Skylar's Blog

Remember

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:29:36 PDT

Verse: So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

Genesis 28:18

I have always longed for the gift to remember things that happen to me and my friends in such detail that I could create these huge and entertaining stories. Unfortunately this gift has alluded me my whole life, so I've had to resort to lying to make my stories semi-impressive (that's a joke...sort of). Now, there are some of you out there who have these things called photographic memories, and you can remember even the smallest details of almost anything, and you don't know how blessed you are to possess such a gift. A good memory is always a huge plus in almost any area of life: school, work, socially, etc, but on top of all of this memory is important to guide us in life as we try to discern our purpose. For example, just this last weekend we were asked to remember the lives lost and the difficult battles fought and won to grant us the precious gift of freedom. There are loads of memorials, holidays, and museums dedicated to helping us remember, to jog our memory. However, there is a place in most of our lives where our memory lacks, and that is in what God has done and who He has been to us. The verse I wrote out finishes up the story of Jacob's dream. Jacob has just run away because his brother, Esau, has threatened to kill him because he stole his birthright. Jacob finds this cozy place, lays down, and God comes to him during his sleep promising to take care of him and to bless him. Jacob wakes up and stands the rock he was sleeping on upright as a memorial to what God had done there. Jacob didn't want to forget. It is unfortunate, but many of God's children suffer from spiritual amnesia. Remembering what God has done for us in this life or before it is not a priority for most. As a result, we live out half-hearted relationships with the God who has done so much for us. I've been thinking about the things God has done for me, and there is quite a list. What do you think would happen to your relationship w/ God if you were to take some time today and write down the things God has done for you (you can even go back to Jesus...actually you definitely should)? How would it impact your relationship with Him? I'd say you would find a stronger desire to praise Him and to stick even closer to His side. So, let's try and remember today what God has done for us. Let's look back at the small and large things God has brought us through and everything in between, and let's see what that does to how we see our Father.

Do you trust me?

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:41:59 PDT

Verse: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26

Have you ever been involved in a group project? When it comes time to dish out the responsibilities are you the person who wants to take almost all of it on because you're worried all of these other people aren't going to follow through at all and your grade was on the line. I was most definitely that way in high school and during parts of college. However, I can remember the first time I actually allowed other people to do some work. It was nerve racking as the day the group assignment was due came up. I walked into the class and for a brief moment stared directly into the eyes of my group to see if I could notice any worry or stress on their faces (sure signs they hadn't followed through). However, class began, we put our project together and turned in totally completed. I learned a lesson that day. I learned to trust other people in a different way. Just last week we heard for a whole week about Jesus the teacher. However, we also heard about Jesus, the expression of God's love. In the verse you just read up top you are seeing Jesus, the expression of God's desire. This verse comes in the middle of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus is talking to Martha, Lazarus' sister. At the end of Jesus sentence is a question God offers to us everyday..."do you believe this?" "Do you trust me?" We will all (if we haven't already) struggle with the idea that God is good and he has the best for us. This is because one of Satan's main aims is to break us away from the thought that God always has our best at heart. Mary and Martha's brother just died and Jesus was asking her, "Do you trust that I am in control?" So, do you? Do you trust God? When tough times come into your life do you and will you trust him?

Now say thank you...

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:53:43 PDT

How many of you have heard those words?... Time after time we are faithfully reminded by our parents to say thank you when someone does something nice for you or to you. Yet, in our wisdom as little children we decide this is something that should not be done; so, to rebel we grit our teeth, make the most uncomfortable face ever and say "Thank you" with as much regret and disdain in our voice as we can muster. That way the person we're saying thank you too will know NEVER to do anything nice for us ever again, unless he would like the masterfully degrading "Thank you" once more. Have you ever said thank you to someone for doing something mean or initially bad to you. For example, you're standing with your friends in line for lunch and you're very hungry. However, the young lad in front of you decides to let his friend sneak in and cut right in front of you. Have you ever had the urge to say, "Thank you sirs for cutting in front of me. Allow me to express my appreciation for that kind gesture." I didn't think so. The same thing happens with God. Things go well and we thank Him, but if things in our life don't go as planned or even horribly wrong it never really crosses our mind to thank God. Here's a story of someone in the Bible who had a rough go at life for bit of time: his name was Job, and he had everything you could ever want at that time. He had a wife, kids, cattle, a new IPod touch, all sorts of good things were happening to Job. Then one day it was all taken away from him. His kids were killed in a freak accident where the house they were in fell apart, his servants were killed by foreign armies, and all of his livestock was killed as well. So, let's imagine you lost everything: you're house caught fire and burned down, you're parents have decided to abandon you in light of losing the house, and on top of all that your dog and/or cat dies. How would you respond? This is how Job did:

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground

and worshipped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall

I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job 1:20-21

In essence Job is worshipping God. This probably isn't your first thought after bad stuff happens to you, but Job shows us something with his response. He shows his absolute trust in God's goodness. How much do you trust God? Do you trust Him like you trust your car: whenever you need it you have faith it's going to respond and run? Or do you trust him like a surgeon who has you under the knife in a time where life and death are involved? Do you trust God to the point where you are completely committed to Him, or do you trust Him to the point where you'll walk with him only when it's convenient. We need to learn to trust God so much that even when the storms raging all around us there is still a deep desire to look to God and say, "Thank you" because you know that He is in control and He is working even in the down times for your good.

Eatnomore!!!

