Transform Student Conference
Chattanooga, TN
December 1-3, 2006

PRAYER....

"Our Father who is in heaven,
Holy is Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever."
Amen

WORSHIP
ALLEGIANCE
PETITION
CONFESSION
DELIVERANCE
WORSHIP

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Students from all over the United States joined us last weekend here in Chattanooga for our annual December Student Conference.

Lives were changed!
Students were impacted!
Prayer lives were transformed!

If you missed the conference last weekend...join us in March! We will be studying RELATIONSHIPS!!! Not our answers. Not your answers. HIS answers.

Take a look at what BJ has to say about "Getting Dressed" (make sure you read previous post first to get the context).

I’ve been thinking about this whole “put off put on” thing. As I was standing in front of my closet looking for something to wear today it hit me! Simply standing in front of my closet full of clothes – looking at all God has provided me to wear – doesn’t clothe me. Me actually reaching in, taking the clothes off the hangers and putting them on is how I get dressed. Not only that, but I can’t simply randomly put on clothes and be dressed properly for the day. I must evaluate what the day holds: working out, teaching class, meeting Student Pastors etc. and dress appropriately. I would look really silly going to work out all dressed up for a wedding, or going to a meeting with my boss in my workout clothes. I would be inappropriately dressed. I must also be ready to put on different clothes if the situation changes.

It is much that way with this concept of putting off and putting on. It is not a checklist I start with in the beginning of the day; Today I will wear “compassion, patience, forgiveness, kindness etc., nor is it a checklist I scratch off at the end of the day. It is me evaluating each situation I am in during the day and “dressing accordingly”. In other words, if I am at school and I see someone picking on another student, I should “put on” a heart of compassion and step in. If that really annoying girl keeps asking you a bazillion questions, reach in and put on patience! (you already have it, it is part of your righteous wardrobe). When someone has spread lies about you, take off anger, wrath, malice and slander (they don’t look good on you any way) and put on forgiveness and love. Be intentional in what you “wear”! Dress for the occasion.

Put Off…Put On…

Sorry it has been so long since we have put anything on the Blog. This summer was insanely busy for Transform Student Ministry. With Boot Camp ’06 and many other events behind us we are back and hope to be updating the blog more often (btw…check out http://www.transformstudent.org/ for downloads of Boot Camp pics and messages)!

Many of us struggle in our day to day lives with “living the Christian life.” I personally know how hard it is…each morning when I wake up my heart is to live a life that brings glory and honor to God…yet each night I go to bed and look back over my day and see all the areas I failed in (to top it all off it’s usually the same stuff time and again). Currently, we are going through the Covenant Precept Upon Precept study on Tuesday mornings with a group of Homeschoolers. This week’s lesson entitled “The Exchanging of Two Robes,” helped me answer my own question, “How do I live the Christian life?”

We studied 1 Samuel 18:1-5 and saw where Jonathan loved David so much he wanted to make a covenant with him. The text tells us that “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.” We learned that this type of covenant, exchanging of robes, signified an identity change. When Jonathan gave David his robe along with all the other stuff, he was giving David access to his identity. He was telling David in that act that everything he (Jonathan) had, now belonged to David. For me, this story seemed a little strange. Why would one guy love another guy so much that he gave him his robe? Why would one guy love another guy so much that he wanted him to have his identity?

The study then took us to the New Testament and it started to make a whole lot more sense! In the New Testament God makes a covenant with His believers. He gives us the gift of Christ to put on. Galatians 3:26-27 states, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Okay, so…as a Christian I have clothed myself with Christ…so what? What does this look like? Our studies took us to several different scriptures which I highly recommend you look up and read (Romans 13:12-14; Ephesians 4:17-32; and Colossians 3:1-17). In working through each of these I saw that I am to “put off” the old and “put on” the new. What does this look like? I learned in Romans that I am to lay aside deeds of darkness…carousing, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, sensuality, strife and jealousy…all of those are part of my old self. In Ephesians I saw that my new self is in the likeness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Like Jonathan gave David his robe for identity…God has given me His identity through Christ who “…emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8) It’s amazing to see that in order for me to put on Christ…He had to put on flesh and the suffer death on a cross! What? Say it again…Christ came to earth as a man died then rose again to new life…so that I can put on the new self!

