“Does He have your permission to love you as you are right now? He does love you, regardless of your answer, but there’s something about our hearts that can hear about God’s love and still not give God permission to access our hearts. Here is one question – it’s the question of your life and your eternity: Does God have permission to love you as you are right now? Not you better, not you holier, not you funnier… does God have permission to love you right now, as you are right now?”

To kick off programming, our host, Chris Padgett, encouraged us all to invite God to come into our hearts and accept His offer of restoration this weekend.

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The stage is set. Our volunteers have arrived. The time has come!

At a Votive Mass of St. Joseph offered by Bishop Rice of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, we were reminded that the purpose of this conference is to bring young people closer to Christ. During Mass, we prayed that everything that happens at the conference helps the teens, youth ministers, chaperones, speaking team, and volunteers to have a deeper faith. The truth is, that doesn’t just happen – it takes effort. It is a gift to have so many wonderful volunteers who understand this challenge and are willing to serve.

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Brian asked all of our attendees tonight to get out of their comfort zone.  That being said, it’s hard to ‘jump’ to God when you’ve been dropped a lot. It can be hard to believe that God cares about you. When you’ve been broken enough, the enemy likes to try to convince you of three things:

1. You’re alone
2. You are unloved
3. You are unlovable

If you live within these lies the enemy can control your actions.

For a lot of us, it’s much easier to remember the things people have said negatively about us or the times we’ve feel like we’ve been dropped. In those moments, we don’t want to jump or be open. We can sit here tonight and pretend our lives are perfect, but let’s be real with ourselves.

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Fr. Martin began his session on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory by calling up a volunteer from the crowd and asking her if she is “saved”. “Raise your hand if you think this teen is saved,” he asked the crowd. He was impressed when only a few hands went up. Then he asked if she was redeemed. Many more people raised their hands. He nodded and then clarified, “We are all redeemed, but we are in the process of being saved.” Jesus died on the cross and paid the price for our sins, but we could still reject Him.

What happens when we die?

Our lives are brief compared to eternity. So this is what we should remind ourselves when we have to make the sacrifice to choose what is good and pure and holy. When we die we all have the immediate judgment. At the end of all time, Jesus will come back. There will be no more confusion about Jesus and there will be a final judgement.

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