James 5:7-9 October 25th - Monday

 ⁷Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. ⁹Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Let me know your thoughts

1. How can we be patient until the Lords coming?  What will that look like?
2. Why do we grumble against eachother?
3. Why is that wrong?
4. What does it mean when it says we will be judged?

James 4:13-17 - Friday October 22nd

James 4: 13 - 17

¹³Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." ¹⁶As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Ben's Comments:

-For me this verse came at a very good time..  It is pretty cool how the word of God can comfort and can help me know how to think and how to live..  Sometimes God brings verse into your mind and lets you read something you need to hear. For me that was this verse.  Keep on doing the DDI, keep getting into the Bible and God can speak to you through it.
- A lot of times we can plan for the future but we don't even know what tomorrow will bring.
- What we do and how we plan our life matters.
- If we are so busy planning what we are going to do then we can miss what God really wants for us.
- Say you decide that you are going to spend all weekend playing video games - but you have a friend that is going through a hard time and just needs a friend to hang out with..  you could be missing out on an opportunity.

What do you think?

1. Why do we try to plan our lives?
2. Why is it so hard to say, "God I want to do whatever you want me to do?"
3. What do you think verse 17 means?

James 4:7-10 - Wednesday DDI

James 4:7-10

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Ben's Comments:

-  We have to submit ourselves to God...  Resist the devil and then he will flee from us! 
       - That is a crazy thought - that the devil will flee from us.
- If we come near to God then we give him access to come near to us. 
- Kind of seems like gloomy passage...  telling us to grieve, mourn, and wail. 
- It ends with a command and a promise and a command. 
         -If we humble ourselves before God and he will lift you up. 

Tell me what you Think:

1. How would you submit to God?
2. What do we have to do for the devil to flee from us.
3. How would you "humble yourselves before God"
4. How will God "lift us up?"  What does that mean?

Looking forward to Tonight! 

James 4:4-6 - Tuesday October 19th

James 4:4-6

⁴You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?^{[a] 6}But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
   "God opposes the proud
      but gives grace to the humble."^[b]

Ben's Comments:

- Friendship with the world = hatred toward God.
- Friend of the world = enemy of God.
- God has given us grace - something that we don't deserve.
- He longs to spend time with us - even envies for us.

What do you think?

1. What would it look like to be friends with the world?
2. Why are we not able to go be friends of the world and friends of God?
3. Why is God jealous for us? 

James 4:1-3

Well I am back from my Brothers Wedding..   Sorry for the severe lack of DDI for the past 4 days... We are gonna be starting back up again here in James 4! Let me know what you think!

James 4:1-3

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Ben's Comments:

-The people that James was writing to were taking each other to court - fighting about stupid things.
- You have no because you do not ask God...  (does this mean we can ask for whatever we want?)
- When we ask we ask with wrong motives...

Tell me your Thoughts:

1. What are the things you fight about?
2. Will we get whatever we ask from God?
3. What does it mean to "ask with wrong motives?"


Let me know your thoughts!

This Weeks Minute to win it!

James 2:14-17

<sup>James 2:14-17

14</sup>What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

My Thoughts:

- He is asking the question is it enough just to believe in God?  Or do yo have to do something?

- Faith without action is dead.. 
- It is like seeing a bully walking toward a nerd at school.  You say to that kid - "hey hope you don't get beat up by this bully and walk away.."

Your Thoughts:

1. Can you have faith and no action? Why?
2. Can you have action and no faith? Why?
3. Faith without action is dead - what does this mean to you?

James 2:8-11

James 2:8-11

 ⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"^[a] you are doing right. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"^[b] also said, "Do not murder."^[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

My Thoughts:

- Doing right = loving your neighbor as yourself.
- Favoritism = Breaking the law.
- If you break 1 part of the law you have broken the law...  Basically everyone is a sinner - if you break a small part of the law you are still a sinner.

What do you think?

1. How can you love your neighbor as yourself?
2. Why would it say to love your neighbor as much as yourself?  How is that a good example?
3. Showing favoritism isn't as bad as say murder...  but it is still a sin. Do you think this is true?  Why?

Let me hear your thoughts!

Also Check out the Duck Tape Challenge Tab at the top of the page!

