BSU President:  Lanie King

Discipleship:  Blake Johnson, Stephen Feibelman (Fresh Start), Lindsey Foley (Fresh Start), Cody Harrell (Transfer Ministry)

Media Ministry:  Michael Ginn

Missions:  Tanner Marquis (Campus/Community Missions), Kyle Tanner (Missions Fundraising/Recruitment), Katie Davis (Summer Missions)

Worship:  Rachel Fields (Drama), Addie Clark (Drama), Blake Williams (Praise Band)

2012 Camp Staff

Gold Arrow Camp:  Emily Henderson

Camp Lakeside:  Blake Henson

Camp Garaway:  Kristen Laprade

Centrifuge:  Lindsey Pettis

FCA Leadership Camp:  Bradi Reader

Pine Cove Christian Camp:  Lauren Casady, Jordan Davis, Ashley Irvin, Emily Irvin, Blake Johnson, Nathan Logsdon

2012 Church Interns

FBC Batesville:  Ben Bickley (Youth Intern)

FBC Oxford:  Jessi Foust (Youth Intern)

Colonial Heights Baptist Church:  Rebecca Hankins (Youth Intern), Christian Stringer (Youth Intern)

Brandon Baptist Church:  Lacey Winstead (Children’s Intern)

2012 BSU Summer Missionaries

Dominican Republic:  Lucus Jackson

New York:  Lanie King (New York), Jeffery Peavy (Rochester)

East Asia:  Ellen Taylor*

Malaysia:  Portia Davis, Rachel Fields, Gretchen Harris, Mandi Raines

World Race

Emilee Taylor*

2012 Short Term Service

Honduras:  Rachel Baker

Brazil:  Katrina Briscoe

Guatemala:  Anna Craig

Kenya:  Jamie Hilt

Peru:  Paul Morgan

Honduras & Nicaragua:  Jonathan Redding

Dominican Republic:  Jodi Smith

Haiti:  Chase Tramel

* = Gomez Mission Scholarship Award recipient

Also recognized:  Liz Thurmond, for 10 years of service with the BSU and for her willingness to follow God, with her fiancé, to Peru for mission work.

Speaker:  Katie Davis

God calls us to serve both locally and abroad!  Don’t get hung up on the title of “missionary”; everyone is called to tell people of Him in one way or another.  Each kind of mission work is vital to kingdom work.  Read Romans 10:5-15 and think about how salvation has affected your life.  Once you receive it, you should take it to other people.  John 15:5 has a reminder that you are dependent on God.  Your serving has got to be Spirit-led and empowered by God (John 5:16 says how) because otherwise, the work is nothing.  Walk with the Lord, and He will empower you.  Acts 6:1-7 describes when the first missionaries were sent out after the church was established.  Prayer is vital in your walk.

Speakers:  Family of Greg Gomez

Greg Gomez was BSU-er who died on mission in Peru, and his life verse was Acts 20:24.  Enjoy your mission work and have fun!  Be who God created you to be in your ministry.

Speaker: Mo Baker

The book titled The Fire We Can Light by __ talks about the story of a certain town and its rabbi.  Whenever a disaster struck, the rabbi would go to a certain place, light a fire, and pray.  In the next generation, the rabbi could no longer light the fire, but he could at least go to the same place.  Following him was a rabbi who could do neither of the first two actions but only pray, saying it was enough.  Next came a rabbi who did not even do that but who told the story and said it was enough.  The story is not enough!  Be active in your faith and follow His footsteps as in Luke 19:10.

You may not think of Nicodemus as a champion of the faith, but check out John 3.  He is a Pharisee:  the one who, misunderstanding the concept of being reborn, asked how a grown man could be expected to once again come out of his mother’s womb.  Jesus and John the Baptist were the main ones to chastise Pharisees, like Nicodemus, calling them hypocrites.  Nicodemus was one out of the 72 Pharisees that were part of the spiritual council.  John 3:1-2 describes how Nicodemus admitted how he knew who Jesus was (“from God”).  But why would a Sanhedrin, a religious leader, come to Jesus at night?  He could have easily talked to Him in daylight in the synagogue; with his high position, people would have even made way for him to speak to Jesus.  However, he could have lost his position and power and been questioned by his peers if he had done so.

Nicodemus was searching for something, needing answers to his questions and not just a religion.  He went at night wanting a relationship with Jesus but without real changes to his lifestyle.  If you want a relationship with Jesus, it will cost you something.  For Nicodemus, it may have been his house or something similar if it had been provided by the religious leaders.  Church pews are full of people who want to believe in God but not follow Him.  Read the book Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman for a more in-depth perspective of the idea of following and not just believing in God.  Model your life after the song lyrics:  “Where You go, I’ll go; where You stay, I’ll stay.”  You need to follow Jesus in every aspect of your life—that’s what He commands of you.  The extra change may be just being nice to someone or volunteering for a local homeless shelter; in any case, it will be some kind of sacrifice in your life for God.  You will also be ridiculed for changing your lifestyle to live for Jesus, but don’t let it stop you.  Only 5% of teens from youth groups continue to identify themselves as Christians in college.  A lot of teens don’t follow the Lord because their homes—their parents—don’t.  Parents have the biggest influence on your life, whether positive or negative.  There is no way to follow Jesus without it interfering with your life.

