Transit High School Ministry

You Are Royalty! Part 2

2010-06-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

On Father's Day Sunday we all attended the main sanctuary service to be with our families and to hear Pastor Scot's great message.

This week we talked more about how God has created us to be royalty. Again, His purpose in doing so is not for us to rule over others. Instead we are to rule over our own life and environment. We create our environment and our outcome in life based on our beliefs and attitudes about ourselves.

This week we really focused on the types of lies that the enemy tends to bring to us -- especially early in life -- that, left unchecked, become the truth of our existence. Perhaps it is someone telling you that you are ugly or fat or stupid. If we do not challenge those lies, they will become truth and thereby mold and shape our life.

Many of you made the commitment to combat particular lies that you have accepted at some point that you know are holding you back. I continue to pray for you as you make the effort to replace those thoughts, challenge them and reject them. Forget those things that are behind and press on toward the mark of His high calling!

You Are Royalty!

2010-06-15T14:27:00.001-07:00

This week we talked about what God has made all of us to be -- royalty. He did not make us to rule over others, but to rule over life.

Seeing ourselves as valuable and capable of doing what God has destined for us to do is not just a suggestion. So many people carry around their low self-image like some sort of badge of honor. Humility is NOT low self-esteem. We are children of the Most High God. We are more than conquerors. We are kings and priests.

The Word does not refer to us as lowly worms and the downtrodden of society. We have to change our perception of who we are and what we can do.

We also talked about increasing our level of expectation as a teenager. Society has created a very low level of expectation for teens -- to the point where just doing the bare minimum in life gets teens recognized for "excellence" and "leadership." God did not delineate the teen years as some sort of vacuum from accomplishment. Throughout the Word, God refers to children and adults -- no young adults or teenagers.

We will always live up to our level of expectation and not much more. So, when society develops such a low level of expectation for teens, it is no wonder that most teens live up to that expectation -- we sit and listen to iPods, play video games and, when faced with communicating with an adult, we speak only in grunts. And society seems okay with that. I say we need to rise to a higher level of personal expectation.

We also spoke a little bit about having a battle plan for when the "less than" thoughts come to us. If we do not have a plan to defeat the negative and low-expectation thoughts when they come, we will lose every time. We need to have Scripture ready to use and speak when those thoughts arrive.

THIS WEEK WE WILL BE ATTENDING THE MAIN SANCTUARY SERVICE FOR PASTOR SCOT'S SPECIAL FATHER'S DAY MESSAGE. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!

More on Who We Are

2010-06-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

This week we welcomed all of our incoming 10th graders. Were glad to have all of you as a part of Transit!

I continued teaching this week on understanding our value in Christ; not only understanding our value, but treating ourselves as though we are valuable.

I talked about how, when I was in elementary school, I got a 15 cent per week allowance. Even adjusted for inflation, it might be 30 cents today. That small allowance did a great job of teaching me to value things. I would literally have to save for 10 weeks to buy a Star Wars figure. Because I had to work so hard to earn and save the money for those toys, I truly valued them. I did not throw them all into a bin or let much of anyone play with them. I had each one in little cases along with all of the little guns, light sabers and accessories that came with them.

Maybe it also made me a little O.C.D. too, but I did learn to value my toys. I did not ever break my toys or leave them in dirt piles outside. In fact, I'm not sure they ever went outside the house -- event the Tonka dump trucks that were made for dirt.

OK, maybe I was a little anal retentive.

But the point is that when you value something, you treat it differently than when you do not. If we get hold of the concept of our value in God's eyes we will look at ourselves differently, we might think differently, eat differently or choose friends differently.

Romans 5 tells us that while we still sinners (read: messed up), Christ was crucified for us. What does that tell you about your value to God. In Romans 5:17 we find out that, through the work of Christ, we've been made to reign in THIS life.

Genesis 1:26 says we're made in the image and likeness of God. It also goes on to say that we have been made to have dominion and authority over this world. That doesn't mean over other people. But we were made to have dominion over our environment; over those things that mold and shape our image of who we are.

Finally, in Revelation 1:6, we are told that Jesus' redemptive power has made us kings and priests in this world. Kings are those who are successful and bring wealth into the Kingdom. The priests are those whose efforts directly expand the Kingdom. Any way you look at it, you are a valuable part of what God is doing in this world!

See you all next week!

Changing the Heart, Changing Your Life

2010-06-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend Pastor Tammy taught us on how we go about changing our reality by changing our heart. Last week I challenged you to pay attention to your internal voice; what goes through your head when faced with a challenge or trial.

Final exam week was probably a good week to think about that. How did you think about yourself and your ability to get your desired grade on a difficult final. Did your internal voice say that you're going to just fail the algebra final because you're just not good at math? Or, did it tell you that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and that you have the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance those things that you have studied?

