Our new Sunday School series focuses on Success!  Success is a great word.  Everyone wants it, but so many folks have no idea how to experience it God’s way.  I can’t promise you all the answers, but I can promise you we’ll take an honest look at what God’s Word has to say about success.

Here’s a recap of what we’ve talked about so far:

What is God’s idea of success?
Joshua 1:7, Proverbs 2:7, Hebrews 12:7, 2 Peter 3:11

Is God against us being successful in the world’s eyes?
Philippians 4:19, 1 Corinthians 4:2, Matthew 25:14-30

What are the dangers of chasing worldly success?
1 Timothy 6:10, Hebrews 13:5, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Hebrews 12:1

This is the basis for everything else.  Our first specific piece of the success puzzle is CAREER. We just scratched the surface of this part today (1/11/2015).

CAREER:

The basic question is “How do I decide what I want to do?”  Here are the verses we started on this morning:  Proverbs 3:5-6, Ecclesiastes 5:10, 9:10, Psalm 119:148, Matthew 6:34, Revelation 3:7, Proverbs 20:5, 24:27.

Let me know what you think.

WG

I hope your 2014 was everything you could’ve ever dreamed about, but chances are, you probably remember several things you wish had turned out differently.  Some of those were probably the result of poor decisions on your part – take it easy – it happens to all of us.  Others were no doubt the result of things completely out of your control.  No matter how those things happened, we were all faced with mountain tops, valleys, and seemingly insurmountable circumstances.  Let me assure you, you are not alone in these.  Since that is true, the only real question is how did you respond to these things.

I’m opening up this blog for you to share about your year.

Brittni Blissitt:

Sorry it has taken me a while to respond to these questions, but I just was not sure how to answer them. So as I reflected I came up with my great accomplishments, failures, and challanges that can be understood if you know my background. My greatest accomplishment in the year of 2014 was that I overcame depression. God lead me out of this dark time by answering my prayers to give me courage to go out and have fun. He gave me communication skills I needed and the ability to laugh again. God renewed my mind in the year of 2014 which was a great accomplishment. My greatest failure is allowing what caused the depression to control me. There were many opportunities where I said “no” because I had a fear that I may have to eat food. I allowed this fear of food to control me multiple times throughout the year 2014. My greatest challenge was that I really needed to open my mind to new ideas. I am a person of routine and I am very set in my ways, but towards the end of 2014 I opened my mind to a new way of life that said “yes” to ideas even if it was out of my comfort zone.

Sarah Adams:

My accomplishments from 2014 were not necessarily what the typical person would consider accomplishments. I have always been more on the introverted side and I honestly am not a people person. Big groups terrify me, I do not like walking into a new environment not knowing anyone, and I don’t like people to be in my bubble. That being said, this group, and other events from the past year have shattered every one of my insecurities, and replaced them with a desire to help people, and a yearning to get to get to know my new group of friends better. Sure, I still have my insecurities, but with the help of this group they are being overcome and God is molding me into the person that he designed me to be. I have also grown in my faith, made new friends, and slowly worked myself towards graduating and getting through school.

My biggest failures this year was definitely in my spiritual life. My relationship with God was stagnant for a better part of the year and that is something I definitely need to work on. I also let my tendency to be introverted keep me from being involved and missing out on some great times and memories with some amazing people.

In 2014, I faced some unique challenges. I got to go on a mission trip to Alaska in March and I had to overcome the people thing again. I got to know some of the kids there really well. I had the opportunity to help one of the kids there overcome a problem that I could relate to and it was pretty awesome. I also was a camp counselor this summer and I took over the riflery program. I had tons of responsibility thrust on my shoulders and I tried new things and my kids loved them. All in all, it was an eventful year, albeit an exciting one and I look forward to the next one.

Jenny Green:

What were your greatest accomplishments/successes in 2014?
Completed my first year at Strong Rock. Stepping out of my comfort zone in the classroom and coaching. After going to Honduras, I began planning a mission trip to take teachers and students to partner with Good Samaritan Schools. As a family, maintain a nightly prayer time with the kids. Creating a budget to guide our family to better financial decisions in the future.
2. What were your greatest failures in 2014?

