Howdy everyone, I'm sitting here in the Holiday Inn in beautiful Lexington, pretty bored and thinking. That's a dangerous combination for me usually, but nothing exploded this time. I came up with the term "transitional verse". It may not be a new term at all, it's just a term I made up in my mind for when I hear a thought-provoking bible verse that makes me think about another bible verse that kinda ties in with the original idea. Here's my thoughts: I was reading the student ministry verse in Philippians 1:9&10 and thinking. We're instructed to love each other more deeply while growing in our knowledge and insight so that we may live pure lives without blemish until Christ returns. How can we know what's good, and actually live pure lives? This made me think of one of my favorite verses 1 Thess 5:21. Paul says to "test everything, hold on to that which is good." That's awesome. I think this new-age mentality in society that there may not be any true moral right or wrong is a joke. Good and evil is one of the many things stamped on mankind's DNA, and people trying to pretend that nothing is really wrong and you can do whatever you feel like doing is absurd. It's as simple as my 14 month old son purposefully pushing the limits on things he knows he's not supposed to do, and then looking at us to see if he's gonna get busted. He knows better! He knows the difference between right and wrong without ever being taught. And so does mankind with our sin problem! We simply suppress the truth (Rom 1:18) Back on task: test everything. That means everything. Don't be afraid to rake everything over the coals. I liked Jeff's description of refiner's fire sunday night. You melt gold and the impurities rise to the top and they're floated off. The gold is not considered pure until it returns a perfect mirror image with nothing other than pure, perfect gold. So should be our lives, our thoughts, our actions. We should be able to test all our beliefs (including the ones we're taught in church on sunday!) and prove them worthy of holding on to. Even the things that Jeff says on sunday nights. I'd love to see students question the things that Jeff teaches. That means they're thinking about it, rather than just taking and believing any random thing they hear. They're testing it. It must be true, and right, and biblically sound or it's not worth believing in and holding on to! Make sense? Don't just blindly follow Jeff or any of the other student leaders when it comes to what you think about your faith or what things mean in the bible! You have to 'make it be your own' so to speak. It has to be real to you: tested, proven, and truly believed by you, to be of any actual value in your life. It's the same with salvation. Mouthing some prayer you heard some pastor say won't save you. It has to be part of you and you must believe it inside, not just agree with someone else that thinks it! Please, test the things we teach you guys. I dare you!!! Rake our thoughts and teachings over the coals, and see if it stands before God's perfect judicial system. Listen to the things we say and see if it's worthy of retaining. Don't be afraid to ask the question "Why" and struggle with figuring stuff out. It's good for you! Test everything, hold on to the good stuff. Thanks for reading and have a good week! -Luke
The lesson PJ has been teaching on Joseph has been really good for me to hear. It is amazing to learn that Joseph seems to get knocked three steps back after taking one step forward in life. He grows up in what he believes is a good family, gets sold into slavery by his brothers, becomes the head of Potifer's household, gets thrown into prison (after being accused of something he did not do), gets promoted to manage the prison, spends more than two years in prison, and finally gets a chance to meet Pharoah and gets promoted to being "second in command" of Egypt. The student ministry vers is Phil. 1:10. This book was written by Paul, and was written to the church at Phillippi while Paul was in prison . Just like Joseph, while he is in prison, Paul's goal is to honor God and grow in his relationship with him. Paul too was wrongly accused, and was on trial for his life. We all will face challenges in life (if we already haven't), and it's by being faithful to God in the small areas of our lives that He will refine us through minor struggles, to eventually get through the big struggles! It's our attitude that will determine our growth. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves when we face hardships, or we can choose to be like Joseph and Paul, and honor God with our attitudes and actions, which will in turn deepen our relationship with Him!