Issues...

Hey guys, I have been with out a computer for a while now. If you want to follow the thoughts for the "Root of All Sin" series it is on my other blog...www.blogspot.bodunklesphemi.com. check it out and i will be adding new posts here at the first of the year. we will be looking at "Deadly Vipers: Character Assassins" in January and February. Get your NUN-Chucks out!

See you at the Advent Party Wednesday Night 6-9 in the Stu-B.

Bring a Drink and an Appetizer for 5.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure...find something of no use to your family and wrap it...DON'T BUY ANYTHING!!!

CONTEST...The Most Obnoxiously Ugly Christmas Sweater/T-shirt/Outfit! One Prize!

Identity: I AM...A Feeder

Well, the ending of the identity series was pretty straight forward. It is my pray that we would be able to carry out the killing of false identities that have present in us, and would live in and through the identity God has made us into, namely Christ Jesus our Lord.

As we dove into scripture we looked again at the book of Colossians. Man what a letter! Just as a reminded chapter 1 verse 27 brings to light part of our identity.

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Earlier in this chapter we find out how Christ being put in us actually happens. (verses 12-13)

"giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

So GOD rescues us from darkness and places, or transfers us to the Kingdom of Light, Jesus! When faith comes, Christ comes into us. and we have the hope of glory. But it is better! If we stop there we are still seen, right. (Wish I knew how to add picture to this!) Imagine a clear plastic tub that has the word "you" on it, that is you. Put another plastic tub inside you that has the word "Christ" written on it. What is seen more? You or Christ? When we confess Jesus as our Lord, and believe in our hearts that Jesus was raised from the grave, our life is no longer about us! That is why God does more with our identity. Chapter 3:3 we find out the rest of our true identity as a believer in Christ.

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

WOW! Do you see it? Carry on the Clear plastic tub thought. We have Christ in us. Now we find out that we are placed in Christ. There is another tub with "Christ" written on it that is covering "you" up. Now you are still in there. Just life is not about you! But it is better! We are place in Christ and Christ is Hidden in God. There is another tub, the big daddy tub, with "GOD" written on it. So form the center we have...Christ, You, Christ, God. Your life as a believer is not about you, it is ultimately about GOD! That is our true spiritual identity as a true born again believer.

Y.B.H. do we kill our false identities? (Good question, and I am glad that you listened one night during WNL!)

Colossians 3:5-17 you will find your answer! Go read it for yourself and sped some time praying about these verse to be true in your life. Basically it says to "Put to death...the life you once lived" and to "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience..."

Each week of this series we have visually seen how we do not live in our true identity byway of clothing ourselves in other things, allowing those things to determine who we are and what we do and how we do it. This last night we all were challenged to kill a false identity and start to cloth ourselves in the things mentioned in this passage. This saying is what I challenged all of us to consider ever day...

"Feed the Spirit...Feed the Flesh...Which ever you feed...WINS!"

Story has it that a man would come down out of the mountains about once a month with 2 dogs. When he got into the town, he would take bets on which dog would win in a fight. Then he would proceed to fight the 2 dogs. One townsman noticed that the man always won the bet. He always picked the winning dog, without fail. So he proceeded to ask the man how he would always be right. The man replied, "It's easy. Which ever dog I feed throughout the week before I come to town, wins."

"Feed the Spirit...Feed the Flesh...Which ever you feed...WINS!"

Questions for families...

1) In our family, which do we feed more? Spirit or Flesh?

To answer this think of the way your family spends its time, money, and energy. Think about what the Advent (Christmas) Season looks like for you. Consider and talk about ways you as a family, form the oldest to the youngest can "Feed the Spirit more and Starve the Flesh."

2) Am I willing, whether I am a parent or a student, to lead my family by way of "Feeding my Spirit and Starving my Flesh" so God will receive the glory through me living in the identity He created me to live?

May we all live our lives understanding it is not about us, but it is about God, and His great love to be made famous in all the world.

Identity: I AM...Self

In a world that is consumed with "Self" [self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline, self-control, self-you name it], it can be hard to not allow "self" to identify you as a person. It is a battle, and one that will never stop unfortunately.

