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!