“I prolonged writing this mainly so I didn’t have to face the music. But I can’t take this anymore. I am the most self-righteous person I know and I hate it. I am the very thing that pushes people further away from Christ. I sit back with my judgemental thoughts and remarks all the while I continue to be trapped by my iTouch to pornography. I feel like the biggest hypocrite ever! I know what I need to do, but maybe just getting this out there is the first step to freedom. I’ve been hiding this for so long.

Pray for me, for my addiction, for my repentance, and especially my self-righteousness which hinders me from being able to be open and onest with others. And for those of you that have seen a poorly painted picture of Christ because of me I apologize with all that I am.”

-Moving Forward, Male Age 16

B. WangB. Wang

When life takes a turn that we least expect it, it usually has something to do with what we love. And when we lose something we love, we often lash out at everything surrounding those circumstances. That is just the problem though, we focus on the circumstances at hand. We do that instead of focusing on the root of the problem. It’s like a Doctor that is treating a patient for the symptoms he is experiencing due to a particular sickness, as opposed to focusing on the sickness that is causing the symptoms. That obviously is not a Doctor that you would want to see. On a daily basis this is what we do with the sin in our lives. We focus on the things that we struggle with: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. Though we focus on these things and work on improving these, they are the symptoms on what is really going on. What is really going on is that we have lost our first love, which is Christ our Savior. We have become so trapped and desensitized by what this world has to offer. That our hearts become hardened from that which we first knew….to that which we first loved…
The way to get back to our first love is not to abstain from that list of things that we struggle with. It’s to pursue our first love, Christ, and through that pursuit He will guide us as we work through the symptoms. This is what the Church of Ephesus struggled with in Revelation:

‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my names sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fall; repent, and do the works you did at first.’  - Revelation 2:2-5

As you encounter trials, make sure that amid them you don’t abandon your first love.

This is the lakeside manor where the Link Year students are currently staying for the month of February. The students will be writing a daily blog and posting daily pictures at linkyear.com. This picture was taken just this morning.

As I type this post I’m sitting under a a slogan painted on the wall that says,”Head*Heart*Hand*. A saying I know that John Brown University loves to model in their approach to life.

HEAD: Romans 12:2 calls us to renew our minds, to be life life-long students. In being transformed, and by not conforming to patterns of this world will we be able to test and approve what God’s will is. His good, pleasing, and perfect will. God calls us to renew our minds. This takes places through study and reading. Not through video games and Facebook stalking.

HEART: All head and no heart is pretty ineffective. Knowledge puffs up, and if we’re not careful It separates from others. We become so much about knowledge that we forget how to build and keep relationships. We are called to learn, but we are also called to serve others, and love others. Mark 12:30-31 commands us to love God first, and love others second. There’s an old adage that states, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

HAND: Knowledge without application is meaningless. If we learn but have no heart to apply it our hands will only serve self and not others. So may we learn so as to develop a heart for others that will move us to serve. After all Jesus was a perefect example of Head, Heart, Hand. (Matthew 20:28)

B. Wang

The Lord calls us to Him on a daily basis yet there are so many times we don’t hear Him. We have so many other voices that simply put Him in the background. We think we hear something, yet when we turn around we shrug our shoulders thinking it was nothing. At least that’s how I feel it works in my life. So this weekend I’m taking a trip to my favorite spot to meet with the Lord. It’s a place where He has met me time and time again. As I slip from the crowd and meet Him in his creation, I would ask that you think about doing the same. He wants you to come to Him, yet we never find the time to be still.

‘Be still and know I am God” – Psalm 46:10

“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 2:8-10

Graham Dodd

Wait a minute!

Slow down, relax, and jyourself, and exhale again. Stop, contemplate, and acknowledge. Listen,
be quiet, and appreciate. My word this world we live in moves so fast.
What a race we get caught in trying to keep up. We have this amount of
homework, that practice, this job, that expectation, this requirement,
and the list goes on and on and on. You may or may not have noticed the
acronym that titled this blog post, but what does S.T.O.P. stand for? Start today off
praying. Just take a minute to find gratitude within your being and
give thanks to God. I know I especially need to STOP and praise God for
all He has done and continues to do in my life! It makes so much sense when the rest of my day is in chaos whenever I fail to stop and pray.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

-1 Thessaloninans 5:16-18

Alot of teens face the pressure of drinking and partying with friends on the weekends. We came up with some fun alternatives for you and your friends to do instead! So grab some pals and have a blast doing some of these fun activities!

1. Scavenger Hunt : In groups of 4 or more, make a list of fun, random, embarrassing things to do in a hot spot in your city. Ex: propose to a stranger, get a sock, a kiss on the cheek from a stranger, have a wheelbarrow race, etc. Document the act in some way (camera, phone, etc.) and have a time limit to complete the list.

2. Fugitives: Two groups of 3 or more. One group in a car. One group on foot. There is a designated destination that the group on foot must reach before being caught by the group in the car. Once the group on foot is spotted or tagged, the game is over.

3. Groundies: Its a fun game to play in a large basement with lots of furniture. One person is it-eyes must stay closed! Everyone else tries to avoid being tagged by jumping on top of furniture. The person who is it can call “groundies” at any time, and if you are not on a piece of furniture then you are It. The person who is it attempts to tag people as they jump around on the furniture. Be careful! 

4. Dance party: Get dressed up in goofy costumes then drive to a random hot spot in your area. We recommend dancing to Tedashii or Lecrae. Have fun dancing around and having a good time! keep it clean 

5. Campfire: Gather some wood and start a small fire. Bring s’mores, IBC rootbeer, a stereo for tunes, and maybe even a guitar to sing some campfire songs! If you want, share some scary stories while sitting around the fire!

Graham Dodd Photography

In a world consumed with blogs, twitter updates, and facebook posts, opinions are everywhere. But regardless of how witty, intelligent, or powerful a post or comment may be if it doesn’t match the Word forget about it. Don’t hold mere opinion as truth. If we ever post anything on this blog that doesn’t align with Scripture call us out and receive it with zero validity. The frightening thing we do is watch a youtube video, read a blog, or hear a great quote  and assume it is Biblically accurate. It impacted us, and therefore it has to be Biblical. Wrong. So the question I pose to us today is: “How often do we receive what someone said as truth without first examining it in the Scriptures?” Here are 3 reasons why we should all forget what we heard if it doesn’t match the Word:

1. Sin: If we believe what someone wrote on a blog or posted on youtube just because that’s what we would like to believe yet it still contradicts Scripture doesn’t mean it’s okay. As a matter of fact if we believe it, regurgitate it, and live according to it, and yet it is the opposite of what Scripture says we sin. We are accountable for everything we support, stand by, live by, and claim to be truth. So the encouragement here is to make sure everything we support or stand by is consistent with Scripture. Paul warned Timothy that people would preach to people things that their itching ears want to hear. “For the time is coming when people will not endure soundteaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” -2 Timothy 4:3-4. In other words people will begin believing what they want to hear so that it suits their sinful desires. (more…)