If you found that you tended to be more like the first example you need to re-program your internal thoughts about yourself. Pastor Tammy talked about some of the ways we can do that by meditating on the Word daily and nightly. Search the Word to find out what God says you are and what He says you can do. Get a true understanding of just who you are "In Christ."

In the example of final exams, you're still going to have to study and work hard. And you probably should not wait until the week before finals to start taking the class seriously. But, assuming you have done all the things you know to do, why would you sabotage all that hard work by telling yourself you'll probably fail anyway? The mind and body will take orders from the heart. If you have told the mind and body to expect failure, it will live up to that expectation.

Next week I will continue talking about finding our true identity in Christ.

Who Are You Anyway?

2010-05-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

I started a new series this week on defining who we are. The number one thing that will either drive us to success in life or sentence us to a life of mediocrity or failure is our self-image.

Our self-image or self-esteem is generally formed by our experiences and opinions of others. Throughout our lives we become sort of like an onion -- layer upon layer. We add these layers over time to try and become what we think others want us to be.

Instead we need to understand how and why God values us. Let's look at the summary of what the world uses to determine one's value:

1. Looks
2. Intelligence
3. Abilities
4. Accomplishments

All of those things will eventually let you down if you rely on them to determine your value. Today's hottest movie stars or models will all eventually get old. You will always find someone smarter than you -- even in something you thought you were an expert in. Even superstar athletes begin to lose their exceptional abilities at an early age. There will always be more that you could have accomplished.

Here is God's list for determining your value:

1. You exist

That's it. Now, I know that is hard for us to grasp. God values each one of us so much for no other reason than we exist. In fact, Romans 5 tells us that even while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son to die for the sins of ALL mankind.

We live in a competitive world. It is very difficult for us to get beyond the idea that God sees us all of the same value. When the world tries to see everyone as equal it attempts to bring everyone DOWN to a lowest common denominator to make them equal. However, God sees us all as the winners in life. He wants to bring you UP to that level.

When He sees us all as winners it is not like elementary school track and field day when the kid who stopped for a milkshake and a nap in middle of the 50-yard dash gets the same "you're all winners" ribbon as the kid who set the world record for 3rd graders.

To be a success, we must see ourselves as the success that God made us to be.

In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart. But the second most important thing is like the first -- to love your neighbor as yourself. If you can't love yourself, you cannot love your neighbor. If you cannot value yourself like God values you, you won't be able to value another of God's creation.

This second commandment is LIKE the first because it is about valuing God's creation. If you love God, you will value what He has made and has called valuable. This includes yourself.

Humility is important. True humility is NOT about devaluing yourself. It is understanding that any good thing in your life is because of how God made you and not what you have done. But you can love what God has made.

If you want to know what you really think of yourself, pay attention to the internal voice that plays in your head -- particularly when faced with a challenging task. This will tell you how you see yourself.

Over the coming weeks we will discuss how to change the way we see ourselves by using the Word.

Making the TRANSITion

2010-05-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

We have been discussing the keys to transitioning from being a teenage, youth group attendee to becoming an adult with a thriving Christian walk. One key to making that happen is staying plugged into your church.

We see a high number of teens who graduate out of youth group and subsequently stop attending church. Certainly we know that some go away to college. Others may find that another church might be a better fit for them; and that's OK. But there should be far more young adults in our congregation once they move beyond the high school ministry.

When studying the common factors that the young adults who remain connected to the church possess, I found two that were almost 100% reliable indicators:

1. They frequently attended main sanctuary services in addition to youth ministry services
2. They began serving in another area of the church while still in high school

We have been discussing the importance of these two things as well as how to change our habits to incorporate these and others that will help us thrive into adulthood.

There will be some exciting changes coming to the overall structure to our ministry to help facilitate an atmosphere that will encourage better connection to our adult and young adult ministries.

Leadership - Sat PM & Sun 11

2009-12-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

We've been working through a long series on the subject of leadership. We have all been called to be leaders of this world and not followers. We are to lead people to Christ. We can't do that if no one is following us.

We have discussed many of the qualities that make up an effective leader. We've discussed the focus of Noah who stayed on the task God gave him to build the ark and lead his family to deliverance from the flood. He stayed focused for 120 years (between the time God told him to build the ark and when the first rain drop fell).

We also talked about Elijah and his passion. People will follow a passionate leader. He displayed this passion when he was moved to action by God's people worshiping Baal. He challenged the prophets of Baal to call down fire to consume an offering. Whoever had their god show up would prove who the real God was. The 450 prophets tried for many hours with no results. Elijah then soaks the offering and calls down fire from heaven. God's people turned from their ways and returned to God.

We also talked about the 360 degree leader. A 360 degree leader masters leadership in four key areas -- leading himself, leading a person of influence, leading those around him and finally leading in a position of authority.

