2 Corinthians 4:18- "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" NIV.
What is seen is fleeting. I will not always have my Ipod, or my car, or my house. My friends won't always be around, but what I WILL always have are my passions, my spiritual walk, my relationship with Daddy, my thoughts, MY LORD, and my beliefs. When the going gets tough, I know that my trials can be overcome with the Lord's power. When faced with enemies, I need to turn my eyes to the heavens and call on Dad.
When, not if, when… When I am confronted with tough times, I KNOW that the Lord will come right alongside me and strengthen me to not only survive, but prevail. I know, in my heart of hearts, that all this drama junk is fleeting and that my walk will grow closer to Him. While I battle earthly issues, my ETERNAL home in heaven is being prepared for me, and I will spend ETERNITY there. Those around me will perish, but I am at peace. I'm at peace because I know I will see the ones I love and adore in heaven. I will be able to laugh with my brother, talk and talk and talk without having to worry about getting home before midnight with Neens and Em, and I can worship without ceasing. Not only can I talk with my friends now...but I will also see more of my friends in heaven. My old, wise friends - Moses, Esther, Ruth. They will all be there ready to accept me.
I know that the Lord has put me on his beautiful Earth for a purpose. Being able to look forward to going Home encourages me through the day. It may sound pessimistic and morbid to some, but Heaven is going to be....like a StarbucksArtStudioChocolateFountainSummerCampBeach all wrapped up in one!
"When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of You" (Ps. 42:6 TMG). When I am confronted with the Devil face to face, I know everything will be alright because MY GOD SAVED THE DAY.
I know that who's who in high school won't matter in heaven. In heaven, everyone will be so crazy nuts about worship and passions, no one will care that you had acne in 9th grade, or you tripped in front of that really cute football player during your senior year.
I pray for strength when I am confronted with "high school issues." I pray that you, Daddy, remind me that I am a treasured Daughter of the King!
And that thought alone, that I am a Daughter of the Most High God, will get me through the day. :]
YOU ARE CHERISHED,
Amberly Holmes
4.16.2008
3.14.2008
Prayer for March 14
This is our prayer: make us a mighty army, a force to be reckoned with, revolutionaries for God. Teach us to be fishers of men and a light to the world. May we be the devil’s adversaries in God’s right hand. May we rise up and be evangelists today and tomorrow, powerful beings in the name of the Lord, disciples of the King. Our tongues will speak only His name. Our blood, sweat, and tears will seep through our skin, and we will pour ourselves into the path He wants us to take - showering the world with God’s love. We’ll break the mold of the ongoing struggle, leaving only hope. We’ll spread His power to the ends of the earth, a world wide effort, a global movement, by the youth of today, the future of this world, our temporary home. The issue isn’t whether God is near us. The question is if we are where God wants us to be. We may start small, but we’ll end affluently; taking over is an understatement. Let’s break this standstill motion of our conforming ways. This is a call to arms. We know what needs to be done, but we can choose. Do we rise above, or do we stay behind, standing complacently in the dust, in this sin-infested world? WE can become something, a mighty army. WE can fulfill God’s plan for us. WE can be a part of His glorious take over. OR, we can ignore the world’s desperate cry for change. YOU decide.
The Student Artists of The People's Church
The Student Artists of The People's Church
3.09.2008
Feedback Questions
1. How long have you been part of the Student Ministry?
2. What/who brought you here?
3. What keeps you here?
4. What do you think is the most spiritually impacting thing we do for you now and/or have done for you in the past? How have we helped your faith grow?
5. If you didn't know the Lord, would you come to anything that Student Ministry does? Why or why not?
6. Have you ever walked life with someone from Student Ministry? If so, who? How has that affected your life?
7. What about Student Ministry would you keep for the future? What would you bring back from the past?
8. How can we help you with your family?
9. How can we help you with relationships?
10. Are we at a place where we have equipped you enough so that you know how to spiritually feed yourself? Do you even know what this means?
11. Is this Student Ministry a loving atmosphere? How so?
12. How have we offered hope for your future?
Thanks for all of your input! We really care about each of you and want to have a positive impact on your life...
