So why are you qualified for this job?
Well sir, it's God's will.
I'm sorry, these SAT scores just aren't good enough.
That's not all I learned in school.
Well, what do you know?
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
I'm really sorry.
Now you are going to love this.
Here, I think.
I could really use a job, sir, because I'm responsible and organized and hard.
Go, go, go!
Now I need one for the orange side.
And get a life!
Hi, I'm Jeremy Schwartz.
And I'm Polly Butler.
Welcome to this edition of Fast Forward.
You know, every year millions of teenagers stand on the doorway of their future.
What they see looks very scary.
Hundreds of decisions about what to do with their lives lay before them.
You know, Polly, I'm on the brink of making a massive decision myself.
Oh, what, pray tell, may that be?
Oh, I'd really rather not talk about it.
Oh, now come on, Jeremy, you can tell me.
Well, do I want original recipe or extra crispy?
Graduating from college is, like, a big goal right now.
I really would like to get a job at a hospital.
It's not like it's kind of like a charge to answer or something,
but I want to witness to a lot of people.
Finish high school, go on to college.
Youth pastoring or, like, in the mission field or something like that.
My own job, being a carpenter or a nurse or something.
I want to be a meteorologist.
I'd like to be able to make it into the history books myself.
I've always wanted to be, you know, something high up there,
because it's like, you know, I want the money and I just, you know,
I've always wanted to be somebody.
You know, I want to have cute little kids running around.
You just want to be that lovely...
That June Cleaver, don't you?
No.
A good job and a happy family, you know,
are really all that I'm looking for.
Happiness.
That's a good word.
That's a good one.
I'm going to be a mom, a good mom who stays home with my kids
and works in the PTA.
Making an difference in the community, helping everybody out a lot.
Getting a good job and a good apartment away from my parents
so they know I can make it on my own.
Don't you remember back when we were in high school
and I remember being so afraid that these choices I was making
at that time in my life, that they would be wrong, you know?
I was just afraid of making the wrong choice and going the wrong way.
Well, you sure did a good job of hiding it,
because I always thought that this drama thing was always what you were going to do.
Oh, I mean, exactly.
I love acting, but there's more choices to it than that.
I mean, I also love teaching and I really love having a steady paycheck.
So that's why I went to college and now I'm getting my master's degree.
See, I would never do anything that's safe.
I really don't mind not having any money.
I like living in my car.
Yeah, but aren't you scared to death of all those auditions and things?
It all depends. It depends what it's for.
Although, I am thinking about changing my stage name to Jeremy Next.
Jeremy Next.
Meaning, of course, that I go in and start
and then they immediately say, Next, Jeremy. Next.
The future's real scary because you never know what's going to happen
and you never know what mistakes you're going to have.
I'm afraid that I might choose the wrong thing for me
and so not sort of do what I'm supposed to do and what God's planned me to do.
Not having a purpose in life.
Just complete total failure is what I fear most.
I feel like I'm going to do something that I might regret
and I just need to, you know, stay on my plan.
I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't get accepted
and if I don't succeed at what I want to do.
I feel like I'm kind of trapped at this point. I'm not going anywhere.
My biggest fear is not being able to support my family.
I just want to make sure that I get the right kind of husband, not some little druggy guy.
I really fear, like, marrying someone and then it not working out.
I'm afraid, you know, that if I'm going to make one bad decision
and it's going to, like, influence the rest of my life.
Messing up, getting pregnant, turning out like my mom.
The thing that I fear most about the future is everything.
Why are all these people so scared?
I think they're afraid of making the wrong choices.
Well, yeah, but if you make a wrong decision, you know,
it's not like you're going to be zapped by aliens
or kidnapped by the government
or turned into some lump of gelatinous goo.
Jeremy, I'm serious.
I'm serious too.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Look, the problem here is that there are definitely consequences
for making the wrong choices.
Yeah, well, you may not get turned into, like, gelatinous goo.
Make something more like a tapioca, which could be even worse.
If we make the right choices now, if we make good decisions,
then there's a good chance that we can have a great life.
But if you make the wrong choices...