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:20:29 PDT

Ok, so question: who here has gone the longest without eating? It could be for anything...I can remember I went two whole days without eating...and I thought at the time it was seriously going to kill me... However, we all know that it didn't, but I did think at times that my stomach was eating itself (wouldn't that be awesome). Another question: what is the best thing to eat when you are super hungry? What's my answer, well I'm glad you asked. My favorite thing to eat when I'm really hungry is pizza. I don't care what's on it as long as there are no ONIONS!!! However, after I hadn't eaten for two days I could care less what I was eating I just wanted food. It's amazing how much better any food tastes when we are desperate for it. It's also amazing how fast we eat it, and then it's amazing how quickly we want more food. Have you ever thought of the cycle we all live with. We get hungry, we eat, we wait for a little bit, we get hungry again, we eat again...and the cycle repeats over and over again. What if we could stop the cycle? What if we never had to eat again?!?! Well, I'm about to rock your world!!! This week only you can buy the Eatnomore!!! It's a revolutionary patch that will take away any desire for you to eat or drink for that matter!!!...Actually that's a lie, but what if there was something like the Eatnomore which took away all your cravings? Well, if there was and you used it you would die because you wouldn't be taking in nutrients and your body would shut down. We will never be able to beat our need to eat or our need to drink. So do you think Jesus was being literal when He said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." Do you think He was actually saying that if you will believe in me you will never have to eat or drink anything ever again?!?! The Jews He was talking too thought He was saying that. However, I don't think that is what Jesus was getting at. What Jesus was trying to get across was actually something even more exciting! We all have longings/desires. We have these big abstract things we want like happiness, peace, self-control, etc. but it seems like they're made up because we can never quite grab a hold of them and because of that our lives are never quite fulfilled. But wait! Jesus is saying He is the answer to these longings. It might seem like He is being ridiculous in John 6:35, but He is speaking of spiritual things in earthly terms. What Jesus is saying here in this verse is one of the most important things you can apply to your life now. He is saying: "The only place you will find complete fulfillment is in relationship with me. It's not in getting good grades, a beautiful girlfriend, a good looking boyfriend, lots of awards, or lots of friends. What you have always been looking for is found right here in me. I am the bread of life, and if you will look to me you will never hunger or thirst for happiness, contentment, joy, peace, etc. ever again." Let's trust Jesus and turn to Him today!

Zombie Movies and Easter

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:46:48 PDT

The last good zombie movie I saw was Dawn of the Dead. The gist of this movie was like most other zombie movies. Some virus takes over a group of people and they start biting other people to infect them, too. Eventually the whole city is infected and only five people remain untouched by the virus or the zombies. I'm pretty sure you're all thoroughly confused what zombies have to do with Easter, but it's actually kind of simple. At the center of every zombie is this unusual process people go through to become zombies. It goes like this: someone is bitten or scratched by a zombie initially killing them. However, they don't die, do they? Instead, they come back to life as this completely different...thing. Now is the time to pull all of this together. All of these movies with people coming back from the dead have really taken away from Easter. Why? Because they have turned the idea of someone coming back from the dead as a wild tale, a fantasy, or a stupid twist in a movie. So, when we hear the story about Jesus coming back from the dead we don't realize it, but we sometimes put His story on the same shelf as zombie movies or The Matrix (sorry if I ruined that movie for anybody). Maybe you're not like me, but there are times I hear about the resurrection of Jesus and it just isn't real to me. It's almost like those tall tales you hear when you're little about Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox etc. The reason I think some of us do this is because of how we live. If we really believed Jesus came back from the dead...if we really believed Jesus beat death then there would be more excitement present in everything we do. Why? Because death, universally, is the number one fear of almost all people, and we don't have to be afraid because Jesus beat it. It's not permanent! In fact, death is a gateway into something better! Something perfect! This Easter, sit down and read Luke 23:50 through Luke 24:49 and really try and grasp what it's saying. Think about how Jesus did come back from the dead. Think about how He is not a stupid zombie movie, an ancient Egyptian dark wizard, or any made up character for that matter. Think about how He is the Son of God who was born in Bethlehem, lived 33 years, died a humiliating and horrible death, and after being dead for three days came back to life not as a ghost or spirit but as a resurrected being. Think about His disciples feeling the holes in his hand (Luke 24:38-39) and Him eating food with them (Luke 24:40-43). Think about something radical: think about Jesus overcoming death...beating death...and making it so we would never have to be afraid of it (death) ever again!

Dead

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:09:14 PDT

Death to probably all of us is considered a bad thing. No one likes dying, not too many people want to die, so it's safe to assume if someone says they're going to die you're not going to be super excited and want to throw a pre-passing away party. On the other hand, death is a good thing. If you have ever watched Rob Bell's nooma video Tomato then you might have an idea where this is going, but in fact death is actually needed in a lot of cases for their to be life. One perfect example is in the plant world. A plant springs up, grows, and turns into a beautiful flower, cabbage, or (insert random vegetable here). However, after it reaches it's peak of life it begins to die, but before it dies it does something...can you think what it is? It releases seed. Now if this process never happened and if plants never died then there would be no new plants. It is only through death that life can occur. This puts Paul's teachings in 2 Corinthians in a whole new light! In his letter Paul says:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Cor. 5:17

And this isn't the only time the Bible talks about our death bringing new life. How about Romans 6:1-4, Ephesians 2:1-5, Colossians 2:13, etc. Isn't it weird how important death is. Paul, Peter, and the rest of the Bible are clear: it is only after we die that we can truly live. We have to die to ourselves...to our focus on what we think we want, our selfishness, our anger, our lust, our greed, we have to die to the idea that we have rights and things we deserve from God. We must let go of all of those things that distract us from our true purpose: to glorify God. If we do not die to ourselves and make Jesus our One Thing (remember...this last Sunday...City Slickers) our lives will be miserable, unfulfilled, and chaotic. Today, think about one way you can die to yourself. Whether that's talking to that person who annoys you, or sitting next to that guy who know one likes, or letting know your parents how much they mean to you and offering to help around the house in some way. Let's truly live today!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!!!

