Summer Camp!!!!

This week (and next) I will not be answering a question, because it's SUMMER CAMP!!!! I am working extremely hard to make sure this is a camp that is awesome and unforgettable. The theme of camp is White Picket Fence, and we will be traveling to beautiful Crestline.

Our camp speaker Steve Stout is a close friend of mine that I served in ministry with. He has been in Jr. High ministry for 5 years as both a volunteer and paid intern. He has experience teaching Jr. High students as well as having a God given passion for them. He will be exploring the important topic of family, unpacking our role within family and the reconciliation (a big word that means forgiveness) necessary in any family. By the end, the students will understand and have the opportunity to accept the invitation God offers them, "You are members of God's family (Ephesians 2:19)."

If you are signed up, don't forget to grab a packing list from me. Also the theme dinner, on Thursday night, is going to be a formal banquet, so bring something nice to dress up in. Camp is going to be SO MUCH FUN! Don't forget we meet at the church at 2 PM this Sunday. Can't wait to see you all there. =)

Sticks & Stones...

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We are all taught this rhyme when we are young. It's supposed to help us when we are being made fun of. But really, does it help? Is it even true? I would say no. Words can and do hurt, and in some cases hurt more than sticks or stones.

One of my favorite quotes is that of a man named Geri McGhee, "Words are creative either for good or evil. Words either bind or they loose. Words can be destructive or constructive; they can build up or they can tear down."

How true is this?! Geri McGhee reveals a major truth; that words CAN hurt. They can be quite destructive, and drive people to hate and even hurt themselves. But he also reveals something on the other side of the coin. If the words that we use either build up or tear down, then everything we say, will do one or the other, not both (and rarely do they do nothing).

So if we understand that our words either build up or tear down, why do people use their words to tear down. I'm sure they know their words will hurt. The conclusion that we can draw is that they mean for their words to hurt, they intend to hurt the person. But why would someone mean to hurt someone else?

Ah, that is the question at hand; why would someone want to hurt someone else? Because they're mad, or they're getting revenge, or they're amusing themselves, or pumping themselves up, or are they trying to get others to notice them or laugh along? Whatever the reason, it is because they are thinking about and looking out for themselves. This is the definition of 'selfish'. Put-downs are a matter of the heart. Rumors, slander, gossip, the mean things we say, they are all symptoms of a selfish heart. All Jr. high students are welcome to join us tomorrow night as we continue to discover how put-downs are symptoms of a selfish heart, and what we can do about it.

Salvation Cannot Be Taken Away

Recently I got an interesting question in the "I wonder..." box. The question is this, "Would you still go to heaven if you believe in God, but you don't follow everything He says?" This is a question that needs unpacking.

First off, no one is perfect, Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Even when you become a Christian you still deal with sin and temptation and doing the right thing. Second, you need to realize that salvation is a free gift. It's not something dependant on you. Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH, and this not from yourselves, it is a GIFT from God, NOT BY WORKS, so that no one can boast." God gives it to us, and it's not based on something that you do, or don't do.

John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because He has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." This is a great passage. You may have heard the first part before, but the whole thing is awesome. God loved us, before we loved Him and so He sent His Son to save the world. All you need to do to be saved is believe. We see Paul say this, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved... (Acts 16:31)" If you have believed, you are saved.

I believe that you can never lose your salvation either. Lets look at just John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE." All you have to do is believe. If you believe then 2 things will happen: 1. you will not perish, (this means that you won't die spiritually), 2. you will have eternal life. This isn't temporary. It's not something that can be taken away. It's eternal. Listen to Jesus' words in John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, WHOEVER hears my word and BELIEVES HIM who sent me HAS ETERNAL LIFE, and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." This is something you can be confident of just like you can be confident that your family loves you. God's love & free gift for all eternity, is yours if you believe. It doesn't matter whether you can feel it or not. It's there.

You can have confidence in this fact: salvation is a gift from God, it's free, and it's something you can never lose. All you have to do is believe. So, my response to this question is this, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?"

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire...

"Liar, liar, pants on fire..." So a while back I got into a debate with a friend as to the ending of this little rhyme. Should it be, "...Nose is longer than a telephone wire..." which is what I thought, or "...dangling from a telephone wire..." I found out I was wrong. It's "...dangling from a telephone wire," which is a paraphrase of a verse of a poem written in 1810. But I like "...nose is longer than a telephone wire," because it makes me think of Pinocchio.

Pinocchio was a wooden puppet, who was given life. There was one catch, his nose would grow every time he lied, and when he told the truth, it would shrink. Throughout his adventure, his nose grew and shrunk many times. Eventually he learned to be brave, TRUTHFUL, unselfish, and able to tell right and wrong, which turned him into a real boy.

Lying, is the telling of lies, or untruthfulness; falsehood. This is no where near who or what God is about. He is truth. He can't have any falsehood anywhere around Him. Psalm 31:5, and Isaiah 65:16 call Him the "God of Truth." And it seems like every third phrase out of Jesus' mouth is, "I tell you the truth...." Jesus even tells us that we must worship God in "Spirit and in truth (John 4:23)".

Lying is the easy way out. When we lie its because we don't think we can use truth in that situation. We are thinking about ourselves, and what's going to happen to us. We don't trust that the truth will be good enough. Even when we tell "little white lies" to protect someone feelings, we're doing it because we think they can't handle the truth. We are being false, and this is not what God wants.

Lying is yet another symptom of a selfish heart. All Jr. High students are welcome to join us tomorrow night as we look at a time when Abraham lied (yea he really did!), and continue looking at why lying is a symptom of a selfish heart.

Jesus Loves The Little Children, All The Children Of The World...