Let's start with trying to put into perspective what the Bible says about "self". First there are some good things about "self that we need to be about as a follower of Christ. First is, "Self-control". The New Testament uses this term, depending on your translation, 6 -12 times. Each of these times point us as a believer to be "Self-controlled". The Second is mentioned and talked about indirectly, and that is "Self-disciplined". Passages like 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 points us to this attribute or characteristic of a person. To both of these I would say we need to have as part of our life, because the Bible directs us to. I would clarify, though, that neither of these are our Biblical identity as a person that God has saved or redeemed. As soon as we place our identity in being self-controlled or self-disciplined, we have stepped into a position of what is described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5...

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient, to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather, that lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."

I don't know about you, but i certainly don't want those things to be true of me! the scariest part of it all is the last part... "...having a form of godliness but denying its power..." We all should allow God to examine us to check us and see what evil lies with-in us!

This passage points us to what the last days are going to look like. (Looks pretty much like the good ol U.S. of A. to me...we need to pray!) I see verse 7 as being a measuring stick for us... "...always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." You see the truth is, our identity has very little, or should I say NOTHING, to do with us/SELF! The form of godliness you see mentioned above is that of selfish motive, being self-focused. I can discipline mySELF, I can control mySELF, I can feel good about mySELF because I am worth feeling good about...and the list goes one. the Bible says nothing, to my knowledge, about having good self-esteem, or having a positive self-image, or being self-confident, or even possessing a self-worth of any kind. On the contrary, it teaches we are supposed to not consider ourSELF at all. It points us to the TRUTH that life is all about Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:1-11, along with all the other passages we have looked at for the past 6 weeks, gives us a clear picture of how life is lived and the motive in living...

"If you have any encouragement form being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, is any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father."

Let us humble ourselves in the same manner that Christ Jesus did. He came to be a servant. It was not about Him. It was not about us. It was primarily about God the Father, then secondarily about us.

We as believers need to consider a few things as we think about our Identity. Here they are and may God bless your time with Him!

Am I a person that will accept truth?

What is the purpose of my life?

Whose am I?

Next week we will wrap up our discussions about Identity. You don't want to miss a night that we will tie it all together and learn how to take off the shirts/masks/false identities that we tend to believe rather that the identity that God has made us into.

Love ya, and untill then, may God bless you and your family!

Identity: I AM...Teenager

Sorry, for the delay...here we go!

1 Timothy 4:11-16

"Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch you life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

The term "Teen" or "Teenager" is a fairly new term. This term was not used until the 1920's. Before this time the only age groupings used where, "Child", "Adult", "Elderly". Before the term "teenager" came about, a person went straight from being a "child", a person dependent on an adult, to an adult, a person that is a viable contributor to society and community.

I know what you are thinking, "Childhood must of lasted till 18 or 20 years of age!" On the contrary, childhood stopped at around 10-12 years of age. At this time a child would step into adult responsibility. A child would move from limited to no responsibilities to having all the expectations of an adult. They were expected to hold a job. They were expected to act maturely. They were expected to not do dumb stuff. They were expected to not waste there life. They had expectations...TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

I asked the group last Wednesday to describe to me what is expected of teenagers today, according to what culture says. These were some of their answers: 1) to be irresponsible 2) to be immature 3) to be sexually active 4) to be goof-offs 5) to be apathetic 6) to be care free with their lifestyle 7) not to care about others 8) to be rebellious 9) to cheat 10) not have clean rooms 11) to drive fast, and many other things. The unfortunate truth is this... students or "Teenagers" have bought this lie! The SCARY thing is this... Adults have too and thus enable all the things listed above to be part of young peoples lives, and to that I say, "SHAME ON US AS ADULTS!!!"

In the above passage of scripture we see Paul give instruction to Timothy. This instruction did not empower Timothy, as a young person, to be immature, irresponsible, act stupidly or in immature ways, or anything else except what God says for us to do and to be. God chose Timothy to be a leader in the church at Ephesus. Paul was encouraging Timothy to understand and believe in this truth that we have heard many times before, "Who God calls/chooses, God equips!"

Do you believe that? What has God chose you to do?

