To all my awesome peeps who went on the INFERNO from Millbrook Baptist Church…you all rock! I have been praying that God would continue to work in your lives as you returned to Aiken. Each one of you adds something special to your group. I truly believe that God is already doing something within your group, and it is going to lead to something BIG! God has blessed you with a youth pastor that LOVES you all. I was able to sit and talk with Brandon many times, and each time, he expressed his passion for Jesus and for his students!

It’s my prayer that all of you will continue to live “the changed life” to all around you. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When you accept Christ, you have crossed over from death to life…your eternal destination has changed…and your earthly life should reflect that. Live the changed life each and every day! Our lives should “tell the world that Jesus lives, tell the world that, tell the world that, tell the world that he died for them, tell the world that he lives again.” (Tell the World by Hillsong United)

Some of you maybe asking, “How do I keep Jesus first, as I live the changed live?” So in closing, here are a couple of things God placed on my heart to share with all of you. If you want to live out the changed life be sure to do these two things:

  • ASK FOR HELP
    • Ask for Help from JESUS: We must PRAY and ask Jesus for continued strngth and encouragement to live the changed life. Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
    • Ask for Help from OTHERS: We all need ACCOUNTABILITY in our lives. We need other people in our lives to encourage us and call us out when we are doing something stupid. Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • Stay Connected to JESUS: The best way to stay connected to Jesus is through HIS WORD, the Bible! We must read the Bible daily, allowing Him to speak to us through His love letter to us. There is so much wisdom, encouragement, strength, and instruction that we must seek out if we want to continue to keep Jesus first and live the changed life. Proverbs 7:2-3, “Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.”
    • Stay Connected to Others: We all need COMMUNITY/FELLOWSHIP. We need to join together on a regular basis to worship together, to pray together, to learn together, to just fellowship with each other. We need friendships with like minded people who are passionate about keeping Jesus first in their lives. Commit to an IN-GROUP, commit to INFINITY (btw, INFINITY kicks off August 22, 6:30-8:00…be there!) Acts 2:41-43, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”

If you do the things above: ask for help and stay connected…it will be easy to say, “BRING ON THE HEAT!” You all rock! I look forward to hearing about all that God is going to do through each and every one of you! Stay faithful, stay strong!