Ignite Conference 2013: GSM - HS Fall Retreat

Wow... there is so much to say about the Ignite Conference weekend.  I was blessed to have gone to the fall retreat this year with our high school students.  I will say though, I've been somewhat avoiding this post because I'm afraid I won't do the teaching justice.  Literally every moment of the teaching was helpful, challenging, encouraging, motivating, and truthful.  So... I will TRY to provide you some of my favorite nuggets from the weekend. 

We were beyond blessed to have Dr. Rick Holland teaching each of the 5 sessions this weekend.  He brought the truth of the gospel over and over again.  If you're not familiar with Dr. Holland - he is now the senior pastor for Mission Road Bible Church and was previously the college pastor at Grace Community Church for 20+ years, where John MacArthur pastors.  He has a little bit of experience...

The theme of this weekend was fostering a Biblical Worldview - and if someone left unchallenged-- then they simply weren't listening.

Here are some of the highlights from the teaching.  (I realize highlights typically means short and sweet  #sorrynotsorry... I'm already leaving out SO much!) You should probably know that most of these comments below are paraphrased (I'm not the most talented at getting word for word quotes written).

Session 1 Highlights:

-2 Peter 1:16-19 --- Peter is saying that he as experienced Jesus first hand and yet he trusts the Bible over his own experiences

-We heavily rely on our experiences to shape our thinking/feeling/beliefs - when we SHOULD heavily rely on scripture to shape our thinking/feeling/beliefs.  Even Peter who experienced Christ first hand - relied on the Word over his own experiences!!

-It could be that the bible is not interesting to you b/c you're not interested in the God of the bible

-Either scripture will shape your worldview or sin will


Question to consider:
-If your bible could talk... what would it say about you?--- if we asked your bible, 'how was your week?' what would it reveal about you?

-Will you love your life based on the Bible or based on your experiences?

Session 2 Highlights:

-Colossians 2:6-10 - discussed 4 essential elements for developing a christian worldview:
1) Conversion by Christ;
2) Compulsion in Christ (walk in Him... a sustained patter of living... consistency)
3) Contemplation according to Christ
4) Completion by Christ

-Worldview defined:  "The window by which we look through and decide what is real and important and decide what is unreal and unimportant."

-You believe so that you understand... you don't understand and then believe... that is spiritual mathematics

-Jesus has no intention to be a part of your life... He wants to be the POINT of your life

-The adolescent mind is similar to a soupy concrete mixture hardening... this is the best time to shape your worldview.  Once you head to college, it is often too hardened

-Satan wil be after your mind... get it right now - if you don't define how you think - someone else will for you

-Christ is UNlike anyone else -- He is the only person that as you get to know Him more... the better He gets.  Everyone else... we have flaws - and the more we get to know someone... the more flaws we see.  Not Christ -- but how often do we expect to see and often look for flaws in Him?

Questions to consider:
-Is your life defined by Christ?
-Do you think about Christ much? What He was life, what he said, what he did and didn't do?
-Is Christ your life or just a part of it?

Session 3 Highlights:

-Romans 3:9-18 "The problem with self-imaging"

-We discussed 12 different descriptions of man's total depravity - too much to include here but I've captured the highlights below:

-If sin is not the problem... then God is not the answer

-You are the problem - not the world.  How often are we quick to blame the culture around us for the temptations and failures?  It is our sinful hearts to blame... not the culture around us

-If your view of yourself isn't right .. then you will never see His glory

-Sin makes us relationally reckless (Romans 3:16)

-The better we understand the totality of our depravity... the more amazing the gospel is to us

-As bad as you think you are... you are worse.  As good as you think God is... He is better!

Questions to consider:
-What fills you?