Some of you are thinking, "Yeah Bo, but Timothy was not a teenager, I should have some wiggle room because I am younger than he was!" Or maybe you are thinking this, parents..."My kid is only 12, and they are better than most kids I know there age."

My answer to these questions is, "Let's look at scripture." Back to our passage above, we see Paul tells Timothy, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young..." Let's stop here. I might be wrong but I venture to say that everyone reading this has a person older than them in there life. We all are younger than someone, except for one person in the world, the oldest person in the world. With this thought in mind, we need to read the rest of the verse, "BUT set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." WOW, did you see it? We all have responsibility to set an example to people that are older than we are, except for one (and this person is included with all of us to obey scripture that points us to teach and lead people that are younger than us, namely Titus 2). So whether you are the age that Timothy was or not is not the issue. The issue is you are young, so set an example by believing the truth and rejecting lies! Parents, don't believe the lies the from Hell that says your kid should be overlooked and not held to high standards! Communicate with them and create high expectations for them and with them that will allow them to set an example to the believers that might not be living in the power of the Holy Spirit! Don't you settle for non-discipled kids...disciple them in the ways of Truth! Have guts to train them in ways that will set them apart from any other person their age. Allow them to be challenged and to challenge others to live more like Christ. THE STANDARD YOU ARE TO LEAD YOUR CHILD IN IS NOT OTHER CHILDREN!!! IT IS THE WORD OF GOD!!!

So let's look at another example in Scripture that should help us understand this. Old school style...I LOVE THIS...you ready...

2 Chronicles 34:1-3

"Josiah was EIGHT years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. In the EIGHTH year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David."

How old was Josiah when he was place in a position with great responsibility?

Did Josiah please or displease God with his life?

How old was Josiah when he began to seek the LORD?

What is you excuse? Have you bought the lie that "I'm just a teenager and I'll grow up one day." or "My kid is just a teen and they will grow up one day."?

I love you! That is why I want to raise the bar of expectations for you both as a student and a parent. Students are being challenged to learn Calculus, Biology, Trigonometry, and many other words I can't spell. Are we as a church and as parents willing to challenge them to know, understand, and live scripture. Seems to be a lot more purpose in light of eternity if we would.

Let us not listen to the lie of Satan! Let us dive into the Word and believe the Word with all that we are, out of a great and deep love of the Father, who allows us to love in the first place.

Until next time...

Identity: I AM...Emotions

Circumstances=Emotions=Possible Change of Identity

We all have emotions. The definition of, "Emotion" is...an intense mental state that arises subjectively rather that through conscious effort. So emotions just emerge from deep within us. The sad thing is that most people allow emotions to consume them, making them not live in the true identity the God has made put them in, The Identity discussed in an early post (Identity: I AM...just a sinner saved by grace).

Last night we set out to understand emotions and how to not to allow the emotions of life to be our identity.

First we looked at the vastness of human emotions. Here are some that we identified as most prevalent in us and the people that surround us: affection, love liking, attraction, lust (2), cheerfulness, happiness, satisfaction, zest (3), pleasure, pride (2), enthrallment, annoyance, anger, fury, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, torment, depression, sadness, melancholy, guilt, insecurity, pity, alarm, fear, terror, nervousness, & worry. Each of these were talked about in small groups and where pulled from a pretty exhaustive list of human emotions. Each group was instructed to look through the list and identify the top 5 emotions, in there opinion, that consume teenagers, making them live the identity of the emotion instead of the identity of Christ. Example: A known believer is also known for his/her explosive outbursts of profanity and rage when this person doesn't get their way or is in a confrontation. The emotion just consumed their true identity.

Emotions are not sins! what we do with the emotions that emerge at different times in our lives will determine is we sin or not. Whenever an emotion consumes a believer in Jesus to the point that the emotion is not controlled by the Spirit of God that is in us, then we sin.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 tells us,
"Do you not now that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others. I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Q. - What does this have to do with emotions and being consumed by them?
A. - You have to, "Beat (your) body and make it (your) slave"

WHAT?

