Ska-Mo-Bow 2010

Hello everyone!

We had a great time at the Nashville Baptist Association's all-night youth trip this last Friday night. We left the church around 10:20pm and got to the Centenniel Metroplex across from the Parthenon around 11:15 and went ice-skating for two hours. I took a massive spill at the end and bruised my rib cage. Everybody tried skating, but the popular thing to do by the end of that part of the night was to walk around the skating rink in shoes. Next, we drove to Belmont Heights Baptist Church and watched a movie called "Second Chance" about an affluent white church learning about inner-city ministry and compassion for their community. Most of the youth fell asleep during the movie. Finally, we went to Pla-More Bowling alley near Thompson Ln and had one regular lane and another lane with bumpers set up. We bowled while Richard and Rachel slept until 6am. We came back to the church and Mrs. Tracey Coulter met us and cooked us a big breakfast of sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits and chocolate chip pancakes with orange juice, milk, and coffee. Overall, the event went really well and we praise the Lord that no one got hurt (except for James) or lost. Austin and his friend Sara, Tobias, Richard, Rachel, Haley and her friend KK, and Brandon went with Jen and me, and we'll definitely have to do it again next year!!!

James

One Body, Many Parts

This Wednesday, we spent some time at the deacon ordination studying Scriptures about church structure and watching an ordination ceremony. Although that is probably about as interesting as road pavement to you, the idea of ordaining deacons in a church brings out the concept of church as a unified whole.

When you go to school, you wear clothes that you choose to wear (unless you have uniforms). You get to choose your own notebooks, pens & pencils, backpack, and classes. You get to choose what people you will interact with, and you choose what you get to eat at lunch. When you get home, you choose when or if to do your homework, and you choose how much effort and excellence to put into your studies. You get to choose your cell phone and who you will connect with, and you choose what after-school activities you want to do. Despite all of these choices, you are categorized as a "student" and your life revolves around school.

In Jesus' church, we are categorized by who we follow. If we serve Jesus Christ and work with His servants, we are considered Christ-followers. If we basically live our lives selfishly and include religion as just another part of our obligations, then we are considered idolaters, because our god is the worldly things we worship rather than the King of Heaven.

In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, God talks about the inner workings of His church. He calls it, "One Body, Many Parts." Sometimes in churches, people are all working in different ministries with different strategies to the point that they are very busy without actually accomplishing much for Christ or His Kingdom. Paul writes in verse 19, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' and the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you'!"

One of Satan's strategies to tear Christians apart and make them ineffective in reaching their communities is tempting them work separately. "You have your ministry and I have my ministry." We do this in the home as well. "You do those chores and I'll do my chores." Or, you will be rude to your parents, mean to your siblings, and make friends only with people that you like. The danger is that we prove nothing to others when we care only about ourselves. God wants more. He wants our obedience, our trust, and He desires you and me to work toward unity.

My challenge to you this week is to consider how you are contributing to the unity of your home, your church, and your school. How are you standing up for people who are often rejected by their school peers? How are you intentionally being nice to mean people? How are you working towards team-work rather than doing your own thing? Do you have a pray and a plan to reach a lost friend for faith in Jesus Christ? Think about it.

Taking Risks for Christ

We started a new study of Ecclesiastes on Sunday. We looked at some verses that King Solomon wrote as an old man as his last word to God's people before He died. He stated thought-provoking ideas such as, "generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever" (1:4). He also said, "the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing" (1:8). Finally, after living a life full of human-happiness-pursuits, he wrote, "I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind" (1:17).

Many of you are willing to take risks on the side of being disobedient or rude to your parents. Some of you are willing to take risks on the side of cheating at school. A few of you are even willing to risk self-destructive behavior that includes alcohol, drugs, or premarital sex. Some of you are in an inappropriate relationship with someone from the opposite sex that is not healthy and will adversely affect your future spouse.

