The Valley

Ezekiel 37:1-14

1 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”

4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”

10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”

How does this apply to your life?

True Wisdom Comes from God

True Wisdom Comes from God

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Why do you do the thing you do?

Luke 15

Jesus tells three parables to demonstrate the quality and quantity of God's love for sinners.

INSIGHT
Many things about God are difficult to understand. But there is one thing about God which is easy to understand. He earnestly longs for the lost to be saved. In the parable of the lost sheep, we see a God who is willing to leave the multitudes to seek just one which is lost. In the parable of the lost coin, we see a God who will move heaven and earth to find a prized possession. In the parable of the prodigal son, we see a God who rejoices with great joy when a lost one comes home. As Christians, we should not let that which we don't know cloud that which we do know. We must focus on the roses rather than the thorns. God loves the sinner, and on that, we can rest.

PRAYER
Offer the Lord your praise for His great love for you:
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods (Psalm 95:1-3).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise (Psalm 51:14-15).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly
I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me
(2 Corinthians 12:9).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
a stronger desire to be like Christ,
the ministry of other churches around the nation,
your activities for the day.

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

Luke 10

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

INSIGHT
The harsh reality of life is that we cannot help everyone in need. From the parable of the Good Samaritan, we can learn several things which help us evaluate when we should help. We are obligated to assist a person in need when he or she comes across our path in the normal course of life; he or she has a legitimate need, not of his or her own making; he or she cannot help himself or herself; and we have the ability to meet the need.

PRAYER
We praise the Lord because He is faithful to bring us to spiritual maturity:
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory (Psalm 63:1-2).

Pause for personal praise and thanksgiving. As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities(Psalm 51:7-9).

As you consider God's mercy, confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation
or shadow of turning (James 1:17).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
spiritual victory over the temptation you face,
reformation in America and the world at large,
your activities for the day,
whatever else is on your heart.

Offer these closing prayers to the Lord:
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! (Psalm 90:14).

Mark 9

Jesus is transfigured as a validation of His identity as the Deity and Messiah.

INSIGHT
The Transfiguration gives us an exciting glimpse into our resurrection life. From it, we may learn several things. Our physical bodies may be startlingly brilliant and beautiful, as we witness the amazing appearance of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. We may know each other automatically since the disciples seemed to recognize Moses and Elijah without instruction. We apparently will not be subject to the physical limitations of nature since Moses and Elijah appeared and disappeared. What a joy awaits us in eternity!

PRAYER
Use this passage of Scripture to offer your praise to the Lord, who transforms us into the image of Christ:
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together(Psalm 34:1-3).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
O Lord, correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me tonothing (Jeremiah 10:23-24).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this passage of affirmation:
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
There is no searching of His understanding.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might
He increases strength (Isaiah 40:28-29).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
greater wisdom in decision making,
your activities for the day,
whatever else is on your heart.

Finally, offer this closing prayer:
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17).

Mark 8

Jesus uses the miracle feeding of the 4000 as a teaching tool for His disciples.

INSIGHT
After feeding the 4000, it is obvious that the disciples do not understand the significance of the event. Jesus says, "When I fed the 5000, how many loaves did you pick up afterward?" His disciples reply, "Twelve." Then again, "When I fed the 4000, how many loaves did you pick up afterward?" "Seven," they answer. "Do you not yet understand?" the Lord asks them. Then, some days later, Jesus is alone with the Twelve, and He asks them, "Who do you think I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Finally, progress!

PRAYER
Offer your praise with the following psalm to the Lord who is faithful to us when we are weak:
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night. . . .
For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands (Psalm 92:1-2, 4).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm (Joel 2:13).

As you consider the mercy of God, confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
You are the door. If anyone enters by You,
he will be saved, and will go in and outand find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy. You have come that we may have life,
and that we may have it more abundantly (based on John 10:9-10).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
greater faithfulness with your finances,
the President and national leaders and affairs,
your activities for the day,
whatever else is on your heart.

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17).

BattleFront Awakening!

See you at BattleFront Awakening Graduation!
3pm to 5pm!

Open Eyes

Mark 7

Jesus points out the hypocrisy of observing traditions yet ignoring the Scripture.

INSIGHT
Even the earnest Christian must guard against hypocrisy. How easy it is to sing, "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give," and then go out to live with some areas of our lives not given over to Christ. Yet, there is a difference between weakness and rebellion. All of us struggle with weaknesses which we wish we didn't have and with which we wrestle in the grace of God to overcome. Rebellion expresses itself when we could overcome a sin if we wanted to but make no attempt to do so. The Bible expresses compassion for us in our weaknesses as we cry out to the Lord for greater strength. But God's Word pronounces a scathing rebuke for hypocrisy and rebellion. We must check our hearts to be certain that our shortcomings are weaknesses and not hypocrisy.