John 3:3-4 picture an interaction between Nicodemus and Jesus in which Nicodemus misunderstands the meaning of being born again.  Jesus wanted Nicodemus during the daytime, not in the camouflage of night; He wanted everything about him.  You’re disqualified from the game of “Follow the Leader” when you don’t follow the leader; it’s as simple as that.  Are you spiritually disqualified because you’re not following God?  1 Corinthians 9:26-27 says that you are to train yourself like an athlete, and that if you don’t, you will disqualify yourself.  If you never follow your coach, he won’t put you into play.  Often in campus ministries, people have disqualified themselves because they think they can have one foot in the world and the other in the church, but it doesn’t work like that!  As it says in Revelation 3:15-16, there are no lukewarm Christians; you’re either hot or you’re cold!  Follow Him with all your heart.  Have you committed to Jesus or have you made a decision for Him?  There is a difference between the two.  Imagine a wedding:  the vows a groom makes are just empty words if he has an affair on the honeymoon.  To follow is to move!  You can’t follow Jesus and stay comfortably where you are; you must move.  In the New Testament, Jesus says “believe in Me” five times, but He says “follow me” twenty times.  To truly believe is to follow Jesus.

After they talk, you see Nicodemus two more times in Scripture.  You may ask:  did he ever follow Jesus?  The answer is yes.  See John 7:47-52 for the evidence that Nicodemus stood up for Jesus in the council—it was then that he started following his Lord.  In every believer’s life there will be a time when s/he has to decide to either just believe or to follow.  Romans 10:9 says to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and you will be saved.  Live Luke 9:23, which says that if you want to be in Christ, you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Him.  The cross was a sign of ultimate humiliation, cruelty, and pain.  When you follow Jesus, it will cost you something—possibly even your life, being persecuted, or just being ostracized by friends and family who simply don’t understand.  If you have never lost anything by following Him, you have probably never really followed Him.

Nicodemus was a man who had it all but went in search when he realized something was missing.  When he found Jesus, he started probing and asking questions.  The next time Nicodemus showed up in the Bible, he started following God by standing up for Him in a dangerous crowd.  Nicodemus’ love for Jesus couldn’t be hidden.  Read John 19:38; all the ointment and other materials were very costly—in money, but also in everything Nicodemus was and had, from his place on the Sanhedrin to the entirety of his life.  Jesus’ disciples left Him, and Nicodemus was the one to help with the body.  His love for the Lord moved him to a life for the Lord that all could see; he then became a martyr for his faith.

Where do you stand?  Is your faith in God just a belief system based on something you have heard, or are you truly following Him?  Why would you place your belief in something and then not follow it?  Follow Jesus in all areas of your life; pursue holiness in all you say and do.  Missions are great, though some people are called to service in their local communities.  Jesus wants a relationship and will meet you right where you are, as you are.  Will you follow Him?

You don’t know what you’re doing freshman year; that’s typical.  You make lots of choices, and even the bad choices are redeeming.  Nothing is irredeemable; our Savior can deliver us from all our situations, sins, and troubles.  Don’t waste your life.  God has rich plans for you—see Jeremiah 29:11-13—but He’s not just waiting to dump it all on you.  You have to be active in pursuing His will.  God can take you from where you are to where He wants you to be if you’re willing.  The way to do this is to develop the character of a person who makes his life count.

The first characteristic of a person who makes life count is intimacy with Jesus—something that is simple, but that we make difficult.  Our highest calling and greatest responsibility is to get to know God.  Matthew 22:37-39, more commonly known as the Great Commandment, sums up all ten of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus since the first four commandments deal with loving God and the last six deal with loving others.  Picture your relationships in terms of statistics and on a coordinate plane:  you are the origin, with God above you and others beside you.  Since God is the Lord Most High, your relationship with Him is vertical, as a y-axis.  If your relationship with Him is off, the rest (any relationship with another) is skewed.  Your relationships with others are horizontal—with no hierarchy, because we are all equals in His eyes.  Notice that the axes form a cross, with your life as the circle at the center of it, empty without the Lord.  See John 15:5—apart from Him, you can do nothing.  Nothing you do will matter much if it’s not for Him.  We must cultivate this intimacy with the Lord.  Mark 3:14 gives the disciples three simple tasks (to be with Him, to preach, and to send out demons).  You too must be with Him!  You don’t go to church to be seen or to “prove your worthiness”; you do it to get to know God better.  The word “intimacy” can be broken into the phonetically similar phrase “into me, see?”.  Get intimate:  expose your life to another, saying, “This is the real me; I hope you love me in spite of myself.”  Christ invites you to intimacy with Him.  If you don’t know Him, you’ll never lead another person to that kind of relationship, bear spiritual fruit, or defeat sinful behavior.  People are not appropriating the Spirit’s power in their lives; they’re focusing too hard on “being good”, crossing Is and dotting Ts, rather than on following Him.  Get to know God.  Let Him speak to you through the Word, and speak back to Him through prayer.  In John 14:15, the Lord equates obedience with love.  Obey Him and love, and He will work in your life.  How much has your confidence in God grown since you’ve been in college?  It should grow proportionally to how much time you’ve spent with Him.  Make your life count.

