A friend sent me this video, and I thought I would share it with you guys. It vividly depicts how easily we can be distracted and pulled away from walking with Jesus by the temptations that the world offers. Those choices can build, and before we know it, we can reach a point where we feel we are so far away from Jesus Christ that we are beyond help, that we are beyond redemption, a place where we can see no light or no hope. We can feel totally alone even when we are surrounded by people; no one cares or understands our situation. The reality is, however, that even when we are in that place - even when we have gone as far away or as low as we can go, that Jesus loves us. He loved us enough to come and die for us, so that our sins could be washed away by His blood. And He loves us enough to rescue us out of whatever situation we may have gotten ourselves into if we just turn and run to Him. Jesus is the answer. That voice that tells us that Jesus won't forgive us or love us after the things we have done is the voice of the devil - don't listen to him! Listen to the voice of truth - listen to Jesus; He is beckoning "Come to Me."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Website Update
I am sure that most of you guys check the church website daily, if not hourly (like you check this blog), for new updates and info; however, if your dog ate your mouse or something and you haven't seen it lately, check out the new and improved church website at http://www.sulphurspringsfwb.com/. It has a new look, new content, new design, etc. See what you think!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Quick Update
Wow, it has been a while since I have published anything - do I remember how?
STS Conference (seems like forever ago now) was fantastic. Our teens did a great job of sharing about the conference at the youth night in February (yeah guys!!). Another experience shared with the church was that of an opening video. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about - each year at the conference they do this countdown video to get everyone's attention before worship starts. This year we had Dr. Funky. Anyway, we did our own creation of funkiness (if that's a word) after we got back - if you missed it, you missed out; don't fret however - we will probably countdown to future youth nights with it! The fun stuff in Gatlinburg is always... well, fun, but the real blessing is seeing how God speaks to individuals through the conference; the other fades, but those messages remain that are written on our hearts.
What else... well, Winter Jam rocked - even in the nosebleed seats - and Ryan John was awesome. Spring has sprung, even though winter is fighting back with a vengeance periodically. Maybe it's just me, but this year really seems to be flying by. Sometimes we get so caught up in all the business of life that we forget to stop and just rejoice in who we are in Christ, to glorify Him for who He is and how He loves and cares for us, to encourage one another or just hang out and have a good time. When we do, our perspective gets skewed toward all of those "really important" little worries and tasks of life that won't mean a hill of beans (for those of you born after 1970 that means it doesn't matter at all - no impact) eternally. We can get so caught up in our "stuff" - school, work, our new car, ball practice - insert whatever you like, that we miss out on the joy He intends for us. I pray that we - you and I, won't lose focus on what truly matters.
STS Conference (seems like forever ago now) was fantastic. Our teens did a great job of sharing about the conference at the youth night in February (yeah guys!!). Another experience shared with the church was that of an opening video. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about - each year at the conference they do this countdown video to get everyone's attention before worship starts. This year we had Dr. Funky. Anyway, we did our own creation of funkiness (if that's a word) after we got back - if you missed it, you missed out; don't fret however - we will probably countdown to future youth nights with it! The fun stuff in Gatlinburg is always... well, fun, but the real blessing is seeing how God speaks to individuals through the conference; the other fades, but those messages remain that are written on our hearts.
What else... well, Winter Jam rocked - even in the nosebleed seats - and Ryan John was awesome. Spring has sprung, even though winter is fighting back with a vengeance periodically. Maybe it's just me, but this year really seems to be flying by. Sometimes we get so caught up in all the business of life that we forget to stop and just rejoice in who we are in Christ, to glorify Him for who He is and how He loves and cares for us, to encourage one another or just hang out and have a good time. When we do, our perspective gets skewed toward all of those "really important" little worries and tasks of life that won't mean a hill of beans (for those of you born after 1970 that means it doesn't matter at all - no impact) eternally. We can get so caught up in our "stuff" - school, work, our new car, ball practice - insert whatever you like, that we miss out on the joy He intends for us. I pray that we - you and I, won't lose focus on what truly matters.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday summary
It's 1:00 am and everyone is tucked in snuggly after a long day. We had two really great services today. It is exciting to see our teens bonding together and it is awesome to see God at work in the lives of young people.
As most of you probably know by now, Bronner Burgess drowned last night. Even in the midst of tragedy, God is still at work. I believe He has used this in this conference to teach us and bond us closer together.
