Don't Take My Word For It

"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Acts 5: 38-39

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The other day I was looking around on YouTube for videos from Rob Bell. If you don't know who Rob is, he is the pastor of the fastest growing church in America, Mars Hill. He has a series of videos out called Nooma. While I was searching I came across a video of a preacher who spent his whole sermon talking about how these videos are misleading and how Rob's teachings were not supported by the Bible. I had a conversation about this with a pastor friend of mine and he showed me another video of a pastor using his sermon to tear down another Pastor of another rapidly growing church. I was appalled at what I saw and heard from these men. How can these preachers stand before their congregations and declare their interpretation of scripture more true than anyone Else's? These modern day Pharisees aren't doing a very good job at ministering God's love and grace. Their spending more time telling their followers how wrong everyone else is, instead of teaching the word of God.

It all started me thinking. How can we be sure that preachers and teachers are telling us the truth? Well here is the best way I know. First and foremost read it for yourself. Don't take my word for it. Spend time praying and asking God to reveal his truth to you. And secondly ask questions. Seek out answers if you have questions. We are all constantly learning and acquiring knowledge. Proverbs 18:15 tell us, "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out."

Further Reading:

Acts 5:17-42

Have a great weekend!

Holy Living

Great night last night. it was good to change the order of the service up. there's not too much to say except to ask are you living a Godly life? Colossians 3:1-17 is a great set of scriptures that speak on this subject. Read this set tonight and write out all of the things that stick out in your mind as you read and then spend some time thinking on what you wrote out and then pray on what you feel God is putting in your heart through His word tonight. Have a great night guys!

*josh

My First Official Blog - God of All Comfort

Congratulations! If you are reading this....you are reading my first blog...ever. Thanks to Josh...I will now be a blogger. I'll try to talk with Josh ahead of time and get an idea of what he might be talking about at Illuminate on Wednesday night and write something to get our minds and hearts going in that general direction. As of right now, I have no idea what Josh will be talking about...so I'll just give a little something that God has put on my heart lately.

Life isn't easy. It's a fact. No one, including God, promises that it will be. Often when we go through a stressfull or painful situation, it's tough to keep our eyes focused on Him. We continue to want to look at the situation and fix it ourself. We are reminded in Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." We aren't meant to take worries on ourselves. We don't know enough to fix it. God is not limited to time and knows how each situation will turn out. We are to lift worries to God...then our job is to pray about it, talk to God, and trust that God will take care of it. Psalm 56:4 "In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" When we hold on to that worry...that fear...we can see in ourselves, a lack of faith that we have in God. This is where we can turn to the word to know that God loves us...He will provide for us...He will get us through all situations...He will make us stronger through them. Through this we will gain a stronger faith that next time, He too will provide comfort and get us through it. Through scripture we can be encouraged that lifting our worries to God and trusting Him, because He loves us, is the only way to handle a bad situation. God is the God of All Comfort.
Read 2 Corinthians 1: 3-11
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
I hope to see you all in a few hours at Illuminate tonight!!

Everything

so tonight we aren't really going to look into the scriptures too much. we are going to be doing a song on sunday called "Everything" by Tim Hughes. as i sat here and listened to this song today i thought it would be a fitting part of our blog tonight. read the lyrics and just medidate on what it says. it's a good reminder that God is always there with you through everything! He loves each one of us and He longs for us to seek after His heart. there are so many scripture references that would go with this song but just read the lyrics and ask God is He this strong in your life? are you allowing Him to guide your everyday life? is He your everything? medidate on these questions as you read the lyrics and spend some time in prayer tonight on this topic. have a great night guys!

God in my living

There in my breathing

God in my waking

God in my sleeping

God in my resting

There in my working

God in my thinking

God in my speaking

Be my everything, Be my everything,

Be my everything, Be my everything

God in my hoping

There in my dreaming

God in my watching

God in my waiting

God in my laughing

There in my weeping

God in my hurting

God in my healing

Christ in me, Christ in me

Christ in me the hope of glory

You are everything

Christ in me, Christ in me

Christ in me the hope of glory

Be my everything .....Be My EVERYTHING!!!!

