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October 31, 2024

What's Forming You?

Hot pink posters with neon yellow stripes popped across the back of the auditorium. Meaningless words reached out, grabbing the attention of the audience. It was snappy, busy, and attractive. But no one was focused on that. Almost 400 youth leaders from across Central and Eastern Europe had their eyes closed with a hand laid on their neighbor’s shoulder. The theme of this year’s Fall Conference was Word Formed. Tyler Patty urged the audience, “Pray for a fresh vision of hope that is shaped by God’s story. Pray that young people in this region of the world would become Word Formed.”

NOISE. Inner noises of anxiety and outer noises of technology snatch up our attention. “How do we hear the voice of God in the midst of all these voices?” asked Dave Patty. As Christians, we must be on guard in the midst of this. We must have discernment regarding the words that we hear. For Christ is the Word. Through him, we are Word-formed. If we ignore Christ’s words, we will fall prey to the noises of the world. In order to distinguish true words, Dave pointed out four points of formation to look for:

1) Delight. God will bring about an affection for his words.

2) Comfort. God’s words will be a strength to our emotions.

3) Correction. The Word of God will form our actions.

4) Teaching. God forms our convictions through his law. God’s Word will overpower the noises of the world.

STORY. Jeremiah was a young man who was given a story from God to tell the nation of Israel. It was full of words that were both bitter and sweet. So how did Jeremiah know if these words were actually meant to form the nation of Israel? Tyler Patty explained that, as Christians, we are to wrestle with similar thoughts in order to bring about both honesty and humility. We must approach the strangeness to be transformed by the sacred. God is the great storyteller.

THE EQUATION. Open awareness + selective attention + self-intervention = Word Formed. Sean Smith pointed out that as people navigate the path of life, hearing all sorts of noises, they can live purely from emotion or purely from reason—whatever they want to hear. However, as Christians, our emotions and reason must be in tune with the Word of God. We must equip ourselves alongside our brothers and sisters and stay on his path to be Word-Formed. God is the strongest pathmaker.

RELATIONSHIP. Are you Word-formed or world-formed? “God’s words function as an extension of himself,” said Landen Llamas. “He is entering into a relationship with his people through his Word.” It is easy to get distracted by the meaningless words of the world. Our actions are always a response to the words around us. We must remember to recognize God as the Word and choose to live in light of that relationship: Word Formed.

WORSHIP: Our God is sovereign! He is the Word made flesh that dwelt among us. “We sang Praise until we had no voice left and jumped so much on that last song,” said Nia from Bulgaria. “I could see all around me young people from Latvia, Poland, Czech, Albania…so encouraging. It really felt like Heaven.” When we distinguish the noises of the world, share God’s story, live out his equation, and cherish a relationship with him, we can worship him as those who are Word-formed.

Nia was right. In Heaven, we will be perfectly Word-formed. We will dwell forever with the Word, face to face. Meaningless noise will have no more power. So while we are here on earth, seek out the Word. Pray for a fresh vision of hope that is shaped by God’s story! He will give you one that is formed by the Word so that we may go and be Word-formers.

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The Right Learning for the Right Person at the Right Time

Stop and think about the times in your life when you grew the most. What were you doing? What were the circumstances? What did you feel? What were you excited about, and what were you worried about? When I look back on my own life, I notice a pattern. Growth usually happens when the challenge in front of us is outside of our comfort zone or outside of our skill level. It happens when we’re stretched. I remember learning this in a very tangible way in college. I took a class called Experiential Learning, and, throughout the semester, we worked through various team-building exercises. At the end of the course, we went to a ropes course, which culminated in a challenge known as the “Pamper Pole”—a towering 10-meter telephone pole. The challenge was to climb to the top, stand on a tiny platform, and then leap to grab a trapeze bar. My professor had seen me go through most of the challenges fairly easily. 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The Battle behind the Battle

We are not living in stable times. A short glance at the daily news can quickly ruin your day. Difficult wars in Ukraine and Gaza seem to defy solutions; assassinations and unrest in the United States tear at the fabric of society. Financial instability, polarizing debates in politics, and deep tensions between powerful nations make the future uncertain. I’m sure each of us could add a list of challenges even closer to home, in our work, with family, or at church. In light of these tenacious conflicts, the words of Paul in Ephesians seem out of place. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…” Each of the battles I mentioned involves people with flesh and blood, and visible attacks that have real physical consequences. What does he mean when he says, “we do not”? Paul continues his argument with these words: “…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.” Here is the truth he wants us to understand. Paul points us to an unseen world that is more significant than the one we see. Spiritual beings and forces of darkness are actively working to thwart the purposes of God. There is a “battle behind the battle”— a fight that has more profound and more eternal consequences than any political conflict. We are called to enter this struggle with the armor of God, “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Last month, we gathered 370 of our team and close partners from 22 nations at our training center in Malenovice, Czech Republic, for four days of being equipped for this very fight. Our theme was “Victorious – Equipped for the Battle, Anchored in Christ.” We focused on three main skills of an effective warrior: “See the unseen world, Stand in the authority of Christ, and Fight with weapons of power.” No matter how confusing and discouraging the visible battle may be, we know that Jesus is always more powerful than the forces of darkness, and he can accomplish his purposes even in the most difficult of times. In fact, he often turns what the enemy meant for evil into good if we submit to his will and stay obedient to his call. As I stood worshiping in a tent full of gifted young leaders, all contending in faith for the next generation, my heart was filled with gratitude for God’s movement here in Central and Eastern Europe. Thousands have put their faith in Christ because of their bold witness, and churches are being renewed all across the region through the leaders they equip. The daily news is still very confusing. But the spiritual news is that the Lamb has conquered, and the Lion of Judah is on the move. Thanks for joining us in the fight, Dave Patty President, Josiah Venture