In a couple of a weeks i am doing my first sermon in my youth group, and i am clueless how to start. I just need a few ideas, and or a few recommendations on how to start.

Hi everybody,

I’m new to this site. In fact, this is my first true blog. I’ve written for some websites before, but it was more informational. I wrote for a site called Bleacher Report for awhile, but that as the name probably implies, was about sports. This is my first time writing about Christ on a public forum such as this one (not that I’ve never included Christ in my writing, just not as the main emphasis).

Anyhow, the point of my blog I hope is to really speak gospel truth. I am starting a book tentatively called, “What Does The Gospel Say About Sports?” I am extremely excited about that right now. This week I have written five pages for it. At the same time, I’m teaching some Chinese foreign exchange students how to speak English.

Right now despite some difficult circumstances I am resting in the blood of Christ, and finding my joy in Him each and everyday. My hope is you will too. To follow are the opening paragraphs of this book that I plan to publish someday. I am more than happy to post sections online for free since I am not writing for the money but to see lives turn to Jesus. I hope my writing can bless you and others. Here is the opening excerpt from my book:

Growing up all I wanted to do was play sports. I was 100% convinced my career would entail something in sports. For awhile I thought it would be as a sports journalist or broadcaster. For a brief time, I then fooled myself into thinking I was good enough to become a major league pitcher.

When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I took most of the necessary steps to become a professional football coach. I went to coaching seminars, networked, and even coached at the high school level for the necessary experience, as I finished college. I even took a one thousand dollar class to improve my overall knowledge of football as well to learn to scout and understand the business of football.

Let’s just say I put all my cards in pursuing a career coaching football. Even today, I have moments where I want to coach or scout. Heck, at this moment I still scout college players for fun. But I honestly believe that now I scout for fun instead of it being because I’m holding onto it as a career option. Then again, I even have moments where I desire to give pitching one last try.

But why? Why do I still desire to sacrifice all that I am just to throw a ball in front of thousands of people? Why do, or why did I ever, desire to work 100+ hours per week preparing a bunch of young adults to play a game? And is that desire bad?

The primary purpose of this book is to answer these kinds of questions and more. Is there room for athletics in the life of a Christian? What about the fans? Are we as Christians selling out or forgetting the Gospel when we pledge allegiance to a favorite sports team? Is the primary purpose of sports to serve as an analogy to the rest of life? In short, how are we to view sports as a people radically changed by the Gospel?

This week, I’m facilitating a ladies Bible study group about a book study we’ve been going through together called Living Above Worry and Stress by Women of Faith.  As a part of the study on Chapter 3, “Worry Warts,” I have created a hand-out to be able to record some basic points and take them home in an organized manner to be able to look back on and be reminded of some easy-to-read and easy-to-remember points.  My purpose in sharing this information with you all is that you can add to my bullet points and we can get some dialogue going about worry.

The authors define worry as the image of a dog, tugging at a jacket, not letting it go, tearing it to itsy bitsy pieces.

1. WHY IS WORRY BAD?

• Worry paralyzes me.
• Worry wastes time.
• Worry physically harms the body.
• Worry separates me from God (takes me eyes off of Him and places them onto myself).

► When you find yourself worrying, STOP and ASK yourself:

• What am I worried about?
• What is the root of my worry?  /  Why am I worried about this?
• What does the Bible say about this (not just about worry, but about the specific situation)?

2. WHY DO WE WORRY?

• We worry because our needs, or the needs of those we love, are not being met (or we worry that they won’t be met).  This worry is about CONTROL (or lack thereof).
  • Jehovah Jireh – Do I really believe that God is going to provide ALL my needs?

• We are not trusting that God is going to do what is best in the situation, or we don’t trust that what God sees as “best” is really best.

• We worry because we don’t recognize our own self worth – feel incapable of doing good enough or being good enough.

