HC – Jr High – Monday – God’s Story

Posted on July 31, 2007 by ronklabunde

After long bus rides, almost 400 junior high students and leaders settled in at Harvey Cedars today, caught some great waves at the beach, started getting to know new friends, and settled into their rooms.

Our theme this week is “The Secret”. Throughout the week, our speaker will be revealing Jesus secrets of His Kingdom to our students.

Tonight Brant Lingle and band did an amazing job launching the week in worship, followed by the below video which got a strong round of applause from our students. But why wouldn’t it? The video captures 2 scenes of God’s story on film. After the video, Darrel Pearson gave a powerful talk on how our lives are part of God’s story. He reminded us that our lives aren’t about us; they are about God and His story, but we have a role to play in God’s story. You can listen to Darryl’s message by clicking the podcast button on the sidebar or by clicking the RRS Feed. The message title is “HC Jr high God’s Story”.

We are looking for God do bring amazing life-change in our lives as we continue through this week.

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Protected: God at Work

Posted on July 24, 2007 by ronklabunde

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Harvey Cedars – Saturday – Don’t Keep the Secret

Posted on July 22, 2007 by ronklabunde

It’s hard to believe that the week is already over. Our leaders did an amazing job loving and leading our students throughout the week.

This morning, Shelton’s message challenged our students tell the secret message of God to others. The session was opened with this video.

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Harvey Cedars – Friday – God’s Message

Posted on July 22, 2007 by ronklabunde

Tonight we took a huge risk. For 4 nights now, our students students have discovered the secrets of God through Shelton’s message. Tonight, we decided to have God be the speaker – literally. As the students, came into the evening session, they each recieved a journal and pen. After our video opening (view below), Shelton explained how to listen to the voice of God. Then our students where given 15 minutes to silently listen to God voice and write in their new journal the message/s God gave them. This was great moment of God speaking directly to our students hearts and minds.

You may want to take a moment and listen to what Shelton didn’t say so that God could say it.

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Harvey Cedars – Thursday – Live God’s Purpose

Posted on July 22, 2007 by ronklabunde

Last nights’ message on repentance was followed up tonight by focusing on how we are to live. When we repent of sin, we must live for something new – the pursuit of God and His purpose.

Tonight, seven students came to a place in their spiritual journey where they are now choosing to live for God and His purpose. Consider listening to the message that God used to bring these students into relationship with Himself. Also, check out the video that Shelton used in the middle of his message.

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Harvey Cedars – Wednesday – Repentance

Posted on July 20, 2007 by ronklabunde

Para-sailing, wave runners, surfing, laying on the beach, participating in a volleyball tournament – these are just a few of the exciting activities our students and leaders participated in throughout the day.
The Secret Master
In the evening session, there was a powerful work of God’s Spirit in several hundred students that lead to authentic repentance where students wrote down their secret sin placed in God’s secret box. Student’s where broken before God because of their sin in light of His glory.

The video (view below) that set up Shelton’s message was extremely effective in setting up the topic of repentance.

Later in the evening, three students from First Baptist of Metuchen where baptized in the ocean.

HC Baptism

HC Baptism

What an amazing day of God redeeming students back to Himself.

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Harvey Cedars – Tuesday – I Love You

Posted on July 18, 2007 by ronklabunde

God is breaking through. The light of His love is penetrating our lives – revealing who we are in light of His glory.

Tonight (Tuesday) Shelton reminded us that God’s love for us is divine, declared, and demonstrated. The small group discussions following his message began revealing our students’ brokenness and need for the perfect love of God.

Shelton’s message was opened with the following video and a whole lot of laughs from our students.

You can listen to tonight’s (Tuesday) message by clicking either the podcast button or RSS Feed link in the sidebar.

Later in the night 250 of our students kicked back for a night of laughs with Lee McBride (a profession comedian we brought in from Birmingham, AL). Dave Ball and Nate Kirsh got the students warmed up with a great opening act. These guys should take their talents on the road.

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Havey Cedars – Monday – God’s Story

Posted on July 17, 2007 by ronklabunde

The Secret MasterThe purpose of Harvey Cedars this summer is for our students to hear the secret message of the Kingdom. There is a lot of noise in our students’ lives and they have learned to filter much of it out, but are they willing to listen to the still quiet voice of God and if they are – do they know how. Our students will be challenged to get past the noise of life to hear the voice of God and His message – His secret.

Our first night at HC was awesome. Tim Milner and band rocked at leading students to the heart of God in worship. The opening video was extremely powerful – view below. Shelton (our speaker) did a great job of helping our students understand that they have a special role to play in God’s story. We look forward to seeing how God changes our lives as the week continues.

To listen to Monday nights message titled God’s Epic, click either of the following links:

For Podcasts (which requires having itunes software) click here
For the RSS feeds (which anyone can use) click here

Here is the video that opened the night.

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Parenting Teenagers to Passionately Love God

Posted on July 17, 2007 by ronklabunde

How can parents disciple their teenagers to passionately love Jesus and live His mission?

