This is a bit late.  My apologies.

When reading this passage one phrase constantly pops into my head.  “There is nothing that the nearness of God can’t fix.”  James is pleading with us to run after God in all aspects of life.  When you happy or in trouble. 

It is also telling us not to do this Christian life alone.  We need desperately to surround ourselves with believers we can be real with.  Authentic believers that can handle the bearing of our souls and can speak the much needed hard words to us.  We were never meant to do this Christian life alone.  Don’t try.  This is why small groups are so important.  It is set up so that you would become family with your group and tackle life together.  Hopefully within your small group there will be at least one that you become incredible close with.  If you have yet to find that person be on a diligent look out, because you will fail at living the way God wants you to without people around you to help. 

Lastly, verse 16 says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”  This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture.  God is going to answer the prayer of those running passionately after Him.  Dare to seek God with your whole heart, pray for God to move and then move yourself out of the way.  I know God is going to change the world through you.

Wow!  Did you read this passage?  It is short, so reread it. 

Notice verse 13.  I love it when I hear people making plans without including God in them.  Those plans always seem to be interrupted.  I believe people get their minds filled with visions of their dreams and aspirations and never expect God to show up.  These people never expect God to change their plans.  The dumbest thing that you could ever do is to tell someone that you are never going to leave.  You just don’t know what God is calling you to.  I had this conversation with my family just the other day that my goal is to develop students, not a student ministry.  If I develop just a student ministry then it is primary based on my work.  If my goal is developing student leaders then a student ministry could run with their leadership.  I would be naive to say that I will forever be in Smyrna, because I just don’t know the plans God has for me (I do hope those plans include Smyrna though).  When making goals and plans for our lives, always leave room for a God intervention. 

“You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  WAKE UP!!!  This world is not and has never been about you.  The longest you will live will be around 100 yrs. old.  On the time line of just our world, that is puny (especially considering Jesus walked the earth over 2 thousand yrs. ago).  Because this world is not about you, you must be about God.  Your options are live for God’s story, one that has been in existence since existence began, or your measly few years.  It is interesting to think that people honestly believe that being famous will enhance their chances of being remembered.  I bet that none of you students could name me 10 famous musicians, sport stars or the like from a mere 30 years ago!  Heck, I would be impressed if, without looking, you could name every president we have had in the last 30 yrs.  Fame does not equal purpose!  That is why it is important to live your life fully for the one who will be forever famous, God. 

Make your life count!  Make it be about the fame of God!

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!  Before you is written the price for going into the ministry as one who teaches.  Another persuasion not to head into this calling half heartedly.  3:1 says that teachers of the word will be judged more strictly than those who don’t.  Read carefully!  If you can do anything else in this world and be content then you must do that.  It is only when you find a continuous burden that never escapes you and you could never be content in any other profession, then you can go into the ministry.  If you know that you are called to ministry God will continually give you confirmation of that.  Do not confuse confirmation with comfort, because the enemy wants nothing more than more than to detour a student from their calling.  Therefore, much like Nehemiah, prepare for opposition.  I would argue that opposition is confirmation that you are doing what God has called you to.

Now back to the tongue.  I love 3:9-10.  “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be.”  This verse is powerful.  How often do believers curse men?  Not just cuss words, but including gossip and jest.  Jest is a fancy word for making fun of someone else.  Those people that we speak so poorly of carry with them the image of God.  They are the hand made work of the Perfect Father.  James is saying, “How can you worship one minute and talk that way the next.”  Remember this also carries over to the lyrics that we sing.  How can we sing worship from our mouths and then Nickelback’s song about wanting to have a drug dealer.  Those thing don’t mix.  Can we listen to secular songs?  Yes.  However, remember the phrase “trash in, trash out.”  Meaning that what you put into your life is what you are going to get out.  Fill you mind with crap and crap will constantly be your language and thought life.  Seek to only allow things that glorify God to come from you.  Please understand, this is not a behavior modification, but instead a life change principle. 

James is such a hard book.  There is seemingly no other book in all scripture that pierces the soul quite like James.  He is very blunt and to the point and I like him.