Yeah, if you make the wrong choices, this is Tapioca City, baby.
If I choose to join the gang, I probably won't make it anywhere in life.
When I was a little bit younger, I wish I could learn
who the right people were to hang around with.
My last boyfriend, he was like a loser.
Should have gone after him.
There's a lot of things that I wish I could go back and redo.
For instance, school.
You don't really care, you know.
You're just there, socialized, suffer in the end
because you're not going to know anything when you get to college.
It's going to be real hard.
If you're still in school, stay in and finish it.
I didn't finish mine, it's rough.
I want to talk back to my mom as much as I did.
I would listen to my mom.
My dad too.
I'm a procrastinator.
If I have a project that's on my way to the last minute to do it and everything.
You make the choice, you just got to deal with it.
If nobody likes Tapioca.
Peer pressure, drugs, parties, not being responsible.
Choosing not to do drugs and drink.
Stuff that I could change, I could go back
and I would never have sex until I was married.
The choice that we made to have sex, it was wrong.
We did love each other.
We knew that.
We knew that we wanted to spend a lot of time together,
but we didn't realize the effect it would have on our lives.
I did have to grow up faster.
Becoming a mother really matures you fast.
You think of yourself as older than everyone else,
but really you're not.
You're the same age, but I didn't really want that.
I wanted to be young.
I wanted to go out and have fun and be able to just get up and go with my friends.
I was a leader in my youth group.
I was on the missions committee.
I felt guilty for, I guess, what you call living a double life.
It was more of a feeling of guilt, anger, frustration.
Sadness all put together.
I was angry at myself.
I had frustration because I knew I couldn't take it back.
It's really made a difference.
It wasn't really a decision to do it.
I think it just happened.
We were just too involved for being how young we were.
I don't think we really knew what it was all about.
We knew we loved each other,
but I don't think we knew the effect that it would have on us just doing it.
Did you know more than 500,000 teenagers give birth each year?
Jeremy, listen to this.
Dear Abby, I don't know what to do.
For two years...
I can't believe you read Dear Abby.
Would you just listen to this?
For two years I've been dating John, who's very kind but also boring.
The other thing is I can't believe you're letting her make your decisions for you.
Why don't you be quiet and let me finish my thing?
Recently I met Ramon, who is handsome...
Ramon!
...and exciting, but I'm not sure I can trust him.
Ha! The snake-acad!
John has asked me to marry him, but I think I'm in love with Ramon.
What should I do? Signed hopeless and hoboken.
Okay, first of all, I can't believe you read this.
Second of all, I can't believe she met someone named Raul and hoboken.
What's wrong with it?
Well, what's wrong with it? It's so stupid. It's not real.
I just like to read about the choices other people have to make and what an expert has to say about it.
Oh, an expert. And dear Abby is suddenly an expert.
Why is she an expert? She doesn't know John. She doesn't know Raul.
Ramon!
Right? Whatever.
Well, okay. Listen, big shot. If you had to get advice from someone, who would you go to?
As it says in 2nd Pesetations 517, thou shalt choose the guy who sits in the second row of your chemistry class.
I'm sorry. The Bible's not going to make those type of decisions for us.
I'm sure it's going to be clear on some things, what you should or shouldn't do,
but it's not going to tell you whether you should marry this guy or that guy
or whether you should have original or extra crispy or spin or buy a vow.
And that can be frustrating, especially when we're making choices or trying to figure out God's will for your life.
Woo! I love it when that happens.
You know, should you go to college or work at the video store?
And which college and which video store?
Let me tell you what God's will for your life is, okay? Come here, closer.
This is God's will for your life. Are you ready?
Glorify him with abilities he's given you.
No, no, wait, wait, wait.
I know you're looking for maybe something a bit more spectacular,
but stay with me on this. This is good stuff.
The Bible says that whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the Lord.
And to glorify God in this context simply means to use those unique gifts and abilities he's given you to honor him.
Take my singing ability. I know, I know, too late somebody already has.
But there's a very good reason I don't sing professionally, and that is
Well, I can't sing, but I can write and I can talk and I can make films.
So I use those abilities to honor God.
