Thinking about camp again made me think of this song that I learned there(currently my favorite)It also helped me to reflect on the light, the strength of where I stand in Christ.

"In Christ Alone"Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart TownendCopyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My comforter, my all in all—

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

This morning, I was reading in Psalm 31 about God being our refuge when we need one most, and it reminded me of a time at camp this summer, when I was dealing with an extremely difficult staff member. God provided a way for me to talk with Him about what I was going through. When I would get to feeling pretty discouraged, I could go back to God and think of his goodness to me in other circumstances, and realize that he was going to pull through this time too. God is my refuge and strength, even when there's nobody else to talk to, in His prescence, I was able to 'regroup' Phredd

Hey everyone, hope you are doing well on the last day of August 2007. The summer has flown by! Just wanted to hit 2 items:

1. Teen Sunday School resumes in 2 days, Sept. 2nd. Our class this Sunday will include a time of refreshments (bacon, eggs, pancakes--just kidding, fruit, muffins, juice, etc.); a time of testimonies, fellowship, accountability, and challenge. Come prepared to challenge us with what you have been learning in your walk with Christ--it will be like our blog, only out loud.

2. Keep up the encouraging ministry on the blog. It's great to see what you are learning. Men, let us hear from you also, not just our ladies (ladies we still want to hear from you). Thanks for being transparent about your walk with Christ.

Here's a song, I thought would be helpful:

Each step along earth's pilgrimage our knowing God directs.
to all who claim the Savior's name, He graciously perfects.
In every stage of life there is a change that must be made.
"Oh change me to Christ-likeness, Lord", many times I've prayed.

Thanks for the victory you give for each hour.
Thanks for provision to claim your matchless power.
Thanks for the trials your victory can claim.
May every testing bring honor to Your name.

Praying for you,

Pastor Jon

Thought provoking

I was reading in Genesis this morning the story of Noah. And two things really jumped out at me.
1. In chap 6 it was talking about how God was observing all the wickedness on earth and how it displeased Him. But then in verse 8 it says "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
Think about this for a minute, God had looked over the entire earth and the ONLY Godly man He found on it was Noah! Can you imagine what kind of guy Noah was? I mean we sometimes complain about the amount of peer pressure we have living in the world today... but can you imagine the amount of peer pressure Noah went thru? His family was the ONLY Godly family on earth! The amount of faith he had to of had is amazing when you really think about it!

And 2. is that in 7:16 at the end of the verse it says "... and the LORD shut him in." In regular English it basically means that God shut the door. Imagine what it was like to actually be there for that, there is this huge boat sitting in basically the middle of the desert, in the last couple of days 2 of every kind of animal has boarded this boat for no appearant reason, and suddenly the door shuts all by itself! What a awesome display of His power!!
Well I am praying for you all and hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!
Kristin Hanson

Struggling with...

It's been really, really hard for me to 'find the time' lately to really dig deeper into my devotions. I can feel the difference it makes on my days - and I don't like it! I want so badly to draw closer to God each and every day, and lately I know that I haven't set aside enough time to do that. Please pray that I will make the time to spend longer than 10 minutes on my devotions! Thank you! You all mean so much to me and I truely thank God everyday for you all!

Becca

Need some prayer...

Emily's gone... This is such a big change to our family. Em and I were best friends. I miss her so much already. Pray for me and my family. I guess you could say I feel very lonely indeed. Thanks guys....what would I do without my faithful prayer partners?
having a hard time,
biz

In my prayers

Hey guys I just wanted you all to know that even while I'm gone you will all be in my prayers and that I am so proud of all of you and the decisions you have made and kept so far. I am so excited to hear about all that will happen in the coming weeks and months and it makes me want to stay home and be a part of it!!!! Well, I will miss you and I love you all!!!!! God has blessed me beyond my expectations with friends like you! May God bless you. In love, Tara

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God.

"The God on whom we rely knows what suffering is all about - not merely in the way that God knows everything, but rather by experience."