Verses 19-21 begins with a plea for us to control our passions.  Verse 19-20 specifically says to control the passions of our heart that are prone to quick, unrighteous anger.  This is definitely a shot to the heart for me (stupid redhead).  During opportunities for anger, the temptation is to shut out God’s voice and let our own mouth take over.  Doesn’t it make much more sense to shut our mouths and open our ears to listen for the voice of God to give wisdom for that tense situation.  Most of you students are strong believers and want desperately for your friends to come to Christ.  And every now and then those gospel conversations tend to get a little heated.  This verse would imply that anger is the worse possible position you can have at that time.  Anger is clearly a human reaction and “does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”  Verse 21 calls us to suppress other passions as well.  We are all capable of the worst evils if we only give into them.  God warns us to get rid of all “moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent.”  The fact that scripture refers to evil as “so prevalent” should be a warning of just how dangerous it is.  Knowing this should persuade us to run from evil and cling to all things Godly.

Verse 21 also mentions to us to “humbly accept the word.”  This simply means to be always willing to hear our faults, and not only hear them, but be thankful for exposing them.  So many people, even believers, hear the word with a closed heart as if God could never be speaking to them.  When God’s word is being spoken, sung, or even read in isolation, open your heart to hear what God is trying to say to you.  I guarantee He is trying to say something.

Verses 22-25 speak of what we are to do after we have heard the word.  We are to act!  The most intense or frequent hearing of God word will do nothing for us if we do not act upon it.  If you hear the word and upon conviction do nothing you deceive yourself.  I believe that in the end self-deceit will be the worst kind.  James here speaks of God’s word being like a mirror.  When we look into the mirror (some of us longer than others) we take notice of the blemishes and imperfections on our face.  That is what the word of God is for, noticing the blemishes in our life.  Reading the word and doing nothing is much like seeing a huge zit on your nose and not doing anything about it, and then eventually forgetting about it.  For crying out loud, oxypad that sucker!!

In the closing of the chapter I want you to notice James speaking of a man whose religion is worthless.  “Anyone who does not keep a tight rein on his tongue” is considered to have a worthless religion. 

Attributes of a worthless religion:

• a tongue without a tight rein
• all about the show
• men are more concerned about looking Godly then being Godly
• Quick to point out flaw of others in order to raise the spiritual opinion of themselves
• A man deceives his own heart

Once a religion becomes worthless, how great is that worthlessness.

Attributes of true religion:

• a holy life
• a constant control of our passions
• a charitable heart
• doing everything as if in the presence of God
• having compassion for the poor, orphans and widows

The world opposes the life of true religion, yet we must be in constant pursuit of it for the sake of our lives and those all around us.

I know that this chapter was a bit tedious, but I am so proud of you for trudging through it.  I do however think this chapter brings a huge leadership issue to light.  There are really two dangers that every leader needs be on guard for.

1. Reluctance to be unknown in an accomplished objective, and
2. Neglecting to recognize the one’s that desire much credit. 

All of the greatest Godly leaders of our time never sought to be famous.  They probably even tried their best to remain unknown so that God would receive supreme glory.  If it is fame and popularity that you desire from ministry or leadership, then you will undoubtedly fail and all of your accomplishment will go unnoticed.  God enjoys bringing those who seek humility into the limelight and those who seek their own fame into the darkness.  God is standing on the edge of His toes eagerly looking for some leader who honestly doesn’t care who gets the glory. 

Chapter 11 is all about those people who joined arms with Nehemiah who never had a bible book named after them.  They never were on the local Jerusalem news.  And they never were hoisted above the crowd all screaming “hip, hip, hooray” honoring their accomplishments.  No these people were the behind the scenes people, but without them NOTHING happens. 

Notice two men from this chapter.  Mattaniah and Uzzi.  In verse 17, Mattaniah “was the leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer”.  Nothing happens without prayer.  The wall doesn’t get built, the builders are demolished by their enemies, and there is major dysfunction in the new structure of Jerusalem if Mattaniah is not calling people to cry out to God on their behalf.  Notice Mattaniah is not praised even in the mention of his name, it is just simply stating that he now lives within the city.  In verse 22, Uzzi was in charge of worship, an obviously needed task when reconstructing the house of God.  Both of these men were set with a task to lead the people, and yet neither of them sought to be the authority over Nehemiah or Ezra.  They didn’t want to be famous they wanted God to be famous.  This has to be the drive of our hearts as we enter into the ministry.  Set your heart on making God famous and point all attention directed at you directly to God. 

Remember 3 things:

1. We all have gifts and talents that make us very valuable, but not necessarily famous.
2. Every deed done in genuine love will never be forgot by God (Heb. 6:10).
3. Our end reward will be measure by our faithfulness to God, not the applause of man.

Looking forward to seeing God use you to make Him famous!

