I believe it is my duty as a leader, pastor, father, and husband to create consistent opportunities for people in my life to experience personal ministry.  Much of what we’ve done at Trinity Church has been to lead our youngest of kids, students, and young adults into a place of service.

This is something dear to my heart.  I sincerely believe that it is through service that people experience true spiritual growth.  My own life was changed when I was given the chance to serve.  It began to change when a youth pastor gave me opportunities to lead small groups of High School students at a Disciple-Now weekend.  I then experienced a breakthrough when asked by a friend in college to share my journey of dealing with the death of a close friend with his college ministry group.  Then while being discipled by some more mature believers in college, we would regularly visit dorm floors to begin new relationships and look for those seeking answers to life’s problems.  Again and again, God revealed himself to me through service.

Of course there was tons of Bible study, book reading, and prayer, but looking back, it was the experiencing part of serving that helped me grow.  Doing is always better than learning all by itself.

To leverage influence as a pastor, I am working to find areas for young people to lead.  As a leader in my church and a parent at home, it is my primary calling not to keep our children in the church, but to lead them to be the church.  It’s my strong belief that the family and church were designed ultimately not to protect children, but to set them free to demonstrate God’s love to a broken world.

Jonathan Cliff is the Next Generations Ministry Pastor at Trinity Church.  He’s been a Youth Pastor, Children’s Pastor, and College Pastor in his previous places of service.  He has a passion for seeing others reach their true potential as believers and world changers.  You can read much more about Jonathan at www.jonathancliff.com, and you should read his answers to the question, “Why College Ministry Matters?” 

My name is Camie Fulkerson, and I’m from Lubbock, TX.
I guess you could say I’m a Sophomore/Junior at
South Plains College, and I’m a Physical Therapy Assistant major.

I love God and people, and seeing God use us as His lights to the world, regardless of our weakness. When I was young, I had doubts about God being able to use me to reach others, but through experiences like mission trips and a two year ministry internship, He put a passion in me to help the poor and needy in our world, and to see His kingdom come on this earth.

My favorite verse is Hebrews 12:28-29 which says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

This verse reminds me to always have an eternal perspective on life and that the most important focus of my life should be to glorify God. Through His word, I have learned that He can do mighty things through a weak, but willing vessel.

Is there really power in your words?       

I remember growing up and my mom telling me “if you don’t have anything good to say then don’t say anything at all.” In other words, think before you speak. It is so important that we learn to take God’s words seriously. He said in (Proverbs 18:21) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit”. It’s important to see that the man who created and framed this world with His mouth is also explaining to us why we should “think before we speak”.

According to the Scriptures, the tongue has a power. Notice it says here, “the power of the tongue”. It’s obvious that the power referred to here is not the physical power of the tongue as a muscle, but the power of the words it produces. I’ve never heard of the word “tongue” used in relation to God Himself. It’s a word used of human speech. So we can see that the Word of God is saying that our speech is tremendously important, powerful and significant. So much so that our words are a matter of life and death.

Perhaps this is why Jesus declared, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” (Matthew 12:36). “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37). These declarations of Jesus Christ should cause us to sit up and take notice, and consider very carefully what kind of words are coming out of our mouths and why.

Written or spoken, words are continuously propelling us through life.  They lift us up, drag us down, wound us deeply or heal our hearts. Words have the power to break confidences, build lifelong alliances or start wars.  Words can make or break us, both as individuals and as a society. What have you been saying lately?

Words have set whole nations in motion…Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world. Joseph Conrad

The words you speak can have a profound effect on the people they reach. Are you encouraging or discouraging?  Or are you tearing down your own family with words of criticism, bitterness and judgment? Are you causing the destruction of your self-esteem by speaking ill suited words over yourself, your health and prosperity?

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. –Dorothy Nevill

 

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. –Jesus Christ

Elisabeth Anderson

I am a sophomore at Texas Tech studying Early Childhood Education. I was born and raised in Lubbock and attended Trinity Christian High School. I loved my school, but at times I felt like I was force-fed Christianity. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I grew complacent in my walk. My senior year, I went on a mission trip to Bogotá, Colombia for our missions week. God truly shook my world on this trip, breaking every box I had ever tried to contain Him in.

I had planned to attend Texas Tech and pursue medicine, but after working in the ghettoes of Bogotá, in low-income schools, God showed me my passion for children, and I could not imagine doing anything other than teaching on the mission field.

Since my first trip to Bogotá, I have been learning to “let go and let God.” Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Sometimes I feel that God sits and laughs as I try to make plans, especially at the rate He changes them. People always ask what I will do when I graduate. I may teach, I may not. Perhaps the mission field, perhaps grad school. I truly do not know. However, I do know God’s plans are good and that I can trust Him.

