Ally Ross, Tough Questions about Death

This morning we talked about how to answer some of the tough questions that come with the death of Ally Ross. In the midst of our own pain over what has been happening at the school, we are bombarded with questions about Christ and God because we are known as the Christians. Here are some of the things we talked about today for a refresher:

1.) Show the love of God to everyone even teachers who are suffering from our loss.

2.) This is an opportunity to share God grace with our fellow students. Don't miss this opportunity.

3.) Don't question your own faith in response to questions flying at you. Stand Strong!

Why would God take someone so young?

~ God works through everyone's life differently. And when God chooses to take someone so young, he does so for a bigger purpose that we can find hard to understand. Ally's life and her story, being a 8th grader who fought against cancer, is inspiring. People will hear the story of her life and her courage and want to know more about her. We may not see it now, but Ally would count it a privilege that her own life story will help lead so many people to Christ. And also remember, Ally may be gone, but she now lives with Christ and she will never be in pain again!
Watch the reactions of people at her funeral, I'm sure you will find people turning to God just as we should.

What happens after you die?

~God asks that we confess with our mouth that we love Him and that He is the almighty God and that we believe with all of our heart that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. If we believe this, we will spend forever in heaven with God after we die. On the other hand if we do not believe this, we will live forever separated from God in Hell. God does not want anyone to go to Hell, but because of sin He can not be with us unless we have been forgiven. He loves us so much that He sent His son to take care of the sin that separated us so that we could spend forever with Him.

These are the two main questions that you will be asked as the Christians at SLMS. Please let me or any of the Christian teachers know if you have anymore questions. Also ask your youth leaders! Invite those friends who are hurting to club on Friday. Pray over them, and pray for Ally's family.

I love you all so much, and I couldn't have been more proud of you this morning! All 42 of you!

The Roller Coaster of Christ

Today Pastor Paul came in and talked to us about how to truly experience Christ. He compared Christ to a roller coaster specifically the Orient Express that used to be at worlds of fun. This ride was amazing for all of us who got to ride its furry! But it was shut down a few years back for causing minor brain damage. Those of us who have experienced the ride know how amazing it was.

Christ is the same. I can take hours every Friday explaining to you guys about how amazing the Orient Express is and you still would never get to 'experience' it fully. Unless you were on the ride with me 4 years ago screaming like a wild person, you won't ever truly get to experience it no matter how many describing words I use.

We can not fully experience God through listening to other peoples accounts of Him. Sure sharing testimonies and stories of faith and miracles helps, but unless you experience God in your life personally, you will never really know Him.

So what can you do to get to know your God better? Why don't you pray about it.

Don't cry for me Club

Hey everyone,
So I kinda dropped a bomb on you guys this morning. I've been wanting to tell you guys that I would be leaving for awhile and there just didn't seem like a good time to do it. I love you all so much and going away to college was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my life. But before I leave, I want you to know that I will still be around. God has called me to live on campus, which is something I have never wanted to do ever in my life! I've been in college for 2 years at Longview, but in order to be a teacher I must go on to a university. Ill be updating this blog for the 7 of you who read it ;) And I will be back on the weekends and on Wednesday nights for those of you who want to see me at church. I'm sure I'll even be able to come to club once or twice. Ill only be an hour away!

I'm leaving you all in very capable hands. My youth pastor Paul will be taking my place and Veronica and Vanessa will be jumping in and taking charge to. You will love them leading because I love them. I'm crying right now. Tears of joy and sadness, tissue please?

I will always be here for you to email or facebook as well. Many of you even have my digits. If you need ANYTHING let me know! Your my family :)

Now onto other issues cause I aint gone yet! Next Friday is Friend day! I will be giving the message of salvation (how to get to heaven and put God in your life). This is a very important day because all you have to do is bring your friends who don't know about God to club and I will tell them for you! Sound like a good deal? Our goal is 50 kids! Can we do it?

We extended the bible bust this week so read during brightflight or whatever that thing is called!

I leave you with this thought:
If bees don't have knees, how do they climb trees?

David from Orange Glo- Trip to Planet Dirt-Tee

Meet David. David lived on the cleanest planet in the universe called Orange Glo. David was asked to go to college on planet Dirt-Tee by King Cleanest. Before leaving his planet, King Cleanest gave him an instruction manual before he left for Dirt-Tee. King Cleanest told him that in the manual were all of the instructions he would ever need to ensure that he stayed clean. He also told David that he should clean other people living on Dirt-Tee so that they could become a citizen of Orange Glo.

So David went to Dirt-Tee. At first he saw the planet for just what it had been named. It was the dirtiest place he’d ever been before. The air was polluted, the people looked unbathed for weeks, the streets were littered and it smelled awful. David moved into his dorm room and kept his instruction manual close to him. He took it everywhere. When David got even the slightest amount of dirt on him, he quickly followed the instructions. At first, he hated living on the planet. Eventually, David had the instructions memorized and he began leaving his manual at home. Day after day the manual sat in his dorm never leaving the table. David began getting comfortable in Dirt-Tee. He couldn’t smell that awful smell anymore, he would get dirty and be too tired or lazy to clean it, and all of his Dirt-Tee friends weren’t clean so why should he be?

Eventually the instruction manual became hidden by pizza boxes, papers, and food, and David was so dirty it was as if he had never lived on Orange Glo.

David’s time on Dirt-Tee had come to an end. A trip to his home planet was scheduled and he left not thinking about how dirty he was or about his instruction manual. When he got there, King Cleanest came to greet him. He saw how dirty David was and the King could not touch him, shake his hand, or stand within 50 feet of him. David realized that he had forgotten his instruction manual and forgotten how to become clean again. Because David was a citizen of Orange Glo, King Cleanest had his son, Prince Brandnew, come out to clean David of all of the dirt. Prince Brandnew was the only person in the universe that could clean anyone. As soon as he was clean, King Cleanest came to hug him and David began to cry because he felt so ashamed.

“Did you bring anyone with you to Orange Glo?” The King asked. “No,” replied David, “It’s too hard, everyone there is happy being dirty.” The King had a crystal tear drop from his eye, “Dirt-Tee is going to end soon. The whole planet will be destroyed; everyone on it who is not cleaned will not be able to come to Orange Glo. Instead they will die. I sent you there so you could save their lives. Where is your instruction manual?”