2. What/who brought you here?
3. What keeps you here?
4. What do you think is the most spiritually impacting thing we do for you now and/or have done for you in the past? How have we helped your faith grow?
5. If you didn't know the Lord, would you come to anything that Student Ministry does? Why or why not?
6. Have you ever walked life with someone from Student Ministry? If so, who? How has that affected your life?
7. What about Student Ministry would you keep for the future? What would you bring back from the past?
8. How can we help you with your family?
9. How can we help you with relationships?
10. Are we at a place where we have equipped you enough so that you know how to spiritually feed yourself? Do you even know what this means?
11. Is this Student Ministry a loving atmosphere? How so?
12. How have we offered hope for your future?
Thanks for all of your input! We really care about each of you and want to have a positive impact on your life...
2.26.2008
Prayer 2/26/2008
Three years ago, my family made a huge decision to sell our house, get rid of most of our belongings, and move into an RV. We traveled the U.S. for a year. Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Mount Rushmore were just a few of the places that we visited. It sounds great, but it was one of the most difficult times of my life. For some of you that have moved before, you know it’s a pretty painful process. I would cry myself to sleep thinking, what are we doing? We are leaving everything I have ever known because God said there was more for us somewhere else? What else was there?? I was happy, wasn’t that enough?
One of my favorite songs to listen to is “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. The lyrics go:
Oh, what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win, you'll never win."
Eventually, I had to let go of everything and move to where God wanted me to be. Let me tell you, it was a turn for the best! I am now a part of this amazing youth group, and I have become closer to God than ever before!!
My prayer for this youth group is that during this critical point in our lives, when we are trying to figure out what college to go to, what we are going to major in, and what we are going to do with the rest of our lives that we wouldn’t just shut God out. He has a plan for us, if we would just listen to it.
Isaiah 12:2 (The Message)
2"Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God—yes God! —is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!"
One of my favorite songs to listen to is “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. The lyrics go:
Oh, what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win, you'll never win."
Eventually, I had to let go of everything and move to where God wanted me to be. Let me tell you, it was a turn for the best! I am now a part of this amazing youth group, and I have become closer to God than ever before!!
My prayer for this youth group is that during this critical point in our lives, when we are trying to figure out what college to go to, what we are going to major in, and what we are going to do with the rest of our lives that we wouldn’t just shut God out. He has a plan for us, if we would just listen to it.
Isaiah 12:2 (The Message)
2"Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God—yes God! —is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!"
2.07.2008
Prayer Blog 2/7/2008
Relative Truth
What is the nature of truth? Is it subjective, where what is true for me is not true for you, or is it objective, where the statements of the world are just as true for you as they are for me, regardless?
If I were to say that I was your typical relativist and did not believe in absolute truth, or objective truth, and that your acceptance of Jesus was great and true for you but simply not true for me, what would I actually be saying? If all things are untrue for someone, somehow, at some point in time, then there simply is no absolute truth. Seems logical right? Sure. It allows you to believe exactly what you want and me to believe exactly what I want. It’s the ultimate idea of tolerance amongst religion, people, and mindsets.
So as Christians, can we be relativists? Of course not. We are told that we should go out and preach the gospels, but how is that to be done if the person that we are preaching to says that while it’s great for us, the Bible simply is not true for them? What can you say? They have effectively turned you away and done so eloquently and effectively. Yet, there is always a rebuttal; finding it though is the hard part. Earlier I said the line, “there is no absolute truth.” Can you find out, simply using this statement alone, why relativism fails?
That statement must be ABSOLUTELY TRUE for a relativist, or else it fails. Say you point this out to the relativist, and he/she says, yes, that there is no absolute truth. He/she has just affirmed an absolute truth; thus, undermining their entire position. If they say no, there is NOT absolute truth; then by grammatical rule of a double negative, they are saying there is absolute truth. So in short, relativism fails as a worldview, and to have a discussion with a relativist should not be daunting in any way.
Philippians 2:13 – “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” NIV.
