Deal or No Deal: Christmas and the Blood Covenant (Part I)

For the past two weeks, the students at re\\VAMP have been learning about the promises God made to us and our responsibilities to Him. For this lesson, I used a game of Deal or no Deal to illustrate the idea of a covenant...

So I constructed our own edition of Deal or No Deal, replacing cases with cards, the money values with gift cards and action based risks, and hilarity ensued (things got funny).

Twice I took pie to the face and for the record, ready whip smells like putrid vomit when it's stuck in your beard for a couple hours. But it's all worth it if this message sticks with you like the cream stuck with my beard.

All pie-bearding aside, the point that I wanted to drive home is the purpose of a deal. Making a deal with someone generally ensures that BOTH parties benefit from it. A covenant is like a hyper-advanced-uber-deal. And a BLOOD covenant is even stronger, still.

First, what exactly is a Blood Covenant?

A Blood Covenant is a ritual in which two people mix blood and make a lifelong deal to share EVERYTHING they own. This deal would ensure that BOTH parties would benefit and BOTH would actively participate (even sacrifice if they had to).

A good example is that of a farmer and a war general. If the farmer enters into a covenant with the general, he has to offer his land, crops, and shelter to the general's troops if need ever arises. This is to the benefit of the general. BUT if anyone ever tries to steal from the farmer or hurt him in any way, the general's entire army would be obligated to take up sword and protect the farm. This is to the benefit of the farmer. Both parties give and both receive. There are nine steps that you need to know so you can see when a covenant is cut in the bible...

Hebrew ritual steps:
1 Exchange Coats
2 Exchange Belts
3 Cut the Covenant
4 Mix Blood
5 Exchange Names
6 Make a Scar
7 Give Covenant Terms
8 Eat Memorial Meal
9 Plant a Memorial

Understand that you won't find all of these steps recorded in scripture because in the biblical days, everyone was familiar with the Hebrew culture so they didn't record all of the details, but learning these steps will make it easier for you to see covenants in the bible, even if only one step is mentioned.

So, is this why they sacrificed animals in the Old Testament?

Partially, yes. A blood covenant required the shedding of blood from both parties. In order to achieve the blood covenant with God under the Old Covenant, sinless blood needed to be shed, which is why animal sacrifice took place.

An example of God cutting a Blood Covenant can be seen in the story of Abraham (Abram) and Isaac...

Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.” After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:1-21 NLT)

Then Abram acted in doubt and had his first son with a servant, but later was given another chance and a promise from God.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” (Genesis 17:1-14 NLT)

We can see that God's bloodshed came from the sacrifice of animals and Abraham's bloodshed came
From the act of circumcision. Both parties shed blood as the blood covenant ritual required. Then God tested Abraham's obedience.

Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:1-18 NLT)

Because Abraham obeyed God and had faith that God would keep his covenant with him, God spared the life of Isaac and sent a ram to be offered as a sacrifice instead.

But what does this all have to do with Jesus and Christmas?

I'll explain this in Part II later this week.

No SHAME November

Before I explain the above photo, I want to go over last weeks' announcements...
- Winter Jam: We are planning to go, so keep reminding me if you are interested in going with us. I'll give cost and date at a later time.
- re\\VAMP Wednesdays: January 8th is the launch of our official new services. Get excited and contact me on here if you are interested in being a part of our worship team or leadership and I'll get you an application.
- Fifth Week: it's a week from today and here is the flyer we're painting the town with.

Now to answer the question about the mustaches, last week at re\\VAMP, we played a game in honor of facial hair trend, movember, that I call #yomo. The game was like "yo momma" but instead of dissing on mothers we switched gears to a positive note and COMPLIMENTED the manliness of each others' mustaches. For example, I said, "Your mustache is so manly and wild that Bear Grylls, himself could not survive in it." To which my student responded, "Your mustache is so Italian that even Mario couldn't pull it off."

Needless to say, it was good clean fun and it worked its way into a lesson we all need to be reminded of.

The other facial hair trend of November is "No Shave November." Well, the week before last I was unable to be at our service and Clinton taught our students on identity. The one thing that really stuck with them was his quote, "Your actions do not define YOU, YOU define your actions." In other words, your past failures don't define you as a failure, you have the power to control your future actions and succeed. I realized in hearing this that the feeling of being a failure needed to be further addressed so in the spirit of November we tackled the topic of shame!

