L.O.S.E.R. Week!

Hello Losers!
Yes, I said LOSERS! All the FBC Youth are headed for a week of complete and total Losership!

Matthew 10:39 says

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses
his life for my
sake
will
find it.

God has called us all to be His LOSERS!

We will be serving Him by loving on those around us the week of March 26-30
through various projects.

March 26 L - Lawn Service
March 27 O - Outreach to the Ederly in Nursing Homes
March 28 S- Sensational Sports Ministry
March 29 E - Evangelistic Outreach (Man on the street interviews)
March 30 R - Relax and Regroup!

Five LOSER Days!
For more information or to register please click on the links provided!

Permission/Waiver

Food for Thought!

Cassie, my friend and personal hero, sent me this article from Dr. Mohler's Blog this morning. I really think that everyone should read this. It is definite food for thought!


"The New Family Trump Card" -- Family Time vs. Church Time

Loving my LOSER Youth,
Devin

some helpful links

This is a screenshot of the blog "The Rebelution."

Says their "about us" page, "The official definition of the 'rebelution' is 'a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.'"

The blog is written by a couple of young men, Alex and Brett Harris, for teenagers to help encourage you that it is possible to live different for God. The website includes articles about stuff happening in the culture, articles on how to react to certain situations, and more. On the sidebar to the blog there is a list of their best blog posts, as well as a list of other blogs to read, and overall this site is a huge amount of information that will be very beneficial to you--it is to me, and I'm not even a teen anymore.

I've added it to our sidebar links, as well as the following two:
Brio Magazine is "teaching, entertaining and challening teen girls toward a healthy self-concept and closer relationship with Jesus Christ." Some of you may get the hardcopy in the mail, but I recommend the online site not only because it's easily accessible, but it has a section called soul food which is like a devotional updated each day.

Breakaway Magazine I'm not so familiar with, mostly because it's for guys and I lack being a guy. They say: "Enjoy our stories about sports, adventure, music, girls, faith, technology, and much more. And connect with fellow teens who care about making a difference for Christ in their world."

Hope you're able to check those out. The last two are very good, and the first one is very challenging (the good kind).

Pray for the Bledsoes

For those of you who don't receive e-mail from the Bledsoes, they were recently able to send out prayer requests for the month of March. Their internet, electricity, and facilities have been sketchy since the move, so that is why their website (see sidebar) hasn't been updated. This is just a summary in my own words, for the sake of simplicity.

Top 10 Reasons to Pray for the Bledsoes - March 2007
10. Even though Jimmy and Diana were in language school for a few months, they still speak Swahili poorly. In order to speak to the hearts of the Shinyanga people about Christ, they need to speak in their language--Swahili. Because of this, pray that God will remove language difficulty between the Bledsoes and those around them. Also pray for the Bledsoes' language assistants.

09. Africans see Americans as rich (which is true, in comparison). Because of this, Jimmy and Diana are getting asked by everyone for money. Pray that the Bledsoes will have discernment and wisdom with their giving, and that the people around them would be drawn to the Bledsoes because of Christ and not for money alone (although God can use these needs to bring people to Christ).

08. Pray that the Bledsoes will build good relationships with their neighbors. This includes involving their neighbors in their vision of planting churches in their community, praying with their neighbors, etc. This also includes sharing their testimonies and leading their neighbors to faith in Christ.

07. The Bledsoes planted a garden, so pray that it would rain. Like the Bledsoe's garden, around the world there is a garden waiting to be cultivated and harvested. This means that around the world, there are people who will be saved--there just needs to be people sent out into the world to show them the ways of Christ and assist God's work in their lives. Pray for the Bledsoes' involvement in this spiritual harvest, and that the Holy Spirit would continue to work in the hearts of the Bledsoe family.

06. The Bledsoes have three workers in their home: Peter, Pus (pronounced "juice"), and Bundala. Pray that the Bledsoes will share the gospel with them, and that the workers will have integrity (i.e. they won't steal or abuse the responsibility given them).

05. Pray for Caleb and Isaac, who have left many friends behind (in both America and Africa) and miss these relationships. They've recently made friends with a neighbor, 9 year old Alfonzo. Pray for their new friend.

