Pinedale Student Ministries

The Grizzly Man, also known as Timothy Treadwell, was an avid bear buff and preservationist.
For thirteen summers, beginning in 1990, Treadwell lived in Alaska in what is known as the Grizzly Maze, an area noted for its thick growth and common presence of grizzlies. For thirteen summers, Treadwell ignored the recommendations and violations issued by the National Park Service and attempted to interact and commune with these grizzlies by naming them and familiarizing himself with both the adults and cubs he encountered.
Thirteen years!
Thirteen summers spent alone, with virtually no company of humans—simply a forged “relationship” with some of the most dangerous animals on earth.

Treadwell was, for the most part, a loner. What he could not find and develop in human relationships, he sought to find in animals.
The overwhelming sense in his documentary movie, The Grizzly Man, was that these animals were his life. The sense of isolation he felt from society and culture seemed to serve as a force that literally pushed him into the wilds of Alaska to commune with one of the only species he felt accepted him. Then, in late summer, early fall, of 2003, towards the end of the grizzlies’ feeding season and approaching the start of their hibernation, Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed by a grizzly bear.

In the documentary, pieces of his self-recorded time in the wild are released, and viewers are granted insight in the lonely life of Timothy Treadwell. In fact, in his last summer in Alaska, he was ready to go home to California, when at the airport he had an upsetting encounter with someone. He was so upset, so frustrated with people, that he willingly left the airport and returned to the Maze. It was a dangerous time to return there, but he wanted to commune with some of the only animals he believed accepted him.

It’s a story that haunts me, but also baffles me.
When I first heard of Treadwell, I thought the guy was crazy. Literally.
I could not understand what would make a grown man honestly believe he could live successfully among grizzly bears. But when I watched the documentary, and learned more, I became more sympathetic than judgmental. Treadwell was less crazy than I thought, and more lonely than I could have imagined. He was an example, although extreme, of a man who was literally dying for acceptance, for community and for relationships. What people denied him; he incorrectly believed he found in bears.

The moral of the story?
People are dying for friendships. People are desperate for companionship. People are starving for camaraderie.
Without them, we will not make it—maybe not physically, like Timothy Treadwell, but certainly spiritually. We forget how much we need other people, until we hear a story about the Grizzly Man and we are convicted.
Do we have people around us who need to be cared for? At school? At church? On our sports teams?
We have no idea of the turmoil that is potentially going on inside the heads of those who appear weird, distant, isolated and different. Maybe, just maybe, they need a friend. And maybe, just maybe, you could be that friend.
Friendships have the potential to be a lifeline for other people. You have the potential to be a lifeline for other people.

The chances are good that the next Grizzly Man is not wandering your school hallways. But the chances are also good that there are some very lonely people who are wandering your hallways, wanting and needing to feel like someone, anyone cares for them.
Are you willing to extend love? Are you willing to offer acceptance?

Life is too hard. We need each other. We need to be in relationship with people.

Something to Think About:

• Have you ever felt lonely before? How did it feel?
• What are some of the things you did to help rid yourself of the feeling of loneliness?
• What can be hard about reaching out to people who may be different from us to make them feel more accepted?
• Think of the people around you who seem like they are probably lonely.
• What is a way that you can reach out to them this week and be a friend?

Read: Exodus 17:8-14

People need people. I don’t care what anyone else says. We as humans were created for relationship—and not just with God, but with each other as well. As basic as this seems, I forget that sometimes. Sometimes I think I can curl up on my couch with a good novel and some TiVo-ed episodes of my favorite show and be happy for the rest of my life. But as appealing as this sounds to me, inevitably I realize I need more than a remote and a book—I need people.

I think God either finds my lapses into this thinking totally insulting or absolutely hilarious. Maybe it is a little bit of both. Usually, He puts me in some sort of desperate situation where I require help from another human—like getting lost in downtown Atlanta, or reaching for something from the top shelf of the pantry—to help me realize, again, I can’t go at it alone.