Faithfulness in spiritual disciplines is the second trait of a person making his life count.  The Marine motto is “Semper fidelis”, which means “always faithful”.  Like the Marines, you are called to endless faithfulness.  1 Corinthians 4:2 states that faithfulness is required of a steward, and since God’s children are stewards of His grace, they must be faithful in managing and showing it.  The disciplines are the means to the end of intimacy with God rather than being for your own ends.  Practice faithfulness in the big and little things. Intimacy is developed in personal renewal along with reading, meditating on, and applying His word.  You don’t have to wait for the next Kristian Stanfill concert; you can be renewed here and now.  Ask God to help you be faithful as a steward in these disciplines.  You can learn any behavior just by being taught or teaching yourself, and you have to exercise the spiritual disciplines.  You don’t become godly by just sitting around.  As in 1 Timothy 4:8-10, train yourself to be godly.

A third characteristic of a person aiming towards making life count is that he looks at circumstances in light of Scripture rather than looking at Scripture in light of circumstances.  Read 1 Peter 1:6-7 and see that God has a purpose in the trials:  to refine your character and reshape your life.  The passage also says, like in James 1:2, that you have variegated trials—a variety of personalized trials that will hit you in life.  Whenever (not if, but when) you face trials, count it all joy.  Bad days will happen, and God’s will is through the trials.  The Lord is your goldsmith, burning things out of your life that don’t resemble Him.  Remember Romans 8:28, which says that it all works for good to those who love God.  Instead of viewing God’s will in light of your circumstances (as Job’s friends did when he lost everything), view your circumstances in light of God’s will.  Step back and see that God may be purifying you.  C.S. Lewis talked about God using pain to wake up people and get their attention, saying, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  God wants you to listen to Him.  You have to believe that He has a purpose.

The fourth trait that a person making life count has is a spirit like that of Jesus:  humble, obedient, respectful and respectable, etc.  As in Philippians 2:5-11, take the form of a bondservant as Jesus did.  Luke 14 contains the parable of the great banquet, with the message that you should not put yourself in high places.  Luke 14:8-11 paints a picture:  if you seated yourself at the place of honor, you would be embarrassed when someone to whom it rightfully belonged showed up to take it; instead, humble yourself.  See the first 11 verses of Philippians 2, a chapter which is a hymn, a Christological passage that magnifies Jesus.  Your attitude should be in the same nature as that of Christ.  He divested Himself; He made Himself nothing.  People often spend money on outfits, hair, and more, but keep your self-beautification in perspective since this flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God.  Nobody in the Bible says to ask God to humble you; rather, plenty of them say to humble yourself.

A person living a life that counts has a clear sense of purpose and calling in this world as a fifth trait.  A fourth of the book of Genesis talks about Joseph, who went from being a favored and envied son to a man in a well to a servant arrested under false accusations to the one second in command over Egypt.  In this last position, he had great power, and his brothers expected retribution.  However, read Genesis 50:19-21 and see that Joseph recognized how what his brothers meant for harm was meant for good by God.  In each of the situations, he was where God wanted him to be.  God is developing in you His character to be like Christ and an understanding of who you are in Him.  You may not have next semester or life planned, but live in His will wherever you are.  Isaiah 26:3 reminds you that if your focus is on God, you will have peace.

The sixth characteristic or lifestyle of a person making life count is investment in healthy relationships with others.  This does not mean sitting around eating food and playing games with some buddies.  This instead means learning from your friends and growing yourself; it means pouring your life into people and really getting to know them.  Remember that, as Proverbs 17:17 says, a friend loves at all times, and that you should be iron on iron like in Proverbs 27:17.  You will not stop needing this.  Also read Proverbs 27:6, which essentially says that friends tell you to watch out about your behavior, something you don’t always want to hear.  Make friends not for manipulation, but for mentoring and more.  You might want to get a mentor to help you through this and upcoming stages in your life.

Similarly to the previous characteristic, the seventh and final trait of a person who aims to make his or her life count is a willingness to invest his or her life in other people.  2 Timothy 2:2 describes reliable men qualified to teach others; like them, you should look for an opportunity of service in relationships.  Basic mission works are good—you can get joy from serving people.  A way to feel better is to get your mind off of yourself; some good ways to do this include the UM Big Event and helping out with a local food pantry.  When you commit to serving someone else, it really makes a difference in your life and theirs.  A foreign mission trip helps you develop faith in God and meet others’ needs.  People need mercy (meeting needs), not just pity (acknowledging needs).  Discipleship is being a lifelong learner.  Dare to have deeper conversations with people, leading to intimacy and discipleship.  God wants to use you and develop you.  Trust in God comes from learning to trust Him day by day.

Make your days count, starting now.

[Author's note:  This Tuesday, the BSU decided to shake things up a bit.  Instead of a regular worship service, those who attended took part in the Lord's Supper.  There were several speakers, some music, and plenty of time for confession.  The blog this week consists only of what the different speakers said;  you really had to be there for the rest of it. ]

All Speakers:  Lanie King, Justin Kyle Tanner, Tanner Marquis, and Mo Baker

Speaker:  Lanie King

Speaker:  Justin Kyle Tanner

Speaker:  Tanner Marquis

Speaker:  Justin Kyle Tanner

Speaker:  Mo Baker

See in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood, there is no redemption possible.  The blood shed for you and your sins was the cleansing blood of Jesus.  The Lord gets the glory, since redemption is an act of God.  John 15:13 reminds you that there is no greater love than the love of Christ, who laid down His life for His friends.  Get into the mind of Christ—practice living like Him, matching His thoughts and actions.