The following are core principles (not “how to” gimmicks) for discipling our teenagers to passionately love Jesus and stand apart from the world by living His mission:

1. Possess the passion for Jesus that you desire your teenager to possess. Discipling our children must flow from who we are. We cannot pass on to our children what we do not possess. Our children will mirror us – our attitudes, actions, words, and spiritual welbeing. The apple never falls far from the tree. When our relationship with Jesus is nominal, our children’s relationship with Jesus tends to be nominal. When our relationship with Jesus is exciting, vibrant, and new, our children’s relationship with Jesus is likely to be the same. We set the spiritual tone of our children’s lives. Our relationship with God must be, what we want our children to become.

2. Share with your teenager what God is teaching you. Our children need to hear how God is actively working in our lives and changing us to be more like Him. This awakens our children’s spirit to the workings of God in their own lives. If we have nothing to share with our teenagers, then we are not “dwelling with God” and spiritual transformation will usually fail to occur in our children. Our teenagers need to see and hear how God is working to shape us more into His image. Impart to your children what God has imparted to you.

3. Pray with and over your teenager regularly. This means praying out loud and more than at dinner time or when they go to bed. When your teenager is struggling through relational drama, emotional pain, temptation, physical issues, etc., pray with them, at the moment, they share their life with you. When you pray, pray passionately, with the authority and power that has been given you through Jesus’ life and resurrection. Your example will teach your teenager to access the authority and power of God through prayer.

4. Ask spiritual questions regularly. Be slow to give answers; be quick to ask questions. Your questions have the power to launch spiritual conversations that form a strong spiritual foundation for the remainder of their lives. Questions will help your teenager wrestle with the truth of God and open opportunities for God to speak His truth into their lives as they formulate their belief system. Spiritual questions reinforce the fact that our relating with God and relating with others about God matters. Ask spiritual question and talk about God regularly.

5. Continue disciplining your teenager. God disciplines those He loves. I hope He is disciplining you. Disciplining our teenagers reveals love and directs them to the heart of God. Though your teenager will never tell you this, he or she longs for parameters that help to define God’s boundaries for their life. Discipline enforces those parameters and imparts spiritual sensitivity to the holiness of God. Continue to discipline your teenager with the same love that God disciplines you.

6. Set an example of Christ-likeness. Set an example in your attitude, conversations, and actions of what it means to passionately love Jesus and live His mission. Be with Jesus daily. Be filled with the presence and joy of God. Be incarnational. Mimic Jesus’ life, love, and authority. Talk about Jesus at church, in the market place, in your neighborhood, and in your home. Invite Jesus to be part of all you do. Live Jesus’ mission – make disciples, who make disciples.

7. What principle is missing? Comment below what principles you have discovered in parenting that are helping your teenager grow in Christ-likeness. We need to hear what you have to offer.

When we embrace these and other principles, in partnership with the grace and power of God, our teenagers will more likely be transformed into men and women who passionately love God and live the mission of Jesus.

To read more on the role of parents in the spiritual formation of teenagers click here.

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Evan Almighty

Posted on July 11, 2007 by ronklabunde

Funny movie with great spiritual and life applications – especially for those who seek to embrace God given visions that are bigger than themselves.

Without ruining the movie, here are some of the spiritual concepts the movie conveys. (I was frantically typing these into my Blackberry during the film).

God: “Evan, you want to change the world, so do I.”
Evan: “But this ark thing doesn’t fit into my plans. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
God: God gives Evan the plans for accomplishing the vision in the form of a book – “Ark Building for DUMMIES”

  • When does God’s vision ever fit into our plans?
  • When we embrace God’s vision and have no clue how to make it reality, God provides the plans and resources to make it possible.

Like most people who set out to accomplish God’s vision, Evan doesn’t have the resources to accomplish the task. By mistake, he discovers that when he “asks – he receives.”

  • When we ask, God’s resources become available.

In the film, we discover that visions given by God will seem insane to others, but God sees them as opportunities to change the world.

  • Are we willing to be perceived as insane for the opportunities of God to redeem people?

On the topic of prayer, God says, “If someone asks for patience, does God give it to them, or give them the opportunity to learn patience.”

  • Does God give us what we want or give us the opportunity to grow in what we need?

On the topic of family, Evan discovers that his kids would rather he be “crazy” and at home with them building an ark, then “sane” and overworking.

  • This makes me wonder, what really is more crazy? Going to work to fulfill our own dreams or bringing our families on a journey with us of fulfilling God’s vision.

In the movie, God won’t let Evan be divided. He won’t let Evan do his job (occupation) and build the ark. He demands singleness of focus to the vision.

  • Sometimes God gives us a vision without telling us why. He just wants us to obey.
  • God is willing to remove anything that prevents us from obeying Him so we will press in to fulfill His vision.

Now go see Evan Almighty and let me know what spiritual truth God reveals to you.

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