We looked at Nehemiah and how he went through this process to get the wall around Jerusalem rebuilt. He led himself by taking responsibility for being disobedient to God. Then his leadership skills were able to lead King Artexerxes to allow him to leave to rebuild the wall and even financed it. Then he head to lead the people in Jerusalem to get the job done. he did not use a title or position to do this, but simply influenced the people by having a plan and a passion. Finally, he led in the position of the governor. When he received royal "care packages" from the king, he shared them with the people who were working so hard instead of enjoying the goods himself. This gained him respect among the people who were willing to continue on the project, even when times got tough.

This past week we looked at Jehoshaphat and Elisha in 2 Kings 3. Jehoshaphat and two other kings were preparing to go to battle with the Moabites. As they are crossing a desert valley they run out of water. They go to the prophet Elisha to get God's help. Elisha tells them that God will perform a miracle to bring them water. But he also teaches them a valuable leadership lesson. They were simply looking for water and had resigned to the idea that they would be defeated by the Moabites. Elisha showed them that a good leader needs to think big. He told them that God would meet their need and miraculously provide water and that He would also deliver their enemy into their hands. They needed to have bigger picture thinking.

Sundays - Creation Science

2009-09-17T09:52:00.001-07:00

As part of my goal of breaking down the misinformation our kids are taught in public school, I have been teaching a series on creation science.

The theory of evolution became prominent in our education system in the late 1950s. Our scientific community went ballistic (no pun intended) when the Russians beat us into space. They reasoned that we were losing the technology war because our kids were being taught the old, archaic creationism in school. So they petitioned President Eisenhower for $1 Billion to change our curriculum to reflect the new, more advanced evolution theory since that was what the Russians were doing.

The effects of that that decision, along with removing prayer from our schools in 1963 have been devastating on our society to the point where I begin to ask who REALLY won the Cold War. Ronald Reagan may have given us the tactical victory, but it seems the battle for the soul of America began almost 40 years earlier and still goes on today.

If you look at graphs relating to drugs, violence, teen pregnancy and suicide you see a hockey stick that started its swift upward trend around 1963.

Why am I teaching the kids about these things? I teach it because as believers, they need to not only know the truth but know why the things they are being taught is false.

The United States Treasury Department trains their workers to spot counterfeit bills by never showing them one. All they know is the truth so that when presented with a forgery, they recognize it immediately. Unfortunately our children are exposed the the forgery on a daily basis in their schools. So we must explain why it is a forgery and help them learn more about the truth.

We have discussed evidence supporting the six day creation and the age of the earth being as young as 6000 years instead of the many billions of years that they are taught. We've been looking at many pieces of true scientific evidence that support the idea that the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

I have made it very clear to the kids every single week that my goal is not for them to go to school and argue with teachers or other students. Those arguments are pointless. It takes far more faith to believe that we all came from a rck soup that somehow got some energy inserted and developed from single-cell beings to complex humans than to believe in God and His creation account. Therefore, Big Bang and evolution theory are just as much religion as Christianity or Judaism. Therefre it is pointless to argue religion.

Instead I want them to know the truth. I share that I am certainly NOT an expert in science. But I do not have to be. If I am presented with what someone is calling science, no matter how much sense it makes, if it doesn't line up with the Word it is not the truth. So it really comes down to knowing the truth.

As an underlying theme to this entire series we have been considering the four most important questions in life:

1. Who am I and what am I worth?
2. Where did I come from?
3. Why am I here?
4. Where do I go when I die?

Whether you have a creationist worldview or a secular/evolutionist world view will radically change your answers to these four questions. You can see how an evolutionist would answer those questions and how those views have, unfortunatley, shaped our society. We need young believers to know the truth and live the truth.

This week we will look at how creation and evolution are exact polar opposites on almost every important issue.

Wednesday Nights - Our Nation's Heritage

2009-09-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry for the lack of updates recently. We have had a VERY busy couple months with some major growth and the projects that go along with that growth (like trying to remodel our youth room to accommodate the increased numbers).

As part of my desire to counteract the misinformation our kids are being taught in our public schools I really felt led to teach about our nation's founding; what the founding fathers intended and what their vision for America was at the time of the Revolution and the forging of the U.S. Constitution.

I am teaching the material from a Biblical perspective and NOT a partisan or political party perspective -- paralleling the Word with the principles that make up our Constitution.

We started by looking at God working through Samuel to fulfill the wishes of His people for a physical king. What we looked at was the warnings that God gave His people in regard to man ruling man. It didn't take the kids long to realize all of the warnings He gave sounded very familiar in regards to politics today.

God never intended for man to rule man. However, He allowed His people to have what they so desired. And the results were just as God warned (the people being subject to the king's whims, your sons going to war for his causes, your income being taken in taxes, etc...)

