Your Desires?

I learned something pretty cool about the word "desire." Usually we think of our wants and desires as a somewhat selfish proposition, but if you break the word down (de-sire)...it is intriguing. The "de" means "of" (like in Spanish or Latin), and to "sire" something means to "father" it; therefore, a true desire is "of the father." Psalm 37:4 says to "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Can they really be your desires if the word means "of the father?" Yes - because when we get close to Jesus, the Father's desires become our desires, and our heart breaks over the things his heart breaks over! Can we twist desires to be selfish?--of course, but knowing the meaning of "desire" gives this verse an awesome richness that makes me want and desire to have the Father's heart...because then, I will receive every single one of "my" desires.

Mary and Martha...appropriate at Thanksgiving?

Luke (10:38-42) tells us the story of Mary, Martha, and Jesus. This is a huge story for me, because neither one of them necessarily did anything wrong, but one of them pleased Jesus by choosing what was better. I challenged the Sunday School class to think outside the box this Thanksgiving and to truly show their gratitude for their family (not just say it). But I want to preface it with the story of Mary and Martha--make sure that we don't get so busy with cooking, cleaning, entertaining, visiting, playing, etc (all good things)--that we miss out on Jesus. Join me in sitting at Jesus' feet over this holiday, and make an effort eliminate too many "good" things, and concentrate on the best ones! Happy Thanksgiving.

Also - If you would like to share a cool way that you said "thank you" to your parents/family - please comment and share so that we can be inspired, challenged, and encouraged!

Jesus, Hoverboards, and Thanksgiving Prayers

Last night was the second ever Axis Bowl, and we had a blast! It is great to experience the fact that Christians can have fun and enjoy a good time without the need for drugs and alcohol. The help we did have, though, was a combination of competitions that culminated in leaf-blower powered hover-boards. Plywood, plastic, staples, duck tape, and pvc piping can do wonderful things when put together in the right way! Whether it was hovering slightly above the ground, getting nailed with a dodgeball, winning a wii tennis match, or whatever - it was more than just games. James 1:17 states that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights..." It is cool to know that Jesus was in the midst of playing and laughing and singing, because it was all good. Sometimes we don't think about Jesus as one to throw his head back and laugh or to play and have fun - but He was the one that placed our humor and sense of adventure and healthy competition inside of us!

Other than announcing the winners of the evening (who happened to be the seniors), we ended the evening with a thought about prayer. Jesus taught us to pray to "Abba" - to "Dad" (Matt. 6:9), and not to pray long meaningless, babbling prayers, but to pray to Dad about what's on our hearts--good and bad. We had a blast last night, and we spent the evening playing in the presence of God for the glory of God, and we talked to Him about it and thanked Him for it! Please don't get caught in boring, monotonous prayers that become automatic and you don't think about them. Kind of like this one..."Lord, please bless this food to the nourishment of my body..." Chances are you've prayed that before your meal...and I'm not saying that's wrong to pray...but why do you pray it? Are you afraid it might not nourish you? (Isn't food, by definition, nourishing?) It's kind of like praying..."Lord, please bless this soap to the cleanliness of my body" before you take a shower! :) So you now have my permission to show the world that Christians have fun, exciting lives; and you also have my permission to smirk next Thursday when someone prays for the food at Thanksgiving dinner!

Spiritual Warfare

The last two weeks at our Wednesday night Axis meetings we have discussed some issues regarding Satan, demons, and the spiritual realm. We didn't have enough time to cover everything I would have liked, so I promised to post a blog so that we can have more discussion and comments if you would like to know more. Please post a comment if you have any questions about the spiritual, demonic, or other issues regarding spiritual warfare, and I will do my very best to give you as much info as possible. Also, spread the word about this blog page, because it's got the youth calendar at the bottom, recent update stuff with the texting on the side bar, etc. Thanks, and remember to pray today: "God, give me your eyes."

Do Hard Things

I've been reading a book by that title (Do Hard Things), and have been challenged in my life and ministry to raise my standards and expectations. Not just of myself, but of the people I lead and teach. Think about the average teenager...what is expected of them...of a "good" teenager? Basically, to not drink, do drugs, have sex, etc., and to try and make their beds and do a chore or two. If this describes you, good job! You have met the cultural norm for a "good" teen. The problem is that you are praised for the things you don't do instead of the things you actually attempt or accomplish. Paul wrote that "when I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (1 Cor. 13:11). He didn't say that "after I was a child, I was a teenager, and then after I had my care-free years as a teen, I grew up after college." This is a call for not only teens, but everybody to break out of the low expectations set by our society, and do things that challenge us and our comfort zones. Step up this week and allow God to use you to the potential He created you to be!

