Jim Van Gelderen: Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. This is Jim Van Gelderen and I’m broadcasting from Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. Well, in the podcast here, we have John Pound. John gave the podcast just a few months ago when he was up this way in, I think it was February or March, and he’s back now and is actually moved in and will be part of the Thee Generation and a part of Minute Men Ministries. And probably just a little over a year, he may be leading his very first team out in evangelism to teenagers. We’re very excited about John being aboard. He is from Ocala, Florida. His wife is from Lancaster, California, both recent graduates of West Coast Baptist College, and we’re thrilled that they’ve come aboard to reach teenagers and see them revived, and we’re just excited about it.

John, why don’t you just tell quickly before you give your podcast, why don’t you just give, what is motivating you to come and be a part of Minuteman Ministries and eventually take a team?

John Pound: Well, Dr. Jim, I think the greatest motivation for me is the need that there is among young people and teenagers, and specifically in this generation. I feel like young people are hungry for answers to the questions that they can’t answer. But we found that God’s word always has the answer. And so really our goal here is to enter into a ministry where we have the opportunity to give teenagers Bible truth that will change their lives. For some of those that will mean salvation, some of those that don’t know the Lord and are asking questions like, why do I exist? Is there really a God? What’s my purpose in this world?

But then also to give Bible truth to teenagers that maybe do have a relationship with Jesus Christ. but don’t fully understand what it means to walk by faith don’t understand what it means to have a personal time with God every day or looking for aspects of discipleship in their life that’s really our motivation to join up with the ministry and we’re thankful for the opportunity to be here

Jim Van Gelderen: well amen John we’re thrilled to have you aboard and I believe God has got some great days ahead and I know here just in a few weeks we’re going to be having the D-Generation Youth Summit and Cola Clash Plus. You can check online at thegeneration.org for more information. But we believe God is doing something. He’s raising up a generation that has a heart for God. And we really are thrilled to have you aboard and excited about what God’s gonna do. And I know there’s many more things that are gonna be coming in the days ahead that the Lord will be leading us to. We’re thankful for what God has done with the podcast. Well, we’re here to have you speak to us and just give us a little bit of what’s on your heart and challenge us from God’s word. and then I’ll say a few words in closing. Thank you, Dr. Jim.

John Pound: Really what I wanted to share was a truth that has more than just about anything else dramatically changed my life. And that’s an understanding of how to have a time with the Lord every day.

When I was a freshman in Bible college, I traveled with a ministry, an evangelistic ministry, and our leader there taught us every day that we needed to spend an hour with God. now this in my life at this point was revolutionary I had never spent an hour with God before in fact I didn’t even know it was possible but through that time every day we would set aside an hour and we’d spend time with God and if I can share this with all of you out there that are listening the most important thing you do every day isn’t eat breakfast it’s not tie your shoelaces it’s not go to class, it’s not go to work the most important thing that you can do with your life every single day to get alone with God and spend time with him.

Jesus gave us that example in Mark 1.35, the Bible says, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Now there’s three aspects here from Jesus’ life, from Jesus’ example, that we can apply to our own lives. Number one, we see that Jesus had a time. If you’re going to have a consistent time with God every day, you’ve got to have a time.

Jesus had finished a busy day of ministry. no doubt he was tired but the Bible says that in the morning rising up a great while before day he went out so Jesus understood that if he was going to get alone with God then he had to get up before everybody else for some of you it might be in the morning is a good time for some of you it might be in the evening but regardless of what time you pick you need to have a time maybe morning or evening doesn’t work for you maybe you need to use your lunch break at work and take that aside or maybe some time after school I don’t know what it is for you you have to work that out with God But if you’re going to have an effective time with God every day, you need to pick a time and stick to it.

