My Country Tis of Thee

"My country tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee I sing. Land where my Fathers died land of the Pilgrims pride from every mountain side let freedom ring." "Our father's God to thee author of liberty to thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light protect us by thy might Great God our King." The Bible says in Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Our nation has taken for granted the freedom we did have and changed to being just like everyone else! What is the world coming to when you can't even stand up for what's right and you get in serious trouble for not going along with the new law that allows same sex marriage!? GOD IS REAL! I'M SORRY ATHEISTS  BUT WHEN HE COMES BACK YOU WONT GET A SECOND CHANCE! GOD MADE MARRIAGE TO BE BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN NOT A MAN AND A MAN OR A WOMAN AND A WOMAN OR MULTIPLE PEOPLE IN ONE MARRIAGE! Genesis 2:22-24 says Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. That was in the beginning with Adam and Eve! God didn't make marriage for you to have sex with everyone you want to God didn't make marriage for same sexes! God will come back one day and when he does he's not going to hold back his rage ! And for ever one out there punishing Christians for standing up for their believes oh just wait on it because when you have to face God on judgement day you will feel his wrath ! For those of you out there reading this feeling the persecution for standing up for your beliefs I encourage you to keep pushing through look at what God pushed through ending with being crucified on the cross ! Stay strong and keep the faith ! Great is your reward in Heaven! I suggest everyone get their life right today that includes each and every leader of the country whose doing nothing but changing the way the country has been run for so long and concerned with themselves! Get a life and stop ruining everyone else's! Get your life right with God as soon as possible stand up for what's right and all of you Christians out there CONTINUE TO FIGHT BACK FOR WHATS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD AND OBAMA AND THE REST OF YOU OUT THERE SUPPORTING ALL OF THIS NONSENSE OPEN UP A BIBLE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE ! Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals you were NOT BORN THAT WAY ITS JUST SIN YOU ARE GIVING INTO! Get your life together people!

Being A Leader

This year I am in several different leadership positions at school. I am a senior, I am senior class secretary, and I am a section leader in the band. When you become a leader you are taking on great responsibility. You have to be on your best behavior at all times. You constantly have people watching you. You can NEVER make excuses if you do everyone else will follow you. Not everyone can be a leader in school or sports or even in your group of friends but you can lead for God. There is several different examples in the Bible showing us great leaders for God. You don't have to be the best but you always have to be on your best behavior because there is always someone watching you especially non-Christians. Do you honestly think that if you are going out and getting drunk at parties or going to work or school and cussing or doing some other sin that it will influence someone for the better. NO it won't! The Bible tells us how we are supposed to act and yes we will slip up sometimes we can still aim to be the best leader we can be. I would hate to know someone went to hell because they thought it was okay to participate in a certain sin because they saw me doing it as well. Could you honestly live with yourself ? Could you honestly live with the fact knowing someone had a question but were to afraid to ask you because of how you presented yourself? Could you live with yourself knowing that someone was uncomfortable when they visited the Church because of how you treated them? Be a leader and lead for God! So think to yourself what kind of leader are you? Are you a leader for God?

Commitments

Have you ever committed to something? Now I mean really committed to something. Now days people can't even commit to what color they want to wear. They go out get married and get divorced the next day. God set up marriage for until death do y'all part not until Sue makes Steve mad. If you don't go into a marriage thinking about the rest of your lives then you shouldn't be married at all. If you can't commit yourself to something small how can you expect to commit yourself to God. "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son." God sent his son for us and people have the audacity to doubt him and challenge his existence. Like really? Come on now. God committed his son to die on the cross but people struggle to even decide to give their life over to him. Don't wait around until it's too late commit to him ASAP! He will be here soon and when he comes what are you going to do say I'm sorry God I had/have commitment issues? I think not! It won't matter to God if you have commitment issues or not it all comes down to did you live your life in a way pleasing to God! 

Strength

Many people depend on other people for their strength. Teenagers often think that a person they are in a relationship with gives them their strength. People don't get their strength from anything on this Earth. We get our strength from God. Like the song goes " You are my strength when I am weak your the treasure that I seek you are my all in all. God has been here for us ever since we were in our mothers womb. He never left our side when we made a mistake. God is our strength!!!!

Staying True to Yourself

I am about to be a senior in high school. That is a big accomplishment for me considering some people haven't even made it this far. Most people my age have lost themselves a long time ago. People tend to lose themselves when things get hard. You could be one of the best Christians in the world but get addicted to pain pills after being in the hospital. Some one could be a great person but get caught up with the wrong people and start going out and killing people. Just because bad things happen don't mean you have to let them over take you. YOU ARE YOUR OWN PERSON! NOBODY controls you but YOU! God don't put more on you then you can handle. If I didn't have God on my side I would have lost myself a long time. Everyone has been through a lot I've lost loved ones, had an anxiety attack, been bullied but I'm stronger than ever maybe not physically but I am mentally and spiritually. You got to learn to grow from experiences not shrink from them because God is by our side through it all!

Encouraging vs. Decouraging

Do you understand the meaning of encouragement? I mean really understand it. When you are a part of a church you are supposed to encourage and build up your brothers and sisters in Christ not criticize everything they do. According to google the definition of encouragement is to give someone support or confidence. Decouraging someone on the other hand means to bring some one down. Words hurt more then you think. What you say to someone might determine whether they come back to the church or not. People fail to remember at times that nobody is perfect on this world. You can encourage someone without being mean and rude about it, and before you start telling other people what they should and shouldn't be doing you need to clean out your own door step. We have been taught our whole lives to treat people how you want to be treated but people seem to forget that. You go out to places and people are rude and hateful. There's no need for someone to be rude to someone because they lack knowledge of what's going on. Worry about what you need to work on first then try to criticize others. Just because someone is younger than you don't mean they are any worse off then you are. They might surprise you one day. Be slower to be hateful and criticize and quicker to listen. You never know what someone is going through the last thing you said to them could be what pushes them over the edge.

Convention 2015

Well the Lads to Leaders convention for 2015 is officially over. I had so much fun at the convention in Nashville this weekend. I've seen so many people I haven't seen in what feels like forever and made new friends I will never forget. This year my congregation even participated in puppets for the first time! Never thought I would we are the Sylvan Springs Church of Christ puppet team! This year I got second on my blog, first on my painting, 2nd on PowerPoint, 3rd on article editorial, a trophy for learning 100 memory verses, second place in song of praise, top 10 highest score for the pearls test, Johnathon Bourland platinum for good samritans, a medal for read the word, beads for keepers, and I even carried the banner! Lads to Leaders is a great experience for any and everyone! You don't have to be a child or teenager to help or participate in some kind of way! I am so appreciative of everything I recevied this weekend and I  have learned so much this weekend! I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped me, encouraged me, and has been there for me no matter what!