The question I ask today is, "Have you ever thought about taking a risk for Christ?" You and I are so self-centered and full of pride that we are willing to take risks for sinful behavior because we either enjoy the adrenaline rush at being naughty, or we simply like rebelling against the status quo of authority and accountability in our lives. Youth always want "freedom" to make their choices unhindered by parents and authority figures.

King Solomon wrote about the importance of young people and obedience to parents in Proverbs. He said, "My son, keep your father's commands…when you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you" (6:20,22).

You may be accustomed to taking risks for evil and sin; however, God offers a life of risk for His kingdom. You put yourself at risk when you decide to stand up for righteousness and seek holiness. You take a risk when you break free from your bondage to sin and Satan's lies and let Jesus' blood cover your evil ways.

So, think about it. Are you willing to give up your little self-centered world where you think you are always right, humble yourself, and submit to the only resurrected Son of God who has the power to save your soul or throw you into the tortures of eternal hell? Or, will you be like everyone else your age and take risks for the wrong reasons?

A New Semester, A Familiar Attitude

Many times in life, we experience new events or seasons of our lives; yet, we bring the same perspective and attitude to the table. Even though God is blessing us with new opportunities and fresh chances to get the most out of life, we fail to be all that God wants us to be because we are in the way.

On Sunday night, we started studying an evangelism tract called Your Life: A New Beginning. We began learning how to actually verbalize the Gospel Truth so that God can bring lost people into our lives. When we can share the Gospel with people, God will give us the responsibility of actually doing it. We may already know people right now who do not trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord; however, we probably feel nervous or insecure about telling them that Jesus saves!

We started highlighting important verses in the Bible that help us remember the essentials of evangelism. For example, we cannot forget Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of God's glory." We also need to understand Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." A final Scripture essential to our faith is John 14:6 where Jesus Himself says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

As you think about your impact on the lives of your family members, friends, fellow students, teachers, and even random acquaintances and strangers, think about your attitude. Check your soul and see if you are being judgmental, negative, selfish, or simply uncaring. Then, repent and let God fill you with His love so that you can love yourself and be kind and generous to others.

God loves you and died for you. He has given you this next school semester as a gift. What you do with the gift is up to you.

The 2010 R's of Discipleship

Dear Young Friend,

If you have been to any of our recent Bible studies, you know that we have been working through the text of Paul's second letter to his disciple Timothy. We have been focusing on a process of coming to God daily that is essential to our spiritual growth. Because our challenge by Pastor Doug on the sign outside by the road is to "make worship a priority in 2010," we have to consider what that means and how to live up to the charge!

Here is the process we discussed:

1) Recognize: We have to recognize that we have a sin problem, and we have to understand that sin in all its forms separates us from peace with our God.

2) Reflect: We must reflect on God's Word, because the Bible is the only place to find the Truth that sets us free from our bondage to sin.

3) Repent: We must repent of our sin. In other words, you and I have to understand that we are totally lost in life without God's forgiveness, and we must beg Him for grace (giving us what we do not deserve).

4)Reconcile: We must reconcile with God. Basically, we must make peace with God by allowing Jesus to heal us of our independent attitude and commit to follow God with more passion.

5) Reach Out: We must reach out to our lost friends and family. We have to learn how to communicate the good news about Jesus and then actually share Jesus with someone verbally.

Allow me to share a quote from one of my favorite authors, Paul David Tripp, "When I come to the Lord after I have blown it, I have only one argument to make. It is not the argument of the difficulty of the environment that I am in. It is not the argument of the difficult people that I am near. It is not the argument of good intentions that were thwarted in some way. No, I have only one argument. I come to the Lord with only one appeal, His mercy. I have no other defense. I have no other standing. I have no other hope. I cannot escape the reality of my biggest problem - me!" (Whiter Than Snow, 21)

When we focus on God, we have to be ready to give up who we are in order to gain the blessings of who He is. Are you ready to do that this year? If you are not, then you probably are not saved, and you need the grace of God to fill your life. Recognize you are the problem. Reflect on what Scripture teaches about salvation. Repent of your rebellion against God. Reconcile with Him and live for Him. Reach out with your testimony and impact the lives of people you know who have no hope.

James