Day 5 of Boot Camp 1 was epic. This day was a little different than the rest of the days. They spent the normal day in class and discussed what it means to love biblically. Love has been misunderstood and misused. They sought for answers from the Bible to gain an understanding of what true love really means.  We often believe that love is based on feelings. If it feels good or if it feels right then this is often believed to be true love. The students, however, found the meaning and understanding of true love.

We had a lot of fun for Day 5 as they had an extended free time. They got lots of rest before the big camp activity! Of course, we all know that the camp activity is a major part of the week! Every year, we all can’t wait for this day to come! This year we had a race! It was called “Race Without Regrets” and they raced against time. It was so much fun! The students had a blast and afterwards we had a cookout and ate hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cokes, and blizzards!

Day 6 is always when campers start getting really tired but we are so proud of them because they desire to know more and more of what God’s Word has to say and how they can apply it to their own lives! They now understand that true love is unconditional and sacrificial. They then dived into the roles of man and woman! Sometimes this is a hard concept to grasp but what really tied it all together was when David Arthur spoke in main session that night!

He discussed that before we can ever “do” we must know the “who” and “how”. Imperatives always rest on the indicative. In other words, commands rest on the truths. He had us walk through Ephesians 1 and 2 and find out who and where we are! So, if you want go through Ephesians 1, 2, and 3. Circle every time you see the phrase “in Christ” (or “in Him”). Ask who you are according to these phrases and how did you get there or where are you? David then discussed how the rest of Ephesians discusses the imperatives.

We know that we are lavished with the blessings and love of God through or in Christ, we can apply Ephesians 5:22-30. Women can submit to their husbands and desire to be the godly helper suitable for him because he is supposed to lavish his sacrificial love towards her as Christ loves the church. This process feeds itself and is cyclical.

Picture example

Picture example

picture example

It is when sin enters the picture that this cycle is broken.  We ended the night in prayer, watching a video called Crucifixion Type Love, and belting out “In Christ Alone”. We hope that the understanding is that the gospel is proclaimed within the practical daily life of marriage. It was a sweet time.

Continue to pray as we are running with endurance into day 7!

~Transform Team

Youth groups coming to learn how to study God’s Word inductively through Transform Student Ministries,

 worldview training from IMPACT360, as well as serving within the community of Chattanooga! Join us!

“The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” – Psa 119:130

“Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.” – Psa 147:5

Day 3 and Day 4 have passed! The past two days have been heavy as students continue to wrestle with God’s desire for marriage. Day 3 they walked through the Word and what it had to say about the permanence of marriage. As we all know, there are many things that the students are processing as they come to understand God’s desire for permanence in marriage the realities of a broken world. They are struggling and they want answers. They want us to tell them the answer. However, we encourage them that as we continue in the week God will give them understanding as we unfold His words! Light will shine in the darkness…

Kay spoke on Day 3 and gave her testimony! You can find that on our e-store if you would like to hear. She discusses her own life and how she did not do marriage correctly the first time and her coming to know Christ and the grace that she received! The students sat on the edge of their seats as they listened intently. At one point, she pulled a boy and a girl to the front of the stage. She proceeded to take the Israeli scarf that was given to her and tie it around the couple. She explained that this was a visual of the unity of a couple. She then talked about how people think it is okay to divorce whenever you want. She then untied the scarf and let them separate. However, she tied them back together and said this is really how it is when it comes to divorce. She pulled out scissors. She walked over to them. She raised them to the scarf. The girl cried out, “This is your scarf from Israel!” She stopped, looked her dead in the eyes and said, “I know. Believe me, I have thought long and hard about this. I love this scarf.” She then raised the scissors up to the scarf and began to cut through. The kids gasped. “It’s sad, isn’t it?”, she asked. The scarf frayed and released the couple. “This is what divorce is really like”, she stated, “You are now in pieces.” The reality that it hurts and it’s not as easy as culture states hit the students and you could hear a pin drop…on the carpet in the auditorium. The students returned to their rooms that night to their rooms and drowsed off to the thoughts of God’s desire for their future marriages.

Day 4 the guys and girls split into separate rooms and walked through their own studies and discussed their own topics. The guys walked through the study, “A Man’s Strategy For Conquering Temptation”. The girls walked through the study, “Return to the Garden”. What a day we had with these studies. They are filled with great truths! One young man wants to go home and lead his younger brother through the study. What encouragement! In the evening, we continued being split guys and girls. We went until 11 o’clock that night. We know that you desire to know the details of everything that was discussed and we encourage you to have good discussion with your children that is filled with grace and truth. They desire to know many things and we encourage you, as parents, to take courage! God’s Word will give understanding; still, they desire to be in open and honest relationship with you all and to gain understanding from you as well. God’s Word is living and active and pierces through the heart and we are thankful for this! We all need the love of Jesus as our Mediator! Amen?