Andrew Hayslip
What is the nature of truth? Is it subjective, where what is true for me is not true for you, or is it objective, where the statements of the world are just as true for you as they are for me, regardless?
If I were to say that I was your typical relativist and did not believe in absolute truth, or objective truth, and that your acceptance of Jesus was great and true for you but simply not true for me, what would I actually be saying? If all things are untrue for someone, somehow, at some point in time, then there simply is no absolute truth. Seems logical right? Sure. It allows you to believe exactly what you want and me to believe exactly what I want. It’s the ultimate idea of tolerance amongst religion, people, and mindsets.
So as Christians, can we be relativists? Of course not. We are told that we should go out and preach the gospels, but how is that to be done if the person that we are preaching to says that while it’s great for us, the Bible simply is not true for them? What can you say? They have effectively turned you away and done so eloquently and effectively. Yet, there is always a rebuttal; finding it though is the hard part. Earlier I said the line, “there is no absolute truth.” Can you find out, simply using this statement alone, why relativism fails?
That statement must be ABSOLUTELY TRUE for a relativist, or else it fails. Say you point this out to the relativist, and he/she says, yes, that there is no absolute truth. He/she has just affirmed an absolute truth; thus, undermining their entire position. If they say no, there is NOT absolute truth; then by grammatical rule of a double negative, they are saying there is absolute truth. So in short, relativism fails as a worldview, and to have a discussion with a relativist should not be daunting in any way.
Philippians 2:13 – “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” NIV.
Andrew Hayslip
2.02.2008
Prayer 2/2/2008
Honestly it's been one of those weeks where you're not entirely sure things can get much worse. Family issues seem to have a way of bringing you down lower than most others, but all week I have been praying for my family and many of my friends in hope that God will see fit to impart to them some amount of wisdom and peace - for myself it's been the peace. I can't say I pray enough or get into the Word as often as I should. Yet, since Winter Retreat, I've tried committing myself to that more, and God has been working through soo much. I can't say that when things get bad He totally makes me feel 100%, cause He doesn't really work that way, but He has given me that peace and that strength to walk through it all. He does have a way, however, of providing you with everything you need to get along!
"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." (Luke 10:19)
Abba father,
I pray that Your love will not be unseen as we go through this weekend, whether we're at home or at retreat or work or wherever. Father God, be working in our hearts and prepare for us everything that You have in store for us. Like Nathan said, God, I pray that each and every one of us would be striving for that steady relationship with You and fall out of the habit of creating ups and downs in our walk with You. There will always be those ups and downs God, but I pray that as the Prince of Peace You will give us some of that peace. Especially for the seniors who will be going on to the college life next year, keep us out of the enemies' reach, Father, help us retreat to Your strong fortress and guard us!! God You are amazing, and You have placed AMAZING people in my life. You are the perfect blessing Dad! We love you so much!
Chris Garmon
"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." (Luke 10:19)
Abba father,
I pray that Your love will not be unseen as we go through this weekend, whether we're at home or at retreat or work or wherever. Father God, be working in our hearts and prepare for us everything that You have in store for us. Like Nathan said, God, I pray that each and every one of us would be striving for that steady relationship with You and fall out of the habit of creating ups and downs in our walk with You. There will always be those ups and downs God, but I pray that as the Prince of Peace You will give us some of that peace. Especially for the seniors who will be going on to the college life next year, keep us out of the enemies' reach, Father, help us retreat to Your strong fortress and guard us!! God You are amazing, and You have placed AMAZING people in my life. You are the perfect blessing Dad! We love you so much!
Chris Garmon
2.01.2008
Prayer 2/1/2008
Daddy, I pray that tonight You would lay Your hands on everyone who's headed to Winter Retreat. Would You soften their hearts? Would You allow them to be open and willing to share in small groups? I pray specifically for those who are going on their first retreat or camp. I pray that You would surround them with loving leaders and friends; will You not let a single person go one night without feeling loved, treasured and accepted with a place? Daddy, I'm excited for what You're up to in the youth group now and for this weekend. Thank You for everything that You've done, are doing and will do. We love You!
Nina Coyle
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