Today I went...

Today I went skim boarding, boogie boarding, In and Out, studied the Trinity on the Beach, talked about the Creation in the sunshine at picnic table, played beach volleyball, threw a frisbee into the ocean, and worked on my tan!

Yeah, and its only 6pm!

We have more in store for the rest of the week too! We are planning on going to the boardwalk (yeah, from the song), surfing, white water rafting, rock climbing, in and out again, and more studying about God and answering tough questions!

This is the senior trip, and we are having a blast! See you on Sunday!

much Love,
johnny

What a night!

Last night we had a great time at Connections! It was a little different, but I think at the end of the night, we were glad to do what we did.

Some of you that missed it are wondering what we did...well, we affirmed each other. Yeah, and it was great! It was hard for those who were visitors, but we got to know each other and were hopefully able to affirm those visitors with some encouraging words.

Thanks everyone who make connections a welcoming place to bring your friends. I think you all are great, I really do.

much Love,
johnny

Come to Connections tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a "normally scheduled" connections, which means we won't be "chill" in small groups or separating guys and girls to do guy stuff and girl stuff. It means that we will be back to dinner at 6:30, upstairs for worship, message from the Word of life, and then into normal small groups to talk about what the heck Johnny just said and how does it apply to real life. Sound fun? You betcha.

Tomorrow is Chaotic Joy through Philippians. We are talking on Phil. 2:12-18. Check it out...

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..

How cool is that? I can't wait to share with you about what relationship with God looks like, and how because of that (right relationship with God) we then have the opportunity to shine like stars in the universe to this generation!

Here is a cool video about just that.

much Love,
johnny

Sunday's Challenge, revisited

In Sunday School a few weeks ago we talked about David and his biggest fall (2 Samuel 11 and 12). We saw how he repented from his sin and sought God's forgiveness. Some of you took me up on the challenge of writing your own psalm of repentance, in view of David's psalm 51.

Well, today we looked at the book of Psalms at a glance. The p in psalms is psilent by the way. We saw today the different kinds of psalms (lament, rejoice, wisdom, messianic, trust) and how they can enrich our prayer life incredibly! Today there is another challenge out there. After hearing the couple of people's psalms of repentance, some of you want to write your own psalm! But it can be any genre, joyful, trusting, repentance, crying out to him. Anything at all.

To write your own psalm and post in anonymously, go down to the comment section just below this post. Click on the comments, write your comment, "verify" the word they ask you to (to ensure that you are not a robot), and post your psalm. It is a great encouragement to us all!

much Love,
johnny

Girls Mystery...revealed!

Hey all! This past weekend was a busy one for the ministry! There was a middle school 30 hour famine, there was a guys retreat, and a girls retreat!

I will recap the guys weekend for you tomorrow, but today I want to share with you what the girls did, through the lenses of a leader. Courtney Danielson was on the mystery retreat, and here is a reCap!

From Court,

This weekend, many of the girls from our church's high school group went away for a spiritual retreat. I was blessed enough to be a leader on this weekend away, and even more blessed to be able to teach a bit on the theme: lavishing love. For those of you who weren't able to make it, and for those of you who were there but would like a refresher, here is a recap.

On the first night, I introduced the idea of God lavishing His love on us. We focused on the weekend's key verse, 1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!...etc.

I discussed how difficult it can be for many of us to understand and accept God's love for us. Hoping in God's love often seems like the biggest risk anyone can take, especially if our personal experiences with an earthly father figure have been disappointing and hurtful. But His love for us is true and good. We can count on it. We are His children and He loves us. I finished by asking the girls to spend the weekend loving on one another as an expression of God's love for them.

In the morning, Alison did a devo on loving one another and the fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit will be revealed in us through our actions - the way we treat one another. If we possess the fruits, we will treat one another with love. She made a point that love is the first and foremost fruit of the Spirit. Without it, we cannot obtain the other fruits. So we must seek the love of God.

That evening, Kelly took us through the book of 1 John. She did an incredible job first showing us how to study our bibles, then opening our eyes to what 1 John says about God and us. She discussed God's faithfulness and forgiveness. She discussed what God says about sin and led us through a process of recognizing and confessing our own sins. The evening was powerful as God stirred the hearts of many.

On Sunday morning, I gave the final talk on how to apply what we've learned to our lives. I discussed the effect we have on one another. A few of the girls shared how being encouraged by one another over the weekend, as I asked them to do on Friday night, made them feel unified and loved. I shared how when we have healthy human relationships we experience the fullness of life.

We looked at 1 John 4:11-12, which discusses how God first loved us, and that is how we love another. But if we do not first receive God's love, we cannot love one another. There is this mysterious parallel between the amount of love we receive from God and the amount of love we are able to pour out on others.

We also discussed the definition of love - that it is not a feeling, but an action. Brad Henning, a speaker on sex and relationships, defines love as choosing the highest good (or the best) for the person receiving the love. That could be others, or that could be ourselves. Love is an action - a choice. If you say you love me, I want to see it in your actions. If you say you love God, I want to see it by the way you live your life.

I challenged the girls to decide what priority they want to have in their life. God or themselves. I asked them how their relationship with God is: what are they holding out from God? When we allow God to remove sins and stains in our lives, we are able to receive and give more of His love. When we refuse His work in us, we are keeping ourselves from experiencing once again the fullness of life.

To receive God's love, we need to spend time with Him, soak in His Spirit, pray often, listen to what He has to say to us, and read the Word often for it gives life. It often seems hard, but as we challenge ourselves to persevere, we find that we start to crave the scriptures.

Receive God's love. Then go out and pour it on others.

sounds like quite the weekend! They certainly did a great deal of studying, and I know they had a lot of fun doing girl stuff (shopping, hot tubbing, singing songs around a campfire, etc., etc., etc.!)

Thank you to all the leaders who invested in the girls this weekend! They are Alison Patterson, Courtney Danielson, Shannon Means, Dana McClain, and Kelly DeMoss. Brooke Pearson also went and worked very hard to coordinate all of the mysterious and fun things they partook on. I have heard a lot of great things from the weekend already, great job ladies!

This ministry would be nothing without the people God uses. Please keep praying for the leaders!


much Love,
johnny