Kirkmont Youth Newsletter

YS STUDENT NEWSLETTER #323

January 7, 2008

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot

HELP YOUR FRIENDS WALK WITH JESUS

Before Jesus left his disciples he said to them, "go and make disciples of all nations." It was a command for everyone who follows Jesus. But what does it mean?

In "Duplicate This!" you'll learn the foundations of discipleship and what it means to make a disciple, and you'll be equipped to walk with your friends as they learn what it looks like to follow Jesus.

Learn more and purchase "Duplicate This!" here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=581

Also available in your local Christian bookstore.

Find a Christian bookstore near you:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/store/dealers/

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1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

IMITATING JESUS

It's easy to write down, but hard to put into practice. Paul tells all Christians we are baptized in the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12), and that's true. This book certainly isn't a conversation about conversion from the old you to the new you. This book attempts to answer questions Christian teenagers are asking about their own spiritual journeys.

Every reference to conversion in the Bible speaks of confession, belief, and obedience. In other words, confession isn't the only component. You have to imitate (obedience), believe (belief), and become (confession). It seems discipleship is nothing less than imitating God.

But how can you imitate someone you've never seen?

You have to watch someone imitate Jesus so you can, too.

You have to watch someone mirror the concept of belief so you can, too.

You have to explore the life of someone who has become like Jesus so you can become like Jesus, too.

The road is an individual one accompanied by the deep fellowship of community commonly found among fellow believers. It's a path you can only know inside you, but you must seek help on the outside to enrich the quality of your spiritual life--by listening to real people around you who've walked the road before you.

The sole intent of this book is to invite you to realize those basic fundamental truths, so you can then share them with people in your life.

Become an imitator so others can imitate you.

Become a believer so others can believe, too.

Become a follower of Jesus so others can follow also.

Some of these foundational bricks are easy, and others are widely debated and difficult to reconcile. The Bible says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33, ESV).

It's in the search where God reveals himself to you.

It's in the discovery where truth will come alive and imitating will begin to lead you to becoming the very person God created you to be.

However, it's not the end of the story. Once you've discovered God's righteousness in all its beauty, it's imperative that you duplicate yourself by sharing what you know with someone else. A friend of mine admitted recently, "You have to get rid of your concept of 'destination' and remember life is a journey on which you interact with others." How profound. Getting rid of my idea of destination frees me to walk this journey every day, because the love of God shouldn't be confined to some unrealistic sense of arrival.

It doesn't mean you walk around the school with a big "mule-sized" Bible, beating others into conversion.

It doesn't mean you have the right to argue someone at work into a "God-only" kind of corner. The concept of duplication happens between two people who desire to know God in their innermost beings.

It's something special; because to transfer God's love from one person to another is as beautiful as watching the stars light up in the heavens.

It's deeper than all the oceans.

It's taller than the highest mountains.

It's richer than the colors of a beautiful painting.

It's more real than a great acting performance.

Jesus makes it a process, and he desires first for you to know the process and then go and share the process with others.

He told his disciples to "come," and then in his final hours on earth, he commanded them to "go."

Come and go.

Those are two of the most important commands in all of Christianity.

Are you ready?

**

Taken from "Duplicate This!" by Andy Braner, copyright 2008, Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=581

2. SURF REPORT

~ What Kids Can Do: Stories from teens who are doing great things
http://whatkidscando.org/featurestories/index.html#community

~ Learn to Write a Thank You Note
http://www.tutorials.com/05/0547/0547.asp

3. FORGETTABLE FACT

Flamingos pee on their legs to cool themselves off.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
~Jim Elliot

"I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."
~Martin Luther

5. PARTING SHOT

Great minds run in great circles.

*All "surf report" internet links and "potent quotables" are provided for informational purposes, and do not imply endorsement by Youth Specialties.