We just read the story of Moses, a powerful and influential man, who had more reason than anyone else to think he didn’t need people—especially whining and complaining people, like the Israelites. I have to wonder if when he went to the top of the mountain while the Israelites were fighting below, if part of him just wanted to get away.

We have no way of knowing, but I don’t think it took very long for Moses to get tired of holding up his own hands. It takes me about thirty seconds. And in one of the most compelling word pictures I have ever found in Scripture, we see how desperately and mightily he needed friends. He needed their support, their strength, their endurance, their assistance and their persistence—literally.

What do you think was going through Moses’ mind as he sat on the rock and allowed his right hand men to lift his deadened arms in the air? I picture his head bowed, his brow furrowed and his back bent. And I imagine this day being engrained in his memory forever. If he was ever tempted to think he was too good for the help of others, he need only think back to the faithfulness of Aaron and Hur as they tirelessly came alongside him and empowered him to win the battle. And should that memory start to fade, he could just as easily go back to the scroll God had him write after the Israelites won, because this was “something to be remembered.” A great military feat, yes. But I think there was another reason for writing it down as well. God said write this down because Moses, you can’t forget, and Joshua, can’t forget, and those who follow, can’t forget, that you can’t do life alone.

My favorite TV show is way more entertaining when I can comment on it with someone on the couch beside me. Reading is more fun when I can talk about it and process it with a listening ear. And that is just the small stuff. There has been, and there will be, big, hard stuff that comes along. I don’t want to be, and I can’t be, alone when it does.

People need people. We are not intended to be loners in this world. We need to allow ourselves to take a seat. Allow our arms to be lifted. Allow people to come in. Allow them to come close, whether we feel like we require it not. Because someday it will be essential to have the help and the hands, on either side of us, to make it. We were created for relationships. We were created for this.

Something to Think About:
• Why do you think we sometimes think we can do life alone?
• What is an area of life that is easy for you to ask for help in?
• What is an area of life that is hard to ask for help in?
• What is one way this week where you can be intentional about getting help for someone when you would normally want to do it alone?

Today’s passage
Colossians 1:15-20

Experience
I have never understood why God would take on human flesh for a sinner like me. What have I done that even compares to Christ’s sacrifice? And what could I ever do to live up to His standard? Obviously, nothing. I am so imperfect that I often think, I am not worthy of God’s love.

But this passage reminds me that God took on flesh so I can be free—free from comparing myself to others, free from my sins, free from my fear. My life is one of the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe that the cross puts back together. In fact, nothing makes sense without the frame of the cross. Trials, disappointments, fears, doubts, pride, persecution, faith, understanding, sacrifice, service… not a single thing makes sense without Jesus.

It’s our sincere prayer that over the past forty days you’ve grown to understand that Jesus became human for you. He walked on this earth, He cried, bled, laughed, taught, healed, died, and rose again so that you could have hope. A hope that is bigger than your daily struggles. A hope that is bigger than your fear or doubts. A hope that is bigger than your sin.

But even more than that, we pray that what you’ve learned through the life of Christ has changed you on the inside, and that you’ve allowed those changes to affect your emotions, actions, and words. We hope you’ll allow the things you’ve learned and the ways you’ve changed to extend long after you finish these devotions, and that you’ll be so overwhelmed with Jesus’ heart that you can’t help but to pursue the life God has for you—the real life found at the foot of the cross.

