This week I have the blessing of sharing a post from my daughter, Camille. Camille just graduated from college. In her post below, which she wrote as a college freshman, she offers wisdom for herself as a high school freshman. I’m sure you’ll be blessed by the hard truths she wrestles with. -John
Hi high school freshman me! It is freshman college me, writing to encourage you in hard truths that you will wrestle with over the next four years.
As I begin college, I am borderline overwhelmed with the repercussions and magnitude of my sin patterns.
What it means that Christ is praying for you today: Dave Harvey says, “Now, because of our Advocate, we receive what Christ deserved: a full hearing before our loving Father. We are not beggars hoping heaven might notice us. We are beloved children invited to make our requests known to God (Phil. 4:6). Christ was forsaken so we could be heard. His advocacy means our prayers reach the throne.”
One at a time: Andrea Sanborn wants us to consider something about how Jesus performed his miracles, “Most of his healing miracles were simply performed for one person.
Christians know that the realities of this world are beyond what we see. Paul reminds us that, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 4:12).
But what do we do with such knowledge of an invisible war being waged?
May I suggest one very simple way to participate in this war? Join your pre-service prayer team.
Every Sunday at New Life at both campuses, we gather at 7:30 to spend time in prayer for the day ahead.
Greetings, faithful readers!
Do you know that we publish The Bee Hive in video and podcast form? Check out The Bee Hive’s playlist on New Life Bible Fellowship’s YouTube page or search for New Life Bible Fellowship on whatever podcast platform you use.
Here are a few samples of the videos on YouTube. Enjoy!
The threat of passivity
The croucher
Why we don’t trust pastors
Let me dwell in your tent forever: Wes Bredenhof explains how to understand David’s cry in Psalm 61:4, “Let me dwell in your tent forever!” “Now here’s an important detail about the tabernacle: no one was allowed to dwell in it. It was God’s dwelling and God alone. By God’s command, the High Priest came into the Most Holy Place once per year.”
The body keeps score. But the mind and heart do too: Beth Claes says, “Being a Christian doesn’t prevent trauma or eliminate body-mind responses to it. But recognizing that God created us with an interconnected body, mind, and heart informs how we understand trauma
How much do you know about the US flag? Test your knowledge with this AP Quiz.
A theology of awkwardness: Emily Stimpson Chapman says, “We are terrified of saying and doing the wrong thing, coming off the fool, finding ourselves humiliated through our own inadequacy, and not measuring up. Awkwardness is also what makes so many forms of technology—artificial and otherwise—so appealing.
This week we celebrate Independence Day. I am grateful to be an American for many reasons. I appreciate the protection I have of writing without the fear of censorship hanging over me. I am thankful that we gather together weekly in corporate worship: an act for which I’ve never been threatened. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to vote for local and national officials at every election since I’ve turned 18. Democracy is a gift. There’s much to be grateful for this Independence Day.
But my national citizenship is not ultimate. When God rescued me, I was granted new citizenship. The Kingdom of Heaven is of infinitely more value than the United States of America. A perfect King rules the Kingdom of Heaven: its laws flawless, and its systems just. None live in poverty. Its citizens wake up every day with joy.
As an American citizen, I celebrate my rights and freedoms. As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I celebrate the one to whom I have surrendered my rights and liberties. As a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom, I acknowledge my profound dependence, not independence.
If your faith is in Christ, you are a subject of the King. We are dependent on him for life, for hope, for all things. Independence, spiritually speaking, is spiritual death.
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