Kill it before it Kills you!

Today's study in Colossians was very insightful. Rand said "Evil actions are always a result of selfish desires. The act of sin starts out with the sin of discontentment. For whatever reason, we think God is not enough. We believe we need sin to be satisfied. Since it is that first step that kills us, we had better kill it before it kills us. No one has ever become drunk if they refused the first drink. Learning to say "no" to temptation the very first time it lifts its ugly head is essential. If we refuse to feed the sin, within time it will starve and die. Just say "no"! Kill it!"... Powerful stuff!! And very helpful too. The more I thought about what he said there the more I realized how true it is! Whenever I sin its because I am not satisfied with God. I think He can't make me happy and need something else in order to be truly happy. And that always ends up leading to more unhappiness! I am going to really work on killing my discontentment the moment it comes. It will be a whole lot harder to sin if I do!

In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

wow! we need to post more often!

I was just thinking what an encouragement it is when you go and find some little helpful comment on the blog. But, there hasn't been any in a while. I know you all are busy, but you have no idea how much I love to see/hear what you've been learning. I like how when I'm getting frustrated with school, all I have to do is click on "this is just the start" and be reminded to keep my focus on God. Keep posting I love encouragement!!!
The Colossians book for today said to keep you focus on heaven and not the things of earth and you will find it easier to do right. Can't wait for the day when we'll all be in heaven praising God and not having the stupid problem of sin getting in the way of the relationship! It's really hard not to focus on sin and myself, but I have to remember what is coming in the future if i remain faithful to God. =] Love you all, continuing to pray for you always.
Rachel

Another Prayer Request

This morning i found out that a little girl from my church in FL has been in the hospital for over a month. She some how got a blood virus about a month ago and has been in the hospital ever since. She has a blood transfusion everyweek, and right now is on chemo. They are hoping the chemo will kill the virus, before the virus does more damage. So if you could pray for her, her name is Michelle Wood and she is 12 yr old. She appearantly has a great attitude bout all this but is in alot of pain. So if ya'll could pray for her i know her family would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Kristin

Psalms 105

I don't have much time cause my dad just got home and we're planning on going biking.... so ill post really quick.... I read psalms 105 in my devos this morning....... I encourage you to read it....it really encouraged me.... I really like verse 4.... and also the last half of the chapter being reminded how God worked in the lives of Abraham, Moses, Joseph...etc. God knows our struggles and he will provide!!! God has a plan for us!! But also keep in mind that Satan has a plan for us as well... So stay in God's word, and keep strong! Love you all! And Pray for you often!
Rachel

Please Pray!

Rachel and I have a prayer request. Last weekend, Rachel and I got an e-mail letting us know that our art teachers wife died suddenly and we would not be having any online art classes this week. Our art teacher always talked about his wife as the best thing that ever happened to him and her death was sudden. He has at least two teenage daughters and I am positive that he isn't saved. This has got to be extremely tough for him and his family right now. Losing a loved one is hard enough but when you don't have any assurance about where they are it is even more difficult. I am planning on sending him an e-mail later today and explaining to him the plan of salvation, the reassurance he can have about his eternity, and the peace and grace God can give during a rough time. I haven't exactly figured out how I am going to word it all yet, but just pray that God will give me the words to say and that He will use this time in my teachers life to make him really think about his need of salvation. My teachers name is Ron Emerick and the funeral is going to be tomorrow at 11:00. Thanks so much guys!

In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

You're Setting an Example

In my devotions this morning i was reading Genesis and something jumped out at me. I dont know if you all remember the story of when Abraham and Sarah went down into Egypt. But to summarize - Abraham told Sarah to say she was his sister b/c he was afraid the people would kill him b/c she was a beautiful woman. Now fastfoward to Isaac. In chapter 26 Isaac leaves his home and goes to the Philistines b/c of famine. And guess what, he did the exact same thing as his father. He told the people that Rebekah was his sister b/c he (like his father) didnt trust God to protect him. Isaac followed in his father's footsteps. So the thought that hit me was that people follow others examples. So like my siblings will follow the example i set. And anyone else watching you can be influenced by your example whether good or bad. I see this every day, b/c Jenna loves to try to mimic everything i do. And sometimes its scary b/c she'll mimic something i dont want her to. So we/I need to be careful of the example we set, b/c someone is always watching.
Kristin

Do we need to go on the South Beach Diet? ;)