Thursday DDI

James 2: 1-4

¹My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

My Thoughts:

- Verse 1 :  Because we are follower of Christ we are not to show favoritism.
- I think that this is something that we do a lot - think about school - the lunch room - in class.
- When we show favoritism - we make ourselves judge..  this is not out job..

What do you think?

1. Do you think you show favoritism to a kid who has more money or better things?
2. How do you see people putting down people that are poor?
3. What is wrong with showing favoritism? 
4. Why do we make lousy judges?  (verse 4)

Super Fun NIght Tonight

Hey,

To everyone that was at ACCESS...  wow what a blast.. 

Ladies good job on the Minute to win it! 

Guys way to come back on the Duck Tape Challenge! 
      You managed to hold onto your lead for the second week!  Good Job! 


Ladies you will have to get them back next week!

Both the guys and the girls attempted to tape 4 people up....  Both teams before the 15 minutes was over had 1 person down and then used that tape to secure the other people.  Girls had one end up staying for the full 5 minutes - Guys had 2 Make it the whole 5 minutes!  Pretty crazy! 

Good Work!  Pictures from tonight will be coming soon.

Stay cool and keep checking out the DDI.

Have a great day!

Wednesday DDI

1 Corinthians 10:13
¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

My Thoughts:
- We are not alone - everyone is experiencing temptation like I am.
- God is Faithful
- We won't be tempted more than we can take.
- I like how it says "but when you are tempted"  Not..  "if"  "but when"  - you will be tempted.
- God provides a way out

Your Thoughts:
1. Do you think that God is faithful when you are being tempted?
2. How does the Holy Spirit help us stand up under temptation or provide a way out?
3. What happens if we do not pay attention to the way out or the Holy Spirit?

See you guys tonight! 

Just hooked up my phone to the blog... Oh the possibilities...

Tuesday - D to the D to the I

James 1:13-15

13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Ben's Thoughts:

- Verse 13 he says when tempted - he doesn't say if tempted... He is saying you WILL be tempted.
- God does not tempt us.. a lot of times we may think that he does...
- We tempt ourselves - by our own "evil desire"
- We have an evil desire which if acted on leads to sin which leads to death.

Your Thoughts:

1. How often do you think you are tempted?
2. Why are you tempted?
3. What is the difference between God tempting us and God testing our faith?
4. If you are tempted to do something wrong - is that sin?

Let me know what you think!

ACCESS in 1 day 4 hours and 3 minutes

MONDAY!!!!! WAHOOOO

James 1:26-27

26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Ben's Comments:

-James is one of those guys who doesn't beat around the bush.. he says what needs to be said.
- Verse 26 - pretty strong words!
- Very good way to put it - "polluted by the world"

Tell me what you think:

1. What would you have to do to "keep a tight rein on your tongue?" What does this mean?
2. Do you know any widow or orphans?
3. Do you think there are people in your school that are similar to the "widows and orphans"
4. What do you think James means when he says being polluted by the world?

Let me hear your thoughts!

ACCESS in 2 Days!!!!!!

Duck Tape Challenge

HAPPY FRIDAY

James 1:22-25

22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

My Thoughts:

- We can see there is a tension between knowing the right thing to do or knowing what we are supposed to do and actually doing it.
- One of the phrases that really stands out to me is "perfect law that gives freedom" when I think of Laws and rules I don't think of freedom I think about the opposite - slavery.. How can the law or what the Bible tells us to do give us freedom?

Let me Hear your Thoughts:

1. Is knowing the right thing to do enough?
2. How can the laws or guidelines that we read in the Bible give us freedom?
3. It says that if we do what the Bible says - not just listen to the word but actually do something about it we will be "blessed in what we do" WHat does that mean?

Write me - tell me what you think

bjacobson2@gmail.com

Have a great Weekend!

James 1:19-21

James 1:19-21

¹⁹My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Ben's Comments:

-It is not easy to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry - it is actually natural to the opposite!
-Verse 20 - This is very true.

Questions:

1. What do you think it would be like if everyone was quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be come angry?
2. Is it hard for you to be quick to listen?
3. Based on Verse 20. What kind of life does God want us to have?


Let me know what you think!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

James 3: 6-7

James 3:6-7

" ⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

Tell Me what you Think!

