TEEN CHALLENGE

 "I pray that the Lord will give you a hallowed dare-devil spirit...that is called by the cultured citizen of Christendom fanaticism, but known to God as that saintly madness that led His Son through bloody sweat and hot tears to glory!" -Jim Elliot      Jim Elliot was a missionary pilot and Christian martyr that died in 1956 while taking the Gospel to a tribe in Ecuador . His words show us that he was bold for the cause of Christ. I am sure that there were many people who thought that Jim Elliot and his friends were fools to try and take the Gospel to the people who were known to be brutal. There were most likely those that said that "they threw their lives away" and "what a waste". But those men were courageous Christians that fulfilled God's calling on their lives. And those people have now been reached with the Gospel, starting with the families of those men.      People around you might look at you like you're crazy when you run hard and fast ...

  “The horse  is  prepared against the day of battle: but safety  is  of the LORD.” Proverbs 21:31     In Bible days horses were a valuable tool in war. They provided a speed and strength that men did not have. They were a resource that men were wise to put to good use. It would have been foolish to leave all the horses in the pasture when they went to war. They could better meet the enemy with their horses prepared to fight.      We have an enemy to fight also. Satan is walking about seeking to devour you, and you must fight him. And although God is ultimately the victor over Satan, we must prepare to fight him. It would be foolish of us to say, "Well, I'm trusting God for the victory and I'm not going to worry about Satan attacking me.". Yes, it is a good thing to trust God- we must trust Him. But we will be devoured by Satan if we do not heed God's Words and prepare for battle in the ways He tells us to. We can't sit back do nothing...

    He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. Proverbs 15:32           What is your initial response when someone corrects you? Is it annoyance, anger, frustration, and pride? Do you make it clear that you don't want the persons opinion? Or is your response thankfulness, humility, and a teachable spirit? We are commanded by God to help each other and one of the ways we can strengthen other Christians is to 'speak the truth in love' and, with the right spirit, correct them. But if we don't allow ourselves to be corrected, we can't be helped. In this verse it says that if you refuse instruction you despise yourself. It is so foolish to let pride stop us from receiving correction and advice. Your parents, pastor, and other authorities in your life want to help you do the right thing. They know more than you do! If they come to you with a concern about something you've been doing or saying,...

  "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them..." Ephesians 5:11     This verse instructs us to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness". So what are the unfruitful works of darkness? Unfruitful would be unproductive. Nothing good is going to come from these works. No progress is being made- they're useless.      "...works of d arkness" In the Bible darkness is often associated with sin. In John 3:19 it says "men loved darkness rather than light".  And as humans with a sinful nature, we do love darkness (sin) much more than we do light(the things we are supposed to do). We prove this every day as we struggle with sinful desires.      So have no fellowship with sin. This doesn't mean that you can't be casual friends with your unsaved co-workers, and that you can't have a good relationship with you family members that aren't serving God. Those are things that can help...

The Blooper and Behind the Scenes videos from The Return of Lester Holmes! Special thanks to Mrs. Anne Adams, Caitlin Corbett, Andrew Senecal, and Chase Salatino for getting some great behind-the-scenes footage and photos! Bloopers Behind the Scenes

It's here!! After many months of much hard work by many people, it's finally done! Thank you to everyone who acted, played, sang, filmed, edited, worked behind the scenes and so many more things! Thank you especially for those of you who had to redo scenes due to me forgetting to turn on the mic on the camera...thankfully it didn't turn out to be a silent film.  We all hope you enjoy the movie (sorry, short film, ha-ha)! Let us know what you think.      And on top of that, today marks 2 years of TEEN CHALLENGE! (that's why this posted at 8:47 at night...so it would be on the actual 2-year anniversary) It has been a challenge to me, I hope it has been to you too! It has been a great two years, and I want to thank all of you who have encouraged me by reading the blog, writing something for it, and given me ideas for what to write! I am thankful for all of you! I don't know what the future holds for TEEN CHALLENGE, but I hope it is as exciting as the first two years h...

This month's devotional comes from Mrs. Jacoba Muilwyk from Heritage Baptist Church in Palmyra, N.Y.  One of our elementary schoolbooks contained the following poem: Courtesy is to do and say The nicest things in the nicest way.     As toddlers, our parents trained us to say “please” and “thank you!” Unfortunately, some folks seem to “outgrow” politeness! They may feel like my four-year-old granddaughter … “I just can’t do manners because I can’t remember to be nice all day long!”      However difficult we may find it, Jesus commands us to be courteous! Ephesians 4:32 urges us to be “kind one to another…” 1 Corinthians 13:4 reminds us that “charity (love) is kind.” Jesus told His followers, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35)     Jesus treated the people with whom He came into contact with kindness. He found them where they were and met their needs (for example, the woman at the well ...