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:59:09 PST

For those of you who weren't around for the fifties or you haven't seen Newsies yet the title of the blog is what paperboys would scream out while selling their newspaper on street corners. Now, I don't know how many of you are into watching the news or reading newspapers. I'm sure there are a few of you who really enjoy being up to date on what's going on, some of you care more about the soap scum in your bathtub, and the rest of you are in between; but even if you have never watched a news program or read a newspaper in your life you still receive news of some sort. What do I mean? Here are some pieces of news you've probably received over the last few weeks, months, or years: your grades from school, Obama is president (for those of you who didn't know that...well there is no hope for you), gas prices have gone down (HALLELUJIAH), I am your youth pastor, people are still doing steroids in baseball (shocker), Fall Out Boy has a new CD, the Dark Knight got jipped at the Academy Awards (ok maybe that's a personal opinion), etc. You also have received news from your friends(both good and bad, regarding their life and events going on in your circle of buddies) and parents (again, both good and bad). We are always receiving news from some source. Now, here's where you have to think. How would you answer if you had to guesstimate what percentage of the news you received was good news and what percentage of it was bad. Is it 50% good news 50% bad news? Is it 10% good news 90% bad news? Is it 100% good news? If your answer was the last one then you are way too optimistic...jk!!! I can safely say around 30% of the news I receive is good and 70% is bad. On Sunday we're going to talk about good news...THE good news. So, I want you all to think about your guesstimation and on top of that I want you to think about some good news and bad news you've heard in the last month. We're going to talk about all of these things so come prepared!!! I'll see you soon.

Don't you care?

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:31:32 PST

I'm going to throw out a word and I want you to answer to yourselves if you've felt this way before: unappreciated. I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who have felt this way or you have made another person or several other people feel like this (I am guilty of both). I feel like I have some sort of unspoken right to some sort of thanks or praise when I do nice things for people I care about. In my mind it just makes sense; I go out of my way to do something nice for someone and in return they offer me some sort of "thank you" or "here take my private jet" or "here's a million dollars." Now, seeing that the last two will NEVER happen I mostly just settle for the first response I wrote. There's a story in Luke that is slowly becoming one of my favorite stories in the Bible because it has so many layers. If you want you can turn to Luke 11 with me and the story starts in verse 38. Almost all of you have read this story, and I've even talked on Sunday about this story so you might be thinking, "Well I'm done with this." But wait! I think we're going to unravel a whole new layer in this story. So, Jesus comes into Mary and Martha's house, and as we all know Martha starts running around like a madwoman and Mary just decides to chill at Jesus' feet. Martha becomes irked beyond no end and comes to Jesus and says something VERY interesting: (Luke 10:40) "Lord, don't you care..." Martha feels very VERY unappreciated by Jesus. Now, I want you to insert yourself in Martha's place. Now, think about your day to day life. Most of you are extremely busy, and are having trouble just finding time to relax during the day. However, your youth pastor, senior pastor, and mailman are all saying, "Are you getting to spend any alone time with God? How have those times been going?" Now is the time for the "you've gotta be kidding me" look. After your convo with whoever you might feel a little convicted, so you look to God and you ask Him: "God, don't you care about that I'm doing all these things for you? Don't you care I'm taking care of the kids in the nursery? Don't you care I'm going to YoungLife and Campaigners? Don't you care about how busy I am doing all these things for you? Don't you care about all the things I'm not doing? Don't you care about the friends I don't hang out with because you told me not to?" We fell like God doesn't appreciate all the things we're doing for Him. Maybe you aren't like me, but I've done this. I look to God and ask Him why on earth He's trying to add one more thing like quiet time when I'm trying to serve people for Him. However, the story of Mary and Martha paints a beautiful picture of how wrong we have been for so long in where we put our time and our priorities. Martha is the perfect picture of all of us today: running around and doing all these things we think Jesus wants (and for the most part these things we do are really good things and they bless a lot of people). However, Jesus corrects Martha and tells her to look at Mary and what she's doing because she's chosen what is necessary. So many of you think you don't have enough time to spend with God, but really think about what you're saying...you're saying my time studying, with my girlfriend, in sports, and serving are more important than my time with Jesus. Jesus made it very clear: what is necessary, what is best is a vibrant and intimate relationship with Jesus where we spend time with Him. This takes precedence over all other things. If these are Jesus' words then what are we doing? Well, we're doing everything but what God desires for us to do, and eventually we will burn out, dry up spiritually, and/or become angry with God. If you want to find fulfillment...if you want peace in the midst of all the stress of school, sports, and whatever else then you need look no further than your bedroom with your Bible open and you on your knees. This is all that is necessary in this life. Oh, and by the way, God does care.

Afraid?

