Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Hey, mentors. Just a reminder about the You Can Mentor book. It's titled You Can Mentor, How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses. The whole point of this book is to equip and encourage mentors with new tools and ideas on how to make the most of their mentor mentee relationship. If you're a mentor, hey, go pick it up.
Speaker 2:And if you're a mentoring organization, pick some up for all of your mentors. If you would like to order mass copies, like more than 20, send an email to me, zach@youcanmentor.com, and we will get you guys a special price. But go and pick up that book. It's good. You can mentor.
Speaker 3:Hello, listener. This is John. Today's episode is a little different than usual as we're going to be spending this time together. It's not different in the sense that we want this episode to be something that will equip and encourage you, but it is very different in that it's sourced from a place that is very strange and very mysterious and sometimes interesting and and sometimes not, and that is my brain. Because you see, friends, I had a dream last night.
Speaker 3:I I literally had a dream last night that was very odd that I wanted to share with you and to maybe share a little insight and just something to kind of consider. I'm gonna be carrying some images with me today based on this dream, and I think that it will be helpful for us because it it kinda lands in scripture and it allows us to to consider this work and this calling that God has for us as we invest in others. So if you will indulge with me, I appreciate that, and as we can spend this time together. Okay. So here's the dream.
Speaker 3:I'm walking away from a gathering. It's a church service or a youth group thing, something, and it's at night. And I'm walking through this grassy field, alright, and I look over and I see a light source that is that is just kind of shining at ground level. And it's coming from this really large cylinder, kind of like a large concrete tube, you know, used for like drainage, Huge, immense. Alright.
Speaker 3:Almost like when the moon sits on the horizon, that's how large this thing is, but it's also how bright this light is. As I keep moving, I can see the light from the back of the structure and it's being eclipsed until I'm quickly in darkness. And I instantly feel danger because I'm alone, and I can I can sense that a threat is coming at me? And and now not having been in the light any longer, I can see it clearly. Suddenly 2 forms are running at me, and they seem to be human.
Speaker 3:And they're wielding hatchets, and they're swinging them violently with every step that they take quickly toward me. And I instantly fall on my back with my arms to my side. I'm defenseless. And in less than a second, less than a heartbeat, they are at me. And I let out this small muffled cry, this kind of moan.
Speaker 3:And as I awake, I wake with with a gasp. Okay? And I realized that I made the sound in my sleep, which probably helped to wake me up. And by the way, just to verify and just having a conversation with my wife about this, she said, oh, yeah. You you made a sound, and it woke me up.
Speaker 3:Alright? And it woke me up as well. And so I instantly I'm awake now, by the way, so dream's over. This is John. In my right mind, I suppose, at this time, you know, I'm I'm instantly kinda overcome with an emotion.
Speaker 3:Like, I I feel disappointed, and I'm shocked at my response in this dream. My literally lying down to accept the attack kind of was as disturbing as the attack itself, I felt like. Don't know if you guys have ever kinda had this experience of a dream, but they can be so powerful, right, that as soon as you wake up you're kind of left with this remnant of emotion or thinking, this sense that you want to go back into that dream and maybe say something else or do something else, right? Well, that was me during that occasion. So I spend the next 10 minutes just kind of cycling through the the few events of this dream, and I'm I'm just kind of wondering.
Speaker 3:Right? I'm prayerfully thinking about this knowing that God is with me. I'm wondering, man, what what are these what what are these occurrences? What are these images that I can still kinda see in my mind's eye? Are they symbols showing me representing something else that I should be aware of?
Speaker 3:Are they warnings? Are they reminders? So listen, I must admit, my wife and I watched the first episode of the show The Last of Us. So some of you have probably already seen the the first season of this show, and my my son had said this last year, hey, you need to play this game because this video game is really incredible. And so I had I played the video game and then now in watching this show, I'm certain that there were some elements that made me feel on edge just before going to sleep.
Speaker 3:But you know I also had had a conversation yesterday about spiritual warfare and the need for us to constantly be reminded that we are never alone. Right? That God is always with us, that nothing can separate us from his love. And so this morning, while the sun was still down and and I was just kinda thinking about this dream, I just spent that time praying and thanking the Lord for his presence. Something really beautiful came to mind, and that was Psalm 23.