Allowing circumstances too often to determine my attitude or outlook, not focusing on God’s purpose in each situation, but more selfish desires. Not being disciplined in my devotion time as I had planned – being too busy.

3. What were your greatest challenges in 2014? How did you respond to them?

Juggling school, church, family, quiet time, taking care of family, and job. Spreading myself too thin and not being great in any area. Usually responded with stress and frustration. However, I realize that this is not good for anyone. Looking back at these challenges spurred me to make a difference this year.

Kyle Fleming:

1. In 2014 I played a season college football and played in AT&T stadium.

2. Not doing well enough in class to earn hope scholarship.

3. Being $30,000 in college debt going into my junior year. Planning to come back home and work while finishing school.

Logan Chitwood:

1. Finishing EMT school
2. Not always following the right path.
3. Making the right decisions based on what God would want, I tried lol.

Jesse Adams:

1. What were your greatest accomplishments in 2014?
My greatest accomplishments were finishing my first semester of college, killing a deer over 150 inches, beginning a relationship with a female that is very solid in her faith, making tons of new friends through glen haven’s college and young adult ministry, graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, and I believe that the Lord let me be a nicer person in 2014. I think the Lord aloud me to see the needs of others a little more than my own.

2. What were my greatest failures in 2014?My greatest failures in 2014 were slacking off at the end of my senior year, paying for putting college off until the last second, not pursuing certain opportunities to witness, lacking in personal time with the Lord, prayer life slacked off, and above all i think i brought my level of boldness for telling others about Jesus down a notch in 2014.

3. What wee my greatest challenges in 2014? How did i respond to them?

My greatest challenges were moving off to a college that i didn’t feel comfortable at, pursuing a time every day to spend with the Lord, time in prayer, and moving away from all of my friends.

I think i over came the friends part and the college part by saying that i would give Shorter a try and coming home often to see everyone at Glen Haven. In all honesty i don’t think i ever overcame the quiet time or the prayer challenge in 2014. I always just blamed my failure on my schedule and on my studies. I am ashamed to say that I couldn’t give the Lord God a small portion of my time because i was to busy, but i plan to change that in 2015. I also am praying that God would lead me to where i am supposed to go next. Pray that i would see it clearly, but as of right now i’m with Kyle in moving home and beginning to work while i’m going to school.

Alexis Young:

But i would say that my greatest accomplishment of 2014 is losing/gaining friends. How can losing friends be good? Haha but I got rid of the friends who I did not need to be around and who were bad influences and replaced them with some friends that I’ve never felt so close with.

My greatest failures in 2014 were the way i handled some things. By lying to my parents, going behind their backs. Nothing horrible, but I lost some of their trust that I am still trying to earn back.

My greatest challenge was definitely having to adjust when Ryan left for the marines. Having to become independent when you always had someone there for you, and having to carry on “every day life” by yourself. I would say I did not handle it very good. My attitude was horrible towards my parents. I was always upset and angry and I never understood why! In pigeon forge you said in one of your lessons that “God puts hard points in your life to draw you back to him. And you may keep asking yourself why, only to realize later what he was doing! So that is my challenge in 2015, to stay close to God and to be happy!!

Austin Turner:

What were your greatest accomplishments/successes in 2014?
Accepting Christ as my lord and savior.
Ending my first semester of college with a 3.8 GPA.
The of writing on Mr.John Hembree’s blog.

What were your greatest failures in 2014?
Not being intensional when talking to strangers.
Not giving my best efforts at all times.
I must read the bible more.

What were your greatest challenges in 2014? How did you respond to them?
When talking to people my conversations will have purpose.
I will try to read the bible in my own time and set a time for reading it.  And 2015 I will reach out to people.

Who’s next?

Thanksgiving Week 2014

The blog this week will be contributed to by the members of our Glen Haven Young Adult Class and Bible Study group.

What are you thankful for (about the class, your personal life, your family, etc…)

Austin Howard:  I am thankful for this group so much more than words can say. I have never been in a young adults class that is always striving to better one another. I’m thankful for the friends that I have had, the new ones that are building currently, and then to the future ones as well. Without this class and the support of our wonderful leaders (Bro. Warren and Mrs. Jenny) I don’t know where the state of our class would be right now. I’m so thankful for all of you and I’m looking forward to great things happening in and through our class, love you guys!!

