Some Good From Facebook
Facebook is more than a website it is a community. A community that sometimes reflects our lives but sometimes it’s a place we say things we would never say but we will post in order to project something we want people to believe about us. We often hear of the bad things students post on Facebook but I received a very positive message this morning on Facebook.
Hey Mr. Brown!
Remember me?? Lake of the woods Teen Camp 2011?? Sorry this is so late, but I just wanted to say that I never got the chance to thank you. I wanted to thank you for changing my opinion to be the better example and to help me understand things better. Usually I hear all this stuff about all these other camps that are SO Awesome and they are “Christian” camps but you only hear about how much fun they had and never about what they learned or how it was life changing or anything like that, but my camp is different. I try to tell as many people as I can about it and try to get them to come and enjoy all the things we learn there.
I also have to thank you for the text devotions every morning. Normally in the mornings I don’t read them immediately because otherwise I forget! So I save it for a couple hours later so that my brain can process it more. And even then I forget about them, so i have a notebook that I write them all down in. Sometimes when I feel the hunger of His word I will go back to that book and I review them, I have to say one of my favorites was a few months back…on August 30 it said,”I am the master of my words but a slave to those I shouldn’t have said.”-Proverbs 10:19. This verse spoke to me, it inspired me to look deeper which brought me to the verse of Proverbs 10:11 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.” I am not exactly sure why but I fell in love with that verse.
Camp of 2011 honestly changed my life. Normally by now my spiritual “light” is very dim…and I don’t feel that i would live up to title of a good christian, but this year that is not the case. I find myself sitting in class curious to ask someone who will know the answer to the question I have about the Lord, but no one to turn to.
Thank you Mr. Brown, for everything. I often think of you and of camp. Hope you are doing well. Sorry my message is so long. Hope to hear from you soon! And possibly see you at camp! Wish you the best!
How Did I Become A Paintball Target
Let me start by saying, “I don’t like paintball.” Well at least not being the target for Jr. High Schoolers. The first time I heard about paintball it was from a group of guys who had just finished playing. It sounded fun until they started comparing their brushes. Bruises? What!??!
With that in mind tell me how I became a paintball target this past weekend? Watch the video clip and find out more!
Although, I don’t like paintball, I love it when lives are changed. This weekend of life changing for the students that attended the Youth For Christ winter retreat. I could tell you all about it but I’ll let the students speak for themselves. At the end of the retreat they were asked to share the something they like, something they learned and a choice they have made from the weekend. In addition, they were asked to write a letter to God, Mr Brown or one of the youth leaders. Here are some of their responses;
Something you liked…
• Mr. Brown’s Preaching and the Band, paintball
• I enjoy listening to Mr. Brown speak.
• I liked the games and the lessons.
• The hide from the leaders and kick the can.
• I like the paint balls.
• Cabin time – playing games with and learning about the students.
Something you learned
• I’m not worthless to God.
• I learned you need to try to read the Bible every day.
• I learned a lot about God like how we can accept You into our lives.
• More about God and how much He loves.
• About the farting beetles, and how to play carpet ball. I learned that being yourself is a good thing because that’s who God made you.
• To look at God, not people.
A Choice you made…
• I made the choice to forgive my Mom.
• I have chosen to make friends and accept You, God, into my life.
• I made a choice to come here.
• I chose to ignore the cold and have fun and learn about God.
• I chose to do the 7-day devotion.
• I made the choice to finally be confident and trust in myself because for so long I have kept myself boxed up and shy.
• My choice was to be more truthful with myself and not care what other people think or have.
Dear_______
• Dear Mister Brown, Thank you so much! You have helped me see and understand things that I have been confused about.
• Community – Dear Stacey, Thank you for being our Leader. And help us make good choices.
• Dear God, Thank you for giving me your strength and energy to live life and be faithful in loving those around me.
• Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you for preaching to me and helping me understand the Word of God and how to live.
• Dear Tamy and God, Tamy – I liked how you were our counselor. God – I believe Miter Brown after what You said this weekend. You made me believe. Thank you. – Emily Crits
• Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you for your guidance. You have helped me see that God loves many different types of people, not just the ones who have more.
• Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you for coming to be our guest speaker. You’re awesome and one of the funniest cousin ever. You’re the best, God is very proud of you.
• Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you, Mr. Brown, for telling me that I don’t have to be like everybody else and to just love God and be happy of who I am and telling me about the beetle.
• Dear God, I miss the way I cry in Your presence. I miss feeling You making everything better and trusting that You will. I need You. Please open my heart to You ‘cause I miss You. And I don’t know what to do when I feel like You’re not here with me.
I Choose To Obey Right Away!
This week I was privileged to teach in Awana at Hat Creek Community Church. There were 8 kids age 10 and under present and that gave us a chance to actually do a mini Bible study. The kids had a race to find the book of Jonah. There was no prize for the winner but a prize for me from the last person to find the book.
The study was good. We discovered the importance of obeying authority right away. As a side note we also talked about how many people we affected when Jonah disobeyed God. The sailors where affected, the people of Nineveh, the people who didn’t get the cargo and even the big fish!
We saw clearly the importance I’d obeying right away.
We left saying with our hand motions included, “I choose to obey right away.”
Verses from Cross Current
Scripture on Sex
The Bible Speaks loud and clear about sex. Here are a few verses that can help us discover truth to live by. I put them in 3 categories.
Instruction
1 Corinthians 7:2
1 Corinthians 6:13, 18
Colossians 3:5
Ephesians 5:3
1 Thessalonians 4:1-5
Hebrews 13:4
Galatians 5:19
2 Timothy 2:22
Proverbs 5
Illustration
1 Corinthians 10:8 (Exodus 32:6)
Song of Solomon Chapter 7
Genesis 39 – Joseph
2 Samuel 11 – David & Bathsheba
Proverbs 7 – Adulteress Woman
Genesis 19 – Sodom & Gomorrah
Genesis 19:30-38 – Lot & his daughters
Forgives
John 8 the woman caught in adultery
Truth vs. Lies
Choices, Choices, Choices. I spend most of my days educating and empowering students to make good choices. I say it at least once a day and often wear it: “Choices are the puzzle pieces of life so choose well. Ultimately our choices are between truth and lies. Often it seem like the choice between truth and lies is a choice of direction and that is true but it is also a battle. Truth and Lies are in opposition to each other with the mission of destroying the other.
This weekend I am preaching a message on truth vs. lies and at the end of the month speaking at a youthretreat on the same subject. As I am studying I see clearer than ever that this topic is all throughout the Bible. This is a battle that started in the garden of Eden and continues to this day. The question for us is not just what side we are on but which we will believe and live by. We can sometimes be on the side of truth but still believe and live lies. I can relate with the prayer request in Proverbs 30:7-8 “Two things I ask of you, Lord do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”
“Keep falsehood and lies far from me…” What a request! Think about it. How often do we watch, listen, entertain and all around consume falsehoods and lies?
What are some areas you clearly see the battle of truth vs. lies in our world today?