When our founders set out to establish this country, the concepts were world-changing. When they stated in the Declaration of Independence that our rights came from our Creator, that was radical. In almost every society your rights came from the King and his whims. Those rights could be revoked or changed at any moment and were not dispensed in a uniform and impartial manner.

But God is no respecter of persons and He does not change. Rights that come from God are eternal and impartial.

Then we talked about the founders' vision for our society. They envisioned the central government having a VERY limited role in the lives of its citizens. They saw that society is made up of many pillars; among them family, church, local community, business, government and, of course, the individual. They saw that every aspect of society could be maintained through these pillars. They saw that each one of them was best-suited to handle a different aspect.

For example, welfare was best administered by those with the vision to do so. This would be namely the church. We are the ones charged by God to care for the sick, needy, widows and orphans. The problem they foresaw was that, when the wrong pillar of society is handling a problem, the job is not done correctly and the other pillars are weakened.

We have laws to, as Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, protect us from the heartless (I am paraphrasing). He said that laws will never change the hearts of men. So, what pillar is equipped to change the hearts of men; to instill morals and virtue? Well, our founders felt that the family, church and community would do those things -- not the government.

One of the biggest problems we have created by not following the founders' advice is that, once things are out of balance, things are very difficult to correct. No one will let the government stop providing everything it does because it would be "heartless" to withdraw the support it is currently giving. Of course this is true because for generations it has been the source for help and by doing so it has weakened the very pillars that should be providing that support so that they cannot.

Finally, this week we talked about the concept of freedom. We looked at Genesis 2:16 where God tells Adam he is free to eat of ANY tree in the Garden. But if he eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would surely die. So God actually tells Adam he is free to eat of it, but there would be consequence if he did. This is the very definition of freedom. You have the freedom in America to pursue life, liberty and happiness. You also have the freedom to not pursue them. Either way, that freedom is really about personal responsibility.

Next week we'll continue on the concepts of freedom and the pillars of society.

Wisdom from the Book of James - Wed PM

2009-07-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

We have begun a series on the New Testament book of James. As I began studying for this series I found a striking similarity between the type of wisdom found in James and the Old Testament book of Proverbs (written by Solomon - -the wisest man to ever live).

It is believed that James was Jesus' oldest brother. So, he had a lifetime to learn from Jesus himself; through His teaching and His actions. I think this gives James a distinct advantage over many of the other early church leaders.

In the first week we looked at the first 8 verses of chapter one and found at least three profound words of wisdom -- perseverance is a sign of maturity and path to abundance (v 1-4), we can ask God for wisdom and He gives it -- even if the reason we need wisdom is because of our own foolish mistakes (v 5) and that when we ask from God we need to avoid being double minded (v 6-8). When we are truly in faith we must act like we actually believe it.

Then in the second week we looked at the rest of Chapter 1. We looked at learning top place our trust in God and not our riches. Those riches can be monetary but they can also be our own skills and abilities. Money, talent and abilities are not bad things in and of themselves. But we have to remember that they are all just tools. Our trust is in God and His perfect plan for us.

This led us to verse 17 where we are told to remember that all truly good things come from God and that we are God's first fruits -- His best. After He made all of creation, He made us and made us the best. Despite what the world tries to say -- we are not equal with all the animals. We are greater than and have dominion over all the rest of creation.

Finally we talkd about the idea of getting rid of the filth and humbly accepting God's plan for us (v 21). It takes humility to accept that God knows what is best for us. We need to learn that the world will fill us with filth and self-righteousness that tells us we are "all that". But we will be so much more than that if we humbly accept God's will for us which is way bigger than anything we could even imagine.

Next week we will begin to look at James Chapter 2.

The Life of Joseph C'td - Sat PM & Sun AM

2009-07-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

We have continued on in the study of the life of Joseph. We looked at how his inner drive to do what was right afected his outcome in life.

After being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph really had no motivation in life to do any more than would keep his slave driver from killing him. Yet Joseph personified the ideal of working "not unto men, but as unto the Lord." he did not work hard and with excellence strictly to impress his master. He did so in order to reflect well his true Master.

So often Christians fall into a trap of doing as the world does, whether in school or in the workplace. We do just enough to get by and, hopefully, stay out of trouble.

Potiphar, his boss, noticed that whatever he touched prospered and that his own business was prospering because of Joseph. A lot of Christians like to talk about how the company they work for is blessed because they are there, and that is partly true. However, it takes more than you being a Christian to bring blessing to the company you work for. It takes working hard every day as though it is unto the Lord like Joseph did. Most of us stop short of that part.

Many Christians even spend their employer's time (read: money) reading the Word or witnessing to co-workers. Then they wonder why they get passed over for promotions or get laid off. They chalk it up to being persecuted for their beliefs. But Joseph shows us that it is important to work hard because it pleases God and that true promotion comes from God. Jesus tells in the book of Luke that if we want Him to trust us with bigger things of our own we must be a good steward of others' business.

