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Rose Hill Youth - Welcome
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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 14 June 2009 15:49 |
Sunday nights, David has been talking about how we should evangelize to our friends or to anybody we meet, really. We are to pray for those opportunities and look out for them. There are people all around us that do not have hope, peace, grace, mercy. They don’t know about the love God has for them. How Christ has died to set them free. They don’t realize that Christianity is more than a bunch of dos and don’ts. Do you realize that?
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 June 2009 15:50 )
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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 17 May 2009 09:20 |
Last Saturday, Jen and I were blessed to attend a symphony at the River Center. It was the generosity of Jon and Ann Venable that allowed us to go. We got to hear beautiful music that was composed so artfully to envoke emotions and feelings without any visual ques (i.e. a movie), and yet the pictures rolled on in our minds. One of the pieces was written by Tchaikovsky, and there was brief background to the peice written in the program.
Appearently, Tchaikovsky suffered from seasons of depression and lack of inspiration. Even when he released a piece of music and conducted it, no matter how much the public loved it, he still have severe doubts about it. It was absolutely beautiful though! It’s amazing to think that a great mind could compose such wonderful blends of instruments (and yes I did think of you, David Spiece, when the French Horn had a solo).
In much the same way, Moses and Gideon had doubts about their leadership from the beginning. In the end they managed to do great things for the Lord. God took humble people and transformed them into powerful servants for his kingdom. I imagine God didn’t pick these people for their talents or confidence (since they really started out with none), but to show them and others God’s almighty power to transform and mold any human into a tool used for His kingdom. It was for His Glory, as everything He does reflects back on it.
It’s the same reason God ordered the Israelites to fight their wars in the ridiculous manner that they did. Walking around Jericho, Throwing down pottery, and shouting. He commanded the kings not to collect horses or chariots or take census of the people for war purposes. It was so that the triumph of the Israelites belonged to who it really belonged, God Almighty.
This is the same God that transformed the lives of fisherman, tax collectors, zealots into Apostles of Christ and leaders of the church!
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” -Acts 4:13
And He still transforms His people to suit His purpose and to bring glory to Himself. You will witness it in your own life as you grow in God. You should talk to some of the older members here who are spiritual leaders and ask them about their past. You will be amazed at the transformation that’s happened in their lifes... all because they put their life in the hands of the Master Artist. He works His power in our weaknesses. If He can use even me, He can definitely use you!
-Aaron✌♥n☧ |
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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 03 May 2009 10:05 |
The title comes from a new TV show that features a human lie detector, and in it they give some made up tips on how to detect whether or not someone is lying to you (much like CSI has a crazy lab that Brian Hargett can attest is quite fictitious). But since I brought it up (and just as a bonus), I’ll give you an actual tip on how you can tell if someone is lying to you... when people recall things from memory they tend to look up in a direction as if they’re recalling it from that part of the brain. Actual facts come from the logical side of the brain, the left side, so that a person recalling a fact would look up and to your right. The creative side of your brian is the right side, so a person making up a lie is referring to this side and thus looking up and to your left. Now you can try playing a little game using that little tip...
But seriously, one of the most difficult lies to detect though, are the ones you tell yourself, self deception. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 08 May 2009 13:27 )
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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 10 May 2009 17:05 |
You know, the thing I think a lot about is why God went to such great lengthes to restore His relationship with us. The only answer that continually comes back is Love, pure unconditional risky love. I mean really, do you realize what God is offering us? I don’t think we do.
The point isn’t just a hope in Heaven, but a relationship with God, here and now. Much like God sought to walk with Adam and Eve in the Garden. And how Enoch walked with God to a point where He simply says, “Just come on home with me.” God seeks to be present in our life everyday.
God subjects his Son to unimaginable pain and suffering (not just physical, because that’s what we tend to focus on, but a very real spiritual separation from Him) just so that we can be reunited with Him. And I’m not just talking in Heaven, but he dwells in us, here on Earth! Remember that whole Holy Spirit thing, a counselor that Jesus would leave behind and that we get as the free gift once we’ve taken the plunge and devoted our life to Christ? That’s God desiring to spend time with us like in the Garden of Eden before the first sin! It’s God desiring to walk with us daily!
And yet we have this incredible power within us, who dwells in us, who offers us the fruit from his spirit (and I could really go on about the benefits of God dwelling in us) and how do we live our life? How great is God’s grace and mercy! How great is his patience with us! How long will we take to notice this wonderful almighty compassionate Being is living IN us! We have it better than people in the Old Testament had, and yet we’ve denied who or whose we really are! People in the OT dreamed, visioned, hoped for the day we are living in...
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” -Heb. 11:39-40
How can we continue to live the lives the way we do, with miniscule repentence to our lives? We rebuff against the change God seeks to make in us, the potential he sees in us. He desires to turn us into valuable gold pieces to be presented in His heavenly throne, and we only desire to remain crude metal shapes that, for the most part, are still unusable, because we don’t seek to be refined by the fires of discipline and the shaping of trials and suffering.
We’re not willing to give up this comfortable lifestyle for what could have been a wild ride of God’s adventure. Can you really say you’re a disciple of Christ? See, if anybody ever told you this was going to be easy... they lied.
Read Luke 14:25-33... no really, go pick up a Bible and read it before you read the rest of this, K? Now pray about its meaning, and read it again. Still don’t understand what Jesus is saying here? Pray and read it again.
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” -Luke 14:33
God bought us at an incomprehensible price (because I don’t think we can ever fully understand what price was paid), he saw potential in you, he desired to be present in your life, and how have you shown your thanks? Let me tell you this, the more you desire Him to be more present in your life, the more joy you will experience and the sufferings of this world begin to matter less and less. May you find the desires of your heart in Him and in Him only.
-Aaron✌♥n☧ |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 May 2009 17:06 )
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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 26 April 2009 13:54 |
This week was filled with a plethora of thoughts I could’ve shared, but this one strikes a more personal chord with me than the others. Last Sunday Night, Fred Liggin IV spoke to us about God’s accomplishments in UGA’s campus ministry. The common thread that Fred spoke on was having the right person on the Throne of your life. His point was, that unless you allow God to rule in you... your life will never be complete and in most cases, results in tragic consequences.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:00 )
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