Read them.

Pray through them.

Confess to others how you have not kept them.

Also, ask God to give the college students at Brook Hills the grace to walk in them.

Mark 9:50  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:17  These things I command you, so that you will love one another. 

Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 12:16  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited.

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Romans 15:5  May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.

Romans 15:7  Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:14  I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

1 Corinthians 11:33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

1 Corinthians 12:25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

1 Corinthians 16:20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Galatians 5:26  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Ephesians 4:32  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 5:19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.

Ephesians 5:21  submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Colossians 3:9  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

Colossians 3:13  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

1 Thessalonians 3:12  and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,

1 Thessalonians 4:9  Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

1 Thessalonians 4:18  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 5:11  Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:15  See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

James 4:11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.

James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

James 5:16  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

1 Peter 4:8-10 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:14  Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 

1 John 3:11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 3:23  And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:11-12 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

2 John 1:5 And now I ask you, dear lady- not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning- that we love one another. 

One thing we all probably came away with was a greater awareness of spiritual warfare and the need to engage in the battle through prayer. Hopefully in the coming days we will post something of a “How To” for college students in Birmingham to engage Muslims with the Gospel. However, I thought we first needed to call everyone to meaningful prayer for the nearly 1.6 billion followers of Islam.

Would you pray for opportunities for the Church to share the Gospel with Muslims? Many of the 1.6 billion Muslims live in closed countries. They are not giving out missionary visas for anyone to come share the Gospel and plant churches in most Muslim countries. However, many are in school at universities we attend, live next door to us, work alongside us, possibly even married into our extended families. Let’s pray for God to burden His people and that those in open countries as well as closed would lovingly, humbly and boldly “declare the mystery of Christ” to those who follow Islam.

Statistics show only 0.05% of Christian workers in the world having Muslims as their focus. That is unbelievable knowing that 1 out of every 4 people in this world are followers of Islam.  The stark reality is that most Muslims will die without ever having someone share with them the Gospel. Let’s pray for more “laborers”.

Are you between 21-26 years old?  Are you single or married with no children?  Have you completed a bachelor’s degree?  If you said yes to these three questions, have you considered the Journeyman Program with the International Mission Board?

With a world population of over 7 billion people and over 2 billion people considered “unreached,” why not prayerfully consider this amazing opportunity? Christ, our Lord, has commissioned and commanded us to make disciples of all nations. You have been redeemed, transformed, and saved for a purpose. And Journeyman Program is an excellent avenue for you to give a period of time in your young life to seeing the glory of God made known among those who have not yet heard.

As college students graduate from school they are almost immediately faced with the temptation to pursue the American dream. The business world is waiting for young people to begin to seek opportunities to climb up the corporate ladder for status and security. The temptation lies in the desire for personal gain.  Do I want to glorify myself or God? One way to combat this temptation is to give a considerable amount of time in a cross-cultural context, working among people with urgent physical and spiritual need. No doubt that this experience would give young adults a needed perspective as they enter into their long-term vocation, whether that is in the business world or some other aspect of society.

The Journeyman Program is designed for 20 something’s with degrees to go and serve alongside missionaries and local churches around the world in order to seek and save the lost and give God the glory that He is due.  My wife Lindsay and I both served as single Journeyman in unreached Muslim contexts in the Middle East and Central Asia.  We left the comforts we had always known and went and labored in areas of the world where Christ is not known.  We learned a different language, absorbed a different culture, wore different clothes, ate different foods, danced to different music, made different friends, played different games, experienced different challenges and in the process allowed God to use us to help accomplish His plan of reconciling a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself.

What will it cost you?  Only two years of your life!  If God has saved you and you have made Him Lord of your life, do you not owe Him everything? His plans are to replace your plans. His desires are to replace your desires. His will is to replace your will.  You were created to make much of God and I can think of no better opportunity, than to give 2 years of your life to go to the unreached and to tell them about His saving grace.

A word of encouragement for those dwelling on the details is that God has provided the necessary resources for you to go. Due to the abundant generosity of Brook Hills and other SBC Churches, you will be fully supported as you go and proclaim the name of Christ among the unreached.

With almost 1.5 billion Muslims, almost 1 billion Hindus, and almost 620 million Buddhists all on a path that will lead to eternity apart from God, what are you waiting for?

Contact Paul A. (paula@brookhills.org) today to discuss how God may be leading you or check out more about the Journeyman Program online at http://going.imb.org/2to3yr/journeyman.asp.