Session 4 Highlights:

This session resulted in 4 pages of notes... so this is a VERY brief summary

-Lamentations 3:37-40 "A theology for problems"

-3 Reminders for when troubles come:
     1. God is sovereign over people v. 37
           -no trial comes to you and is a surprise to God
     2. God is sovereign over circumstances v.38
           -nothing is random
           -difference between sovereignty and providence: sovereign = overall power; providence = gets in
            your kitchen... specifics
           -God's sovereignty is either your greatest comfort or your greatest nightmare
     3. God is serious about our response v.39
           -Man's dislike at God's sovereignty is because of man's suspicion of God's heart {ouch}

-interesting perspective: for the believer, this world is the closest we'll ever come to hell

When a trial arrives... take yourself (or those around you) through the following process:

1. What do I feel?
2. What do I think?
3. What do I know?

-It is important to go in this order.  As we start contemplating what we know about God {His promises - and we can only know these things if we spend time in His word} - then it will begin to start changing the way we think about the trial/suffering situation.  It will not always change the way we feel... but it will allow us to control our feelings.

-Our feelings aren't trustworthy - they are often spurred by our thinking first - not by what we know, which is why this process is so helpful

This process/concept is huge friends - by far the biggest takeaway from the weekend for me

Session 5 Highlights:

1 Peter 2:11-12: The war against your soul

-The lethal threats to our souls are inside us: fleshly lusts

3 rationales for fighting fleshly lusts:

1. christian citizenship demands the fight v.11
     -idol = something you will sin if you don't get and something you will sin to get
     -sin is ultimately man's attempt to turn this world into heaven (quoting Al Mohler)

2. fleshly lusts provoke a fight v.11
     -lusts = strong desire for something
     -the lusts of your flesh are fighting the health of your soul
     -labor to know what associates satan has in your heart (quoting John Owen) -- know where you are
       weak... where you are temptable
     -if you are fighting sin... you are alive (quoting John Piper) --- unbelievers don't care
     -when in a discipleship relationship - ask yes and no questions - they are the best way to keep one
      another accountable - open ended questions lead to open ended vague answers

3. Fruitful evangelism motivates the fight v.12
     -unbeliever's questions about your life is an invitation for sharing the gospel
     -be killing sin or it will be killing you

Questions to consider:
Do you feel the battle?
Do you hate your sin? (unbelievers don't care)
Do you see your own progression towards Christ?


This was so helpful to revisit the content of this weekend - thanks for mulling over it with me.  Hope something encourages you.

christian-ish

Internet, have I mentioned how blessed I am to be on the leadership team for our youth group?

No, but seriously.  I love talking about ministry with these people.  We all have different views and opinions and I love discussing them during our time together.

We had a meeting last weekend and I have been so blessed by the discussion.  Earlier last week Rob emailed the leadership team asking us to listen to a Podcast of Al Mohler talking with Kenda Creasy Dean, author of "Almost Christian".

It is about 45-50 minutes long but totally worth it!  Here is my summary and the things that stuck out the most to me:

It sounds like the book 'Almost Christian' is talking a lot about the disease of living the 'christian-ish' life.  Especially my generation - we have been plagued with the temptation to assume that living a moral life {being sweet to people} is what it means to live the christian life.

Internet, there is so much more to living the christian life than being nice and keeping the peace among the people around you.  Living 'christian-ish' is not living the abiding life discussed in the bible.

Let me just throw out a few reminders here:

-Being intentionally sweet to others is a good thing.  It is NOT the spreading of the gospel, though.  We must stop assuming our sweetness is spreading the good news of Christ. {of which I'm certainly the biggest culprit}

-Living a life with good morals is a good thing.  However, it is NOT the spreading of the gospel.

OK - so where was I, oh yes- summarizing the podcast.... {stepping down from soap box}

There are so many good pieces to share... so here they are in kind of word vomit order:

-Live intentionally instead if Christian-ish

-"Discipleship is less about sharing all we know about Christ and more about sharing how to live a life of love for Christ."  I love the truth of this statement.  It is so easy to be intimidated or prideful about 'sharing all we know'... and we need to focus on sharing how to live a life of love for Christ. 

