Within the next thirty minutes^':

   29   kids will attempt suicide
   57   adolescents will run away from home
   14   teen girls will give birth out of wedlock
   22   girls will have abortions
 686   kids will use one of many drugs
 188   will abuse alcohol

According to these statistics, in ONE 24-hour period:

   1,392   kids will attempt suicide
   2,736   adolescents will run away from home
      672   teen girls will give birth out of wedlock
   1,056   girls will have abortions
 32,928   kids will use one of many drugs
   9,024   will abuse alcohol

Meaning in ONE week:

      9,744   kids will attempt suicide
    19,152   adolescents will run away from home
      4,704   teen girls will give birth out of wedlock
      7,392   girls will have abortions
 230,496   kids will use one of many drugs
    63,168   will abuse alcohol

   Yep, people our age.  Maybe they are the "preps" at our school.  Maybe they are our pastor's kids.  Maybe they are acquaintances.  Maybe they're not.  Maybe they're the checkout person at the grocery store.  Maybe they're us.

   Yeah, maybe you are a statistic.  Maybe you don't need a long sermon or pep talk.  Maybe you need a friend that will be there.  Maybe you need me.  Maybe you need me to just listen.

   In Acts 8, it talks about a guy named Philip (Phil).  The story starts out in Samaria.  Now, Samaria was between Judea and Galilee, two big places of commerce.  Almost all Jews looked down on the Samaritans, because the Samaritans were half-Jew, half-gentile, so when a Jew needed to get from point A to point B, he usually took a boat around Samaria.

   Phil was a Jew, so traditionally he wasn't even supposed to be in Samaria in the first place.  However, he was there, he'd brought the message of Jesus Christ to the people and was experiencing an AWESOME revival.  People were coming to the saving knowledge of Christ by the second, there were healings and deliverances. . .God was moving like crazy!  In the middle of it all, God told Phil to go to a desert called Gaza.  I mean it, this place was hot and dusty and dirty. . .in short, it wasn't a friendly place or an inviting one either.

   Did Phil care?  Nooo!  He went.  At first there wasn't a human or beast in sight (unless you counted that scorpion), then he heard someone reading from Isaiah and God told Phil to catch up with the guy.  So Phil runs after this chariot.  When he finally caught up with it, he asked the guy inside, "Hey bud, you understand what you're reading, man?"

   Just so happened, that Joe (that really wasn't his name, I don't know what it was the Bible doesn't say), who was the chief treasurer for Queen Candance of Ethiopia, said, "No, man, I don't.  How in the world can I when no one will help me?  Come on in here, have a glass of water and let's discuss it."

   Joe re-read the passage that was really making his mind a mess, (Isaiah 53:7,8), and Phil just listened.  When Joe was finished, Phil started talking, he told Joe about Jesus and how Jesus fulfilled those verses through the cross and His resurrection.  Joe was all ears, after all, he'd already said all he wanted to say.

   When Phil was finished, Joe looked over and saw some water he asked Phil if he could be baptized.  Phil told him yeah, so they got out and Phil baptized Joe.  Then, after it all was over, the Spirit of God took Phil away.  Joe returned to Ethiopia, a Christian because Phil had listened.

   If Phil hadn't listened to God, Joe never would have found out the truth about Jesus and would have returned to where he'd started even more confused.  If I don't listen to God, I'm not going to listen to you, and if I don't listen, who will?  By listening, I can help you more than I can if I rattle on.  By caring, maybe I help you realize that Jesus is head-over-heels for you and He'll never leave you alone, no matter how you talk to Him or how you treat him.

   Maybe you won't be a statistic. . .just because I listened.  Maybe I won't be a statistic. . .just because you talked.  Dare to be a statistic stomper!

^'Statistics from Focus on the Family