This is going to be another looooooong post, but then mine always end up that way! Its just too hard to write everything out in one little short post. Endure it with brotherly love! ;) The study in Colossians today was thought-provoking. It made me see some verses in a new light. When Rand was talking about the seed falling on the stony ground and he had us read Luke 8:13, the part that said "Which for a while believed and then in a time of temptation fell away" kind of scared me! My older sister Renee had been telling me that the same "revival" experience that has happened to our youth group, happened to hers and she said that after a month everyone started losing their zeal and went back to their old routines. And now as I looked at a lot of the different people who were once in her youth group and I see them living lives completely for themselves it really made me feel depressed! I was thinking about our youth group and how we all have been making decisions for the Lord. Right now it has been really easy to do since thats what everyone else is doing, but what are we going to do when we leave the youth group? Or what about when we aren't hanging out with our church friends? How do we act? Do we honestly take a stand? Are we going to forget the things the Lord has taught us? After I read those verses I was really praying that the same thing that happened to my sisters youth group would not happen to ours. Rand said in the book that the only people that are going to be able to continue in the things which they have learned are the ones that are completely grounded and firm. Those who have their roots dug deep into what they believe and are getting to know God better everyday are the ones who will remain strong for the Lord and will be able to accomplish the most for Him. Anyways, after I was reading that I kind of felt like finding everything I could get my hands on that would help me grow and understand my God more! Then I thought of the times I have fallen recently, times where the devil has gotten victory in my life and I felt like I had failed. I felt like my roots weren't very deep in the ground and that they were having too much exposure to the sun! Or like Becca once put it..."If our spiritual lives were compared to how in shape we are, we'd all be one big blob of fat!" (I know! We all are going on a diet after that last comment! lol.. ;) And then I remembered these verses that Rand had pointed out earlier in the book. Isiaiah 40:29-31 "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." How cool it that?!?!? Even tho we feel weak, inadequate, way too selfish at times, and lets just face it, sometimes (utterly) fall flat on our faces because we're trying our own way, and feel we can't do anything for Him because of it, if we continue to wait on the Lord and trust in Him for forgiveness and strength to move on, He will renew us and give us the courage to continue on for Him. Ok, those are my thoughts as of late. Looking forward to the sharing/learning time this Sunday.
In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

Comment to Tara!

Tara,
HMMM... How did you manage to get on? oh well... 'tis good to hear from that distant land! thanks for the requests...
I am glad to hear you are doing so well... continue to pray for us!!! We NEED it!

Pray that we will continue to gaze on Christ... and not look for the righteousness in ourselves...

Pray that the Lord will continue to soften our hearts so that we will not grieve the Spirit!

We had communion a couple of weeks ago and Greg and I were both talking about how communion keeps you on your toes spiritually because you have to have a clean heart to take communion... I think sometimes we don't realize how evil we are until we compare ourselves to Christ... it reminded both of us of the song... "prone to wander Lord I feel it..." When we first came back from camp I didn't really feel that... but now I can see that is so true... my natural tendency is to stray from God... I love ME more than God... That is a scary thought! Oh to be saved from myself dear Lord... Oh to be lost in thee! What a great God we serve! Sometimes we feel that God has given up... but I think of a parent who watches his child fall down... his desire is to help him get back up... WOW!!! what mercy!!! such knowledge is too wonderful for me... it is high... I cannot obtain unto it... What is man that thou thinkest of him?

*starts humming* "God is so good..."

Striving for Excellence,
John Dierking

PS... I was going to leave this as a comment but it was WAY to long!!!

From the land of far far away

Hey!!!!!
I can't believe how long it has been since i've read this!! I'm so happy that y'all are still doing so well with your decisions! I've been praying for you. I know it can be tough to find time to have devotions (belive me, i know), but if there is only one thing i have learned while at college, it is that we cannot use the excuse of "I didn't have time", God knows our schedules long before we make them, so He has already given us the time we need to spend time with Him. That is one of my biggest stuggles right now, making the time, and giving up what I want to do so that I can spend time with my savior and friend. I miss you all so much, and I am greatly anticipating the day when I will return to Harvest and see all the great changes that I have heard so much about these last few weeks. I will continue to pray for you all, please keep me in your prayers as well.
If you wouldn't mind adding a few things to your prayer lists for me, pray for Adam (my brother in the Marines) he has found out that he will be moving to North Carolina in January, and he will be deployed to Iraq in September. It may seem like a long way away, but already it seems so short to me. Also pray for my brother Ben, their church is having a lot of struggles right now, so pray that Ben will be searching for God's will in it all and that he will follow His leading. I miss you all so much!!!

