Hey everyone. Again, I'm sorry that I havn't posted in so long. I've been away at cross-country camps and vacations so I've been a bit stretched! If you could, pray for me tomorrow because I start school again. I'm not really looking forward to it for a few reasons, one of them being the girls at my school. Very few of them are Christians and nearly all of them dress rather...immodestly, to put it kindly. The dress code at my school is rarely enforced which leaves the girls free to wear whatever they want. This makes my time at school much more stressful, trying to stay pure with all of that around me. So your prayers will be appreciated. In any case...a thought hit me while I was running the other day on vacation with my family. My sister and I had ran 3 miles out to a light house. I had grown really frustrated on the way there, because a lot of it was up-hill and I was getting tired. But as we were coming back, we were going mostly down-hill and my mood really perked up. It occured to me how often we have that attitude in life. Here's what I mean- when life is hard (going up-hill) we grow tired, frustrated, and angry. However, as soon as things even out and begin to get better (going down-hill), our mood and disposition lifts. Our joy in life is based mostly on the condition that we are enjoying ourselves. How selfish and un-like Christ! Consider what James wrote-"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith developes perseverance." (James 1:2,3) Maybe the non-Biblical proverb "Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger" was inspired by this verse. This fits in with any problem we have in life. However, even in this post I have not considered it "pure joy" when I face a trial. Biblically speaking, I should be greatly anticipating the start of school and the temptations it will bring-not because I will gratify my sinful nature through them, but because I know that God is faithful to get me through them! According to this verse, life is a win-win situation for us. When we are tested, our faith is strengthened. Even if we fail that test, God is faithful to forgive us and draw us back to Him-this too strengthens our love for God and our resolve to follow Him! May we all prayerfully ask for this attitude toward trials, and thank God for His un-ending faithfulness through it all. May God be with you.

Your Brother, Christian

     Hey everybody! Thank God for His faithfulness! He really used this past week at camp to draw me closer to Him, refresh my spirit, and really re-affirm what His will for me is right now. Haha...but even as I write this, I feel how much I need God's renewal and discipline in so many other areas in my life! Your prayers are needed now more than ever. But again, God is faithful through it all. One of the things God really put on my heart this week is how we hold back from God. The worst thing we do, is try to convince ourselves and Him and we've already given it all! Now right as I was considering this, God brought me in my devotionals to Acts 5, which tells the story of people in similar circumstances-Ananias and Sapphira. They were apparent converts to Christianity who sold their land, and brought the money to Peter to be used for the church. However, the Bible tells us this, "With his (Ananais') wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet." (Acts 5:2) Now Ananias' sin is not in selfishness, but in lying. (My analogy will deal with both, so it kind of breaks down. Hopefully God will shoot a bull's eye with my crooked arrow anyway.) Ananias was rewarded for this sin with instant death. His wife was soon to follow him. So here's how this can be similar to our own lives...we face a similar situation as Ananias, however our order is slightly taller. God does not demand "most of our life" (most of the money for the piece of land) but all of our life. Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Again our Savior said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Paul tells us in Romans 12:1, "...I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices..." I find that when I surrender my life to God, I really see things the way He wants us to see them-I really live the life He wants me to live. When we live for our own purposes, which always entails holding back from God, we find that we do not live how we want, we merely exist. Compared to living in God's plan and glory, this is like death! Let us all trust in Christ and His perfect plan for our lives. Isn't it funny that true life is given to us when all we do is trust in the Giver? May God be with you all.

Your Brother, Christian

     Hey everyone. How was your Sunday? I'd like to ask you to pray for me this week as I go to church camp. Pray for traveling safties for me and everyone else going, but more importantly, pray for God to really work a miracle in my life. I'm in great need of this week of spiritual rest/regeneration, so pray that God would prepare me for it and work in me in a great way. Thanks so much. If you have any prayer requests, let me know about it in a comment or xanga message. May God be with you.

Your Brother, Christian

     Hey everybody. Yesterday I went to a funeral for the first time since I was little. This one in particular was the first where I actually understood what was going on. Now thankfully, the man had a great profession of faith. There is no doubt in any of our minds that he is with our Lord today. Now it was a great service. There was a lengthy tribute to this man's life in the service program, telling of all this man's accomplishments and qualities. He had a very impressive life, once you look back on it. He had a wife and several children, he had been a pastor for some time, and he was loved by any who knew him. Now here is the reason that I tell you all this...this funeral made me wonder, what will be said of me at my funeral? Will I be praised? What will be remembered as my most prominent personality trait? Will the church be packed out? What will be said of me in the service program? Paul the Apostle wrote his own tribute, of sorts. I'll let you look it up for yourselves in Philippians 3:4-6. Now just before Paul lists his accomplishments, he warns his brothers in Philippi of "those dogs...those mutilators of the flesh." (Philippians 3:2) It's implied that these people trusted more in circumcision than in Christ. Paul is very adamant that if anyone had any reason to trust in their own flesh, then it was him. But after listing all of his accomplishments, Paul says this, "But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." (Philippians 1:8) Now I'd like to suggest something to all of you. Take out a piece of paper and write down all of your accomplishments, everything you have to be proud of and then write out that verse in red ink all over it. You see we must remind ourselves daily that it is NOT what we do, it's not what will be said of us at our funeral that is our salvation. Our salvation is that Jesus Christ,our Lord and Savior, died a horrible death on the Cross for us. One of my favorite verses says, "Once you were alientated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation. So let us all make it our prayer and desire that the only thing said of us at our funeral was, "He (or she) died cleansed in the blood of our Savior." May God be with you.

Your Brother, Christian

     Hey everyone. First of all, sorry that I havn't been able to post for so long. To be honest, I'm in need of some ideas for devotionals. I'd really appreciate any questions you have on the Bible, or any ideas you have for a lesson. I don't at all consider myself a Biblical scholar, but I'm sure that God will provide and teach us something through any questions you have. Second of all, thanks so much for your prayers while I was gone. I really appreciate it. I find it just awesome how God can take a person's sinful intentions and use it totally for His glory. Take our very name for example. The word "Christian" did not have a very well-meaning beginning. It started out as Roman officials wrote to one another, discussing the up-and-coming religious sect in the Empire. The word "Christian" means "little Christ." It began as an insult of all things. Now of course the name stuck. It now is taken by nearly 2 billion people, the farthest thing from an insult. But I wonder how seriously we take our name. Are we really "little Christs?" Or are we just "a little bit Christ." Are we the spitting-image of our Father? Or are we just a distant relation. If we truly call on Christ, that means that we not only get the Name, but we get all that comes along with it. Now this Name was not ours for the taking. It was bought at an immeasurable Price. Think of what our Lord did! He lived the perfect life that was required, yet unattainable for us. He died that horrible death on the Cross that was deserved by us. He rose on the Third Day, giving us the Life that was first destined for us. We were adopted. (Ephesians 1:5) This Name was given to us. So our response? Shouldn't we do all we can to "uphold the family name" so to speak? Well...yes and no. Here's what I mean...if we remember all that Christ did, we also remember that there is nothing we can do to make our situation better. We're totally paid for, so trying to buy more is really an afront to the Cross. What do we do then? Christ tells us that. He says, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) Paul reiterates this by saying, "...in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices..." (Romans 12:1) We live our lives with Christ, our namesake, at the Center of it all. He lived His life thinking only of doing His Father's will, thinking only of saving our souls. Should not we also live our lives, thinking of no one but Christ? May we all be "little Christs," or big Christs, but all to the glory of God. May God be with you.

Your Brother, Christian