MhAX Blog with Nick Costello
Evangelist, youth communicator, school assembly speaker, seminar and conference speaker Nick Costello tackles issues facing youth and young adults.
Nick Costello has experienced the glamorous rock star life millions of teens only dream about. Success didn't fulfill his search for inner peace, security and purpose in life. His bad attitude and fast lane lifestyle of sex, drugs, rock and roll nearly destroyed him. One night, Nick surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. God miraculously redeemed and transformed his life.
Today, he ministers as an evangelist, youth communicator, school assembly speaker, seminar and conference speaker. He's calling christians of all ages to an uncompromising walk of obedience to Christ. In public schools, he's equipping kids to make healthy, right life choices. Respected leaders say he's a "dynamic, relevant, passionate, challenging, inspiring communicator!
Visit Nick's website
Make Some Friends for Christ
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- Published on Thursday, 14 July 2011 10:47
- Written by Nick Costello
Do you take your friendships for granted? Maybe you think you have all the friends you need. Try looking at friendship from the eyes of someone else.
Other people need you!
Jesus wants you to become friends with as many people as you can. The friendships do not have to be close, deep and intimate. Jesus wants you to seek out people who need friends and make yourself available to them. Jesus said there are many people wandering aimlessly around in life going nowhere. "They are like sheep without a shepherd." (Matt. 9:36) They need a loving friend who can show them the love of Jesus.
They need you!
What kind of a loving friend should you be. I'm not talking romantic love. This is a love that loves people unconditionally. That's how Christ loves you. You can love others unconditionally by allowing the Holy Spirit to love others through you. If the Spirit of God lives in you, God's love for others is IN you. This is His agape or unconditional love.
God wants you to be a love faucet!
God wants His love to pour out of you, not just dripping out slowly, but a steady stream flooding the world around you... but first flooding your immediate world, the world where you live every day. You can be the star athlete in school, class president, a great musician or gifted actress. None of those abilities mean nothing to God if you don't love others.
What's your love attitude like?
God wants you to get rid of attitudes that keep you from loving others. Ask Him to remove your wrong attitudes by:
- revealing to you how unloving you are
- removing your negative attitudes towards others whatever it takes
- replacing your unloving attitudes with compassion
Read 1 Corinthians 13 in the NLT or NIV and learn what God's love is like. Put your name in the place of the word 'love'. Ask God to help you love like He does.
Loving Your Neighbor
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- Published on Monday, 06 June 2011 11:35
- Written by Nick Costello
Last month we learned as Christians, we are to love people, especially lost people. You may think you can’t love certain people, but you can! Since you know Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, you have in you what it takes to love lost people. “God is love.” (1 John 4:16) Since God is love and God’s Spirit lives in you, you have God’s love in you for others. All you have to do is believe it, allow God to love people through you and just do those things that show love to others. You can even love your enemies with God’s love. By reading the Bible and learning about God’s love, you can learn to love others.
In this lesson I’m going to list practical ways you can love your neighbor and even win heaven’s "Neighbor Of The Year Award". Make the following list qualities of life and your non-Christian, lost friends will notice. You’ll earn the right to tell them about the Jesus who helps you love them.
2. Have a joyful spirit
3. Be an open, accepting person
4. Don’t be critical or judgmental of others
5. Be hospitable
6. Have a warm sense of humor
7. Have a servant, giving heart.
8. Be sensitive to the needs of others
9. Be involved in community activities
10. Be willing to help your friends and neighbors and do so when needed
11. Radiate the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness
12. Don’t be a hypocrite
13. Be genuine, honest and real
14. Be a good listener
15. Consider others more imporatant than yourself
16. Take an interest in the interests of others even if you’re not interested
17. Pray for your friends and tell them you are doing so
18. If you’re harsh or offend your neighbor, ask their forgiveness
19. Do all you can to live at peace with your neighbor
20. Go the extra mile in helping someone or working for your employer
God has planted you where you are to be Jesus to your neighbor. Your neighbor is everyone in God’s creation. They may not be listening to you, but they are watching you. They want to see what a Christian is like before they consider becoming one. The light of Christ in you will be visible through acts of service and love. With Christ’s love alive in you and working through you, He will come alive and real to your unbelieving friends who aren’t yet believers. Be patient. Persevere. Trust God to use you and He will!
Do You See The Need?
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- Published on Sunday, 15 May 2011 01:00
- Written by Nick Costello
Do you know any lost people? I'm sure you do. You have some lost friends, they sit next to you in class, attend school functions or participate in sports activities with you and maybe even attend your church. All round you are people the Bible says are...LOST!
Have you noticed they have some type of religion? They believe something, have some kind of god, live a morally good life or seem like a good person. BUT, they are still LOST! Lost from what? They're lost or separated from God and heaven. They think they know where they're going but...
They're marching straight towards HELL!
Do you understand that? Do you care? They have no life with Jesus Christ, no relationship with Him and no hope of going to heaven. Many people you know are looking for satisfaction in what they do or what they have.
Who do you know that is looking for something better? What are they like? Without Christ, they will never be content or satisfied in their accomplishments or in who they are. What is a person like without Christ? Some things are that they:
- Feel crippled by guilt and fears of death
- Experience low self-esteem, life looks hopeless or suffer from boredom with life
- Have an aching loneliness, distrusting love for others, don't feel loved and accepted
- Strive to perform well to gain acceptance, try to prove themselves, put themselves first
Name 3 lost people you know. Picture them on the ocean in a big boat with a hole in the bottom. Water is pouring in and it's sinking. They need someone to rescue them before they drown. Your friends are in that boat and in deep danger of drowning forever in hell.
You can help them! You can rescue them! The help they need is JESUS!
Jesus loves them. He cares about their life. He wants them to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Do you know how important you are to Jesus? If not, you need to read and reread the Gospel of John and ask the Holy Spirit to show you all Jesus did to show His love for you and how important you are to Him. When you really know how much He loves you, it's real to you and He loves you even when you are unlovable, you will want others to experience His love, too.
Maybe, you don't know where to start. One place is to simply really care about your friends, their life, their problems and struggles. Show you care by how you help them, comfort them, listen to them and be there for them. All the Bible verses you lay on them will be meaningless if they aren't convinced you care about them.
People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!
Show you care about someone today! Ask God to send someone your way you can show you care to. Reach out to someone in your school, family, neighborhood and community. It will earn you the right to tell them about why you care and who also cares about them.... Jesus! God WILL use you. Everyone will get blessed.