• We worry because we have a “passive mind” vs. an “active mind”  (p.95-97 The Ministry of a Wife by June Boisselier)
  • “God created us with an imagination, but He wants to program it.  He does not want us to have a passive mind.  I used to have a very passive mind.  It’s still an area which I need to guard carefully.…”
  • “A passive mind doesn’t mean one that doesn’t work.  In fact, sometimes it works too much, but with the wrong program.  Passive means it receives anything that comes into it without filtering it.  The ‘immigration office’ is closed and alien thoughts sneak in unobserved.  The idea of a passive mind is that it is acted upon rather than actively directing the thoughts.  The passive mind soaks up good and bad thoughts like blotting paper, and the result is confusion and doublemindedness….”  (another result is WORRY!)
  • “If we let our minds run without discipline, the Devil will fill them with a fast-pace set of interesting programs designed to steal and to kill and to destroy.  Everyone and everything that comes along is afforded a listening ear.  The passive mind does not examine the Scriptures to see whether these things be so.  People with passive minds vacillate between two opinions; they can never seem to make a decision.  Choosing a pair of shoes is an act of Congress….”
  • “There are other symptoms of a passive mind such as memory recall.  That’s when Satan won’t let you forget some sinful situation or a tragic accident.  You keep on living the scene over and over in your mind until you’re so depressed you can hardly move.  The other side of the coin is forgetfulness. … Lack of concentration is another symptom. … Mind racing is another.  I’m referring to flashing thoughts that run unhindered through your mind.  They come rumbling through like a subway train and rumble back out leaving a few passengers and picking up a few….”
  • “Many women never do see what’s happening.  It gets worse instead of better.  This is the type of thing I’m talking about when I say a passive mind.  You [need to clap] a filter on your thoughts before there [are] any disastrous effects; many women never do.  They don’t direct their minds; their minds direct them.  We have to filter everything that comes into our minds through the Word of God….”
  • “The mental gymnastics of a passive mind can sap a person’s physical strength.  It drains a person to feel anxiety, hatred, grief – all those negative emotions.  That’s why God said ‘a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.’”

3. ENCOURAGING VERSES (specifically about worrying):

• Matthew 6:25-34
• 1 Peter 5:6-9
• Philippians 4:4-7
• Philippians 4:8

4. MY PROBLEM:

• When I worry, the last thing I want to do is to spend time with my Lord.  I want to run out and fix all the problems in my life or in my relationships that look like they’re going wrong.  I want to take the problems of the world into my own hands.  Instead, I need to entrust them to my Lord!
• I perceive my need as ____(fill in the blank) ___, but my real need is more trust in Jesus.

I hope you enjoyed, and let’s get dialoguing!!  (It would be way better to actually be a part of our study   Especially because we can take time to encourage each other with verses specific to each of our key areas of worry!)

To God be the Glory!!!

He said I am the way the truth the life

Don’t think you should grab a knife

Because your sad and not glad

Doesn’t mean God would be mad

You try and try and fail again

But always remember what you can do through Him

He gives you strength He gives you courage

He is your rock and your foundation

He gave His life so you could have salvation.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately thinking about how many times we ask “What if…?” throughout the day and throughout life.

What if I wake up late?  What if I don’t eat breakfast?  What if I get in an accident on the way to work?  What if I say something rude to someone?  What if I wouldn’t have said that?  What if I had worn something different today?  What if I don’t do my best at something today?  What if I lose my job?  What if I think only about myself?  What if he had driven a car instead of a motorcycle today?  What if she hadn’t aborted her baby?  What if she hadn’t gotten hit by a car?  What if he had watched his cholesterol more closely?  What if she had worn a life vest?  What if the terrorists hadn’t hijacked the planes on 9/11?  What if  the building codes had been better in Haiti?  What if the building codes hadn’t been as good in Chile?  What if I did this instead of that?

What if … what if … what if …

WHAT IF I WERE TO TRUST GOD?

What if I were to trust that He desires good for me (Romans 8:28)?

What if I were to believe that He cares for me (1 Peter 5:6)?

What if I were to call on Jesus (Jeremiah 33:3)?

What if I were to take my eyes off of myself and focus them on my Savior?  How would my perspective change?  Would I still question?  Would there be a need to question?  Would there be a need to ask “What if…?”  Or would there be a proclamation of “GOD IS.”?

God knows the end from the beginning.  He knows all that has been, all that is, and all that is to come.  There are no “What if’s…?” for God.  All is known.  As such, I can rest in Him as I trust in Him.  Come what may.  Tomorrow I may die.

I may die without ever having children.  You may die without ever being married.  Your son or daughter may die before you.  You may die without becoming a grandparent.  There is so much uncertainty in life.  But one thing is sure.

I don’t need to have children to be fulfilled in Christ.  You don’t need to get married to be fulfilled in Christ.  Your son or daughter does not have to live a long life to be fulfilled in Christ.  You do not have to become a grandparent to be fulfilled in Christ.  You can be fulfilled in Christ today.  Come what may.

Purpose in your heart to set your eyes on Him.