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:32:04 PST

I don't know how many of you have ever experienced fear...actually I know all of you at one point have been afraid of something. I can remember being scared several times as a kid. What was your response when you were scared? Did you stick your chest out stand up and yell at whatever was scaring you (whether that was the boogeyman, spiders, monsters under your bed, or clowns...hopefully you didn't yell at clowns), or did you run and find someone to help you make it through this horrible episode? I remember a couple of time running to the two people I knew would protect me: my parents. In fact, I can remember vividly when I was scared holding my mom or my dad's hand because even at my weakest moment when I had been scared almost to the point of peeing in my diapers/spider-man underwear I knew I would find safety with them. I think back to how invincible I thought my parents were when I was a kid. I knew that nothing could touch me when I was with them. Do you remember ever feeling like this? And, like I said, for some reason it was when I was holding their hand I felt most secure. I think that was because just the act of holding someone's hand lets you know they are there and they are walking with you. However, let's exit out of our childhood and come back to today. Can you think of a time recently when you were afraid? Maybe it wasn't about monsters under your bed...maybe it was still clowns though. Maybe you were afraid about a grade in a class you don't like or just can't do lik Math, English (John Jackson) or Biology (or any other class). Maybe you heard your boyfriend or girlfriend might break up with you. Maybe your parents have been fighting a lot. Maybe a friend is really sick. There are a million maybes that are probably happening to each of you. But the question now is: where do we run? We know our parents aren't invincible and our friends are definitely not the cure all to our fears and worries. So where do we go? Read Isaiah 41:13 with me...

For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, "Fear not,
I am the one who helps you."

Wow! I want you to remember what it was like feeling scared as a kid and being able to hold your parents (or whoever's) hand and the security you feel. God not only says He will protect us, but He will do what every daddy and mommy do when their child is scared. He will enter into the situation with us and hold our hand and walk with us till the very end. The God who created everything and is over everything is saying I will take care of you. You don't need to be scared because I'm with you. If you're scared can you hear him? Can you feel him holding your hand? You don't need to be scared because He has everything you experience; every trial, every tear, every period of loneliness. He is holding it in close to Himself, and He is in control over all of it. All He wants you to do is hold his hand and to trust Him. What an amazing Father.

Come home

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:59:23 PST

Did any of you ever have the urge to run away when you were little? I did at times. I used to always read the Boxcar Children series (a very old school book series) and whenever I would read it I would almost always think about what life would be like if I were on my own in the forest somewhere. It always seemed so exciting and adventurous...and then I would go camping and realize why I never left. I don't know how many of you have ever actually taken the leap and ran away from home for a short while, but the one thing that would always stop me is where I would stay if I did run away. Anyways, I have no firsthand experience with running away, but I will tell you a story about a kid who runs away in a sense. There is this rebellious adventurous type who lives with his brother and dad. Now, the rebellious brothers dad is quite wealthy. He has lots of cattle, sheep, aardvarks...whatever farmers are supposed to have. Anyways, one day the rebellious son comes to his father and tells him he wants his share of the inheritance NOW!!! The dad mulls it over and decides to give him half of his estate (which translates into one BILLION DOLLARS...actually I don't know how much but it's a lot). The son takes his money, travels to the nearest town and wastes it all on Tootsie Pops and arcade games...sort of. Well, a famine hits and this son is out of a family and now, money . So, after working with pigs he goes home. As he is going home he is practicing his speech he's going to give his father, but as he's walking up the path his dad sees him and runs to him. The son begs for forgiveness, but the father doesn't even acknowledge his apology. Instead, he gets his servant to find the best clothes for his son and he throws a huge party because his son is home! Now, all of you know this story, but just this week I heard a sermon on how this story is a beautiful painting of what repentance really is. I don't know about you but repentance is one word I'm not particularly fond because of the taste it has left in my mouth. So many of us have had this awful picture of repentance painted for us where we have to basically grovel and at the end God finally says, "Oh alright, you're forgiven." This story of the prodigal son (which is more about the amazing father) paints an entirely different picture. Take that word repentance, and put it in the context of the story of a father who runs out to his son, allows him to humbly admit he's wrong, and then brings him into his love as if he never left and you'll get the true meaning of repentance. Repentance is not groveling, it's not rolling around in a fiery pit until God finally lets our mistake go. No, repentance is instead a Father seeing his child far off and running as fast as He can towards His baby. Repentance is simply humbling yourself...repentance is coming home.

Tired...

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:18:12 PST

I think you've all experienced the feeling being tired. I can remember several times in college literally holding my eyelids open with my fingers during class because I was so tired. Can I get an amen to anyone who has been there? Actually now that I think about it there is a video of me falling asleep in class and my teacher hitting the table really hard to wake me up haha, go check it out: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=535938618108&subj=54601437. Anyways, it is a natural thing to become tired. Everyone gets to this point...some people more than others, but there is no getting around the fact we will become tired. Why am I being so redundant? Because in Isaiah 40:29-31 God says: "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Now does this mean God is some super awesome steroid we can call on during athletic events? When we're hitting the wall in the fourth quarter can we just look to God for some of his Holy juice and we'll be good to go for another hour? I think you know the answer to that (or at least I hope you do)...of course you can, I hit that stuff up all the time! Just kidding. What God is saying is he sovereign (in control) of all physical processes great and small. He can start, stop, or reverse anything that happens in nature or inside of us. How does this apply? When you're throwing everything you've got into your relationship with God and doing what you think He wants you to do you will eventually become tired...maybe even exhausted; however, God says there nothing to worry about it because He will restore us. He will renew our strength and we will soar on wings. Now that sounds like Red Bull times 1,000. In summary, throw your all into loving God and loving others and watch God renew you daily (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Accepted (No not the movie)

