These are the best of times. These are the worst of times." Not my line, but it can apply to any age and any person. If you are A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and you recently penned your name on a 10-year, $252-million deal to play baseball, well, it is the best of times, at least from a financial standpoint. (I'm from Texas and like the Rangers, but, please! $252 million? Give me a break!) If you are a 16-year old from Zimbabwe infected with AIDS and, thereby, sentenced to an early death, it is the worst of times. What a senseless tragedy!

Are times good or are they bad? It's all a matter of perspective.

 If you are a young person living in America, you've been surfing on the crest of a very long period of financial expansion. And yet we don't have to look very far to find homeless, hopeless people from sea to shining sea. No matter where we live, we can always look around and find people who are seemingly way better off than we are—and we can also find people whose situation is way worse than ours.

I hope that you are dreaming big dreams and chomping at the bit to unleash your energy on the world. But, how do we keep the proper perspective as we go for it? And what does all of this have to do with church? Let's continue thinking about it together.

One thing that concerns me about America today is that it seems the whole country is consumed with the pursuit of making money and getting stuff for ourselves. We are a nation of shoppers. Materialism. I know, you probably don't like the word any more than I do. Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, too. But, if you and I are not careful, it is easy to get fooled into thinking that money brings happiness.

Not long ago I was flipping through a People magazine that featured the sexiest people or something like that. (Some guy named Brad was on the cover.) Anyway, one thing I noticed as I skimmed the bios was that almost every celebrity had been married and divorced several times. Fame and fortune can have a high cost at the human level. Is divorce painful? Do human beings suffer intense, deep personal hurt when relationships go bad and crumble? Absolutely! But I wonder if the stars would trade their fame and fortune for one healthy, happy, lifelong marriage? My guess is that in most cases the answer would be no. And that is the problem.

You see, we have our priorities messed up in America and it is affecting the whole world. God has blessed us (because of promises to Abraham and Joseph) so that in a short 200 years we have become the most powerful, richest nation to have ever existed. And yet, instead of thanking God for the gifts, we push God the Father and Jesus Christ out of the picture and focus on the things we've been given. Instead of bringing contentment, wealth and freedom push us to want more and more. Make no mistake, too much is never enough when you're running on this treadmill!

Does this mean we shouldn't strive for success or to make a good living? No, not at all. Many of the heroes of the Bible were successful financially. But, it is a matter of priorities in your life. I have talked to a number of young people who think that God and the Church are important, but not the highest priority yet. "I'll focus on that after I finish—school, getting married, making a million, signing with the Texas Rangers [oops, they're broke now] whatever"—fill in the blank. It may not seem like it, but this is a risky approach.

 I was in college when Star Wars came out and my buddies and I stood in line to see it at a big theater in Hollywood. What a flick! (I saw it 11 more times that year.) Remember in the movie when Obi-Wan Kenobi explains to Luke that Darth Vader had been seduced by the dark side of the force? Now in the prequels to Star Wars we'll learn how writer George Lucas will have the good Anakin Skywalker turn into the evil Darth Vader. When a person is seduced, he or she is tricked into doing or becoming something he or she didn't originally want. That is the danger with our American quest for riches—it is very seductive. If you and I are not careful, we can wind up being something other that what we planned and, like most of our fellow countrymen, shove God into the background of our life.

I have a few suggestions about how to keep your bearings while going for the gold. You, your parents and your friends will surely discover additional keys to a rich, successful life where God is still number one!

1. Do not start your day without spending at least a little time reading the Bible and praying. Everyone is so busy these days. But you and I both know we make time for the things that are important to us. OK. You don't have time for an hour of intense Bible study each morning. Fine. Maybe read two or three chapters a day. Spend a few minutes in prayer on your knees. Trust me, you need this daily connection to be grounded to what's real. See the United Church of God's Bible Reading Program at http://www.ucg.org/brp.

2. Develop a worldview. When God looks down from the third heaven and sees His creation, He sees it all. He sees people in Africa eking out a subsistence living. He sees Eskimos braving freezing conditions. He sees every human all over the globe. But sometimes you and I can take an egocentric view. You know, we are the center of the universe and everything spins out from there. (There are a lot of people who drive like they are the only person on the planet.) I suggest you get in the habit of reading news periodicals that keep you in touch with what is going on all over. For example, while we Americans concentrate on our own issues, brothers (Jacob and Esau) have been spilling the blood of their children in the Middle East. Keeping an eye on world events will help us keep our quests in perspective and, hopefully, will help us realize how much this world needs the Messiah.

3.  Use your strength, energy, creativity and leadership ability to inspire someone less fortunate than yourself. There are plenty of opportunities to do this in a church setting, but there are also plenty of ways to do this in your everyday life. There is something "magical" about helping someone else. It actually helps you. I don't know exactly how you'll do this. But I do know you have special gifts and you can figure out how to share them. Do this and your life will begin to take on special meaning.

Let's review. Work hard to be successful. Keep your priorities right with daily prayer and Bible study, and develop a worldview while being an inspiration to others.

Oh yeah. What about the question in the title? What do you need right now? You may be surprised at my answer. Church is important, but it is not the most important thing you need right now. What you desperately need is to begin developing a real relationship with your heavenly Father and your Savior, Jesus Christ. "Hold on," you might say. "Do you mean I can have a relationship with God and forget the Church?" No, I don't mean that at all. If you have a real relationship with the God Family, the Church—the Body of Christ—will be a huge part of that relationship.

Someone who has a healthy relationship with God will also want to have a relationship with His children. That's the Church! The prophet Malachi says that those who fear God—those who have a healthy, respectful relationship with Him—speak often with one another (Malachi 3:16). And Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." My point is, if you concentrate on God first, church and everything else will fall in line.

You need God and Christ in your life and all the wonderful things that flow from Them right now so that everything else stays real! YU