New Link

Hello to each of you! Hope you are having a great week. Just wanted to update you on a new website our church has. It is for the youth. Check it out when you have time. It is www.northfbcyouth.blogspot.com. I took a look at it today and I have to say it is very awesome and encouraging. I hope I can keep up! :-) Tis never a competition when it is for the Lord! Amen! Things only get better.

We are fortunate to have such talented folks in our church. We have so much to be thankful for. I was just watching a program on TV and the host had several different reporters on there today. They were discussing some of the interviews/stories they have covered over the years. Some of them are pretty terrifying. We must realize as a nation and as Christians the amount of tragedy that is in the world. Satan works his power in ways that only he can. He tests us and it is ultimately up to us as to whether we follow his tauntings.

America as a whole is very lucky. We do forget the men and women who have fought for our freedom and that we will have to answer to God one day for the things we have done. Life is so very short and we must be prepared for when that final day comes. We will all stand in front of our judge and jury and we will be held accountable. Let us take advantage of the opportunities that He places in front of us.

I hear some people say that it isn't up to us to win people to Christ. That upsets me. How else do they hear about Jesus? It is up to us as Christians to spread the good news. The final decision is up to the person we might be witnessing to, but it is our job as Christians to tell others of the loving Savior who died on the cross to save us from our sins. We can either sit back and look the other way, or we can take a moment to show the benefits of living a life for Jesus. Not everyone is as fortunate as most of us have been to be raised in a Christian atmosphere. We are blessed for having the opportunity.

I am thankful each and every day for the loving family I have (both at home and at church) as well as the wonderful friends I have been blessed with. We should grab onto the moments we have in life to let others know how much we care about them. When we criticize others, not only are we hurting ourselves, but we are also taking away from God. Each and everyone holds a special place with God and noone is beneath him.

When we do find ourselves passing judgement, we should remember the passage of scripture that tells not to judge and not to forget about the plank in our own eye. I have had some things laid upon my heart this week and they are causing me to reflect on the Christian that I am. I want to continue growing in Christ and improving in ways that only He can make happen. We have to meet God in the middle. We shouldn't expect Him to do all the work. He allows us to make the choices we make in order to draw us closer to Him.

I encourage us all to remember to take the time to smile or say a kind word to someone. We never know what kind of day someone may be having. The kind word we speak or the door we hold open for someone may just be the thing that brightens that person's day and leads him or her to Christ.

I hope and pray that the rest of your week is truly blessed.

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)