Jesse Adams:  I am thankful for a group of young people that loves to be with each other, have fun, and love Jesus. I’ve actually had multiple people in our church come up to me and tell me that “watching our college students be with one another makes me want to be back in college.” We have a unique group at Glen Haven. We also have unique leaders in Bro Warren and Mrs. Jenny. I am thankful for all of the people and everything that we do together. It is always a blast. Were growing and we have the Lord on our side. What better place to be as a class than that. I love you guys! Pigeon Forge here we come!

Sarah Adams:  I’m thankful for friends. They stick with you through the thick and thin of things and Even when you’re not at your best, they still love you for who you are.
I’m thankful for family. Let’s be honest, if you’re like me, you come from a crazy family that loves hard, laughs always and lives life to the fullest. They are God fearing people who’s hearts and crazy amount of love never cease to amaze. They stand by your side even when you’re not sure which side you stand on and their arms are always open.
I’m thankful for my church. I’ve had the privilege of being apart of several churches at once thanks to college but there’s nothing like coming home and knowing that the people around you are part of home as well. There’s an atmosphere around the church that is charged with Jesus and you can’t help but experience it when you’re there and when you’re with the people of the church. Church is where broken people come to be healed and where sinners come to learn about the savior. It’s amazing to me that anyone can come. The broken, the sick, the hurt, the lost, and the weary come and rest at the feet of Jesus. We’re a bunch of really messed up people uniting because we can’t do it alone and because we need each other almost as much as we need our Savior, the only one who can truly help us and that’s pretty awesome.
I’m thankful for nutty bars. Let’s be honest, there are so very few creations and recipes that have mastered the chocolate to peanut butter to wafer ratio successfully. Little Debbie’s have a special place in my heart and even though they are just as amazing, my oatmeal cream pies are up high on my list as well. I take pride in my nutty bars however, and I’m thankful that God has allowed us to enjoy the simple, amazing, tasty, and glorious things of this world.
Finally, I’m thankful for my Heavenly Father. I know that sometimes I forget about him or go against him or even spite him, yet he loves me. He died for me on the cross even when he knew that I would mess up and give him a headache for my stupidity and selfishness. He continues to blow my mind with everything he has done for me and blessed me with. He has great plans for me and each and every one of us and the fact that he knows where my future is headed when I’m not even sure what I’m going is amazing to me. He is my source of rest, strength and peace and I have yet to wrap my mind around how much he loves me.

Jenny Green: I know Warren replied and included both of us, but as I sit here reading these posts with tears in my eyes – I’m reminded how good and faithful our Heavenly Father is to all of us. When we took this class in June although we were very excited because of the relationships we had with many of you the devil wanted to steal that bit of excitement and tell me that we would not be accepted because many of you had been with us already for at least 4 years. I struggled with the fact this group needed someone younger with no children or maybe older with grown children. However, Warren and I knew this is the place that we were called to be.
So, six months later I am thankful for each and everyone of you who make up this group. I am thankful for the love you not only show to Warren and I but to our three children. Not only do Warren and I love this group but our kids do as well. You make them look forward to Thursday evenings, Sunday lunches, and whenever else we have a chance to gather to fellowship.
I am also thankful for so many of you stepping out of your comfort zones as we did and welcoming not only our family but others too. Many of you have stepped out of a familiar place whether a group of friends, a different class, or some even a different church and joined this class. I am thankful that you realize in order to grow sometimes we have to put away our own comforts or selfishness. You have shown me things in my life I need to work on, and I hope we challenge you to do the same.
I am finally thankful for our future together and the relationships that we will develop and people we will impact. We all serve the same awesome God and our goal is to share Him with others. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for our group in the future.
I love y’all and hope you each have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Austin Turner:  I’m thankful for the Cross and what it stands for in its entirety. The cross is a game changer and it changes everyone’s outlook on life. The world would not be the same without it. I’m thankful that I’m in a Sunday school class that loves God and loves people. I come home so much just to come to GHBC no other reason but for a church. One of the last things I’m thankful for is you and your family. You welcome me with open arms and never turned your back on me. You are a good man and a even better disciple of Christ. I came in as a block of stone and Pastor Brady and yourself help carve me and lay a lot of my foundation for my freshman year. I love you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Maci Boling:  What I’m thankful for :