Much love from afar off,
Tara

She's with Jesus Now

Angie Schatz's sister passed away two days ago. Angie (my neighbor) is doing very well...I knew she would, she's such a strong Christian. The funeral is set for Wed. I know my parents will be there. Her sister was 51. Angie's son, Jared, is struggling with some bitterness right now. He is in 8th grade. Pray for the Schatz family! Also, Angie is one of the busiest people I know. She is working full time, along with going back to college for a teaching degree. She needs strength, energy (it seems she always has this though!) and comfort right now. I love you girls and guys!!
biz

Rev. John Dierking's Sermon

Hey guys, a lot of you missed last Wednesday night for various reasons. You missed a great lesson...actually I missed it also, but heard it was neat, and have read the notes. For copies of the notes, see evangelist Dierking. He spoke on pride & humility something we all need to hear often.

See ya,

Pastor Jon

P.S. Did you hear about the man that wrote a book on humility? The title of his book was "The Seven Most Humble Men in All the World, and How I Trained the Other Six". Get it?
LOL

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel...

I love the Colossians book!!! Me as the prideful person I am, like to lift myself up, so God has to drive me to the ground on many ocassions... This book is really helping in that area =) It also really made me realize how my testomony stinks. Pray that I will see the importance of living my life so that others can see God through me.

A quote just came to mind... "the real question is not am I ashamed of Christ, but is Christ ashamed of us?" Think about that one for a bit.... talk about driving to the ground!!
Praying constantly for you all...
Rachel

Be Ministered Unto!

I want to encourage ya'll to go back and look at posts that were posted at the beginning of this blog. I did it last night and was ministered to in about 10 different ways! It was a reminder of decisions we all made, an encouragement see the progress we have made in our spiritual walks from then until now, a good amusement to read some of the titles to the different posts, it was a helpful dose of suggestions that apply better now than they did at the beginning, and it also renewed my spirit to continue in the things we have learned. It was really neat to read through them all again and I encourage you to do it. That is one reason why this blog is special! We can always go back and remember what God has been doing in our lives. So go back and let yourself be ministered to! ;)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

I really feel the need to post...not because I am really going to be revealing something new to you or be expounding on some great thing I discovered. But more because the Lord has been working in my life and I want to share how He has been showing Himself to me. This past week was a tough one for me spiritually. I didn't exactly enjoy it but now as I look back on it I realize God taught me a lot and it was something that He used to show me areas I needed to change. I can testify that the speaker at that rally thing we all went to recently, definitly knew what he was talking about. He said that the devil is going to try and do everything in his power to wreck Christians from being a clear mirror so others can see Christ in us. I was really failing to keep my own 'mirror' completely shiny and clear through my attitudes and actions in the last few days and it was getting discouraging. The Lord really used this past Sunday though, through the messages, S.S. lesson, songs and talking with others, to show me He was still near, waiting for me to hurry up and come back to my senses and get back on track. God is so faithful! He knows when I need to hear a certain message, get a phone call from a friend who can help or get an encouraging e-mail. I know I post songs just about every time I post..!!...but I really like listening to songs because Christian authors have such a way of expressing exactly what I am trying to say! I tried to post the actual song that Matt Herbster and the Wilds choir sang while we were at camp so you could listen to it because it really says what I have been feeling/learning in the past week. But for some reason the blog is having touble uploading it, so I will go ahead and write out the words below...I hope you allow it to encourage you the way it encouraged me. Praying daily, at random times, for you all!

In Awe of Him, Chrystal


Before the mirror of your Word, I stand, O Lord in shame
For there I see my sinful self, my proud and foolish way
Yet in the presence of my God, my state I shall not fear
For robed in Your Own Righteousness, like You I shall appear

By You, O Lord, my thoughts are known, By You my heart is seen
Yet by Your love and sacrifice my soul has been made clean
So now in gratitude I bow, before my Fathers face,
Adorned in robes of righteousnes and garments of Your grace

(Chorus-)May I reflect the gloriuos light of Your redeeming grace
And radiate the righteousness, of Your most holy face
Until I reach my heavenly Home, and gladly take may place
May I reflect the glorious light of your redeeming grace...Of your redeeming grace! AMEN!!!

Photography for thought..

I thought this was a really good verse!

When I was about 5 (I think) my mom gave me this. I used to have a lot of nightmares...when and if i woke up, I would look at this and fall a sleep again thinking about it...no more nightmares! =]

Love you all!

-Anna

A man after God's own heart!

I read in my Psalms 16 devos this AM... (I am doing the Col. study in the evenings right now!) It is very powerful...

1Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. Keep me safe God: I trust you!

2O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; You are MY (personal) God. I cannot come close to your holiness... My righteousness is as filthy rags!