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:08:54 PST

How many of you have ever received a gift? I'm pretty sure ALL of you have! I want you to think of the process of receiving a gift. The other person goes out (or sits on the computer) and finds something they KNOW you will like. They purchase it and they might even wrap it, too (they could even throw one of those cutesy ribbons on top). After putting it all together they find you and hand you the present (here is where you come in). You either hold out your hand to receive the gift, or (and I hope NONE of you have ever done this) you give the other person a weird look and back away as if they have the plague. Does that sound right? I don't know about you but I have trouble accepting gifts sometimes, I know that sounds weird but let me explain. Last week, as most of you know, my house got broken into and my camera was stolen. Well, my family has insurance so we're getting money back for that camera. Because of this my mom wanted to buy me a new camera, so we went and looked for one. As we were looking my mom kept suggesting the camera that was more expensive than the camera I had before. I just couldn't let her do it. I thought it was wrong for me to have my mom spend extra money on something like a camera when she should be spending that money on Christmas presents for family and friends. This sounds logical doesn't it? Most of you are better people than I am and would have let their mom be sweet, but not me, and do you want to know why? Because I'm prideful! And this doesn't stop with earthly gifts from family, this works its way into my relationship with God. For almost my whole life I have tried to earn God's love. I have always thought if I mess up God is surely going to throw my life into the pooper, and if I obey then gold will fall from the sky onto me..actually that might hurt, how about something soft like doughnuts? That sounds silly, but even to this day I still struggle with it. Last night I was reading a devotion with Kayla which happened to be on grace (do you think God was trying to tell me something?) and in it the author quotes Jerry Bridges from his book The Disciplines of Grace: "Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace." He is saying we will always need God's grace no matter where we are at or what we have done (good or bad). Everyday, from the time you get up, until you lay back down for sleep God pours his grace on you. However, just like when our friends offer us a present, we must learn to accept this grace. This sounds crazy right, but everyday we spend trying to earn God's favor is us saying, in a way, no to God's gift. We're saying, "Listen God, what you did was great and all, but it just needs a little something more...ya know?" This is our pride. Our pride pulls us into this frustrating cycle of trying and falling shortS, but we keep at it until we are frustrated and exhausted. Some of us put so much effort into trying to attain what has already been given to us: and that is God's approval and love. In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul says this: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." This is so straightforward, but we complicated it all the time. What Paul is saying is this: grace is given to you, and it isn't because of anything you did, could do, or will ever do. You will NEVER be able to earn God's grace. It is too marvelous, to perfect, too amazing to be earned. However, you should rejoice because it has been given to you for free. Paul is saying grace is a gift, and all God wants from us is to look to him and accept what he is offering out of love. So, you might be asking yourself: how on earth do I do this? My answer: pray. Pray God would give you a humble heart which is willing to accept his free gift. Then after that live in the freedom God has given you. You must live like God has saved you and will be with you forever no matter what you do; because he has, he does, and he will always love you.

THIEVES!!!

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:51:02 PST

So, do I have a story for all of you. I came home from work Monday at around 3:30'ish, and as I opened the door I saw what I thought was Christmas ornaments (don't as me why) all over the ground. So, I naturally thought: zoinks, the dog is out and he has ruined our Christmas tree! However, I looked a little closer, and I realized that it wasn't ornaments I was looking at, but broken glass. Then I looked up at the window by the Christmas tree and saw the window had been completely shattered. Then I looked down by my feet and saw a rock the size of my head (no jokes please). Then it hit me, someone had broken into my house! I started looking around and began to realize how much they had taken. I'm not going to go into details about what they stole, but sitting there staring at the mess that was my house was really surreal. Nevertheless, after the police left and my family and I had finished dinner something hit me...actually that's a lie I didn't even think about this till right now. There's a period in Matthew where Jesus is on this mountain side and he's saying all these awesome but challenging things to some huge mass of people. Towards the end of this amazing talk Jesus says something:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-22

So now I'm thinking back to what I lost and I'm realizing how right Jesus is. These things, this stuff that we own will eventually break or get stolen (hopefully the first one). So why do we put so much stock in this stuff (As a side note, even relationships, both friendships and romantic relationships can become something that we covet and pour way too much into)? I'm not advocating we stop taking care of what we have, that would go against what God wants, too. However, at the same time when you think about it, why is the stuff that is the most important to us the stuff that's going to eventually waste away or get lost? I mean we spend so much time shopping for certain things, or lusting after certain brands, or even anticipating the arrival of new movies and yet have we ever experienced any of these sort of feelings for God? Have we ever longed for God with such passion that we will stay up all night listening to him? Have we ever spent a day where we couldn't think about anything else but God himself? I'm not saying anticipating a new movie or getting excited about a new pair of jeans is a sin, but what I am pointing out is how sad it is that most of us have probably never felt towards God what we feel towards "stuff." We've probably very rarely talked about God the way we talk about our "stuff" (movies, video games, clothes, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc.). So what can we do? We can pray to God, like the psalmist prays to Him in Psalms 86:11:

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

May we worship God only, and may we give him alone our praise!

Alone?

