Who are you and what is your purpose as a Christian?
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(1 Peter 2:9 ESV)
As a public high school student, I struggle with this a lot. I tend to forget the true reality of unbelievers around me. A reality found in Luke Chapter 1 Verse 79 when Zacharias speaks of Christ as the Light who shines upon “THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH.” The Bible often calls them LOST or “SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.” We tend to forget they really HAVE NO HOPE and NEED JESUS. We think they are ok but they really aren’t. We are accountable to God for sharing the gospel with them.
Would you this week prayerfully consider at least one LOST, BROKEN, FALLEN person to pray for? Pray that the Lord will grant you opportunities to speak the gospel with them. Sometimes we have not because we ask not.
See related posts:
http://livesharp.org/2012/01/19/there-is-no-plan-b-by-janaya-richards/
http://livesharp.org/2012/03/16/not-successful-only-faithful/
http://livesharp.org/2012/02/17/quote-of-the-day-the-greatest-injustice/
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
(1 Peter 2:21 ESV)
Call to Worship By Chris Anderson
Slumb’ring souls, awake and sing
Psalms to your exalted King.
Join the choir of saints above;
Joy in songs of Christian love.
Give to God a glorious song—
Hands extended, voices strong!
Wakened souls, your anthem raise;
Sing your sacrifice of praise.
Lift your mind, your heart, your voice,
Heed the happy call: “Rejoice!”
Give to God a glorious song—
Hands extended, voices strong!
Joyful souls, let song take flight:
Praise the Father, God of light;
Praise the Savior, Christ the Son;
Praise the Spirit—Three in one!
Give to God a glorious song—
Hands extended, voices strong!
~Church Works Media~
Chris Anderson wrote, “I wrote Call to Worship while meditating on Psalm 57:8-11 (see also Psalm 108:1-5). The Psalms sometimes urge the worshiper to rise from physical, mental, or spiritual slumber to offer to God exuberant, whole-hearted praise..”
See the original post here; http://mytwocents.wordpress.com/
Hear a demo by Soundforth here: http://www.churchworksmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Call-to-Worship.mp3
Back in August 2010 I began one of the most interesting endeavors of my life, hosting an online talk radio show.
I hope you enjoy this personal tale of how the Lord tremendously blessed me in my 10 month experience in Christian talk radio.
The following interview was performed by Priscilla Carsten, editor of an online magazine for Christian teens (http://www.lightedlampmagazine.yolasite.com/).
Describe your radio show.
The show was a 10 to 20 minute online radio broadcast, with the purpose of edifying believers by preaching the full-orbed doctrine of the Bible. I geared the messages to youth that are in their adolescent years, being that I was in my adolescent years as well.
How long did you broadcast the show?
I broadcasted the show for about 11 months before I assumed the position of administrator of LiveSharp.org; which appropriately launched near the one year anniversary of the radio show.
Can you tell me a little about how you started the radio show?
It all started when I got back from my first Christian camp — Peniel Bible Camp. During the week of camp I was assured of my salvation and from that point on, the Lord lit a fire within my heart to share His Word however I possibly could! Prior to camp, I was given numerous opportunities to share devotionals with my youth group which give me a taste of verbally communicating God’s Word. As summer began to slip away, I called up my buddy and told him my plan, “Jonathon, I think the Lord just gave me this great idea, but I’ll need your help!” After a short pause he responded, ”Well…What exactly would that be?” “I want to host an online Christian radio show!” At first he was a bit skeptical, as this was a rather original idea. However, after a few more conversations I was able convince him to give me a hand.
What did you want people to get out of your messages?
The topics varied week-to-week, but my goal was always to encourage teens to pursue an active relationship with the Lord right now where they were in their adolescence, because they had some incredibly fruitful years for the Lord ahead of them!
How has doing the show helped you grow in your faith?
The Lord used the radio show in so many positive ways in my life. The dominant thing that He used the show for was nudging me along to constantly dig into His Word weekly for material. I praise the Lord that I’m homeschooled, otherwise I would have never been able pursue the radio show at all!
What is one obstacle you encountered in creating the show and how did you overcome it?
One of the hardest things was probably initially hosting the shows live. If you mess up while you’re on the clock, you can’t take back what you said without really embarrassing yourself, so that was an obstacle at times. Another thing was the occasional “loss of motivation” to keep the show going. I never got many views, so that wasn’t going for me. But with the support of my mother and brothers and sisters in Christ, and much prayer, the Lord gave me the strength to persevere!
What was your favorite message that you gave and why?
I felt so privileged to be able to communicate God’s Word, I don’t think I could pick a favorite!
Describe how you created an episode (How did you choose the topic? Did you write out what you’re going to say ahead of time? Did you have to record somewhere where there’s absolute silence?)
At first I scripted everything. Being that the show was live I didn’t want to draw a blank in the middle of the show. However, after a while I began to experiment with structured improvisation and eventually I used an outline. For awhile I tried to keep with themes, but that’s always so hard because I’d usually end up using all of my material up within a couple weeks! I was able to conduct 3 to 4 weeks of themed episodes for a couple series.
What was the biggest thing you learned from doing the show?
Always being open to the Lord’s will for my life, because being in His will is the best place I could ever be!
And what everyone has been curious about: If your real name is Mitchell Silvius, why did you call it the Joey Collins show?
My real name is in fact Mitchell Silvius. I called it the Joey Collins show because I was always very fond of the name Joey Collins. I actually wrote a little Christian teen novel (which I regrettably was never able to complete) in which Joey Collins was the main character.
Where can people find your radio show and your new blog?
TheJoeyCollinsShow.blogspot.com and LiveSharp.org.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read! I hope that you were encouraged in some sort of endeavor that you are pursuing in your own life, for the glory of God alone! Trust in Him always, because only Christ can give you the power to succeed in honoring Him and serving Him!
Living in the light of eternity,
Mitch Silvius (Administrator)
“Either you will determine the right standards by which your home will be governed, or the world will determine them for you, but standards will be established. They are inescapable. The only question is: By what standard will there be standards?” -Doug Phillips
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
(Psalm 37:3-5 ESV)
God’s Sacred Intent for Women by Leslie Ludy
“I was a “Christian” young woman. But I was not a set-apart young woman.
This is the state of countless Christian young women all across America. We are entrenched in the attractions of pop-culture, trying to fit Christ in wherever it’s convenient. We are far more consumed with becoming attractive to the world than being found beautiful in the eyes of our Heavenly Bridegroom. And we are reaping the consequences of our compromise in unhappy, unfulfilled, insecure, broken lives.
Something has to change.God’s sacred intent for us goes far beyond just …wearing one-piece swimsuits instead of skimpy string bikinis, or idolizing Christian bands instead of secular ones. It is not just making sure we tack on some Christian morality to our self-indulgent lives.
His sacred intent for you and for me is nothing short of absolute abandonment to Jesus Christ, entire separation from the pollution of the world, and ardent worship of our King with every breath we take. When we are set apart for Him, we don’t just try to fit Him into our life. Rather, we build our entire life around Him. Our life doesn’t just imitate the world around us with a few higher morals tacked on. Rather, our life is a glorious display of His selflessness, sacrificial love, and purity. We don’t live for our own pleasure when we are set apart for Christ. Rather, we become a living sacrifice for Him every moment of the day. As it says all throughout Scripture, we cannot love Him and love the things of this world. We must choose this day which master we are going to serve.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV)