Maybe your boss will never notice your hard work, but when you do it as unto the Lord (and not that boss), God will see that you are promoted -- even if it seems like there is no way and even if it means moving you somewhere else.

We also saw that, while we'd like to believe that choosing to do the right thing will have an immediate payoff, sometimes we have to just keep on doing the right thing before we see the results.

Joseph was being hit on by his boss' wife. She wanted him really badly. Joseph was doing the right thing. He knew she was an attractive woman who wanted him and that he was a young, good-looking guy. That could prove to be a dangerous combination. So he was careful not to allow himself to be alone in his boss' house with her. Eventually she figures out his ruse and sends all the staff away when she knew he would coming to the palace to work. She makes one more attempt to seduce him.

Joseph resisted the temptation -- not because of a religious law -- but because it would be an offense to his God. We can rationalize why we will keep away from a particular sin. But eventually we can find a way to rationalize committing that sin. But, when you make the commitment to not sin because it would offend God it gets rid of the gray areas of sin. Either it is right or it is wrong. Joseph knew that betraying the trust of his master would reflect poorly upon the God he served.

it is often said that we may be the only Gospel some people ever see. The biggest complaint the world has about Christians is that they are hypocrates. This is an age-old problem. Joseph was faced with the same issue. If he betrayd his master by committing adultery with his wife, then the God of Joseph would be no better than the gods of Egypt or any others that anyone else worshipped.

Then Joseph did what we should do when faced with sin and temptation -- run! Now, it didn't work out for him right away. He ends up being thrown in prison because the rejected woman accused him of rape.

Now the jail that Joseph was put in was not like ours. There was no specific sentence. You get sent to jail and no one ever sees you again. Yet, Joseph still chooses to work as unto the Lord. He probably figured he could sulk about his situation and the unfairness of it all. He could have even blamed God for it. But what god would it do? What difference would it make? Instead he figured he may as well make the best of it.

He gets put in charge of the prison's operations. Eventually he interprets a couple dreams and, even though it took another two years, all the had work and integrity pays off. he is release from prison and made second in command of the greatest empire of the day.

All of us would like the end result that Joseph found, but we must also be willing to do the work that it took to obtain that prize.

This next week we will look at the Godly wisdom of Joseph as a ruler and how it prospered him and, ultimately the entire Israelite people generations later.

Independence Day - Wed PM

2009-07-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

This week we spent some time looking at the lives of a few of our founding fathers. We read a biography of Benjamin Franklin from an 1848 textbook. We found that Franklin was a man of big dreams and even bigger drive to succeed. He was never satisfied to do nothing, but was a life-long learner who was always looking to invent something new. He was also very well-known for his high level of integrity and strong work ethic. In fact, whenever he found himself in a difficult time in his life, it was those characteristics that helped him rise to the top again.

We also viewed a video about Frankin and Benjamin Rush (another signer of the Declaration). It is interesting to look at the lies of these men as well as many of our other founders who designed this nation to be built on Godly principles. They had a God-inspired vision of freedom and prosperity that has shaped this nation over the last 233 years since the signing of that Declaration.

The Life of Joseph - Sat PM & Sun AM

2009-07-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

We have begun a series studying the life of Joseph.

There is so much we can learn by studying how Joseph reacted to everything that happened to him in his life. Last week we looked at how Joseph had a dream. He shared this dream with his family who did not understand or appreciate his dream. Sometimes this will be true in our lives. Maybe it is family and maybe it friend.

Even Jesus was unable to minister in His own home town because they all knew Him as a child. They remember him running around in diapers, so how could He know anything.

The thing is, if you truly have a dream that has come from God, it will be BIG... really big. Those people who know you and have not heard from God like you have will see your dream as too big for you.

When others are presented with your dream they have two choices. Either they can recognize that the dream is bigger than you, know it is from God and be inspired. If God would do that for you He would do it for them. Unfortunately most people make the second choice. That is to tear down your dream. It may not be a conscious reasoning, but it is because they are threatened by you making something of yourself. After all they are just as unworthy of the dream in their heart as you are of the one in yours (without the blood of Christ, anyway). If you persevere and make it to your destiny, it makes them look bad because they could have done the same thng, but didn't.

So this last week we encouraged everyone to hold on to the dreams that you have in your heart and to not tear down someone else's dream just because you think it is too big. God dreams always are.

next week we'll begin to look at Joseph as a slave -- how he dealt with adversity when it lookd like his dream was dead.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - Your Life, Inc Part 4-5

2009-05-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

We actually have a spent a couple more weeks talking about the will. It has ben a great study to learn just how important a role the will plays.

We spent the last two weeks talking about the sacrifices that must made to accomplish our purpose. The flesh always wants to take the easy route. The problem is the easy route rarely leads to anything great in life.

