:22:02.82 until we have all these people who love God, 00:22:02.86\00:22:06.44 and they want to share it with others. 00:22:06.47\00:22:09.30 It's really touching to know that 00:22:09.34\00:22:12.12 God is so influential and works such wonders 00:22:12.15\00:22:15.94 and cares so much for us that He can convert so many humans, 00:22:15.98\00:22:20.10 so many people into loving Him, 00:22:20.13\00:22:23.04 and dedicating their lives to Him, like the people at 3ABN, 00:22:23.07\00:22:26.39 they're wonderful people. 00:22:26.42\00:22:28.28 And it's just so amazing, they're just so full of love. 00:22:29.51\00:22:32.44 Reversing back to what I was saying, 00:22:33.57\00:22:37.91 the reason why people have a hard time 00:22:39.04\00:22:41.41 believing that God is crazy about them, is because a lot of 00:22:41.45\00:22:43.99 times they don't have that many people in their lives 00:22:44.03\00:22:45.80 that are crazy about them, that really like them. 00:22:45.88\00:22:47.55 I could come up to somebody and say that, God really loves you, 00:22:47.58\00:22:50.64 and they're going to say, that sounds really nice, 00:22:50.68\00:22:53.19 but until I show them that I'm crazy about them 00:22:53.22\00:22:57.73 and that's really where God has to change my heart 00:22:57.76\00:22:59.99 is I have to actually come to the point 00:23:00.02\00:23:02.12 where I can truly love someone, somebody that's maybe not 00:23:02.16\00:23:04.95 very lovable to me, but then when I can show them that, 00:23:04.99\00:23:08.88 that I like them, that I care about them, then they can say, 00:23:08.91\00:23:11.61 if he can like me then I know that there must be a God, 00:23:11.65\00:23:16.96 because this is the first time that's ever happened. 00:23:17.00\00:23:20.31 - That's why I dream of being a light for everybody. 00:23:20.34\00:23:22.70 I want Him to use me like that. 00:23:22.73\00:23:25.10 I want God to take my life and mold it with His hands 00:23:25.14\00:23:29.26 to do His will. - Can we do a praise song? 00:23:29.29\00:23:33.08 Can we do a song? 00:23:33.11\00:23:34.52 Cherry would you do special music with Jason? 00:23:34.55\00:23:37.73 - Yah, we have a song that we've been working on. 00:23:38.56\00:23:40.81 What is it called? 00:23:40.85\00:23:42.59 Battle Belongs to The Lord 00:23:42.62\00:23:44.37 This thing of accepting God's grace and His love 00:23:46.51\00:23:49.91 is kind of a battle sometimes, but even in that battle 00:23:49.94\00:23:52.95 He's already taken it upon Himself to prove it to us 00:23:52.99\00:23:56.48 and He just goes out of His way. 00:23:56.51\00:23:58.24 So that's kind of what this song is about. 00:23:58.27\00:24:00.45 And some of you, I know, know this song. 00:24:00.48\00:24:02.19 So you can just sing with us. 00:24:02.23\00:24:03.93 In the heavenly harbor we'll enter the land, 00:24:03.97\00:24:09.51 the battle belongs to the Lord. 00:24:09.54\00:24:14.18 No weapon that's fashioned against us will stand, 00:24:14.22\00:24:19.09 the battle belongs to the Lord. 00:24:19.13\00:24:22.97 And we sing glory, honor, 00:24:23.01\00:24:28.98 power and strength to the Lord, 00:24:29.01\00:24:32.47 we sing glory, honor, 00:24:32.56\00:24:38.30 power and strength to the Lord, 00:24:38.33\00:24:42.58 When the powers of darkness comes in like a flood, 00:24:42.72\00:24:48.01 the battle belongs to the Lord. 00:24:48.05\00:24:52.82 He's raised up a standard the power of His blood, 00:24:52.85\00:24:57.44 the