PRAYER
Because the Lord accepts us in spite of our weaknesses, we can praise Him:
But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness,
of Yours only (Psalm 71:14-16).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight (Hosea 6:1-2).

As you confess your sins, pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
You will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go;
You will guide me with Your eye (based on Psalm 32:8).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
greater love for your family,
evangelism in America,
your activities for the day,
whatever else is on your heart.

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another,
according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify You,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6).

A "Nice" Man

And then, alas, there is the church. Christianity, as it currently exists, has done some terrible things to men. When all is said and done, I think most men in the church believe that God put them on the earth to be a good boy. The problem with men, we are told, is that they don’t know how to keep their promises, be spiritual leaders, talk to their wives, or raise their children. But, if they will try real hard they can reach the lofty summit of becoming . . . a nice guy. That’s what we hold up as models of Christian maturity: Really Nice Guys. We don’t smoke, drink, or swear; that’s what makes us men. Now let me ask my male readers: In all your boyhood dreams growing up, did you ever dream of becoming a Nice Guy? (Ladies, was the Prince of your dreams dashing . . . or merely nice?)

Really now—do I overstate my case? Walk into most churches in America, have a look around, and ask yourself this question: What is a Christian man? Don’t listen to what is said, look at what you find there. There is no doubt about it. You’d have to admit a Christian man is . . . bored. At a recent church retreat I was talking with a guy in his fifties, listening really, about his own journey as a man. “I’ve pretty much tried for the last twenty years to be a good man as the church defines it.” Intrigued, I asked him to say what he thought that was. He paused for a long moment. “Dutiful,” he said. “And separated from his heart.” A perfect description, I thought. Sadly right on the mark.

(Wild at Heart , 7) John Eldredge

WE CAN!

In 2 Corinthians 9 It talks about Titus a young apostle that is working for the church all over the world. in verses 16-17 it says, "I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative." So Titus is helping the CHURCH- not just one but the whole church and in this particular matter he is going the the church in Corinth to help collect an offering ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE!

This hit me...Titus was not sent but he saw a need and acted on it with enthusiasm because he loved God and the Church (God's Body) he served.

So What?
How many times do we see a need in our church and community and assume that someone else is going to take charge. But what would happen if we took it upon ourselves and made our initiative to do God's work in the CHURCH without being asked. How many times does God ask you to do something and then you do it? How much more could we move God's heart if we started to take initiative and not have to be asked to change this world. The opportunity is in front of us all- do you except?

What has God been doing in your life? Let your Fusion Family know what is going on!
Post below!- remember to sign your name so we know who you are~

Break Out- We need to do this more :)

I remember growing up as a little boy and Mom and Dad would sometimes come into my room and pray with me before I fell asleep. Sometimes even after I was asleep they would come in and pray. Normally when they did this I kind of woke up, but I wouldn't open my eyes because I didn't want mom and dad to know that I had woken up. When my mom and dad did this, it made me feel so loved and it helped me know that God was really right there with me in my room.

It's time to BREAK OUT!

Tonight before you go to bed if you have little brothers or sisters GO and pray with them. If your parents send your younger siblings to bed, go and sit on their bed and pray with them before they fall asleep. Always remember that your siblings look up to you, you have a huge area of impact on their futures.

If you don't have younger siblings, DO THIS! IT WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD!

Before you get in bed, kneel down beside your bed and pray for your parents. Pray for your week and any other things.

I know it might feel kind of funny, BUT BELIEVE ME... It is amazing.

DO IT... I DARE YOU!

Have a great week!

Break in

We are all created for a purpose! Give God a few minutes today to speak his purpose into your life! Take 5 minutes and listen to worship music and clear out all of the distractions from your week; things you did wrong, homework, everything.

(If you don’t have any worship music get on YouTube and type in desperation band)

Pray Jeremiah 29: 11 -13
“For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Now take another 5 minutes and ask God to tell you his plan for your life, clear your thoughts and just let him speak. He might give you a picture in your head, a word, a book, a bible verse, etc. If you don’t get anything don’t be discouraged. Try getting up and walking around or clearing your brain of everything you are thinking about.

Examples: I want you to speak to children, Africa, Doctor, Pastor, Prophesy, I love when you work with your grandma, I have sent you to change nations.

