Last night, Clayte continued in his series, Hidden Treasures, where we dive in the Scripture to find stories not normally told but that have great Biblical truth that we can apply to our lives.  Last night we talked about the story of King Asa from 2 Chronicles 14-16.  I would highly encourage you to read this story again and ask the Lord to guide you and teach you into all the truth that it holds.

As Clayte talked last night I was struck by the application of King Asa’s life that we can take and apply to the spiritual battle we are about to engage in as we head back to school.  I thought it would be helpful to post the points Clayte used last night so that we can keep them as a reminder as we go back to school.  So here they are:

Good Asa

Lived out HABITS of HOLINESS.

Was SUBMISSIVE in the STRESSFUL.

Gave PRAISE in PROSPERITY.

Dumb Asa

Not CONSISTENT in CHARACTER.

He COMPROMISED in CONFLICT.

He RELIED on his own RESOURCES.

He REBELED when REBUKED.

As you go back into school, will you be a good Asa or a dumb Asa?  It starts now.  It starts before the battle begins.  It is the life which you now live.

Weather has caused us to change our ITCHTUKNEE River Trip to a beach party at Jax Beach.  Bring money for lunch and meet at the Shop @ 9.  Probably a good chance that this is going to be awesome, so don’t miss it.  Also, we will be playing a nice little game of beach kickball.  So bring it.

By the numbers:

13 IGINITE’S

12 Checkpoint’s

10 Andrizo

10 Agape

2 Cross Training’s

1 Dodgeball Tournament

4 New Supper at the Shop

4 New Events

2 Outdoor Movies

1 Ballin’ Breakaway

65+ hours of studying the Word

Countless Meals

Add all those up and it equals Fall 2009.  How can you beat it?

Back to School Itchtuknee River Trip is now Wednesday August 19.  We will meet at the Shop at 8:30 and the cost is 10 dollars.  Bring a lunch or money to buy lunch at the snack bar.  Hope everyone can come!

Hey Guys!!
So a lot of you went to PUC and after Adam spoke committed to live out Christ in everything you do, at school, home and work. In case you were not at PUC this blog is for you as well, if you want to commit to surrendering to the Holy Spirit daily. I know a lot of times we stand and make a commitment we are serious about but as soon as we get back into the real world we are at a loss of what to actually do. School is just around the corner and if you guys remain true to your commitment you could turn your schools upside down for Christ! But if your not sure what exactly you can be doing or if you feel like your the only one who wants to make a stand and would like the support of your brothers and sisters in Christ come this Wednesday Night at 6:15 to the church to take some time to pray for your school and come up with ideas of what to do next. I am bringing a friend who graduated a couple years back to tell you what he did when he made a similar commitment at Mandarin High School to give you guys some ideas. But I thought it would be really cool if a bunch of you came and we could brainstorm about different ways you could reach out to the lost at your school. I will be staying in Jacksonville this semester and hope I can be a resource for you guys and will always be ready and willing to talk if you need to! I am so excited for what God is going to be doing through all of you who remain open to be used by Him this year!! Alrighty hope I see you guys this Wed!!
Chels

What a great night last night at IGNITE.  The game almost broke the band equipment, made Clayte look like he peed on himself, and Erik Boetcker and I had a moment.  It was beautiful.  The band was great and Clayte brought the Word to us.

Last night was such a great reminder of what to do in times of distress.  But the thing that struck me the most, was a quote Clayte said at the end of his lesson.  Something along these lines, “I am more impressed to see where people turn in times of prosperity than to see where people turn in times of adversity.”  What a great reminder that our heart for the Lord should be unchanging.  In the good times and the bad.

We also collected tons of Breakaway forms last night.  Make sure you get yours in ASAP.  I am telling you, this is a weekend you will not want to miss.  If you don’t know what Breakaway is, ask me and I will give you the complete rundown.

I talked with Kelsey yesterday, she has made it to VA safe and sound and the fish we gave her is living a comfortable life (btw all my fish finally bit the dust…its been a tough couple of days for me).  She said she was learning a lot about being an RA but missed us and was looking forward to Breakaway!!

I think that’s all I have for right now, I’ll leave you with another verse from my time with the Lord this morning in James 3. He is talking about taming our tounge and this is what he says about it, “With it we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.  Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?”  WOW.  The same tounge I use to praise God is the same tounge I talk about others with, I gossip with, etc.  That is a gut punch.  Today I am asking the Lord to make every word I speak honoring to Him.  Hope you will partner with me…

I am looking forward to tonight’s program!  Clayte Rutt will be starting a new 4 week series.  If you have never had an opportunity to talk with Clayte or hear him teach, you have been missing out.  Make sure that you come around and get a chance to meet him and hear the Lord use him to bring the Word.  He is a pretty rad dude. 

Cool side story about Clayte: The day he was born was the day I accepted Christ.  So this September he and I will both celebrate 20 years of life! 

In other news, our MCS students started school yesterday and our Providence students started school today.  (I don’t know about you but that puts me in a bad mood!  This summer is quickly coming to end and I think I can say with confidence, that this has been the best summer we have had yet!) But to you students who are starting school this week, stand firm and DON’T GO BACK (not to school but to your old way of living)! To those of you who have a few weeks left before school starts, stand firm and finish the summer well.  Prepare yourself for the battle that you will begin again on August 24th.

Some youth group announcements:

• TURN IN YOUR BREAKAWAY FORMS!!! Tonight is the last night at the $145 dollar price.  This is a weekend you don’t want to miss! (If money is an issue, come talk to me.  Think about it-3 nights lodging, 7 meals, a t-shirt, retreat supplies, etc. for only $145?!  How can you beat it?!)
• Itchtuknee River trip will be our end of the summer blowout on Friday August 21.  FLOAT ON!
• We are also working on two Cross Training weekends with a Bible professor from CIU for this fall.  We are going to be studying the book of Mark in depth.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend than examining the life of Christ.

I think that’s all I have for today, may be back later with more.  I am reading James as my personal time with God right now.  I will leave you with a verse I read this morning, my personal challenge for the day:

James 2:26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”  Step out and act on it.

Before you yell at me about posting more, let me apologize.  This has been a crazy summer.  We are getting back into the swing of things now, so it should be a more consistent posting schedule.  If you check it, I’ll write on it.  Deal or no deal?

Anyway, wanted to remind you that Breakaway sign ups go up $20 dollars after this Wednesday.  So get your sign up in ASAP.  Below is a link to the .pdf file of the brochure so you can print it out and get in to me on Wednesday.  Don’t forget the earlier you enter the more you save and the more chances you get to be in the raffle.

http://www.christianfamilychapel.com/assets/pdf/Breakaway09brochure.pdf