Were the WHOLE realm of nature mine, that would be a present FAR too small: Love SO amazing - SO divine, THAT demands my soul, my life my ALL



Chrystal

Hey guys, I wanted to thank you for being such an influence to me, since I have been home. It is awesome to read your posts, and see how much we are learning in the word, and encouraging each other to keep moving forward for Christ. Thank you for encouraging me to keep in His word. I need accountability. That has helped me grow more, and want to be in His word. A lot of people have "friends." God has blessed me with YOU GUYS!!! You guys are TRUE friends. Thanks again for being such a help to me. I love you guys!! I'll be praying for you all.

Sincerely,

Chris

Questions and Thoughts

ok...I have a few questions from what I have been reading in Proverbs. In Ch. 22:6 it says "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it" I don't fully understand what this means because I know of a lot of parents who have trained a child the way they should : taught them what was right, shared Gods Word daily with them, prayed for them, disciplined them etc. but yet the child still chooses his own way when he gets older. So what is this verse saying? Ok, next question. in 22:28 it says "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set" What does that mean? Why did David say that?... Biz? Anyone? Alright, those were my questions (and please let me know what you think!) but here is a verse that I found recently that goes along with what Rand was talking about at camp about not putting price tags on people. Proverbs 22:2 "The poor and rich meet together: The Lord is the maker of them all" God made each one of us for a purpose and He died for ALL the world. Why do we so often think of ourselves as better than others? I know that that is something I can struggle with at times. The Lord has really shown me that it is really a SIN to be thinking that way. Ok, those are my questions and thoughts for the day.

In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

Courage

<sup>I posted a ton of verses but if you read the whole thing it is very powerful!

Joshua 14:
6</sup>Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

⁷Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

⁸Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

⁹And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

¹⁰And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

¹¹As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

¹²Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

¹³And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

Contrasting two different tribes/people:

Joshua 17:
¹²Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

Joshua 15:
¹⁴And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

I was reading Joshua... where it talks about the tribes of Israel going and claiming their individual territories... and what land did Caleb request??? The mountain with giants!!! Why??? Caleb had faith in his God... he wasn't afraid to face the giants... remember when he and Joshua came back from spying on the land? The report was that the land was fruitful but the people were giants... Caleb and Joshua encourage the people to trust God and claim the land, but the Israelites doubted! Oh yeah, and Caleb was 85!

What is the application for you and I? Don't be afraid to face your spiritual giants! Trust God... do NOT underestimate His power!!!

Joshua 1:
⁶Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.



This has been a late evening sermon by,
Striving for Excellence!!
John Dierking

Prov. 21:30-1

I know, I'm posting AGAIN! I read two passages today and God showed me alot of new stuff. These verses warn against fighting against God, which will bring destruction. But, it also warns not to fight (go through life) without Him either. God wants to help us through everyday and throughout our life!
tired of typing,
biz

Prov. 20: 25

This is a very strangely worded verse. I got a Ryrie study Bible, and the notes are sooo incredibly helpful! It told me what the verse means in a sentence: "It is perilious to dedicate something to the Lord (or make decisions) and then reconsider the vow." I'd make a commitment to God--say about having my devotions regularly--and forget about it or break it! I think God would say that we shouldn't even make decisions that we know we won't even keep. It's like breaking a promise to God! I've done that in the past. But with God's help (I need alot alot alot of it!) I'm going to strive to keep those vows that I made to Him at camp.
Hoping this helped you as it did me,
biz

Integrity

So, as I was reading Proverbs this morning this one verse really jumped out at me, verse 7. "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him." It jumped out at me because Paul had been talking about integrity the last few days and how important it is in the Marine Corps. Integrity is defined as "doing what is right even when no one's watching". I must admit that for myself, it is very easy to say, "No one is gonna see, no one will know if I slip up this one time." But as we all know, God sees everything. I know that I must start praying that the Lord will help me have some integrity in my life in the coming weeks and months. It's almost easy to do right when people are watching, but we should never do something right so that others will notice, it should all be to the glory of God. I know that most of this we have heard a dozen times, but i believe there is a difference in hearing with your ears and hearing with your heart. So, let's all listen anew to what we've heard. I'm praying for all of you, as I hope you are praying for me.