Speaker 3:And as some of you know this by heart, but I wanted to just kind of share this passage together this this day. Psalm 23 says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
Speaker 3:He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.
Speaker 3:My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. These 6 verses you're certainly familiar with, and they are often read during times of grief to remember that God is with us. And I think that is pretty, it's pretty crucial, I think, just kinda from my mindset today as I consider kinda having these images take place and and feeling what I have felt as a result of this dream and and through those those few moments of feeling alone and feeling the result of being alone, right, and being attacked in that time of of being overpowered and of just having a a heart and a mindset of just succumbing to it. Right?
Speaker 3:Like, not even having an alternative of just saying, you know what? I'm I'm beat here, and so I will literally lie down with my arms to my sides, and I will just prepare for the attack. My goodness. Even now, I struggle with that thought. But the passage of of Psalm 23 is is so vital for us as children of God because I just think of the word with.
Speaker 3:Right? Those five words, for you are with me. And so every verse of this passage just speaks to that. What is God doing? He has he has done this.
Speaker 3:This is the reality. This is who he is, and this is what he does, and this is what I gained from him. Right? He is actively at work. He is restoring.
Speaker 3:He is leading me. He is preparing for me. He is anointing me. Oh, man. My cup overflows.
Speaker 3:The beautiful truth of that imagery, right, to say that He has given me more than I need. Right? It is spilling over. His presence is so good. His providence is so blessed that I have more than enough.
Speaker 3:And because of that goodness and mercy, they will follow me for the rest of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. I will not be a mere visitor. I will be a resident. I will be a family member. Well, mentors, again, I I hope that you will gain strength from this passage as a child of God, and I hope that you will be encouraged as you think about what it means to mentor someone that you're investing your life in, that we have that message, we have that truth, and the reality of living in the house of the Lord forever, and also giving that opportunity to our mentee to say this is how much God loves you, that He is with you constantly on a moment by moment basis, doing wonderful things for you, being great in your life, and giving you a promise that you will never be forsaken and that you will always be accepted because of his goodness and his mercy, his patience, his loving kindness, the riches of his glory, right, forever and ever.
Speaker 3:Amen. And so also I'm mindful of Ephesians 6 when I think about this this image that I was woken with this morning of being without, right, of being ill equipped. And I can tell you this is just something maybe that is an ongoing fear maybe in my own life that I continue to to deal with at this point. You know, being a husband and being a father, the desire is that we would always be equipped, that I would always be ready and prepared. We talk about the concepts of mentoring that we share with you as the mentee to say, hey, we want to offer you encouragement and equipment.
Speaker 3:We want to give you these tools and understanding what they are and kind of how they work as a mentor. It's why we have an author who will share their insight or another nonprofit leader who is able to kind of share how they operate and the tools that they use so that you can understand that you are equipped and that God is equipping you on a moment by moment in a daily basis to do the work that he has called you to do. Much of that is identifying the tools that you have at your disposal. You know, if I was to show you a certain tool and with that description comes the knowledge that it is used for certain things, so that, for example, a Phillips screwdriver does not do the same thing as a hammer. And that may come as a shock to you.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you're like me, but there have been times when I have used a crescent wrench as a hammer because I didn't have access to a hammer. And so I've used a tool that was made for one thing, but I tried to use it for another. And if that if we're not careful there, hopefully you're seeing the metaphor in that, we will sometimes do more harm than good. Or we may not see a successful end to our work because again we are not properly equipped. And so it is right for us to be properly equipped for the job at hand, and that is an awareness of knowing what tools we have at our disposal and then knowing what technique that we use in our living that out.
Speaker 3:Right? So I'm I'm mindful of Ephesians chapter 6 and I just feel like it goes so hand in hand. And it is it says beginning in verse 10, finally, after all of this, right, after all of this instruction and understanding how relationships work, Paul says, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. Right?
Speaker 3:Like equip yourself with the comprehensive protection and defense and offense of the Lord, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can ex extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Speaker 3:To that end, alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Obviously so much going on in this incredible passage of scripture. This command that we are to be prepared. Interesting to know that these are the pieces of equipment that God has given us so that we would be protected and that we would be equipped for the work of ministry. That it is at the heart level.