If you really want to get into a specific college you will need certain grades. Maybe you are a B- student and it will take A- to get in. There are going to be certain sacrifices you will need to make to get to that goal. The flesh will tell you it's no big deal if you don't make it into that college. You can always take a year of or just go to the community college (not that there's anything wrong with community colleges. But if your dream was Princeton...).

It will take the Spirit in you to be in charge and to tell the will that he is not going to listen to the flesh or emotions when making its decision.

This week we have our very own Fred Weaver who will be guest speaking. Then next week I will wrap up this series with a message about seasons in our lives and how to adjust to each season to get out of that time all that God wants you to get.

Wednesday - Hanging out With God

2009-05-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

I've ben teaching over the last couple weeks on Wednesday nights about how to have a real relationship with God. It' all about communication.

We spend, on average 14-18 hours per week keeping in touch with our friends via texting, calling and instant messaging. What if we started devoting even a small portion of that to our relationship with God?

Many do not begin this relationship because they feel they don't know how. The great thing about God is that He will communicate with you in whatever way you are comfortable communicating. If you like to talk in eloquent King James prayers, great. If you want to talk to Him like you would your best friend -- very informal -- that's also great. God just wants the communication.

We've talked about how we talk to God as well as how He talks to us. Sometimes there is a still, small voice and sometimes there isn't. But He always speaks to us through His Word. We can open up the Wod and read a lineage out of Leviticus and somehow God will speak to us through it if we truly want Him to.

Next week we will spend more time discussing how our communication with God works.

Sunday - Your Life Inc. Part 3

2009-05-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks we have been talking about another of the employees in our company, the will. The will is powerful in that is generally the decision maker. It takes all the information from the other employees about a decision and decides which decision is in its best interests.

The problem is that our will does not always line up with God's will. This is yet another reason why the Spirit of Christ in us needs to remain the CEO of our company.

The flesh never wants to do anything that is going to be work. The emotions never want to do anything that might hurt. The mind doesn't want to do things that don't make sense. But, so often God's plan for us might be all of those things.

We looked at Jesus is the garden of Gethsemane. He is honest with Himself and His Father that what He had to do was not His will. But He knew that Gods will was His purpose (see Isaiah 53:10). Because of this He chose not His own will, but God's will.

We looked at how purpose is the true source of will power. Just like Christ enduring the cross, when we choose to step into our Godly purpose we will find all the power (supernatual if necessary) to accomplish that purpose.

Right now, as teens, your purpose may simply be to be successful in school and/or be a great son/daughter and brother/sister. But whatever the case, operating in purpose will bring the power to follow through.

No matter how much you love Krispy Creme Doughnuts, if a doctor told you that if you didn't stop eating them you would die, I guarantee I could not shove one down your throat. Purpose will do that. So connect to purpose and find the power to accomplish things greater than you.

Sat PM and Sun AM - Your Life, Inc. 2

2009-04-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a slight, temporary break from the Your Life, Inc. series. it was something the Lord put on my heart. We talked about having stuff and feeling blessed.

We live in a society that gets so focused on the stuff that we forget just how blessed we truly are. almost 80% of the world doesn't have a car. Yet we complain that ours is too old or not cool enough. Compared to almost everyone else in the world, we in America are rich. If you have somewhere to live and you had at least one decent meal today, you would be considered rich.

I don't say this to condemn us for having nice stuff and being blessed. Instead I remind us of these things so that we can remember what we, the blessed, have been charged to do. That is to bless the rest of the world.

1 Timothy 6:17 says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy".

We should remember that we ARE blessed and that we should develop the attitude of "what can I give" instead of "what can I get." With Christ as the example who did not demand anything because of His position, but instead came to serve, we look to be led in how we can serve and give.

Giving is a lifestyle and, in the same way that little is big (see Wednesday blogs), we can develop this lifestyle with small changes. We could start by looking around at our excess and figure out how it might help someone else. For instance, many of us have that old "out-of-date" iPod in a drawer at home. It's not nearly as cool as the latest and greatest one we use now, but giving the old one to someone else would really bless them.

Sometimes giving just a little amount of money to someone can make a huge impact. Just buying someone a $5 lunch could make their day. Maybe that $5 wouldn't put you out at all, but it really helps someone else.

You can give your time to someone. Maybe a friend or a little brother or sister could use a tutor in a subject that's you're good at. You could volunteer at a local soup kitchen or convalescent home.

I also am encouraging us to get involved with the church's Cambodia village project. If 50 high schoolers could give $1 a week, we could buy a whole house for a family. Seriously - just a buck a week. That's not a lot and it would make a huge difference for someone else.

I am a firm believer that God does want us to be blessed and that He's OK with us having nice stuff. But, as the religious cliche says, don't let the stuff have you. The purpose of being blessed is to be able to be a blessing to others. Develop that lifestyle in your life and see how it will change you.

