Church Camp!

Well, first off I apologize for not posting sooner. Blogger hasn't let me get on my account, and the week before this I went to church camp.
Every year our youth group goes to a camp in the middle of nowhere (for my views on youth groups and church camps, contact me). But, hey! You can get closer to God in the middle of nowhere too!
But, last week was very cool. The Justin Cofield Band led worship for all of the services, and Brandon Barnard was the speaker. Both had great focus on God, and brought what he wanted them to. I know they both spoke to my heart through the messages and worship.
I could go on for days about church camp. But, I'll just give little snippets of what God gave me, and what, no doubt I will be posting on in the near future.
~Our God is a consuming fire. Fire for Him in our lives may consume things that are there now.
~God doesn't want us to surrender our stuff. He wants us to surrender ourselves.
~Live for eternity. Life is way too short to focus on.
~Store up treasures in heaven. You will be blessed when you can cast them at Jesus's feet when you get there.
~Many people think they've found something better than Jesus. Impossible!
~May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi. Let the rabbi be Jesus.
~You have to pursue God. He will pursue you, but you have to pursue him too.
~It's not reckless abandon to God. It's actually very calculated.
~Sin is sin. It's all even in God's sight.
~Many times we apologize for what we do, not for who we are.
~Where sin is concerned, people just mumble now. (this is talking about specifically confessing your sin)
~To confess means to own up to the fact that our behavior wasn't just the result of bad parenting, bad genes, and chemical inbalances caused by twinkies. But, somewhere you made a bad choice in the mix. -Sorry, I didn't catch his name
~Take responsibility for everything you do. Every bad decision, every time you mess up. You live in a generation of irresponsible people. Be responsible!
~You don't just offend people with sin, you offend God!
~True confession brings change in your life.
~You don't follow your own rules with Jesus.
~It doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less.
~Don't be training to be good. Train to be godly.
~Aim at nothing and you'll hit it everytime.
~Training:Here's what you do:
1. Eat right- Learn to have a steady diet of scripture. Consume the spirit. It isn't enough to read God's word. Let God's word read you.
2. Excercise- Excercise your faith. You have to get in shape. We have some overstuffed Christians. Change, then practice. Learn, try it out and practice.
~God will never give up on you.
~God is a consuming fire. He is all that remains.
~The Israelites had to cover the doorway in blood to be saved. We have to go through Jesus's blood to be saved.
~You have to be willing to die to follow Jesus.
To be continued...
(note: I have MANY more pages of notes to condense and type in. This is just a very small portion. But, please ponder these thoughts, and ask any questions you might have.)

Here I Am....

God has been doing a work in our youth group lately, and I am glad to see the spiritual leaps we have taken lately. We are experiencing the best worship and teaching I have ever been a part of. A great deal of that is our youth group's leaders. They're awesome! But, above all, all glory goes to God. But, part of the reason is that our youth group is ready: we're about where we need to be in our walks with Christ. Part of the reason for that is we're here, and we're ready to be used by God.
The reason I said that is not to brag on our youth group, or our leaders, but to tell what can happen when you get out of the way, and let God use you. We have seen over 30 people saved since last August. PTL! But, the reason we have seen such wonderful results is that we told God we were here and we were ready to be used. We simply had to get out of the way so that he could work through us. What could happen in your life if you got out of the way?

**Note**: Discussion Questions:
I have decided not to post formal questions this time. Instead, I just going to ask that you share verses pertaining to this subject, and your thoughts about them. As always, I will moderate the discussion.
Soli Deo Gloria!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!

In youth service tonight, we had two pray to recieve Christ!!!! They were both highschooled young ladies. Please pray for them, that they would stay strong in their faith, and for it not to be an emotional decision, but a heart decision. And, thank God for choosing to bless us this way!!!! Ptl!!!!!

Just a Quick Update on the Easter Program

Ok, well, yesterday I said that we had a total of five saved. Last night at the Easter Program, we had a full house, and had to set chairs up in the aisles!
Anyways, last night we had two saved and eight recommitments to Christ! PTL!!!!
That makes seven decisions and over twenty recommitments!

What Do You Bring to the Table?

What do you contribute to your fellow believers in Christ? Do you do nothing, sitting silently in a corner, always listening? Or, do you try to give God your all and get involved?

Mary, Lazarus's sister, brought Jesus a great gift: she annointed him with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. The Bible says that the perfume was worth a year's wages. Today, that would be, on average, $30,000 to $35,000 (or somewhere in there). Would you sacrifice everything you would earn for a year, just to be rubbed on somebody's feet? Well, to be honest, I don't think most of us would. But, if it is Jesus's feet, that is a very different matter. But, still, who would? I could say that I would, but would I? I hope I would, but I haven't been in that situation yet. We need to give God our best, and we can't do that in a corner. We have to be in the action, right in the middle of whatever is happening.

But, really, how are you serving God? Are you serving him boldly, and with a purpose? Or, are you too ashamed to attend church openly? Serve God boldly, he didn't die in secret for you. He died in the open, for all to see. Serve him openly and boldly, but don't flaunt it, or boast about what you are doing for God. I am not saying you shouldn't serve God behind the scenes, in fact, I am saying to serve God and not be ashamed of it, and don't try to hide it. If you don't get recognition, that's okay. Those already rewarded with the praise of men have been rewarded. But, those who haven't will be rewarded by God (who wouldn't want to be?).

Bring things to the table, seen or unseen. Serve Jesus without any shame!