04. Pray for Jimmy as he meets with local church leaders (he has already met with two--Daudi and Pus). These leaders have been receptive to Jimmy's vision for starting a church planting movement among the Sukuma people. Pray that these leaders will understand and join Jimmy in this vision, and that they will be about "Main Thing Things" as well.

03. The Bledsoes are a part of a team composed of other missionaries. Some of these missionaries are the Williams', who are preparing to take a volunteer team they had back to the airport. They will also be going back to the States at the end of March, and will be preparing to head back to the States for their year-long stay in the U.S., furlough. In April the whole team will travel to Kenya, so pray for their future travel.

02. Pray for peace for a missionary couple in Tanzania who were brutally attacked in their hotel by a robber. The man was horribly attacked and the wife shot. They were immediately taken to a hospital in Kenya, so pray that they will recover physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

01. Pray for the Bledsoes as they settle into African living. This means their electricity goes in and out, their internet goes in and out, their water is frequently too dirty to handle, among other things. This also includes spending massive amounts of time at public places like the bank and post officies when here, it would only take ten minutes. Pray that they would adapt quickly to this way of living, and that they would have a quietness in their lives as they adjust to African ways.

These may seem like many requests, which could be overwhelming (especially since they are all very serious). I recommend maybe just taking one a day, that way you will pray for all ten three times a month. If one a day seems too little, try two.

"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." - James, Jas. 5:16b

How Can Jesus Have a Tomb?

Hey Guys,

Some of you have been clued in that this Sunday there is going to be a documentary on the Discovery Channel about a tomb that was found in Jerusalem twenty years ago. Normally, I wouldn't even raise a fuss about it, but the whole point of this documentary is to prove that this is the tomb of Jesus and his family. The problem for Christians? We know that Jesus rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven--how could he have a tomb? Answer: he can't.

Even though unbiased archaeologists are even saying this is a poorly researched project, there are going to be swarms of students at your schools and even some teachers (I can think of at least two at CHS) that will buy into it, and use it to attack your belief in Christ.

The good news is that you have no reason to be afraid. Christ is like gravity. You can always try to prove gravity wrong, but because it is gravity, it will always win. Similarly, you can always try to prove Christ wrong, but because it is Christ--Truth, it will always win. We have nothing to worry about because no matter how much Christianity is tested (and it has been vehemently over the last 2000 years), it will come out on top.

Now, even though we know this truth, I wanted to give you guys a resource that may help you discuss these issues with your friends and teachers. God knows this documentary is going to air and he knows your friends and teachers will buy into it, so it's no shock that he's placed you in the middle--this is not only a time for you to proclaim the gospel and tell your friends the truth, but to logically prove this documentary wrong. I'm not saying you'll succeed (it's not your job to convince them that Christ is true, anyway, that's the job of the Holy Spirit), but I'm saying that you should jump on this opportunity because God's arranged things this way for a reason!

Here is a good guy who wrote some brief arguments as to why this thing is crazy. They are easy to understand, so I encourage you to at least read over them and be aware. If nothing else, they will help reassure your understanding of why it is not possible for the tomb of Jesus to have been found. Read the very short but very worthwhile article, here.

Congratulations, Dale!

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4:4-7

Congrats to Dale on being invited to North Carolina--all expenses paid--on March 16-18 for a Food Network contest! Not only will Dale be able to have an awesome experience, but in North Carolina he has the chance to win a culinary scholarship with his brownie recipe.

We're proud of you, Dale. Let's keep Dale's trip and competition in our prayers over the next few weeks!

Middle School! recap of "Kingdom of Christ/God/Heaven"

Middle School Sunday School recap!

During the month of February, we slowly explored the concept of being citizens in the Kingdom of God (and the appropriate way to play Spoons). There was a lot of stuff we talked about, some of it pretty deep, so I figured I’d post a summary here to recap. I’ve listed six major concepts we talked about--hope it helps, and I hope that, like me, you’ve been challenged by the words of Jesus to live as he has called us to live, and to look forward to living in the new creation!