Wednesday Nights - Little Is Big 2

2009-04-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

This week we continued on Little is Big. While last week we focused on the affects of accepting little sin, this week we talked about making small positive changes.

So often we avoid making necessary changes in our lives because they seem so big. For instance, maybe you want to lose some weight. The tight restrictions in diets are more than you are willing to accept so you just never do it. But making small changes can also make a major impact. If you just cut back from fast food 4 times a week to only 2 times you would probably see a change.

When I tried giving up my nightly ice cream habit I did it through making small changes. First I went from eating half a carton to a smaller bowl. Then I eventually analyzed what it was about ice cream that I was craving. It was the dairy and the sweet taste. So I replaced it with a bowl of cereal. Now, it wasn't a particularly healthy cereal, but it was definitely more healthy than the ice cream. So, instead of never giving up the ice cream because I thought I couldn't do it, I slowly removed it by making small changes.

We've been using Luke 16:10 as our core scripture which talks about being faithful with little. This week we looked at the rise of King David in 1 Samuel 17. When the prophet Samuel comes to his father's home to look for the next king, Jesse brings out all the older brothers who apparently weren't doing anything. I say this because only David is mentioned as being busy. He was out tending the sheep in the fields. He was working on something little.

The brothers were hanging out and playing on the Xbox or chatting with friends on MySpace. Samuel says that none of them are the "one". Then Jesse mentions there is David working out in the fields tending sheep and Samuel is like, "That's the one. The one that's working."

Then in the story of his confrontation with Goliath he points out that his experiences leading up to that point made him ready for this challenge. He had already defeated the lion and the bear. He didn't just decide on the spur of the moment that he could defeat a 10-foot giant. He had completed smaller things that led him to that point.

In our lives, we have a choice in where we will end up. That choice comes in the form of small choices every single day. We can make bad choices and wake up one day and wonder how we've gotten so far off. We can also make good choices and wake up one day and wonder how did we get so blessed. The choices are yours!

Wednesday Nights - Little Is Big

2009-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks we have been discussing "Little is Big" on Wednesday nights. Here is a quick review of what we've talked about so far:

God has told us in Luke 16:10 that those who are faithful in the very little are also faithful in much. It also tells us that he who is unfaithful in the very little is unrighteous in the great.

We want to avoid the trap of believing that the little sins in life don't matter because you think that when it comes down to it, in the important stuff you do the right thing.

We looked at polls that were taken and even did an informal poll in class and found that most of us had done things like illegally downloaded music (but it was Christian music, so it was OK, right?) or taken a couple bucks from Mom's purse or Dad's wallet.

Accepting the little sin will, over time, make us calloused and able to accept bigger and bigger sin. Most heinous acts are not done spur of the moment. There is usually a pattern of sin that starts and becomes bigger and bigger over time.

Just ask some major celebrities what they think now about what seemed like no big deal when they did it. Michael Vick was just hanging out with some friends who were into fighting dogs, got involved and went to jail. Kobe Bryant just had one little affair with a woman other than his wife and almost ended up going to prison for rape. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens decided to just give themselves a little extra advantage and then got out of control and destroyed their careers and their legacies. The list goes on.

Martha Stewart, who is a billionaire, went to jail for taking a little illegal stock tip that made her $51,000. That amount of money is like $50 to the average person. Because of it, she lost over $300 million in her own money invested in her company.

We talked about Luke 12:1-3 where we are warned about even letting a little sin in because it will destroy the whole lot.

Sin, when we really think about it, is about selfishness. We sin for our own self interest. Man steals to have what he wants without paying for it. He lies to protect himself. But Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5-7 that our attitude should be like Christ who didn't consider himself or his position. But instead he came to serve and to ultimately die for OUR sin.

This past week we talked about how sin affects our relationship with God. We talked about how so many people view God as someone who is looking to bless those who obey and punish those who do not. But that is not who God is. In Isaiah 54 he promises not to punish for sin anymore because of what Jesus did. We also know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. But doesn't sin separate us?

It does, but not on Gods end. We allow sin to bring us under condemnation and feel that we are not worthy of God. None of us are actually worthy, but because of what Christ did, when we accept him we are all worthy.

So, am I saying that it doesn't matter if we sin? No. Sin still has a lot of natural consequences. God established sowing and reaping. But as far as our relationship with God, it doesn't break that relationship.

Sin SHOULD provoke a feeling of guilt in us. That guilt should drive us TO God and and awway from Him. He is faithful and just to forgive. We have a hard time understanding the way God forgives because it is impossible for man to do it the way He does. We can forgive, but there is still hurt. When God forgives it is as if it never happened as far as He is concerned (we may still have our consequences in this life, though).

If we do not truly believe we are forgiven we will allow our guilt to drive us AWAY from God and into condemnation. And that is not where we want to live.

