May our understanding of what Jesus has done for us be crystal clear and may our lives reflect what God has done in us.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, set back, relax and watch this great presentation of the gospel message of Jesus Christ....

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FTXOWyjB7d24&h=BAQH3xYh6AQEsFnLwKMLJO_4gMdEIcksLVOduHeCnrjYAIw

Just watched this video and had to share it with you. Do you long for deep discussions, (not arguments) over God's Word? Do you long to set down with fellow believers and sharpen your knowledge of God? I do.

We all need to have a group of believers that we can set down with and open God's Word and talk about what He is saying to us. This is how we grow together in our walk with Jesus.

If you don't have this type of relationship with other believers I would encourage you to seek it out. If you are a teenager join a Bible quiz team that meets weekly and does this very thing.

Enjoy the video! http://youtu.be/9whbJ-3aXR4

Several times throughout the year we transition here at Youth Challenge from one season of ministry focus to another.

During those times I sometimes find it hard to get my mind to shift gears. Today is one of those days as we shift from the summer camping season to the fall school year that includes Bible quizzing and Missions.

I have found it helpful to make that shift in focus by taking a day or afternoon to look back to the previous year and reflect on what God has done by reading our missions statement, purpose statement, minutes of committee meetings, old registration forms, pictures from last year and last but not least Scripture.

While I was in that process this afternoon I ran across this video that I have pasted below. I have seen it before and in fact Bible Quiz Fellowship, who we quiz with, has it on their website. But as I watched it I was again reminded of the importance that Bible quizzing plays here at Youth Challenge.

I know that Bible quizzing in and of itself is not going to change a student. But as this video reminds us it does provide a fun and exciting way for them to spend time in God's Word and focus on what is really important. Just a side note, the majority or our staff at camp this summer was involved at some level in Bible quizzing in our ministry. I believe that this is not a coincidence.

So as we shift from a busy summer season to the fall school year may we meditate on 2Corinthians 5:16-21 and remember our purpose.

Enjoy the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyU4ydIbUxY&feature=player_embedded

As I am contemplating the events over the last several days (my last journal entry being interrupted at camp early Wednesday morning by questions from a young teen staff volunteer) I am amazed at the lack of respect for the authority of God's Word as our basis for belief. Do we believe what it says? or are we going to base our belief structure on our feelings, upbringing, churches we are comfortable attending or the myriad of other teachings in our world.

From where I stand either God's Word is absolute truth or you can't trust it at all. There is no middle ground. If there is part of it that we refuse to believe then how can we believe any of it?

When I opened my email this afternoon I was sent an article by Randy Alcorn that addresses this issue in our evangelical world. Please take the time to read it and evaluate your own "belief system". 

Praise God that he has given us "The Manual" of truth to base our life on! Read it, study it, memorize it and meditate on it! Enjoy!

http://www.epm.org/blog/2011/Jul/15/does-word-evangelical-mean-anything-anymore

Sure I am! I am in love with my wife, Sonja. When I am with her I am attentive to her moods, her passions, her dress, her expressions, her speech and everything else about her. I want to know what is going on and meet her needs. I want to please her and show her I love her. Everything else dims in comparison when I am with Sonja.

But am I in love with Jesus Christ? Does everything dim because of my focus on Him? When I "turn my eyes upon Jesus" do the "things of this world grow strangely dim?" If not is it any wonder that the youth in our churches are not following Christ? They see us do church, do devotions. pray for our meals, take the sacraments and all the other Christian things we do. But do they see us so in love with Jesus that all of our priorities change?

Here is a link that I am sure will convict you as it has me. Enjoy with conviction:-)

http://www.youtube.com/embed/vZ9Lpwo9U7Q

2 Peter 1:5-6 tells us to add to our faith, goodness (or moral virtue) and to our goodness, knowledge and to our knowledge, self-control and to self-control, perseverance..." and so on.

Today I have been focusing on the self-control part. And this is where my personal "challenge" comes in. I by nature do not have self-control. In fact I have just the opposite! Self-indulgence! When God gives me the "good things" in life I 'naturally' will take them and tend to over-indulge. This always costs me and those around me to suffer.

If I do not have self-control with my eating I become fat and lazy. If I do not have self-control with my finances I become indebted to others. If I do not have self-control in my relationships I will use and/or abuse others, and on it goes...

Self-control, or discipline, is a gift from God. He has given me everything through His divine power for life and godliness, v.3, including self-control. When I exercise self-control I find joy in eating, finances, relationships and every other area of my life.

May I exercise self-control today through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me and enjoy the most wonderful gift that the Father has given me... Righteousness through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ!

Just coming off a trip to a Bible quiz tournament gets me to thinking...why do I do it? I am tired. I can feel my age catching up with me. And it would be much easier to set in an office or my easy chair and be a Monday morning quarterback analyzing the evening news!

And then I read an article like the one in the link posted below. I would encourage you to grab a cup of coffee and read it. This article reinforces the reason why I am so adament about memorizing and studying God's Word. We need to know the Word so that when false doctrine and charismatic speakers try to persuade us that the Bible really doesn't mean what it says, we have the foundation to keep us on track.

So then I remember why I travel in a van 8 hours with students to compete in a Bible quiz tournament, share a room with stinky junior high boys, get little sleep, play lazer tag after my bedtime, and then drive home another 8 hours with a noisy group of students. It's what God has called me to do and I love it! And I know that because they are memorizing His Word there is a better chance that they will not be fooled by the liberal doctrines of this world.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/03/16/we-have-seen-all-this-before-rob-bell-and-the-reemergence-of-liberal-theology/

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I was watching the birds come to the feeder outside our door the other day. Every now and then a couple of them would get scared by something and fly away. Most of the other birds would go with them. But there was always one or two that were brave enough to stay and guess what? They had all the seed to themselves!

When I conform to the pattern of this world I am a lot like these birds that fly away. I do what everyone else does. I become afraid of things that I am not even sure are there. I just run because everyone else does. I live a hectic life that burns calories but doesn't allow my body rest.

May I transform my mind by renewing it daily through Your Word, O God. May I remember that You are my Protector and Provider. May I stay at Your table and feed on You even when the rest of the world is too busy to be still and know that you are God.

This is a new phrase being used to describe the disconnect of this generation from the natural world around us.

Today I have been working on the Outdoor Adventures camp for this summer. One of our goals is to combat this 'syndrome'. I have renamed it Creation-Deficit Disorder or CDD. Being out of contact with creation leads to being out of touch with their Creator.

Romans 1:20 tells us that "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." With the explosion of the digital world, young people are no longer spending time in creation or "with what has been made." So Gods divine nature and invisible qualities are becoming harder for them to see.

Pray that as we prepare our summer camping programs both at Camp Machasay and through Outdoor Adventures we would constantly point to the Creator and his wonderful creation which we have the privilege of experiencing. Pray that we would point to the Cross and His Son Jesus as the only way to a relationship with this wonderful Creator God.

For further reading on this subject: http://www.albertmohler.com/2007/06/05/avoiding-nature-deficit-disorder-its-about-theology-not-therapy/