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:31:25 PST

I don't know how many of you have had just one of those days...or how many of you are experiencing "one of those days" today, but I have to confess I am. I know most of you know, but I struggled with depression for a while, and honestly it was all my fault. I harbored resent and was unforgiving towards precious people in my life like my dad. I ended up driving myself straight into depression. I can remember how those days felt. How I would wake up and just feel alone. It reminded me of when I was only about six and I was in Wal-Mart with my mom. I had strayed away from her, and eventually I looked around to see she was no where in sight. I freaked! I had no idea where she was, I probably thought she had left me. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth. She was freaking out just like I was trying to find her kid. Eventually we found each other, and all was well. Now, you might not admit it or realize it but you have or you probably will come to a point or time in your life when you think God was something your parents made up to keep you at church. You can't feel him, you don't know where he is...how could he be real? I am not saying that is what I'm feeling right now. I'm nowhere near that. However, there have been several times when I have wondered that, and there are several people close to me that have recently gone through or are going through these tough feelings. What I am trying to get at is something I mentioned at Young Life Club this week. And that is our God will never leave us. Even though we are SURE he has abandoned ship, even then we are dead wrong. In the Old Testament there is this guy Joshua who takes over Israel when Moses dies. Now this is a pressure filled position. You're the president of God's nation!!! However, God doesn't hang him out to dry. In the very beginning of his "reign" God tells him. "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5)."Look at that last phrase...now notice the word NEVER!!! That means from the beginning until the end God was with him, and that promise carries on with us. One of the last things Jesus tells his disciples is: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20)." We are never alone. God is always with us...even to the end of the age. Let's focus on that today.

Contentment

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:48:08 PST

Who here likes Thanksgiving? I know I absolutely adore it. If Thanksgiving were a person we would be BEST friends! Have you ever gotten to a place at Thanksgiving dinner when you are so full, but there is still so much good food to be eaten. Here is where you face a dilemma. Do you walk away from the food and settle for contentment, or do you push the boundaries of your stomach and dive in to some more stuffing and cranberry sauce? Advertisers, business owners, and even Bill Gates (sorry, that was random) would say GO FOR IT! If America's slogan wasn't "God bless America" it would definitely be "Go for it!"...or not. It seems like we are encouraged (and at some times it might feel like we are ordered) to not settle. To never be content. America applauds the man who was making $35 million and is now making $45 million. We get excited and even drool with envy over the family who moves out of the 100,000 square foot house to a one MILLION square foot house. Is this completely wrong...no it's not. However, this idea of never being content can get you into some serious trouble. If you were to take a look at some of the people God used in the Bible they didn't have very much. In fact, when Jesus sent out his disciples for the first time he told them to not take ANYTHING! Even Jesus himself didn't have a home, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (Luke 9:58). Where does our attitude of MORE, MORE, MORE lay in this? This weekend we went down to Mexico to build a house for a family who was living in a broken down mobile home. After we put the roof up we noticed the house was tilted ever so slightly to the left. Our own Jerry Harris was joking with the mom saying, "La casa es muy crooked." However, the mother looked at Jerry and replied, "No, es MUY BONITA." For those of you who don't habla espanol that means, "No, it is very beautiful." This was a beautiful painting of contentment. Paul is another great picture of being happy even with nothing. In Philippians he writes, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low, and how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need." (Phil 4:11-12) What's even more interesting is Paul was writing all of this from prison, where he was definitely in need. Being content is very difficult because it has nothing to do with how we feel. In fact most of the time it goes directly against how we feel. For instance, you want that purse or those pairs of shoes or that CD, and you actually make yourself believe you NEED IT! However, what we need to realize is what we think we need is not what we actually need. We could use what we have (i.e. money, time, attention) for so many more incredible things than just the objects we want and buy. Let's look at our lives and really think about what it means to be content in our daily walk. Let's think about ways we can manage without certain "things" and along the way let's think about how God can use what we have left over.

Storms

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:46:16 PDT

Have you ever been in a huge storm? I can remember one day when I was in middle school sitting upstairs looking through winter clothes with my family. We were in Indiana and it was tornado season and a huge storm was about to hit, but the tornado sirens had not gone off yet. So, we continued rummaging through clothes. After a while we went back downstairs, turned on the TV and found out there was a tornado WARNING for our city! The next day we found out a HUGE tornado had hit our city and had devastated several parts of it. I had never been so thankful! We could have easily died while upstairs if the tornado had made its way towards our house, but God protected us. In Matthew 8 the disciples are sailing with Jesus when a HUGE storm hits them. What makes the situation worse is the ship they're in is quite tiny. I'm sure you can imagine being a tiny ship as a huge storm tosses it back and forth. The waves the storm has created are crashing onto the deck and your ship seems to be sinking. The disciples are panicked to say the least, so they turn to the only person who can save them, Jesus. They wake him up from his nap (so inconvenient) and fill him on the fact they're all about to die! Jesus gets up, looks at his disciples and says something that hits home immediately: "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" What a question! I can't think of anybody who would be calm while their boat slowly sinks under a massive storm. However, Jesus asks them, "Why are you afraid?" Why would Jesus come down so hard on his disciples when they were acting as any human being would act? I think it's because Jesus expects more out of us. He desires us to trust him COMPLETELY! Lying under the disciple's panicked request were hearts that didn't fully believe Jesus had everything under control. So, now onto us. It is obvious our country seems to going through some hard times financially, and there are probably hundreds or thousands of other problems we are facing as well. This leaves us in a very important situation. It is in these times that we can build character...that we can build faith. Jesus wants us to trust Him...even if our boat is half full of water. You can decide to trust our God, or you can try and run around worrying about everything. You know what God wants, and the storm is almost here...what will you do?