God is SO good

Hey,
I just thought I would share a way that God encouraged me today. I was feeling a little discouraged this afternoon for some reason. And I was kind of thinking about how hard it has been already to keep the decisions I made at camp. Well, I just told God that for some reason I was feeling kind of down, I really didn't "feel" like having my devotions that morning and I just prayed "God, I don't know what my problem is but help me to keep my focus on You" Well, a couple hours after I prayed that, Carissa Hawes called me to ask me a question about something minor and I ended up talking to her for about two hours! We just talked about our camp experiences (since she didn't get in on the van discussion =) and the different stuff we were struggling with and we were discussing how faithful God is even when we are not and we reminded each other of the verse "A just man falleth seven times and riseth back up again" (I think that is going to become MY verse =) Anyways, she probably had no idea how much of an encouragement she was to me but after we got off the phone I was smiling and I was thinking "You knew I needed that, Lord!" Anyways, I just want to remind you all to stick with your decisions and to please keep praying for me and all the others! It really DOES make a difference. Also another thing I want to mention...Carissa was saying how hard it is to be away from our youth group , to start this new church and that they will probably be moving. She is excited about it but its also difficult...You know? So I am trying to think of ways that we all can encourage her and Christiana, to let them know we care and are still praying for them as teens. If ya'll have any ideas, please comment and we can all work something out together.
Chrystal

Praise

Hey ya'll!
I have a praise, this morning the mom of my friend that is in Peru called me to tell me she is ok. She called her mom this morning to let her know everything is alright, none of them were hurt, and the church they were in barely got any damage at all. It appearantly was a lil scary but they are all fine and I think are now going to send relief packages to the hard hit areas.
Thank you for praying for her!
Kristin Hanson

Keep on, Keeping on for Jesus!

Hey ya'll Kidults!! :) Just wanted to say that I'm prayin' for you guys. A start of another week! Start it out right in God's Word!! I hope you guys are feeling better too! I know alot were sick ( and sore from the picnic). Remember to put God 1st each day!!
biz

Reminder...

Don't forget to use the CDs from the messages to be a reminder to you about what you learned at camp. If you took 1 home, bring it back and get another 1.

I emailed Rand Hummel to let him know about the great things God was doing in your hearts, here is part of his reply: "We don't always hear what happens once campers arrive home but I do know that my heart was overfilled with joy (I know because it leaked out my eyes) as I see the tender hearts of your teens. What you said about no specific service or time encourages my heart even more to know it is totally of God. Thank you for your incredibly encouraging letter. We serve a great God. Tell your teens they were a blessing to me ... "

Praying for you,
Pastor Jon

Prayer Request

Hey guys, I wanted to ask you if you could pray for Danny. My grandparents just called. We found out, about Danny's last M R I. The doctors found two spots around his brain. We were praying that nothing else would come up because he has been doing so well. Danny is going to have to go through a year of treatment. He will probably miss a lot of school this year. I ask you to pray for him, and his family. He told his parents that he is going to fight this!!! Please pray for Danny. He is really upset. If you want to send him a note, I will get the address for you. He loves to get notes, and letters. I'm sure he would love to get something from you. I know God can use bad times, for good. I hope I will be able to see him soon. Thanks you so much!!

Sincerely,
Chris

!!! =)

You guys need to stop writing books... I finally finished reading them and then didn't have the time to write anything!! JK
I need a lot of prayer people!!! I tend to be a bit of a grumpy person..so I would be very happy if you all would pray that I would have a happy spirit all the time !!! Does that make sense to you? I hope so...
Continuing to pray for you all,
Rachel

Press Toward the Mark

I was playing the piano this morning and just randomly flipping through the Wilds book and playing various songs. I was playing this particular song and not even paying attention to the words at first. But when I began reading them I realized how well they applied to me. Whoever suggested we read/share songs with each other, thanks! I have really enjoyed reading through some of the songs ya"ll (yes, I know, being at the Wilds last week made me start picking up some of that southern dialect =) have written out and read them as if for the first time. Anyways, Here is the song I read this morning....I especially like the second verse...