Chapter 8 of Nehemiah is all about revival of the Jewish people.  Notice the two things that cause revival and that no revival can be started without: God’s Word and God’s people.  “We all know that for revival to happen you need God’s Word, but I thought revival happened with lost people?”  Not true.  Revival does not directly relate to lost people.  Revival is the restoration of life to someone who once was alive but is now lifeless.  Lost people have never been spiritually alive, therefore they need a spiritual birth not a revival.  If this is the case then revival has to begin with God’s people.  Revival will occur as soon as God ignites the fire of His Word and moves His people to go and win the lost.  But notice revival begins with us burning inside with a passion for God’s Word.  If you struggle with getting into the Bible, welcome to the club.  However, with time and diligence you will learn to crave the words of God often times more than actually food (I’m sure I’ve lost all the guys now).  Reading the Word daily will develop a love and passion for it that will be unquenchable.

Nehemiah is the first ever revival that we have on record.  Notice that Jerusalem had become a spiritual wasteland.  I believe this came about because of their position of comfort.  They had just finished their wonderful wall and really had no more reason to worry about being invaded.  They were protected, had good homes, nice jobs, they were comfortable, they were safe.  Often times Christians are closest to God during some crisis in their lives.  The reason is that comfort repels desperation.  We will never become who God wants us to be without having a desperation for Him.  It is not abnormal that most of you are fairly comfortable.  You have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a house to live under.  So how do we become desperate when all around us screams comfort?  You have to follow God into things that you could never do on your own.  Evangelism is a great example.  It is not natural for most people to talk about Christ, so to bring it up in conversation would require a complete dependence on God.  Maybe God is calling you to start some type of ministry in your school.  Maybe God is calling you just to love the unlovable.  Hear God calling you to things you thought you could never do.

This last thing that I noticed is so powerful.  Nehemiah went to Jerusalem to “build a wall”, but that was not his ultimate goal.  Remember back to chapter 1 the powerful prayer of Nehemiah.  Throughout that entire prayer not once did he mention his concern for the broken wall.  His heart was broken for God’s people who had turned away from God.  Nehemiah’s means to get to Jerusalem was to rebuild the wall, however his end goal was revival of God’s people.  You may be in a period of life right now that just feels as though you are going through the motions and that nothing you do really matters.  Shatter that lie given to you by the enemy himself.  There is no greater purpose for your life than to be where you are right now.  God has you at your school, with your family, surrounded by your friends all for a specific reason/end.  School may be the means (just like Nehemiah’s wall), but the spiritual awakening of that school is the real reason you are there.  That is God’s end. 

Student know that you are on the brink of something large.  Keep building that wall and just watch revival happen. 

Hey guys.  Chris is have technical difficulities and could not post anything on his blog.  So this is from yesterday.  Also Nehemiah 5 will be post soon afterwards.  Ya’ll are so amazing.

From Chris:

When you talk about leadership you haev to talk about Nehemiah.  Someone who is take charge and examines a situation!  In chapter four you can really look at three things that are very important to leadership.  First we see that with leadership there will always be oposition.  In any stage of leadership when God gives you a vision for what He desires for you to do someone will always object to it and give you a hard time.  Look at verse 1 how Sanballat became angry when he heard they were rebuilding the wall.  This may be hard to fathom as a student leader.  That someone may oppose you in doing something God has asked you to do.  However, as you become a leader there will be people who may not “become angry” at what your doing, but they may try to sway you away from doing what God has called you to do. 

Secondly we see that leaders must think on their feet and come up with a plan. Starting in verse 13 how Nehemiah came up with a plan to station people around the city to protect the builders as they rebuilt the wall.  God does not just give us a task to do and expect us to make it up as we go along.  He desires as leaders for us to make a plan and stick with it.  To think through what will be best for the task ahead of us.

Finally, serving God as a leader is very hard work.  The first time I read this chapter I did not notice what Nehemiah instructed the people to do in verse 22.  However, when I read this chapter a second or third time I saw that he called some of th leaders to be worksmen by day and guards by night.  Being a leader for God is a 24 hour a day job!

So being a leader is being willing to take on the opposition and stay strong to the vision God has given you, having a game plan for the vision, and being available 24/7!  What great principles to live our lives by. 

 Here are 5 things that I pulled from Nehemiah 2.  I know it is a little long but it was a very powerful chapter!  Good luck and God bless.

1. Changing a heart is God’s specialty.

·         We so often want to change people, but the truth of the matter is that only God can change people.  Notice that Nehemiah never tried to persuade King Artaxerxes to let him return to Jerusalem, but rather waited for the King to open up that conversation.  Pat talk Sunday about how we can so often be forceful, annoying evangelist, but the key is waiting for God to change a hard heart to one receptive of the gospel.  Part of letting God change a heart is asking him to.