Does that mean you have to be a missionary or some sort of minister to honor God?
Not at all. I mean, that's a definite possibility,
but you don't have to be a Christian plumber in Africa to honor God.
But what if all the doors seem closed to you?
You don't have the money for college or you didn't get the grades you needed
or you don't have the right connections for that job
or maybe there's just some physical or family problem holding you back.
In the process of glorifying God with our abilities, we face hundreds, even thousands of decisions.
And those choices will equal the life you get.
Let's listen to Stephanie for a minute. Now the odds are majorly stacked against her.
But is that going to stop her from having a life?
My mom and dad got divorced when I was 12.
My brother was shot when he was 16 and he's in jail.
I have another brother that's 21 and he's in jail.
I have another brother that's 25 and he's also in jail.
My younger brother is 11 and he's at home with me.
Somewhere I know my mom is thinking, you know, she's going to mess up.
I know this, you know, because all of my kids have messed up.
So I do think that my mom thinks I'm going to mess up.
And that's like, again, I say that's what makes me work so hard to try not to disappoint my mom.
So that's one thing that pushes me to do good, you know, and stay in school and stay know the drugs
and, you know, don't stay out late partying and stay on my job.
A lot of things are stressful, but I try to do good for the sake of myself,
to make a name for myself and be different from, you know, how I told you my brothers were.
And also to make my mom proud because she said that, you know, she didn't want to lose us in any type of way.
I see people my age that are on drugs and aren't in school.
And I'll be like, you know, this is not what I want for myself.
I want to do better. And I do want a name for myself.
And I want to make my mom proud.
I have a lot of mixed emotions.
Right now, after I graduate, I don't want to go right into a four-year university.
I want to take it slow. So I'm going to go to a community college.
And then I wanted to continue to work full-time in my job.
I know I want to be successful. And I want to be working five years from now.
And I want to be on my own.
If I do want something for myself and I work hard enough, I feel like I can reach it.
More than one-fourth of American high school students drop out.
Stephanie has a lot going against her, okay?
She's got family problems. There's drugs. There's crime all around her.
Gosh, a lesser person would probably give up and just say it's not even worth fighting for.
Okay, let's move along now. Let's get into some other...
Even sometimes when you try to make good decisions and you think they're good decisions,
bad things can happen. They get in your way.
I agree. Okay, are you finished?
Jeremy, that was very important.
I know it was very important. But we've got stuff to do here.
Because we've got to think about this.
Here's what to think about. The big question.
How do you go about making those huge decisions?
Well, how do you do it?
Well, I'm glad you asked me. Because I'm going to tell you.
First, I look at all the choices that I have.
Then I look at all the pros and cons, make a list of all the pros and cons.
Then I narrow it down to two very distinct choices.
And then I play a quick little game of,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe is the answer yes or no.
And that's perfect. That's how I do it.
You're out of your mind.
Well, why is that a bad thing? You're saying it like it's a bad thing.
Why don't we take a short break here and let you guys get a chance to discuss two options, okay?
One, what are some of the options that you have?
Let's take a short break here and let you guys get a chance to discuss two options, okay?
One, what are some of the obstacles that can get in your way of having a life?
And how do you go about making those really big decisions?
Welcome back to Fast Forward.
In the next part of our show, we're going to be talking about getting a life.
We're going to be talking about our futures.
We're going to be talking about how to make decisions.
Listen up.
Okay, let's go over four guidelines that will help you find God's will.
First, spend time with God.
Every night before I go to bed when I pray, I always ask God to help me make the right choices.
I got a four-wheel drive truck and I tend to drive way out in the middle of nowhere in the woods somewhere
and just sit there and think and, you know, think and pray.
The first thing I do is I pray about it and I just, you know, talk to God
and I basically get His will when I'm trying to make a decision.
There's no magic here, nothing bizarre, just simple conversations with God.
Because as we really spend the time reading the Bible and praying,
we start to get on God's wavelength.
You know, we actually find ourselves starting to think more like Him, to act more like Him,
and eventually start making the decision He wants us to make.
See, James 1-5 says it best when he says,
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all.