He who began this great work in you
Will nurture and lead as He said He would do.

You have humbled yourself, to His word have been true;
You've been willing to change_ now what will you do?

Chorus:
Press t'ward the mark; strain t'ward the goal;
Press on-ward and forward, both body and soul
for the heavenly prize, for the look in His eyes,
and for the crown that will not fade away
Forget things behind; reach farther ahead.
Oh follow the Saviours example instead
Count all gain as but loss, and all loss as but gain
to know Him, our glory, our all.

Be not ashamed; with boldness pursue
the approval of Christ in all that you do

Proclaim His great Word; be consumed by His love;
Pursue Him alone until with Him above


In awe of Him,
Chrystal

Good Morning, I hope you all are doing well. On Wednesday night I was able to talk to one of Kyle and Keaton's friends named Brad. I met him before, but I never talked to him about God. So while we were getting a drink, I asked him if he is able to go to church anywhere, and he goes to some church. Afterward, Kyle told me that he received Christ as savior at Bible club, several years ago. I'm praying that I would be able to get to talk to him again soon. Could you pray for him, I don't know what kind of family situation he comes from. I hope I will be able to be an influence to him. I pray for you all everyday. I am so excited to see how God is going to use us for HIS glory!!! Keep striving for excellence!!

In Prayer of You All,

Chris

Deliverence!!!

My verse of the day is: Psalms 2:8
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession!

I believe this verse is not talking about literal heathen, but spiritual.

If you read the verses before, (vs. 1-3) it talks about the kings making a league together to attack Israel.

Then (vs. 4) the Bible says, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh…” And it continues to talk about God’s view of these people and how the Psalmest has “set (God) upon (his) holy hill of Zion.” He put God first. Then it goes into

Vs. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession!

Vs. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel!

Pastor Walters can correct me if I’m wrong about this but…

It makes sense for the Psalmest to use an analogy here. I believe the whole chapter is about spiritual warfare… The kings attacking Israel would represent our spiritual enemies… (Devil/demons)


It is neat to see that God laughs at our enemies… not because of the damage that they are doing, but it is more of a superior laugh… I can break them without thinking twice about it!

But, what did the Psalmest have to do?

Vs. 6 Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Put God first in your heart…

And God says… I will break them with a rod of iron; I will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel!

Wow!!! What an encouragement!!! My God can do ANYTHING!!!


This has been a midmorning challenge by,

Striving for Excellence,
John Dierking

"His Word is a jewel rare"

Just wanted to say that I think I've learned more this week about God and life as a Christian then I have in a long time! PRAYER REQUEST: Next weekend my grandparents are spending the weekend with Katie and I while my parents take Em to BJ. Pray that I would be a good example and that they would see how I value time with God. Pray that I would even be able to share about what happened at camp, etc. Thanks guys! I"m counting on your prayers! I'm praying for each of u, daily! Do u guys see people in a new light? I sure do! I view alot of things differently...praise God!!! Remember to pray for your family members as well...we can be a good example to them (with God's help!!!). Goodnight ya'll (WILDS talkin'!)

biz

My thoughts as of late in condensed form...

I started reading from Proverbs this morning (I read chapter 16, just in case you were wondering! ;)) And I tell you, I felt like circling/underlining the entire chapter! Haha, I might as well just circle my entire Bible, because God's Word is just that amazing! Anyway, the first verse was an encouragment to me on the subject of speaking in public (testimony time!) and witnessing:
"The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD."
And I also wanted to know what you all thought about verse 33:
"The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD."
What did you all get from this verse?
Oh my goodness, I have so much to comment about! I really need more time! Haha. But just to skim over the youth rally last night, It was really something we all needed to hear. Satan is so cunning. He uses things that make us think that we're making decisions on our own, but we are really just following Satan's will! isolation, indulgement, and identification are three of the major ways he tries to deceive us. We can only resist these temptations by staying focused on God and being in His Word! It's amazing how even in the chapter from Proverbs I read this morning had several verses that encouraged me concerning what we heard last night!
verse 3 -Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
verse 9 -A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps
Alright, I'm going to stop here, because this is just getting ridiculous (time and length!) but I just want to say a big AMEN! to everything else that has been posted on this blog!!Gooooddddnight! :)
Becca

It just got even harder!