Life’s not about you or the fulfillment of your hopes and dreams and goals.

Do you know your Creator?  Do you know that your first calling is to glorify Him?  Be intentional about glorifying Him in your thought-life today.  Leave your “what if’s” at His throne and worship Him for who He is and what He’s done for you.  Let Him heal your pain.  Let Him lift you out of sorrow.  Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

This post has gone in many different directions than I intended.

To God be the glory!

A few weeks ago, my husband encouraged me to memorize and meditate on this section of Matthew.  There is just something uniquely meaningful about memorizing Scripture.  I’ve read this passage hundreds of times, but committing it to memory brings out new insights for me.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I am not completely done memorizing.  I still have the last two verses to go.  Here are some tidbits of encouragement that I have found in memorizing this section so far:

• “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  I love this part of verse 25.  And for about a week I couldn’t memorize any further because I was so wrapped up in discovering the depth of this question!  I’m sure I have still only scratched the surface of its richness.  I am convicted by this verse to think about the amount of time I spend in a given day or week planning, preparing, cooking, eating, and cleaning up after eating meals.  How much time do I spend in comparison planning, preparing, “cooking”, eating, and cleaning up after eating spiritual meals?  There is so much care and thought put into food, but do I take the same care in making sure I eat well spiritually?  What is life?  Life does not just consist of the food that I take into my body.  Life consists of the soul within me connecting with my Savior.  How do I connect with Him if I am starving my soul of its necessary fill of time with the Lord?  And what about clothing…?  My body is not just a mass of atoms that carries me from place to place day by day.  My body is the temple of the Living God – a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.  Am I only concerned about my physical appearance?  About modesty and physical fitness?  Or am I concerned with putting on my spiritual clothing daily – my armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).  This verse spoke to my heart about being concerned with my spiritual well-being.  The physical often takes priority, but the spiritual is what really matters most.

• “Are you not of more value than they?”  This question in verse 26, comparing me with the birds, evokes some precious thoughts.  God takes such care of all of His creation, making sure that nothing is lacking.  If He takes such care of His little birds – that fly so carelessly as to smash into my windshield – wouldn’t He take even better care of me?  I’ve been paying more attention to the birds in my neighborhood, and they serve as a reminder of how much God values me.  Me!  A wandering, self-seeking, pleasure-driven sinner!  I am worth more to Him that those sweetly singing creatures that do nothing but worship their Maker.

• “…which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”  Verse 27 takes the cake.  While I’m sure there are literal physical factors about anxiety and stress that actually do decrease life span, I am convicted to think about the time that I waste with worry.  Not that I am actually going to live longer or die sooner if I decrease or increase anxiety.  But that my God wants me to consider the fact that I could be doing something better with my time.  Worrying is not glorifying to God, and that ‘s what He made me to do – glory Him!  So by spending all this time worrying about so many things of life – big and small – I am actually taking my focus off of God and fixing it on myself and my circumstances.  In order to find peaceful rest, I need to get my eyes back on the Lord (Isaiah 26:3-4).

• “…your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”  This part of verse 32 is just a reminder to trust in the Lord.  God knows I need food and drink and clothing.  And He is going to make sure I have enough of those things.  I do have to take responsibility in them.  I still have to plan my meals and grocery shop, prepare my meals, and actually consume them.  I also have to spend time shopping for clothes and take care in dressing myself to be sure that I am covered modestly.  But that is not what God wants me to be consumed by.  He wants me to be consumed with joy and thankfulness for the life He’s given me and for the care He has for me.  He wants me to be living for Him in such a way right now at this very moment that nothing else matters.  Nothing is worth drawing my attention away from my Saving Lord.

These are just some thoughts as I work through memorizing this section of Matthew 6.  Thanks to my husband for encouraging me to commit this Scripture to memory, and all glory be to God who gave us His Word to guide us and instruct us in the way we should go.

College life is… different.

Now that I’ve stated the obvious, I’ll get into specifics. There is a sense of freedom here in this tiny college town that no lack of curfew in high school can match. I live in an apartment with a fantastic raised-Christian roommate who is now my best friend. We go through everything together, which is comforting in an already-turbulent social scene. As the end of our second semester approaches, I find it hard to believe how much we’ve already been through and how much we’ve grown up over the last nine months.

Last summer, I thought I was going to transition into Super Christian mode. I had a big stack of tracts ready to go, my roommate and I were getting to know each other and making plans to find a new church and join the BSM, and I was gearing up for a spotless lifestyle. But all of that never happened… I think God had other plans for me and my roommate.