2. Praying and waiting go hand in hand.

·         Something you need to notice is that Nehemiah in chapter 1 heard the news of Jerusalem and was broken hearted in the month of Chislev, which for us is December.  Chapter 2 is the setting of Nehemiah getting to plead his case before the king in the month of Nisan, which is April.  That is four months before anything ever happens.  Nehemiah resolved to pray, fast and mourn for Jerusalem, but it was four months before God decided to give a tangible answer.  Don’t be discouraged when you pray and don’t receive and immediate answer.  Keeping praying and keep waiting, God WILL respond.

3. Faith is not a synonym for disorder or a substitute for careful planning.

·         Notice that as soon as the king gave Nehemiah the green light he was ready with a “set time” and other much needed requests, like wood, duh.  The four months Nehemiah was waiting and praying he was also planning.  It is important that while you are a student, dreaming of future goals, you need to have a plan of how you are going to grow closer to God.  You need to plan how you are going to accomplish the dreams God has put on your heart.  This time in you life is perfect for you to do great things for God, so get a plan, pray and begin watching God use you.

4. Opposition is to be expected when God’s will is carried out.

·         Opposition to what God has called you to is not a sign that you are in the wrong, but rather a confirmation that God has you right where He wants you.  If you go through life never experiencing opposition then you are NOT where God wants you.  Every great leader in scripture, including Jesus, experienced great opposition.  Remember, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

5. We need to rebuild the walls of our lives.

·         Maybe the spiritual walls of you life have been ripped to shreds because of sin in your life or something else.  One main way the spiritual walls of our lives become shattered is because of neglect.  We often neglect to spend time with the Lord and to seek Him with all we have, both only leads to broken lives.  When the walls are down it allows for the enemy to invade your camp.  We need to allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity to rebuild the walls in our lives.  The first thing that Nehemiah did was take inventory of the damage to the wall.  We often need to take inventory of our spiritual lives so that we know where we stand with God and where we need to get to.

I truly hope God is moving in you through this study.  Pray, wait, plan, fight and rebuild.  You will do more than you ever dreamed for God.

Tonight was such an amazing night.  God truly is advancing our student ministry toward a goal of the ultimate pursuit of God. 

We talked tonight about God being the ultimate and only truly satisfying thing.  In John 6:35, Jesus captures the attention of His audience by proclaiming that He is the bread of life.  Appropriate because Jesus just feed that 5000 bread that spoils.  Those people had come back to Jesus wanting another miracle and Jesus said stop seeking fulfillment in what I do but rather who I AM.  Jesus knew that we all desire satisfaction.  Not only did He know it but He designed it, and He designed it so that we would long for Him.  The biggest problem that we face is that we try to fill that need for satisfaction with mere temporal pleasures. 

I know that I can fulfill my hunger by eating dirt, however that is probably not a very good idea.  Yet that is what most people do.  They have a mud feast and fill themselves on mere dirt.  This is a stupid idea especially if you realize that God has an enormous grandmama kind of feast available to any who would just eat. 

It is interesting to think that God did amazing miracles to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, including plagues, protection, and the stinking splitting of a sea.  After all these the first thing out of their mouths was “What’s to eat?”.  Talk about missing the mark. 

This is what we are doing!  We are constantly being pursued by God and He is constantly putting growth opportunities in our lives, yet we are continually saying to God “What’s to eat?”.  We are seeking fulfillment in anything but the One who can give it. 

I pray that we would open our ignorant eyes and begin to eat at the feast that God has had prepared for us since He became the Bread of Life!!

We had an amazing night last night!  There were 325 middle school student that heard the presentation of the gospel.  Amazing!  Our students are truly catching the vision of investing and inviting their friends.  We had about 25 students that accepted Christ for the very first time.  God is doing an amazing work with our students.  I truly believe we are developing students who want to be recklessly abandoned to God.  I pray that our students continue to invade the world.  The world will never be changed by avoiding it like the plague.  We have to teach our students that they are involved in a spiritual battle, one in which you can not dodge the draft. 

This is why so many of our students get sucked into the world, because they don’t know how to fight.  The options are fight or be destroyed. 

Our world and yes even the church world have been so babylonized.  We truly believe the deception that if our students grow up without getting into much trouble, graduate high school and then college, get a good job, and get married, then they are successful.  Bullcrap!  Success should be measured by if our students are passionately resolved to the Lord and spreading His fame.  May our hearts be convicted when we settle in comfort over combat. 

Therefore, let us raise the standard of success back to what it was meant to be, a God-filled adventure.