This mornings service taught about the enemy of comparison. We looked at how the Hebrew spies were defeated by that enemy after scouting the promise land in Numbers 13 and 14, and we examined many different areas where we are vulnerable to comparison today. Life, however, is not for competing, but completing the will of God. No matter who we are, God has created us uniquely, to serve a unique purpose in a unique time. When we grasp that truth, we can delite in our uniqueness and serve Him with our life rather than trying to always desiring to live someone elses life.
Tonight, Scott Dawson challenged students to know Christ. He delivered a powerful message on trusting Christ for salvation. For tonights service, all six conference groups were brought together in one venue. Over 7200 teens and their leaders assembled in one auditorium. I must confess that I was very concerned as the service started. With their being that many students, many, including our group, were sitting far away from the stage. Even the projection screen in the center of the room looked far away. Add to that the constant movement of people in and out of the isles and to the concession and merchandise areas in the back of the room, and you end up with a very distracting environment. As much as I tried to focus, even I couldn't maintain attention and I was extremely concerned that the students would have the same difficulty. You must understand that even though all of the sessions are large in a conference like this, in every venue you can see the speaker clearly and feel conected to them and conference staff does an excellent job of eliminating distractions. I did not have that feeling tonight. In fact, I can probably tell you almost nothing of what the first speaker said. After he spoke, Kutless performed in concert (loud and raucous!), then Scott got up to speak. When he started, I was still struggling; people were still moving around and I saw kids who looked 10,000 miles away, fidling with their fingernails, messing with their stuff, etc -- how could God speak to anyone through this? The amazing thing is this though -- a few minutes into the message, and all of the distractions disappeared; those same kids who were fidgitting and out of it earlier were all of a sudden intently engaged. A room of 7200+ was all of a sudden so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When they were invited to accept Christ's offer of salvation, I watched some of those same kids who I could have sworn earlier didn't even know there was a speaker go forward, broken and crying, to receive salvation. God demonstrated in an amazing way that He is almighty; He is in control; the environment doesn't have to be perfect, the speaker doesn't have to be eloquent -- what matters is that He is God and He can speak to hearts through His Spirit and draw people to Himself in spite of what else is happening. Over 300 kids trusted Christ tonight. What an awesome God we serve!
We finished up the night with an incredible Toby Mac concert. It is even rumored of some dancing Jesus freak youth leaders, but you know you can't trust all rumors (and sometimes video footage mysteriously disappears)!!
Tomorrow we wrap up and head home, so this is the last "from the road" blog update. Thank you, parents, for trusting your kids to us; you have no idea how much of a blessing it is to be able to work with them and to watch them grow in the Lord. We love each one of them and, most of all, we love our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!!! See you at home!
As most of you probably know by now, Bronner Burgess drowned last night. Even in the midst of tragedy, God is still at work. I believe He has used this in this conference to teach us and bond us closer together.
This mornings service taught about the enemy of comparison. We looked at how the Hebrew spies were defeated by that enemy after scouting the promise land in Numbers 13 and 14, and we examined many different areas where we are vulnerable to comparison today. Life, however, is not for competing, but completing the will of God. No matter who we are, God has created us uniquely, to serve a unique purpose in a unique time. When we grasp that truth, we can delite in our uniqueness and serve Him with our life rather than trying to always desiring to live someone elses life.
Tonight, Scott Dawson challenged students to know Christ. He delivered a powerful message on trusting Christ for salvation. For tonights service, all six conference groups were brought together in one venue. Over 7200 teens and their leaders assembled in one auditorium. I must confess that I was very concerned as the service started. With their being that many students, many, including our group, were sitting far away from the stage. Even the projection screen in the center of the room looked far away. Add to that the constant movement of people in and out of the isles and to the concession and merchandise areas in the back of the room, and you end up with a very distracting environment. As much as I tried to focus, even I couldn't maintain attention and I was extremely concerned that the students would have the same difficulty. You must understand that even though all of the sessions are large in a conference like this, in every venue you can see the speaker clearly and feel conected to them and conference staff does an excellent job of eliminating distractions. I did not have that feeling tonight. In fact, I can probably tell you almost nothing of what the first speaker said. After he spoke, Kutless performed in concert (loud and raucous!), then Scott got up to speak. When he started, I was still struggling; people were still moving around and I saw kids who looked 10,000 miles away, fidling with their fingernails, messing with their stuff, etc -- how could God speak to anyone through this? The amazing thing is this though -- a few minutes into the message, and all of the distractions disappeared; those same kids who were fidgitting and out of it earlier were all of a sudden intently engaged. A room of 7200+ was all of a sudden so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When they were invited to accept Christ's offer of salvation, I watched some of those same kids who I could have sworn earlier didn't even know there was a speaker go forward, broken and crying, to receive salvation. God demonstrated in an amazing way that He is almighty; He is in control; the environment doesn't have to be perfect, the speaker doesn't have to be eloquent -- what matters is that He is God and He can speak to hearts through His Spirit and draw people to Himself in spite of what else is happening. Over 300 kids trusted Christ tonight. What an awesome God we serve!