#noSHAMEnovember.

What is shame?
Are shame and guilt the same thing?

Webster's
1 a : a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety b : the susceptibility to such emotion 2 : a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute

We have all felt shame before. But should we ever give in to shame? We've discussed condemnation and conviction before and determined that conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, but condemnation is a tool of satan to hold us down, but does that apply to guilt and shame as well?

What does the Bible say about shame?

To this I'll refer to a web article by acts17-11.com

Jer 6:15 (NAS) "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush."

The Way Of Shame

Shame, guilt, and condemnation are similar in that they all have to do with sin, but different in degree, duration, and scope.

Shame is an intense feeling of angst that makes you wish you could evaporate; extreme humiliation and remorse; a despairing of life from abject embarrassment.
Guilt is realizing you have done wrong, usually for some particular sin.
Condemnation is being sentenced (convicted) for doing wrong.
Shame is deeper than guilt. It is not based on having done something wrong so much as a soul ache of being wrong at the core. Shame is more piercing than condemnation where the reality of judgment is mentally apprehended from an outside arbitrator. With shame we palpably feel our own depravity in vivid self-realization.
With this definition, what could possibly be the benefit of shame in the lives of the redeemed? Should its debilitating presence be given no quarter, or does God use it--even require it? Is it a pity party, or the Holy Spirit's doing?

The Case For Shame

1 Cor 15:34 (Wey) Wake from this drunken fit; live righteous lives, and cease to sin; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak thus in order to move you to shame.

1 Cor 6:5 (Wey) I say this to put you to shame...

Eze 16:63 (NKJ) that you may remember and be ashamed...

Ps 69:5,7 (NKJ) O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You... Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.

Heb 12:2 (Phi) ...For he himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame [NIV: scorning its shame] because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering...

The Case Against Shame

Isa 54:4 (NKJ) "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth..."

Joel 2:27 (NIV) Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

1 Pet 2:6 (Wey) For it is contained in Scripture, "See, I am placing on Mount Zion a Cornerstone, chosen, and held in honour, and he whose faith rests on Him shall never have reason to feel ashamed."

Now, it might be understood that these and other "no shame" Scriptures are a future promise--spoken as a destiny and hope. Or again it might be pointed out that these types of texts are promising that we will not be ashamed at "throwing in" with God in the long run. But still, there they are: and should we not strive to attain them?

While I agree with the author that shame, in a biblical sense, is looked at in both a positive and negative way, I have a different thought on the way we use the word in our language.

Anyone who is bilingual or has taken a foreign language class knows that sometimes words don't translate properly from language to language. Some words don't even have a proper word for them in other languages.

This being said, my point is that the word shame as we (and the author) defined it and the word shame in these verses are not always exactly a match. This is what I believe of it and the scriptures will back this up, when you define "shame" as we have.

Shame is to condemnation as conviction is to guilt.

If you sin, YES, you should feel guilty, just as God WILL convict you for going against Him. But you should not feel deep SHAME because that is a tool of the devil to keep you from growing, just as he uses condemnation.

Where shame defines your identity by your actions and says, "Look what you've done! You're nothing more than a wretched sinner and you'll never get past this." Guilt and conviction from the Spirit says, "Look and the mess you've created. Let's clean this up together, because I made you and know YOU ARE BETTER than what you're doing."

This is why I wanted to play a game where instead of throwing insults, we threw compliments. People already have enough guilt on their hands and we don't need to focus on the negative and bring them to shame. Instead, we should focus on the positive and bring them to light. Earlier that week I had seen a video by Blimey Cow that really hit that point home...

In closing, we are believers in Christ. If we are truly saved, changed, and re\\VAMP'd then we can abide by the following.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. (Romans 8:1, 2 NLT)

Where there is no condemnation there also should be no shame.

New Announcements and Upcoming Events!