-"Kids learn best the things they love the most" 

-"Kids are more likely to recognize Christianity as being significant if we don't treat it as an an extra curricular activity... Not something that comes at the end of our week but something you organize your life around."

This one can sting a bit.  But it is so true! If students see us organizing our lives around the work of the gospel - they are more apt to see the importance of doing that themselves.  There is something else implied here.... how can one know how someone else is organizing their life if they aren't intentionally invested in one another's lives?  

So.... how do you let someone in... close enough to let them see how you organize your life? Be. intentional.

-"Parents have a much bigger impact on their kid's than they realize. Your faithfulness is much more powerful than you realize."

-"What you are [as a parent] is what you get [in a child]"

-Research used in the book 'Almost Christian' has shown students who continue to have faith from HS to young adulthood is hugely impacted by the religious devotion of their parents during their teenage years.  

-"Instead of focusing on having 1 leader per X number of students - focus on surrounding each student with 5 adults who love The Lord"  Bringing them into the church community... Showing them what it is like to live a life sold out for Christ.

-Moralistic therapeutic deism is the fancy term for this living a 'christian-ish' life that seems to come so naturally to our generation considering the culture we live in. {no excuse, though}  We are so concerned to offend those around us that we hang on to moralistic living and forget the urgency of the gospel.


This has been so good for my heart to stew on as I write this out.  I pray this will truly impact the way I live my life and the way I invest in our GSM students for the gospel. 

Real heart change for this Real Ray Wednesday...

The Lord has done some huge work on this ugly heart of mine over the last several months.  You try reading both Follow Me AND Future Grace in the same summer and NOT be impacted to your core and let me know how that goes.

Let's see if you were paying attention to yesterday's update... remember the book we went through this summer with Tuesday Girls?  So proud of you - you're right!  Follow Me by David Platt was the book of choice this summer.

I have been challenged regarding my hearts desire to make disciples and what it really means to BE a disciple of Christ.  Let me tell you, DPlatt {as we often call him} brought it.

He doesn't get caught up in the 'must make every reader feel good' movement, which I so appreciate.  The purpose of his writing is to share truth. {period}

Here are a few of my favorite moments in the book:

So important to be committed to a local church, especially during college.  I know how hard it is to find quality preaching at school when your heart is back at your home church.  But that doesn't take away from the necessity to invest in a local body - even in seasons that it must be different than your home church.

At the end of the book he goes through a series of questions/challenges which provided some wonderful discussion with our Tuesday Girls.  One challenge he emphasized is the importance of daily intaking the Word.  He encourages a reading plan to help guide us, which we started at the beginning of the summer.  My hope and prayer is that the ladies (and myself) will take time each day to read these sections of scripture and spend time with the Lord asking Him to reveal more of Himself to us through His word.  Sure... we might take the 2 year approach rather than the 1 year structure of the plan I found - but the point is intentionally spending time in His word and with Him daily.

A phrase you'll hear me say quite often these days is 'be intentional'.  This phrase came from our study through Follow Me.  It is essential to be intentional in our time spent with the Lord; to be intentional in the conversations with our friends (believers or not); to be intentional about our investment into a local church body; to be intentional about those we let impact our lives and hearts through our community.  I could go on and on and on... but you get the point.  It is essential to be. intentional.

Stay tuned... I'll be sure to update on Future Grace as well... don't you worry :)

What book(s) have you been impacted by lately and how have they impacted you personally?

Update on life as I know it...

Dear Internet, it is amazing how often I thought about how badly I wanted to update you on life... and yet how little time I found to do so.

Here is an attempt to bring you up to speed {Insta-style} on life since May 14th (my last post).  

This precious baby girl was born.  Her name is Olivia Grace and she is absolutely beautiful.  Want to learn more about this beauty and her adorable family?  Check out her momma's blog: Candace's Calling.