In everything of life that we are told or instructed to do, we need to ask a question...Y.B.H. (Yeah, But How?) So when I say, "We can't let the emotions that emerge from within us consume us, resulting in our identity to be changed." you need to say, "Yeah, but how...bodunkle?" So here is how. I do want to clarify on thing. There comes a point that if we ask this question that we avoid what we already know and in essence deny truth to be part of our life. So don't be the kid that is always in this conversation...

kid "Y.B.H?"
person "answer given."
kid "Y.B.H.?"
person "answer given."
kid "Y.B.H.?"

You get the picture...the "WHY?" kid. DON'T BE THAT KID!

Here's the answer to the question you just asked, "Yeah, but how do i beat my body and make it my slave?"...You have to be Chronically F.A.T.!

F.aithful - We have to be faithful to the Identity that God has made us into. He was done a great thing in us, and we need to be faithful the what He has done...be faithful to Him! Love Him with all that we are, and show a dark and dying world His love!

Y.B.H.?

A.vailable - It is impossible to be faithful to God and His identity in us if we do not make ourselves available to Him. Two things have to be part of our life for us to be available to God. We have to communicate with Him through prayer & we have to listen to Him through His word! When we don't do these things as individuals, or families, we can not be faithful on a continual basis.

Y.B.H?

T.eachable - For us to be willing to make our self available to God, we have to have a certain type of mind set. We have to have an attitude that we want to be taught. If that is part of who we are then we will make our self available to the Lord to do His thing in our life through Prayer and His Word.

Y.B.H bodunkle? I see the flow, but I don't want to be taught. I know God has transferred me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son that He loves, but I am just not F.A.T. right now. Here my response, and we will be looking at this in more depth later, Pray that you would believe, or have more faith in what God has accomplished in you. The Y.B.H. stops here. You have to cry out to God to do a work in you that I can not teach you or put in you. That is between you and Him.

Start that prayer today as a family!

River of Hope Fall 2009: Talmidim...Knowing what we should be, so we know what we should make

Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age."

The IN Student Ministry began a journey on Sunday nights during River of Hope, to explore 1, 2 part question...

WHAT IS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST, AND AM I LIVING AS ONE?

Here is where we started...

Talmidim is the Hebrew word for Disciples. Our hope as a Student Ministry is to 1) Be a Talmid (disciple) of Christ Jesus, and 2) Make Talmidim (disciples). After all, that is what we have been commanded to do in Matthew 28:19-20. The Imperative is not the word "GO"...it is "MAKE"!

Part 1 of our 2 part question..."What is a disciple of Jesus Christ?"

Jesus entered the world we live in the an area of the world referred to as, Galilee. This was the Harvard, Yale, or Oxford of the day dealing with a practice of "Discipleship" and "Rabbis". God knew this! It was not a surprise or by accident that God placed Jesus here. He wanted to use the Discipleship model, and this is the model we have been told to use as well.

A Talmid, was the name/title of a disciple in the day of Jesus. Keep reading and you will see the definition/expectation of a Talmid/Disciple when Jesus walked the earth. So what had to happen for a person to be a Talmid, or a disciple?

Rabbi's were one of the teachers in this model. Actually, they were the "master" teachers of the Old Testament. There were another teacher of the day that were "ordinary" teachers. These teachers just taught the Torah/Pentateuch, or the First Five books or the Bible. Now, Ordinary teachers did not have disciples, but Rabbi's did. To become a Rabbi's disciple a young man between 12-15 would follow a Rabbi around in hopes that the Rabbi would see him, or notice his abilities and knowledge of the Old Testament. These young men would walk as closely as possible to a Rabbi, close enough to be covered by the dust of the Rabbi. They would hang on every word of the Rabbi and do anything and everything possible to have the Rabbi say to them, "You may be my disciple."

For this to happen, a Rabbi would see a young man and examine him by asking question after question pertaining to the Old Testament. Questions like, "Quote me the section of Scripture before and after this phrase, 'See they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but the wind and confusion." (I understand that we all know that this is the last verse in Isaiah chapter 41, ha...but can can you quote the rest of chapter 41 and 42 right now...Me Neither!) If the young man was able to do something like that, the Rabbi would continue to another question and then another and then another. The disciple-want-a-be would be grilled! Sadly, many times this person would be told form the Rabbi this, "I can tell you love God greatly. Continue to love Him with all that you are, and live a life that will please him, but you can not be my disciple. Go, and live a Godly life."

