The Code

The CODE - Romans 12 (New Living Translation)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

(Amazing passage to live by with the power of the Lord Jesus!!)

Now that the Classroom has beckoned.......

Now that the classroom has beckoned I am amazed at what God did in the life of CY (Community Youth) this summer. Amazing the many different neighborhood activities we were able to plan and pull off this summer. Only God's strength and creativity could have used these events to see the lives of young people changed. I guess one of our thots at CY is that youth are going to be doing something so we might as well give them something positive to do. We had a challenge over the summer, to memorize the Code. The Romans 12:1-18 was coined the Code at the One events last school year. I praise God for giving the endurance to keep at the discipline to memorize the Code. We did many challenging adventures this summer but I realized that the challenge to memorize the Code was my biggest challenge.

This week we were able to finish our Together Bible Study and Worship in the Loft. We had an amazing time looking at those who walked by faith. We were introduced to them in Hebrews 11 and then studied their lives from extended passages in other parts of the Bible. We were challenged by the theme song by Matthew West, Motions (click on the word motions and see the YouTube video) We want to live our lives for real, for Jesus and not just go thru motions that are not real. Too much of 'Christianity' is people going thru the motions of a religion. Instead we want to live a real life of a true relationship with a real person the Lord Jesus Christ. So anyway a great finale to the Bible study and great times of giving great worth to Jesus in song and sharing.

Some great plans are coming together for this fall for the Loft for Middle School students on Monday nite and for High School students on Tuesday for the Loft and Beyond.

BOO !!!

I scared ya, didn't I. Ok the summer was a
blogless summer, but what an amazing summer God gave and is giving. Three weeks of Camp; UE for middle school students, UE2 for Senior High students and Dad and Lad Camp as titled. Two backpack trips, a 190 mile bike trip as pictured to the left and a missions trip to America's Keswick. Somewhere in there I taught 5 weeks of summer school and helped lead a weekly Bible study at the Loft. Praise the Lord for Mark and Kristy being able to intern this summer; was a huge help. God is good, helping keep neighborhood students facing in the Jesus direction. As the pics go on this blog, the planning and start of an adventure, the making it halfway and the accomplishment of the goal. God was the center of each adventure this summer. Each event was purposeful. Wow, when life is lived this way you can enjoy real LIFE, Jesus at every turn. "give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him." Romans 12 (The New Living Translation) (known as the Code in the LYNC
network) All this stuff an act of worship to God, wow that is amazing.

Anyway some slide shows will be appearing in the next few days. Enjoy!