Check this story out

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155033,00.html

So this is pretty alarming to me. I know somebody, i think it was Jordan C, told me that there is often a big difference in the views of Methodist churches from North to South (as in the churches up North are a lot more "liberal"). Are the views respresented in this article held across the North? Or is this an isolated view? Would there even be a possibility of a split in the Methodist church? That seems to be a pretty serious thing that all of the Methodists I know around here would have a big problem with. I ask these questions because there seems to be a pretty big difference between what a lot of Methodists believe and what is going on with this situation.

Luke

It's snowing again

Well the topic isn't the main point, though it did snow on sunday. just popping in to say yo. going to be at the ROC open house this weekend. and hope everyone is ready for camp
adios
jordan c

Reflection

This weekend, I had a heart to heart with a friend and came to the conclusion that I myself was not living the life of a strong christian. After telling my friend of some struggles ive had, she was amazed and sort of disappointed - saying that I was the strongest christian she had seen, and she didnt expect such things out of me. This sort of was a blow below the belt - because I had never regarded my actions as remotely bad, just human. This and I had never thought i was the "strongest christian" - sort of a big title to fill. However, after hearing what she had to say - i began to think. I have not been living as christian of a life as I should. I've used the excuse of being "human" to participate in gossip, or the such. However, as i recently realized, the label "child of god" should be the one that I am striving to show, instead of "human" or "teenager." I guess it takes hitting the bottom, to get you truely on track. I think this was exactly what I needed to get the focus i need for the summer. Sometimes a slap in the face, can get you straight once again.

HALLELUJAH

Last night at VCM, TWO people got saved!!! It was our last meeting of the year and the seniors all gave their testimonies. There was an invitation to receive Christ and truly dedicate your life, and i found out today that TWO people responded. To understand the fulness of this look at this scripture--

John 15:
3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninetynine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninetynine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

That scripture definitely speaks for itself. This is the true, amazing heart of the matter, and it's wonderful!!!
Also last night, me and my brotha Ryan were going to dinner before VCM. We saw this guy who had come to VCM once and was really nice. We eat with him somtimes, and he was by himself, so when Ryan saw him he thought we should go sit with him. After a few minutes, Ryan asked him straight up, "Yo Geoff are you saved?" He was really unsure but said he wanted to know more about salvation, so Ryan got his phone number and he set up a time to meet with him later. So we went to eat breakfast with him this morning to talk about God and salvation with him. Ryan did most of the talking (he's good), and he was very receptive to it and, even after we told him a couple of times to make sure that he understands the seriousness and fullness of the decision, he prayed to receive Christ!!! God is awesome! Again, look at that scripture above!!! We could be wrong, but it does seem that he doesnt understand everything completely...but that's OK because we'll be meeting with him to pour into him through discipleship until the end of the year. This is definitely an amazing work of God!

Also, after we left, i got on my bike to ride to class. The devil thought he'd try to discourage me....i was going pretty fast and suddenly just crashed and flew forward. At first i was really worried cause it felt like a bad crash, but i pretty quickly found out that all i really had were some scrapes on my elbows and knees! My bike was also barely harmed. I guess the devil got frustrated and tried to do something to get me down, but it didnt matter 'cause he got nuthin on the Lord of lords!! It didnt get my spirits down or anything...i figure the scrapes are just my battle wounds.

These new additions to the kingdom are definitely things that i am so excited to be able to witness!! All the glory to God for choosing to encourage me with this! I hope you are encouraged too--God wants to reap a harvest in our lives!

Luke

almost there...

almost done...!!!! oh man summer is almost here, I can smell it in the air (when I CAN smell). Gonna be great. WOO WOO!!
sb

I'm in...

So i emailed gene and tim this afternoon....and i finally decided what to do this summer. So i'll be spending it with all of you lovely people. I've been really unsure about it and it's been a tough time trying to figure it out...but i feel good about it.