If you notice above, the disciple-want-a-be's had to do a lot of stuff just to catch the eye of the Rabbi they desired to follow. Then they would have a lot of other things to do, or accomplish, in order for the Rabbi to choose them as a disciple. But not with Jesus. How did He get His disciples, you ask. Good question, I'm glad you asked.

In Matthew 4:18-22, we see Jesus not having to get ride of young men following Him around that were trying to "catch His eye." Rather we see Him going and approaching some young men that were out working (because they did not make the grade in school and have been sent off to work the family trade). Jesus finds Peter, Andrew, James, and John while they were fishing and said, "Come, follow me." (This is the most common request Jesus makes in all the Bible.) Then they follow.

This has been a brief introduction to how a young man would become a Talmid/Disciple in Jesus' day.

Here is the tension for us today, in 2009, to consider...

ARE WE LIVING AS A TALMID/DISCIPLE, OR HAVE WE DROPPED OUR EXPECTATIONS AND MINIMIZED THE RABBI'S EXPECTATIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE US FEEL BETTER ABOUT OURSELVES?

• A Talmid is a person that was completely consumed with being just like the Rabbi that choose them.
• To be a Talmid, one would have to be tops in the educational system of the day, work hard to "catch the eye" of the Rabbi they hoped to be like, then pass the Rabbi's inspection of their knowledge and desire to be like him.
• The only way a Rabbi would say, "You may be my disciple." would be if they thought the young man could be just like him. (Think about that! This is key.)
• When a young man was turned away from the Rabbi, and told to go live a life the glorifies God in all you do, he basically saying, "You can't be like me."
• Jesus was different...He went and picked his disciples without the cultural criteria/expectations of the day.
• Jesus was different...He picked people that had been failures in many respects to the systems of the day.
• Jesus was the same in that...WHEN HE PICKED A YOUNG MAN TO BE HIS DISCIPLE, HE BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD BE LIKE HIM!
• Disciples (Talmudim) believed they could be like their Rabbi, because they knew their Rabbi believed in them.

Questions for Discussion:

1. How much does your life look like a person that is consumed with being just like Jesus?
2. Has Jesus picked you to be His disciple?
3. Do you understand that He picked you, believing that you can be like Him?
4. How does your life look like His?
5. How does your life not look like His?
6. How much do you believe that Jesus believes in you?
7. How can you as a parent, or a student, prioritize your life, so that it would prove that you are consumed with being like Christ?

Question 6 is the direction we will focus the rest of our nights during River of Hope. We will discuss practical things that we can do on a daily basis that will help us know our Rabbi, (Jesus), better. Ways that will help us become more like Christ.

All I can do is give your families tools. We need to pray faithfully and desperately that God would grant us a deep desire to be consumed to be like Him!

See You After The Pole Rally...

I pray that God blessed everyone that was able to come the Conn Center and be part of the SYATP Rally. We had a great night.


It all started with D.J. Deikon play some jams while people were coming in...then it happened, a countdown came up and CCBC Students pulled out the old school "Angels in the Outfield" countdown finale. You know stand up and flap your arms like you are flying. We were the leaders and the rest of the room were bad followers because no one joined us, but that is o.k.


The end of the countdown was the start the WVHS Drumline's entrance. The rocked the house. Grant and Joanna were intense. Loved it!!! This lead into a time of musical worship with the Scott England Band. Little loud, but a sweet time to be able to sing to our king and saviour, Jesus Christ!


After this Jeff Lovingood, challenged us with the word. He spoke out of Luke 19:1-6.


"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly."


Jeff pointed out a few of things:


1) Zacchaeus was a "chief tax collector"...He was the chief thief...a short chief thief.

2) Zacchaeus "ran ahead to see Jesus"

3) Zacchaeus climbed a certain type of tree...a "seek-him-more tree"

4) Jesus was at the "spot" that Zacchaeus was at

All of these these things spark some personal questions we need to think about as individuals and families. (I will stick with he same number order and interject some of my thoughts with some of Jeff's points for us to consider.)