I want to add another component of “urgency”, especially for college students.  The urgent need for a healthy local church.

Now, I know billions are lost and headed to a Christ-less eternity.  Millions are dying for lack of basic nutrition and medication.  But I really, really believe this is an urgent matter!  Scripture clearly teaches it as a non-negotiable, an essential aspect of a Christ-followers life.

Mark Dever mentions this urgency in his excellent book entitled, What is a Healthy Church?  When he speaks to college campus ministries, he’s been known to begin his talk with: “If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, I worry that you might be going to hell.” (21)

It’s a great little book.  I recommend it highly.  I also, along with Dever, urge you to stop hopping from church to church, ministry to ministry.  God’s plan A for addressing “urgent physical” and “urgent spiritual” need in our world is the church, not isolated Christians.

The membership process at Brook Hills begins with the “IMPACT Workshop”.  The next one will take place on Sundays, April 15, 22, 29, and May 6 from 4:00-6:00pm. Registration is open and the workshop always fills up quickly. So go and register here. NOTE: Each IMPACT participant must register individually.

The 5 Minute Challenge

This website is a great resource for small groups and individuals to focus in prayer for a specific country each week.  You are able to explore information and learn about the people in the country.  Let us all commit to prayer once a week for the persecuted church.

The next Secret Church will be on Good Friday, April 6, 2012, at 6:00 pm.  This session’s topic will be on “The Cross and Suffering.”  You can read a summary of the topic below.

Tickets: How do I get them?  Click here to purchase tickets on Monday, January 23, at 9:00 am (Central Time).  That morning, you will see a link on that page to purchase tickets.  Come to church on Sunday, January 22, for a special hint in ordering!

Simulcast: Will you be at home for Easter?  If you want to do a simulcast at your house with some friends, click here to find out more information about registration.  You can begin the simulcast process on Tuesday, January 24.

“The Cross and Suffering”
Suffering is a sobering reality in a fallen world. Followers of Christ are not immune to adversity and affliction. On the contrary, there is a real sense in which following Christ means that trials and tribulations are more likely to come our way. As a result, whether walking through sickness, sorrow, pain, or persecution, the questions abound: Why am I suffering? Where is God when I suffer? How can I suffer well? When will my suffering end? How can God be good and allow such evil in the world? How can God be gracious and ordain such suffering in my life? During this Secret Church on Good Friday, we will explore these extremely profound yet deeply personal questions through the lens of Christ’s sufferings on the cross. In the process, we will come to a surprising discovery of how the gospel strengthens, sustains, supports, and ultimately satisfies us in the middle of suffering.

]]> http://www.brookhillscollege.org/shh-tell-everyone/feed 0 http://www.brookhillscollege.org/tebow-micd-up http://www.brookhillscollege.org/tebow-micd-up#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:16:38 +0000 Britten Taylor http://www.brookhillscollege.org/?p=2243 Am I on the Tebow bandwagon? Easy answer, YES!

But, I must say that I am on any bandwagon of an individual who is seeking to glorify God through their vocation.

I am on the “college student” bandwagon that is seeking to extend the grace of God on their campus.  I am on the “stay-at-home mom” bandwagon that is seeking to platform the Gospel in her God-given role.  I am on the “church planter among the unreached” and the “local business man” bandwagon, as well as the “retired professional” bandwagon, as long as they looking to make disciples of all nations right where God in his sovereign will has placed them.

However, rarely do we get a local business man or a college student on campus “mic’d up”!

From the Gospel Coalition Blog entitled, “Tebow, Calvin, and the Hand of God in Sports“…

Every Christian exists for the praise of God. Every Christian draws breath because God gives it. Every Christian serves God as a priest, offering acceptable service in the kingdom of his gospel through the power of his Spirit (1 Pet. 2:9). As with every other believer, God’s hand is leading Tebow’s life, blessing him as he applies Christian character to the task before him. God moves in mysterious ways. As previously stated, I do not have biblical grounds for seeing Tebow’s fourth-quarter heroics as an outworking of God’s direct causation. But I do know that God often delights to spurn the wisdom of the world by the efforts of his people (1 Cor. 1:20).