Luke

God Makes His Own Decisions

So, I've been praying off and on for a particular person to join me at Bible study or something, as long as she started showing a sincere interest in growing spriritually. I had extended the offer to her on several occasions throughout this school year, and the other night she stopped by room and asked if she could come. SO, she went to Bible study with me last night, and it was so exciting! It was a really good study, and she seemed to get a lot out of it, and told me later that she was really glad she went. Praise God, God answers prayers!

But, please note that I only prayed "off and on" for this to happen. When all this came to me last night, I became embarrassed. Yes, I had prayed about it throughout the year, but I had not prayed diligently for her. And, although I prayed, I don't think I had a faith as big as I should have. But God did it anyways.

Some people might take that as "if God will do it anyways, why do I have to pray for it?" Causes some confusion doesn't it? God has His own plans, and doesn't wait on us to make His decisions. However, He also wants us involved with Him, in conversation in Him, and He wants us to be moving in His direction. When we pray diligently for something or someone, we are setting our minds on God, and putting our faith in God. And God rewards those things.

Any other thoughts on this that would clarify a point, please add them. I was having a little trouble getting my thoughts together.
love
JMM

This got to be pretty big...

In church we sang this song and one part repeats this:

You ask me who do I
say that You are
and I
say that You are the Christ
Son of the Living God

This comes from scripture, when Jesus asks the disciples who men say he is, and then turns to them and asks them "Who do YOU say I am?" But when we sang this it hit me that I am not living out the fact that HE IS THE CHRIST. Of course I know that Jesus is the Savior and son of God, etc. But when we say that He is the Christ and son of the living God, it means so much more than just the definition of what He did and what He's done in our lives. To me this morning, I felt that God was really asking me "If you say that I am who I am, then why arent you believing and living out my promises?" It really just cut me to the heart--I'm not living and taking hold of His promises like I should. Ya see, we so easily forget that God wants to heal you, bring victory to your life, bless you in all your ways, bring happiness and joy, help you grow more, use you to save souls and change lives and culture, bring you out of despair, put you in a high place, use you to fulfill an amazing plan, etc. The list goes on and on. If we arent truly believing for God's promises that we see in the Word, we arent truly believing that Jesus was the Christ.

At Campus Harvest, on pastor was preaching--Steve Hollander (dude is anointed, I love hearing him preach). But he told this story, which most of us know i think, about a group of believers in China. These police came to arrest them and threw the Bible down and told these people to spit on God's Word and renounce it or else they will be executed on the spot. The first two men spit on it and walked out (I think to go to jail). But the last person, this girl, she kneeled down and with deep tenderness wiped the Bible clean and, still kneeling with her head bowed, clutched it to her chest with both arms. They shot her right there. Steve Hollander did not tell this story for the reason most of us do--that is, to show that we need to be willing to die for God. But he told this story because the Holy Spirit showed him one day that if we are not actively living out and actively believing for God's promises (such as seeing our friends saved or allowing Him to heal pains in your life), then it's just as if we are SPITTING ON HIS WORD.

I think Steve Hollander is dead on--when we are not allowing ourselves to live to our full potential of who we are in Christ, it's as if we aren't really saying that He is the Christ, who can do all things and heal all hurts, and it's as if we are spitting on God's Word. It's as if Jesus was speaking to me with that song this morning and saying, "So you really say that I am the Christ? Then Why wont you let me heal your hurts? Why wont you let me speak to you more when you spend time with me? Why wont you let me witness through you and save your friends? Why wont you stop being weak? Why wont you stand in victory over things in your life?"

We gotta quit walking around in defeat and walking aorund in less than who God wants us to be. We are not meant to be timid and afraid of sharing our faith--He as all authority over heaven and earth and is with us to the end of th days (the Great Commission). We are not meant to be ruled by sin--for we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who bbelieve and are saved (Hebrews 10:39). We are not meant to be lazy or do poorly at our work--for He has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of love, power, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). We are not meant to quit growing in Christ--for he will bring the good work he began in us to completion (somewhere in the New Testament...not exact wording). The Bible is FUUUULLLLL of promises just like these. We gotta quite acting like the world and start acting like who God promises we are through the Word. If we really believe He is the Christ, these promises will come true in our very lives.