Today’s passage
Revelation 22:12-16

Experience
What would you say if you knew you only had a few minutes to live? Would you tell your family you loved them, give your friends words of wisdom? Let’s look at the last words of some famous people:

“Go away. I’m alright.” – H.G. Wells, novelist, d. 1946

“I die hard but am not afraid to go.” – George Washington, US President, d. 1799

“Am I dying or is this my birthday?” – Lady Nancy Astor, d. 1964

“That was the best ice cream soda I ever tasted.” – Lou Costello, comedian, d. 1959

“God will pardon me; that’s His line of work.” – Heinrich Heine, poet, d. 1856

“A dying man can do nothing easy.” – Benjamin Franklin, statesman, d. 1770

“How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?” – P.T. Barnum, entrepreneur, d. 1891

“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…” – General John Sedgwick, Union commander, d. 1864

Finals words can be humorous, meaningful, or silly, but Jesus’ final words are powerful and leave us with a sense of expectation. He begins with the word behold, a commanding word that should grab our attention. Jesus wants us to listen, because He’s about to tell us that He’s coming again. If we know anything about Jesus, we should be both excited and nervous. Jesus warns us that He’s coming back to judge us and hold us accountable for all we’ve done. Yes, there is a hell, and yes, some people will go there. But for those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we can expect the blessing of eternal life.

Jesus’ last words to us are a reality check. People who have refused God’s forgiveness and salvation through Jesus will not be accepted into heaven, but blessed are those who choose to believe what Jesus says about Himself in verse 16: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Jesus clearly says He is the Messiah and our Salvation. His last words aren’t a joke, aren’t kind words that leave us feeling warm and fuzzy, and aren’t to be taken lightly. He’s coming again, and He’s coming soon. 

Today’s passage
Matthew 28: 18-20

Experience
Hopefully you’ve learned at this point that the greatest gift God has ever given us is life through Jesus Christ. So are you ready for life—real life? I’m talking about life that’s so exciting, so fulfilling, and so full of joy and purpose that you just have to tell others about it. By watching you live this life, other people will experience a hunger for it in their lives. They’ll begin to want what you have.

This life begins with a personal relationship with Jesus. It continues as you choose to live life as God planned it. But there are two things to consider here: First, it isn’t easy; and second, only through the power of Jesus Christ living through you can you live life as God intends.

Jesus personally told His disciples exactly how to bring His message to all people in these last few verses of the gospel of Matthew, referred to as “the Great Commission.” Check out how Dictionary.com defines “commission.” You can see that although there are varying meanings, that word basically means one thing: responsibility. Most of us are content to hold on to what Christ has given us personally, but Jesus’ last physical words are a spread the news! The Good News, that is. The news that Jesus has saved us. We’re commanded (not asked) and assigned to lead others to be followers of Jesus. We’ve been given the greatest job in the world: Representing Jesus to the world and telling others what He can do in their lives. But we’ve been commanded to go a little beyond that.

We can’t just tell people about Jesus, but we are also to be actively involved in helping them learning how to follow Him. God wants to you live a life of excitement, being invested in the spiritual growth of everyone in your sphere of influence. It can be scary, but Jesus leaves us with a comforting promise that we can hold onto—“I will be with you wherever you go and in whatever you do—in both good and bad times.” With a promise like that, what have we got to lose?

Today’s passage
John 21:15-17

Experience
On the night before His death, Jesus predicted He’d be crucified and that all of His disciples would forsake Him. But Peter arrogantly announced he’d never deny Jesus. Jesus replied that Peter would actually deny Him three times before the sun came up. And it happened just as Jesus said. Peter was devastated by his failure.

Shortly after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter and the other disciples. A beautiful act of restoration occurred as Jesus re-commissioned Peter to God’s service. Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him in both agape (commitment) and phileo (friendship) love. As Peter responded “yes,” Jesus told Peter to feed (give spiritual nourishment to) and tend (love, be patient with, train), His sheep (other believers). The Jesus said, “Follow Me!”

How many times have we failed Jesus? How many times have we turned our backs on Him to go after the things we wanted? Could you even count them?? But we also know how we feel after we’ve repented: broken, ashamed, and longing for forgiveness. After Peter failed Jesus at the most critical time in Jesus’ life, Jesus didn’t just forgive Peter; He restored him. He gave back to Peter his ministry of serving and strengthening other believers. And Jesus promises the same thing to us. Nothing we could have ever done could separate us from Christ’s saving love.

