How Does Someone Know I Am a Christian? 
By Sarah Collins (18)

    How does someone know that I am a Christian? Is it something I say? Something I think? Something I do?      Well, many times I have wondered how, by just walking to class everyday or sitting in lecture, could someone tell that I am a Christian. Should I walk a little different or sit a little straighter, would that give it away? The answer is no.      People of the world can not see you for more than your outward appearance, which could get them to ask questions good or bad. If you wear bright pink or orange shirts and skip all the way to classes people might start to wonder, but not the right way. It says in God's word to be in the world, but not of it. 
     So, how do we get the word out? To answer this question we must go to God's word the Bible. It says... they will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35). 
     But you said they can't see more than my outward appearance; can love, an emotion, be an outward appearance? I will answer that question with another one. Happiness is an emotion, can it be seen on the outside? Being sad is an emotion, can it be seen on the outside? When you have the love of God people will see it, they may not know exactly what it is but they will see it and they may ask. 
     What a great opportunity to witness! My challenge for you today is to learn to love. Not just your friends and the people close to you but your enemies also. Read 1 Corinthians 13 for God's definition of love. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 
   1 Corinthians 13:4-7

What Makes a Good Witness?
                                     by Laura Collins (age 15)

      When trying to witness to others, one should be tactful.  I don't think one should yell at the person they are trying to get through to.  Instead, one should use their every day life as a witness.  Once one of my friends, while at school, announced that she did not believe in God, and a member of my church, hearing the news, started screaming at her.  After that, my friend said that she would probably never go to church if that is how Christians were supposed to act. 
      When a non-believer observes a Christian doing non-Christian things, they immediately take note of the hypocrisy.  On the other hand, if a non-believer observes a Christian who acts as a Christian is supposed to act, they are more likely to listen to them. 

"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  John 13:35 

 From many observations in the High School I go to, I have noticed that many of the Christians talk the talk, but do not walk the walk.  They lead double lives, cursing and acting like all the other teens just to blend in and to be accepted by their peers.  This is unfortunate, because it gives Christianity a bad name. 
      Another thing that I have observed is that many of the Christian teens in my school seem to believe that, because they are Christians, listen to all the right music, and wear all the right clothes, they are better than everyone else is.  Because they are Christians, they feel that they have the right to treat every non-believer like dirt.  The Bible says that; "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). 
     And that includes those of us who have been saved by God's gift of grace through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. 
 Along with my Christian friends, I also have many non-Christian friends.  In talking to them, I have discovered that besides how many Christians act towards them, another thing that has driven them away from God is boredom.  This is unfortunate, because God is not boring; it is how many people have presented him that is boring. 
      Many of my friends have spent a lot of time in church, being talked to death and told nothing more than that they are filthy rotten sinners that are going to Hell.  They hear nothing of the love that God has given us.  I have a friend who has grown up in a Christian family, and barely knows anything about Jesus and how he died on the cross.  Instead of being loved into the Kingdom, they feel more rejected by their church.
      One of the best ways to witness to today's youth, and adults, is simply to love.  If you let the love of God flow through you, then others will be drawn closer to it.  Accept and love everyone for who they are on the inside, and never look at the outward appearance or judge people by their beliefs.  If you are a Christian, act like it. It is the main key to being a successful witness to others.  Actions speak louder than words. 
 

      We often wonder why there is so much suffering in the world.  It is because of the sinful nature of man. 
      Perhaps you think that there are some people, maybe even yourself, that are pretty good people.  You haven’t really done anything seriously wrong or evil.  You can think of others who have done things far worse than anything you have ever conceived of doing, but God said that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and the
results of our sin is spiritual death and eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). 
      God knew that we could not live sinless lives, because it was against our nature, yet His love and compassion for us was so great He made a way, by sending His Son to die, to shed His life’s blood, and to pay the sin-debt that each of us owe.

      Jesus, who bears no guilt, stepped forward to carry the blame of our sins to the cross, so that we may be free to live eternally.  His sacrifice was His loving gift that he holds out to each of us, but in order to receive that gift for ourselves we must confess that we are sinners, believe in Christ’s gift of salvation, and embrace His grace. 
      Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death is God’s promise that we too will have new life.  “And I will give them eternal life, and they shall never parish; and neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.  My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”  (John 15:28-29).
      So, why did He?  Read the gospel of St. John, in the Bible, and discover God’s great love for you!