The truth: Christ died and set me free…but, each morning I have a choice to either put on the deeds of my flesh, or put on my identity in Christ.

So…how do I live the Christian life? I make the choice to put on Christ and walk in truth, trusting Him to show me the parts of my life that need to be more like Him. The freedom is knowing that I no longer have to try in my own strength to be holy and righteous…I have Hisstrength in me because I am “robed” in Him.

How about a little Q & A to spice things up a bit??

Question...

OK so a situation JUST occurred (while i was writing this email) and I do not know how to handle it. So a friend of mine always says she wants to get closer with God but the fruits aren't there. We've had long talks about modesty and random things I've learned over the years. Now with prom coming up, she's been asked by a few guys. They all party. I told her she should tell the guys she would not want to attend a drinking party. She told me she had nothing against it as long as she didn't drink. I tried explaining to her that it's not that she's a "bad person" if she went, but it wasn't doing anything for her to "stand out" for Christ. As I tried to explain, she just kept telling me "WHY DO YOU THINK I WOULD DRINK?" She was hearing what she wanted to hear. I was trying to explain to her I did not think she was a bad person if she went to the party, but it wasn't "standing out" by any means for Christ. I wanted her to know she could do whatever she wanted, but I also want her to know the alternative. She took it as nothing but an insult. We talk about everything so it wasn't out of the orient for me to talk to her. I don't want to come on too strong, but I don't want her walking luke warm and thinking all is alright either. If she died the next day and things weren't ok, and I didn't say ANYTHING to her, I couldn't live with that. (p.s. she's justifying that her parents are ok with everything as long as she doesn't drink... i pointed out she's not 21 and if the cops showed up she wouldn't just be chillin there even tho she wasn't drinking.) if you have any advice to offer please do help me.
As far as stuff with your friend goes…this is what I would do!

Answer...

1. Ask her who she is living for…she’s either living for
a.) herself
b.) the Lord

There are so many things that factor into living for the Lord.

1. If we call our selves “Christian” people are watching us! They are watching to see if we are who we say we really are. We in and of ourselves...in our actions, words, etc are a vision of the gospel and the kingdom of God. Like it or not…we live in a fishbowl. So, she’s got to ask herself…”am I showing Christ to the world by my actions?”

2. As Christians we are called to be bondservants. A bondservant is someone who is a slave by choice. This person has chosen to give up their rights and live as the Master has asked them to live. This is a loving thing…because we love Him so much, we give up anything we would call ours to live for Him….we also take on His identity. Taking on His identity goes with #1…what kind of identity are we giving Christ with the lives we live?

3. She needs to ask herself if she’s truly been transformed by Christ. I honestly believe that the majority of “Christians” don’t know ALL that Christ did for them. I know I sure didn’t…I probably still don’t. Doing the Worship study even opened up a whole new appreciation for what He has done…and has TRANSFORMED the way I live my life. If we truly grasp what it all meant for us…we will live changed lives! We will realize that Christ is enough for us…we will see that living 100% for Him is our only option…it’s the least we can do for ALL he has done for us.

I guess in saying all of that I would ask her the question above. “Who are you living for?” If she says the Jesus then ask her how others can see that? Ask her to give you examples…this will probably be really hard for her to answer…but, it will at least make her think! Then, just remind her that even though she doesn’t like it sometimes…people are watching her to get a picture of what true Christianity is. Remind her that she has a responsibility to represent Him WELL! Remind her of what Christ did for her…and ask her that if it truly makes any difference in her life…because it should make her want to bow down before Him and worship Him.

Then, let it go! After saying all of this you will just have to let her go and do whatever it is she’s going to do. We can only say so much…the Lord has to do the rest. In letting it go…you still need to pray constantly for her…but, you can’t keep badgering her on every decision she makes. She will make her decisions based on what she is allowing the Lord to do in her life. You want her to make decisions because it’s what she knows she wants to do between her and God…not just because her weird Christian friend said so!

It’s so easy to try to make people conform to the truth. I mean we see it…and we want them to live in it too. But we have to be careful to not be the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. God needs to convict them! We don’t need to fix them! (I’m pretty sure you know this…just a reminder).