Fair

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:14:21 PDT

I can remember a couple of lines I said a lot when I was a little kid. Can you remember any? Some were probably: "No" "MOM" or "Shotgun!" The one I was thinking of was, "That's not fair!" Now, this phrase can be used in a whole variety of situations. I would say it after being told I was grounded, or after one of my brothers received a nicer gift than I did, or even after my brother got the front seat for the FIFTH TIME IN A ROW!!! We all have this inherent belief that we should be treated fairly. Before I go on I just want to say that we should treat each other fairly. This is something God calls us to do. However, this idea of fair can be a bad thing. Let's look at these few verses:

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:32-36

I'm sure a lot of you have read these few verses and thought to yourself..."Hmmm, that sounds like something I should do..." However, then you walk away from your Bible and you never let what Jesus has said really affect you. If you would read this verse and really meditate on what Jesus is saying you're first reaction could very well be, "That's SO not fair." And honestly, according to the world we live in it isn't fair. Being asked to give to those who will never be able to pay us back seems a little backwards. However, this is the kingdom we belong to, and this is the life we are called to. Jesus had a knack for stirring people up with how radical he was, and what is interesting is he still does it today. The perfect example are these verses. So, I will leave you with a question: who are you giving to. Who are you loving? Is it just the people who can pay you back and who are like you? Are you willing to step outside of the bubble you are in to love and give to those who NEED it.

The Hills

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:21:40 PDT

No I am not going to talk about that spectacular reality show (did you catch the sarcasm?). Have any of you read Psalms 121:1-2? If not it goes like this:

I lift my eyes up to the hills-
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

The first question I asked is why is he looking to the hills? What on earth does that mean? Then slowly I got it...it means he's in a valley. Now that you know where he's at it still doesn't make sense why he is looking to hills. As I read these verses over and over I think he's looking to the hills because he's hoping help is on its way. There's a scene in the second Lord of the Rings movie (The Two Towers) where the orcs are attacking this fortress these men and women are in. Eventually the orcs break down the fortress and everyone knows they are going to die. However, at daybreak a horn sounds and every man turns to the hill to see that help has come. They are saved! So, now it's our turn. When we are in a valley and being attacked by anything and everything (maybe even orcs) who is our help? Who will come to our rescue? Who can save us? Is it our family? Is it our friends? That's what I think the writer of this psalm was wrestling with. He was asking himself: WHO CAN HELP ME?!?! Then he realizes...only God can. Only the Maker of heaven and earth. Now God can use people to save us. He did this a bunch in the Bible (see David and Goliath, Abraham's nephew Lot, etc.), but we have to remember it is God using these people. So, when you are in your valley...when there is no way to escape and you feel surrounded...where does your help come from? Who will you trust to save you?

The Evangelism Linebacker

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:09:34 PDT

Because Sarah Jackson was looking for it :-).

Mirrors or Windows?

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:50:13 PDT

There is something peculiar about mirrors when you think about them. Their only purpose is to focus everything on you! You can be rushing around at a million miles an hour trying to serve everyone you can. However, the second you step in front of that mirror it becomes all about you. We drop whatever we were thinking and begin to think...: "Oh no, is that a hair out of place?" "What are those spots on my teeth?" "Why can't I look as good as Skylar?' "Holy cow! Is that a pimple or Mount St. Helens?" Windows on the other hand take the focus completely off of you and put it on whatever is outside or beyond the little room you're in. Sometimes people will stop in front of a window to watch a fight, or gawk at a beautiful sunset, or even to put their mouth on the window so it will leave a smudge (is that just me?) I
really think as we continue living our lives we feel we are being transformed into one of two thing: a mirror or a window. What I mean by that is this: some of us feel like we need to be a window, and we will pursue serving others with all of our time and energy. We will continually seek to find out what other people need and how to get that for them. On the other hand, if serving isn't our thing we will view our lives as a mirror: we use our lives as an opportunity to grow ourselves. We might spend most of our time trying to figure out what we need and what we want and just how to attain these things. Are one of these better than the other? Most of you church goers would probably say the life which represents the window, the life of service, and I think you are right. However, I don't think the answer is either/or. I think the answer is more of a both/and. If we were to just serve, and never pay any attention to what is going on inside of our own lives then eventually we will lose our heart. We will lose that fire, that passion we once had for doing God's work. The second GREATEST commandment was this: "Love your neighbor as YOURSELF (Matthew 22:39)." I am not saying to stop serving, and I am not saying it is good to be only concerned about yourself. What I am saying is we need to serve, but at the same time we need to be searching for what God is trying to tell us about us, and what He is trying to point out to us in our own lives. If we only focus on the lives' of others we will never experience true growth. Sometimes I think we serve so much because we're afraid of what God might say if we actually looked in the mirror and asked the scary question: "Who am I?" "Where do I fall short?" "What do I fear?" So, if you are a mirror, get over yourself! If you are a window, it's time to look in the mirror. If you are perfectly in the middle...please come talk to me because I sure need some help with this.