I know sometimes it seems like God is playing hide and seek with you,
but He really does want you to know what His will is.
So ask.
I ask advice from other people a lot.
I talk to my friends mostly.
I make a good, like, to my youth pastor.
I make big decisions by usually consulting my friends.
I'll talk to one of these three.
I really talk to my parents a lot because I listen to them,
and I know they've been out there before.
Ask family and friends.
About making the decision.
Now prayer and Bible reading, they're not the only ways to hear from God.
Often He communicates through advice from wise people.
And I hate to say it, but a lot of times these wise guys are adults.
I know you're probably thinking, nobody's ever gone through what I'm going through.
But you're wrong.
We all have.
And if you take the time to ask and to listen, you can learn from this.
You have to go step by step and plan your steps on how you're going to do things.
When I make decisions, I usually make a pros and cons list.
I look at all the options myself and see, you know, what kind of choices,
what kind of roads it'll lead me to in the future.
I try to weigh both sides of it, you know, and say what the best thing for me would be.
Set goals and, like, stick with them and fulfill them.
You got to have a plan, you know, what you're going to do in life so you won't fail.
Because we always say we're going to do something, but you just have to settle down and just do it.
Okay, so what happens if you feel like it's God's will for you to go to Podunk University
and they don't accept you?
Sometimes doors close and other doors open,
and God uses those things to guide us in the right direction.
That leads me to the third point.
Make sure to read the circumstances.
But a word of warning on this.
Some people only look at the circumstances and don't even listen to God's personal leading.
Maybe God does want you at Podunk U.
If so, he'll keep telling you,
and maybe you can take that summer class and apply again next semester.
And finally, my fourth point.
Be flexible.
Sometimes God leaves certain decisions up to us,
and that's a no-lose situation.
Just relax, kick back, and do what you think is best for you.
I mean, I was going to be an actor.
Alas, poor Elvis.
Right.
You know, I wound up being a writer and a director.
Don't ask me why, but the skills I learned in acting
have certainly helped in my writing and my directing.
You know, sometimes it's those special training periods
that don't make any sense at the moment,
but that really pay off in the long run.
I've always been kind of a carefree guy.
I used to go with the flow.
I had no clue what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
All I knew for sure was that I wanted to make a lot of money
and one of the gorgeous wives, that type of stuff.
You know, very worldly mindset.
Where's it hurt, bud?
When I began to realize
that I wasn't going to make these small steps,
much less meet my main goal,
it began to kind of drive me crazy.
I began to, you know, start thinking about
remembering all my boring days in sports.
It did begin to make me crazy.
My goal was to walk again,
but I knew that first I would have to move my hands
and then my legs and all that kind of stuff.
I've had several people tell me that I'm probably going to have,
probably going to be limited.
There's probably going to be lots of boundaries
throughout the rest of my life.
I feel like I can overcome them with God's help.
I'm going to college.
I'm majoring in secondary education.
I decided that I want to be a teacher and I want to coach.
I realized that money isn't everything.
I just want to be happy.
I think that's something that I'll be happy doing.
The only thing that I think God expects from me
is for me to try to be close to Him.
I think that's the only expectation He has of me,
is to truly love Him.
You know, this is exactly what Bill has said.
You know, Bill says we need to be flexible.
Things are changing in Tress's life.
He's changing to go with him.
I think that's great.
Things are working out for him better, don't you think?
Jeremy, pay attention.
Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm thinking.
What are you thinking about?
Candy?
No, I'm thinking about, I've got this audition tonight
and I'm a little off-kilter.
But are you excited?
Yeah, I'm excited and I'm ready in the whole night.
Oh, wait a second, this is perfect, this is perfect.
Okay, here, this is exactly what we were talking about.
Okay, I've got this audition on the one hand, right?
On the other hand, let's say hypothetically
that the final game of the NBA Championship
is on the television, too.
Now, what do I do?
Do I go and go to the audition
or do I stay home and watch the game?
Which happens once a year
and auditions happen all the time.
What do you think?
Okay, if you stay home, here's the pros.
You get to see the game with your friends.
