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Important Dates
- SUNDAY TRAINING CLASS : 9:30-10:30 (4/13, 20 &27... 5/4, 11, 18)
- OVERNIGHTER - 5/30-31
- CONCERT OF PRAYER/ PARENTS MEETING - 6/10
24 comments:
I was really challenged by Day 2 this week as I read through the passages on entertainment. For me these would have been easy to rush through and move on which I almost did but then the Lord helped me to slow down long enough to really reflect on what these verses are actually saying and how I would need to change how I filter through the entertainment I expose myself to if I wanted to literally follow what these verses are saying. I was challenged to re-think the current movies, websites, TV shows, music and reading material that I expose my mind and heart to and whether they are really edifying to my heart as a Christ-follower.
Ephesians 5:3-12
The entertainment I engage in shouldn’t contain anything involving course joking, obscene stories or anything that even implies sexual immorality.
Romans 8:6
It’s very important that I filter what I allow into my mind through the entertainment that I engage in.
Romans 7:22-23
There is a war going on that I can’t see, an invisible enemy that is at war with my mind. Is there anything in the entertainment I engage in that gives this enemy an open door into my mind?
Romans 12:2
Entertainment can be one of the main ways, if not the main way, that I am tempted to “copy the behavior and customs of this world.”
1 Peter 4:7
A lot of things are competing for my mind. In reality I waste a lot of time in my life on things that keep me from being urgent and engaged in the things that really matter.
Colossians 3:1-8
Through the forms of entertainment I engage in, I’m often drawn to become focused on the things of this world instead of allowing “things of heaven” to fill my mind. In addition, I’m challenged with the reality that if I truly want to live out this passage I may need to be avoiding entertainment that involves, implies one of the following: sexual sin, impurity, lust, anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, dirty language.
Philippians 4:8
I’m challenged in this verse to ask myself: Does the entertainment I engage in help me or hurt me in my attempt to “fix my eyes on what is true, honorable and right”?
Matthew 15:18-19
Again I’m challenged with the reality that if I truly want to live out this passage I probably need to be avoiding entertainment that involves or even implies one of the following: murder, adultery, theft, lying, slander.
Day 2 really challenged me. I mean, if we take out all the tv shows and other forms of entertainment, with sexual immorality, foul language, etc. If we totally give those up, we would watch very little tv. So I really challenged myself to quit watching things that don't glorify God in anyway. Becuase if we aren't willing to give them up for Christ, how can we expect to fully experience what He has in store for our lives?
-Katie Larson
So i went through day three and it really put me in check the real reason that i dont involve myself in drinking of any sort.
Before i thought i was just doing it because it would hurt ability to be involved in sports or because i see people doing it and know that i dont wanna be that way. When really i shouldnt do it because it does not glorify GOd and his plan for my life. The other things are still true but living as a Christ follower is soooo much more important than "fitting in" or "just one sip".
It wouldnt make sense to me to try to help the lost people if o would be lost myself!
ASHLEE ORT
Day 2 was convicting for me - I have definitely been guilty of watching TV programs or movies that uses "sin to attempt to entertain". I also thought about how awkward it sometimes feels when someone tells me a dirty joke - how it sends a double message when we laugh if we are trying to convince our unbelieving friends to quit sinning.
Day 4 went along with Allison's message Wed night about how it's much easier for a non-Christian friend to pull you down then for you to pull them up. We need to step back and build up our spiritual muscles and then we will be more effective. The guys with the paint splattered all over thier shirts was a great demonstration of how the non-Christian can influence us if we get too close to them. It's likely to rub off onto us. That's the way sin is - we can find ourselves pulled into a compromising situation because we failed to say 'no' at the right time.The devil can make sin look so inviting! Allison also said we need to use wisdom in determining when we need to distance ourselves and when we need to deepen those relationships. I believe we need to ask God to give us wisdom in the relationships that we have we our friends.
Day 4 talked about the value of true, healthy friendships. It's important that we invest in those healthy relationships with Christian friends or leaders so we have the encouragement and support we need to be effective as a Christian.
Will you be my friend?
Deb Ellis
This Week day 4 really stuck out to me. it says that if we walk with the wise we become wise. It also says have no better love you should put your life up for your friends. It stuck out because it like shows that we should have a standard for our friends. So thats what stuck out to me.
Lucas Schaffer
This has been a really good week as far as really diving into standards that we set in our lives. This verse really stuck out to me because it is so true.
Proverbs: 13:20
"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
The old saying "A rotten apple spoils the barrel" is often applied to friendships, and with good reason. Our friends affect us and we affect them a lot! We need to be careful who we hang around and who we spend the most time with.
A good question to ask would be:
Am I challenging my friends spirtually? Are they challenging me spiritually? Do they cause me to stumble in any way? Do I cause them to stumble? Some good questions to think about.
This week I chalenged me because I realized that I don't ever really set standards for myself. In my mind I know what I would and wouldn't do but I don't ever think... "If I got to that situation, I would do this...." But this week made me realize that I need to do more than just "think" about my standards but actually set some for myself. To often I get caught in the buble of the "christian life" and forget about other things.
