Spiritual Emphasis Week:)

     I have really enjoyed Spiritual Emphasis Week this year. Andy is a great speaker and challenged me to think about what I really believe. On Tuesday he asked us the question, "What is it that you belive?" This question really got me thinking. A lot of times I don't think about what I really believe. If someone were to ask me sraight up what I believe, I'm not sure I could answer it very well. So all this week I have been thinking about how I would answer that question, and if someone were to ask me today what i believe, I would tell them that I'm a Christian and I believe the only way to Heaven is if you accept Christ. Being a Christ follower is so amazing, and God's love for you will outweigh anything on earth! I don't know, however, how I would explain to a non-Christian who God is. Another thing that Andy said was how we need to know what believe and why before we witness to others. I don't want to be like the man we used in the illustration that didn't know much about what he believed. In Romans 10:9 it says, "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Also another question he asked us on Tuesday was, "What is your motive for what you do?" This question got me thinking(well all the questions he asked us got me thinking, but this one really did). This made me wonder why I do the things that I do. Do I do them for my own glory, or to bring God glory? As much as I would want to say I do it for God, most of the time I do it for myself. I really need to work on this. When I do something good, I need to give glory to God instead of bringing glory to myself.
     On Wednesdsay he asked us, "How do you behave?" He said that ideas have consquences. He gave us four principles that were really challenging as well. This first was: You are what you eat. If you eat a bunch of junk food, you will become that. This applies to the Christian life because if you start to fill your life with all the junk of the world, you will eventually become what the world is and do the things they do. The second principle was that junk food changes your physical shape. The more you fill you body with tht junk, the less heathly it will become. In our lives, we need to be filled with positive things, not that junk the world has. The next principle was that junk food causes heart problems and the body's functions get confused. The more we fill our lives with that bad, junky stuff, we will get confused spiritually and start to think those bad things are okay to do. The last principle was that junk food tastes good at the time, but in the long run will leave bad side effects. Those bad things you may do will feel fun and amazing at the time, but in the end, the will harm you. I've made many stupid mistakes that feel good at the time but end up hurting me. 
      On Thursday he played some songs that are really popular right now. The first was Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. The song talks about this guy and how he doesn't want to change the girl he likes and that he likes her just the way she is. I don't think that song is bad to listen to at all. The next song though was Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I do not think this song is the best to listen to because it talks about her and how she wants to go all the way with this guy before they are married. Also, I've seen the music video, and it is not a very positive influence. The third song he played was Rehab by Rihanna. This song deals with obession. The song says "Shoulda gone to rehab cause your my disease." I think it's bad when a relationship gets this far because you get obsessed with the person and think you can't go one minute without them, and you end up spending all your time talking to them/texting them. You could spend your time way better than that. And the last song he played was Love the Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. I do not think this song is very good to listen to either because it tells the story of two people that are SO obessed with each other that they can't stand to be apart, even though their is abuse in the relationship. That is sad to me. What Andy said about all these songs was very true. He said that most relationships start with the two people flirting and enojying each other's company, but then if you aren't careful, your relationship will go in the wrong direction, and you will begin to be obessed with the other person and spend EVERY minute talking to them, and then in some cases, that can turn into abuse.
      On Friday he asked us, "Where do you belong?" This made me think where do I fit in? Where do I spend most of my time? It also challenged me to be really involved with my youth group and other Christians at my school. He showed us a video of Starbucks employees and how the reached out and helped the world. This challenged me to go out into the community and help people. One thing that God has been wanting me to do is help with the Forgotten Church on Tuesdays. The misitry they do is like two minutes from my house, and I've been ingoring the feeling of I should go. I need to go and help them because I really feel God telling me that's a way I could help.
      Well, in conclusion, I have really enojyed Spiritual Emphasis Week. Andy has really challenged me, and this time I'm going to try to change and actually live out my faith!