Here is the promo for this years summer teen camp:
Have you ever wondered what it was like for Moses when He climbed Mount Sinai to encounter God? What was behind the thick dark cloud? What did he see? Or Isaiah, when he met God in the temple, what did he see sitting on the throne?
What was it like for him when the floor shook and the room filled with smoke? Or Ezekiel, when he saw God on a throne carried by four flaming cherubs, how did he feel?
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Great series from the
Resurgence blog, with highlights quoted below. Make sure to check out the “Tips For Effective Prayer,” I thought they were very good. Leave your thoughts on these points and prayer in the comments below.
1 - Prevailing Prayer - http://theresurgence.com/2010/02/15/prevailing-prayer
“Arthur Wallis once said, “A move of God will last as long as the Spirit of prayer that inspired it.” You can tell when this happens. It’s when prayer is used as a last resort, as a spare wheel, but it’s meant to be the steering wheel.”
2 - Prayer Is The Priority - http://theresurgence.com/2010/02/17/prayer-is-the-priority
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Whether you are a pastor, fellowship coordinator, or teen leader, I believe this is a good thought to consider:
John Piper: What Tone Should Preachers Aim At?
I really like Piper’s point to the fact that a good rule is to allow the text itself give us the tone for the word. We are all going to be ourselves as we preach, teach and speak – but pausing to consider the tone of the text will help us communicate the truth more effectively. Our “hopeful” or “passion” may not be God’s “hopeful” or “passion” or recognized by the congregation as such unless we allow the holy spirit the shape us and are humble to the truth that we need God’s help to speak a word for and from Him. At the end of the day, all of us can do this with the spirit’s power – no matter how eloquent (or not) we may think we are.
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#6 – God answers prayer.
#7 – when things get challenging in your life, God faithful to hear your heart. Your friends won’t be. Your idols won’t be. Your parents won’t be. Your _____ won’t be. God is and will be.
#8 – if you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention” – Sister Mary Clarence
#9 – knowing a lot of Scripture doesn’t equal being like Christ.
#10 – Christ knew the Scripture, so one can’t think that we can be like him and be ignorant of truth.
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Paul, recounting his conversion to King Agrippa:
Acts 26:16-18 16 ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
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#1 – don’t judge “how you are doing” by church/fellowship attendance alone – ask yourself, “do I care about others? or am I just concerned about myself”
#2 – don’t wait for your summer camp/retreat to get serious about your relationship with God. It is not guaranteed that the event will happen. Nor is it guaranteed that you’ll be there. Get serious about your relationship with God now.
#3 – we are concerned with what we look like. we need to be concerned what HE looks like, through us.
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Unfortunetly I have noticed a sad trend in our churches. We have some on one side who are serious about seeking truth and understanding doctrinal matters. We have some on another side who are serious about living the simple truths of Jesus’ teaching. The sad and unfortunate trend that I have observed is that thes two sides often are in opposition to one another. The doctrinal side demeans the practical side because they don’t know the truth or seem to have a hunger to search the Scriptures. The practical side demeans the practical side because they are only concerned about knowing things and not doing things.
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I thought the following article was a good one about following Jesus and not making a Jesus that we like better than the real one. I know I often try to rationalize some of the difficult sayings of Christ to make them fit better what what I think Christ really means and wants – and while I still think that “sell all you have” may not be to each Christian across the board, I must allow the spirit of Christ to show me which areas of my heart, life and even my stuff need to be sold or thrown out.
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Music is very powerful. It stirs our hearts. It’s leads us to cry. It’s a call to shout. It reminds us of past loves and different seasons. It is a tool that teaches us. It influences our minds and our culture. Words to songs I never wanted to hear in the first place are still stuck in my head today. Music is very powerful.
When music is used to worship God it is in it’s most powerful form. It is a sacred bridge between things here on the earth and the throne room of the Almighty. With that in mind, it’s good for us to be reminded of the importance of this portion of our own personal devotional life and our corporate gatherings as well.
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In the time of Jeremiah, the Babylonians had already exiled some of the people of Israel. Jeremiah was very unpopular at the time in the nation because he was the one who had said that the Babylonians were going to come, take over and that Israel should submit to them or it will be even worse.So Jeremiah sits in jail, and God wants to declare to the people that one day He will restore the people to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem. The way God illustrates this point is in the following way:
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