Here is another challenging verse!!!

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;


Casting down imaginations
This is talking about sensual desires.

and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God
This is talking about your idols... what you think about more than God.

and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
everything that crosses your brainwaves should be tried against Gods standards... if it does not pass inspection toss it out...

what are God standards?
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Wow! And we thought this repentance thing would be easy!!! Remember:
Gods will is hard up front, but the blessings come down the road!
The devils will is easy up front, but it is hard down the road!

This has been an early morning challenge by:

John D.
Striving for Excellence

Encouraging

Ok I know I didnt go to the Wilds with ya'll so I am kind of "out of it" but i just wanted to say what an encouragment/challenge ya'll have been to me since you have gotten back from camp.
I can honestly say that outside of the CIT program at the Wilds (which by the way you should all do if you can) I have never been around a group of people my age that are really trying to know God better. I have seen a HUGE difference in all of you. Yes I know I dont know you guys very well, but you can see the change in your faces. You really do have genuine outrageous contagious joy! And it shows! It is so encouraging to me personally because I prayed that God would put me in a Godly youth group... and being the great God that He is, He answered my prayer!
So keep it up, the blog title is right this really is just the start!

Love in Christ,
Kristin
Phil 4:11
P.S. I have a prayer request to, my best friend Joanna Tyrrell is in Peru right now on a missions trip. And I dont know if you have been following the news, but there was a huge earthquake there around where she is that killed hundreds of people yesterday. We havent heard yet if she is ok or not so if you could that her and her missions team are safe we would greatly appreciate it!

Rally

I thaought it was neat how he said satan tries to get us away from godly influence and then it's so easy for him to trap us. I have seen that in people's lives recently.
Jordan Dierking

Gods Will/Satans Will for Your Life

Wow! Tonight was such an awesome reminder of what all I learned last week at the Wilds. The speaker was great and I feel sorry for those of you who had to miss out on it. If I hadn't already gotten things right in my life last week I would have definitely been convicted! The speaker really did a great job. The one thing I really liked was how he said "You have heard so many times about Gods will for your life, but what you don't hear about is how Satan also has a will for your life. Satan doesn't want us to be a clear image that represents Christ and so he wants us to follow his will by making compromises and changing our identification" We read from Daniel 1:1-7 and it was talking about how the Chaldean's tried to change Daniel (his name, his eating habits, etc. ) and make him become like them but Daniel stood firm and in 6:26 even the King calls Daniel by his real name and says that Daniels God 'is the living God, and steadfast for ever' and it just shows that Daniel was "non-negotiable" in his faith...(like John posted) and was able to be greatly used by God. The speaker used a verse from 1 John... "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" If we are striving to be like Christ, we should not be willing to make any kind of compromise with the world. Alright...its late and I need to hit the sack, but I learned a lot tonight and felt the need to share...
Chrystal

Its hot, Its hot, Its hot in here!!!

Thermometer- changes to the temperature around it...

Thermostat- changes the temperature...

Which are you??? Does the world change you??? Or do you change the world!!!
Daniels faith was non-negotiable!!!

If you did not go to the rally you missed out on an excellent message!!!


Striving for Excellence
John Dierking

PS. my sister told me to shut-up and give becca a chance!!! grrrr!
PSS. Do not forget to read your Proverbs!!! (tomorrow is the fifteenth so you should read the...??

Hey,

Hey Yall, I hope you all had a great time!!! I wanted to let you know that I'll be away tomorow, but I'll be back by tomorow night. I can't wait to hear all about the rally : ) I'll see you guys later. Your Friend, Chris

Praise the Lord

Wow! This blog is incredible! Thank you guys for sharing. What a blessing and encouragment it is, and what a tremendous testimony this will be to the members of Harvest Bible Church. How exciting to think that through your growth others may be motivated to change. God may be using you to change the spiritual temperature of someone around you!