And likewise, nothing we can do ever after we believe in Christ can take us too far away from Jesus. He longs to restore us, and He also desires to send us back out on our mission fields so we can show others His amazing restoration.

Today’s passage
John 20:1-9

Experience
The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in history. If Jesus weren’t resurrected, then our faith would be pointless. It would have been so easy to crush Christianity before it even started. All one had to do was produce Jesus’ dead body. But no one could. Instead, the gospel of John gives us four pieces of evidence for Christ’s resurrection.

The first is in verse one, when we’re told that the “stone had been removed from the entrance.” Some historical sources indicate that the stone laid across the openings of burials caves during Jesus’ day weighed between three and four thousand pounds. We know the stone was incredibly large because Mary Magdalene and the disciples saw the stone had been moved, even when it was still dark outside. The weight and size of that stone would hinder even five or ten men from moving it easily. It was possible to move it, but extremely difficult. If grave robbers had moved the stone to steal Jesus’ body, why wouldn’t they have put it back so no one would have suspected what had happened?

But the tomb was open, and Mary investigated. In verse two, Mary tells Peter and John that Jesus’ body is missing. The absence of the body is another piece of evidence for Christ’s resurrection. Mary herself doubted a resurrection, and she questioned aloud where someone might have put Him. But two other clues made them, and should make us, dismiss the idea of a robbery.

Verse five gives us another indication; John saw that the leftover strips of linen that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body were still in the tomb. After three days, Jesus’ body would have begun to deteriorate and rot. If the body had been taken, even by the disciples, why would the one thing that separated clean hands from decaying flesh have been removed? That’s kind of gross, if you think about it.

Peter entered the tomb and in verse seven we find a fourth piece of evidence—the burial cloth used around Jesus’ head was neatly folded near the strips of linen. If the grave was robbed or the disciples had staged a resurrection, it’s unlikely that they would have taken the time to fold laundry before leaving.

The disciples had no idea what was going on, even though Jesus had alluded to the resurrection many times. Even after death, there were clues to point them to the resurrection, and it wasn’t until much later that they actually believed. And we, too, frequently forget or ignore the resurrection, despite the evidence we’ve been given. What evidence does your life show that Jesus rose from the dead, lives in you, and has forgiven and changed you?

Today’s passages
Luke 23:44-46, Hebrews 10:20

Experience

Start by taking a few minutes to watch today’s InsideOutXP Video

As far as I know, not very many of you are Jewish history scholars, which means very few of you can really understand the purpose of the torn curtain. But to a Jew who understood the layout of the temple, these few verses in Jesus’ crucifixion story would have been explosive.

The curtain referred to in Luke is none other than the veil that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the temple. The Holy of Holies was the central room that no one could enter (except for one priest on one day of the year) because the glory of God was present there. That curtain was a huge stop sign, sort of like the security guards outside of the Oval Office. That curtain was present in the temple for fifteen hundred years as a sign to the Jews that God is holy… and separate from us as sinners.

With that in mind, think about how terrifying it would have been to all of the Jews present at the crucifixion. The curtain was torn! Who knew what would happen? But for the Jews, the curtain was ripped from top to bottom because there was no longer a barrier between them and God. No more priests to intercede for them, no more animal sacrifices. And the torn curtain meant something to us as present-day Christians, too. Actually, it means everything.

Because of the cross, the curtain was torn so we could have access to God at any time. In Hebrews, we are reminded that Christ’s torn body—torn by whips, thorns, a spear, the cross—represents our direct line to God, as well. The curtain equaled Jesus, and because of Jesus’ torn flesh, God’s door is always open to us, day or night, when you’re happy or upset, no matter how “unreligious” or broken or sinful you are. Because of Christ’s torn flesh, the curtain has been pulled back, and we are no longer separated from God.