1) What are you "thieving"? We all are guilty. No one of us can look at Zacchaeus and think or say, "we are not like him" or "We are better than he was" or "I am not going to be around that person because they are 'bad'." If Jesus was willing to INform, INstruct, & INvest in Zacchaeus, He is willing to INform, INstruct, & INvest in you! We should also be willing to do the same for anyone we come into contact with here on earth! Or else we are "thieving" God's glory to be seen in us and in others. So what are you "thieving"?


2) When was the last time you ran to see Jesus? Do you know where to run to see Jesus? Do you understand that we need to run to see Jesus? Jesus is the Bread of Life, Lamb of God, Advocate, Man of Sorrows, Bridegroom, Anchor, The Beloved, Rock, High Priest, The Resurrection and The Life, Judge, Holy One, Mediator, Image of the Invisible God, Everlasting King, The Way, The Truth, The Life, He Is, I AM. We are nothing without Him. Heard it said one time, "On our best day, we are a liability to God." The thing I would add to that is this, "Only when we do not allow the Holy Spirit to lead us." We Need Jesus! We need to know where to find Him.

3) What are we willing to do to see Jesus? Climbing Trees take a little effort. Zaccheaus climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. We don't have to climb a tree to see Him, but we do need to climb into His Word in order to see Jesus! What are you wiling to do? Wake up earlier? Take your Bible to school and read during lunch with some people? Not watch Lost unless you have spent Time With God that day? Not go to or talk with you boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse until you have spent meaningful Time With God that day? Not waste time in front of this computer scene reading this until you have read the greatest love letter ever written...The Bible. You get the picture. What are you willing to do to see Jesus?

4) Do you see Jesus at the spot of your life right now? (Jeff made the point He is always at your spot.) My point is this, Are you looking for Him or are you looking at your life? No matter what your spot is, fill in the blank, Jesus is there with you. Are you willing to look for Him or are you to consumed with all the stuff in your life that you miss Him? If there is a "storm" or circumstance you are in...don't focus on the storm...look for Christ. The storm is not going to go away till it is over, but it is much easier to walk through life knowing Jesus is with you and having the comfort and peace that comes with that, than it is to feel isolated and alone. So do you see Jesus at your spot?

Food For thought...

Be back next week at WNL 6:15-7:40 p.m. in the Stu-B. We will be looking again at our Identity: I AM...Emotions. Going to be good. Hope to see you.

Till then...Love Ya!

Identity: I AM...Family

As we continue to consider ways we mask or cover our true identity in Christ, I pray you are being challenged, encouraged, and empowered to be what God has made you to be and not anything less.

The 3rd night of this series we looked at FAMILY...

Families are great...or they should be. Unfortunately not everyone has a great family experience. Anything less than great could mean that parent are separated or divorced, it could mean that one or the other parent might show favorites to a particular child or no child, it could mean that parents are over protective so kids don't learn from failures or mistakes, it could mean that parents spoil there kids and give them everything that is new under the sun, it could mean that siblings treat each other terrible, it could mean that drugs are involved and cause hurts (yes I did not say alcohol because it IS A DRUG! Why do we separate them?), it could mean that little brother or little sister is always in the shadow of big brother or big sister, it could mean that kids are not ever taught how to read their Bible or to pray form their parent, it could mean that kids are punished by not being allowed to attend church events, it could mean that kids are held accountable to their studies at school but never questioned about their Time With God and what God is teaching them, it could mean that kids are taught the value of being religious and never taught the value of know God and loving God and being the Church, NOT BEING PART OF A GREAT FAMILY...IT COULD MEAN A LOT OF THINGS!

Here's the deal...your family is the one association you have no control of landing in. Think about it, God drops us where He drops us. I had no control of being the second son to Stanley and Jayne Dunkle of Etowah Tennessee. I had no control over how my parents lived their life in front of me while I grew up, ever how good or how bad that might have been. I had no control over the way my parents disciplined me or did not disciplined me. I had no control over how my parents emphasized loving God with all that I am or not doing that.

Here's my point...Your family can not be what you allow your identity to be! No matter how great or how bad your family is! Your identity is found in Christ Jesus alone, if you have received the gift God wants to give you.