Throughout high school I would consider myself a lukewarm Christian. I made many bad decisions and did not put church as a priority. I was very consumed with the world. If you would have asked me two years ago where I would be during my sophomore year of college I would have answered saying: away at college and consumed with the world and having a good time with “friends”. Through bad circumstances my family was faced with , I made the decision to stay at home. God was using little things, such as staying at home, to entirely change my life. I had no clue about it then, but looking back now, I see how involved in my life God was. Through a friend at school I got invited to Glen Haven for a Wednesday night bible study. Slowly I was changing and the life I was living was changing. I met Austin Howard and through him met his amazing family. He got Savannah to call me and invite me to the women’s bible study. I continued to get more and more involved. I thank God nightly because I am still in such shock of where I am in life and my Christian walk. I am living an entirely different life than I would have ever imagined. There is no longer any excuses I can think of to miss Sunday morning and night church and weekly bible study. I surround myself with positive friends and do activities that give glory to God rather than negative activities. I never would have thought I would find a church that I love as much as Glen Haven, I thought people were being dramatic when people said they were a part of a “church family” but I now know what that means because Glen Haven is my church family. It’s so cool to me to see how all the things that seemed little and minor played part in changing my life.

Jake Postin:  Well, I know this is a late response, but I would rather tell y’all late than never. I can honestly say that I have never been apart of a class where you feel missed when you are not there. I do live at home, but I basically live in Macon between work and school. Warren and Jenny are incredible. They do more for us than what I could ever repay them for. I want all of you to know that I am thankful and love each one of you. No matter if you are there every week, or once a month, you all are special and have a special part in our class. Thank you Warren and Jenny for everything y’all do for us, the time, money, sacrifice and most of all the love y’all give us. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and I look forward to getting to know everyone on a more personal level and watch our class grow closer together!!

Our prayer series has taken us into some uncharted territory for some of us.  When we talk about prayer, most of us either feel conviction because we know we aren’t praying enough or we don’t understand how God could want to talk to us based on how we live.  Simply stated, prayer is the most important tool of our Christian life.  Think about it – prayer changes our heart towards the people we pray for.  It changes our direction when we aren’t moving the way God is.  It causes us to love people who are unlovable.  It release the power of the Almighty God in my life.  He doesn’t need my permission to act, but many times He waits on my permission to enter.

The last couple weeks we’ve started walking through the Lord’s Prayer line by line.

Matthew 6:9-13 says “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread,  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

These few verses give us the model for prayer in the life of a believer.  It is a clearly marked path for us to follow.  I don’t believe Jesus ever intended us to quote this word for word, but I do believe He wants us to follow His lead.

• Your name be honored as holy – Our lives should honor God in every aspect, but we forget to honor Him when we speak to Him.  So many times we just jump right into our needs, wants, and requests to help us out of trouble.  We might even throw in a request to help someone else, but we don’t take time to show Him the honor He deserves.  I realize some circumstances require us to state the facts with no lead in, but most of the time we have plenty of time express our love, appreciation, and adoration for Him.  HE IS WORTHY!  We don’t express our adoration for Him to help Him – He doesn’t need us to complete Him – We express our adoration for Him to help us – We need to honor Him to keep the proper perspective on things.
• Your Kingdom come, your will be done – The fact is, God’s kingdom does not exist here on this earth – at least not yet.  I acknowledge He has a plan for my life, and even though I live in an imperfect world, I want His plan more than anything else.  His plan is perfect, and I want perfect.  My plans are “adequate” at best, and I don’t want adequate.
• On earth as it is in heaven – His kingdom does exist in heaven now – I want His plan to exist in me just as it is meant to.  I don’t want to put Him in my little box, or hide Him in some seldom used corner of my life.
• Give us today our daily bread – We have to learn to distinguish our needs from our wants.  A need is something I absolutely can not live without – water, food, shelter, relationships (God and people).  A want is something I can live without – a cell phone, a large TV with hundreds of channels, your absolute favorite foods, entertainment (movies, great apps, social media, sporting events, concerts, etc) and more.  Honestly, most of us don’t know how to pray for needs.  We have the basics covered in 2014 America. There are people who genuinely need these things, but most of us have them already.  We tend to place our favorite things in the “want” category in the “need category.  The danger of “needing” things we don’t really need is it makes us unappreciative and arrogant when we don’t get everything.  Let me challenge you to regularly write a list of what you have, and what you need – really need.  I think you will find your needs are very few.  So pray for the needs of others, and just simply say “thank you” for the blessings of your life.