     Empathy is the most important item in a teacher/trainer’s tool box.  Whether you are training any animal [ferret, dog, horse] or a person [child or adult], being able to think and feel as they do is key to being able to speak a language they can
understand and respond to.
     Empathy is developed in an individual partially through personal events that one has allowed themselves to experience fully, and then made an effort to understand and remember; such as: what it was like to move to a new area and try to make new friends; or what it felt like to watch a loved-one slowly loose their battle with cancer.  Those experienced journeys help us relate to others who are traveling the same emotional road.
     Mostly, empathy comes from a heart of compassion combined with a vivid imagination.   Even very small children and animals can empathize with pain [illness], stress, joy and sadness in others without having much experience with life.
     Training horses without empathy is possible, but difficult in the extreme, and the
results are very poor.  Insensitive training is responsible for the many emotionally damaged [ruined] horses that dot the countryside and fill the kill pens at auctions.  The reason is because horses are not only made up of mind and body; they are also emotional beings.  All three of these parts of the horse need attention in the
schooling/training process.
     There are two common attitudes that will handicap the training of horses.  One is a view of the horse as something like a machine, without intelligence or emotions, that a person can  possesses and command on a whim.  The other extreme end is to sympathize with the horse as if it were a human being, with human thoughts, needs and feelings.  Both are inaccurate views of the emotional side of the horse.
    As human beings, we have the greater ability to use our imagination and be creative than our equine friends.  Horses cannot understand what it would be like to be human. 

     As an example: imagine how you would feel in a culture not your own, with people speaking a language you do not understand.  Imagine trying to explain that you don’t understand what is being asked of you, and the person confronting you just keeps getting angrier and angrier with you.
     Or imagine being out of shape, and the foreigner straps  a heavy backpack on your back and begins leading you down a trail for miles.  You don’t know when your trial will end, if ever.  Then finally they abandon you.  You get to rest.  Two days later, stiff and sore, you get to go through the whole experience again.  When
you complain about the pain in your legs and back, and about the person who has been dragging you along with a death grip on your hand, you are yanked around by your cheek and kicked onward.  This is often the experience of the “new horse” in the hands of an inexperienced “horsemen”.
     People who learn to have empathy for their animal friends, also learn to be great
communicators and teachers with all species, especially their own.  They become [or perhaps reflect] whom ever they direct their compassion toward.
     To train a horse, we must think and perceive the world as they do.  The horse cannot become part man unless we show him how in his own language and understanding. 
     God became a Man, Jesus.  He gave it all to love us in a way we could relate.  He was tempted, hungered, injured, suffered loss, and every other human thing we experience.  God became a Man, so He could teach us with empathy.

      To understand any training lesson with the horse, we must first understand the horse's nature and how it relates to its environment.  Horses are herd animals and have a God given understanding of how to live within that society in harmony, as well as, maintain the safety of the entire herd. 
      This order is maintained in  much the same way as all social groups including human's.  Individuals with stronger personalities, usually those with more courage, curiosity, and quick  observation will lead the herd. 
      Order is established in the herd as horses lower in the ranks challenge the authority of the leaders above them.  These challenges can be as quiet and subtle as a forward movement, a hard look, pinned ears and/or a swish of the tail; and can escalate into screaming, kicking and biting.  The extreme is rare in an established herd, as horses adore peace.
      I think for a rider, the most important thing to understand about this hierarchy is that a horse MUST either lead or follow each individual in the herd.  The horse is insecure about its safety when it does not know its position in the line of authority.
      As we enter the horse's world, we must become apart of what he understands.  If  we are to work with the horse and have it do as we wish, we must establish ourselves as its leader.  If we are to maintain that relationship with the horse, we MUST always lead.
      It is hard to follow an individual who doesn't know where he is going or what he wants to accomplish.  This is where most of us loose our authority as leaders. 
      We head out to the arena or out on the trail without a destination, plan or goal; or maybe a goal, but with no fore thought, or without the education to know how to accomplish that goal.
      The horse senses our lack of authority and may test to see where he stands.  Slowly and subtly he takes over and looses his trust in the rider's leadership.  The rider literally gives away his leadership, and then wonders what went wrong.  Many riders don't notice they have lost control until the situation is extreme; or they understand they are loosing control, but don't understand how or why.
      The horse, of course, takes the blame for the resulting problems. (How dare those horses act like horses, I mean really!)  I like to say, "To err is human, to blame is also human."  Now, before I move on, I want to interject: Authority is NOT established by being a brutish dictator.  That kind of  "leadership" creates resentment in all social groups.  This form of management is born out of the insecurity of the leadership, and is continuously challenged by those who sense it and are constantly abused by it.
     If we can understand these things I have above mentioned, then perhaps we can understand some of the difficulties we experience within our families and other relationships. 
     God has established an order for the household: (Ephesians 5 & 6) "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loves the church and gave himself for her."  "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord."  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right."  "And, you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."  (Please, read these chapters in their entirety.)
      Modern families are in chaos with fathers who will not lead, support their wives, or train their children.   Many cannot lead, because they have not defined their mission.  And being born leaders, they cannot follow.
      When the leadership is undefined,  other members of the family take charge, if only of self, because they need to lead or follow. And like the wayward horse, they are punished harshly, still left without leadership, and the resentment grows.  If left to its own tragic course of nature, battles for authority break out on its extreme end with "screaming, kicking and biting"; battle scars resulting.
      This law of order also applies to our work environment, church, government and world.  It is God's plan and design.  Man cannot and has not improved on it.
      Our Creator is a God of order.  All through God's Owner's Manual, the Bible, He continuously steers us to that order.  Horses, deer and elephants understand the peace, unity and life God's order brings.  Why can't we?

