free

i apologize for my lack to be truly consistent with my blogging each week. i could probably come up with a couple of lame excuses all involving the words "busy," "school," and "stuff." so ill just skip that step, and try to be consistent in the future, because consistency is something that our generation struggles with, and can be connected to our lack of consistency in our own relationships with God and others. so lets stop that. haha.

our verses for the week are:

Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

and

Ephesians 2:8-9
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.

so romans 6:23. death.
awesome, thats really an upper for the week.
but when looked at more closely we start to think about really what we deserve for our sins. and notice paul doesnt name certain sins like murder or adultery or those that we consider really really bad sins, he just says
S I N. singular.
huh. so maybe here paul is trying to get at something. that we for some reason create a ranking system ordering sin from worst to oh-not-so-bad. and yet all sin is equal in God's eyes. so when we tell a little white lie to our parents. ya thats the same as murdering someone, in God's eyes. great. James 2:10: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." so when we sin and judge another person, we have in theory broken all of God's commandments? ya. now while many cynics would decide it doesnt matter then, because regardless we are all doomed.

fortunately the verse has to parts.
1. for the wages of sin is death
and
2. but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

well that second part sounds a whole lot more comforting. and it should. in fact it kinda blows my mind. to think the we have such a Holy Almighty God that while each and everyone of us are infected by the sin, that at our own hand destroys our lives, He saves.
and regardless of what we have done, our Father sent his only Son to rid the world of the stain that penetrates our souls. and that this Sacrificial Lamb has paid the price for us. because as the verse states we are given this free gift.

so most people are looking at this as an ending but perhaps it's just a beginning....

well here we are.
the beginning of another school year, and as a few of us couldn't sleep last night from excitement, most of us dreaded the sun rising this morning. but perhaps our outlook is slightly jaded, we look at this as a requirement opposed to an opportunity.

to make a difference this year
to be the difference.

and even as the days go by i know we will convince ourselves that this will be the year

we will study more instead of cramming
we will be more organized
we will reach out to others
we will stop hanging with the wrong crowd
we will read our bible everyday
we will turn in everything on time
we will smile at that weird kid in the hall
we will go to church every week

we will stop that.

we will start this.


and the list continues on and on.

but really we try to change these specific aspects of our life without dealing with the main problem, its like putting a band aid on a paper cut when our leg has been torn off. its just a flesh wound. maybe we've missed the point. the underlying cause.

because we cant be expected to be this super christian (which really is an unobtainable goal), if we don't have a true relationship with Christ. and while many of us have memories of accepting Him as a small child, the relationship is frayed and on life support. and really he just desires to be with us.

He already knows us, but He'd love for us to truly know Him, His h e a r t. and then when we know His h e a r t, and his will for our life, the rest seems to fall into place.


and this week my prayer for us is that we dig deeper, and go to the root of our inconsistencies, our struggles, our hurts, our tendencies not to trust.

this weeks verses are:

1 Peter 3:15:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Romans 3:23:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

to me 1 peter 3:15 represents the call we have to reach out to nonbelievers, and not just to show them kindness, although i do not want to diminish the importance of that, but also to actually share the gospel with them. which is something that i know scares me, and i realize this fear many of us have is fear of rejection. and while i don't know the absolute best way to share the gospel with someone, i know that actually knowing what you are talking about would be a plus. i think much of our generation has lost touch with the immensity of the value of knowing the Word. really knowing it. which involves really reading it. more than just a verse a day.
christians are often labeled as hypocritical. and well we should be. we preach about the lost, and how they need to be saved, but do we actually know and understand the material we are preaching. perhaps we know the principals, but is that really enough.
should it be enough?

the road less traveled.

hey guys im sorry i know that it is wednesday, and normally im going to post verses sunday or monday but ive been out of town. so for the rest of the week try your best to memorize at least one of these:

Matthew 7:13-14
The Narrow and Wide Gates: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it"

Isaiah 50:10
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let those who walk in the dark, who have no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God."

school approaches, and with it all the lies and temptations of the world.
and in this life i think as Christians, one of our greatest struggles is

c o n s i s t e n c y.

staying consistent as we go back to the constant struggles of life.
so i pray as you begin the school year, with all the trials and tribulations that accompany that, that you would not lose heart or grow weak. that as you go back to school and the routine that goes with that, that you would take the road less traveled, by entering the narrow gate.

this is a gate, not always easy to stumble on, and not always easy to embark upon, but it is always always worth it in the end.

Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost

and so it begins.

we now find ourselves at the true beginning of a revolution. while this journey will neither be short nor easy, i hope that as we tackle it together, you will not lose hope, or become discouraged, when trials test you.

this is the first official week together of the etc, every thought captive revolution. this week together we are going to memorize colossians 3:14 and mark 12:30-31.

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." colossians 3:14

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these." mark 12:30-31 these verses to me capitalize on the true call of the christian life: to love God and to show others God's love. and while many of us have been taught this since before we could talk, these words are not so familiar with the rest of the world.
and as the word love and the greatest commandment has become almost mundane to us, its importance and value have not diminished.

this remains the greatest and sometimes most difficult thing we are asked to do:

to love Christ with all we are.

to put him above everything else.

to seek his will continually. to obey him.

and we sing to God of this constant love.


but do we mean it?

"Christians don’t tell lies, they just go to church and sing them." -a.w. tozer.

that cuts deep.

but when we think about it

its true.

how easily do we sing "i surrender all"

but is that truly our heart?


and so the christian life is more than just uttering meaningless words to God. but really living them out. and i pray that this week as you hopefully strive to memorize these two verses: collosians 3:14 and mark 12:30-31 that you take them to heart what they mean not just memorizing to be memorizing but growing in your faith, and maybe that means loving others more, or maybe that means surveying your heart and how it truly worships God.

regardless we are on this journey together. and im very excited to see God work in our lives.

the start of a journey

today something new begins.

today we leave complacency behind.

today we choose to be the difference.

my name is katherine ellis and im so excited to begin the etc revolution journey. the every thought captive revolution is based on 2 corinthians 10:5: "we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

through this revolution we hope to grow together in faith through scripture memory.

2nd timothy 3:16 states: all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. we as a generation have fallen away from hiding God's word in our hearts and truly knowing and understanding scripture, through the etc revolution we hope to change this.

i believe God is in this

and that he is just waiting

waiting for our generation to rise up

and 'be the change we wish to see in the world.' -ghandi

we will be together memorizing and putting to heart 2 verses a week and one passage of scripture a month. i am excited and ready to see God work in this and in us. i will be working with the other TeamLeaders through 2 corinthians 4.

"what is possible when a generation stops assuming that someone else will take care of the brokenness in the world--or that someone else will capitalize on current opportunities and realize that they are called to take action?" "we still have confidence because we see rebelutionaries who are not only willing to make a difference, but they are choosing to train themselves to be the difference." - do hard things http://www.therebelution.com/