We are in an Honors College, a sect of a university that lives together and shares the burden of a heavier work load and high ambitions. We’re like a big family. The group of friends we immediately settled into were all sophomores, already well into the swing of college life and eager to take us under their wings above all the other freshmen. Several are Christian, but none are exactly the church-going, praise-song-singing kinds of people I imagined I’d like to be. But these were an awesome group of people! They were (mostly) responsible and knew how to have fun without being too stupid about it. As my roommate and I built friendships, school involvement also heightened. I joined the school’s Ipmrov Troupe, excited for the opportunity to be quick-witted on stage. Rehearsals just so happen to be at the same time as the BSM meetings. I wasn’t as involved in the purely Christian scene as I had hoped I’d be, but I was making connections.

The downer was that, a few months earlier, several of our close friends had been REALL stupid and committed a pretty big theft. Two of our closest friends were arrested just a month into the first semester, and several others were punished in other ways… The social utopia began to crumble. We had associated ourselves with thieves unknowingly, and were then caught in the middle of a huge storm.

But we didn’t abandon our friends. When explaining my situation to my parents, who understandably thought I was in the wrong crowd, I reminded them that Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors. My apartment became a sort of sanctuary where our struggling friends could come to feel safe. My roommate and I brewed countless pots of coffee. We prayed with them and talked with them, and our friends confided in us and developed a huge amount of respect for us. To this day, all of the sophomores we connected with still consider us the glue that kept the group from crumbling away completely. Seeing our loving example has even strengthened some of their faiths.

Even though our first semesters in college have been less than ideal and I’m not living the life I imagined I would, I really feel that I’m in the right place with the right people. God has purposes for all of us, and my roommate and I feel that we didn’t make a mistake by getting in on a social circle that wasn’t necessarily pure and Godly in every way. I doubt such a group even really exists in college… We just have to make the best of what we’re given, live lovingly with our neighbors, try not to judge others for their faults, and lead by good Christlike example every day. I couldn’t have learned that lesson if I had sheltered myself from the reality of college life.

Hi im new nd in need of someone to talk to or someone who could pray for me nd my 3yr old who has a disability..

Not raised in the church, but here I am.

See, I know that I would have found my way to Christ no matter where I had been born or what my circumstances may have been. The pull towards God has always been strong in me… even if that pull came in the form of cold doubt and relentless questioning.

My parents are individualists. They never would have pushed the force-feeding tubes down my throat that they had pushed down theirs… They asked me at about age 12 if I would like going to church, and I said yes. We found one we all really liked. Great children’s ministry, even though I was at that awkward age where I was too old for doing the cute dances in Sunday school but not yet old enough for Youth.

I decided to get confirmed and Baptized, without really understanding what that meant. Does this mean I’m a Christian now? I would have told anybody that I was a Christian. What else was there to be? On that Sunday morning when I was 13, I had water sprinkled on my forehead and I was presented to the congregation as a member of the church. A Christian.

But Confirmation did not answer my questions. Wesley was interesting, but how was I supposed to know that God even exists? My church had an interesting way of avoiding conflict by glazing over the touchy subjects. My pastor refused to admit that hell is a real place. Why should it be? People don’t like thinking about eternal suffering.

In a struggle for identity and purpose, I slipped into a short-lived phase of wearing black fishnets on my arms and covering my jeans in safety pins during middle school. My parents? They were fine with it. Mom took me to Hot Topic to buy me buckled gloves and Dad took me to more rock concerts than I can remember. This was no rebellion. I had nothing to rebel against, I simply desired to be more “me” than I knew how to be.

When I was finally old enough for youth (praise the day!) I made a friend who had answers that this church was unwilling to answer. He had a different background, and could back up everything he was saying. I asked the toughest questions I could think of, and his answers were equally as solid. After finally understanding what Christianity really means, (and lashing out when he told me very straightforwardly that I was not a Christian), I finally gave my life over to Christ in December of 2005. I stopped dressing myself in clothes indicative of one desperate for attention, and got onto the business of building a relationship with God. Finally I was starting to become “me” without even having to try. I just let God shape me.

I joined a new church… one that taught Scripture without apologizing for it or sugar-coating reality. I was Baptized in early 2009 (actually Baptized, knowing fully what it means), and have been a dedicated member ever since.

Now… I’m in college.

what does scripture say about psychiatrist?????