Today’s passage
Luke 23:39-43

Experience
It’s one thing to hear the message of God’s love through the cross, but it’s another thing entirely to accept it. People respond to Jesus in different ways. I met a lady at a small Baptist church in Webster, NC who accepted Jesus when she was 14 and has loved Him deeply for over 60 years. But I’ve also met people who swear they are terrified to accept Jesus’ existence because then they would feel obligated to follow Him. We might all hear the same message, but it’s up to us whether or not we’ll actually listen.

As Jesus is near the end of His horrific crucifixion ordeal, He actually makes new acquaintances. Mid-torture, Jesus strikes up a conversation with the two thieves who are also suffering on the crosses next to Him. One is harshly jaded and bitter, and he hurls insults and mocks Jesus. Imagine this: The greatest act of love and sacrifice the world has ever seen was occurring right next to this one thief. What was his response? Cruel words and insults. He was so close to Jesus on the cross, yet for all eternity he would be so far away.

That one criminal missed everything, but the other criminal, who was also faced with losing his life, gained everything in those final moments. He admitted who he was—a person undeserving of grace who lived a life apart from God. He recognized who Jesus was and what He was able to do. But he didn’t stop there. He also admitted he was helpless and put his faith in the One who could save him.

Jesus could have said, “Nope, sorry, you waited too long. No forgiveness for you.” But Jesus responded out of His infinite love for that man, and He extended hope even in the most hopeless situation. Maybe you’re not a thief sentenced to death for your wrongdoing, but we’ve all messed up and deserve to be punished. However, Jesus couldn’t and didn’t settle for that. And He died so you wouldn’t have to settle for that either.

There are so many people who look at the cross and think that gift is for someone else other than them. Do you know people with that attitude? I challenge you to pray not only for them, but also pray for God to reveal how you can tell them about Jesus’ sacrifice.

Today’s passages
John 3:16, 1 John 4:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21

Experience
The cross. You can barely go a few minutes without seeing one on a tombstone, on a church steeple, hanging from a chain around someone’s neck, tattooed on someone’s arm. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity, because Christ’s sacrifice for us came down to that one moment. But it’s a strange symbol, if you think about it. The cross is literally a tool of torture. Would we wear little electric chairs around our necks? Or frame a picture of a hangman’s noose? No! The difference for us as Christians is that although the cross signifies death, it signifies life even more.

God chose to forgive all of His children through one gigantic sacrifice, that of His only Son Jesus. Jesus showed us how to behave, have morals, and love people, but Jesus really showed us life when He died. With the death of Jesus, we as Christians get to experience the love and life God has for us. The verse in 2 Corinthians tells us that Christ never sinned, He didn’t deserve any of His punishment, but as we learned yesterday, He willingly took our sins on His back so that we wouldn’t have to pay for it. God, who punishes sin, should release His punishment and wrath on your mistakes. But Jesus took the blow so that doesn’t have to happen. The sin is punished, but you are safe—in the shadow of the cross.

Could you give up your life for someone? Not just lowering your standards so someone could lead a better life, but literally dying for someone. Most of us couldn’t fathom that, especially if we had to do it for a person we didn’t know. Jesus didn’t have names on His list either; He didn’t need to. His list was blank, because His sacrifice wasn’t limited to anyone, it was for everyone. John 3:16 tells us who Jesus loved enough to save…“the world.” Jesus died for humans. All of them. That verse doesn’t say “For God so loved the rich” or “For God so loved the thin” or “For God so loved white, middle-class Americans.” Instead we simply (and happily) read “For God so loved the world…”

Okay, so God loves everyone, but you’d think there’d be a limit to that love, a couple of rules that make or break God’s love for you. But God’s love isn’t exclusive. David the adulterer and murderer never found the limit. Paul the persecutor never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit rock bottom. You may have felt that before, too, or you will at some point. But when it came to the love Jesus demonstrated on the cross, they never experienced a limit of God’s love through Jesus, and neither will you.