What a wonderful idea to share hymns of encouragement. A possible idea for your time of personal worship: choose a hymn and begin looking up scriptures that correspond with the truths of that hymn...you could do one a week, or even a month. The next time you sing that hymn in church, you'll be finding yourself immersed in true worship because of your time of meditation.

Before the Throne of God Above
text: Charitie Lees Bancroft


Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great High Priest whose Name is Love, Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb, my perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM, The King of glory and of grace.
One with Himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high, With Christ my Savior and my God!


Sure do wish we could join you guys at the rally tonight. I hope it is just a continuance of the renewal you have been experiencing. Be sure to let us know what you learned.
Love,
Tara Walters

Thankyou God

I have a praise. I have finished making things right with my parents. YAY. It was hard and I think I kinda shocked them with how bad I really was. :0( I have some consequences to pay but I know that it will be worth it knowing that there is NOTHING between us. Praise God. I am so excited. I will see (hopefully) you all tonight.

PS. for some odd reason they will not let me use exclamation marks... (weird)

Striving for Excellence
John Dierking

Do u guys (and girls!) realize that when we are down and discouraged and struggling that we can go all through and back through this blog and we'll see verses and songs and quotes to help us?! It's great to have all this wonderful info on here!
biz

My favorite verse of the day

Hey guys, I was reading in Psalms today and this is my favorite verse that I read. Psalms 108:12 "Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man." I know I struggling with counting on other people to help through trials and temptations. We all know that human beings will let us down, but isn't it encouraging to know without a doubt that God never fails us!! Great is His faithfulness!!! I'm praying for all of you, and I can't wait until the rally tonight, may the Lord bring us closer to Him! In Christ, Tara Mayhugh

Rand Quote

You can choose your sin, but you can't choose sin's consequences.

To Put It Bluntly

Proverbs 26:11
"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly"

Praying that we will stick with our decisions,
Chrystal

Just Another Thought!!!

I agree with what you said biz... I was looking over my SIGMA notebook and it had the lessons from Joseph... Joseph had a vibrant relationship with Christ even though he was surrounded by a family that was full of immorality and wickedness... They tried to KILL him because God spoke to him through a dream!!! It has been nice to be surrounded by people that care!!! The bible talks about that in proverbs 13:20: "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed!" It is vital that we have good friends!!! Do not "hang out" with bad friends... be a good example to them by living a consistant life!!! Oh yeah, and whoever posted that song "keep your heart" you stole that from about half of us!!!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

Good morning everyone!!! I took that picture last Friday morning. I wanted to let you know that I'm praying for you all. God will help us to keep strong in our devotions, and to stay focused. Isn't it awesome that we serve a RISEN SAVIOR!!!!! I was thinking of that song, I always have a song in my head. I was thinking about the words to the song, " HE LIVES." I love that hymn. I encourage you to pick out a hymn everyday, and just go over the words, and meditate on the words. It is a real blessing. Well, I have to go. I love you guys, keep each other in our prayers daily. I am richly blessed with wonderful friends God has given me. Keep moving forward, FOR CHRIST!!!

Striving for Excellence,

Your Friend,

Chris

Keep Your Heart

Good morning,

Still rejoicing in what God did in your hearts last week. Thought about a song that reminds us of the "valley" that may come--the 1st stanza says that being closer to God's heart is a place where trials come. Not trying to discourage anyone, just want you to be aware that Satan isn't happy with what is happening in SIGMA. Let's do our part to guard our hearts, that is SO important. It's easy to be lazy, it requires energy to keep pursuing Jesus. "Keep Your Heart" was written by Mac Lynch, here are the words:

Now on this mountaintop we have gleaned so many things.
We've been drawn closer to His heart, a place that trial brings.
We have seen vict'ry over sin, and witnessed answered prayer.
We have known Christ be our only strength, found His Word a jewel rare.

Now from this mountaintop to your valley here below,
You have all of the armory to defeat that wicked foe.
The vict'ry is at your command, Your prayers He'll answer still.
Be the guardian of your only heart, Heed this Word, His perfect will.