Anyway, after saying all of this to your friend…you need to remember that you now have a high standard to keep…and You need to live Christ out in front of her DAILY. We have been studying Daniel lately. Chapter 6 was so convicting to me! It’s the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. I remember the story as a kid…but it REALLY impacted me this year! I was going to type out the whole story…but figured you could read it for yourself! You really should!! J Pay close attention to verse 4, 5, & 22. We need to live lives like Daniel…when people try to find stuff wrong with us they can’t because we live our lives according to the Word of God! It’s not easy…trust me I KNOW. I’m going through a REALLY tough situation right now because I’ve had to make some hard decisions on stuff that doesn’t feel good…but, I know I did what was right…and people can’t look at me and say…oh Brooke, well, she’s cool but………..I want people to look at me and see Christ ALL OVER me! I know you want the same for yourself! But, your friend, might (I don’t know if she will), try to find something about you to point out…you need to be ready to answer that…and live your life 100% for Him!

March was an extremely busy month for Transform student ministries. When I sit back and think about all the things we learned, and all the things we saw, all the people we met, and all the things God did...I'm amazed!

The Worship study STILL (3 weeks later) has me thinkin! Every time I sing a song about Christ and what He did for me...I can't help but worship Him. I don't deserve the life I have...it's only by His grace that I wake up each morning and head to work. I so want to know Him more...like BJ said...I need to know WHO I'm worshipping!

Last week we were in Seattle. We did a study on forgiveness there. That study CHANGED my life! I know it changed A LOT of yours as well...it's amazing how it all works. There have been several times in my life where I feel YUCK and I can't figure out why. Usually it's because I'm holding some unforgiveness toward someone! I know, that once I forgive that person I am set free! (If you have questions about this feel free to email us at transform@precept.org).



Anyway, I'm sad March is over...but I can't wait to see what the Lord does in each one of your lives! Stay in the Word...Keep seeking Him! After all He has done for us...it's the least we can do for Him!

So I (BJ) have really been thinking about worship since the conference this past weekend. Students as a whole really have the “acts of worship” down pretty well. They are good at entering into singing and praising. The question that needs to be asked is “Do they know who they are singing to?” Can you worship someone or something you don’t really know? Is it enough to sing and raise your hands (which are good) but don’t connect with the God they are singing to.

Scripture is clear that one of the main ways to know God is through the study of His word and allowing it and the Holy Spirit to transform our lives. If the only Word you get are the lyrics to the songs you are singing, is that really enough? Can you get to know God intimately if you spend limited time with Him throughout the week? How can the God of the universe speak to me if the only time I spend with Him is during “corporate” worship (the time we get together as a group such as church or youth group). Is it enough of an experience to get to know the One I am singing to? Where does a daily experience of speaking to God and hearing from God fit in? Is that kind of experience necessary for true worship?

I believe it is. Jesus seemed to think it was important to spend time with His Father. We see many passages that refer to Him getting alone to pray and spend time with Him. He doesn’t do anything unless the Father directs Him to do it. If that is true, how did He find out what God wanted Him to do unless He was talking to Him at times other then when He and the disciples were engaged in corporate worship.

The word God has hammered me with this year is “intentional” (which means, to choose to do something, determined, to do on purpose or by design). He has me evaluating everything in my life in light of that word. So the question I ask in regards to worship with that in mind is this, “Have acts of worship somehow replaced intentional times of personal, prayer and Bible study in my life? Unless the Holy Spirit is actively Transforming my life, then growth is not happening. Worship is both corporate and individual. I read recently “that one purpose of corporate worship is to train believers to worship on their own. If this training doesn’t take place than it simply becomes a “fix” one gets and hopes will carry him through until the next corporate worship experience.” Perhaps that explains why we leave conferences and camps on a high, only to hit rock bottom when the “fix” runs out. I need to be intentional in my prayer life and personal Bible Study which in turn will lead to amazing personal worship. The evidence of an amazing personal worship is a Transformed life.

If you would like help being intentional in your times of personal worship with Bible study let us know what topics you would be interested in and we can post devos that would move you forward and Transform your worship!

So what did you think about the Transform Student Conference in Chattanooga? What did you learn about worship? Share you comments with us!!! We will be posting something this week...so be looking back for new info!!!