1 Chronicles 29:35

“Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen. Now who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?”

     David is a huge example in how much he gave to have the temple be established. He gave silver, and gold to support the temple. We find it hard to give 10% of our income. If you go to church, no matter what church, you should want that church to do well. And in order for that to happen, you have to give over and above of your treasures. In order to establish a strong church, people need to provide financial support. Give over and above if you want to see your church succeed. If you don’t want your church to succeed, then don’t give.

     2 Kings 2:3 “and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.”

     The Law of Moses is obviously referring to the ten commandments. Many times we don’t see the importance of obeying those ten laws. We think it’s just a good sunday school passage to speak about. But as the scripture states, when we’re obedient to God, we’ll be prosperous and successful in our future, and in all that we do. Don’t take obedience lightly. When you’re obedient to God, He’ll make all of what you are to further His kingdom. And who doesn’t want that? Rob Bell said it like this: “When you’re obedient to God, you won’t want anyone else’s life.” The reason why these great speakers such as Billy Graham, Rob Bell, and many others are so successful in their ministry, is because of their obedience to God. But don’t look up to them as if they were some king because you too can become successful in your ministry. It just takes obedience. 

 

     Each year at my school, we have leadership meetings. Tuesday was the first meeting that took place for this year. Here are some thoughts we had to share about leadership:

- You can be a great leader but not a good one. - We took Hitler for an example. He was an incredible leader! He encouraged an entire nation to follow him, but what he was leading them to do was horrible. 

- You are constantly looking up to someone, and someone is constantly looking up to you. - We remembered how as elementary students we would look up to middle school students, and as middle school students, we looked up to high school students, and as high school students we look up to parents, pastors, teachers, and the chain continues.

- Just ’cause you’re a leader doesn’t mean you get to make all the choices. - When you’re given a position of leadership, you aren’t there to call all the shots. You’re there to hear from other people, and to get ideas of what can be brought into your ministry, and then lead them in that direction.

- When you enter a church as a leader, you don’t ask what this church can offer you, rather what can you offer the church. - When we go visiting churches, we shouldn’t be looking as to if the music is good, if the preaching is good, or if the facilities are nice. On the other hand, we, as leaders, should serve, and be helpful to the church with service, and increasing ideas.

     I don’t think Jesus was kidding when He said that “It is harder for a rich person to enter Heaven, than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

     Don’t let your money take over your life like this guy. There’s a huge problem with being rich, and not giving back money given to you. Check this video out.

     Last week must have been one of the most faithful experiences of my life. It wasn’t a spiritual faith, it was a physical one. My coach on my soccer team decided to take my team out for a run up in the mountains. When we got to the top, there was a flat dirt road. He said he had done this before, and we were going to run until we reached the end of the road. The problem was, none of us could see the end. It was an endless road. We started running, and it got harder because we never stopped and we went forever without being able to see the end of the road. Our coach knew that there was an end to it, but we couldn’t see it until we got there, and we had to trust him that there was an end. 

     I think our Spiritual faith applies the same way. When life becomes a routine, even when it’s a good routine, there are always times we lose faith. We get so bored of our lives, and we lose hope in life. We treat life as if there is no end to it. It’s so easy to wake up and say that there’s no point in living. But even when we don’t see or feel like living because there seems to be no end, we still need to live like Christ. Even when we get up, and don’t feel God during our devotional time, we still must have faith and continue to be consistent. Even when we get to church and don’t feel God, we must still worship. Even when we don’t feel like witnessing, we must still be witnesses. 

     This is the most encouraging song I’ve heard about faith. Elevation worship is awesome.

 

     There is a horrible thing about to go on 5 houses up my street. It’s a sex-exchange. It’s where married, or unmarried couples go to find pleasure in hooking up with other men or women, prostitutes. This is probably the worst thing that’s ever happened in my town of 5,000 people. My youth group, AYG, planned a prayer meeting right outside of the place. We sang, and prayed that God’s kingdom would come down on this place, and upon the owner. Please continue to pray with us as we rebuke what’s going to happen before it’s too late.

     I’m loving Michael Helin’s editing skills. Here’s a brief announcement video from AYG:

     I saw the most ironic thing today. There was a crippled lady limping down my street with a cane in her hand. But the thing was, she wasn’t even using her cane! She was suffering while she walked, and either forgot or she didn’t want to use what she had to support her. It was crazy. The thing she needed the most she had, but she didn’t want to use it.

     I’ve actually seen people like this all the time. When we are in depression or when times get extremely hard, we forget about the Bible completely. We tend to only read it on our good days. But the thing is, the Bible will help us the most when we our in times of depression or confusion. We forget that God’s word is life, and when we don’t take advantage of that during our time of depression, it’s just going to get worse. Take time to read the Word while you have problems, and see how it lifts, and supports you. 

Joshua 1:8 – Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

     I never understood this verse until today. It says:

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn him the other also.” – Matthew 5:39.

     After reading the entire passage, I think Jesus was saying that we should win our enemies over by acting the extreme. In another words, to win them over by our acts of kindness even when they show hatred to us. That’s what Jesus called us to do. I’m not sure if I would turn the other cheek if I got slapped like this, though. Check this intense video out:

Another incredible service at AYG with some awesome annoncements.