Also, a quick update - AXIS has been awesome! We started a quarterly "AXIS BOWL" competition/outreach night in September, and will be having another one in a few weeks. We are growing in number, and we have been challenged spiritually by the book of James, and how we need to improve our lives as disciples of Jesus.

Catch-Up

So it's been well over a month and no blog - sorry. We have been movin' and a shakin, and staying busy. God is doing some awesome things here at Carterville, especially as the school year has started and we are getting into a routine. We have been meeting for Axis each Wednesday night and are having a blast. The Theme for the fall is called "Reflection," and is based out of James 1:22-25 (feel free to read it!), and we are learning about the difference between the way we often see ourselves when we look in the mirror vs. the way that God sees us. Small groups are just now starting, and we have a record number of students in these groups, which is awesome! I will close this "update" blog with an interesting fact. You probably knew that both sound and light have "waves," but did you know they are extremely similar? The major difference between them is the incredible difference in the "pitch/frequency" of these waves. THEREFORE, because God is way beyond our human limitations, it is very possible that he hears light and sees sound in color!! How cool is that? Apply that to singing worship - he not only hears it...he sees a beautiful rainbow of praise! And who knows, maybe when we get our new bodies in heaven...maybe we could too. A cool thought. Make some new colors and sounds to day for Jesus!

Kickoff!

I'm really exited about getting things kicked off for this fall, and we are celebrating by a sweet pool party this Sunday night! We are meeting at Dave Punch's house from 5:30 to 9:30 for food (burgers and stuff), fun (swimming, big-screen tv, basketball, games, etc.), and friends! Please come and bring a friend or two! Let me know if you have any questions.

Where did the Summer Go?

It's already a week into August, and school is knocking on the door! I'm pumped about getting AXIS geared up for the fall, because we are going to be doing some great stuff. I want to keep everybody up to date on what is coming up and what's happening, so here are some options to stay in the loop this fall:
1. Come to church and listen to announcements!
2. If you have a texting plan on your cell phone, follow the directions to the left on the sidebar - I will be sending mass text messages to everybody to let them know upcoming stuff, changes in schedules, etc.
3. Become my friend on Facebook. I will send out invitations to events through Facebook, and keep up to date on stuff.
4. Check up on our AXIS Google Calendar

CIY "Move" Day 5: Got Power?

Today was quite interesting - we went to bed last night to the sound of rain and thunder, and we woke up this morning with no electricity! It was campus wide, which made for a difficult, yet still productive morning. We all set spiritual goals for ourselves to be accomplished over the next year and even proceeded to write out specific action steps to accomplish them. The campus employees and the CIY staff worked very hard to get the electricity up and running in the main arena where we had been meeting for worship and the messages, and it worked...for a few minutes. The power went out again right as we started the first worship song, but we were up and running again within about 20 minutes or so after hooking up a generator. God truly came through tonight again. Robin spoke tonight, and it was by far the most emotional evening as we were challenged to stand up and stand firm! Youth group time was great as we listened to the graduated seniors give their advice about being a Christian in high school, and we all laughed and cried and prayed together. I love it when the church becomes what God designed it to be, and we experienced that today and this week - we had true community. We will be having 4 baptisms when we get home (Robbie spoke up tonight), and possibly even a couple of rebaptisms...we still have a little more to talk through there. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that Autumn made the decision to go into full-time ministry (probably MCC as her college first), and we have others that have been able to deal with sin and past issues that have been weighing them down. Chains have been broken and God's people have been set free! Pray for safe travel tomorrow (well, today), and I will see you soon. Thanks again for the prayers and support!

CIY "Move" Day 4: Party!