WOW! I can’t believe the Christmas season is already here. I know you are excited and doing all you can to make this season special for your loved ones and friends. As we also finish another year, I challenge you to do your best to look at this forever-changing season as a time of understanding the Holiness of God and the Grace that He gave us. What are holiness and grace? Holiness implies goodness, but goodness is an interactive part of holiness. If we may sum up the core meaning of holiness, it is not “good” but rather “set apart” and therefore, good. Here are a few things that I think Holiness means.

1. HOLINESS MEANS UNIQUENESS.
2. HOLINESS MEANS BELONGING TO GOD.
3. HOLINESS MEANS LIVING FOR GOD.
4. HOLINESS MEANS BEING A LIGHT TO THE WORLD.

We see that “holiness” implies a setting apart for God’s purpose. Moral goodness is intrinsic to the meaning only inasmuch as (obviously) only with such goodness can one serve God’s purposes. The holy person in the Bible is one who has had a line of definition drawn around them consecrating themselves, and all they are and do, to the purposes of God. How that works out within one’s personal life today is a matter of individual conscience.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It’s God doing good for us that we do not deserve. Grace is God giving me blessing or good that I do not deserve. In the Bible, grace and mercy are like two heads of the same coin. Mercy is God withholding judgment or evil that I deserve. Because of God’s mercy, I do not receive the judgment of God against my sins; because of God’s grace, I receive eternal life and a promise of heaven though I do not deserve them. So, obviously, we need grace especially for salvation. Without the grace of God, we cannot have eternal life. Jesus told us that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). But God provides daily strength through His grace working in us. We should seek this grace for living from Him. Then, we should believe that He will provide what He has promised and walk with assurance that His grace is working in us.

When you think of the word “doubt,” what comes to mind?
You know those nagging questions that seem to linger in the back of your mind?  The ones you hesitate to ever speak out loud, admit you have, or let anyone else know you think?  Questions like: “Does God hear me when I pray?”  “Does He have a plan for my life?”  “Does God really have everything under control?”   Questions and doubts can be unsettling if they are left unsaid.   We begin to think we are alone in our doubts, and often our doubts only grow until they paralyze our faith.   But when we learn to admit our doubts openly, we learn that we are not the only ones—that everyone deals with it.   And when we learn to live with doubt in a healthy way, doubt can be a tool that strengthens our faith. Doubt paves the way to belief.
 
What does ”benefit of the doubt” mean?‎
It means, when you doubt something or someone (when you’re not sure about it), and there could be a good explanation or outcome, or a bad one, you assume it’s the good one.   You’re giving it the benefit of thinking it’ll be okay, instead of doubting that it won’t be.   Example: Someone asks to borrow money, and you’re not sure the person will pay you back even though s/he says s/he will.   If you give them the benefit of the doubt, you’re lending the money and giving them a chance to show s/he really will pay you back.
 
Every day we have the choice to walk in doubt or to walk in belief.   I once heard that “you can have doubt in your head and faith in your heart.”   It’s better to live in the truth, than to wake up everyday living a lie.   John 8:32  says that “if you know the truth, the truth will set you free.”  There are so many questions about this one word, doubt.  The challenge is, will you let your doubts be used  in a negative sense or will you used your doubts to help you make positive choices in life.

I started attending Trinity Church in December of last year and have been going ever since. I have always known God as my Lord and Savior, but not until last year did I truly start to have a relationship with Jesus. November 5, 2010 was the hardest day of my life, when my Dad passed away with lung cancer.  Even though we mourn his death, we know we will all be together one day in heaven.

One verse that portrays this is Philippians 1:21.
“To live is Christ and to die is gain”.

Even through this tough time, I have learned that God can and will sustain us. I say this to encourage you to know that whatever we may be going through each day, God will always be there to show us his unending love. It’s good to know even though we fail, Jesus will never change.

We sit in rows, week after week, singing songs, listening to messages and “doing” church. But what happens when you go home? What happens when real life hits and all of the sudden the idea of “worship” needs to be broader—your definition of who God is needs to be broader? Worship is about us and God, but it’s about so much more. It’s about the past. It’s about the people in our present life, and it’s about the activity of our day in and day out world. Worship isn’t just singing songs. Worship is how we live our lives. What is worship? Who can experience it? Do we only worship on Sunday? Do only musicians worship? What does it feel like? How do I became a worshiper of God? The Psalmist gives us an effective progression when he says, “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Hence thanksgiving is a prelude to praise, and praise is a prelude to worship. Thanksgiving and praise are what you do when you get there! I used to think that thanksgiving, praise, and worship were synonyms, but they are significantly different in focus, character, and result. Here is the bottom line: the more we know Him, the more we will worship Him; likewise, our ignorance of Him will limit and inhibit our worship. To know Him is to love Him! In spite of all we do in life, we should be every day seeking to be worshipers of God.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”