Speaker 3:Right? As scripture says, above all, protect your heart because it is it is the very source of where life comes from. It is it is the most important. And so we take on the belt and the and the breastplate and the shoes, and we are ready with a shield, right, and the helmet and the sword. We are ready for offense as well as defense.
Speaker 3:We are equipped well because these things come from God. They are gifts to us, and we understand that this is our work and our job and our delight as we spend our daily lives with the Lord. So I want to live with these images today. This idea, the light eclipsing, that was a powerful image that I just think about as I remember and kind of hearken back to that dream. I can remember being affected by the light and standing in it, but as I'm moving away and I can I can visibly see that light being eclipsed and then feeling that that fear, that sense of fear because of danger that was happening?
Speaker 3:Really, I think, guys, that was a that was a feeling of hopelessness because the oncoming danger was as real as my own vulnerability as I knew that I was not equipped to experience the fight. I instead was going to endure what was coming at me with with no defense at all. In essence, I I lied down in a very real way, and so thankfully, that dream is not my reality today. Today, I get to walk in community. You know?
Speaker 3:I got to start my day with my family. I got to have some really incredible phone conversations even today already with friends that were encouraging. I'm going to spend the rest of my day with with family members, with coworkers. I'm gonna be able to even have an event tonight where I get to be in my community serving it and being a blessing to it, I hope. So loneliness, hopelessness, vulnerability in that way, it's it's not going to be my reality today, and yet I wanna be mindful of these things.
Speaker 3:You know, part of mentoring is experiencing sympathy with our mentees and with their struggles. So while I still carry fears with me today, right, I will still be susceptible to these things that come when the enemy whispers that I'm not good enough and that I can't do it or or that there won't be enough. Right? Because that is sometimes my fear that that there is a that I will be lacking or that there will be a be a lacking out there. There was an element of fear that I sensed in my dream that also kinda just felt old.
Speaker 3:You know? It just kinda felt irrelevant. Again, that's not my reality, and to have that that feeling of I just can't. But, like, as I was being exposed to something that I have overcome in the past, it kinda reared its ugly head again. And that's what reminds me that's kinda what points me to the teenagers and the people that I get to work with on a regular basis because that is their reality.
Speaker 3:They have yet to experience the the solid foundation, you know, of a healthy marriage and the joy of what it means to kind of grow as an adult and realize that so much of these so many of these fears that they're experiencing, you know, for their futures and are they not going to measure up? Well, thankfully, I've I've been through that already, and I've been able to kind of see the other side and come back and say, hey. It it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. Alright? God is good, and he will be with you, and he will get you through these times.
Speaker 3:So what I get to do is I get to remember what it was like though to be a teenager, and I can help them walk through that valley of the shadow of death knowing that God is with them and knowing that I get to be with them as well, that we get to do it together. Just as Psalm 23 says, I do this, Lord, for you are with me. And that is the importance. And so, mentor, I just kinda wanted to share with you this little crazy dream that I had because so often we have these things that we can be mindful of even if they're based on the, you know, the unreal of a dream. But I wanna take that with me today, and I wanna be thinking about these elements of being with God and also being equipped to battle.
Speaker 3:Right? Because there is a war going on today. There is one for my very mind and my heart. There is one for yours as well, and there is one within the lives of our mentees as well. And sometimes that battle can just see seem so overwhelming.
Speaker 3:And so my hope would be that you kinda have this mindset, this Psalm 23 mindset, that God is with us and that we are with him as a member of this household forever, and that he has given us the tools that we need to be equipped with today, and that we can be successful in the calling that he has sent us. And so with that spirit and with that mindset, I just encourage you to go out today and for you to live as one who is well equipped and one who is with the Lord, who is walking in his light. And so whatever the enemy sends at you, you will be well equipped to battle and to be successful in. And that is the message that you get to send your mentor as well today to say, hey, man. I know life is hard, and I know today you're going to be dealing with some things that just seem like they are so overwhelming.
Speaker 3:Well, guess what? We are going to experience those things together as the Lord is with you and as I am with you, as I am being prayerful for you and mindful of you, and I want you to know that I am always here for you. So we will be successful in that way together. Well, thank you for listening to me today, friends. I'm praying for you.
Speaker 3:I am thankful for you, and I pray good things for your life and for your ministry today. Please be reminded that through it all, through all these valleys of the shadow of death that you walk through, you are never alone. And guess what? You can mentor.