In Mark 6:1-6 and in Matthew 13:53-58 we see Jesus go back to his hometown. In these accounts the question is raised, (Mark 6:2-3) "When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. 'Where did this man get these things?' they asked. 'What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?' And they took offense at him."

In John 6:25-70 Jesus is making some hard statements that people could not handle. In the middle of this (Verse 41) we read, "At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down form heaven.' They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down form heaven'?"

Jesus knew his identity! He knew his earthly family, but he knew his identity did not ultimately rest in them.

Student...do you know your identity does not rest in your family?

Parents...do you understand that your child's identity does not land with your last name if they have receive that gift of God, that is Christ Jesus?

Are we all o.k. with that?

Talk as a family and identify things that need to change in order for all members of the family to live in the identity God has given them.

Allow God to examine the identity that your family has in the community you live in. Does you family show that Christ is the most important thing in the way you...treat your neighbors? ...love each other in the yard? ...in the priorities of life? ...in how you pray as a family? ...in how you do Christmas and Easter? ...in how you _____________________?

Let our families live in the Identity of Christ Jesus our Lord, for the Glory of God to reach every tongue, tribe, people and nation of the world!

Identity: I AM...Associations

As we move forward throughout this series we are going to focus on one potential false identity we as believers sometimes find ourselves living in, instead of our true identity. Our hope is to understand how we mask our identity that God has made us into, so that we can throw those things aside and glorify God more by living in His Identity.

Week 2 of WNL's look at our Identity as followers of Jesus Christ we dealt with the ASSOCIATIONS that we join in while living in this world. Associations are groups, teams, social clubs, partnerships, jobs, friendships, marriage, religions, and many other things that we are part of. How can these things be our identity? glad you asked...

Our passage that we focused on was 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Scripture points us to have a clear understanding of what our purpose in the associations that we have while living in this world. Some key words we looked at are "yoked", "fellowship", "harmony", "in common", and "agreement". each of these words cover the entire spectrum of all possible relationship we can have in a lifetime (business, legal, social, etc.). What Paul is telling us is that we have to know and have a clear understanding the as a follower of Christ we don't just jump into any association blindly. In fact, any association we enter into we need to make sure of one thing...does my association with this entity mesh with my identity in Christ? Am I and the other party on the same page when it comes to who Christ is?

Truthfully, every association we have that is not "equally yoked", "in common", in "harmony", or in "agreement" on the person of Jesus Christ should continue for the sole purpose of Sharing Christ with the person or groups of people. There is no wiggle-room here!

If I play football, my purpose is to share Christ with all the team and the coaches 1st, this will bring Glory to God because I am living in my true Identity. This is accomplished by me talking about my faith, standing up for my faith, sharing my faith, and living my faith. If I play football and I am not doing this, I need to not be part of the "football team" association.

If I am joining every club at school and being part of student government and anything else I can be so I can build my resume for college, or a college student and doing the same to build a resume for a job, or an adult doing the same thing to get a promotion and or a new job, then my motivation is wrong and I could be entering associations with people or entities that if there is no common ground about who Christ is, I need to get out of that association or not partner and join it.

The only purpose a believer has to join into a association/relationship with a non-believer is to share Christ in and through that association.

Here is where the tension comes in when looking at out identity in relation to the associations we have in life...we often will take on the identity of the association and live in it instead of living in the identity of what God has made in our life.

Examples...I am the FCA president/member, instead of I am a person God is using through FCA. The Glory is God's...not yours or FCA's. Or, I am a the valedictorian of my graduating class, instead of I am a person God has allowed to make good grades and now I get to talk about Him in my graduation address. The Glory is God's...not yours or the position of valedictorian.

i think you get the picture...

Now we don't have the privilege to build our own little Christian bubble and never associate with non-believers or non-christian associations. If we did this, we would not be obedient to the great commission. We do however have to understand that our identity is not what we associate with or join, our identity is that we have been transferred and Christ is the focus and purpose of life. If, or when, any association we have covers, or could cover, the true identity we have been given by God...we don't partner any longer with them, or we never partner with them in the first place.

Let us live the identity God has given to us, so that He can receive the glory!