10 Reasons you should go Mid-Term:

1. Call: We have been called by Christ for a purpose, His glory is to be made known among all nations.

2. Urgency: Billions of people are born, live, and die without ever hearing the gospel.

3.  Timing: Don’t wait for writing in the clouds, we have His writing through His Word.

4. Adventure: You never know where the Lord will take you, be open to his direction.

5. Oportunity: We have more than enough resources and partnerships to send students out mid-term.

6. Advancement: The gospel must go forth!

7. Gift: God’s grace is to be poured out through our lives to others.

8. Ability: You have been qualified by Christ, He is your ability.

9. Obedience: The Great Commission is a command. Obedience is not legalism. Jesus said if we love him, we will obey his commandments.

10. Gospel: Referred to in Acts as “The Way” which is singular. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and all who trust in his sacrifice and ressurrection will be reconciled to God forever.

For more information on Mid-Term Missions through Brook Hills, contact Paul A, director of Mid-Term Missions via email,  paula@brookhills.org.

Below you  can read Jonathan Leeman’s 12 compelling reasons why church membership matters.  The list was taken from a recent 9Marks eJournal focused on “Church Membership” and is also an excerpt from his forthcoming book “What is Church Membership?”

1. It’s biblical. Jesus established the local church and all the apostles did their ministry through it. The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.

2. The church is its members. To be ―a church‖ in the New Testament is to be one of its members (read through Acts). And you want to be part of the church because that’s who Jesus came to rescue and reconcile to himself.

3. It’s a pre-requisite for the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a meal for the gathered church, that is, for members (see 1 Cor. 11:20, 33). And you want to take the Lord’s Supper. It’s the team ―jersey‖ which makes the church team visible to the nations.

4. It’s how to officially represent Jesus. Membership is the church’s affirmation that you are a citizen of Christ’s kingdom and therefore a card-carrying Jesus Representative before the nations. And you want to be an official Jesus Representative. Closely related to this…

5. It’s how to declare one’s highest allegiance. Your membership on the team, which becomes visible when you wear the ―jersey,‖ is a public testimony that your highest allegiance belongs to Jesus. Trials and persecution may come, but your only words are, ―I am with Jesus.‖

6. It’s how to embody and experience biblical images. It’s within the accountability structures of the local church that Christians live out or embody what it means to be the ―body of Christ,‖ the ―temple of the Spirit,‖ the ―family of God,‖ and so on for all the biblical metaphors (see 1 Cor. 12). And you want to experience the interconnectivity of his body, the spiritual fullness of his temple, and the safety and intimacy and shared identity of his family.

7. It’s how to serve other Christians. Membership helps you to know which Christians on Planet Earth you are specifically responsible to love, serve, warn, and encourage. It enables you to fulfill your biblical responsibilities to Christ’s body (for example, see Eph. 4:11-16; 25-32).

8. It’s how to follow Christian leaders. Membership helps you to know which Christian leaders on Planet Earth you are called to obey and follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your biblical responsibility to them (see Heb. 13:7; 17).

9. It helps Christian leaders lead. Membership lets Christian leaders know which Christians on Planet Earth they will ―give an account‖ for (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).

10. It enables church discipline. It gives you the biblically prescribed place to participate in the work of church discipline responsibly, wisely, and lovingly (1 Cor. 5).

11. It gives structure to the Christian life. It places an individual Christian’s claim to ―obey‖ and ―follow‖ Jesus into a real-life setting where authority is actually exercised over us (see John 14:15; 1 John 2:19; 4:20-21).

12. It builds a witness and invites the nations. Membership puts the alternative rule of Christ on display for the watching universe (see Matt. 5:13; John 13:34-35; Eph. 3:10; 1 Peter 2:9-12). The very boundaries which are drawn around the membership of a church yields a society of people which invites the nations to something better.

Impact: New Membership Workshop: 

The New Member’s Workshop at Brook Hills is offered several times per year in a four week series. The purpose of the workshop is to fully educate potential members about the vision, mission, and goal of this local body of believers called The Church at Brook Hills, and to develop the faith family as leaders to impact the nations for God’s glory.

We encourage all…every…the entire number of college students regularly attending Brook Hills to commit to going through Impact. You are welcome to attend the workshop for informational purposes only; there is no requirement to commit to membership.

Registration is available online, or by contacting the Assimilation Ministry Office at 205-313-7782 or membership@brookhills.org.

The first IMPACT classes of 2012 will be Sundays, January 8, 15, 22, and 29 from 4:00 – 6:00pm. Register here.

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