This last weekend at re\\VAMP, our students were busy at work cleaning up the fellowship hall. While part of this was a way for me to allow our youth to practice servanthood, another part was preparation for some renovations coming to our platform. Not only are we remodeling the stage, but we have an official launch date for the new re\\VAMP services. Starting Wednesday, January 8th, we will be moving our service, complete with the relaunch or re\\VIVE: WORSHIP, to Wednesdays and will continue with fellowship and project-oriented weekends after worship with the adults on Saturdays.

Next on the list, remember that this weekend I will not be in service and Clinton will be teaching on identity.

Last big announcement, we have a new community youth event that the three youth ministries of SGG are putting together.

Four times a year there are five Saturdays in a month. Each time this happens the fifth Saturday will hold a youth day for re\\VAMP, 8:37, and God's Kids. This event will be complete with live music from re\\VIVE: WORSHIP, games by Greg and Nina, Cheryl, and Jennie and I, and fun, Godly activity to build new friendships and grow closer with the friends we all already have.

I'll give you all more details as they roll in!

#PassTheBall

Two weeks ago at re\\VAMP, I related our discussion to a theme of sports. We played a game of football and used it as an analogy, but for this post I'd rather relay the point with my favorite sport...

To me, there is nothing more exciting in the world of sports than watching a baseball team turn a triple play. But what can the church learn from a triple play?

#PassTheBall

Too often the church falls into a mindset that I'll call, "the multitude mentality."

We put too much focus on numbers and we lose sight of our unity. We want a bigger and better church than the one down the road. As a matter of fact, we desire that so much that often times we water down the gospel to avoid offending the congregation, but that's a different topic. We try so hard to outdo our local churches that we turn what should be unity into rivalry. We focus on Jesus feeding the multitudes (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:5-15, Mark 8:1-9, Matthew 15:32-39) and we forget that the last group He fed was only twelve in number (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39, John 13:1-17:26). Sadly, the American church has turned to quantity over quality.

I don't know about you, but I would rather be part of a small family than a large club.

Now, I'm not against larger churches either. That statement can go both ways.

I would rather be part of a large family than a small club.

This lack of unity extends to more than just jealousy, it's also often caused by overly religious denominations arguing that their ways are the only right ways. Don't get me wrong here, there are certainly some denominations (denomination meaning a version of the Christian faith) that are so far off base that it isn't even Christianity anymore. While I don't always agree with Mark Driscoll, I like the way that he describes this...

#PassTheBall

What Mark is saying is that there are some issues within Christianity that aren't worth fighting over and there are some that are. Basically, "state borders" are ideals that we may not agree on, but won't (or shouldn't) cause us to war within the church. How you worship God and how someone else worships God usually should be considered a state border. "National borders" are absolute essentials that if you go outside of, you are no longer within Christianity. Jesus' death on the cross being our only mode of salvation should be considered a national border and anyone who believes in any other mode of salvation has stepped outside of Christianity.

But what does this have to do with baseball and triple plays and why do I keep saying #PassTheBall ?

TEAMWORK!

It is incredibly rare when a triple play is made by one person and it is impossible for one player to beat an entire team on his/her own. THIS is why I say that we need to be willing to #PassTheBall. There are many lessons that we as a church can take from this.

The first lesson we can look at is strength in numbers. There is a reason why regulation sports require an equal number of teammates on each team. If they didn't, the team with more athletes would usually win. There are two ways in which we can increase our numbers as Christians. The first is as simple as learning the difference between state and national borders and creating unity between the churches who only have "state" differences. The bottom line is that we need to learn to stop the gossip, bickering, and quarrels that lead to disunity. And also, Christ gave us a direct list regarding how to handle those situations...

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17 NLT)

Simple. Talk with that person about what they did to you, no one else. Normally you won't have to take any more action. Stop the gossip.

The next lesson is on sharing the gospel. The last command that Jesus left for us was to share the Word with EVERYONE.

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)

That job belongs to ALL of us, not just a missionary or evangelist. We are ALL called to share His Word with others and make disciples of everyone that we connect with. Do not be afraid to share the gospel and grow the church.