More to come!

WG

God has a plan for every part of your life. He has a plan for your career, your church life, your community service, your financial life, your social calendar, and ultimately, your spouse and then your family.
Jeremiah 29:11-13, Psalm 37:3-4, Galatians 2:20

If we believe God really does have a plan for your life, then to “date” in a way that doesn’t honor Him just doesn’t make sense. So, how do we date in a way that honors God?

Make a list of your “non-negotiables” based on scripture

• Christian – 2 Corinthians 6:14
• Growing in their faith – Philippians 3:12-14
• Kind – Ephesians 4:32
• Compassionate – Luke 10:30-35
• Servant – John 13:1-9
• Trustworthy – Proverbs 6:16-19
• No pressure to do physical stuff – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Narrow your pool of potential dates to those who agree with your “non-negotialbles”

• Watch people in various situations
• Talk to people who know them to find out if they’re for real
• Get to know someone before agreeing to go out with them – group settings are the best place to see them for who they really are, and to take the pressure off of you

Make God the center of your relationship

• Pray together – Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2
• Study together – not only together, but make God’s Word a vital part of your relationship – 2 Timothy 2:15
• Guard yourself against being alone in compromising situations – Galatians 6:1
• Guard what you watch and hear together – movies, concerts, TV shows, comedy routines, etc – Philippians 4:8
• Guard against allowing friends to soften your convictions – 1 Corinthians 16:13

Enjoy the relationship

• Don’t stress
• Don’t put unrealistic expectations on the other person or yourself – financially, socially, looks, working out, being something your not
• Encourage the other person more than you speak negatively to them 10 to 1
• Be creative planning dates – keep things simple at first – find mutual places of interest or activities of mutual interest

If the relationship doesn’t work out, then that person should ALWAYS say that they are better for having known you.

I welcome any thoughts on this stuff, and I’ll be glad to share them with the group.

Pastor Warren

We discussed the following items in our last Bible Study. The question was asked to begin a discussion about what God thinks about dating the way it’s done in modern day america, and how do we “date” in a way that accomplishes the desired purposes and honors God.

If you had the opportunity to start from nothing and rebuild the concept of dating in a way that pleases God and accomplishes the purposes of dating, what would it look like?

Purposes of dating for a Christian:
To find a spouse
Compatibility/learn what kind of person we’re looking for
Companionship
Learn about ourselves – problems I have, strengths/weaknesses
See where you are spiritually

Where Can I Meet People who think and believe like me?
Church – Just because you meet someone at church doesn’t mean they are the real deal. Watch to see if their life matches what they say they believe
Friends – True friends are a great source of potential dates – However, be sure the friend recommending someone is just a serious as you are about your “non-negotiables”.  You can get recommendations from friends that don’t line up with your beliefs.
Work/school – Ask the right questions before agreeing to go out with someone.  Also, consider the consequences of dating someone you have to see all the time if you decide not to go out anymore.  Choose carefully!
Hobbies – This can be a great place to meet someone you’ll enjoy spending time with, but you must ask the tough questions and be willing to say “it’s just not a good idea we go out” if they don’t share your “non-negotiables”

Where should I not look for people to date?
Bar
Online – Not good for the initial search, but it can be used to continue communication with people once you’ve established a relationship of some sort

What do I hope to gain from meeting people at these places?
Watch people in different situations – I see people in all types of situations when I know them socially before we “date”. See people interact with their family or friends – watch to see signs of positive character traits or troubling character traits
Communicate thru various methods – I have a chance to talk to people with no pressure on either person. You have a much better chance of seeing the person for who they really are – instead of just the “first date” person
Mutual friends – You can find out what others know or think about someone before you decide whether or not to spend time with them apart from group settings

I’d love your input on this discussion.

Pastor Warren

Last Sunday in our class we continued our study of prayer.  We began by asking a question.  If we know we should pray, and we know it’s effective, then why don’t we pray?

