Making crossroad choices: More than 5,500 Louisiana Baptist young people recently were urged to make fundamental decisions for Christ that would change their lives
Making crossroad choices: More than 5,500 Louisiana Baptist young people recently
were urged to make fundamental decisions for Christ that would change their
lives
In the midst of three days of high-energy focus and fun at the annual Louisiana
Baptist Youth Evangelism Celebration, Rob Turner reminded several thousand teenagers
of the seriousness of the moment.
“This week, many of you are faced with a crossroads in life – and
so am I,” said Turner, pastor at Apex Community Church in Dayton, Ohio.
“I am not promised the next minute. All that we have is the eternal now.
(And) What happens in this moment can really dictate the rest of your life.”
Turner challenged young people to make good decisions at their crossroads moment.
He was one of several speakers and artists on the schedule of the annual three-day
celebration just prior to Thanksgiving.
The youth celebration traditionally is the largest Louisiana Baptist gathering
each year. This year, a total of 5,599 high school students traveled to Alexandria
for three days of high-energy evangelistic challenge and training
Once there, they encountered challenges from Turner and others to develop themselves
spiritually and to share the gospel message with others they encounter.
In his message, Turner reviewed the choices of two biblical characters who
faced crossroads with Christ.
In one, he cited the story of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what was
needed for eternal life in Matt. 19:16-24.
Like the teenagers attending the Youth Evangelism Celebration, the rich young
ruler thought he was wide awake, Turner noted. But in reality, he was fast asleep.
“This guy is a lot like you and me,” Turner explained. “He comes
up to Jesus and asks what good thing must I do to get eternal life.”
However, the passage reveals a pair of common thoughts that do not “cut
it” with God, Turner said.
Being good does not cut it with God, he noted.
Turner said that while Christians know they are saved by grace through faith
and not of good works, most of the world just sees good works as a way to get
into heaven.
“Is that the only thing that marks us from the world is that were
good?” Turner asked. “Does that inspire you?”
He encouraged the students not to earn a college degree just to obtain a diploma
or make a living.
“Thats boring,” Turner explained. “Jesus says I come so
you can have life and can have life abundantly.”
Sincerity, by itself, also does not cut it with God, he said.
The rich young ruler told Jesus that he obeyed the 10 Commandments, but he
stopped short of understanding the big picture, Turner noted. He thought being
good was enough.
“He only mentioned the (commandments) that have to do with other people,”
Turner explained. “He left off the (commandments) that talked about his
relationship with God.”
Turner said that the same can be said for all people.
“We could be so asleep in our good morality where we grew up that we dupe
ourselves into thinking Ive done them, and Ive done them all,”
he emphasized.
Turner said the rich young ruler walked away sad because he barely missed the
true way to obtain salvation.
“Is it not amazing there is a guy who is burning in hell that is only
inches from Jesus Christ?” Turner asked.
Turner challenged the students not to fall into the same trap. “I dont
want to see anybody get duped by the stuff we have that get in the way of us
becoming the barbarians for Christ that God has called us to be. Please dont
be domesticated and calm about your walk with Christ.
“Jesus is worth dying for,” Turner continued. “He died for us
and he payed such a big price.”
Just as the rich young ruler faced a crossroads in life, Turner shared the
story of the demon-possessed man who met Jesus in Mark 5:1-20. The man faced
three obstacles:
He lived in a decadent place.
“He lives in a graveyard,” Turner said. “Dead people are the
only ones who want to hang out with this guy.”
To that end, Turner said there are hundreds of spiritually dead students attending
Youth Evangelism Celebration.
“Folks, we live in a culture that is obsessed with death,” he said.
“Teenagers, I challenge you to be obsessed and intoxicated with life.”
He had a dilemma.
The demon-possessed man is a reminder of the dilemma faced by those who do
not accept Christ as their personal savior. “And his dilemma is so big
(that) its bigger than any solution the world is trying to make for him,”
Turner said.
Turner said the world dealt with the man by telling him he was weird and violent.
But the Bible is trying to break those chains for persons, he noted.
He was destructive.
Turner said the man spent many days screaming and cutting himself. “We
live in a culture where our problems are much bigger than what the world offers,
and were destroying ourselves,” he added.
However, while the world is afraid of the man, the Bible says Jesus approaches
him and asks his name, Turner noted.
“You know that one of the greatest evangelism strategies you have at school
is going up to somebody you dont know and saying, What is your name?”
he said. “There are teenagers and adults in your church who are begging,
who want someone to ask … their name.”
In the biblical account, the man does not reveal his name but calls himself
“Legion” because of the all the demons plaguing him, Turner noted.
Likewise, many young people find themselves buried under issues today, he said.
But the good news is found in how Jesus sends the demons into a herd of pigs,
symbolizing the sacrifice he would make later on the cross, Turner said.
“Jesus is giving a preview of times later, days later, when he went on
the cross and God transferred my sin onto him. … Jesus Christ took our bullet,
he took our transfer, and he buried it so we could be proclaimed children of
God.”
In the Bible, the man then asks Jesus if he can accompany him, Turner noted.
Because he was impacted by Christ, his first reaction was not to tell others
about Jesus but rather to spend time with him.
Likewise, Turner said the most effective testimony a person has is how Jesus
changed their lives.
“If you want to depart for Jesus you better depart with Jesus,” he
emphasized. “Before you even do that, you have to depart from yourselves.
Youve got to die to yourself.”