FRIDAY, May 16th, 2008

Well we didnt come close to 30... did you call anyone?

READ THIS: This Sunday pastor Chip is giving me like seven minutes to share the devotional blog with the whole church. I am very excited to put it up on the big screen and let our adults know what we have been up to.

So, make sure that there is no cursing or fighting the next few days... :) J/K!!

Make sure you do your devotions today and tomorrow and FOREVER, just like you have been doing. It will be neat when some of your words are read in front of millions of people on Sunday. :) J/K again. But seriously, Stay faithful and come to church in Sunday Morning.

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Brooke: Great insite yesterday. You should show your mom what you wrote. (You can tell her that pastor lee said you need to read this) Then they will know what this is all about and be more inclined to let you do it all summer.
McCue: Great Job man! I agree withyou that yesterdays devos were great. It looks like we missed out on the 45 cent wings. Lets hang out tonight... If any of you want to join us tonight call me at 941-258-0719
Rachel E.: Hey Rachel, Great to see you! I am glad that the devotions were such an encouragement to you. I was talking to Michael yesterday and he gave me your AIM screen name, so I am going to be hunting you down all summer long to keep you in youth group! :)
Alex and Josh: What is up with the name changing all the time?!?!
Gaby: Once again! Great Great application! I know the past year has been tough for you, but as you were talking I was thiking about this illustration. When someone has some kind of medical problem that could destroy the whole body, Many times, the doctors will say: the only think we can do is "cut it out". That may mean that someone would lose an arm or their legs or part of their face (pretty gross, I know) But that part is taken away so that the rest of the body can live. It is a painful process but it is only for the success of the future. I am looking forward to seeing that success in your future walk with God, because God has clearly done some "cutting things out" in your life. We love you girl!
Tyler: Get Cary and tell him that I am going to beat him if he does not DO HIS STINKIN' DEVOTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you... on to the Devos:

John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The beginning of John can be a little difficult to understand, so I want to break it down into just a few verses this morning. John starts out with this famous verse (vs.1), but what does it mean?
The idea of this passage is sharing with us the importance of the word of God. In the beginning was the word: ok, (the word of God has been around from the beginning). The word was with God: (ok, so that word of God was up in heaven with God), but wait: the word WAS God.

Every word that I have spoken to you (from Pastor Lee) has molded your impression of who I am. You could say that I am the person that my WORDS have presented me as. In other words: You only knkow me based on the words that I have spoken unto you.

Here is why that is so important: Because Gods word is the only Physical item that we have that tells us who God is. Gods word is Crutial to living this life. Teenagers, if you ever move away, or grow up and get out of this youth group, and you decide that you dont want to get in the word on this devotional blog: I want you to know that YOU MUST STAY IN THE WORD OF GOD TO UNDERSTAND THIS LIFE.

It is the olny way that you can get to know our God. Check out this: I was doing discipleship with Mr. Eric Cheske yesterdayand In the booklet it explained something that I never knew. It gives a passage in the Bible, that tells us that If we were to "Hear God Audibly" and we were to read the word of God. We must obey the word of God and not the Audible voice of God. The Bible literally tells us that "the word of God is more sure than the voice of God". WHY WOULD GOD SAY THAT? Because He wants us to understand that His Word is more valuable to us than anything else in this life.

the rest of the passage explains that God's word is our only hope, it is our light to guide us into salvation. But when that light is shined into the darkness, the darkness cannot comprehend it. I was talking to Rachel Mace this week and we were talking about how some people just dont want to know the truth, they are willing to go on believing a lie. Although it is heart breaking, some people just will not believe. Just keep praying for them.