The truth is, most of us do pray. We pray small, selfish prayers every time we get in a bind, or we pray before we eat because were taught to do that as a child.  However necessary those prayers may seem at the time, they are not what real prayer should be.  Prayer isn’t just throwing out a request in God’s general direction, knowing He’s the greatest center fielder ever so He can definitely catch it.  Prayer is communication with the Creator, Maker, Redeemer, and  Savior.  I think, if I really “got” who I was talking to, my prayers would change significantly.  I probably wouldn’t be so nonchalant about everything.

Please don’t get me wrong. He’s not interested in the formality of prayer.  He’s interested in YOU!  Every time we come into His presence and just ask for some stuff, ask Him to bless our food, and give us health and happiness, we leave satisfied, but He leaves wanting more – more time, more real conversation, more full surrender, more putting Him first, more commitment, more…

The realism in the answers I received Sunday morning blew me away.  Why do we struggle to pray? Because we are convicted when we’re in His presence, and no one likes to feel bad.  Because we haven’t prayed in so long, we feel guilty about praying at all.  Because we constantly focus on ourselves, so how can He want to spend time with me?

The reality of His love for us should cause us to fall to our knees in sheer thanks and gratitude.  He made a way for us to reach Him by building a bridge across an infinite gulf.  The materials He used to build that bridge were the suffering, shame, and blood of His only Son.

If we really want our class and group to be what God intends – to reach our world with His glorious Gospel – then we need to wear out our the knees on every garment we own praying for God’s forgiveness, power, favor, and wisdom.

If you doubt His ability to love you, or question just how much He cares, please read the words to the third verse of the song “The Love Of God”.  It’s been sung many artists through the years – my favorite version is by MercyMe.  The story is told the song was written with only two verses, but the words to the third verse were found on the wall of an abandoned insane asylum supposedly written there by one of the people being held there.  Maybe they’ll help you pray today in a different way than you’ve ever known.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Pastor Warren

Modern dating is the method of choice for most americans to meet, get to know, and create a lasting relationship with the person of their dreams. Dating in it’s simplest terms is spending time with that special someone.  You find common interests, food likes and dislikes, activities you enjoy together, and the opportunity to just “be together”.  Dating can take place as a part of a larger group or as a couple.  It can go on for years or be a one time event.  You can get dressed up, spend much time, money, and effort making a perfect evening, or you can throw on your gym clothes and head to workout your frustrations or feed your competitive side.

My point in all that was dating has no real solid definition except in its most basic stage.  It is two people wanting to spend time together – at least until one of them decides otherwise. Here’s the part that’s missing from most people’s definition – it should be reserved for those people who meet your qualifications for someone you could potentially marry.  I did say “potentially marry” because every person you date – whether it’s once or for years – should be considered a candidate for marriage.  Most marriages don’t just happen, they are birthed through a dating relationship.

We discussed the foundation of dating last Thursday night. Here are the basic questions we attempted to answer – at least to some degree.

1. What is dating?
2. What is it’s purpose?  2 parts – first, what should the purpose be?  second, what is it to most of the world we live in?
3. What are the problems or pitfalls of dating?
4. How do we correct them?

Here’s what we said to each question:

1. It is two people who have some common ground, spending time together for the purpose of seeing if they could be compatible.
2. The purpose should be to find your future spouse.  It really is that simple – the only possible reason to spend time with someone in this type of setting is to see if they have the qualities, character, and faith to spend the rest of their life with you.  I know that doesn’t address many of the questions you may have, but we’re starting out very basic.
   The second part of the question is tougher to answer.  Some of the people at our Bible study said the world thinks “dating is about the physical stuff”, “Dating is about having something to do on the weekends”, “Dating is about what I can get out of it”.  I think we’ve really just scratched the surface in talking about this question.
3. The problems or pitfalls of dating are many.  We made a pretty quick list:  to into each other too soon, go out just because you’re bored, sex and dealing with the guilt afterwards, not having a clear conversation about what each persons expectations are (define the relationship talk), getting too close to someone you should never go out with in the first place, and more.
4. We briefly tried to answer some of these questions.  

