The Opinion Vs. The Truth

This is just a little poem-type thing that I wrote the other day. It is not great, and I think I need to change a couple of things around, but still, I figured it is okay for a couple people to read at this point. I get a little bit frustrated by the things that people say to one another and the way that people automatically believe others with what they say. I believe high school is definitely not it. It’s definitely not where you find who you are, especially if you think that high school is all there is. I believe you are always finding out a little bit more of who God made you to be everyday. It’s a process, and we definitely have not lived long enough yet to even figure out the half of it. High school is definitely not all there is (thank goodness) and this life is not all there is. There’s so much more that God has called us to and we need to be finding that. We need to be finding the good in others, not the bad. And we need to find both the good and bad in ourselves so that we can deal with both and make ourselves better. We shouldn’t be okay with comfort and okay with being so-so. We need to be looking to better ourselves at all times so that we can be a better help to others. Alright, enough rambling, read the poem thing. :)

PS- This ridiculous blog won't let me set two columns and it doesn't look the same as it does on my edit sheet thing, but still, hopefully it makes sense. :)

The Opinion.................................Vs......................The Truth

You’re done......................................................You’re just starting
You’re not worth it..........................................You’re worth everything
You’re used.................................................I’m using you for the glory of Me
You’re dirt........................................................You’re my creation
You’re diseased................................................You’re healed
You’re unacceptable........................................You’re exceptional
You’re the same as the others.......................You’re extraordinary
You’re only special for one night....................You’re special for eternity
You’re alone......................................................You’re with me
You’re stained with sin....................................You’re stained with my blood
You’re a mistake...............................................I don’t make mistakes
You’re a regret..................................................I don’t regret anything
You’re not talented enough.............................I gave you talents
You’re not smart enough.................................I gave you wisdom
You can’t win.....................................................You can’t lose me
You can’t succeed..............................................I won’t let you fail
You can’t help....................................................You’re my light
You’re ugly.........................................................You’re so beautiful
You’re broken....................................................You’ve been made whole
You’re nothing....................................................You’re something
You’re worthless.................................................You’re MINE

I said… You’re MINE

But That's Jesus

Ok so I just found my old Bible notebook from Heritage and I found this poem that a couple of friends and I made for a project. We had to take a story from the Bible and make a poem about it. It doesn't make much sense, especially the last verse (I have no idea what I was even talking about), but it's pretty funny. Just thought you might enjoy it.

BUT THAT'S JESUS

There once was a man named Joe
He was in his tent with nowhere to go
Then he saw a man
That was very tan
Named Jesus

Jesus where are you going?
I thought you were all-knowing
Today's Sabbath day
So you can't go to play
Said Joe to Jesus

I'm going to a cave
To save the lepers from the grave
I'm going up to Galilee
Would you like to come with me?
Said Jesus

I can't go with you today
For today is the Sabbath day
I've only got five steps left, ya know
So then I just cannot go
Jesus

Okay you can stay
But I'm going away
So see you later
Alligator
Said Jesus

So Mark Peter the Zealot went too
Though Martha the scribe was blue
And to me Jesus was cool
Although he was breaking the rule
But that's Jesus

Prayer

Today was See You At The Pole for schools all over America. Last year, at my school, we had SYATP, but I was almost disappointed by how it ended up. It was led mainly by adults, and there were only about 5-10 people there from what I remember. Today, we started at 8:30 and I got there about right on time. Honestly, I was expecting a couple of kids to come, and the adults would do everything again. I wasn't expecting the next thing I saw. I stood there at the flagpole as I saw students begin pouring out of the school doors, ready for SYATP. It wasn't close to our whole school, or even half of our school, but the fact that so many kids (probably 30 or so) were willing to get up early on their late-start day (we don't start school on Wednesdays until 9:00) and pray with others in the front of our school, where everyone can see them, is awesome to me. This definitely showed me how God is using me and others at my school to shine God's light and make a serious impact. I understand that some of these kids might have just been coming for the doughnuts and drinks, but the impact was still there.

A verse came to my head then when I saw the people coming out and when I heard people unashamed to pray earnestly in front of their classmates.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Matthew 18:20

This verse really hit me when I saw everyone there and heard their earnest prayers for our school and the people in it. There were definitely more than just two or three people there, and Christ says that even if it's just a couple of people, He is still right there in the middle of it.

My prayer for our school is simple. I pray that people would realize the need for Christ in their life and would live out a life that serves Christ and only Christ. I pray for revival in our school and for a renewed sense of passion for our calling as children of God. I pray continually for wisdom for the staff and for their example to be like Christ's example. Finally, I pray that I may be continually growing in God's will for my life and for my outreach towards others.

It's pretty simple, but I believe God likes the simple. He's not going to give us tasks that are too hard for us to do. And, as I have learned lately, He's not going to give us desires that He cannot or will not fulfill. God is faithful always.

My Newest Revelation

So, my last long trip of the summer has ended. The first week of August (last week) some of our Co-Motion kids (our youth ministry team) had the chance to go to the National Fine Arts Competition and the National Youth Convention in Orlando, Florida. While we were there, we performed in a variety of different categories of ministry and had the chance to go to the youth services every night, which were amazing! During all of this time, God was speaking to me, as I think should happen every day. But during our "fun day," when we went to the beach, God revealed something really awesome to me.