3But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. God delights in excellence!!! Wow! (notice it says, "All my delights!")

4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. God promises if you place ANYTHING higher than God you WILL have sorrow! He wont even speak your name!!!

5The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. You are my wellfare and food... You protect and sustain me!

6The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
You have blessed me bountifully!!! Yes, I have a great inheiritance!

7I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. Praise God!!! Who has given me his Word... They instruct me in the dark times in my life...!

8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. I have set God before me... He is my goal... What I am striving for!!! And because I have done that he is at my right hand... I WILL not be moved!!! (AMEN!)

9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. Do you ever find that after you have just had a spiritual victory that you are going to bust because you are so happy? I think this is the kind of happiness David is referring to.

10For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Because the Spirit is in me... I cannot go to hell... because he will not let the Spirit go to hell.

11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. No need for any comment on this one!!! WOW!!! and a hearty AMEN!!!

Striving for excellence and His delight,

JOHN P. DIERKING

hey this is ryan just asking for more prayer about steven. i talked to him today for about an hour and tried to look for an opportunity, but steven just didnt seem ready. i couldnt find an opening, but i will be talking to him tomorrow if you can pray for me to have wisdom to see any place to lead the conversation into spiritual things. sorry i wasnt there tonight, they have me scheduled for work just about every sunday night, so pray i can be used for him at work. im looking forward to starting the colossians book tomorrow.see you next sunday cause i have boring customer service training for the next three wednesdays.
in Christ,
ryan

Uncle Bee-bop-a-lou

Wow, I haven't posted in ages! Pray for my Uncle Bob who had a heart attack last week. He's doing bette, but obviously he is experiencing fatigue. Pray that he'll seriously think about the eternal future of his life. When we visited him in CA, he didn't seem himself. Maybe he's really searching and pondering what my dad talked to him about (salvation) last time he was in visting us. Thanks guys!

love,

biz

Prayer Request

Hello Everyone, I hope you all are doing well, and I hope you all are learning more about our God this week. I wanted to ask if you could pray for my grandfather. We found out that he had a stroke yesterday and he is in the hospital. He is not really responding to the doctors, and he isn't talking a lot. Could you please pray for him, and for my grand mom, she is really worried about him. Praise be to the Lord, my grandparents are saved. Even though this is a hard time, I take comfort in knowing that my grandparents are in God's care. In all things God works for our good. Thank you all for your prayers.

Because of Christ,
Chris

Dont Forget!!!!

Our counselor challenged us to spend 70% of our day focusing on Christ and 30% on other stuff for enjoyment. I have found, with my stupid, annoying self getting in the way, its hard to do!!! But one way of trying to accomplish that, is when I feel like listening to something more contemporary, like Disney =) or something that isn't wrong, but also isn't really going to help me grow, I'll try to stick in something from the Wilds, the BJU press, or some other good Christian musician. Sometimes it isn't always what I really "feel" like listening to but usually those are the times God really uses the music to speak to me and draw me closer to Himself and then I find myself really enjoying the music. This is one of those songs I have enjoyed listening to and it always reminds me to stick with it and not give up on the things I have been learning.
In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

prayer request update...

Katie Hefflefinger asked me to give you all an update about the letter she sent to her grandparents. She said she hasn't really talked to them about it yet, but her mom talked to them and they said to tell Katie "Thanks for the note...It was nice." (in other words...thanks, but no thanks) Katie was happy that they didn't get offended or upset over her letter but she asks that you all continue to pray for her grandparents. I know that it is something they have been burdened for, for a long time and having unsaved family myself, know how difficult it can be. You want so badly to convince them of the truth and their need of Christ but at the same time you know all you can do is plant seeds and pray; only the Holy Spirit can convict and change their hearts. So, do your part and continue to pray for her grandparents!!!!!!!!!!! =)


"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversations and godliness” 2 Peter 3:9-11

Chrystal F. Dierking
(aka: the secretary)

Learning so much!!!!

hey you all!! I don't really now how you all are doing, but.... I've really been learning a ton lately... God showed me his forgiveness... how to be repentant, how to forgive, and how He answers prayer.. all through one situation! I also thought of a really good quote... I can't remember the exact words but it's something to this extent... " Your worst enemy uses the same ears, tongue, eyes, and hands as you do... it's name is SELF..."
You all need to post or email what you've been learning, and what you would like prayer for because I want to learn from you all. And I want to know how to specifically pray for you too... so... POST!!! =)
Experiencing Outrageous, Contagious Joy!! ( not sure if my joy is contagious yet, but it's definently outrageous!!!!!! =)
Rachel