We finished up the night with an incredible Toby Mac concert. It is even rumored of some dancing Jesus freak youth leaders, but you know you can't trust all rumors (and sometimes video footage mysteriously disappears)!!
Tomorrow we wrap up and head home, so this is the last "from the road" blog update. Thank you, parents, for trusting your kids to us; you have no idea how much of a blessing it is to be able to work with them and to watch them grow in the Lord. We love each one of them and, most of all, we love our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!!! See you at home!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Ramblings of a tired youth leader
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4
James 1:2-4
Our lesson tonight was out of James chapter one. The verses above were not actually the focal, but verses 18-27. We focused on our need for the Word in our life to be able to live a Christ-like life; to save us from ourselves (v21), to maintain our integrity, and to live out a witness that the world will take note of. Our students were challenged to be a doer of the word - i.e. to consume the Word of God themselves, for it to be real and personal and not just something they listened to others talk about; for them to personally tap into the power and strength only available from it. That was the encouragement that James wrote to the scatterred Christians abroad who were experiencing many difficulties and persecutions. Some of them probably were struggling with why bad stuff was happening to them who were seeking to follow Christ. It probably was not in their plan or vision of how they thought things whould be.
We didn't get to hear the next speaker. Rick Burgess was scheduled to speak to us after finishing his session at one of the other venues; while he was speaking at that session, his wife called him with the news that his youngest son had fallen in the pool... The ambulance had come, but things did not look good. Many of their church family are here at this conference. Scott Dawson delivered this news to us; we had prayer together with our youth group, then as a corporate body, sang a worship song, and dismissed.
We don't always know or understand God's plan, but we must trust that He does have a perfect plan. We must trust that He will shape us and mold us so we will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Sometimes that process hurts unbelievably, but He will put nothing on us that is too hard for is to bear. I know tonight a couple is struggling under that load, however. A mother is feeling isolated and alone in her fear and her grief; a father is feeling the most helpless and distraught he has probably ever felt. Nothing at all can console either of them; nothing except the Spirit of God. His peace and His comfort are all that can sustain them.
Our lesson tonight was meant to convict us that we needed God's word to stand out in this world; the lesson life taught us tonight was we need God's word to stand at all.
Please pray for the Burgess family. Pray also for all of the youth at this conference as they struggle to make sense of this tragedy. Pray that the fact we can take nothing for granted and the overwhelming truth that we need His strength and power in our lives - not just to hear about it, but to live it and to know it - will be cemented forever in their hearts and minds.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Snow!!
It's snowing!! The temp is still to warm for it to stick (no complaints about that) but the kids are loving the fact that white stuff is falling. One group stayed in Gatlinburg while the other headed up to Ober for ice skating (it at least involved ice and skates, whether "skating" actually occurred or not is debateable). We are on the tram on the way back down so I only have a minute. Update again later!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
We're here!!!
We have arrived safely in Pigeon Forge and everyone is situated in their home away from home for the next three days. God blessed us with great weather to travel in and we made good time, only stopping once for fuel and a snack. After that, the majority of the group sacked out. Even though it is very late, I am not at all sleepy from the excitement and anticipation. All the planning is over with and we're here - time to let go and let God move! The closer we got, the more I could feel the excitement building. We serve an awesome Lord and I can't wait to see what he has in store. Please continue to pray for us as the weekend progresses. Time to sign off for now - it is 2:30 in the morning and 7:30 will be here way to soon.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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