Geez, this is amazing stuff guys. I dont know if how I've written this post has done justice to what God has shown me, but I hope He can personally show you all what I have just described. If I didnt do such a good job of communicating it now, I know we'll eventually all understand this, and to an even deeper extent. The thing that I want to see most in each of your lives and the thing that will bring me the greatest joy is this--for me to be able to see you all as "oaks of righteousness" as you grow in God. God is going to radically change thousands, maybe even millions, of lives through the group of people on this website. I hope that we will always keep up with eachother, at least somewhat, as we grow older so I can see God's great works in you and rejoice over them with you.

I love you all and am amazed at who you are in Christ and who I know you will become,
Luke

Writing as it Comes

So, i've started thinking about where I am in preperation for this summer, and to tell you the truth my spiritual walk is not as strong as it needs to be. While I did have a God high about 2 months ago, its sorta faded. However, I am better off than I was at the beginning of the year. Well - im preperation ive decided to try to double my god time. Hopefully it will help, because I want to be a living breathing nothing but god praising worker this summer.
Other than that - not much else is new. I'm going to duke, which im very excited about. Its the perfect place for me- i can tell.
about 4 more weeks until I see all you beautiful people. Although waiting that long is going to be redunkulously hard.

Love you,
Petra

This just hit me like a ton of bricks...

So i was just looking at the profile of a girl who is a part of VCM and saw a link to her testimony and decided to read it. She is definitely one of the strongest women I know and has the biggest love for God and people that i've ever seen. But gosh i never knew about her past...i knew it was tough, but she's had to overcome physical abuse, utter neglect from her parents, and a lot of sexual abuse all at a very young age. She has pretty much supported herself through high school and now college. It just broke my heart to read about the sexual abuse her family put her through...i mean i've always known stuff like that has happened, but reading this just gave me a whole new understanding. But praise God that He has just totally healed her and now uses this testimony to reach hurt people!!!!!!
What really got me though was when i looked through the many comments responding to her testimony (255), and saw a number of girls who said they were touched by her testimony, but dont feel that they can possible be loved or forgiven like that. I went on to read some of their own xanga sites and they just totally blew me away!!! It just utterly tears me up like no other thing to see the amount of hurt in these peoples' lives. They truly believe that they are alone and that there is no God or person that loves them. Good golly i just cant believe that, i just wish that there was some way that i could really reach the people whose xanga sites i read. (While i know they're not the only ones hurting, these people i'm talking about are all gothic.)
Really the point of all of this is i just wanted to say LOVE THESE PEOPLE. Their wounds run deep and nothing else can even temporarily heal them any more. They need God's love more than anyone else. Just do whatever you can to love these types of people and their lives will be changed.
Seriously, we cant take this lightly in our day-to-day lives. I know everyone hears stuff like this often, but man these people are hurting more than i've ever imagined (and i mean that literally). Most of us who are a part of this website have always had the love and comfort of God (and good families and friends) to fall back on in our lives, whereas so many people have never experienced this. If they only have a taste of it....who knows what would happen?

In strength not my own,
Luke

GOT HIRED

Guess what?!?!?! I got hired...yes thats right. Im so excited. And now you dont have to hear my get all scared about not being hired. Ps- camp looks group - im so excited about the changes.
_petra

Contracts are in the mail

the title pretty much says it all
jordan c

Questions

Stephen, when do you hear from the Teaching Fellows people?

Petra, what's the update on the college stuff?

just wondering :o)
jm

Big Day in the McCoy Household

Minor part of the big day--I got my stitches out. Ewww. Fun scar though.

The Main Event: my dad's dissertation defense was today and I got to go to it. My daddy wowed his committee and was told things like "this is the best the department has seen" and many other similar things. It was one fantastic day for Dad, all his hard work paid off. So, here's to my daddy, Dr. Jack McCoy. :o)

Love,
Jordan