The Rock Junior High

Pictures from the Special Olympics

G For Jesus volunteered at the Special Olympics on Saturday and we had a blast!!!

What Are You Doing!?!

So - I admit, starting out a posting about our reading schedule/focus for Sunday with a beer commercial is a little odd... but it is the title of our lesson...  Chandra's teaching this Sunday about accountability.

What is accountability you wonder?  It has two parts... (1) Being obliged to answer for your actions; and (2) Answering to an authority that may impose penalty for failure.  I'm not sure if it seems like it to you at first, but this has everything to do with being a Christian!  The Bible teaches that we are accountable to God for our actions - it also teaches that we as Christians have a responsibility to help each other live like we should!

This week, take a step back and think about what you're doing...  Is there stuff you're happy you're doing?  Is there stuff your hiding and ashamed of?  For me, at least, it's a mix of both...  Rather than look around at other people, let's take the more difficult road and use the time we spend with God this week and our time together this Sunday to give ourselves an honest answer to the question,"What am I doing?"

Reading:
Monday: Romans 14:1-6 | Tuesday: Romans 14:7-13 | Wednesday: Romans 14:14-23 (chewy - give yourself more time on this one!) | Thursday: Galatians 6:1-7 | Friday: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 | Saturday: Matthew 12:33-37

Good News!

After several days of waiting for Jesus to add me on myspace, I gave up and found another Jesus.  He accepted me right away - much more theologically sound in my opinion!

Also, now I don't have to rank any of my friends in order to have a top four on myspace!

Awaiting Approval from Jesus - Day 3

It's been over 48 hours since I found Jesus on myspace and requested His approval.  No word yet on His decision...

Me | Me | Me | Me

A few years back, I was talking to a therapist in order to get treatment for depression.  Some of the best advice that she gave me was to make a point once every day of doing something just because I enjoy it.  Taking her advice (along with a little Wellbutrin...) did a lot to help me get through a difficult time. 

I did find one thing that helped me even more though - focusing on how I could help other people.  Seriously, the days that I made a point of doing one thing, just to help another person enjoy life more - I felt so much better!

I'm not sure why I'm so surprised.   The Bible is full of these types of instructions for living...   Philippians 2 tells us we should make a point to think about the needs of others, in Matthew 6, Jesus says that if we take care of what God asks us to do (1 - Love God and 2 - Love Others [Mark 12]), God will handle the rest of the details...  God gave us these instructions to make our lives better - not because He has nothing better to do than make up pointless rules!

This week, we're talking about how to feel about ourselves - a discussion that is always more productive when we think about how God asks us to feel about others...  See you Sunday!

Reading:

Monday - Mark 12:28-31 | Tuesday - John 13:34-35 | Wednesday - Matthew 6:25-34 | Thursday - Philippians 2:1-4 | Friday - Psalm 139: 1-6 | Saturday - Psalm 139: 7-18

Bare Bones...

Just the reading schedule this week - my brains a little overloaded...

Monday: Colossians 3:1-11 | Tuesday: Colossians 3:12-17 | Wednesday: Colossians 3:18-25 | Thursday: Ephesians 6:1-4 | Friday: Ephesians 6:5-9 | Saturday (sit down, you'll be a while): Genesis 37:1-36 AND Genesis 39:1-6

MOTHER OF MERCY! I DON'T SPEAK JAPANESE!!!

Yes... I stole it from Slate.  But this is still an excellent use of time!

How about I sock you in the mouth?

I had a youth leader that had this picture laminated on a plaque in his office.  Underneath the picture, the plaque said, "Robin Ventura: the only player to get 5 hits off Nolan Ryan in one inning."

The deal is, Ventura charged the mound after Ryan accidentally hit him.  As he came barreling toward Ryan, Ryan simply sidestepped, put Ventura in a headlock, and pounded on him until somebody broke them up.  This doesn't have a ton to do with our lesson this week - I just always thought this picture was awesome!

Oliver Wendell Holmes (not a baseball player) does have something to do with what we're talking about this week though.  He said, "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."  This week, we're talking about freedom, and responsibility.  God had even better stuff to say on the subject than Mr. Holmes - you should come hear it!

Reading (Romans 6 is chewy stuff - take it slow...):
Monday - Romans 6:1-2 | Tuesday - Romans 6:3-4 | Wednesday - Romans 6:5-7 | Thursday - Romans  6:8-14 | Friday - Romans 6:15-18 | Saturday - Romans 6: 19-23

Memory Verse:
Romans 6:1-2
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?  Of course not!  Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

PS - Sorry (Cambria) I didn't post last week - I just plain old forgot!!! : (

PPS - Get your Special Olympics applications in ASAP - you can't go if I don't get it into the Special Olympics on time!!!