battle belongs to the Lord. 00:24:57.49\00:25:01.09 And we sing glory, honor, 00:25:01.19\00:25:07.07 power and strength to the Lord, 00:25:07.10\00:25:10.57 we sing glory, honor, 00:25:10.61\00:25:16.32 power and strength to the Lord, 00:25:16.35\00:25:21.35 power and strength to the Lord. 00:25:21.39\00:25:26.38 I think that that amazes me too, is that sometimes 00:25:28.08\00:25:31.98 I think the battle is mine and I get overwhelmed, 00:25:32.02\00:25:35.23 and I think, I just can't do it all and I can't... 00:25:35.26\00:25:37.95 It's like I don't know what to do anymore and I can't do that. 00:25:37.99\00:25:40.63 And finally, I feel like God says to me, you know what Cheri, 00:25:40.67\00:25:43.27 I am so crazy about you, that I won the battle at the cross, 00:25:43.31\00:25:49.36 and that's what you were saying earlier, Patrick, 00:25:49.40\00:25:51.87 is I won the battle of the cross when I died for you 00:25:51.90\00:25:54.36 and every single battle from that point on is Mine. 00:25:54.39\00:26:00.04 Your job is just to be able to walk out in that light. 00:26:00.07\00:26:03.21 - Can I just read this verse? To me, this verse has 00:26:03.24\00:26:05.61 been so profound to me. 00:26:05.64\00:26:07.32 You think about Jesus dying on the cross and the nails 00:26:07.36\00:26:10.55 that went into his hands and when I read this 00:26:10.58\00:26:13.05 it kind of reminds me of that. 00:26:13.08\00:26:14.65 It's Isaiah 49:14, it says, 00:26:14.68\00:26:19.01 "But Zion," us, Zion is God's people, 00:26:19.05\00:26:21.70 "has said, the Lord has forsaken me, 00:26:21.74\00:26:24.41 and my Lord has forgotten me". 00:26:24.44\00:26:25.84 Don't we feel like that sometimes? 00:26:25.87\00:26:26.92 God has just forgotten about me, He doesn't like me. 00:26:26.95\00:26:29.29 and then this is what He says, 00:26:29.33\00:26:30.90 "Behold, I have graven you, upon the palms of my hands, 00:26:30.93\00:26:34.68 I cannot forget you; your walls are continually before me". 00:26:34.71\00:26:39.57 So, it's like... 00:26:39.61\00:26:41.62 I don't know if we really are engraved and on His hands, 00:26:43.05\00:26:45.56 but in a way we are, He can't forget us. 00:26:45.59\00:26:47.63 - That is a perfect way to end the show. 00:26:47.66\00:26:49.68 I love the fact that God has engraved us on His hands. 00:26:49.71\00:26:54.16 Now our only response to that 00:26:54.19\00:26:56.57 is to turn around and let someone else know that. 00:26:56.60\00:27:00.29 And remember, in church somebody asked me one time, 00:27:00.33\00:27:02.98 how do I share with somebody God's love? 00:27:03.01\00:27:06.19 And I prayed about it and God said, 00:27:06.23\00:27:08.22 how you share that is first learn to love people in your 00:27:08.26\00:27:11.54 family. When you can love people in your family, 00:27:11.58\00:27:13.46 people that sit next to you at your church, 00:27:13.49\00:27:15.43 then you don't have to learn to love them, 00:27:15.46\00:27:17.84 you will just do it naturally and I will send people that 00:27:17.88\00:27:20.54 need that to you every single day. 00:27:20.57\00:27:22.65 So remember, learn to love, and if you don't know how 00:27:22.68\00:27:24.80 ask God because He is standing by waiting to show you. 00:27:24.84\00:27:28.66 And remember, He's crazy about us! 00:27:28.69\00:27:31.38 Thank you for joining us on Teen Pathways. 00:27:31.42\00:27:33.53 My name is Cheri Peters and we will see you next time. 00:27:34.57\00:27:37.82