All Things New: How Can we Change? [Part One: Christ's Substitution]

It's safe to say that one of the first parts of making ALL THINGS NEW is simply asking God and those who He has placed as authorities in your life where to start or how it works. So in this lesson I aimed to answer one part of those questions, starting with a game.

While talking with one of our leaders and trying to figure out a game with an adequate message, we developed Musical Chairs with a "Twistery" (mystery+twist=twistery, cheesy... we know).

This version of the classic game has a hidden catch to convey penal substitution. If the game goes as usual, then all the students lose, but if at any time one student offers their seat to another student and takes the penalty (being out) for them, the game is over and EVERYONE wins.

..but more on that later.

What do you think enables us to change? Don't just skip ahead and read the answer. Take a few minutes and really think about this. What is it that enables us to become that new creation?




...




He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:15-21 NLT)

Let me ask you that again. What enables us to change?

The answer is one thing and one thing alone. The answer is the CROSS.

Now take some time and think about what happened on the cross. What is the first thing you think of when I ask you, "What happened on the cross?"

To help you understand I'll refer back to the game of Musical Chairs. As the students who came walked around a circle of chairs, the music played and they waited for it to stop so they could frantically pounce after the chairs in attempt to avoid the penalty of being separated from the group. What they didn't know at the time was that the object of the game wasn't to be the last one standing and there was no way to earn victory by fighting against the other students. The only way that everyone eventually won was when a student figured out that they had to make the sacrifice for the good of the entire class. That one student took the punishment for someone who could not find their place. That one student left their seat and instead accepted a loss. That one student became the outcast, even though they had not made an error. That one student helped me create the perfect analogy for what Christ did for us on the cross. JESUS took the place of ALL of us who had no chance to overcome death on our own. JESUS left HIS SEAT at the right hand of God and traded it for earthly pain and suffering. JESUS paid our debt and was outcasted even though He had done NO WRONG. His death was a substitute for our punishment. He took the death that WE deserved. And just as the one student's sacrifice covered the entire group and allowed EVERYONE to win, Christ's sacrifice allows everyone on this earth an opportunity to win the race and live eternally with Christ in heaven.

Now even though Christ's death paid our penalty, His LIFE and PERFECTION is what saves us, but we'll touch on that in a minute.

Another hard-hitting question that a lot of teens (and honestly, adults) ask is, "Is God sending his son to a torturous death by the hands of men really a story of LOVE?"

I figured, rather than allowing you to be caught off guard with this question from kids at school or people you work with, I have to equip you to answer it by asking you, myself.

Is this a story of LOVE? Take another few minutes and try to answer that for yourself. Think about how you would answer that friend or co-worker who asked you that question...




...





This is MY answer -- the BIBLE's answer. God is love, but He is also justice. He is all knowing and we as humans cannot dare to deny that only He could judge the true penalty for the consequence of sin. Whether we LIKE it or not, that consequence is death. But His mercy towards us, who had betrayed Him and His laws, shows us that this IS a story of love!

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. (Romans 5:8-10 NLT)

we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Like I said above, it was His perfection in life that saves us; the fact that he was a spotless man without sin or blemish to his record. The only sacrifice that God ever deemed worthy under the Old Covenant was the sacrifice of an animal without spot or blemish. And we already covered in a previous post that the cross entered us into a New Blood Covenant with God.

So the next step in this process is to find out what WE have to do to make this change happen. What covenant terms do WE have to uphold?

More on that next week...

All Things New: the Change [Vision Week]

A little late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

With the new year and countless resolutions at hand, we will be taking this month to study a four-part re\\VAMP SERIES titled, "All Things New." My prayer is that every time someone mentions the new year or a resolution of any sort, you will be reminded of the lessons you are (or your teenager is) learning!

I want to take this time to let you know that in this new year we will be bringing forth a new (or rather a revived) vision for re\\VAMP along with a Wednesday service that we have already launched on 1/8/14.

During this launch week I restated the original concept as to how this ministry will function and the three pillars of ministry we at re\\VAMP encompass...

• The Three Pillars of re\\VAMP
[re\\VIVE, re\\VEAL, and re\\VOLVE]

re\\VIVE WORSHIP: (Psalm 150:3-6) We're called to revival! We're called to be the generation who dances with joy for God and it's hard to dance without good music. So we've dedicated a team who can provide the music and mentor young musicians to make a joyful noise for God.

This is our worship team, led by Clinton Davies. Our vision for music ministry is not just to make music, but to utilize it as a tool to worship and grow students up into mighty worshipers and future worship leaders. Their generation needs it! If you are a high school student (or know a high schooler) who is interested in music, ask one of our leaders for an application for the team.

re\\VEAL WORD AND DRAMA: (1 Corinthians 2:10) God has revealed Himself to us by His Spirit, so that we can use our gifts of spoken word, drama, technology, and analogy to reveal Him to others. That is what this ministry is about.