1. What does it say about taming the tongue?
2. Yesterday's verse used words like fire, set on fire by hell. How is the tongue described in these verses.
3. How do you think the tongue is "full of deadly poison? "
4. If no man can tame the tongue then is there no hope? Why?

See you all tomorrow at ACCESS!!!!

Minute to Win It!!!!

James 3: 2- 6

This Wednesday we will be taking a look at The life of Christ. Sometimes there seems to be a gap between the world that Jesus lived in and the world we live in today. We will be exploring the life of Jesus and how his speech set him apart from others... We will also be looking at and seeking to answer the question - how would Jesus speak today? Take a look at what James has to say about the tongue.

James 3:2-6

2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Ben's Comments:

Verse 2: Pretty crazy huh - Says if you can control your tongue you are perfect... Not any perfect people out there (except for Jesus) Guess everyone struggles with the tongue..

Verse 3-5: Tongue is such a small part of the body but it is so important.

Verse 6: Huh.. tongue doesn't sound like it is a very good thing... "it is fire" "evil among the parts of the body" "It is set on fire by hell"

Kind of a grim outlook...

Tell me what you think:

1. Do you think that the tongue controls and corrupts the whole body? If so.. how?

2. Have you ever had a hard time controlling your tongue? What has helped you control it?

3. Is there any hope? Or is the tongue just always something that will cause us to sin?

Let me know what you think!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

James 1:2-7 FRIDAY DDI!!!!

James 1:2-7

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Questions:

1. Do you think it is easy to consider it joy when you experience trails?
2. Why would you want to ask for wisdom?
3. Why would a follower of Christ need perseverance?

Let me know your thoughts!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

Thursday DDI - Acts 2:22-28

Acts 2:22-28

22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25David said about him:

" 'I saw the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will live in hope,

27because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

28You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence.'[e]

Ben's Comments:

-Luke starts by saying that God proved Jesus to be God - to be their savior by miracles, signs, and other things he did when he was on earth.

- God knew that this was going to happen - it was even a part of his plan!

- God rose Jesus from the dead - Jesus conqured death - and now we can have a relationship with God because of his sacrifice - all we have to do is believe.

- I love the quote from David (25-28)

Questions:

1. Comments on what David said

2. What affect does the fact that Jesus conqured death have on our life?

3. Verse 28 Says:

"28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence."

What do you think that to be filled with "joy in his presence?"

Let me know what you think!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

Results of Last Weeks' "Would You Rather Poll"

The question was would you rather:

Kiss a Dog

or

Lick a Public Phone

Results....

TIE!

50% would rather kiss a dog
50 % would rather lick a public phone.

Check out this weeks question!

Acts 2:14-21

Acts 2:14-21

14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

'In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

19I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved.'[c]

Ben's Comments:

- Peter begins by responding to what the people said in verse 13 - saying the disciples were drunk. I love the way the Bible is funny. He is like "they aren't drunk its only 9 in the morning!"

-There are two parts to verses 17-21. The good and the bad.

- Good: He is saying - young and old, man and woman - all who are saved will receive the Holy Spirit.

-Bad: He says that the closer we get to Christ's return bad things will happen. - earthquakes, natural disasters, tragedy, ect..

- He ends with a Promise... That everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved - pretty cool huh? It is like knowing how a book or a movie ends.. We know that one day Christ will return and that everyone who calls on him or everyone who chooses to follow Christ will be saved.

Questions:

1. Do you think that Christ is close to coming back?

2. How should we act knowing that Christ can come back at any time?

3. How should we treat our friends knowing this?

Love to hear your thoughts

bjacobson2@gmail.com

See you tonight!

Acts 2: 5-13

We are going to keep on going through Acts 2.

Acts 2:5-13

5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.[b]"

Ben's Comments:

-There were all sorts of people that needed to Hear about God - just like your friends or people in your schools.
- God gave them everything they needed to reach them! Just like you!
- It was pretty amazing for the people of that day to hear them.. They are like these guys are Galileans - They don't speak this language.. it would be like if you just started speaking Russian!
- Some people even still doubted - They made fun of them.. Pretty interesting huh? Even when you are given the Holy Spirit- Some people still don't listen.