Paul had not always been Paul; prior to his incident on the road to Damascus, he went by the name of Saul.  Saul is a Jewish Old Testament name from his time of living by Judaic law.  When he was converted to Christianity, he was given the Greek name Paul to distinguish his new life and ways from his old ones.  Some people think they have to wait until they are given new names to be able to tell others of the Good News.  Don’t wait for a literal new name!  Go tell someone about Jesus with just the knowledge that you are a changed person.

Saul had an experience with the Light of God that “messed him up,” so to say.  God comes into your life, makes you uncomfortable and messes up your plans, and works through your life—that’s your conversion, just like it was for Paul.  He was the son of a Pharisee and was expected to be the next great Pharisee, all accredited and works-oriented.  Pharisees has the first five books of the Bible completely memorized, prayed 9-10 times a day, and gave 19.5% of their money to God, among other meticulous religious observations.  They didn’t realize that a ticket to heaven isn’t based on all that.  Instead of acknowledging Jesus, they thought salvation came by works of their own hands—including beating up Christians, like Saul did.

The ninth chapter of Acts tells of Paul’s conversion and the time before and after it; Acts 9:1-2 tells of how he would persecute Christians.  But check out the rest of the story!  Acts 9:3-20 tell the story of his conversion, describing his interactions with God and others along the way.  In verse 5, you can see how Saul recognizes God but does not see Him as Jesus yet.  Verses 6-9 explain how Saul became blinded by the Light.  Saul is then sent to see Ananias, who returns his sight.  When Ananias is being commissioned by God to go see Saul, the Lord explains in Acts 9:15-16 that Saul was chosen by the God of the universe to tell the Gospel…and that he would have to suffer greatly for the privilege.  Acts 9:17-20 describe how Saul indeed received the return of his sight and the advent of his spiritual sight—becoming Paul, with eyes and heart open wide for Jesus.

In Saul’s life, there was a true conversion.  Philippians 2:13 says that Christ is the one doing the work in you, and it’s for His pleasure.  You may not know what you’re going to do, but the point is that you do it for His glory.  Sometimes we have to be blinded to our old ways and have Him reopen our eyes to Him.  In Romans 1:1 Paul describes himself—his new self—as a servant, called to be an apostle, and separated for the Gospel.  Later, in Romans 1:16-17, Paul explains how he is not ashamed and wanted to remind himself of that fact as he wrote to the Romans.  After his life-changing experiences and relationship with the Lord, he should never be ashamed of his Lord!  We often get ashamed of our God and our beliefs when it’s not “convenient” or “fair”.  Do not—you CANNOT—be ashamed of the gospel and of Jesus.  Do not be ashamed to pray in Jesus’ name; it’s the very thing that, to a non-Christian’s untrained ear, sets apart a Christian prayer from any other, so keep it that way!  Make Him known.  Romans 12:1-2 starts off with a “therefore” referring to Romans 1-11.  In those first two verses, Paul is posing some questions to the Romans and to you:  “Do you not understand what He has done for you?  Are you blind to it?  His gospel requires a response from your life—that you sacrifice everything for the Gospel.”

In Philippians 3:1-8, Paul essentially says “I might have the authority and credentials, but it’s all for naught because of and in light of Him.”  Paul may have been considered an important man, but he knew he was nothing when compared to his Creator; he took this news humbly and told the others of it.  In 2 Corinthians 10:17 he writes that you should boast in the Lord and not yourself or what you have—not your abilities, your campus, or even your church.  Paul learned this for himself, boasting only in his God, fulfilling his name:  Paul, in Greek, means “little” or “small”.  Look at 2 Corinthians 11:16-28.  In order to lift up Christ, Paul had to get low, humbling himself before God and others.  He had concern for the churches, hoping for God’s glory to shine through them.  Instead of boasting in his accomplishments, Paul (in 2 Corinthians 11:29-30) tells of how he boasts of his weaknesses, because those are the places where God shows His mighty strength.  Make sure to save room for Jesus; don’t leave Him out of yourself and your life.

Check out 1 Thessalonians 2:8; after the Damascus experience, you would be hard-pressed to find Paul by himself.  He always had an accountability partner, making sure to have a brotherly discipleship.  When you have that kind of discipleship with someone, you pour your life into him or her for the sake of the Gospel, not for you.  Who are you to take the glory?  You are a sinner saved by grace, bringing you closer to the holy, merciful, and just God.  Be a model for Him and affect someone so much that the person has to get it out and affect someone else with the Good News as well.  A member of the Christian band Jars of Clay was quoted in CCM Magazine, saying, “I’m ready for the worship movement to be over with so the real worshipers can get back to worshiping.”  Now there is a discipleship movement taking place, with participants ranging once again from genuine to not.  (Note:  discipleship happens between two people of the same sex:  guys disciple guys, and girls disciple girls.  When people cross over that line, it becomes a relationship more than a discipleship.  Follow Paul’s example:  he always discipled other men.)  The good news is that Christ will be Christ no matter what movement is going on in the world.

