Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

Reflections from Rumney

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

A few weekends ago I had the privilege of speaking at Rumney Bible Conference’s Snow Camp with Oak Hill worship team member, Cody DeGraff leading worship. Here are some thoughts from Cody and me, the messages I preached and the song list from Cody.

Thoughts from Cody:

This past weekend I had the privilege of leading musical worship in NH at Rumney Bible. Experiencing God‘s impact on roughly 200 teens, youth leaders, pastors, and staff was an amazing experience. Not only did some accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but there were many that rededicated their lives to Christ. I truly believe God spoke through Josh every time he preached.
One thing that really stands out was a guy who came up to me, and started thanking me for the musical worship. We sat down and prayed together. Then he asked me how old I was. When I responded that I was only 18 he looked at me with complete shock, and  then told me, ”You  have motivated me to want to serve God more! Because I am 17 years old, and if an 18 year old can do it then so can I!”
PRAISE GOD! He is moving!!!! I pray that God works in these teens to put Jesus as their Treasure and not their worldly desires.

Songs From Rumney:
Friday Night -

You Are Holy (Prince Of Peace) – Micheal W. Smith

Here I Am To Worship – Tim Hughues

Open the Eyes of my Heart – Sonic Flood

Everlasting God – Chris Tomlin

Saturday Morning -

It Is Well With My Soul – Horatio Spafford

Mighty To Save – Hillsong

Mighty Is The Power Of The Cross- Chris Tomlin

Take Me In- Petra


Saturday pm -

This we Pray – Cody DeGraff
It Is Well With My Soul -Horatio Spafford
Here I Am To Worship- Tim Hughues
Agnus Dei – Micheal W. Smith
Majesty (Here I Am) – Delirious?

Sunday -

It Is You – Newsboys
Mighty To Save – Hillsong
God Of Wonders- Mac Powell

Thoughts From Josh:
Rumney was a whole new experience for me. I had never even been to something like this, let alone speak at it. Scott and the team were amazing and this palace was the real deal. Above all of this I would most definitely say God showed up in a real and powerful way! A week and a half later and I still can not put into word what the Spirit did through this weekend not only for the students, and leaders, but also me. All I can think about is 1 Cor. 1.21 “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (emphasis mine) I did not say anything profound, or amazing, but nonetheless the Holy Spirit used it. For that reason I am thankful!

If you were at Rumney join in the conversation below!

Messages From Rumney:

Friday Evening: due to technology problems we did not capture the message

Saturday Morning: What is your treasure?

Saturday Evening: Prodigal God

Sunday Morning: Simon Says


Posted in Resources | 2 Comments »

Book Review: University of Destruction

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

University of Destruction by David Wheaton is about being a true witness to Christ during college. Wheaton has many good spiritual points including a particularly useful three part section towards the end outlining what is necessary to keep one’s faith in college. These “Game Plan Fundamentals” include decent instruction on the interactions with God, peers, and authorities.

Unfortunately, this book was not what it could have been. Wheaton is often patronizing in his delivery and it is difficult to believe that his theories would aid very many people in returning to Christ before heading to College.

Missing Community

Besides his condescending writing style, he encourages the believer to keep non-believers simply as acquaintances. He actually tells us that we should not have active communication with unbelievers more than a few times a month lest we fall into their sin. While I agree that the biggest influence in our life should not be an enemy of God, we should be more than an acquaintance to them. If believers are involved in the local Church, and a small group or fight club (groups of three believers that encourage each other daily) they may be able to be good friends with non-believers meanwhile maintaining their faith.

No Repentance

Wheaton writes:

“When you became a Possesor (a true believer), God forgave every one of your sins—past, present, and future. Therefore, you don’t have to ask forgiveness when you sin; rather, confess your sin and claim the forgiveness He has already given you at the point of your salvation.” (pg. 147)

Now would have been a good time to talk about what true repentance is, but no such definition can be found. There is a brief reference to it near the end of the book, but other than that, he only encourages confession- which is only half the work. I think it was Luther who said, “The life of a Christian is one of daily repentance”. If you are going to teach about being a true believer, why leave repentance out?

No Gospel

Finally, Wheaton explains salvation but his audience is those who profess belief while living sinful lives. His solution? Offer the sinner’s prayer- the very thing that put these people in the spot they are in now. After having the reader pray this prayer, he excitedly confirms that, if they meant it, then they are now saved. I am sure this is not the first time this audience has heard this. Besides this potentially false hope, the motivation for most of his advice is moralism rather than the Gospel. As a (better) book about how to stay Christian in college has been written, this could be aptly titled: “How to stay morally religious in college”.

Ultimately I would not suggest this book to Christian students going into college. As I said, he has some decent points about how to keep faith in Christ, but the not so good outweighs the good here, and for a good book about retaining one’s faith, I would stick with How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski.

Posted in Atmosphere U, Resources | No Comments »

Atmosphere and Haiti (part 2)

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Part of spreading the Gospel is being in partnership with other believers around the world. Atmosphere wants to help you be a part of that. So in addition to giving the offering from this past weekend directly to Haiti (we raised $1,013.63, and received another $500 for reaching that amount!),we have begun a new page on our website that connects you with the needs of others around the globe.

Atmosphere On Mission

At Atmosphere, we realize that we aren’t called to “missions”, as in many different tasks world-wide. As believers, we are called to The Mission of Jesus Christ who calls us to act in His name everywhere. That is why we began the “On Mission” page. This allows you to donate to, pray for, or even join with ministries from anywhere that exist to spread the Gospel of Jesus and serve people in His name. We hope that you can use this for Christ’s glory and fame.

What it is

Right now, this page lists several blogs and mission organizations that are raising funds for the relief effort in Haiti. We have it broken up into categories based on what each organization offers. There are some that are working to bring clean water, others bring food, and some help children in need. After this are those raising support in general and there are two ministries listed that are actually in Haiti.

What it will be

In the future, this page will change. We will continue to keep the people of Haiti on our hearts and minds, lifting them before the throne, but there will always be more needs that arise. Look back for trips that Atmosphere is sponsoring and other opportunities for you to get involved in.

Posted in Resources | No Comments »

Reading Lists

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Your Atmosphere leaders are trying something new: Reading.

Ok, so its not that new, many of us have been doing a lot of reading in the past year anyway. But we want to share with you not only what is on our book roster, but also good resources for you to consider for your own library! So here are some books that some of the leaders at Atmosphere will be getting through in the next year. We are linking to our Amazon.com account so you can buy them yourself and help us out at the same time! (books with an * are available through Atmosphere!)
Theology
Biography
Prayer
Spiritual Life
The Widow, Fatherless, and Needy

The Church

Leadership and Pastoral

Posted in Personal, Resources | 4 Comments »

Your Thoughts

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

As many of you know Atmosphere is a service for teens with God’s glory as its focus. We pray constantly that this goal will be met, but acting on this requires more than just leaders sitting around a table sipping at coffee and green tea lates. Our ideas and brainstorming sessions arent always exactly on par with where you, as our audience, may be at any given time.

Where you come in…

Below is a document in which we would like some feedback. How are we meeting your needs as a ministry? What is it we are doing that you like or dislike? Some examples could be, “We think there should be more prayer”  or you could even ask questions like “what programs does atmosphere offer for me during the week?” the more pointed the questions the more pointed the answers, the more pointed the answers the more pointed the actions. Thank you for you feedback! (click here if form does not appear)

Posted in Personal, Resources | 2 Comments »