Questions:

1. If you are a follower of Christ you have the Holy Spirit living in you to help you - do you feel like you have everything you need to reach your friends that don't know Christ?
2. What do you think the Disciples felt when they were speaking?
3. Any other comments about the passage.

Keep those comments coming!

Sarah, Alex, Natalie.. Great job!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

Acts 2:1-4

I am Back! Sorry for the lack of DDI here the last couple of days..

Pastor Dennis said we were going to be looking at Acts 2 next week.. Thought we could take a look at it as well. Check it out!

Acts 2:1-4

1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

Ben's Comments:

- Remember in chapter one all of the disciples were in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit to come... well that day is here!
-They were just chilling and then there was a huge wind! It must have been crazy and cool!
- Each person - each follower of Christ was given this power.
- It says "all were filled with the Holy Spirit" They began to speak in other tongues or languages.
- Can you imagine what the disciples were feeling - put yourselves in their shoes.. waiting in this room, huge wind comes, then everybody starts talking in different languages. It would have been pretty chaotic!
- They were able to do this because God gave them the ability "as the Spirit enabled them"

Questions:

1. Did the disciples know when the Spirit was going to come?
2. What would you be thinking if you were there that day?
3. When you received the Holy Spirit when you decided to follow Christ were you able to speak in other languages? Why?

Love to hear your thoughts!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

See you later!

Minute to Win It

Here is a preview for the Minute to Win It...

Enjoy

Tuesday DDI

We will be continuing to look at Acts:

Acts 1:6-11

6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Read the passage above once.

Ben's Comments:
- The Old Testament said that the kingdom of God would come after believers received the Holy Spirit. But it did not say exactly when.
- Just like we saw yesterday when the disciples did know when they were going to receive the Holy Spirit - Jesus says that they will not know the day when Christ will return again.
-Remember how I said to "pay attention to the but"
- Jesus says you won't know when I will return BUT you will be receiving the Holy Spirit.
- Once they receive the Holy Spirit they are to be God's witness - or to tell everyone what they have seen and heard not just to their close friends but in our town, the next town, and the whole Earth!

Questions:

1. Why do you think that Jesus does not want us to know when he will return?
2. What is with the scary guys dressed in white at the end of the verse? What do they mean?
3. What do you think it means to be a witness for God in your schools? How can you do that?

bjacobson2@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

SouthField is doing a series on Acts. Pastor Dennis asked us on Sunday to get acquainted with Acts Chapter 1. This week that is what we are going to do.

Acts 1:1-5

The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Read the passage above.

Ben's Comments:

- Luke (one of Jesus' disciples) wrote the book of Acts.

- This is taking place after Jesus died on the cross and rose again.

- He appeared to and taught the disciples for 40 days.

- He gave them a command. Not to leave Jerusalem.

- A lot of the disciples were not from Jerusalem. They wanted to go to their hometown, they were experiencing a lot of persecution there, they were scared.

- He gave them a command and a promise. The promise of the Holy Spirit.

- Jesus said they would be given the Holy Spirit "not many days from now."

- Even though God promises us that he will give us something it doesn't mean we will get it right away.

Questions:

1. Do you think that we have to wait to get the Holy Spirit when we decide to follow Christ?

2. Why do you think that Jesus didn't tell them when the Holy Spirit would come? Why did he say, "not many days from now?" instead of telling them exactly?

3. What does the Holy Spirit do in the life of believers?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

bjacobson2@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

ACCESS

Saturday DDI

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Ben's Comments:

- I think it is cool that it is not up to us to find or ear this power. When you made the choice to follow Christ you were given that power. It was a gift - not earned!

- This power has given us everything that we need for godliness! You can live a life of Godliness today.


-This power to to live a godly life comes from knowledge of God.


Question:


1. Do you think that you have everything you need to live a life of Godliness?

2. What does it look like to live a life of Godliness.


I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment or shoot me an email!


bjacobson2@gmail.com

Stay Tuned!

Friday DDI

1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Ben's Comments:

- The verse says that God will exalt us. (take us through our hard time) but it comes with a command... we are to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand.

- I love the way that this verse says to humble ourselves under God's MIGHTY Hand. We can trust God to lift us up.

- It says that we can put all our anxiety (worry, troubles) on God because we are his personal concern - or he cares for us personally.