Today's question is a good one, and it's actually two. "God loves us as equals right? He knows everyone's name?" and " Does God think of me as more than a person?" These are very good and even revelant questions.

We are His creation. All throughout the Bible we see Him continually seeking us out, giving us chance after chance. That's what the whole Gospel message is about. He is not about to give up on us, He loves us too much. Romans 5:8 starts off, "But God demonstrates His LOVE for us..." and John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the WORLD..." Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is [because of a FREE GIFT He gave us] that we are saved...."


God loves us, His creation...All of His creation. Jesus tells His disciples to take the gospel message out to all the ends of the earth, because He loves us all. He talks of every knee on earth bowing, no matter their tribe or nation. He even tells us to love our enemies in Luke 6:27, "...Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you..." Throughout His teaching He tells us to take care of the poor. He loves everyone, each one of you, no matter what.


Guess what, there is nothing we could do that could separate us from God. Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."


A quick read through my favorite Psalm- 139 you find that God created us and loves us. He know's our names and even how many hairs are on our heads. "..How precious to me, are your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them, they would outnumber the grains of sand..." God thinks about each and every one of us ALL THE TIME! Way more than thing we could count up to.


With all that said, to answer the questions, "Does God thinks of me as more than a person?" and "God loves us as equals right? He know's everyone's name?" I'd say yes to all of them. I'd like to leave you with a worship song that is fantastic! One of my favorites. It's called "He Knows My Name"


I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in His hands

Chorus
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go
(Repeat Chorus)

A Thief In The Night...

A long time ago, when I was little, our house was robbed (in the day time no less). Luckily we weren't home when it happened. We came home to find the house in disarray and interestingly enough a half full can of soda on the coffee table (I guess the thief thought it best to refresh himself before making a gettaway). My mom's jewery, our family valuables and even the baseball card collection my brother and I each had, was stolen. I remember feeling devistated, violated, and not at all safe.

Now the guy was eventually caught, and went to jail, but that couldn't take the feelings I had away. Only God could and it took time. Jesus said, "The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)." Isn't so true. The thief who robbed my family's house was only interested in himself. His actions, born out of his heart, showed that. He didn't care about us, or how we felt. He stole from us & destroyed our sense of safety (at least for a while). Jesus came so that we may have life. Jesus is not about stealing, but rather giving.

All Jr. high students are welcome to join us this Wednesday night at Crash as we continue to explore how God feels about stealing and how it's a symptom of a selfish heart.

This Is Who I Am...

First off, I have to appoligize for not updating my blog at the end of last week. Things got a little crazy, as they tend to do just before a holiday. I did have a great 4th of July weekend with my family. I hope you all had a great holiday weekend as well.

Now for the question of the week, or rather questions. I figured I'd answer a couple fun random questions directed at me, most of which are on the student profile sheet I have you students fill out. So I'll answer the questons on there as well.

Name: Cameron Coulter
Birthday: Oct. 20
In this world, I am closest to: My family
Food you hate: Coconut shavings
Biggest Fear: Being alone (as in having no friends or making no difference to anyone)
Favorite Band: Hawk Nelson, Relient K, Queen, Weezer
Favorite Movie: Stranger Than Fiction, Braveheart, The Princess Bride, among many more
Favorite TV Show: [still on] Psych, The Office, How I Met Your Mother; [canceled or ended] Boy Meets World, Lost, Firefly, Seinfield
Favorite Superpower: Freeze Time. You'd never be late, and you'd always get things done on time... you would even be all rested up for anything. It really is the best power I think.
Favorite Subject in School: I always loved math, Creative writing, and drama.
Outside of school I like to: hang out with friends, read and play games
I am really good at: encouraging others.
Something about me that would supprise you is: I was in a nationally televised commercial
Something I have always wondered is: What it was that Jesus wrote in the dirt in John 8:1-11, and what heaven is going to be like.
Do you own a Bible of your own: Yes
What do you think of God: He is mighty and powerful, loving and forgiving. He is the creater of the universe, and he loves me.
What do you think about Jesus Christ: He is God. He was the perfect sacrifice, to pay the price for my sin. He is my savior and for that I am eternally greatful.
Do you believe in Heaven and Hell: Yes, I believe they are real places. Everyone will go to one or the other for all eternity.

[Other Questions I have been asked]
Do you love Starbucks: Yes, they have some good drinks. My favorites include, Skinny Vanilla Latte, Passion Tea Lemonade with Raspberry syrup, and Pumpkin Spice Latte
Have you ever had a boy/girl party: My birthday partys have included all my friends, guys and girls... All but one or two, which were sleep overs, then it was just my guy friends.
Can I sing: Not very well... and neither can I dance.

So this is me. If you have anyother questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Cheater, Cheater Pumpkin Eater

"Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater." We've all said this phrase, especially when playing games against our friends. Or maybe someone has said this to us. I know I have cheated in my life before. I can be very competitive, so when I was younger, I know I would move pieces when people weren't looking, or quickly re-rolled a dice to get a different number.

People cheat all the time. They cheat on: tests, games, relationships, and even in business. People cut corners, break rules, and fix games all so they can get ahead and ensure their success. When people cheat, they are being selfish. They are exploiting, manipulating, deciving, or defrauding (or all three at the same time) others for personal gain. This does not sound like loving others, which is what God called us to do.

Proverbs 11:1 says, "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight." Back then price would depend on weight. People would fix their weights so that it says something weighs 1/2 lbs, when infact it would weigh 1 lbs, in an effort to get more money from you. Basically what this proverb is saying is to be honest. When someone is cheating they are not being honest, they are being selfish.

Tonight we begin a series called A Matter Of The Heart. Cheating is something that really, at it's root, is a matter of the heart. All Jr. high students are welcome to join us tonight as we really explore how cheating is a matter of the heart.