DEEP Week reflections

Wow...what a week it has been. The course of study over the week has been focused on "Living for the Bema" (Bema = the "rewards" judgement at the end of time). The emphasis of this particular study has not been to emphasize the heavenly rewards that come from Christ-like living, but rather it has focused on living the way that Christ did for the purpose of embracing the invitation that He extends to us in being His hands and feet. Our topics have been:

1) Jesus' opinion of you is paramount. You can stop letting your own self image and other people's opinions of you hold you back. Christ says you are worthy, lovely, and useful unto His Kingdom. That should be enough.

2) "Worthwhile" is always better than "worthless". We have opportunities everyday to do worthwhile things that make an eternal difference in our lives and the lives of others, but we let them slip by because they don't seem to really appeal to us. Christ wants us to handle those opportunities differently.

3) Perspective is everything. Simply put, things look quite different from Jesus' perspective. If we are people who actually live by faith and not by sight, then why don't we live by His perspective instead of our own?

This study has really taught me a lot about myself and the students to whom I minister. Some of the things I've had the honor of learning are:

-there is a student in our ministry who wants to plant a church in England for the purposes of bringing revival to Europe
-there is a student who has had a major sexual failure who found the ability to forgive themself through this study
-one student reconciled with his dad
-a student broke up with her boyfriend because the relationship was not spiritually profitable
-more than half of the group feels a call to ministry of one sort or another
-one student said that her "desire" to serve has now become a "need" to serve
-one student went out and purchased her very first Bible...with her own money...and she didn't get a cheap one either...
-one student told me simply, "I'm not afraid anymore." (maybe you should read that again...hallelujah!)
-there is a group of students now working closely with me and Betsy Hunt to build a better partnership between Charter Oak Church's Student Ministry and Serve Ministries.

It's been quite a week. Needless to say, I'm tired, but I've never been more excited about what God is doing in a group of people than I am of this.

To all my "DEEP Weekers", you have touched my heart and blessed me beyond measure. Thanks for all of your hard work this week!

Grace and Peace