Write in your journal and on the comment page what you heard and think over it and pray about it. Let someone know what you heard.
How do you think you do what God has called you to do? Write 3 things you can do this week to start walking in God’s plan for your life.

Love God with all our soul: Personality

the soul: is our personality or the animation expressing the uniqueness of our abilities and desires including the way we talk and walk and what our preferences are. Our personality is expressed most dynamically by our speech. What we say enhances or quenches our ability to grow in love. Therefore, we set our heart to express ourselves and to communicate in a way that enhances not diminishes love. When the Spirit is grieved, we do not receive from Him in the same measure (Eph. 4:29-32; 5:1-6).

So what?
In our failure our accomplishments we confess, “I’m loved (by God) and I am a lover (of God) therefore I am successful”. I am not defined by my failure or by my accomplishments. I am not despised by God, nor am I a hopeless hypocrite because of my weakness. We must live by our spiritual identity (what we look like to God) instead of our natural identity (what we look like to others). Write how you think God sees you in your journal and continue to confess God's words over yourself rather than others. See how God changes your outlook on life by seeing through his eyes and how he sees you rather than always worrying how others see you.

Love God with all our Heart

No one else can give God all "your love" except for you. A unique part of Jesus' inheritance has been entrusted by the Father to you specifically. It is the love that only you can give. We only get one opportunity to do this in a fallen world where love for Jesus is both costly and rare.

So What?
How do you move God's Heart? Try 3 different ways of turning your actions, emotions, time, energy, and heart toward him. We are God's inheritance! Only we can love God like we can! SO lets start today!

loving obedience

Affection Based obedience is the strongest type of obedience because it flows from experiencing Jesus' affections. It is the most consistent obedience because a lovesick person will endure anything for love. People in love are untouchable. Freedom is found in uniting with Christ.

So what? It says we love God by obeying his commands in John 14, not because we have to but because we love him so much that we wouldn't have it any other way. Love requires the wholehearted pursuit of obedience in both our attitudes (purity, humility) and actions (service). How are you going to display your loving obedience today to God as well as to others (your parents, friends, and Loved ones).

Entering the Company of the Great Explorers

My gender seems to need little encouragement. It comes naturally, like our innate love of maps. In 1260 Marco Polo headed off to find China, and in 1967, when I was seven, I tried to dig a hole straight through from our backyard with my friend Danny Wilson. We gave up at about eight feet, but it made a great fort. Hannibal crosses his famous Alps, and there comes a day in a boy’s life when he first crosses the street and enters the company of the great explorers. Scott and Amundsen race for the South Pole, Peary and Cook vie for the North, and when last summer I gave my boys some loose change and permission to ride their bikes down to the store to buy a soda, you’d have thought I’d given them a charter to go find the equator. Magellan sails due west, around the tip of South America—despite warnings that he and his crew will drop off the end of the earth—and Huck Finn heads off down the Mississippi ignoring similar threats. Powell follows the Colorado into the Grand Canyon, even though—no, because—no one has done it before and everyone is saying it can’t be done.

(Wild at Heart , 4) John Eldredge

Living the New Life!

Colossians 3:1-11

1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your[a] life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,[c] circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized,[d] slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Today set your mind,your heart on things of God! Get rid of anything in you that is of this world. This is not an easy thing to do but it will grow you closer to the heart of God. This is the desire of God's heart!

Family Time!

Spend time with your family and pray over them today! They invest so much in to us lets take time to invest in them. Play a game, watch a movie, bake some brownies, play a game of basketball, go for a walk and then take time to pray over them!

God Offers Comfort!

All throughout our lives we go through things. Things that aren't easy and that usually causes pain in our hearts, like death of someone close to us, divorce, not having any friends, depression, fighting with your family, cancer, loss of Jobs ... When these things happen we look everywhere to find comfort, and a lot of times we look and can't find it any where. God desires to be close to to us. He wants to have close relationship with us and walk through life with us. He longs to comfort our hearts because when we allow God to comfort our hearts, our relationship with Him is brought to a whole new level. He will comfort your heart if you allow Him. Then He will use you to comfort others by showing them the same comfort He has shown you.

2 Corinthians 1:3-11
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. 11 And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

Do you need God to comfort your heart? Is there someone around you that needs you to comfort them because they are going through the same thing you went through?

The Gospels As Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale

According to the part of the story God has allowed us to see, the Haunting we sense is his calling us forth on a journey. The resurrection of our heart requires that the Sacred Romance be true and that is precisely what the Scriptures tell us. As Frederick Buechner reminds us in his wonderful book Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale, the world of the gospel is the world of fairy tale, with one notable exception:

It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name . . . That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still.