Here is what I would like for you to do as you finish reading this blog.  First, make comments to any of the answers provided.  Second, help us answer questions 3 and 4 specifically.  What pitfalls have you seen or experienced in others dating relationships or your own?  How can we, as believers in Christ, avoid these things in our future relationships?

Here are some of the verses we took a look at last Thursday.

1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Have a SUPER-FANTASTIC day!

Pastor Warren

As I sit in my favorite chair for the first time today, I’m thankful.  Thankful for my savior, my family, my church, my job, and the opportunities I’m afforded because of these things.  Today was a big day for my family.  My mother celebrated her 70th birthday with many of her extended family and some friends at our home.  Her birthday was about 12 days ago, but today was the PARTY.  This occasion also marked the first time many of these folks who I’ve know since childhood had been at my home.  It was such a great feeling to host people you’ve know forever, and share the blessings God has so graciously given us.

Sunday school continues to amaze me.  The number of people is great, but the thing I’m most encouraged about is the interaction.  True learning takes place when you can share the ideas you’ve learned with others.  Questions are asked and answered with honesty and thought.

Today’s lesson dealt with prayer.  This was week 2 in our prayer series.  Week 1 asked the question “What is prayer?”  The answer in it’s simplest form is prayer is communication with God.  Communication is an exchange between people where thoughts, feelings, requests, forgiveness, compassion, etc are given and received.  Communication with God happens differently.  He wants us to talk to Him.  He desires for us to express our thanks, repentance, petitions for others and ourselves to Him.  He also expects us to spend time listening to Him.  No useful communication is one-sided.  Prayer must be followed by silence and time in God’s Word.

The question today was “Why do we pray?”  We had some great answers – direction, help, repentance, requests, and more.  The truth for most of us is we pray to get stuff or help.  We only really think about praying when our circumstances warrant it or we think we can’t live without something.  Our reasons for praying should be the things we discussed, but it’s so hard to get out of our own way.  I want my prayer life to resemble the Romans 12:12, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 model.  I need to pray more for God to reveal my sin to me. I need to be so sickened by my sin that I have no choice than to run to Him to seek forgiveness.  I need to pray more for my enemies and those who don’t love me.  I need to pray more for our class.  I need to pray more for young adults to be drawn to our group.  I need to pray more for us to be the kind of group Christ can use to reach people.

Why do you pray?  Search for the real motives in your life.  Pray every single day this week and never ask for a single selfish thing.  Let’s see what God can do in our church, class, and our personal lives if we commit to seeking Him.

WG

Sunday School was AMAZING today!  It is awesome to see the folks get involved in the lesson.  James 5 is one of those passages that really draws you into the scripture.  We all need to be in the habit of immersing ourselves in the passage when we read.  The Bible isn’t a “book”, it’s God’s Word written to us.  We should read it like it’s the most important thing we’ve ever read – because it is!

James 5:1-6 is where we spent our time Sunday.  The point from James is clear.  If you spend your life chasing earthly wealth and pleasure, you will end your life miserable, distraught, and searching for significance and happiness.  Those things can not satisfy, and as long as they are the focus of our time, energy, and ambitions we are chasing something we can never catch.  We moved from James 5 to Philippians 4:11-12.  Paul deals with this same problem from the opposite side.  He challenges us to be content no matter our circumstances.  It’s very easy for us to play the comparison game in all areas of our life.  We compare finances, relationships, intelligence, abilities, sin, and more.  We search for opportunities to be “better” than everyone else at something.  

The problem isn’t wanting to do my best at everything I put my hand to. The problem is allowing the desire for things and happiness to rule my life, instead of my desire to know and please my Creator and Redeemer to rule my life.  It isn’t a new struggle.  Adam and Eve wanted to know as much as God more than they treasured their relationship with Him.  Cain killed Able because he wanted God’s approval more than He wanted God himself.  Paul is very clear in Philippians 4:11-12.  He says he has “learned” to be content in any circumstance or place.  I can learn something in various ways, but in my life, I can’t really say I’ve learned something until it’s put to practice in my life.  Paul had put contentment into practice.  He was writing the words in Philippians from a jail cell.  

Here’s the question of the day (week, month, year, decade).  How do I put contentment into practice in my life when everything I see around me tells me to chase after money, power, education, praise, and happiness?  I welcome your discussion.

Love you all very much.  Have an amazing week!

WG