Fear??

So what do you fear in your life?? You know sometimes is it can be as simple as a nightmare or as big as a person bullying you in your life to the devil!! Tonight, read Psalm 91 and write out what God is teaching you through this passage. Have a great Monday night guys!!

*josh

The Narrow Gate

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

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Hey everyone, well its Friday and that means that thanks to our fearless leader Josh, who so graciously volunteered me, I am taking care of today's blog. I have to admit that at first Friday seemed like a let down to me. I mean here it is the start of the weekend and what normal teen would spend time on a Friday night to study the word when they could be out living it up with their friends? Then God tapped me on the shoulder and I realized that I don't want normal teens reading this. I want teens that are hungry to learn about and become more like Jesus. In fact, if more and more people started diving into the word, then just maybe that will become the norm. Unfortunately we are reminded in Matthew 7:13-14 that "only a few find it." Meaning that only a few spend time really seeking God. That is why you attend a school that has thousands and a church that has hundreds. But there is hope, if you go back a couple of verses Jesus says that "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:8) We are all seeking something, some just don't know what. When you walk down the halls at school, do you look at the other students and wonder if they know Jesus or do you think about what they look like and what they're wearing. I challenge you to spend sometime praying about your school and then ask God to show you students that need to find that narrow gate. Invite them to Illuminate. As Pastor John always says, you never know which invite will lead to real life change.

Further reading:

Matthew 5 - 7. These chapters are Jesus' expectations of us. If you want to be like Jesus, then it is important to understand what he wants from his followers.

Have a good weekend and see you Sunday!

on water??

so tonight read Mark 6:45-56. most of you have heard about Jesus walking on water and have read this set of scriptures before. but pay close attention to every word and see if anything jumps out at you as you read tonight. was Jesus' intent to walk out to them or not? what made Him turn towards the disciples? how can you learn from this passage?

tonight's is a deeper blog than normal. you'll have to think a little more but that's good! take your time as you read tonight and pray that God reveal new things to you through the devotion and ask that He draw you closer to Himself tonight!

*josh

illuminate tonight!

hey guys/gals. i'm back from having no internet. sorry for monday night's "no blog" moment. i thought i'd be able to blog from my phone but it wouldn't let me for some reason and i didn't even think to call Fritts or Amy to do it for us. but as usual on wednesdays...tonight is ILLUMINATE. i'm speaking out of Philippians 2 tonight so read up before you come to get ahead of the game! See you there!!! 5:30 - 6:30 for pizza/fun and 6:30 - 7:30 worship! later!

*josh

so help me God

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms"

1 Peter 4:10

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Hey everyone. Today's blog is being posted by Fritts. Josh was stuck in Tennessee with no Internet access, so he asked if I would post the blog. So here it goes.

Well if you hadn't heard, there is some kind of Inauguration thing going on in Washington today. I think you may be able to catch it on the Television if you try really hard. All kidding aside, today marks a historic day in our country. Here is a little known fact that I found very interesting. The Inaugural oath is only 35 words long. The phase "so help me God." is not written in the oath, but every president has utter that phase since George Washington. I am happy to report that today our newest leader also spoke these words.

Romans 12:8 reminds us that leadership is a spiritual gift from God. As Christians we need to spend time praying for those in leadership. This years Presidential Campaign was run on the platform of change. If we truly want to change our country and world we must pray to God that he will raise up leaders who will bring glory to His name.

Spend sometime tonight praying that God will guide our leadership by His hand. Pray for protection for our troops and most of all pray for unity among God's people.

Have a great night and remember to bring a friend to Illuminate tomorrow night.

Good morning or evening for all of you reading this tonight! Last night was such a great night at Illuminate!! what a great turnout and what a great first night back in 2009! if you know someone that wasn't there then let them know what they missed. inform them about this blog and all the details we talked about. and more importantly, tell them to come next week!! I'm sitting here at my desk at work getting ready to leave for the weekend. i'm off through monday so i'm going out of town to visit some friends and family. it'll be a good weekend to relax before these crazy nine months come upon me! i'll miss you guys sunday but i'll be back wednesday night so no worries.

