30 DAYS TO A WHITER SMILE!!!

      I have an obsession. Call it O.C.D., peculiar, self-conscious, whatever. But when it comes to my teeth, I am obsessed! A normal day for me is brushing, flossing, and using mouth wash 4-5 times. I have no idea why. It's something I have dealt with for about the last 10 years or so. So before coming into work today (while brushing of course), I was thinking how my obsession relates to our walk as Christians. At this point you're probably thinking "this dude is off his rocker." Allow me to elaborate.
      First I had to ask myself "Why do I do this?" The question wasn't at all hard to answer.
1. When I smile, I want people to see my shiny ivories. I want people to think "wow, he has pretty teeth."
2. I don't want people to think "holy crap, his breath reeks!"
      Then it occurred to me how hard I work to hide what's behind that "pretty" smile. I'm putting up quite the facade. Although much of what I think never becomes vocal, the smile I work so hard on is just a cover-up. When someone just really ticks me off, I try to just flash the pearly whites and walk away. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing, but it causes me to hold it all inside...which leads me to my next point of this bizarre blog.
      Last night at AMPED I issued a challenge that will start this Monday, January 24. It's called the "A.P. 30 Day Challenge". My lesson was all about the benefits and biblical reinforcement of having an accountability partner (hence the "A.P.") I mainly pulled this lesson from two verses - one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament:
1.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 -  Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
2.  James 5:16 - Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
      We discussed how when it comes to choosing an accountability partner we can't just settle for whomever. It takes one important thing...PRAYER! We must ask God to send the right person our way. It also takes time. People don't just earn our trust over night. Trust is time-proven. Just like when investing, we don't choose a single stock that's only been around for a year. No, we choose a mutual fund with a good track record. (Thanks Dave.) We also need to find someone who is on the same page as us spiritually. If that person isn't living his/her life for Christ, we may be good for them, but they will just be a stumbling block for us. You will NOT find a suitable accountability partner in gossip groups! One thing we've tried to ingrain in our students heads is that if someone is gossiping to you, they WILL gossip about you. An A.P. must be trustworthy and discreet. And finally, once the A.P. is in place, we must get past the mundane and surface level conversations. We must move beyond:
                                                     "Sup?"    "Nuttin"
                                       "How's it goin?"    "Fine."
                 "Think it's gonna snow today?"    "Hope not."

      So what's the A.P. 30 Day Challenge? Starting this coming Monday, January 24, our students must choose someone to pray with a minimum of once a day for 30 consecutive days. They will each be given a sheet of paper that they both must initial each day after praying together, and they must both pray! Each one prays for the other. After all, that's what an accountability relationship is - two sided. They can pray together one of two ways: either in person or verbally over the phone...no praying via texting! At the end of the 30 days, we will be taking those that didn't miss a single day out to eat to celebrate.
      Obviously, without giving them ample time to pray and find the A.P. that's right for them, they don't have to be 100% transparent. The point of this activity isn't to find a life-long A.P. It's to get them in the habit of having one, holding that person accountable, being held accountable, and praying and caring for someone other than themselves.
      Jackie and I would appreciate your prayers for the next 30 days for AMPED. We believe this will be an eye opening and life changing month for them.

Bye Bye 2010

        After a little downtime stuffing my face, spending time with family, and opening presents, it was time to get back into the swing of things with our December 29th LOUDHOUSE. This LOUDHOUSE's theme was "TRANSFORMED". We discussed the before and after effects of knowing Jesus and how through Him our lives are completely and forever transformed. The band started it off buy playing and singing "What I've Done" by LINKIN PARK, which by coincidence (or was it???  ;-)  hmmm...) is the theme song to the movie TRANSFORMERS. Get it? TRANSFORMERS...TRANSFORMED. There ya go. Our guest speaker was Josh Dilbeck. Josh blew everyone away with his amazing testimony of how God completely broke him in order for the transformation to take place. Ryan Harpe followed up with a great message and an invitation to accept Christ. 5 students gave their lives over to Jesus that night! One student even said it helped him/her in a MAJOR crisis he/she was dealing with in his/her life. Praise God! After giving out the prizes to those whose name got drawn, Jackie and I had one more surprise for them. With money that AMPED had earned by buying and selling LOUDHOUSE bracelets along with a very generous donation from a couple who mean very much to me, we were able to buy our students something they kept hinting about even though I told them we didn't have the money. At the end of LOUDHOUSE we told them they had an hour to hang out downstairs, eat, play pool, the Wii, air hockey, and then told them there was one more thing. We then flashed up on the big screen their new toy: a brand new XBOX 360 and KINECT! They went nuts. The hardest part was peeling each of them away from it so someone else could have a turn. haha! 
        
        Well, 2011 is here. Here are just a few of the upcoming events:

1. This Sunday at 6 p.m. downstairs in the AMPED High School room we will be having a mission trip meeting for this summer for parents. Afterward from 6:30 to 7:30 we are having an UNSEEN meeting for all parents and volunteers. Please come and let us know where you would like to help!
                
2. February 4 we are going to Louisville to Winter Jam. 10 big name Christian bands for $10!!!                
    
3. February 11 is our second annual UNSEEN.

4. February 25-26 is our trip to Nashville for Acquire the Fire (ATF).


For more info, please see our calendar on www.thegbc.net under Ministries-Student Ministry-Calendar or e-mail me at students@thegbc.net.

p.s. Easter at Gibson Southern is just around the corner!!!