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What I love about reality is that it is more surprising, more strange, and more interesting than fiction. That's probably why reality tv is so popular today...it's the "real deal". I was surprised by the reality of what it meant to be a Christian when I first trusted in Christ. In the Bible, Paul writes a letter to the Philippians explaining the reality of the Christian faith. In Philippians 3:3-11, Paul lists all the things that he thought were important to gain righteousness...all the things that he was trusting in. At the end of this passage he explains the change that happened in him. He now considers all of the things that he trusted in to be "rubbish" in comparison to knowing Christ. Paul was the kind of guy that trusted in his natural abilities and outward deeds. He was intelligent, zealous, committed, and loyal to the Jewish faith. He did all that he needed to do, and he was still a "loser" when it came to being righteous in God's eyes. He expresses what he found to be the answer to being found righteous in God's eyes. He put aside his reliance on his natural abilities..."in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." If we don't have faith, our efforts are "rubbish". It struck me that there are times that I rely on my natural abilities to please God, when I really need to be trusting by faith. As I reflected on my high school years, I found myself feeling a lot of regret. I regret caring so much on how I looked, how I fit into the crowd that I wanted to be a part of, or caring too much on who I was pleasing, when I needed to be caring about how much I was pleasing God, and as Paul said it: "Know Him...and become like Him." The reality of the Christian faith is that our natural efforts and abilities do not mean anything when it comes to being loved by God. This is surprising, spontaneous, and strange - but it's the real deal. God wants our heart, and when he has our heart, everything else will follow. Are you living the reality? PETE

I'm sure any of you could share stories of your favorite teachers and also your worst teachers that you've had. I shared on Sunday my best and worst teacher stories. Do you remember my obsessive compulsive English teacher that had every tile on the floor numbered and memorized. He would say things like: "pick up the penicil off of tile #67". We had some good laughs with him. Teachers have a big impact on our lives, that's why I wanted to look at the impact that Christ has on our lives as our teacher. Our greatest ambition is to be like Christ in all that we do. Luke 6:40 "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher". The result of being fully trained is that we will be able to "...say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age"(Titus 2:12). As we learn to imitate Christ in all that we do, we will learn how to manage our emotions, passions, desires, and lusts to glorify God in all situations. God does not want us to follow by force, but by gratitude and love for what He has done for us. Out of the full day at school, there may be only 2, 3, or even 4 classes that you really enjoy going to and the others you go to b/c you know that you have to. Christ wants a relationship with us where we truly see that His love for us is unending and the fruit of our relationship will bring peace, joy, and satisfaction to our lives. Do you know Christ as your teacher? Do you hear what He is teaching you? He will teach us how to live. Let me know what you think. PETE

Imagine with me that it is a hot, sunny day. Sweat drips down your forehead as you follow two cows down one of the many rows of a large wheat field. As you are plowing you notice a scraping sound beneath the plow. What do you do? Do you dismiss the noise, thinking your plow just hit a rock, or do you stop to investigate further… considering that you may have found something of great value? If you are anything like me, you would have kept going and dismissed the noise. However, had we taken the time to research, we would have discovered that fields often contain deceased people’s life savings and soon we would be wealthy beyond our wildest imaginations. The treasure we stumbled upon would have been so valuable that we would have joyfully sacrificed everything we had to obtain it. Well, every day you and I encounter a treasure far more valuable than gold or silver. We are offered the treasure of the kingdom of heaven and eternity with Christ. If you take the time to stop and look, I promise you will find that this is a treasure that is worth sacrificing for. Andy Tracy [College and Career]

Getting dressed in the morning is an important event for most of us. So important, that maybe some of us even pick out our clothes the night before and plan what we will wear the next day. Does this sound like you? Our clothing is important...obviously, we enjoy getting new clothes and new shoes and receiving compliments after putting together a nice outfit. Sound like you? Often, when the Bible mentions clothing or a persons clothes, it's speaking more clearly as a metaphor to their character. For instance, Psalms 93 says that the "Lord...is robed in majesty and armed with strength." Or another place says of man, "may your priests be clothed with righteousness." In Galatians, when Paul mentions that we "...have clothed ourselves with Christ." - He is speaking of our character. If we are clothed with Christ, everything about us should resemble the character of christ...humility, love, patience, compassion, integrity, and honesty. Let's go back to our earlier mention of gettting dressed in the morning. How long does it take for you to get ready in the morning from start to finish? 10 minutes, 30 minutes, more than an hour?! Now think, how much time to you take in the morning making sure that you have clothed yourselve with Christ? You would never consider leaving the house to go to school and forget to put on a shirt. In the same way, we should wake up each day, preparing our hearts to honor God in all that we do. Ephesians helps us define what these spiritual clothes might look like. Read Ephesians 6:11-18...you will see that if we forget to put on any of these pieces of clothing (truth, righteousness, peace, christ-likeness, faith, joy of your salvation, prayer, and scripture) we are not ready to leave the house. There is nothing wrong with looking nice and getting nice clothes, I like doing these things! But, if we don't prepare our hearts to walk with God every day, than we will always look better on the outside than in our hearts. Remember to get fully dressed inside and out, every day:) PETE


Last Chance 06 pictures are also now online. Check out the video as well!Last Chance 06 pictures are also now online. Check out the video as well!