DEEP // WIDE // LIGHT

God says, "For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me - the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!"   Jeremiah 2:13 Can we just cut through the lies? We have lied to ourselves about our God. We have believed that God is loving, while disbelieving that God judges and punishes. This picture of God allows us to sin, and find joy in sinning. Do you think I'm too harsh? Have you read the lyrics of the most popular songs our students sing while riding down the road? Have you listened to the unholy things adults and students say? Have you noticed the cravings for sex and drunkenness and money at Christmas time, and how intently we seem to chase those cravings? This world is in worse trouble than some fiscal cliff might bring.  Jeremiah points out two sins: turning our back on God and filling our lives with unfulfilling things. Both of these things leave us guilty.  God is our o

My brother in Christ Daniel Howard preached for us recently, and God challenged me in several ways. I wanted to share about this. The main points are from Daniel. The discussion that follows is my interactions with it. Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. This quote begins with "If." There are some who are Christian, and some who are not. These words are for the Christian. Christians then are encouraged to look up, to make our life about God's things, not the things of this world. We need such constant reminders to make our lives about the life of Christ. We often become too bogged down in earthly things to remember the Christ who now owns our

Perescution "I'm Good" by @TripLee116 I am not a prophet. I do not know the future. But I am passionately convinced of something. The students we lead will need spiritual tools in the near future that we have rarely used up to this point in our American cultural Christianity. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. “Then you will be arrested , persecuted , and killed . You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold . But the one who endures to the end will be saved. - Jesus ( Matthew 24:8-13 , emphasis mine) A President has mentioned that the United States of America is not a Christian nation. Anti-American riots are happening all over the world. Christians in the USA have been arrested, even in the good ol&#

As I write this, I think back to September 11, 2001. I remember exactly where I was that day, and what I was doing on the campus of Mississippi College. I witnessed that morning on TV such evil as I had never before seen in my young life. Today, our world is not less evil. And the evil in our world is more insidiously imbedded into our American culture than we realize. The enemy is not Islam. The enemy is sin, and this enemy is thriving in our local schools. But I have hope. I am awakened to the knowledge that Jesus has not left our schools, no matter what school administrators can or cannot do. I know this, because I talk to students who are bringing Christ and His love with them to class every day. They are frustrated by the sin they see in their schools, and they are passionate about seeing Christ change their entire school. And I, too, believe that He can do just that! Paul, who was given a special task to deliver Christ's good news to all non-Jews, wrote a

Parents : Do you monitor every single moment of your student's internet activity? If you're like most parents, you probably monitor some, but not all. Also, how much time do your students spend playing games? Students : Would you show your mom (or even your grandma) every single website you visited this last week? Have you ever played video games or played on your phone or surfed Facebook/Twitter until you felt Dorito'ed out (you know, like you've eaten a whole bag of Dorito's just because you were bored but you're still a little hungry but you're tired of Dorito's)? Youth Workers : If you had to pick out names of people in youth group, which ones would you guess have viewed pornography in the previous week? Statistically, somebody (probably several somebodies) has viewed it, and the numbers of girls who have viewed it are climbing. Have you ever felt like your youth ministry cannot be the least bit boring, because you might lose too many youth? Ever