Identity: I AM...just a sinner saved by grace

How often do we as followers of Christ use this statement, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." In my opinion, this is one of the most unscriptural slogans that Christians use to identify themselves, and very unfortunate at that.

Three Wednesdays ago, during WNL, we started a series focusing on our identity as a follower of Jesus Christ. We took this statement, slogan, clique, whatever you want to call it and pulled it apart to expose the lie that it is. BEFORE YOU STOP READING...HEAR ME OUT SO YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE I'M COMING FROM!

This saying has been passed down through songs, the pulpit, and Sunday school classes for decades. I am not sure who said it first or where it came from. All I know is that I can recall from an early age of growing up in church hearing this and allowing this statement, which i have not found in scripture yet, form how I saw myself as a believer in Jesus. Stay with me...

As a believer in Jesus, it is VITAL that we understand and see ourselves as God has made us. If we don't we allow lies to creep in and change our God given identity for an identity that will in no way bring Glory to God. In short here is the foundation that we are understanding what our identity is as a born again, believer in the Lord Jesus.

Colossians 1:13 "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves."

This is a picture of salvation, what happened when a person receives the gift of grace that God desires to give all men. It is not a matter of being a better person, a better Christian, a more moral human being, or anything like that. It is about having a radical change at the core of who you are! The word "rescue" is also translated as "transferred". You have a new identity!

We understand our old identity as being a person found in "the kingdom of darkness". We are found here because of the sin of Adam, the fall of man. When this happened back in Genesis 3, all humanity are identified as sinners. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." No exceptions, EVERYONE! Because of this sin that we are born into and we have in us as a born human, we are spiritually DEAD. Not just a bad person...DEAD. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."

The Gospel, or good news is this..."...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God made a way for us to not survive, exist, reside, live, or have our identity rest in the dead kingdom of darkness! (PRAISE GOD!) When we receive the gift of God He transfers/rescues us, and places us into the kingdom of the Son that He loves. Notice above, the Bible uses the word "IN". That is it...the gift is that God puts us IN Christ...that is our identity.

Colossians 1:27 gives us more incite to this truth. "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." So now we see that we, as a followers of Jesus, have Christ IN us, and we have been placed IN Christ. No longer is sinner anywhere apart of our new identity. We still are able to sin, just as a firefighter is still able to start a fire, but that is not who we are. It is Blasphemy to say that a person that has Christ IN them and has been placed IN Christ, so Christ is covering them too, is a sinner as an identity. That gives us as believers a crutch, excuse, justification, or freedom to sin because that is who we are. On the contrary, scripture never calls a person that has been truly saved by God a SINNER...we are called saints, beloved, children of God, redeemed, set free, we have a new identity!

That identity is not about us. That identity is us having Christ IN us, us IN Christ, and all that Hidden in God. Colossians 3:3 "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." That is who we are as a follower of Jesus Christ.

I AM are NOT just a sinner saved by grace...

I was a sinner that has been saved by the grace of God...and I AM identified as a person scattered, covered, ans smothered IN Christ and hidden in God!

Let us believe who God has made us into and let us not believe the subtle lies of the ruler of the dominion of darkness. So that we can live an empowered life that will bring Glory to God in all we do and say.

Penny for your thoughts...

(sorry so long...trying to catch you up)

S.tudents & P.arents of IN...

The Hope...
It is my desire for this Blog to allow Parents and Students, along with anyone else, to know what is happening in the "IN" Student Ministry at Candies Creek Church. My hope is to Blog at least twice a week. One on Monday that will allow for follow up to Sundays events on campus and will give information about important upcoming dates that you want to make sure you are part of. The second day will be on Thursday. This will be an opportunity to interact and communicate what was discussed on Wednesday nights during WNL (Wednesday Night Live).I will try to stay to date on these two things and will hopefully keep all who want to be..."IN THE KNOW"!So be looking for Updates Starting Next week. Next Week i will Catch you up on the current "Identity: I AM..." series we are looking at during WNL. I will also catch you up with the "IN Talmudim: Understanding who we should be...so we understand who we should make". This is our River of Hope Class for the fall semester.



My prayer is that this will strengthen communication between parents and students about what is happening in the student ministry.



God Bless!