What does your name mean? Mine (William) means “determined guardian” or “valiant defender.” Not really sure what that entails. As far as I know, I have never guarded anything in my life (besides some pizza–and I just hide that in my stomach). Oh well…
In Bible times a name meant a whole lot more. Sure, nowadays some of us say that we are just like the meaning of our name. But that really doesn’t happen too often. However, in Bible times, your name either defined you, or came about from some important family event. It’s not like today where you just get whatever name your mom and dad think sounds cute.
In Genesis 17:5 we see God changing Abram’s name to Abraham. Why? Because he was to become the “father of many.” His life was about to be changed radically through the gift of a son, Isaac.
A man name Simon comes to Jesus in John 1:42. As soon as Jesus sees the man, Jesus renames him Peter (or Cephas). This name literally means “rock.”
Why did God rename these men?
God saw them for who they were, and who they were going to be. In man’s eyes, Abram was just an old man, wilting away–but in God’s eyes, he was going to be used to be the father of Israel. What about Peter? Didn’t Jesus know that He was going to call Peter “Satan” and ultimately be rejected by him three times? Yes, He did. But Jesus saw more. He saw a strong leader who was going to become very instrumental in the early church. He saw a man that would speak with such courage that the high court would be shocked his boldness (Acts 4:13).
What about you? God is in the habit of using ordinary people. Abram was just an old dude and his wife Saraih was barren, but God used them to be the parents of His nation. Peter was just a dude who couldn’t stop from being stupid–but God used him to help found His church.
I used to think the only things worth reading were Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile, Truck Trend and anything by Shell Silverstein. Maybe I was right about the last one. Today I acutally like to read. It does not matter if you love to read or if you hate to read you are going to like the new addition to Reality Check.
Take a look down the lower right side of this page and you will see “Book Library”. This is a new part of our goal of making disciples for Jesus. In this section you will be able to see what books are available to check out at Reality Check and you will be able to see what another teen thought about that book. For those of you who do not like to read you do not see why this is so good. The big plus is that you can find the one, two, or three chapters that would be most beneficial for you and maybe save the rest for another day. So go for it. Click on the most recent book reviewed and see what you think. And remember that the Bible calls someone who looks to other Godly people for advice a wise person!
WARNING: Be careful when using YouTube and make sure you are being wise and discretionary!
This video about the Wii Fit is funny. I think there are a lot of games and electronic devices that are popular only because they are a fad. As you watch this video about the Nintedo Wii, I want you to ask yourself one important question. Why do you live your life like you do? Is it because that is what a faith in God draws you to or is it because everyone around you says it is best. Follow God in all you do and you will never find yourself wasting time and money on fads.
It is a day for rejoicing and a day of sadness. It is fun to watch friends graduate. It is sad to think that you will not see them as much.
As I look back to this graduating class, I think of one of my first memories. I went with a small group to camp in Colorado. We had a great time along with some interesting experiences. We played hand torturing games of ERK; we had to repair the van on the side of the road; we saw an accident (one we were also blamed for causing); we rolled into camp in our van that quit running; we watched one particular person, a graduate, break his wrist when he came down from the human pyramid; we went to a camp that worked us so hard we called it “fat camp”.
I have numerous memories of this year’s graduates, and I look forward to hearing of new experiences as the graduates head off to the next step in their life. I look forward to hearing what God is doing as they step into their new adventures.
Okay, it is not easy to say but it is true. I always want to be right. I have even found myself trying to prove why I was right even after I realized that my way might not even be the best.
A number of years ago I was white water rafting with some of my relatives in Colorado. When we got close to some big white rapids the size of cars from the1970′s we had a decision to make. We could go down the middle of the river and stay close to a big rock sticking out of the middle or we could go down the right side. The decision was difficult to make because we could not see very far down the river. I thought we should go to the right and my uncle thought we should go down the center. When we got closer it was already too late. We should have gone as close to that big rock sticking out in the middle as possible. I was definitely wrong about choosing the right side of the river. Our raft tipped over and the next thing I knew my uncle was bringing me to shore.
As I was reading a story about the early church in the book of acts I realized that even when the high council and leaders were faced with proof that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, they did not want to admit defeat. In Acts 4:16-18 the leaders of the day admited that miracles had been performed, but did not want to be wrong and instead insisted that Peter and John quit teaching about Jesus. They said that they “could not deny that they have performed a meiraculous sign”.
Could you imagine if I told my uncle that I was right even after our raft tipped over and we were in the river rapids? That would be crazy insane. That is no crazier than the religious leaders telling Peter and John to quit talking about this guy named Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah that was promised by God thousands of years ago. I hope that we can all admit that we have not done right in God’s eyes and turn to Him for His love, grace and kindness.
Okay, enough of the crazy texting lingo. Are you good at texting? Do you like to text?
I am thinking it is time for me to become an official texter, or textite, or whatever you want to call it. It is amazing how many people get their information and up-to-date need to know stats by texting. I am a little jealous when I see how easy it is to send some quick info back and forth. While it doesn’t seem like a good way to have a deep conversation, it certainly is convenient.
Have you ever heard of “The One Minute Bible”? It reminds me of texting. It does a good job of getting the main idea of what God is saying across, but it is not good at deep stuff. If you think texting is great, I would like to recommend a good devotional book or something like the “One Minute Bible” that is like a quick text of what God has done and has been doing in the world. What is your favorite devotional?