2 Timothy 2:2 says to teach others also; Paul, in Ephesians 6:18-20, asks for prayer so that he could speak and teach boldly, proclaiming His mystery.  Even while in jail, Paul “got his praise on” because he knew what it was about.  You may ask, what exactly was it about?  2 Timothy 4:1-8 has your answer:  it’s about God.  Paul didn’t just go on a mission trip or attend church twice a year; it became his life.  Like in the song “Forever Reign”, his heart sang no other name but the name of Jesus.  Philippians 2:9-11 talks about Jesus’ great name and how every person will recognize its power.

It wasn’t about Paul’s glory; it was about Christ and His glory.  God wants to bring revival to Ole Miss and to your life—He wants to introduce you to the real Jesus.  Today is not just another day.  Your salvation and the salvation of those around you are not a game; this is a truth that should bring you in anxiety to your knees with a broken heart over the lost.  Don’t make it about you; make it about Him.  If there is division in a church, ministry, fellowship, or friendship, fix it.  A church divided is no church at all.  Ask God to burn in you and revive you.  Ask Him to remove the scales from your eyes to see His glory and make Him famous.

“Father Abraham had many sons; many sons had Father Abraham…”  Just as the song tells us, Abraham was the father of many nations; the Jews are his physical descendants.  Galatians 3:7 tells you that “those who have faith are children of Abraham”, meaning that the Gentiles are his spiritual descendants.  Because of his faith, he was made righteous by God.

Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter, giving Old Testament examples of Jewish heroes saved by faith.  One of these heroes is Abraham, whose stories of faith are told in Genesis 12 and 22.  Hebrews 11:8 summarizes it, describing how Abraham left his comfort zone without knowing where he was going.  He was 75 years old and comfortable where he was when God commanded him to leave his home and go to Canaan.  Abraham did so, performing a large act of faith because it was somewhere he had never been.  There are two ways to live life:  by sight and by faith.  Living by sight is basing everything you believe, think, and do on what you can see, while living by faith is basing everything you believe, think, and do on what you CANNOT see.  Abraham lived by faith, and Christians are to live by faith, but many do not even know what it is.  Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is assurance, confidence, and evidence about things hoped for and unseen.

Your faith will be tested.  Genesis 22:1-2 tells and describes how God tested Abraham, who was 100 years old and had only one son, Isaac, since Ishmael had been disowned.  God’s test for Abraham included taking his only son on a mountain to be a sacrifice for the Lord.  In this sense, the verb “to test” means “to assign value to” or “to assay”.  God does not test your faith to find out its strength; He already knows you and your heart.  Rather, the Lord tests your faith because you don’t know its strength!  The tests are the ways to provide great insight into your heart and your faith, assigning value to them by testing them.  This means that you should not take every bad circumstance to be a satanic attack on you.  Not everything bad is sent directly by Satan; some of the hard times are from God in order to reveal your strength or weakness in faith and to show the strength of His faithfulness to you.

So, Abraham had been told that he would be the father of many nations, but then God told him to sacrifice his only son—and being a century old, with Isaac being a miracle anyway, Abraham didn’t expect to have any more children.  It didn’t add up to him, just like some circumstances in your life may not add up in the moment, but God knew and knows what He was and is doing.  This request is the only time in the Bible that God asks someone to sacrifice a child, particularly an only child, in order to prove that person’s faith.  The only other instance of a son being a sacrifice for the Lord was when God Himself sent His Son to the cross, showing His faithfulness toward the world.  God does not normally ask for human sacrifices.  Rather than giving your physical life up as a sacrifice and literally killing yourself or someone you love, you should give up your life metaphorically:  your possessions, your attitudes, and your character should all be sacrificed for His glory.  Consider the last time God asked you to sacrifice to be obedient to Him.

Now you know that God will test you, so the question now is about how you will respond.  There is an easy answer:  do not hesitate!  Genesis 22:3 tells of how Abraham responded when God tested him:  he accepted the call and completed the three-day journey to the place of offering.  While it is good to know the Word, it is more important to do what it commands.  A life of faith is an obedient life; Hebrews 11:8 says that “by faith Abraham obeyed…”, and you should follow his example.  Your two response options when God calls you to a test are to (1) try to reason with God—which won’t work, since He won’t conform and you will lose—and (2) be obedient—which will always work.  Abraham’s preparation and action demonstrated his commitment to obey God.  Don’t forget about Isaac; he also obeyed.  Abraham had to get Isaac to the place of sacrifice, but he wasn’t being tricky or trying to sneak up on his son to slaughter him.  Isaac must have realized what was happening but still obeyed, allowing himself to be bound.  Isaac, an only son to be sacrificed, is a model of Jesus just like Abraham, the sacrificing father, is a model of God.  The fathers faithfully gave up their only sons as sacrifices; the sons climbed up onto their places of sacrifice with complete obedience to their fathers’ commands.