There's no way to keep this blog short--today was incredible! Today's theme was boldness, and as we learned about the boldness of the apostles in the book of Acts, God was working on our kid's hearts. Today was "skip a meal" (the money that would've been spent on lunch was saved to be used for overseas conferences), and after a great morning sessions and small group time, we headed to the university mall just to get off campus for a little while during free time. After dinner we had main session and a great time of creative worship. We were challenged well by the speaker about stepping up and being bold, and then came youth group debrief time. We talked a little while about reasons why we are afraid to share our faith or step up to the plate for God, and what areas we need to work on being bold. We took a few minutes to break into groups and pray for each other to have the boldness to make the decisions that God is prompting us to make. Afterwards we came back together as a group and gave the opportunity for people to speak up and tell the group if they need to make a decision...and the Spirit moved! I have permission by the following students to tell what happened (although I won't use last names): Tyler was the first to step up and say that he needs to get right with God and get baptized! His boldness encouraged others to speak up. Darin rededicated his life to Jesus, and Jesse decided to get baptized and wants to go into missions work! Andrew W. would like to be rebaptized and Andy L. also stepped up to be baptized for the first time! That's a total of 3 first time decisions for Christ and 2 rededications!! Thank you so much for your prayers...but don't stop now- please keep it up! Hallelujah!

CIY "Move" Day 3: Heavy

Yesterday's post didn't really give you a good flavor for what we are doing...it was just to show you a very basic schedule. The heart of what we are doing is one word: relationships. You might call us crazy for staying until 1:30am every night, but we have already been building memories and relationships that will last. We sing and jump around together, we eat and play together, we even share and weep together. Thank you for your prayers! We have been diving into worship, teaching, and applying God's truths, and I have noticed a real hunger for some deeper, heavier discussions. We had a representative from the online community known as "Heart Support" (check them out at www.heartsupport.com), and he spoke about the reality of teen suicide, alcoholism, self injury, eating disorders, depression, and addictions. It was an incredible time for everyone to realize two things: 1. If that is you, you're not alone! 2. You don't have to live that way...you can get out. This session sparked some great discussions throughout the day, and I am excited to report that there are already some decisions being made! I will not disclose any names over this blog, but rejoice and pray with us as God's children are running back to Him! Sorry for the long blogs, but I want you to know how God is moving this week--He is awesome.

CIY "Move" Day 2: Into the Groove

We are all now mostly familiar with the massive SIU campus and are starting to get the hang of everything. Each day consists of a few main activities (excluding meal times):
1. Encounter Time - where we have some morning wake-up music and a speaker that introduces the day's theme before we go out and spend about 20 to 30 minutes doing our own devo/prayer time.
2. Discipleship Group Time - we break into 3 groups (as a church), and our leaders get to teach Bible-based curriculum written for today's theme.
3. Move Experience - Different times from Comedians to serious discussions about cutting, pornography, etc.
4. Free Time! - SIU has a huge facility with basketball, track, raquetball, an enormous pool, and more.
5. Evening Main Session - An incredible combination of singing, videos, messages, creative worship, and challenges that are pushing us out of our comfort zones and deeper into the heart of God.

Today went great, and several students are already feeling that they need to make a decision this week...we are just continuing to watch and listen to see what and where God is calling us to!

CIY "Move" Day 1: Pumped!

We made it!! No bumps, bruises, backroads or breakdowns. Because of some last minute issues, our numbers are now 12 boys, 13 girls, 6 adults, and a baby (haidyn sears). Thank you so much for your prayers for safe travel and everything-God has been so good to us! We arrived in Carbondale at about 4pm, ate dinner, and got situated in our rooms. The evening session was outstanding, and Matt Bayless (our worship leader for the week) rocked the house! The theme of the conference this week is called "Move", and each day we will be focusing on a specific topic. This evening was one simple, yet super-important truth: Jesus is the ONLY way that we can connect with/move toward God. Everyone in our group is excited to see how God is going to move this week, and we are expecting nothing less than the miraculous. Please pray that both the adults and the students will open their hearts and their minds to whatever it is that God wants to show us. Ok, as you can see from the time on this post...it's definitely bed time! I'll update you later, as I expect God to continue to MOVE.

Getting Started

Hey everybody, 

This is the new blog for Axis Student Ministries at Carterville Christian Church.  I will post information about programs, trips, and events as well as information and articles relevant to youth culture.  You might even get a few blogs simply about what's going on in the life of my family and the church as well.  I pray that God uses this blog to help minister to you and your family!!

In Christ,

Shane