Currently, my wife and I run this segment of the ministry and it is limited to games (used as analogies, of course) and teaching of the Word. If you want to get involved or know anyone who could run a drama team, please direct the interest to me.

re\\VOLVE LEADERSHIP & DISCIPLESHIP: (Hebrews 13:17) This is our leadership team and it comes by three steps. Christ e\\VOLVES your life, your heart, and saves you. Then you get in\\VOLVED in the Kingdom and fellowship with others who love God and start discovering who God is. When you're in\\VOVLED, you will learn what it means to re\\VOLVE around Christ.

e\\VOLVE, in\\VOLVE... re\\VOLVE.

These three pillars are the basis of how we feel God is leading us to run this ministry. But what is the goal and why the name re\\VAMP?

Well, the goal and the name go right along with this month's topic...

ALL THINGS NEW.

As I've stated in a previous post, to re\\VAMP simply means to CHANGE and that is reflected by our mission verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

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)

But HOW can we achieve this change?

I'll answer that question in the upcoming weeks' studies. Stay tuned.

Resolutions

On Saturday, 12/28/2013, we discussed the topic of New Years' Resolutions at re\\VAMP. I asked the students what some of their resolutions were and got some typical replies...

• Get Better Grades
• Lose Some Weight
• Eat Healthier
• Have a Better Attitude

...then one of my students said something profound.

"I just want to continue making the progress I'm making right now."

This had me asking a new question. Is the concept of a New Years' Resolution even remotely biblical?

To answer that, I think of the scripture in James that ACTUALLY states that procrastination is a SIN.

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (James 4:13-17 NLT)

"It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it."

The bottom line is that this is a simple lesson to learn. If you feel something in your life needs to change or if God is pressing you to change an aspect of your life, don't wait for some date to change it. Don't procrastinate until the new year to make a resolution.

When God asks you to move, don't wait. Act now, because you may never see tomorrow.

I think to make this post any longer would over complicate a simple truth so in closing, resolutions are fine, but don't procrastinate your growth by waiting around on a special date to start.

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

First off, I'm sorry for the delay of this post. It's no excuse, but the holidays were crazy, so to catch you all up, in the next week I will be posting everything I've failed to get up until the current message. Try and keep up with me, because it's going to move quickly...

(like, "three posts today" quickly.)

This post is the answer to the cliffhanging question that I left off on in my previous article. If you have not read Part I, you can catch up HERE.

To understand fully what Jesus did for us and WHY we even celebrate His birth we have to understand that Jesus is the entire point of the bible. Every book of the bible has at least some reference to Christ. This is a concept I learned through my pastoral training in a lesson taught by Reverend Tony Cooke, which I will paraphrase.

The Old Testament is Preparation for Jesus.

Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:25-27, 32, 44, 45 NLT)

The Gospels are the Manifestation (birth and acts) of Jesus.

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:1-5, 14 NLT)

The Book of Acts Shows the Application of Christ's Message Through the Works of the Apostles, by the Holy Spirit.

In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:1, 2 NLT)

The Epistles are an Explanation of Who Jesus is and What He Accomplished.

The Gospels documented the history and facts of Jesus' life. The Epistles document how the history and facts relate to us, the believer, now.

Lastly, the Book of Revelation Explains the Future Return of Christ and His Kingdom's Reign.

So now that it is evident that every single part of our faith revolves around CHRIST. Genesis to Revelation -- it is ALL about CHRIST! Understanding this is the key to understanding how the Abrahamic Blood Covenant relates to Christmas.

I asked before how the story of Abraham and Isaac related to the Christmas story. The answer is actually quite simple.

And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18 NLT)

That promise... The one in italics above... The one that God made to Abraham regarding his future descendants who would bless ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH...

JESUS!

That promise was fulfilled the day that CHRIST was born, a descendant of Abraham. That day we all celebrate as Christmas was the fulfillment of the BLOOD COVENANT that GOD cut with Abraham and the BEGINNING of the BLOOD COVENANT that He would cut with us.

To sum it all up, JESUS was the One Who was born of sinless blood (science proves that your blood comes from your father and His Father is the sinless God). Not just that, He took our sin upon Him to pay OUR DEBT. But not even only that... His blood was shed to enter us into a NEW BLOOD COVENANT! Every step He took throughout His crucifixion fulfilled each one of the nine steps taken to achieve the Hebrew Blood Covenant so that WE could enter into a NEW contact with God!

How awesome is our God?

In later posts I will try to explain what all this means for us believers.

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!