Note that Isaac gives Abraham enough time to follow through.  Following through is extremely important:  starting to obey and then quitting because of distractions or other reasons does NOT count as obedience.  You won’t know every single thing He is leading you into, but you do them by faith anyway—that’s what faith is!  When you’re faithful in a time of testing, you’ll experience the value of your faith and you’ll know it can stand.  You will also learn something about your faith.  Similarly, Abraham learned a couple things about his faith:  firstly, Genesis 22:13-14 describe how Abraham recognized God’s provision for his needs, calling the place Jehovah Jireh, meaning “The Lord Will Provide”.  Think of a place in your life that you would call “Jehovah Jireh”—it can be a place, a decision, etc.  Abraham’s faith was not theory, but practice, and his obedience allowed God to provide for his need.  The Lord’s grace always meets your needs, and Abraham learned that first and foremost.  He responded in obedience to please God—not for a reward, but because of who God is!  Consider your motives for obedience; make sure they are not for your glory, but for His.  Secondly, Abraham learned that when you’re obedient to God, you get a fresh insight into His love and grace.  Abraham didn’t deserve his life or his son Isaac, but he got to keep them anyway because of God’s grace.

Think about where the Lord is testing your faith.  Where is He showing you its value and strength?  Are you complaining, or are you obedient and learning about your faith and His faith and love?  Always remember this:  you are not alone!  If you’re a believer, you have all the resources that you need to be able to obey—courage, etc.—in your relationship with Jesus.  You can take away two lessons from Hebrews 4:16, which says to approach Him with confidence so as to receive mercy and grace in times and seasons of need.  First, life has seasons; in each season, remain obedient and dependent on Christ.  Second, grace and need are inseparably linked.  The more you recognize your need, the more you see His grace at your disposal.  Grace is the most powerful and personal thing you will ever experience, and it’s all you will ever need.

Self Examination

* What do you find in your own heart today?

* What testing are you facing today?  Identify something troublesome in your life for which you did not ask.

* Are you responding in faith…or by complaining?

* What is this test revealing to you about your faith?

* Identify the place/area in life that you need to call “The Lord Will Provide”.

* Know that you can pass the test because God is your strength!

There are people you don’t have a choice over in life—whether by blood or adoption, these people are your family of origin.  Through thick and thin, you must love and cherish them.  Deuteronomy 5:16 commands you to love your father and mother; the reward is a long life and prosperity in God’s gifts.  While you may know that God’s Word is inspired, you may sometimes wonder if it is sufficient:  when God says to honor Mom and Dad, does He really mean it?  Yes, He does.  Honor can be obedience or going above and beyond, but sometimes the best way to show honor in a moment is simply to say “yes ma’am” or “yes sir” to appease and not anger your parents.  Take note that there will be a point at which you will have to deal with not only your own parents, but also those (and sometimes even step-parents) of another person.  When you get married, you will have in-laws.  As the saying goes, you don’t just marry your spouse—you marry the whole family. Showing respect is much more effective than you would probably expect; it can change the heart of a strict nonbelieving father into someone willing to give his daughter’s hand simply because he was truly shown respect for the first time.  Respect is key in any relationship, but it is especially so in parental and marital ones.

Marriage begins now.  When setting the standard for your dating life, think of this:  what do you want someone doing with your future spouse right now?  What will you want to have to talk about in your own dating experiences once you are married?  Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to confess to or hear about from your future spouse.  Walk with care in these days; set and live by good boundaries.  Start now in disciplining your heart and mind to think like a married man or woman, like you’re living with someone to whom you’re lovingly committed.  Ephesians 5:22-25 explains how a marriage should work:  submission and love working together.  The book Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs talks about the “crazy cycle”, which goes something like the following.  A man comes home from work, unhappy, and his wife tries to comfort him.  He rejects her chipper mood and speaks or acts unlovingly towards her, spurring her to react with disrespect for him.  Essentially, one bad thing leads to another.  To keep yourself out of this vicious cycle, prepare yourself for the purpose of godliness, and then everything else should fall into place along with it.  Prepare yourself for your married life in character and in actions:  if you need to make peace with something in your dating past, go do it.  You never know when your past will come up, both figuratively and literally.

Finally, focus on who you are.  Are you spending all of your time looking for the right person or becoming the right person?  Guys:  look to Micah 6:7-8.  God requires justice, kindness, and other character qualities, as opposed to requiring your firstborn or something else so physically difficult to give up.  Remember that you place third in life, with God (#1) and others (#2) above you.  Walk humbly with your Lord, and know that it shouldn’t be intimidating because you know His heart and that He loves you.  Walk humbly with Him as you would with a caring bodyguard friend.  Girls:  look to Proverbs 31:12.  The virtuous wife does her husband good, not evil, her whole life.  This is possible because of the power of God and the cross.  Don’t talk down about your husband, especially to others; build him up in their eyes.  Jokes and jabs about helpless husbands are common, but none of them are uplifting or good.  Speak well of your man, just as you speak well of your God.

Your heavenly Father knows you and wants for you a future family that will glorify Him.  Start taking steps to make things right; give freedom.  You may start by calling your parents and forgiving people; you may decide what you need to do to prepare yourself as a future spouse.  Consider not your path but your humility on the path.  Realize that His heart is turned towards you because of Jesus on the cross and that your enemies want you bound up in hurt and anger over someone or something from your past—and don’t let it get you down.  Set your boundaries, and set your heart and mind on the Lord.

The Network of International Christian Schools is an organization tasked with establishing international schools staffed with Christian educators. The goal of NICS is to reach the world for Christ with Christian education.