Treat it like an appointment, the most important appointment you have every day, because you get to have an appointment with God. The Bible says here that in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place. The second thing that we see from the life of Jesus is that he had a place, not just the time. Probably the most critical thing in my life is getting away from distractions. When I go and spend time with the Lord, I turn off my cell phone, shut down my laptop. I go to a place where there aren’t a lot of people, where it’s quiet. For me, personally, that place is generally either outside somewhere. Sometimes I’ll take a walk in the morning. Honestly, I’ve even gotten up to my car before just to get away from everything and read my Bible and pray.

The truth is that if you’re going to have a consistent walk with God, you’ve got to have a place, a place that’s separate from distractions, separate from other people. The Bible says Jesus got alone with God. Jesus, who was God, the Son, who came in the flesh, knew that it was important to spend time with his Heavenly Father. And he put such a priority on it, he got away from everyone else because God was the most important person in his life.

And for us here, if we’re going to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, we need to separate ourselves from whatever it is that could be a distraction and interrupt that time it’s easy in the world that we live in but finally we see not only Jesus had a time not only Jesus had a place but we see he had a plan the Bible says here they went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed Jesus spent time in prayer and young people if there’s going to be anything that you’re going to do in your life that’s really an investment in yourself and in eternity. It’s spending time in prayer and spending time in God’s Word. Job said this, I have esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food. We need to put a priority on God’s Word, and we need to have a plan.

If you go out and open your Bible and just pick a verse and start reading, that could be helpful. But the most helpful thing is when you go out with a plan of how to approach God. If I could offer a suggestion, what I do in my own personal devotional life is first, I write out my prayer requests and my praises for that day. Things I can thank God for and things that I need God’s wisdom on and God’s power in my life. Once I’ve written those out, I begin to pray and spend time talking to the Father. That’s my opportunity to bear my heart to Him. It’s my opportunity to sit quietly and allow His still small voice to speak to me. After that time of prayer, I open my Bible, and I begin to read. I have a reading plan that I work through. I’ve done different reading plans over the year. There are a lot of great ones out there.

You can Google one and find one for yourself. But I read through with a specific plan, and I try to read through portions of the Bible through my reading plan. And during that time, I’m not just reading to get through it or check it off. I’m reading to let God’s Spirit speak to my heart. During that time, I’m asking God, show me exactly what it is you want me to get away from this passage. And I’ll tell you this, oftentimes I’ll read a passage two or three times if I feel like I haven’t gotten something out of it. Because before I walk away from my Bible in the morning, I want to have a definite direction on what I’m supposed to do with that truth for that day. And guys, this is key. If you’re going to effectively spend time with God, when you’re reading God’s Word, you’ve got to read it as His battle plan for you.

You’ve got to read it as the commandments coming from your commander. The captain of the host is giving you directives, he’s giving you orders, and he has a plan and a will for your life that very day. And you need to find that direction in God’s word every morning or every evening for the next day. I encourage you, the greatest thing you can do with your life in a 24-hour period is to take a portion of it and spend it alone with God. How do we do that effectively? We have a time like Jesus did. We have a place away from distractions. And we have a plan of how to approach and experience the presence of God.

Jim Van Gelderen: Thank you, John. That is a tremendous emphasis. You know, young people, somebody has said, I don’t know where the statistic comes from, that the average pastor spends five minutes a day in prayer. And if that’s the case, no wonder we’re in terrible shape. You know, young people, don’t let an hour intimidate you. There’s some of you that could spend an hour with God. And even if you can’t spend an hour with God, you can spend probably more than you are spending.

And God wants to meet with you. he wants to speak to you through his word and he wants to to meet with you as you pray to him as you cry out to God so I hope this will encourage your heart spend time with God and I we’re certainly as a ministry burden and I’m sure in the coming months we’re going to try to help you with this even more specific ways because we want you to meet God not just check the list but meet with God so thank you John for this emphasis it’s definitely a part of what we’re burdened that the Thee Generation be all about. So young people, remember it, total surrender to the will of God and a total dependence on His strength and the Lamb.