Let us explore together the drama that God has been weaving since before the beginning of time, which he has also placed in our hearts. Who are the main players in this Larger Story? What is the plot? How do we fit in? As we rediscover the oldest Story in the world, one that is forever young, we journey into the heart of God and toward the recovery of our own hearts. For perhaps God would be reason enough to stay open to the Romance if we knew he would keep us safe. And therein we experience a great fear and confusion.

(The Sacred Romance , 46) John Eldredge

FREEDOM!

There are many reasons that we follow God. We follow Him because He saved us from our sins and died on the cross for us. We follow Him because He loves us and we love him. Today let’s look at another reason to follow God.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus tells us to follow Him, because He has rest for us. He tells us to follow Him because He sees all of the stuff going on in our lives that is hard for us to deal with. Jesus has made a way for us to give all of the baggage we carry to Him and he will carry it for us. He is the strongest person ever, He is God. He died for us so that we don’t have to carry the baggage by ourselves.

SO WHAT?

If you have crazy stuff going on in your life right now, go back and read Matthew 11:28-30 out loud and then spend time praying. Ask God to take the baggage you’ve been carrying away from you and ask Him to give you a new start in life. Remember, baggage doesn’t have to be big huge sins, it can be anything. If your worrying about school or if you and your best friend are going through a hard time, you can give that to God and He will carry it for you. Today is a day to let go of the things that weigh you down and to let Jesus come in.

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles."
Charlie Chaplin

Awakening

The Phoenix rises from the ashes. Cinderella rises from the cinders to become a queen. The Ugly Duckling becomes a beautiful swan. Pinocchio becomes a real boy. The frog becomes a prince. The Cowardly Lion gets his courage, the Scarecrow his brains, and the Tin Woodman a new heart. They are all transformed into the very thing they never thought they could be.

Why are we enchanted by tales of transformation? I can’t think of a movie or novel or fairy tale that doesn’t somehow turn on this. Why is it an essential part of any great story? Because it is the secret to Christianity, and Christianity is the secret to the universe. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). You must be transformed. Keeping the Law, following the rules, polishing up your manners—none of that will do. “What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people” (Gal. 6:15). Is this not the message of the Gospel? Zacchaeus the trickster becomes Zacchaeus the Honest One. Mary the whore becomes Mary the Last of the Truly Faithful. Paul the self-righteous murderer becomes Paul the Humble Apostle.

And us? I doubt many of us would go so far as to say we’re transformed. Perhaps we have changed a bit in what we believe and how we act. We confess the creeds now, and we’ve gotten our temper under control . . . for the most part. But “transformed” seems a bit too much to claim. How about “forgiven and on our way”? That’s how most Christians would describe what’s happened to them. It’s partly true . . . and partly untrue, and the part that’s untrue is what’s killing us. We’ve been told that even though we have placed our hope in Christ, even though we have become his followers, our hearts are still desperately wicked. And of course, so long as we believe that our hearts remain untouched, unchanged, we will pretty much live untouched and unchanged. For our heart is the wellspring of life within us.

(Waking the Dead , 56–57) John Eldredge

The one who came to serve

"Sacrifice certainly isn't the law of our society. America has become the land of short cuts and half baked commitments. We want it easy and we want it now. Looking out for number one has become the silent mantra of our day spoken loudly by our deeds if not by our words. But we are learning a more noble paradigm. Every week we feel the call to live up to a courageous way of life that demands sacrifice and self-denial. The challenge to lay down our lives for our faith, our family, and worthy causes is now a passion in each of our hearts. We do not find our motivation and strength in the possible payback or payoff, but from the One who came to serve, not to be served. I am speaking of our ultimate hero, Jesus Christ. May He empower each of us heroes to live nobly as we go out to face our day today!"

Humble ourselves...

"Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.'"
Thomas Merton

1915 - 1968

"I think we all agree we have much to learn. That's not the challenge. The problem arises when we become selective about who might bring us the lesson. May we be open to the wisdom and truth that often comes to us from a parent, a teacher, a brother or sister, a pastor, whomever. The essential thing is to learn, not to protect some image we attempt to project. Life always goes down easier with a healthy dose of humility. 'Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.' Blessings to all you who are living in humility before God!"

Movement Student Weekend 2009

Hey all! Post your stories from Movement as a comment down below!

In Revelation it says:
By the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our Testimony- We will overcome!

Write your testimony of what God did this weekend in your life!

Together we will move a generation back to the heart of God!