- When I was in college I had a close friend that committed suicide. This verse was one of the ones that carried me through. When I heard what happened I didn't know what to do... I didn't know what I could do.. This verse told me that all I had to do was "humble myself under God's mighty hand", that he "cares for me personally", and he wants me to "cast all my anxiety on him."

Question:

1. What would it look like in your life for you to "humble yourself under God's mighty hand?" How would you practically do that?

2. Why do we always try to handle our troubles or anxiety on our own?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Sarah and Cayla Great comments!

Comment on this post or shoot me an email.

bjacobson2@gmail.com

Stay Tuned!

ACCESS Pictures!

Here are some pictures from ACCESS!

Stay Tuned!

DDI: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Suffering for Being a Christian



12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,



"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"[a]


19So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

-Read through the verse twice and see what stands out to you

Ben's Observations:

-Verse 12 is great! You can hear Peter saying.. "What did you expect? "Of course you are going to suffer because you are connected to Christ!"
- The cool thing about Jesus is that he is not hypocritical - Christ suffered far worse than any of us will. He doesn't ask us to do something he hasn't done himself.
-Verse 15 cautions us... If you are a believer and you are suffering - it is not necessarily just because you are believer.. Example: If your teacher gives you a detention for talking in class - you are not suffering because of Christ - you are suffering because you didn't keep your mouth shut. :)
- God has given us the Holy Spirit to live in us and help us through the suffering.
- And guess what we know how it ends! In the end we get to share in the Glory of God. Although our time here on earth may be hard - we will be free from suffering for all eternity!

Tell me what you think:

1. Do you think you suffer because you have committed your life to Christ?
2. How do you think the Holy Spirit helps us withstand the persecution or suffering?
3. Why do we experience suffering? If we are Christ followers shouldn't our life be easy?

I want to hear your Thoughts:

Leave a comment - Answer the questions
- Shoot me an email
bjacobson2@gmail.com

Have a great day and Stay Tuned!

DDI (Daily Devotional Initiative)

Daily Devotional Initiative

Over the next few months I will be making by best effort to update this blog daily. I invite you to take this journey with me. DDI will give us an opportunity to take a closer look at the Bible, ask some questions, and look for some answers. I want to hear your comments and questions.

My hope is also that we will grow in our ability to study scripture for ourselves. God has given us this great gift of his word - the ability to read and study it for ourselves is a priceless skill.

Stay Tuned!

Hello 2010...

Well.... Its official I have entered a new class of society, a new level of popularity, and joined an ever growing group of people..

I am a Mac user!

Part of the reason for the switch is that it is so much more practical... I am just getting into it but Mac rocks! I am in the process of making our wedding video - "yeah, bout time huh?" 2 and half years later... What I movie can do is amazing. I was using windows movie maker for all of my other stuff... let me tell you. It would be the understatement of the century to say that Windows Movie Maker fails to compare to I Movie.

The other reason for the switch is my amazing wife! She bought me a Birthday Present and was hiding money for a while. Those of you that know me are like wait... Your Birthday isn't until October... You are correct. Some thing that you should know about Hannah is that she is not that good at surprises. Which I am quite grateful for - because here I am typing away on my new present that I would not have gotten till October - plus it is so nice to have for the start of ACCESS.

The last reason for the switch is because I am one clumsy dude.. I spilled on Hannah's computer a couple of months back.. And then just on Tuesday I spilled on mine! 2 Computers in 2 months... Smooth Ben very smooth! Lets just say I am keeping all liquids away from this one!

Stay Tuned!

ACCESS Starts Tonight

It is here! The event you all have been waiting for! ACCESS begins tonight!

I have been looking forward to tonight all summer. It is going to be a blast.. We have some super fun games planned, some good snacks, enough candy to make your heart race for several hours, and a great lesson from 2nd Timothy.

This fall we will be exploring the idea of what does the "2010 Christian" look like. We will be exploring what it means to live and act as a Christian in your schools. It will be a great time to ask and explore some hard questions and see what the Bible has to say about our lives and how we are to act and what responsibility comes with being a Christian today.

Should be a very exciting and challenging fall! Hope you all have been practicing those Minute to Win it games.. We have some pretty crazy and challenging ones in store. Hope that you 6th Grade students are ready and excited for ACCESS.