You can hang out.
You get to see the results firsthand.
Maybe have a really good time.
Now, on the other hand, if I go to the audition,
I could get cast in the show,
get recognized by someone huge,
get cast in everything for the rest of my life
and make loads and loads of money.
But if I watch the game,
none of that is ever going to happen, okay?
Well, it makes it easier to skip auditions from now on.
You skip one.
You might as well skip another.
Exactly, and people will start thinking that.
So, the bottom line is, is that the little decisions
that we make in our lives every single day
affect everything else on down the line,
no matter how big or how small.
Like, if you're trying to study to make good grades,
you got to, you know, take your books home
and study and everything.
And you can't let the party
and get in your way and everything.
If you make Fs, you're going to be a failure.
If you make As, you're going to be a success.
And, like, sex, if you get pregnant,
then that could totally ruin your life.
Who we hang out with, you know,
and who we're friends with,
because that can, like, play a really important part
on how we act.
We've got four years coming up
of some of the biggest choices we're ever going to make.
Like, at parties when everybody's smoking and drinking,
if we want to do what they're doing
or do what we think is right.
We're not going to get hit on drugs,
because then, you know,
we'd be messed up for the rest of our lives.
You see, I got some of my friends that are, like, in gangs
and then they tell me to skip with them
and be in a gang with them.
But then I go to church,
I listen to God's Word,
and then I start thinking of Him,
then I start thinking of my friends,
and I'm, like, stuck in between.
And then, but mostly I listen to God.
Okay, I want to show you
how all these little decisions affect your life, all right?
Let's say this line down here is God's will for your life, okay?
Now, most of you are worried about the big decisions down here,
like, you know, who you're going to marry,
where you're going to go to school,
what you're going to do for a living.
And that's fine.
But what about these little decisions down here?
You know, like, how you treat somebody,
what you say, what you eat, what you drink,
how much time you spend with God.
Okay, so you make a little tiny wrong decision here.
No big deal.
You're still pretty close to God's will, right?
But what happens 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now?
And you're way, way off course from what God wanted,
because that angle just keeps increasing.
Now, I don't know where you're at.
I don't know if you're here, if you're here, if you're here.
It doesn't matter.
The point is, the little decisions you make down here,
day to day, affect where you're going to be later on.
Now, if you're already off course, okay.
The trick is you can get back on course.
In fact, we've got an entire show called Guilty Feat,
Got No Rhythm, that'll cover just how to do that.
God doesn't just sign a contract with you
and then leave you on your own.
I mean, he's there leading and guiding us all along the way.
This is what he promises.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel you and I will watch over you.
Now, it's true, your plans may change
somewhere along the line, and that's okay.
Just stay close to God to know what God wants you to do today.
No sweat.
See you next time.
Are you ready for your audition tonight?
Yes, I am.
Well, good.
I'm glad because this video is drawing to a close.
What?
Yes.
So soon?
No.
Oh, no.
No.
Oh.
See that?
Right there.
Classic textbook style acting.
Jeremy, what have you learned today on our video?
I learned that no matter what you're going to do,
no matter where you do it or when you do it,
do it in order to glorify God.
You've got to talk with God.
You've got to get on his wavelength.
You've got to keep in touch with him every day.
You've got to talk to the wise guys.
Wise people, parents, teachers, youth ministers, that sort of thing.
Actors.
Right.
Remember that God opens doors for us.
Open.
And sometimes God closes doors for us.
Close.
We have to be flexible and let God lead us through the circumstances
that make up our life, yes?
What are you doing?
I'm being flexible.
You know, sometimes you amaze me.
Thanks.
Sometimes I amaze people on the other side of the river.
Do you see those people over there on the other side of the lake?
If you would like Bill Myers to come to your youth conference
or your church to speak to you, give us a call or write us,
and we'll pass on your request to him.
And there was a guy picking flowers over there that I amazed.
And incidentally, if you're interested in contacting me for anything,
whether it be a Black Tie social event, a gala, if you will,
if you want someone to watch TV with you,
if you need a creative consultant, someone to jump out of a cake,
look, guys, I need the work.