Tuesday Girls happened again this summer.  It. was. amazing.  I enjoyed every single Tuesday of this past summer.  We spent our time discussing Follow Me by David Platt, feel free to read a great review of the book here:  Challie's Blog (A great resource I am sure to use before reading most any book I considering spending time to dig into) 

Got some pool time with this lady.  Unfortunately a few moments after this picture was taken, thunder clouds rolled in and started making all kinds of ruckus.  Fortunately, we made it back to my house literally seconds before the downpour.  Call it stubborn {we REALLY wanted pool time} I call it grace.

Oh my goodness... Whitney came into town and we went to dinner one day.  It was so amazing because we were talking about her desire to grow her family.. and a few weeks later we find out... SHE'S PREGGERS!  Can't wait to meet this new little one in 2014!

I have to tell you what a blessing it has been to spend some major time with this group of humans.  {Please excuse the KU swag in the middle... we love him regardless of his sport affiliations... THAT is true community} :)   Oh... Jen started her doctorate this summer... I feel so sophisticated to say one of my best friends is going to be a doc soon!  So proud of her... she will make an amazing administrator for our educational system.

Mom and I went on a flea market day trip to Springfield and back.  Of course we had a couple of stops along the way.  I realize it isn't pictured here... but we DID actually stop and find some goodies at some of my favorite flea markets on the way there and back.

These are the faces we get during Insomnia {youth lock in}.  I love these ladies.  I'd love any commentary on what you think the faces are saying to me.... :)  

So excited to watch the Lord challenge them to grow closer to Himself.  Asking the Lord to use me however He sees fit to encourage their spiritual growth.    

I got to see my brother over Memorial Day weekend.  It was so good to see him.  He was growing out the beard since a few days later he'd begin basic.  So. proud. of. him.

ROAD TRIP with Jamie and Greg to Branson.  To say we shopped until we dropped is an under statement.  This girl knows how to shop.  Seriously!  Had such a blast getting to have a girls car on the way there... and of course stopping for some required BRAUMS on the way.  YUM!  

Just a Tuesday night spent crafting chatting with these lovely ladies.  Have I mentioned that I love my church body.... and the community the Lord continues to place around me?!  

Weekend to Springfield with a couple of my favorites! Got to watch Jen do what she does best... teach. She brought the word to a group of ladies who will lead at her alma mater.  Enjoyed my favorite tacos on this planet as well as my favorite improve comedy show downtown.  I still think we could have swam in the pool... #shouldhavejumpedin

Little sister reunion!  Ok... so I don't have a biological sister.  But in HS the senior guys and girls were paired up with freshman guys and girls and we were encouraged to be their big sister/brother and help them get acquainted with HS.  I couldn't have been paired with anyone better.  Katie and I don't keep in touch like we should... but when we get to reunite it is an instant comfortable connection.  I'm so encouraged to hear how the Lord is using her in her community in northeast MO!  

Another HS friend that came in town from OK and I got to meet her beautiful family.  So thankful to get the few quality moments I had while she was in town.  #missingher

You can bet that I've gotten a few cuddles with these two babies since we last talked.  Of course most of the cuddles came before and after our cousin {below} came to visit for a week.

Dog sitting for my brother/sister-in-law was so much fun.  I love Shylah, she is such a great dog.  She was a great sport as the cats didn't enjoy her company as much as I did.  We DID survive... and we'd gladly do it again!

After 10+ weeks of being a part with just a few minutes of phone time ever few weeks and a letter here and there... my brother and his beautiful bride were reunited!  I didn't get to go to his graduation from basic.. but I'm so thankful for this moment.  I'm excited to watch the Lord take them on their next adventure.

My mantle these days.  Enjoying my instagram prints from PostalPix.  They are adorable and work perfectly for my decor!