Refrain:
Keep your heart, keep your heart, keep your heart with all diligence.
Keep it clean, keep it pure, make your love for Christ endure.
Guard your ears; guard your eyes; Pressing onward to the prize.
Lest you fall, lest you fail, make your love for Christ prevail.

Pastor Jon

So True...

"With God, all things are possible!" Matt. 19:26

Very Random, Juicy Stuff!

Reminder guys: Jesus was tempted, but NEVER sinned!! Also, " There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 cor. 10:13) Random quote from a few people ;) "Camp is like a spiritual spa, but when you get home it's workout time!" Another thought/challenge: Right now it is the "cool" thing to talk about God and be in his Word, but if it was just you surrounded by backsliders, what would you do? Would you remain faithful to God and stand up for what's right? I've been thinking about that the last couple of days--it's really challenging to me. I've been getting a whole lot out of my time with God in Proverbs. I'm using a dictionary and asking my parents to explain stuff to me, but I'm actually getting it! That was the problem before with me staying consistently in God's work...understanding it!! Now I'm determined to rip open each verse and figure it out with whatever it takes! But I know there will be times when I won't be as enthusiastic about having my devotions and prayer time...SO, Pray that I will not just read my Bible everyday, but that I would but apply it and actually totally understand what it is saying in the passage. I've always struggled with comprehensive reading!! Sorry this was such a long post, but I had alot to say!
loving this new desire to pursue higher things,
biz

This is wonderful. I'm so glad that we finally did this! Thank you Pastor Jon for making this blog. I pray that it will be used to edify one another and draw us closer to one another as a youth group/church family, and most importantly to Jesus Christ. I wish I had time to post what I learned yesterday in my devotions! But I should really have been in bed by now! I just wanted to post and let you all know that I've been praying for all of you these past few days, and I know that the Lord will do great things through us as long as we stay focused on Him!

For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. Psalm 86:10,11

Stay Focused

I have so much to say I think I would need like three blogs. I am learning so much in my devotions. I feel like a new person. I love to get in HIS word, and see where I can change in my life. What an AWESOME God we serve!! I'm praying for you all. We all made wonderful decisions, but we have to put those decisions into practice. God will help us all the way. Remember, even though we fall, God will help us get back on track. I was listening to the Steve Petit, "Higher Ground." I love the song, "Be Thou My VISION." What wonderful words that song is filled with. The last verse says, "High King of Heaven, my victory won. May I reach Heaven's joys ohh bright Heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever befall. Still be my VISION, ohhh ruler of all." Remember to keep God as our VISION. I love you guys!!!

Because of Christ!!!
Your Friend, Chris

Love you all!

I love this!
Please let me know whenever you have seen God answer a prayer or if you find you need prayer in other areas... I know I will be posting a lot the way I'm going... but, God has been very good to me. I've already seen how I (as a week person) can fall, but how God ( our strong creator) can help me get back up again...
Praying for you all often,
Rachel
(just don't forget to pray for me!!)

Outrageous, Contagious Joy

Wow! This is such a cool idea! I am going to love being able to pray for each other specifically through this. Prayer has become so important to me in just the past few days...It is hard to know how I went without it! I babysat all day yesterday and I found a way to pray, at different times, with each of the kids I babysit. I am telling you, this whole "Outrageous, Contagious Joy" thing, really is true...I am having a hard time talking about much else! Please continue to pray for me though as I have many things to make right with different people and sometimes my courage isn't very strong. Thanks to you all for your love and prayers. Its amazing how the common bond of Christ can bring a youth group so much closer to each other...
Continuing to pray for you all,
Chrystal

WOW

God did something wonderful in our hearts this week. Many from our youth group attended Teen Camp at the WILDS (click on link for more info). It was a great week of summer camp with all the typical hype and fun. But it was not at all typical in how God worked in our hearts. On the way home (11 hour drive), we sang, prayed, read the Bible, challenged each other, wept, laughed, testified, and loved one another by vowing to hold one another accountable. We concluded that THIS IS JUST THE START of what God can do in and through us.