We begin to study the topic of biblical love and what it means within the context of marriage! This is the day, that we believe, that God will begin to reveal many answers to their questions. We hope that you are encouraged! We ask that you continue to pray! Don’t forget about the LIVECAST tonight at 8 pm eastern time!

~Transform Team

Youth groups coming to learn how to study God’s Word inductively through Transform Student Ministries,

 worldview training from IMPACT360, as well as serving within the community of Chattanooga! Join us!

Camp started yesterday morning with prayer in the courtyard where we encouraged them and prayed over them! After breakfast, students immediately went into their classrooms and studied from about 9 to 12:45. Yes, that is almost 4 hours! They walked through passages in Genesis 1 and 2 and sought to see how God established marriage in His creation. Man and woman were created and we saw how the purposes that God created this union between man and woman! Naturally, this brought to us to study what God did not design for marriage.

Homosexuality is a hot topic right now in American culture. It is astounding to know how teenagers are so aware of such topics. We wrestled through what the Word had to say about this topic. Wrestling with a topic is good and allows for them to work out their faith! Any questions arise, we encourage them to find them through God’s Word and have faith that God knows what He is doing! We reminded them that walking in a lifestyle that is according to God’s Word will lead to an abundant life in Christ! Many questions went unanswered because we knew that we would be getting to those answers later on this week, however, we encouraged them to trust God in the things they don’t know yet. We encouraged them that when we “don’t know” what we do know is that God does know and therefore we are not God.

How we worshipped that night knowing that God is in control and that we can praise Him for knowing what is best! In main sessions, we have implemented a concept called “prayer triangles.” They get in groups of three and each person will pray over something we give them to pray over. How amazing it is to sit in the auditorium and hear the prayers of these young saints rise to our God! We have been encouraged and we hope that you will be encouraged as well!

Today, we will be hitting another pretty heavy topic on God’s design for the permanence of marriage. One thing we are aware of is that we are all desperately in need of God and that we are all desperately fallible without our Mediator, Jesus Christ. We have encouraged them that everything we are learning this week is not something that they should go out and “Bible thump” but this is for them and for the application of their own lives!

So we ask that you would pray with us! Here are some things that you can pray for:

• That we can trust in God’s Word for what is true and right
• Pray that the students will surrender and have a delight in God’s Word while wrestling with it
• Pray for safety and courage not just in a physical sense but in an emotional and spiritual sense

Our enemy wants nothing more than to confuse saints in order to further his agenda. May it not be!

• Pray for hearts of worship and sensitivity!
• Pray for this generation and for the future they will be facing

As always pray for the Transform staff and their teams as they desire to serve these students in the best biblical way possible! We love God and His Word and we desire that all would be established in Him and His Word so that all may live life abundantly!

~Transform Team

Carlotta Brooke Ryan

Youth groups coming to learn how to study God’s Word inductively through Transform Student Ministries,

 worldview training from IMPACT360, as well as serving within the community of Chattanooga! Join us!

Do you remember those first days of summer camps? The awkward tension of not knowing what to do? Moments when you realize that you have left everything comfortable at home and now in a place that is unknown? Or, maybe it was times of excitement and joy! You got to see friends you haven’t seen since last year! Anticipation within your heart for the expectancy of God and His Word!

We love it!

So take some time and look through the pictures. Find your kid, friend, cousin, or whoever! Pray for those you see and ask that God would reveal Himself to them! Finally, remember that we will be LIVESTREAMING Kay’s message on June 16th at 8 p.m. eastern time!

Registration craziness!

Reunited!

Something was funny

Talking it over

Happy to be here

Getting registered

Lindsey is having a good time registering students!

Talking with friends

Chris and Sarah Beth are at the door ready to welcome campers into Kinser!

I see him thinking

All smiles

Guys talking and getting to know each other

Cheese!

Lovin every minute

He is excited to be here

Its just a cool shot

Something is special about this picture

A person is representing every team from team 1 to team 10

Finding their teams

TEAM 1!!!!

Foundations Camp

Foundations

Youth groups coming to learn how to study God’s Word inductively through Transform Student Ministries,

 worldview training from IMPACT360, as well as serving within the community of Chattanooga! Join us!

As this blog is being written, Psalm 119 is being read aloud as the staff are on their knees in the auditorium worshiping the God that has given His Word. It is a sweet and sobering time. The air is thick as we know that Boot Camp starts tomorrow and His Word will test the hearts of everyone that comes in contact with it.

It will be a test to see if we, as believers, will delight in His statutes and His ways and His precepts on marriage. 