Tonight's Lesson is titled "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

Look forward to seeing you there!

Stay Tuned!

Well.. We Survived!

Well things went pretty well with our Camping trip in Michigan. We got there with little to no traffic and made it there far before it got dark. In a matter of an hour we had a roaring fire, were eating dinner, had our tent up, and we enjoying nature.. I would have to say the scariest part was the dark.. It was too quiet and so dark. Luckily the campsite was semi close to a highway so we were still able to sleep. Our tent was pretty big but it did fit on our campsite. The only thing that we would have changed is we would have brought more blankets, we were freezing!

Also another highlight was our breakfast - We were able to cook eggs over the fire! Ohh they were delicious! Cooked sausage and a skillet of sorts with peppers and onions... Also so far so good - no salmonella poisoning from the eggs here!

ACCESS begins in 3 days! Pretty Crazy! Our first week the topic is going to be "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" We will be exploring the power we have as believers and the call and responsibility that comes along with that power and that privilege. We will also be looking at the balance between the responsibility of that power and what that means for our relationships with our friends! Should be a good experience!

Stay Tuned!

Going Camping Tonight

Ohh Boy...

Tonight is going to be an interesting night.. Looks like we will be getting a late start on our journey. Hannah and I have never been camping on our own. We are heading out to Michigan to spend the night somewhere in the middle of nowhere - kind of by St Josephs Michigan.. So yeah the middle of nowhere.

We are bringing a tent that my parent gave us.. This tent comfortably sleeps 8 people and has more square footage than our bedroom at home! I have only put it up once and when we set it up tonight for sure it will be in the dark!

Tonight on the menu we have Fillet Mignon, Grilled Corn, and Veggies! Tomorrow we are gonna be cooking eggs in bacon grease... hopefully they are not the salmonella eggs everyone has been talking about - we'll see! And yes I do plan on cooking the eggs in bacon grease, sorry Hannah, I will be starting my diet on Sunday.

I am excited to see a couple of things:

1. How Hannah and I do without electricity

2. If we will get our tent set up or if we will end up dropping 100 bucks on a hotel room.

3. If we don't get eaten alive by bears, bugs, or big foot.

4. If Michigan is truly as beautiful as Tim Allen makes it sound on the radio - Pure Michigan!

5. If our tent will fit on our campsite.

6. If we die from Salmonella - Good thing I have my ServeSafe Sanitation Certification.

7. If we will make it there before dark.

8. And a bunch of other things that could potentially go wrong...

Stay Tuned!

Communicating For Change

I have begun planning for ACCESS. I am currently the Student Ministries Intern at SouthField Community Church in Channahon, IL. ACCESS begins a week from today! ACCESS is a chance for Junior High students to get together, hang out, play games, listen to loud music, and most importantly learn more about the Lord.

Our focus this fall will be "The 2010 Christian" We will be looking at what it means to live as a Christian in their schools. I have begun lesson planning for the Semester and I have to say.. it isn't easy. There is so much out there, so many truths I want to convey, so many warnings i want to give. How do you narrow it down, how do you present it in a way that is relevant and interesting.

What it comes down to is we want to see our students able to live as Christians in their schools. Teach them how to read the Bible and learn how to make the big life decisions. We want to show that the Bible is relevant for today and is their ultimate guide on how to live.

I just finished a book by Andy Stanley called "Communicating for Change". It was a good read and something that has proved very useful for my lesson planning. Communicating for Change focuses on narrowing down your lesson to one key point and having everything revolving around that one point. Sounds simple, and it really is but it is quite the task. I am very prone to cramming as much in as I can. I am looking forward to the rest of the process.

Stay Tuned...

Why should I start to blog?

I have been asking myself this same question. Why does one blog? Should I blog? I am I cool enough that people will actually read this? Probably not.. but hey why not. This demotivational poster says it the best...

So I may be saying this to no one at all but life is too full of fun, exciting, sad, funny, awkward experiences to keep them to yourself. So stay tuned... There are more to come in the near future...

And I am hoping that this is not going to be like my 5th grade joural post. "Dear Journal, I am going to write in you every day.... .... ... See you tomorrow." Only to find the rest of the pages in my journal blank.. :)

Stay tuned..