#PassTheBall
Don't be afraid to share Jesus!
#PassTheBall
Don't fight with other churches over stupid issues!
#PassTheBall
Don't stifle what the body can do by being a "ball hog" or trying to take credit for your entire ministry.
#PassTheBall
Don't be afraid of new ideas that your brothers or sisters bring to the table.
#PassTheBall
Be willing to hear others points of view.
#PassTheBall
Learn to work with people you usually wouldn't.
#PassTheBall
Don't talk behind each other's backs!
#PassTheBall
Try to repair any bad relationships with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
#PassTheBall
Be willing to apologize and don't be prideful.


#PassTheBall

The Power of Life and Death

What is the most powerful thing that humankind possesses? What do we have that has the power to protect or attack, build or demolish, heal or kill? Do we even have anything with this power?

The TONGUE!

The tongue has the power of life and death... (Proverbs 18:21 NIV excerpt)

But why?

We are made in the image of the same God who spoke life into existence from the beginning of time.

That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. (Romans 4:17 NLT)

So we have the same power in us of the God who brings the dead back to life and creates new things out of nothing? How does He do THAT?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. (Genesis 1:1-3, 6, 9, 11, 14 NLT)

In all of this, how did creation begin?

"God SAID"... Remember? He spoke things into existence.

So we must realize that WE also speak life and death into existence.

What should we do differently knowing that our words are so powerful? A good place to start is a study of His word to find out how to control our tongues.

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. (James 3:1-12 NLT)

First, I've heard people try to use this passage to say, "Well, I can't tame my tongue. The verse says no one can, so I won't even try." That attitude is wrong and sinful. The same book of the bible tells us this...

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (James 4:17 NLT)

Second, far too often I've heard James 3 misquoted as if the term, "cursing" meant using foul or abusive language, but in this context, that isn't what this term means. This verse is saying that to curse those made in God's image simply means to slander someone, or talk bad about them. This can mean spreading rumors behind someone's back, gossiping, or even bullying face-to-face.

But let's focus on gossip.

The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! (Luke 12:2, 3 NLT)

In simple terms, we all know that what we say about people behind their backs will eventually get back to them and ruin our relationships.

Now back to foul language. If James isn't referring to cuss words when he says, "cursing" than does the bible actually tell us that cussing is wrong? Yes; in Colossians twice.

You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. (Colossians 3:7, 8 NLT, emphasis mine)

Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (Colossians 4:6 NLT, emphasis mine)

So make no mistake about it, cuss words have no place in the vocabulary of a Christian.

There is so much evidence in scripture that WORDS hold the power that saves or destroys. Even FAITH itself is made by words...

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 NKJV, emphasis mine)

And Jesus' disciples acknowledged that He had the "words of eternal life."

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6:66-68 NKJV, emphasis mine)

Words- Hawk Nelson feat. Bart Millard

In closing, Christianity is known as the Great Confession. Christianity is a confession of LOVE which should be spoken by words of LOVE. We have the power of life and death in our tongues and we should always use this power to choose LIFE!

re\\VAMP: My First Entry in Almost Two Years.

If you have followed this blog back in the GoFM days, you've seen several vision changes of a ministry that impacted some, but never reached its full potential. This post, is not to declare a new direction of vision for GoFM, but to inform my old readers about the new ministry that God has ordained me to lead. Nearly a year ago I was given a chance to start a new youth ministry and accepted the position of Youth Pastor at Seeking God's Glory Church in Warren, Ohio. It took me a while to anchor down to the vision God had for the teens of this area and even a year later we are still building our group up, but the reoccurring theme He placed in my heart was CHANGE.

CHANGE! to revamp, renovate, or remodel this community... NOT physically, but spiritually. And we HAVE seen change. We've seen an atheist give her heart to God and publicly accept Christ, His baptism, and His Spirit. We've seen kids who trust no one pour their hearts out to us, because they know that "there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 NLT excerpt)." The goal is simple. Show love to those who never see it.

re\\VAMP Student Ministries stands as a beacon of the change that takes place when Christ lives in us and we die to our old sinful nature. "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)"

From here on out I will be using this blog to post summaries of the lessons we teach each week along with occasional posts of words God puts on my heart to share starting later on this week with last weekend's topic, "The Power of Life and Death." This will allow my students or their parents to catch up if they miss a service or study further on what we've learned and if you aren't currently one of my students you can learn along with them.

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