    You've just bought a horse.  Congratulations!  You stand with your new horse in his paddock.  He wanders around, stops in a beautiful pose, and looks off into the distance.  Your breath stops as you admire his beauty.   "Wow", you think to yourself, "I can hardly believe I've been so blessed."  You reach for the horse and he slips away from you.  He doesn't want to be touched by you, and because he has free will (and out muscles and weighs you many times over) he can pretty much do as he pleases.
     Now, if you are like me, you'll be thinking about how much you paid for that horse and that you own all of it from nose to tail.  That ownership gives you a right to handle and direct any and all parts of the horse, but you know that if the horse will not yield its will to you (trust you) or if he protects any part of himself from you, you cannot equip the horse with a purpose and a life work.  You also have a relationship problem.
     The Bible tells us in Act 20:28, I Corinthians 7:23, and Ephesians 1:14 that we are a "purchased possession", "purchased with His blood", "bought at a price".  The price Christ paid for your life was the shedding of His own blood unto death on the cross.  To say He values you highly would be an understatement. 
     Also, consider that He purchased you from the kill pen, as before you were saved by Christ's purchase, you where a slave to Sin. As Sin's slave you are guaranteed a miserable life and a miserable death.  Romans 6:16: "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?"  Romans 6:23: " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
     Now let's go back to this horse you bought.  Even though you have paid dearly for him, you realize that to truly own him he must give himself to you.  He must yield his will to your will.  You know that he is of little use to you or himself if he will not come to you, develop a relationship with you, submit to training and happily take on a service to you.  You also know that a horse that will fight for its life and own will is dangerous to himself and others, and ultimately ends up being destroyed.
     Many of us say, "Lord, I give you my life", and still we do not yield our will to the Master.  We say, "You can touch my heart, but not my habits", like a horse who will let you touch his neck, but not his head.  "You can heal my pain, Lord, but don't touch my resentments".  "You can teach me your word, Lord, but don't take me out of the arena and ask me to endure the trail.  I can only trust you, if you let me take control, and look for and flee from spooks."
     Like the master of the horse, the Master of our lives knows far more than we.  He knows our potential, our needs, our short comings.  He knows where to lead us and how to feed us.  He has great plans for us if we will only trust and obey; yield to His touch and His will.  And like the yielded horse, there comes a peace like no other when we trust the Master.  We are unshakable no matter the circumstances.  When we give up our own desires (our lives) to follow Christ and make Him Lord of our lives, we gain a life far greater than we could ever have imagined.  "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life (yields it to the Lord) for My sake- will find it." - Jesus said.  Matthew 16:25.

     For those of you not familiar with the term "reach for the brass ring", it comes from an old carousel game where children riding the whimsical horses of the merry-go-round would reach for a metal ring hung on a post as they passed on those prancing colorful horses. 
      The task of retrieving the ring was a challenge, and the young rider who achieved it won a prize at the end of the ride.  "Reach for the brass ring" became a term meaning to reach for (strive) and to capture things you consider of value and win the prize.
      I am not content to merely ride my horse.  I am compelled to reach for a treasure, having possessed it before and knowing the wonder and joy of it.  The prize is a true partnership and oneness with my horse, the qualifying ring to possess it is building a relationship between us. 
      Relationships that bring oneness take time and knowledge.   I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not driven to observe, study and understand the nature of animals and humans; trying to make sense of the relationships between us all.  I have been driven to invest myself in other individuals, and have discovered a great treasure in knowledge, compassion and relationships.
      The greatest relationship I have ever known has been the relationship I have come to cherish with my Heavenly Father.  I have garnered that relationship by reaching for God's Word, the Bible, and making time spent in prayer and studying the Word of God a part of my daily life. 
      He has been my Teacher, Friend, my Faithful Companion, my Loving Chastiser and Provider.  I am learning not to run in mindless circles with my nose and heart outside His arena, to yield to His touch, to follow His lead, to submit to His training for ministry and to look to Him when I am afraid or spooked.