Kingdom

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:04:15 PDT

Hello all! I don't know if any of you watched the Republican National Convention last week but it was very interesting. First thing I noticed was these people in pink shirts who would dart down through the stadium every fifteen minutes or so. You could feel their commitment to their cause by just watching them. Anyways, so as I heard John McCain finally speak he was interrupted every five minutes or so with the chant, "U.S.A." You didn't need to hear anymore to know these people were dedicated to their country...to their kingdom. This got me started thinking about how the country/kingdom we feel we belong to really does define us. These people were decked out in red, white, and blue. Some looked like Uncle Sam, there was even a man dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. I don't know about you but a lot of these people didn't look sane to me. However, they wanted to show their dedication and their commitment to their country...to their kingdom. How many of us get so caught up in this kingdom...in this life...that we think that we actually belong here? Hopwever, Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship in heaven and Jesus spent a lot of time in his talks speaking about this Kingdom of God. Who do you belong to? It's not hard to tell. Think back to what all you did today...think back to your decisions, how you spent your time, what you spent most of your day thinking about, what you desire. This will be the greatest indicator of where our citizenship is. Are we stuck in this broken world, or are we searching for this kingdom Jesus spoke of and are we trying to enact it now? Where do your loyalties lie?

Blankets

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:21:18 PDT

Everyone enjoys a good blanket. I don't know of many people who don't look forward to curling up in their blanket as the evening comes to a close. Some of you might even still use the blanket you had as a child, and you look to Linus from Charlie Brown as a modern day hero. When you jump into bed your normal first reaction is to take your blanket and completely wrap yourself in the blanket. The blanket is covering every inch of your body as you lay there, rested and comfortable. With that image in mind read this verse:

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night,nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Psalms 91:4-6

God is always there covering you completely. Anything that happens in your life, good or bad, has to pass through God. It happens because God allows it to happen. You might be asking, "Does this mean God does bad things to me?" No, it means God allows those things, but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians God will not let anything happen to you that you cannot withstand through him. Be glad! God is in complete control over what happens to you! He spreads his wings over you, he wraps you in His love like a blanket does and completely surrounds you. There is nothing you have to fear because God is working for you! (Romans 8:31).

Words

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:41:44 PDT

It's interesting how some simple things can impact us so deeply. One of these are words. What are words? Aren't they just letters from an alphabet we made up arranged in a way to make sense to us? But, they are more than that aren't they? A certain arrangement of words have the ability to make your day: "Gosh you look good today!" "I am so proud of you" "You should definitely keep the green hair, it brings out your eyes." However, words have an ability to tear you down for a lifetime: "Your stupid." "There is no WAY you can do this." "You're fat." "You're ugly." This last Sunday I talked about the word of God. Not the written word (The Bible) but His spoken word, and what that has to do with us. This spoken word is God bringing His written word to life through circumstances and decisions he throws into our life. However I left one thing out in our discussion...His word does one more thing. It gives life. It breathes into us and restores us.

the LORD God formed the man The Hebrew for man sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) it is also the name Adam. from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:17

God takes these words we created and He breathes life into them with His spirit. He encourages us with them: "I love you...I died for you (John 3:16)." He assures us with them: "Nothing can separate you from my love (Romans 8:38-39). He saves us with them: "It is finished (John 19:30). " Now, what does this have to do with us? We need to understand the power of words. We need to take a lesson out of God's book and learn to only encourage others with our words. We are the body of Christ, and now is the time to start acting like it.

Not for Him

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:19:38 PDT

I was reading the story of Jesus being anointed (Mark 14:1-3) and I began to realize two things...this event, this anointing was a BIG deal during Jesus' time. You can look back at the Old Testament and you will see many great men of God being anointed in front of hundreds or even thousands of high up people (priests, levites, etc.). An anointing would also occur in the temple or close to where the ark was being held (see story of Joshua). However, Jesus' anointing took place in a leper's house and he was surrounded by a bunch of nobodies. This doesn't make any sense at first. This is God! There should be an endless crowd of priests and other really religious people. However, this is a sign to us what Jesus is about. Jesus is not about the bells and whistles we care about so many times. Jesus is the epitome of humility. He deserved so much more, but he would not accept it. The second thing I noticed is Jesus is being anointed toward the end of his life. Usually a person is anointed at the beginning of their time as king, or their time as a prophet, or whatever. But if you will notice Jesus life is coming to an end. This is because all Jesus did while he was alive was no where near as important as what he did in his death. That is why he truly came. We serve a humble God, and it is a privlege to serve Him. Let us serve him, and in serving him become more like him.

What you want me to do?!?!

skylar@cfcpca.org (Skylar Cook) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:40:30 PDT

How are we supposed to do this church thing? I look at the original church and then I take a gander at the church today and I see so many differences. One thing that always catches my eye is the first church had no youth ministry. I am always trying to look to the Bible as my guide in trying to form some sort of big picture for the Rock, but it's hard when the Bible has no specific advice about how to run a youth ministry. As I have thought about the big picture of The Rock, and as I have talked to Pete, the Andy's, Tyler, and Crystal one verse keeps popping up in my head. It's 1 John 4:12, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." This verse is one of my favorite. Why you ask (because I know you are just loving this right now haha)...this is my favorite because of the great job God has given all of us according to this verse. It says, "...no one has EVER seen God..." however, when we love one another God shows up. Have any of you ever been told you look like a certain movie star? For a while people would tell me I look like Joaquin (weird first name huh?) Phoenix. I would always laugh and slowly walk away cause I think he's ugly, but that's another blog. I can't imagine if someone came up to me and said...you know what, you look like God! What a compliment! Paul says if we love one another that is exactly what happens! No matter what we do as a youth group, this should be one of the attitudes that is at the center of what we do. We must always love one another even if it is hard. What an amazing blessing from God though...to be given the ability to look like him...to represent him!Praise him!