UNASHAMED - Session 1

My goodness. This weekend at Faith Baptist Bible College was amazing. I attended the annual youth conference, and the theme for 2014 was UNASHAMED.

 My cousin, Jessica and I. She has been my best friend forever, and I don't know what I'd do without her! 

 My Pen-pal, Kaitlyn and I. 11 Years!

Jenni and I! She is one of the most courageous and strong girls I know! Love you girly!

We met a guy from Kansas City too! This is Andrew, and he will hopefully be attending Faith full time next year!

Boy, did I learn what it meant to be fully unashamed of Christ living in me! It was such a blessing to have Dave Tebbenkamp as the speaker this year, and he certainly went the extra mile. It would be a shame (no pun intended) if I didn't give a 'miny summary' of my notes from the sessions and workshops, so here it goes...

Session 1

Intro

1. Colossians 1:15-18
In everything HE (Christ) needs to have the supremacy. In each one of our lives, we preach 'something'. Everyday, our lives, actions, attitudes, and words preach 'something'. Whether that 'thing' our life preaches is the Christ or something else is a choice we continually make.
2. Numbers 21:4-9
If the people of Israel looked to the pole with the fiery serpent, they lived! They didn't have to walk to it or do anything but look to the serpent on the pole for 'salvation'.
3. John 3:14-15
Just like the children of Israel had to look to the pole to 'be saved', we must look to Christ. We must look to Him, and believe - with that, we shall NOT PERISH but have ETERNAL LIFE!

When I step away from showing the love of Christ, He's not the supreme anymore.

Three areas in life we should show the supremacy of Christ:

1. We are to show the supremacy of Christ in full-view of people's rebellion.
If we really believe in the Gospel, then we should be able to show it even when all those around us rebel, and, boy, do people like to rebel.
2. Show the supremacy of Christ in full-view of people's remorse.
You can choose your choices, you cannot choose your consequences. We shouldn't hide from sharing Christ out of fear. We should show the love of Christ to bring people to repentance!
Remorse leads the Repentance (the idea of pushing back from the banquet table of sin with Spirit filled resolve to NEVER go back again). But without Christ, we can never truly repent.
3. Show the supremacy of Christ in full-view of people's restoration.
There is a BATTLE going on! It's God vs Satan, and every person is involved! It's not about predestination or being the elect. Every soul is up for grabs, and every soul is lost needing a savior. That Savior is Jesus Christ.

God's in the business of SAVING. We're in the business of SHARING. 

Why are we surprised when someone comes to Christ?! We aren't the ones that do the saving. We SHARE. GOD SAVES. Every sinner that comes to Christ is saved.  

If you know Christ - SHOW CHRIST. Be UNASHAMED.

The Wonderful Whirlwind of Life

Wow.. How has the past month blown by so incredibly fast? It seems like just yesterday I was looking forward to April.. and now April's already ten days gone!

Last week, I had the opportunity to compete the vocal category of Iowa's Talent's For Christ Scholarship Competition. It was a blast seeing Laura Christensen who I work with at IRBC, and we chatted the whole day :)

To make a wonderful day even more perfect... I ended up taking FIRST PLACE in Female Voice! I am soooo excited to be participating in the Iowa Talent's For Christ Tour this June, and to be rooming with Laura will be an awesome experience! 

As a Talent's For Christ (TFC) State winner, I also have the opportunity to compete at a national level, and this year, TFC Nationals will be held in Florida!! Lord willing, if He provides the funds, I will be able to sing and compete, but I am honored to even be a qualifier. Though it will be a lot of hard work, I am looking forward to the challenge, to spending time with friends, and to making new friends along the way!