When one comes to understand the biblical view of marriage, one come to a crossroad that could proclaim the glory of God or the bitterness of sin. When one says, “I understand and I will submit to your statute.” One declares You are God and I am not. Likewise, when one says, “I know what Your statutes say, yet, I will not bend the knee.” Sin is declared ruler of our hearts!

Wow! What convictions we have been experiencing today as we dive in deeper in the truths of God’s divine institution of marriage. 

It is when we come to this place of understanding His statutes and submit ourselves to His will that we can say these verses:

“You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.” – Psa 4:7-8 NASB

 Boot Campers arrive tomorrow! Please pray for them and for us!

-Transform Team

If you are willing to partner with us in prayer for Boot Camp 2013, we would love to give some specific prayer requests:

1. Our topic: This year, we are walking through what the Bible has to say about marriage. Obviously, we don’t have to tell you how this topic has been attacked and perverted by culture. We desire that the students would truly understand what the Bible reveals and teaches about marriage.
2. Hearts: Pray that we all would be humble and receive all that God has to say about this topic and that they would desire to align their hearts in joyful obedience.
3. Staff: Pray that our staff will be unified and desire that God would be honored in all that they say and do.
4. Interns: We have 11 interns this year, three have been a part of Precept and Transform before and the other 8 are brand new to the ministry. They have worked hard for the past couple of weeks to prepare for this year’s camps. We ask that you pray that they will be confident in the Lord for what He has prepared for them.
5. Students: We ask that you eagerly pray for the students. This is a heavy topic and we anticipate and expect that God will work on many of their hearts while they are in classrooms and main sessions.
6. Speakers, Worship Leader, and Livestream: Pray that God’s wisdom would be clearly communicated and that all messages would be clearly understood. Pray that our new Livestream, that has the potential to reach many friends and family of the students, would broadcast Kay’s message effectively and glorify God!

We are so blessed to know that you are praying for and with us!

As always, be sure to check out our Facebook page, Livestream page, and blog during camps. We will be doing our best to post as often as is possible. We are anticipating and expecting God to do big things this summer!

Blessings from the Transform Team

David Arthur then spent some time giving the mission, vision, and process of Precept Ministries International and Transform. How many of you know the mission and vision? By the way, did you know that David A. will be teaching one of our classes?

Once he was done, Ryan led the staff through the outline of the inductive bible study method. What are the 3 components of inductive bible study?

We then spent a good amount of time praying for camp and all that will come with it. We know that this year’s study on marriage is going to be a heavy topic. Please see this blog for our prayer requests! The staff spent some time in the study and discussing the rules for the week and are now spending time in their classrooms praying over their campers!

We are really excited about this week and cannot wait to see what God does!

Please take some time to see a few of the pictures of the day!

David A. going over the mission, vision, and process

David Arthur

Josh listening intently

Joe Kranz and Mark taking it all in

Robert...Rob...Robbie...Bert...Roberto

Kiersten doing her thing....which I am not sure what to say...

Andrew and Chad chillin

Ellen preparing for the week! She loves this and has been a part of boot camps for years!

Brooke is doing a fine job in her new position!

Our interns, Sarah and Samantha, enjoying some time together during one of our breaks!

Josh

Peri is trying to hide...but she can't

David Arthur is spending some time with the staff that will be in his class and hear how the study has impacted them

Brooke is spending some time with her staff that will be in her classroom and hearing their hearts

Mark spending some time with the staff that will be in his classroom and praying over the students in their classroom

We hope that you will be encouraged this week as you read the blogs on Boot Camp 2013! Please feel free to comment and write out prayers!

Ryan Thomason works with Transform Student Ministries as the product development and events coordinator. He is married to a wonderful woman named Madison.  He has voluntarily served Precept Ministries for close to 10 years before coming on staff full time. He has interned with their media department in 2008 and with the student ministry in 2009. He has lived in Guatemala to learn Spanish.

“I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints.” Colossions 1:25-26

TRANSFORM WEEKEND SERIES

The Transform Weekend Series leads students directly into God’s Word

to examine different subjects and themes that are relevant to today’s generation.

Brooke leading through the study

Kiersten reading over the material

Class time

Danielle reviewing her materials

Holly and Emily discussing

Zach seems to be having a good time

Vinny is soaking it all in

Holly is bright and is discussing with her table all that she has learned

Sarah Beth and Danielle discussing with Holly as well

Sarah smiling at something someone said

Sarah was probably smiling at Samantha

Briana in awe of something

Marked Bible...that's what we like to see :)

Nick is loving what he is learning here!

TRANSFORM WEEKEND SERIES

The Transform Weekend Series leads students directly into God’s Word

to examine different subjects and themes that are relevant to today’s generation.