1. There is such a thing called the kingdom of Christ/God/heaven where Jesus is King and believers are kingdom citizens. As kingdom citizens we live according to the King, although there are lost people in this world who do not pledge allegiance to the King. Right now the Kingdom of Christ is seen in the lives of believers. The growth of the Kingdom of Christ is seen as the Church (the believers around the world) becomes larger.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Pet. 3:10-13

One day, all creation will pass away because it has been affected by sin which infected all of creation at the Fall (when sin entered into the world, when Adam and Eve mistrusted God in the Garden and ate of the fruit). In the new heavens and new earth, there will be only righteousness, living that pleases the King. Because of this, believers today should have “lives of holiness and godliness.” Our living now is supposed to reflect the way we will live in the new creation. The way we act shows what we anticipate the most!

2. In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7), Jesus explains how people are to live in God’s kingdom. The Jews had thought that God’s people should live according to the Law, but Jesus shows that citizens of the Kingdom of Christ must go beyond the Law and live with hearts totally sold out for Him and His ways. Although the Sermon lasts for three whole chapters, Jesus summarizes characteristics of kingdom citizens at the beginning, in what we call the Beatitudes, a series of blessings.

3. The Beatitudes explain that as kingdom citizens, we are:
- poor in spirit. This means that we realize our need for God not only in salvation, but that we need his strength and guidance every day of our lives.
- those who mourn. This means that we not only mourn over how messed up the world is because of sin, but we mourn over how messed up we are because the sin in our lives.
- the meek. This means that we are humble, and know that we have much to learn from others, including God, parents, teachers, and friends. Humility isn’t about showing others how wrong we are, but it is about learning.
- those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just like a craving that must be satisfied, as kingdom citizens we should crave to live rightly for God. We should not be able to get along without behaving (in heart, mind, and action) how the Lord would want us to.

4. The Beatitudes also explain what actions kingdom citizens take:
- merciful. What we do is supposed to show mercy to others, including our parents when they don’t understand or friends who have been jerks. We are able to be merciful to others who hurt us because God has been very merciful to us, completely removing our sin and crediting to us Christ’s perfection. We are merciful in our actions.
- pure. When something’s pure, it is clear and clean. Our thoughts and heart are to be pure. Everything we do should be pure, without even a hint of murkiness (i.e. NOT like Charlestown water). We are pure in our actions.
- peacemakers. Jesus made peace between God and man. Just as Jesus has made peace in our lives, we are to make peace in the lives of others. This not only entails sharing the peace of Christ (the gospel) with unbelievers, but it explains helping friends make peace with one another. We make peace in our actions.

5.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” - Matt. 5:10-12

We live in a world that does not understand God. The Bible says that the things of the world are enemies to the things of God, and because of this Christians who live like kingdom citizens (as described in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount) will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12-13, Jn. 15:20). This means they will be ridiculed, talked about, insulted--sometimes even false rumors will spread. This is surely to happen by friends, family, or even other Christians if we live like Christ has commanded, because the ways of Christ are totally opposite and hostile to the ways of the world. There is no compromise.

6. Just like the Beatitudes serve as an overview/introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, there are some closing warnings at the end that conclude all that Jesus has said about living like kingdom citizens (and those who do not live like kingdom citizens).

First, Jesus notes that there will be people who have looked just like Christians, even doing Christian things, but they will not reflect good fruit. As Christians, we are connected to Christ. Because of that connection (and the time we spend with that connection, Christ), we will then reflect the character--the fruit--of Jesus. People who are not connected to Christ will not reflect the character of Jesus. This is sometimes the only way we will be able to tell true Christians from others. Are you reflecting Jesus’ character and bearing good fruit of mercy, purity, and peace?

Second, Jesus explains that upon death, many will come to Jesus expecting salvation, believing to be Christians. These people will have done many things in the name of the Lord, believing they were right with God, but Jesus explains that “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” The difference in your life between the things you do that you label “Christian” and the will of the Lord are the characteristics of kingdom citizens. You can do many "Christian" things and not reflect the character of Christ, or be merciful, pure, and peacemaking. You can do many "Christian" things that doesn't result in persecution. But are just "Christian" things the will of God? What does Jesus say in Matthew 5-7?

...Neither of these mean that we are saved by what we do. Instead, what we do shows what has occurred in our lives and what we value. If we are connected to Christ like a branch is to a tree, then we will reflect that tree. Similarly, if you have salvation in Christ, you will reflect his character. Reflecting Jesus does not give you salvation, but instead it shows that you’re really saved.