-Arielle Walters
The thing I really liked about this week was how they had us find scripture about the standards we should have in our life. Those verses really made the point that this is how God wants us to live and how we can be better influences on people. Proverbs 13:20 impacted me the most out of all of them because it stresses the point about how much our friends can influece us and how important it is to have friends with the same standards so we won't be tempted to forget our own standards.
-Becca Courtney
I was really challenged this week. I realized that I really dont set standards that often and I really havent put limits on what I do. I look at some of the choices that I have made in the past and I realized that if I had standards that I may have made better decisions. But this week will help me to set limits and standards on some of the music i listen too and some of the movies i watch in the future.
-Brandon Snodgrass
To be real honest, this week felt like I was sitting in the school auditorium listening to our athletic directer talk about "bad things" it was really repetitve in the questions, stuff i had already figured out. Sure I benefitted from doing it, but nothing stuck out.
This week had at really, really big impact on me.I guess I have made a lot of bad decisions in the past couple of years, with relationships, and parties, and friends. This week really made me think about how much better off I am not in those relationships, and not going to the parties. This week really challenged me to set standards for myself for the future to make sure I don't make those decisions anymore. This week has also made me very aware of the example I was setting for my unbelieving friends. I don't want them looking at me and saying well she did it so it is ok. I definately know that my unbelieving peers won't be able to say that about me anymore. It is not the way Christ wants us to live our lives, which he clearly stated in the Bible, and I finally feel good about the way this week impacted me to want to change my life for Christ! =]
-kelsey kaiser
I really liked this week and what it had to say about standards. I began to realize that I didn’t really have very many besides no drugs and stuff that was very general. Making standards was not hard but not as easy as I would have thought. It is nice to have my beliefs written down and have a sort of accountability there.
Tim Berkey
This week stuck out to me in an interesting way. I had always thought I had standards and guidelines for every part of my life but this week I realized that I really don't. I've never taken the time to really think about what I will or will not do or what I will or will not watch. This week really challenged me to make those standards and to live by them everyday.
There were three things that really stucj out to me this week. At the beginging of the week it said that failure is a valuable lesson so that you can learn from your mistakes, i thought that was cool.On day five itt says if you're not willing to leave... you're not mature enough to go. I thought that was really cool because I have never thought about that but its totally true. But the the thing that stuck out to me most this week is on the weekend section where it says if you're unnwilling to develop standards then you're not mature enough to have a relationship with people who are lost. When i first read it i didnt know what to think because its so true.
the last one was by me Amanda Yoder
This week i feel like i was really challenged. i have done some things in my past that i know if i would of had some standards back then that i know i would not have done them and it is really going to challenge me to set good tough standards for myself to not let things get the better of me
- German
This week i liked the whole setting standards for everything we do. Even if we don't think we need to set them we really should just in case, its better to be safe then sorry. And how its better to set them too high then not high enough. Every day your are being watched by unbelievers, and its our job to set high standards so they see what we don't do and why we don't.
-Kara Kaiser
Day four really stuck out and challenged me. Who you choose as your friends will affect how you act and what choices you make. Sometimes I don't think about how my friends affect me until I catch myself doing or acting in a way similar to them. I've even picked up some bad habits without realizing. I need to make sure I have the right kind of friends hanging around me. Friends that will help me in my walk with Christ.
-Beth Peters
Man, if I would have had this book 10 years ago I would have been set. A lot of truth in these pages. It's so valuable to and necessary these days that we set standards and that we stick to them. This isn't for our own good but also because the lost around us are looking for something different, real and true. They know what the world is like because they live in it everyday but to see something different . . . to see Christ here on earth today living in us, now that is a standard to live up to.
I, too, have made mistakes in the past and wish I could take them back but the key is to set our standards now for those areas we struggle with and even those we don't so that we can walk in the light, truth and grace of the Father.
I'm enjoying our journey together. Let's keep on keeping on together and continue to allow God to stretch us through this experience.
In His love,
Chris
i don't remember which day it was..but the day when we focused on drinking really got to me. as a sophomore..i've really been pressured into the whole partying and drinking scene. I have to admit that its been tempting. But as a Christ follower i've chosen not to. My standards for drinking are obviously higher than my peers'. i just hope that i can somehow reach out to those that choose to drink and party not by what i say but by how i live.
.jen
this week i really learned about the limits i set on myself. I realized that i have pretty good limits, except maybe for partying. I would go to any party and only leave if I were tempted to partake in the ingestion of an alchoholic beverage. So i set that standard down a bit... now all i have to worry about is following them
-Aaron Schlorke
It seems like we've really become immune to things lately... even for me, I listen to a lot of rock that has horrible language and bad messages. And the television shows I find myself watching aren't much better. I really need to filter out most of the stuff I do, but it's hard. I love my music... maybe finding something with the same beat but different message would be good. In the end, I guess it all comes down to compromising with myself.
-Kirsten Schlorke
-I know that you dont like comments on Sunday. I got distracted again this week. Sorry Jason.
-What really stuck out to me was that we shouldnt even be entertained by sinful things. This is a big one for all teens including me. Practically all our modern music and all the 'good' movies have some sort of cussing or a bad theme or message. But God has called us not to be a part of these things. Because if we are a part of it, we send a double message. That is what stuck out to me.
-skyler stutzman
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