This is the perfect opportunity to come learn about what it’s really all about! This workshop can benefit everyone that is interested in global missions. NICS is an organization focused towards educators in a global outreach aspect, but anyone and everyone is recommended to participate. This is a chance to learn about global missions.

It will be held Saturday March 3rd from 10 am to 1 pm at the BSU. Lunch will be provided. Be sure to sign up though by March 1st.

For more information about NICS visit their website.

And God said sex was good.

Some people have been exposed to it in a negative light, from abuse or other situations; this is not how sex was intended.  Genesis 2:18 says “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  Notice how this is the only time in creation that God said something was not good:  when man was alone.  Unless God called you to a single life, He has someone for you.  The highest divorce rate now is for couples who have been married for 25 years, and rates for divorce and promiscuity are the same both in and out of church.  What does this say about people claiming to be living a Christian life?

Genesis 2:25 says “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”  God created us in His image; He created sex, along with the body parts, desires, and everything else to go with it.  He did this because it was good, intended for procreation as well as enjoyment.  Two common trends are that men give love to get sex, while women give sex to get love.  Your job as a Christian is to guard and be guarded by your fellow Christians.

There are many parts to fulfilling sex.  You should read and study about it (see the books listed at the end).  Know that the first time is always the worst, but also know that it gets better.  Be slow and creative, keeping in mind that women are like crockpots and men are like microwaves.  Other key words with which to associate sex:  light, laughter, passionate, exhilarating, all night and every day, fun, play, and sensuous worship.  Yes, sex—when between a husband and wife, as the Lord intended—is worship; it’s a fellowship opportunity for the two to share a little piece of heaven on Earth.

In light of the verse following it, Ephesians 5:21 is often left unattended; it states that Christians are to “[submit] to one another in the fear of God.”  Each man must learn to be a bride (to God) before he can be a bridegroom (to his wife).  Both men and women are to submit to God!  You are to use each other’s strengths.  The two responsibilities of Adam and men are laid out in Genesis 2:15:  “The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.”  Men are to work and nurture the garden, their women.  They are to watch over their wives as they walk with the Lord, nurturing as God nurtures everyone.  As Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”  Men are supposed to lead as the head of their wives, being examples of Christ, who is the head of His wife, the church.  Once single men realize this job of being models of Christ, they can learn to buffet their desires and have the responsibility to say no to promiscuity.  Set your boundaries beforehand, because you won’t be able to make the right decision in the heat of passion later on.  Be accountable with others, and you will all gain strength.

Husbands are commanded in Ephesians 5:25-27 to love as Christ did:  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”  By loving like He does and cleansing their women with the Word, men can make their wives holy.  Being deeper in the Word makes for less uncontrollable desire, allowing men to present their ladies holy and blameless at the weddings.  Men, you have what it takes because it is how God created you:  male.

Wives, on the other hand, are commanded in Ephesians 5:22 and 24 to submit:  “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”  Here, the definition of submit is “to come alongside”.  If a man is doing as he should (loving, nurturing, etc.), then submission should be easy; marriage should not be a power struggle.  Submit as to Him.  When both husband and wife look to Jesus and not to each other for nitpicking on each other’s jobs, marriage goes a lot more smoothly.  It’s not about happiness; rather, it’s about obedience.

Stay pure.  This means no sex until marriage; see Hebrews 13:4:  “Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers.”  Since He made humans, God does know how hard it is to stay away from each other.  He points it out in 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, saying that couples should stay separate only as long as they can for fasting.  “A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. Do not deprive one another sexually—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”  Your body is not solely yours once you marry, and it is to be enjoyed.  God once again points out the pleasure of sex in Proverbs 5:18-19: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.”  However, marriage still takes effort.

Just like you have to keep up your relationship with Jesus through weekly services, daily quiet times, and more, you also have to maintain your marriage relationship through regular rejuvenation and continual loving effort.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 says that “though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”  This is saying that you cannot stand alone, and while you are stronger with a spouse by your side, the completion of the cord with Jesus as the third person in your relationship is what holds things together.

No marriage is perfect.  Mistakes do happen, and that is why we have God and His redemption.  Romans 8:1 tells us that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” meaning that we have complete freedom and redemption.  You know that God will help you endure because of what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says:  “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”  How comforting it is to know that the Lord of all creation is there to help you through your troubles, no matter how big or small.  Recall the tale in John 8 about the woman caught in the act of adultery; after sending away her accusers by pointing out their own imperfectness, Jesus says, in verse 11, “…Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”  Go, and sin no more because you are so loved and not condemned.

Whenever you’re feeling guilty because of being tempted, remember that Jesus Himself was tempted in every way that you are.  He overcame the temptations and walked out stainless, without sin.  So, know that He can aid you with empathy; Hebrews 2:18 says, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”  Temptation consists of the following parts:

T – Thought (a seed; planted by a billboard, show, etc.)

E – Explore (imagination; germinating the seed within you)

M – Impersonate (identification; understanding and internalizing the temptation)

P – Passion (desire; a natural function, wanting to fulfill the temptation)

T – To agree (will; mentally accepting the idea)

S – Say “go” (consent; finalizing and going through with the temptation)

Saturation fills the needs for acceptance, fulfillment, conquest, getting even, self-esteem, power, control, and intimacy.  Real love, on the other hand, fills the gaps for what is best for the other person.  Get to know your God in an intimate (“into me”) way, and you will receive what you need to have what is best for you.

