Hey! It's been awhile!

Ok, ok, ok, so it's been awhile since I posted. That's cuz there was... spring break! And I spent it in Africa. Here's where I went:



To sum it up, it was a LONG plane ride (with lots of movies and free coke!), the weather was hot, flies like to swarm your face, and we loved every minute of it. :) But I'm glad to be back home. It had been 3 weeks since I'd seen some of the youth in our group! They grow up so fast... so I decided to add a picture of Cassie! Doesn't she look like she just wants to smile in the picture? But she can't because subconsciously she knows that she's about to walk into a random tree. :)






I can't help myself... Here's a picture of Cassie when she first came into the youth group. (forgive the poor quality, but I just scanned this in and didn't have time to edit it. To get a better view, just click on the picture. You get to see Brindley too!) See how much she's grown up?! :) In this picture, she was being fed baby food... Wait a minute... Is that the same shirt?! :) Just messing with you Cassie!








Ok, enough of that. This past Wednesday was different because we divided up the guys and the girls to discuss some gender specific issues. We discussed the things that we allow to come before our eyes and the effect it has on us. (I don't know... I just feel weird using the "P" word in a church blog. You know what I mean?) The pivotal verse was found in Psalm 101:3 which says (paraphrasing), "I will allow no wicked thing to come before my eyes... it will not cling to me."

Because he knew that if he allowed himself to view evil things it would result in some serious consequences, King David decided to completely avoid anything that was wicked. In order to protect our own lives, we would be wise to do the same...

Basketball champs

Well, another week has come and gone, and we have named the all-around best basketball team for our youth group! Teams from the farthest reaches of Alvarado came to compete in a legendary basketball tournament.
The battles were hard fought (Especially when Ian tackled Marissa on concrete!), the level of skill was unbelivably high (or maybe it was the heighth of the rim... it seemed a bit too high to me), and we all had a good time (unless we lost!).

I don't remember their exact name, but third place went to a team that was known as Death something or other. It didn't fit in very well with the whole Jesus atmosphere we strive for at church, so when they made the top three, I automatically forfeited the rest of their games so they wouldn't win. (Sounded fair to me!)

Second place went to Superbob. A team consisting of all junior high players (Ashlee, Marissa, and Michael) wound up missing first place by one measley point in the championship. Good job!

But in the end, there could only be one winner. And it went to none other than the Angels. The team consisted of J.T., Justin, and a rotating player (the last game was played by Ryan). Their coveted prize? You guess it...



Ok, enough basketball and spam. We talked this week about how our bodies and lives are on loan from God. Daniel chapter 1 gives a great example of someone who realized that his body belonged to God so defiling it was wrong. Instead, we are to offer our bodies as "Living sacrifices - Holy and well pleasing to God." (Romans 12:1)

SO!! The challenge? This week, ask yourself at 5 times a day, "Is what I'm doing right now pleasing to God?" If not, take a deep breath... AND STOP IT!

:)

Pleasing to God in everything we do... Let's try it!

Hey! A Youth Rally!

I love them! Lots of different churches getting together to talk about Jesus! I don't know if anyone took pictures or not, so I decided to include this one...


(If anyone has a picture then send it to me! I need one!!)

It was especially fun to see people trying to make their half court shot for $100! Nobody got close though... I'm thinking that next time we'll do a 3 point attempt!!

In case you missed it, here's a recap of the lesson from that night:

Romans 10:9 says that there are two things required to be saved from God's coming judgment.

1) Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. In everyday terms, that means that Jesus gets complete control over our lives. The Lord gets to call the shots.

2) Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. That's pretty amazing!

These two things result in salvation. (This is the point where you jump up and down and say, "Woo-Hoo!!")

We had 14 students make a first time decision to give their lives over to Jesus. It's a HUGE deal! Now we need some teenagers who were already believers to set an example of how followers of Jesus live. I wonder where I could find some...

In Him,

Blu

Judgment and such!

I always love the discussions that come happen when we talk about the end times and/or the coming judgment of God. You've got like a million and one questions (I'd say about a 50/50 split. Holly asking 500,000 and Rachel asking 500,001). Here's a recap of what we talked about:

Hebrews 9:27-28 lists four one time events. Remember them? They are:

1) Death

2) Judgment

3) Jesus dying for our sins

4) Jesus returning as King

And of course, you can read more about the judgment in Revelation 20:11-15. We will all stand before God, and the only thing that will matter is whether or not our name is written in the Book of Life.


Click here to learn about the only way to have your name written in this important book!

And of course, to introduce the topic of death and judgment, we started things off with a game of murder. My favorite part was watching Brittany get murdered... I'm not sure why... :) Here's a picture of her with some random guy I've never met in my life, but I couldn't crop him out of the picture!



Given the setup of the game of murder, it should be simple. Somebody winks. That's it. But lots of people struggled with it. I'm wondering if we should try it again... Thoughts?

In Him,

Blu

The Task

Ok, here's the task. I'm creating this blog for three simple reasons:

1) To have a place where people can review the stellar Bible studies we have every Wednesday night at First Baptist Alvarado.

2) To offer my uncensored commentary on the week's happenings.

3) To waste time while I'm at the church office trying to look busy.

My plan is to post a blog at least once a week. If you can't remember the web address (www.bluscommentary.blogspot.com), then you can go the student section of our church's website at www.fbcalvarado.org. I'll post a link there!

I'll also try and come up with the most flattering pictures of our youth I can find and post them on the site... like this one!



Don't laugh. You might be next... :)

In Him,

Blu

Oh! I almost forgot! The ducky you see to the left... Don't make fun of him. Never mess with the ducky. Ever.