I was on my way to walk into the ocean where the other youth were, when I saw that someone from our group had written JAG (our church name) in the sand. For some reason, this is what God used to show me that we are just a small part of a much bigger picture. Those letters that represented our church would be in the sand for a little while, and other people might see it, might even wonder about it and ask questions, but it would not be there forever. I'm sure it didn't even remain there for the rest of the day. And it wasn't nearly as big as the rest of the beach. There was so much more sand, and there was so much of the beach that our church name didn't cover. It wasn't even considerable when I looked at it in comparison to the rest of the beach and the seemingly unending ocean. But it was there.



Our church, as just our own building and people in Meriden, Kansas, won't always be here. People might go to JAG for Christian fellowship and worship, we might have all kinds of ministries at our church, and people might notice us and be able to see a difference. But our church will not be here forever. And our church isn't nearly as big as the world. Compared to all the people around the world, it isn't even big enough to consider. But it's here.



And although we shouldn't be a big enough part of this world to even be thought about, we have something big enough to share and big enough to be heard by everyone on this earth: we have the love of Christ, the One who has saved us from the most certain death, and the One who will save us from any danger. Although our church will perish, THE church will never end. Although our groups and ministries will end, and although our work on this earth will be finished, we will not be simply depleted value. We will be the one true God's beloved children, who will be able to worship him forever and ever.

A different way of thinking

So a few months ago, I read one of the books that Rachel Joy Scott's parents, Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo, wrote after her death in the Columbine shootings. The book I read, Rachel's Tears, shared stories from Rachel's parents, as well as some of Rachel's journal entries from various journals and scraps of paper that she had in her room and her backpack. One part of this book really struck me as cool. This is something Rachel and her dad shared frequently apparently.

"One of Rachel’s favorite bible studies that we did together was about the difference between the seed and the sod. I had helped her to understand that we were made from dirt and our bodies will return to dirt. However, that dirt is the planting ground for an eternal seed. Farmers don’t look for clean dirt when they plant seeds. They don’t vacuum all the dirt out of the garden so the seeds won’t get dirty. They need the dirt for the seed to grow. In fact, sometimes the dirt isn’t dirty enough, so they spread cow manure over the dirt to make it dirtier! They call this rich soil.

"When we focus our eyes on “self,” we’re looking at the dirt. When we focus on the seed growing in the dirt, we produce fruit! It is so important to understand that the Christian walk is not me becoming perfect; it’s Christ growing to perfection in me. There are two verses that sound contradictory in the bible, and yet they form a complete truth: “I can of mine own self do nothing,” and “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Rachel knew the difference between the seed and the sod. She knew that once the seed began to grow, people would no longer look at the dirt, but instead focus on the emerging fruit of that seed. She knew she wasn’t perfect. But she realized that god was doing some wonderful things within her."

These are things that I never thought about when I read things like the parable of the sower and the seed. It's a very good example of looking at more than just the surface of the parables and their meanings. I am continually amazed at the depths of God in every way, and how I can always learn things and think about things in a way that I've never thought about before. I love how God gives us all different spiritual insights and ways of thinking so that we can share those with others to help them.

But enough rambling, I just thought others might enjoy that as well. :)

Finally! A New Post!

So it's been a while since I've posted! :) I've been finishing up my junior year of high school, and summer has been a busy one! I just got back from four weeks of our Kansas camps, both staffing and camping. And this coming Monday I will be leaving the country for Colombia on a short term missions trip! Yay! :) After that, we will have our church VBX, and then Fine Arts Nationals in Orlando, Florida. So the posts will probably still be seldom for a couple of weeks, but hopefully they will still be somewhat meaningful. :)

Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:10

I absolutely love this verse! God's will for us is active every second of every day. I know from multiple experiences that God's will is always much better than my own, or anyone else's, plan. We might think that our idea of something or plan for something is better than what is happening, but it never is. Never. For some reason, we think that we know everything that there is to know and that we are in control. Well, no matter how hard and continuously we may try, we will not be able to make the right decisions on our own. We can see in our own lives that God does not disappoint us, so why would we go back to thinking our way is better? I'm not really sure.

We need to make our faith in God and His plan for our lives stronger every day. How do we do that? Well, we need to start by following Him in our everyday lives, with the little responsibilities that He gives us. We need to do what He tells us to, even if we think it will be harmful to us. Because God does not harm us. Some of the things we think are harmful really don't hurt us at all. I am not saying that we become impenetrable, but those things are not from God. And when we do get "hurt" doing something that God has asked us to do, we should praise God. Because when we suffer for the name of Christ, that becomes a witness to others about our faith and His truth.

So do not go around thinking that your plan for your life is better than what God has for your life. God will take care of you far better than you can ever imagine. I dare you to give it all up to Him, and see what he will do with your life.

Laminin

Ok so others might not think this is as cool, but I think this is another one of those awesome ways that God shows his control over everything and his power to help us. It's just one of those little reminders that God is always there and that He will always be keeping us from completely falling apart.

It's a little cheesy, but the point comes across quite well. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4