Went to the MU game this past weekend with Scott's family.  Had such a great time with them.  The girls went shopping while the guys went to the stadium (we had some time to kill).  Pretty sure I lost 10 pounds just from the walking and sweating.... it was blistering hot and humid.  YUCK.  But we are so thankful because by game time we had overcast which helped cool us down a little.  MU winning always makes it a great time as well.

So this happened... I was cracking up with the photo-bomber behind me after the picture was taken.  lol

PS: Isn't he so handsome?!

                         

The twins are SENIORS?!?!  Can this seriously be so?!

 

Bowling night with the youth!  I can't believe how fast these ladies are growing up.

Visiting one of our youth students hard at work during a very long 9 hour shift on a Saturday. Oh... and convincing Scott to let me take advantage of the perfect photo opportunity in the lobby.  Love him so much for bearing with my quirks.  :)  {I think he kind of enjoyed this one}

Jen and I are sure to spend some time at Starbucks... doing one or all of the following:

1. solving all of the world's problems

2. evaluating potential mates for Jen

3. evaluating potential mates for our other friends

4. playing detective - we have witnessed a few first dates, a pyramid scheme meeting, and a guy asking a dad for his daughter's hand in marriage - to name a few.

My sister-in-law came through KC on her way back home and I SO enjoyed getting to spend some time with her.  Wishing I had more opportunities for some quality time with this lady.

Starbucks date with Renee! So enjoy discussing life past, present, and future with you.  

Yesterday was Labor Day and Jen and I decided to do a sneak attack on Laina at work.  Worked like a charm - except the fact she saw us coming down the isle.  There was jumping in the isles of Old Navy... you can bet on that one.

What is new in your world?  I've missed you.

This weekend...

As you've probably already gathered from the last few posts... Scott and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this weekend!  

Since I had a wedding at our church to coordinate that afternoon - we did an anniversary lunch!  

Here we are headed out for our day of love!

Here is Scott... looooooving him some OK Joe's BBQ ribs! Yum... I of course get what every human being must try once in their life time... THE Z-Man Sandwich! 

Afterwards we went to Blue Chip Cookie... one of my favorite places for sweets EVER!  We used to have one in town, but now the closest one is conveniently near OK Joe's!

Look at that glorious goodness... my favorite kind of cookie - soft iced sugar cookies!  Yum-o  

And they even decorated a whole tray of them JUST for our anniversary... I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that valentines day is around the corner {let me enjoy the moment}

Then we did what any married couple would do on their anniversary... 

Went to the car wash!  It was a beautiful day... what can we say?

The next day was Superbowl Sunday... which means it was Chili Bowl Sunday as well!  This is a very long standing tradition in our youth group {started back when I was in youth- insert cringe} - a mean flag football tournament!

Insert Laina and her mustache?  Not sure... but apparently she agreed to walk out of the bathroom and into the fellowship hall {full of youth} with the mustache on! lol  

The Chili Bowl is one of those events we let our GSM alumni come back and enjoy the festivities... so I was so glad to have Laina back for the event! 

Before we the students hit the mud we have chili, soup, and rotel for lunch.  I tried this amazing soup and actually liked it!  I LOVED IT! It is kind of revolutionary... I feel like I'm joining the grownups now!

Taylor did a great job as the announcer... He could make a career of it!  He kept me entertained the entire time he was announcing.

Some of the GSM girls - getting ready to get their flag-on

Laina and I were supervising the scoreboard... they told us we had to keep track of the score... so we decided that with that kind of power... comes the power to add 'bonus' points as we see fit.  Needless to say... we had a good time :)

GO TEAM!

Not sure... there are no words.. so I'll just let you gaze

Chili Bowl in action

GSM Chili Bowl participants!!  

After the Chili Bowl is over we always head back to the church for some pizza and to watch the super bowl together!

We always have a devotion during the 1/2 time show

THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Also.. the sermon on Sunday morning was about anxiety... and man was it powerful!  I can't wait to have some time to listen to it again... it was very very very good!  Check it out here!

Those are the highlights of my weekend... how was yours?!