Each person has a sin that entangles him so easily, be it adultery, gossip, or any other sin.  The way to overcome the biggest chinks in your armor is to set aside whatever is hindering you and look to Jesus, as Hebrews 12:1-2 says.  “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Genuine love always asks what is best for the other person; Jesus definitely had your best interests in mind when He displayed His love for you on the cross.

Note that only 1 out of every 1150 couples who participate together in Bible studies, worship services, and other God-glorifying acts end in divorce.  This is a much better statistic than the general 1 out of 2 marriages ending in divorce, and it brings merit to the saying that the couple that prays together stays together.  Memories are made of a combination of opportunities and commitment, but a mess is made of obligation without commitment.

The Lord is the God of second chances.  Repentance is a turning process; instead of going from temptation to guilt, turn away from the temptations.  Learn to listen to God instead of the enemy by staying in fellowship with other believers.  When with your spouse, make sure to take time to be intimate, spend time looking into each other’s eyes, smile, do the little things, be uninhibited, and make more time to be together.  Men:  take time for sex, romance your wife, pray for your wife, thank God for sex, look for ways to help your wife, and talk about your needs.  Women:  stroke your husband’s ego and compliment him, have sex, pray for your husband, thank God for sex, and take time to prepare for your husband’s homecoming.  Get to know both your spouse and your God intimately.

Some highly recommended books for extra reading:

Love and War: Find Your Way to Something Beautiful in Your Marriage

and

Love and War Participant’s Guide: Finding the Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of

by John and Stasi Eldredge

Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage

by Kevin Leman

For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men

and

For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women

by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn

Marriage is not to be taken lightly because it is ordained by God.  Genesis 2:22-24 describes the creation of woman and why a man and his wife are considered as one flesh:  “Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  And Adam said:  ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  Adam and his new wife Eve turn right around, however, and in Genesis 3 fall into sin.  God knows you need Him.  Though you struggle against Him, He still pulls you toward Him.  He looks forward to seeing you as half of a couple, joined in holy matrimony.  God was disgusted by sin in the fall but still wanted a relationship with the sinners and eventually sent His son, the groom, to meet humankind, the bride.  For this bride, the dress won’t matter.  People often get so worked up over weddings—the dress, the attendees, the ceremony, the cake—but all the frivolity is forgotten in the sincerity of the moment when it finally arrives.  The only things the bride and groom can focus on are the vows and each other, since those are the things that truly matter at a wedding.

Although the honeymoon may make you think so, marriage will not be perfect.  There will be ups, and there will be downs.  It is more than a friendship or a relationship; it is a process of two people becoming one.  You keep learning more about each other with every passing year; it gets better with each experience you share.  Though tragic accidents, having children, world travels, deaths, and more, you grow closer.  You’ll see tragedy and triumph and will grow closer because of them.

Ephesians 5:22-33 holds crucial advice for both wives and husbands.  People often want to focus negatively on the scripture about wives being submissive, saying it makes them sound too fragile and incapable, but they fail to see how the command for husbands completes it.  It can be said that fragile things are prettier than tough ones—to see this, compare a tank to a luxury car.  This property of fragility is what makes women more beautiful than their tough male counterparts.  Men and their wives are supposed to be one flesh, but not like Siamese twins going in opposite directions; give yourself wholly to your spouse.  A man should lead by example rather than commanding obedience; men are responsible for their women spiritually, physically, emotionally, and more.  Jesus, the groom, gave His life for you and everyone else.  He was a real man who really gave His all for his bride.  Knowing this kind of love will put other love in a whole new perspective, with His as the great example.  It prompts a man to ask, “who am I to not sacrifice everything for my wife?”

As Christians, we often think we should be spiritual every now and then, with a few devotionals and sermon a week or a special camp each year, and we end up not really knowing God.  Similarly, in marriage, people don’t spend the right time together and don’t know each other very well.  Neither of these cases is acceptable; spend quality time with your God and your spouse.

God will get His way.  He says that wives are not meant to be the head of the household—not because they’re incapable or not smart, but because they shouldn’t have to deal with running the house.  Instead, she should be taken care of by the husband who is taking care of the business and with her through it all, just like Jesus handled the pressure of sin and was (and is, and will be) with His bride through it all.  Be willing to sacrifice for each other’s needs, just like He did.  Be willing to go to the ends of the Earth to know that you are pleasing Him.

Revelation 19:6-10 paints a picture of how weddings should really be, describing the coming wedding of the Lamb.  We are to rejoice because the marriage of Jesus is coming—and because His bride will have prepared herself.  When humans fell into sin, it broke the relationship, but then God came with the first prophecy of the Messiah.  People built up expectations that He would come and unite the nations and perform large international works, but He instead came as a servant.  Similarly, people build up expectations about weddings, but then it all happens so fast.  The anticipation of the church is building, awaiting His return—the most beautiful thing in history, the marriage of the Lamb to His bride.  It will be spectacular, happening in the blink of an eye, with a honeymoon that will never end:  eternal bliss praising Him.  As His bride, make yourself ready.  It’s the perfect picture of how He intended marriage, with two beings becoming one.  Christ is coming.  Are you anticipating?