I choose to never forget

Thank you God that I live in a country that was established with Faith in You. Thank you that I was born in a country that fights for freedom. I understand few things. But I believe in You. And today God, I remember what happened 6 years ago. I choose to not forget. I choose to observe a moment of silence with my President today as a sign of solidarity, unity, patriotism. Because of the heinous actions that occurred on September 11th, 2001 we have church members who are on the frontlines, I have teenagers who continually ask for prayers for moms and dads deployed overseas, and I have a four year old daughter who is growing up in a different world than I did. I pray for my President-- give him wisdom, courage and strength. I pray for our troops-- protect them from harm and bring them home quickly and safely. I pray that in all things You work for the good of those who love You. Amen.

Threshold

Last night we discussed what a threshold is... a passage from something to something else. In 1 Corinthians 13.11 it says that when I was a child, I talked, thought and reasoned like a child. Now that I have become a man (woman), I have put those childish ways behind me.

As a teen: are you putting childish talk and actions behind you?
As a Christ-follower: are you putting worldly talk and actions behind you?

Are you maturing? When you decide to cross the threshold, you step into harder choices, responsibility, and there is greater expectations of you. However, there are also awesome benefits to crossing over: with more responsibility comes greater rewards, with maturity comes greater freedom.

Read Joshua 1. In it you will see that God tells Joshua, Moses' right hand man, that it is time to stop wandering in the desert and cross the Jordan river into the "promised land." Finally the children of Israel are getting what God has promised them... what they have to do is cross over. Threshold hold again. Stop thinking like they have been thinking for the past 40 years (survival mode) and start thinking like warriors.

Decide today to cross the threshold. To leave the old ways of thinking and doing things behind you. To say that "When I was a child I used to talk, think and act like a child... but now I have decided to put those things behind me."

Do We Over Dress For God?

In the third chapter of Genesis, we read the fall of man-- the entrance of sin into the world through disobedience. What's interesting is that Adam and Eve's solution to their problem was to cover it up with clothing. They sowed some fig leaves together to hide their nakedness. When God came a-knockin', he was taken back by their new threads. Before, nothing stood in the way of God and Adam. They talked intimately. God saw Adam. All of Adam. And now, Adam was standing before God with some man made clothing.

Question is: Do we over dress for God? Do we stand naked, figuratively speaking, in front of God? Or do we have certain things that we hide from Him?

God doesn't want man made obstacles to stand between us. He wants us to come to Him vulnerable, raw, trusting that God will protect us and care for us. But when we keep issues, hurts, problems to ourselves-- we are not showing Him that we trust Him.

By all means, dress up for the world. But for God... be "naked" in front of Him. Be real. Be open. Be truthful. He won't disappoint.

Israel Houghton & New Breed

They came out with a new cd, "A Deeper Level," yesterday... remember this song from winterfest?

Are you a Christ-Follower or a Christian?

Jesus The Know-It-All

Was listening to a podcast, and the preacher asked: "What are the characteristics of Jesus?" He then quickly answered saying "Everyone will say Good, Loving, Merciful, Forgiving but they forget to say Friend of the Sinner." But by the time he had said the last line I had already thought of one that I don't think makes anyone's list: Jesus The Know-It-All. You know the sarcastic, smart aleck dude that has a quick response to everything. That's Jesus.
Incident after incident, Jesus would totally crush those who were against him with a few words. When the teachers of the law were accusing Jesus of working for the Devil, he told them that a house divided can stand. It shut them up. When people started talking about His disciples picking grain on the Day of Rest, Jesus didn't hesitate to tell them about David eating food. Again, Jesus being the quick witted dude that he is shutting everyone up. Time after time, Jesus kept those that were against him looking dumb.
However, Jesus was fair. If someone had a quick witted response to something HE had said, he would acknowledge it. When a Greek woman came to Jesus asking Him to help her demon possessed daughter, Jesus said that He was on earth to help the Jewish children first and he wasn't going to take food away from them. The woman then responded that even dogs get scraps from the children's table. Because of her quick witted response, Jesus helped her daughter. When a soldier asked Jesus to heal his son, Jesus was so pleased with the soldiers statement on obedience and authority that the son was healed immediately.
I know it may seem weird to call Jesus a smart aleck... and it probably won't help you get of of talking back to mom and dad... But imagining Jesus shutting up those that were trying to make him look bad with just a few mere words-- makes me proud to say the guy is my Savior. Check it out. Re-read the first four books on the New Testament.

Sept InfoPage

Looking for the brave ones...

We are planning this year's "My Praize" for Wednesday, November 14. This years theme is "Scars." We want people to walk away believeing in the power of showing off our scars. Our scars are indications that we survived something. While hiding our scars may be easier-- I believe God wants us to show them off. Showing our scars and telling our stories (the churchy term is testimonies) will help some one else. Scars can be from past hurt, abuse, relationships, disappointments-- some scars can be seen ( i have a scar on my forehead from a baseball) and most are invisible to the naked eye.
Are there any brave ones out there willing to share their scar story? Email me, write me, tlak to me. Be brave! Help someone else who is going through what you have already overcome.

Did she answer the question?

Pretty simple: Miss South Carolina answering a question on Miss Teen USA. After watching, you think she answered the question?

Cora's 1st Day Of School (Pre-K)

some summerfest 2007 pics

strike a pose

in the gulf

sisters?

all smiles

the whole gang on sunday

the ladies before service

JesusBack

two parodies by youth groups..

For The Parents...

Kirk Franklin covering "September"

Happy Birthday Blog Page

student leadership network

a new mentoring program starting in september
see pastor jesse immediately if you are interested

The Atwood Family-- Simpsonized

listen to this...

This month our focus is music. Music is a powerful weapon used for good or bad. It influences our moods, our thinking. Remember: God intended us to make music for Him (a vertical relationship of music going from our hearts to His ears). However, through ignorance or laziness, we have allowed the world to make music for us (A horizontal relationship with music in which we allow the world to control our thoughts and emotions). We must reduce our horizontal relationship with music and strengthen our our vertical relationship with music. I have posted some videos to compliment what we are talking about on Wednesdays.

"At The Cross"-- Many of you said this song touched you. Push play and worship.


"Hiding Place"-- Meditate on the words...


"Amazed"-- You can worship Go din so many different ways


"Alpha & Omage"-- Sometimes watching others worship moves us to worship

reggie dabbs...

...with a cool youth group and a drum line


...and "sieze the day!"

funny man john gray from summerfest

this dood made us all laugh (some more than others--priscilla) check him out

eddie james rawked at summerfest

i can't even begin to explain this dude and his ministry... i'll just give you glimpses: he takes in kids off the street like the recovering cocaine addict who has been free for 6 months, or the backslid girl who was pimped out by her boyfriend for drugs or the muslim brother and sister who coverted to christianity and were kicked and beaten out of their house. found these on youtube enjoy...

this is their dance team: excalibur


singing


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