Well, last night i spoke on what we blogged on this past monday night: temptation. the key verses i used were Luke 4:1-13. tonight we'll focus again on that text but along with a few other key scriptures that go along with it. out of my "Teen Study Bible" by Zondervan i read a section that was in there about this topic. i'm going to write out what it says so you can read some things more in detail.

"THE DEVIL DIDN'T MAKE YOU DO IT"

"The devil made me do it!" Some people actually believe that Satan is responsible when they do something that's wrong. But is he? First Chronicles 21:1 tells you that Satan "incited" David to do something wrong. When David was later confronted by God, he didn't say, "The devil made me do it." He said, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong" (1 Chronicles 21:17). Satan may tempt you, but he can't make you sin. It's your choice, and you don't have to choose to do wrong. You're free to choose what is right.

So what should you do when Satan tempts you?

1) Remember what the Bible teaches and act on it

{Matthew 4:1-11}.

2) "Resist the devil, and he will flee"

{James 4:7}.

3) Remember: Christ is far more powerful than Satan

{1 John 4:4}.

So as you read tonight blog on what you feel God has been teaching you through these devotions on temptation this week. Have a great weekend guys/gals!!! See you at Illuminate!

*josh

It's Wednesday!

so this is how wednesday's and the blog will work. there will be no devotion posted for wednesday night. come to illuminate at the church and take notes on the message their and then go home and re-study the scriptures talked about during the night. so remember, illuminate tonight at 6:30 but come early, about 5:45, for pizza and hang-out and goof around with everyone for a little bit!! see you there!

*josh

fishing??

tonight we are still in the gospel of Luke. Open your Bible to Luke 5:1-11. here we see that Jesus didn't find rich, clean and the best looking men in the city as His disciples. a lot of times in life you may feel unworthy. like "why would God want to use me? i have nothing to give. no one will listen to me." well, in this passage you'll find out that some men that probably felt the same way you do were actually called by Jesus Himself. take a few minutes to pray and read this passage and see what God shows you tonight through His word.

on another note. pray for Jordan and myself tonight. He is leading worship at the Baptist Student Union at USC along with another friend of ours who is a very talented worship leader. i'm playing drums for them tonight. just pray that God use our time together to draw those who come closer to Jesus tonight through the worship that is brought forth tonight. Don't forget...illuminate kicks back off tomorrow night at north point so show up early for pizza, drinks, hang-out, a little ping-pong and some fun!!! have a great night guys!

*josh

a better description about this and the FIRST devo!

so what's this blog all about? well, just like the rave card you received at church yesterday says this is a place for you to come each evening after you get out of school that will have our daily scripture readings and devotion for that day. each time you come to the site and do your daily devotions then leave a comment. at the bottom of each blog is a comment box. leave comments on what you got out of the day's reading(s) and what God is teaching you from what you've just studied on. it shouldn't take any more than 15-30 minutes each night. this is going to also be a way to communicate with you guys daily since i'm not at the church each day for you to come hang out after you get out of school. we won't start the normal daily devo's until next monday because we are going to talk about this more on wednesday at Illuminate. and yes, we are having Illuminate this week. first week back after our break!!! Can't wait to see each of you and hang out and have worship together along with the Word of God!! enjoy your night!

a scripture to think about tonight is from Luke 4. Read Luke 4:1-13. In reading this you'll see the faithfulness to God the Father that Jesus shows through temptation. This is always the best example that when we quote the scriptures we can resist any temptation. But how do you quote what you do not live and breathe? Reading and studying your Bible is so important to a strong and healthy relationship with Christ. So as you read this ask God to give you that same will-power that Jesus had to resist the devil when his temptations come your way.

Details to be given tomorrow!

Check back tomorrow afternoon/night for the details on what this website will be all about.  I know you'll get on board once you get a taste of it!!  i'm excited to see God connect us through something as easy as a new blog.  but it's going to be a great journey each week together! 

*josh