I dont remember a direct scripture, but i recall it as Jesus sayins 'I will not come back until everyone knows my name'...so it gives everyone i fair chance at choosing or rejecting him for judgement day i guess *shrug*

I don't think the problem is that Parents want to look cool...its mroe that they are scared of their kids, so they want to befriend them instead of (according to the kid) being their worst enemy. I know, at least a lot of the parents around where I live (washington DC) their kids are into all kinds of nasty stuff, drugs and gangs that they are too scared to try and put a stop to it...cause these kids have no qualms about killing their own parents! at least every other kid on the streets is packin a gun or at least a knife.
ITs sad but true...and me being only 15, i know the both sides of the story.

**i posted it in witness forum, but i didn't think ti belonged there.

Hey, my name is Angela and im 15...and actually just 2 days ago came back from a month long missions trip to South Africa.
I went with the organization Teen Mania, and it was an amazing experience.
The Basotho (ba-su-too) people believed in whorshiping their ancsters, and believed they were a mediator between them and God, and they feared them and believd that the ancesters would protect them if they prayed to them and sacrificed for them. (They would sacrifice anything from animals to infants)
It was a Personal evangelism trip, and so we basicly would build relationships with the people by just getting to know them, or do work around the house (they are so hospitable down there, they always gave you the best of what little they had!)
We would introduce ourselves as going on a Life-exchange, which is just learnig about each others culture, which is what we were doing in preaching ther Gospel.
Some good techniques to help get on the topic of religion:
1. Ask if they could sing us a song in their language, then we would sing them a song that we knew in their language, and that was a church song, so we would ask them if they knew the song and then be like 'So you like church songs and go to church?'

2.Ask about their tradtion of marriage, or their own wedding, and then lead into 'Who married you? a pastor?' Its a smooth transition. (haha i figured otu that one! )

3. We would ask them why they believe in their ancesters, they always said 'our parents and elders told us'...so we played the Telephone game...which was an exmaple on how over generations the original messege gets so garbled that it is tototally different from what started out.

4. As we ask about their daily rutine, we would ask like 'what do you do on sunday?'

Many churchs around them were very corrupt and would steal their money, and in one case we found someone who went to a church that the pastor said if they  stop going he would kill her and her family. Most pasters around their have no formal biblical training.
We worked and stayed at Thrive Africa ( www.thriveafrica.org ) which is a ministry base that worked in the area we worked in (Qwa-Qwa).
The churchs we worked with, the pastors were trained by Thrive.
So once we would lead a person to christ, we gave them a card where the church was, so then can be now dicipled and nurished in their new commitment.

There were about 90 of us that went, we split into 3 teams. I was on Team GRACE(Going 'Round Africa Changing Eternity)
Our team as a whole lead 95 people to Christ, my MIG (Ministry group, that we went hosue to house with.) alone lead 17 people to Christ.
The key is going in with expectancy, EXPECT God to work in those hearts, For example, We had been talking to these group of people for about 2 days, in this one persons house, and by the second day i was feeling real good about it, and on the third day, i told myself 'Someone is going to get saved today'...and that day 11 people gave their lives to Christ!!!!!!!!!

It was an amazing humbling experience, and i am forever changed.

Next Summer i felt God calling me to Thailand, they are trapped in Bhudism, its a more spiritually difficult trip, because converting to a different religion can mean being kicked out of your family even to the extreme of being killed.
So please pray that I will be able to go...my parents are a little iffy about me going on a another one, because South Africa was my first trip.

Now that I'm Home...

My one and only passion is music, and i listen to all types. I knew that I had to change when i got home, and it wasn't even hard deleting all the songs off my ipod of offensive music or music that used Jesus's name in the wrong way.  The holy spirit is just guiding and helping make good judgements and better choices. I gave away all my vioent or offensive DVD's and PS2 game...wasnt hard.

I do Quiet time everyday, on the trip we had to do it everyday for an hour, and I'm still continuing it while im home. I missed one day and that day was such a bad day, and it just help me realize how i need to start out my day spending time with the Lord and just developing that relationship.

Coming back to America was more of a culture shock, then going to South Africa....just makes you think.

Well, I just want to thank you for your prayers about getting all the money on time.

God Bless,
Angie

Hey, my name is Angela and im 15...and actually just 2 days ago came back from a month long missions trip to South Africa.
I went with the organization Teen Mania, and it was an amazing experience.
The Sotho (su-too) people believed in whorshiping their ancsters, and believed they were a mediator between them and God, and they feared them and believd that the ancesters would protect them if they prayed to them and sacrificed for them. (They would sacrifice anything from animals to infants)
It was a Personal evangelism trip, and so we basicly would build relationships with the people by just getting to know them, or do work around the house (they are so hospitable down there, they always gave you the best of what little they had!)
We would introduce ourselves as going on a Life-exchange, which is just learnig about each others culture, which is what we were doing in preaching ther Gospel.
Some good techniques to help get on the topic of religion:
1. Ask if they could sing us a song in their language, then we would sing them a song that we knew in their language, and that was a church song, so we would ask them if they knew the song and then be like 'So you like church songs and go to church?'

