What Are We Supposed to do With What We Know?

First off, I want to apologize for the extended absence of blog posts for the past month or so. SSBC has been extremely busy preparing for our upcoming revival, so join me in praying that the lost get saved as a result! I want you to picture your life in your head, and all the many things that you have learned over the years. The fact is, most of us have spent the majority of our time constantly learning new things, no matter what kind of background you come from, even if you don't go to school. We learn math, science, how to read and write, how to pay taxes, how to love, how to forgive, how to get through tough times, how to enjoy the great times, how to change diapers, how to deal with kids, how to nurture kids, and on and on the cycle goes. For the rest of our lives, we will never stop learning. Sometimes we get so caught up in how much we learn, that we never really do anything with our knowledge. The cool thing about all this stuff we are learning is that Jesus gave us pretty clear instruction on what to do with it.

Discipleship
If you've ever been in church for a decent amount of time you have probably heard someone say something about being a disciple. But, what does this even mean? In Mathew 28:19-20 Jesus says "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." As Christians, we know that we are supposed to share the love of Jesus with everyone. But sometimes the devil does what he does best, and causes doubt to cloud our mind. But I'm not good with people, I don't know enough about the bible, I have a physical illness that limits me, etc. The great thing about being a Christian is that we get to tell others about what Christ has done for us. The bottom line is that we all have different stories, different backgrounds, and different experiences. What you know may be different than what I know. So, what does this have to do with being a disciple? Your experiences connect you with people that may be going through the same thing. No matter what you're going through in life, you can use that experience as a way to share your pain, hurt, regret, triumph,and lessons learned with other people who are going through the same thing, all while pointing them to the One who loved them so much that He died for their sins. This is the way that I believe discipleship is intended to be. Discipleship is living out life with other people, going through the struggles and the mountain tops with them, all while sharing what we know about Jesus.

So I said all that to say this; Use your life experiences, what you know, to further the kingdom of God. Ladies, take other young women under your wing and teach them what you know. Men, take other young men by your side and show them how to live like a Godly man. Share your hurts, your struggles, and even your fears with those around you, while pointing everyone to the cross. We learn things constantly from how our life has played out, let's not waste the time we have been given. Until next week, Thank you for supporting The Pulse, and God bless!

3 Things to Remember as a High School Student

Being a student at any level of school brings about a number of emotions and challenges, but high school is unique in it's own way. It is more than likely going to be the best and worst time of your life, because of the many ups and downs. Football games, backstabbing "friends", supporting friends, hours of study, weekend hangouts, and more tests than you can possibly fathom will take up almost all of your time. This may sound like an insanely crazy time mixed in with some fun things, but don't be too afraid. Even in the midst of all of this, there is a chance that you can learn and grow from the experience if you remember these three things.


1) He Formed Us

Genesis 2:7 says " Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." So what in the world does this have to do with high school? Take a look at the rest of creation first. Everything else that God created in Genesis was simply spoken into existence. God spoke, and it was. Simple, right? However, with us, God took extra care and time. He FORMED us and breathed life into us. This means that he values and loves us above all the rest of His creation! So when the hardships of being a student in high school get you down remember that you were formed with care, love, and time, and that God created you with a purpose in mind. You are not useless, and you are not trash. God is the ultimate artist, and everything He creates is a masterpiece, including you.

2) Your Foundation

My prayer is that by the time you arrive in high school you have a good biblical foundation and you know who you are and whose you are. For those parents reading this, make sure you're doing your part too. It is not just the church's responsibility to disciple your kids. That is first and foremost your job! If you as students know that you are special and unique (who you are) and that you are God's children and are in His hands (whose you are) then you're able to handle the difficult situations at school much easier.

3) Your goals

Sometimes we can have such broad goals that it becomes easy to lose focus of what we want to achieve. If I were to ask you in church what your goals in life were, a lot of us would probably say something like "to share the gospel" or "to love like Jesus". These are awesome goals and things we definitely should do, but it's also important to have specific goals and steps to reach them. Do you want to be a doctor, a policeman, a teacher, or something else? Write down the steps needed to reach these goals. In Genesis chapter 2 God gave man the responsibility of caring and nurturing for the garden of Eden. I believe that He is saying to us through that action that work is good and necessary. It's not something we should dread. Reaching our goals takes guts, and hard work. If we keep those goals and the steps to reach them in front of us, it's much easier to stick to the right path.

I truly am enjoying my blogging journey thus far and I pray that my words have helped or encouraged some of you. However, by no means do I pretend to know everything, so your feedback is greatly appreciated in the form of encouragement or criticism. If you could tell your high school self one thing, what would it be? Comment your answer below, and share this post. As always, God bless you all!