If your childhood was anything like mine, you probably loved Saturday mornings for the cartoons. No matter which cartoon was your favorite, it seems like every time a character had to solve some sort of moral dilemma we witness two familiar characters appear on the scene. Do you remember? From thin air, a little angel and devil pop up on each shoulder and begin arguing back and forth between right and wrong. After these characters war against the other, the confused “middle man” must choose between right and wrong and face the resulting consequences.

You may not realize it, but every day we are faced with those types of moral decisions too. However, the battle is not fought by two cartoon characters on our shoulders (and aren’t you thankful? Cause that would just be weird), but it’s fought in the depths of our hearts.

What Is Really Going On?

In Part 1 of this blog, I discussed the topic of laziness and how we have two options: laziness or diligence. In Part 2, I discussed the effects of laziness on others and the heart behind it. Laziness is something practical that almost everyone deals with in life and doesn’t seem like a big deal. Yet, by peeling back the layers of laziness we can find the core of almost every problem we deal with in life: the battle for who rules the heart.

The Battle

Paul hits the core of the issue straight on in Galatians 5:17,

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

We can see from this verse that the flesh (self-rule, pride) is against the Spirit of God. This can be really easy to read and understand, but it’s very hard to apply. I don’t know about you but that’s not fun for me because, more often, I operate from the ruler of the flesh.

The Ruler of the Flesh (Pride or Self-Rule)

Did you notice what Paul had said in Galatians 5:17 about the flesh? He said that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. One way that the flesh rules us is by screaming, “I WANT!” So in part 2, we discussed how laziness becomes a way of life that begins to affect others and that ultimately, the sin is about me! I shared how many times when I didn’t get what I wanted I would become angry and lash out and we looked at James 4:1. We argue because we are not getting what we want. What results is strife, fits of anger, and divisions between us and whoever is threatening our desire and control. Galatians reveals this clearly,

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” – Gal 5:19-21

The battle is revealed by the results or works of the flesh, but what happens if I allow the Spirit of God to rule?

The Rule of Spirit (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit)

It is so easy to SAY that we need to let God rule in our lives but it’s difficult to actually ALLOW God to rule our lives. Our natural tendency is to be ruled by the flesh, because it lives through lust (I WANT!). But the Word of God tells us that the rule of the Spirit is much different. Let’s read Psalm 23: 1 and 4,

“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. … Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

1. We can live in contentment
2. We can live in peace

We can know that God is our shepherd who leads us in righteousness and from Part 2 we know that His Word is the only way that we can see sin for what it really is.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Gal 5:22-23

Wrapping It Up

Every day, I have a battle raging within me, a battle for my heart. This battle can be seen in the way I handle every decision in life. It seems easy enough to say but the battle is complex. I want what I want. That is natural. Yet, we have a problem…we live in community…in a community of others whose hearts are being fought for as well. In our next blog, I’ll discuss in how Scripture tells us to handle such a situation. Until then…

Is there any situation that has become frustrating, maybe there has been argument with a sibling, friend, spouse, or child? Is Christ or Flesh ruling that situation? What are you not getting what you want?? How can Christ rule?

Ryan Thomason works with Transform Student Ministries as the product development and events coordinator. He is married to a wonderful woman named Madison.  He has voluntarily served Precept Ministries for close to 10 years before coming on staff full time. He has interned with their media department in 2008 and with the student ministry in 2009. He has lived in Guatemala to learn Spanish.

“I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints.” Colossions 1:25-26

TRANSFORM WEEKEND SERIES

The Transform Weekend Series leads students directly into God’s Word

to examine different subjects and themes that are relevant to today’s generation.

]]> http://transformstudent.org/2013/05/24/part-3-rulers-of-the-heart-2-options/feed/ 0 http://transformstudent.org/2013/05/20/hearing-the-intern-testimonies/ http://transformstudent.org/2013/05/20/hearing-the-intern-testimonies/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 15:37:07 +0000 transformteam http://transformstudent.org/?p=3425 more »]]>

You ever know how something was supposed to happen? That is how I feel as I sit here and listening to each of the 2013 intern’s testimonies. We, as a staff, have heard these testimonies before through our phone interviews but each intern had not heard the other’s  testimony. As we sit here, God is giving such peace to know that He is working in each of the lives of the interns. We are humbled to know that we will be able to be a part of their lives and investing in them with God’s Word. We will continue to ask you to pray for them as they will be trained in so much over the summer! It can be overwhelming! We thank God for each of you that will be investing in them through prayers and financial support! You can pray over each of them through the previous prayer blog for them by clicking here. 

TRANSFORM WEEKEND SERIES

The Transform Weekend Series leads students directly into God’s Word

to examine different subjects and themes that are relevant to today’s generation.