Next week we will continue disscusing other little things that have a big impact on our lives.

Sat PM and Sun AM - Your Life, Inc.

2009-04-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Right now, in our Saturday night at 5pm and Sunday at 11am services I am teaching Pastor Jason's series, Your Life Incorporated. Here's what we've learned about so far:

Overview
We are looking at our lives using the example of a company's structure. For a company to be successful it must have the right CEO. As we have seen in the news, having the wrong CEO in charge of your company may bring destruction.

God desires for our spirit or, more accurately, the Spirit of Christ in us to be the CEO of our company. According to Genesis 1:26, we were created as a spirit being in the image and likenes of God.

We have tended to define ourselves by what we can physically see or our physical body. If you asked someone to describe themselves they would most likely describe what they see in the mirror. We have to learn to define ourselves by the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us, allow that Spirit to run our company and see the success that God has us destined for.

Employee #1 - The Mind
In the first two weeks we discussed the first employee in our company. The mind is overemphasized by worldly intellectuals. The mind cannot run the company because, like all things other than God, it is going to fail us. it has weaknesses.

However, the mind is a tool given to us by God. We cannot neglect it. We must not only allow it to do its job, but continually develop it to be a better employee. Pick up a book instead of the video game controller. It is a tool that will be with you for your whole life. So you better make it a useful tool.

You must also remind the mind who is in charge of this company. You might need to call it in for a meeting and tell it that you don't like the negative junk it's been thinking about. It needs to think about the things that are true -- that is think about what the Word says about this company and what it is capable of.

Employee #2 - The Body
Lets face it, no matter how strong the spirit may be in you, without a body to carry it around it can do nothing. We need our body and we need to treat it well if we want it to be a productive employee. The body, or flesh, has a lot of desires that in and of themselves are not bad. In fact the desires come from God.

The desire to eat is good. If you don't have it, the body will not survive very long. But allowing that desire to do what the body wants to do with it will be self-destructive. We should eat to live, not live to eat.

The desire to sleep is also important. However there are some who have too strong of a desire to sleep and end up sleeping life away. I had a friend in high school that would sleep well into the afternoon every weekend and all summer. Or try not sleeping. I know Jack Bauer on "24" can go without sleep, get shot half a dozen times and get infected with a bioweapon nerve agent and keep humming along. But our bodies are not designed for that. If you go just a couple days straight without adequate sleep you see a significant performance breakdown.

Yes, there is the desire for sex. God also gave us that, but He has very specific instructions for how it is to be enjoyed. Giving in to the flesh's desire for sex in the wrong situations (any one where you are not married, just to clear that up) will always have negative consequences whether you realize them now or not. It will have an impact on future relationships and marriage, trust and of course things like unplanned pregnancy or even sickness and disease. The desire itself is not what is bad. It is a matter of whether you make this employee submit to the CEO or allow it to take over the company that determines what happens.

We talked about the importance of looking good. We used the example of Esther from the Bible. We understand that God doesn't care one bit about how we look physically. And we should not judge one another's value based on looks either. But the world does and the world is who we need to reach.

Esther was able to save an entire nation because she was beautiful and well-kept. Why do you think we dress up for interviews for jobs or college entrance? How we look communicates something to the world. The world judges whether what you have to say is important or of value based on how you look.

Employee #3 - Emotions
Last week we stated discussing another of our employees -- our emotions. Most of us, when evaluating how we end up in bad situations, can point to make an emotional decision. In the heat of emotion we do something that, if we stopped and thought it through, we would not have done. Sometimes it is an impulsive purchase that puts us in debt or keeps us from having the money to do something important to our future. It can be a reaction of anger that destroys a relationship or results in violence.

Like all of the other employees in our company, our emotions came from God. They are designed to be a useful tool but they cannot be allowed to rule the company. They also cannot be ignored. There are some that think they are exercising self-control by not showing any emotion. But repressed emotion will eventually become more dangerous than the original desired emotional response.

For example, grief is a normal emotion when we lose someone close to us. If we suppress it we may go down a path to depression, worthlessness and maybe even suicide. If we allow ourselves to let the grief emotion take the company over it can be just as dangerous.

God desires for our lives to be a walk on a path of joy and peace. There are situations that happen in our lives where our emotions take us off of that path. That's OK. It is the way God programmed us. His plan is that, with His help, when we leave that path that there is a plan for getting back on. But is either we allow the emotions to rule us or we suppress them we will continue to veer further and further from the path of joy and peace.

We looked at the story of how Jesus handled the loss of a close friend, Lazarus, in John Chapter 11. We also looked at Peter in Matthew 26 when he denied Christ. He experienced strong emotion (he wept bitterly) but did get back onto the path of joy and peace.

This week we will be talking about how to make that plan; how to make sure when we leave that path that we have a plan to get back on.