HIT 'EM

Long time NO blog!

Back to blog world after a crazy summer. Successfully got married and loving it! Going to get back to blogging but with a little help today.

Check this post out from LosWhit.

Let's be a part of something revolutionary!

Staring Down the Barrel

In the wake of Jesus' death the leadership of the early church was under fire. In Acts 6, Stephen was arrested and faced the High Council. I can only imagine he knew what consequences he faced for being a follower of Jesus. As they brought false accusations against him, Stephen was given an opportunity to respond.

His response....Praise.

In the face of death Stephen could only speak of the great things that God had done throughout the generations. He boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus.

My question today is.....

What is our response in the face of "personal crisis"?


I will go on a limb and say that there are very few Christ followers that will face death for our faith in this country. We do not live in danger for calling ourselves Christians. We tend to get caught up in our own "personal crisis'" and let it effect our walk with God.


Is it your tendency to stray from God when crisis hits?

Or is your response praise for the great things He has done?

Is our passion for the gospel smothered or does it thrive?

How He Loves Us

Ephesians 2 speaks of the great love that Christ has for us. The power of Easter should be overwhelming to Christ followers. The power and message of Easter should give us butterflies in our stomach. Because of HIS great love for us we are saved from an eternity separated from God.

WOW!!!

And I will be the first one to say that I forget this power throughout the rest of the year. God has been stirring in my heart the past few weeks. God has been thick in my heart these last few weeks. With Easter approaching I realize how I have forgotten about the power of the cross and simply the power of His love. My encouragement to all is let the love of God be thick in your heads and hearts as we breech Sunday.




Come and experience His love @ FBC POKY 408 N Arthur Pocatello, ID 83204

Sat 5pm 7pm
Sun 9am 11am

Thursday Haze

Everything is a little foggy after Core Groups on Wednesday nights. It is a good haze but a haze none the less. Couple thoughts I wanted to share.

1. There are now 21 people signed up for DCLA 2009!

2. We have our first DCLA fund raiser tomorrow!

• Servant Auction and Dinner
• 6:00pm Dinner
• 7:00pm Auction
• $8 per single person
• $15 per couple/family
• Worship Center @ FBC

3. God is leading us to do some different things in the future for FBC Student Ministries.

• Check out this post to get a sneak peek!
• http://www.markbeeson.com/mark_beeson/2009/02/guest-blogger-dc-curry.html

Another One Bites the Dust

Ephesians 4:31

In preparation for Sunday, I have spent some time studying this passage. It is blowing my mind! Paul is telling the church to get rid of ALL bitterness, ALL rage, ALL anger, ALL harsh words, ALL slander. He considers them as evil behavior.

Have I always considered these things as evil behaviors?

No!

I have dealt with bitterness for the greater portion of my life. I used bitterness as a coping device for the unresolved issues in my life. And frankly, I really enjoyed it. It was my excuse to have "justified anger". Personally, it took me hitting rock bottom to realize my struggles and allow God to pick up the pieces. It took me getting to a place of full surrender for God to begin restoration. Healing is still occurring but I now walk in a new freedom.

Bitterness is the product of our own pettiness.

Are we really killing the evil behavior in our lives or are we just putting a band aid over a severed limb?

Get Humble

James 3:13-17

James addresses wisdom and humility. He speaks of living a life that is rooted in good deeds and humility overflowing from genuine faith. He also addresses those who think they are wise. James says that if you are acting out of jealous and selfish ambition that those action are evil.

People in our culture claim wisdom all the time. They write books about it and have terrible day-time TV shows surrounding it. True wisdom is not self proclaimed or advertised. It is the product of a Christ centered life as the out pour of our genuine faith. Faith is pure, not rooted in jealous or selfish ambition. We got to get humble and allow God's goodness to leak out in our lives.

8 Reasons Why I Love My Job

1. Service Night was awesome! There were about 23 students that helped clean the church in preparation for Sunday. They did a great job!

2. There were over 10 parents at the Parent Connect. We spent some time to celebrate the victories of what God has accomplished and give some updates on the DCLA trip this summer.

3. There are parents that are eager to get involved and help in any way they can as we prepare for DCLA! That is so encouraging to me!

4. There are officially 17 people going to DCLA and more to come!

5. In all the trials and frustrations that come my way God continues to reveal Himself to me in a new and exciting way. He has given me a peace about my life that I have not had in a long time.

6. God continues to bless my relationship with Natalie as we move toward marriage. (I can't wait till August 8th!)

7. It pumps me up to work on a staff of people that are committed to making the name of Jesus famous in the lives of the people in our valley.

8. I get to see life change on a daily basis and it blows me away! It get me out of bed every morning and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Crap Happens...

In James 1:2-4 James opens his letter talking about finding joy in our trials. One of the big thing that sticks out to me is that it does not say that "If trouble comes..." but "When trouble comes...". I have seen that the "real world" is full of stress and trouble and people are pissed off about it.

Bottom Line:There will always be troubles in our life, period.

We all know that we do not live in an Utopian society, that is obvious. But when crap hits the fan in our lives we get really pissed about it. We say "This is not fair!", "I don't deserve this!" I say, "Who said life should be fair?" We miss that James tells us to consider our trouble a chance for joy. When our faith is rocked it is an opportunity for endurance and greater joy to be born.

How do we look at trials in our life?


Do we see them as something to complain about?
Or an opportunity to draw closer to God?

Don't miss the opportunity!

Nine Reasons that I'm Fired Up in '09

1. For Core Groups spent the night beautifying the Student Ministry room with some awesome art.

2. My 1st Sunday back in Student Ministry we had 24 students in attendance!

3. We have over 20 students signed up for DCLA info.

4. There are 3 students officially going to DCLA in June!

5. God's faithfulness in revealing a clear vision and direction for the new year.

6. Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" rocked my world over my vacation.

7. My team of leaders is going to further the Kingdom because of their faithfulness to serve.

8. I get to marry a wonderful woman that loves Jesus on August 8th!

9. Reminder - If students bring $50 to Wednesday Night Core Groups they will save $20 on DCLA registration.