2.Ask about their tradtion of marriage, or their own wedding, and then lead into 'Who married you? a pastor?' Its a smooth transition. (haha i figured otu that one! )

3. We would ask them why they believe in their ancesters, they always said 'our parents and elders told us'...so we played the Telephone game...which was an exmaple on how over generations the original messege gets so garbled that it is tototally different from what started out.

4. As we ask about their daily rutine, we would ask like 'what do you do on sunday?'

Many churchs around them were very corrupt and would steal their money, and in one case we found someone who went to a church that the pastor said if they  stop going he would kill her and her family. Most pasters around their have no formal biblical training.
We worked and stayed at Thrive Africa ( www.thriveafrica.org ) which is a ministry base that worked in the area we worked in (Qwa-Qwa).
The churchs we worked with, the pastors were trained by Thrive.
So once we would lead a person to christ, we gave them a card where the church was, so then can be now dicipled and nurished in their new commitment.

There were about 90 of us that went, we split into 3 teams. I was on Team GRACE(Going 'Round Africa Changing Eternity)
Our team as a whole lead 95 people to Christ, my MIG (Ministry group, that we went hosue to house with.) alone lead 17 people to Christ.
The key is going in with expectancy, EXPECT God to work in those hearts, For example, We had been talking to these group of people for about 2 days, in this one persons house, and by the second day i was feeling real good about it, and on the third day, i told myself 'Someone is going to get saved today'...and that day 11 people gave their lives to Christ!!!!!!!!!

It was an amazing humbling experience, and i am forever changed.

Next Summer i felt God calling me to Thailand, they are trapped in Bhudism, its a more spiritually difficult trip, because converting to a different religion can mean being kicked out of your family even to the extreme of being killed.
So please pray that I will be able to go...my parents are a little iffy about me going on a another one, because South Africa was my first trip.

God Bless yall,
Angie

So its possible that Jesus has great great(x whatever) neices and nephews? interesting...

This story is relayed in Mat 12 and Mar 3 also. We also see in Mat 13:55-56 and Mar 6:3 that He had brothers and sisters. There are many theories in this area about how they were related. I do not believe that they were cousins as Luke uses the word cousin in Luk 1:36. Why would he use it there and not later. It is possible that they may have been step brothers and sisters but there is nothing in the Bible to support this theory. In fact it is indicated in Mat 1 that Joseph had only one wife, Mary.




Mar 6:3  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

Gal 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

So those verse mean that he did have brothers and sisters?

I am not trying to start anything, i just have a question..and not sure where to put it. But here it goes

I was reading the gospel of luke and stumbled upon these verses that confused me:
[19] Once when Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, they couldn't get to him because of the crowds. [20] Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to see you."
    [21] Jesus replied, "My mother and my brothers are all those who hear the message of God and obey it."
Luke 8:19-21

I thought Jesus was the only son of mary, So did he have brothers?
I mean like her and joseph married all those years and aint have no more babies?
   

If any of you had looked at my prayer request, you woudl see that i asked if everyone would pray that my missions team will get all of their money...and they did! Praise the Lord!

Our church offered one of them a job during the school year, and then gave her the rest of her money as an advance paycheck.

Then an ANONYMOUS person gave 2 girls(sisters) a loan that they would have to pay back through fundraisers after the trip...but oh, I'm not done yet.

My youth leader's neighbor had called the church and was like 'what can i do to help with missions? I have money i want to give'...she had emailed tons of people to get to donate money and it was enough money that we wont have to work after the trip to pay the money back to the anonymous guy.

The Lord came right on time..it is just 3 days before we leave for texas (on saturday)

I just want to thank all of you for your prayers and especially thank God for pulling through...as always

PS- all together the money recieved ws 7,000 in only 3 days...

We leave on this saturday to start on a mission trip in South Africa. We are a bunch of teens who are going for a month to Southafrica to spread the word of God. We are going are workign with Teenmania>Global Expeditions ministry. ( www.globalexpeditions.com > South Africa Trip B...just in case you wan't to see what we are going to be doing there.)
There are team memebers who still don't have their money, we had done all we can, and right now we have to leave it up to God.
Please pray that the rest fo my team will get their money and that they don't give up hope, they all ahve fears instead of trusting in God, all of us have fears...so please pray so we can have the faith that God will pull through for those whom it is in his will to go.

Thank you so much.