The sessions and activities of the COMMIT conferences are planned with this goal in mind: to motivate young ladies to choose to seek God first, become fully committed to Him, come to love Him with all their hearts, and humbly serve others in their irreplaceable youth before facing the pressures of adulthood.

Encouraging Mothers and Daughters. The COMMIT conference provides an opportunity for mothers and daughters to deepen their relationship with the Lord and with one another.

Daughters will be encouraged to make Christ the first priority in their hearts and make wise decisions throughout their lives. Along with attending sessions with their daughters, mothers will benefit from mothers’ sessions of practical encouragement and insight.

Mothers attending with daughters will have the opportunity to have many fruitful conversations and strengthen their relationship. However, we do allow girls ages 14 and up to attend without their mothers.

We hope to see you at an upcoming COMMIT conference!

COMMIT Office • 2134 Cadjew St. • Redding, CA 96003 • 530-221-2425

Is God Calling You?

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).

Opportunities for serving (ministering) abound at the International ALERT Academy! A normal facet of ministry, the average stay for an ALERT staff member is 3½ years. Though we are sad to say “Good-bye” to outgoing team members, that means we get to say “Hello!” to new folks each year! Large ministries like ALERT count on servant-hearted people giving a portion of their life to the work of God’s Kingdom.

Surface Water Treatment Facility Supervisor Needed

Our most pressing need is to locate a supervisor for our Surface Water Treatment Facility. This important position in the operational team of the Academy must be filled soon, so please help us get word out to any qualified person you know that may be sensing the call to full-time ministry.

For a current listing of other available areas of service, go to ALERT Volunteers.

Contact:

Lt. Col. Russell Moulton
Facilities Chief
International ALERT Academy
(903) 636-9247
rmoulton@alertacademy.com

Would you like to master the art of communication using print media? Come to a 6-day class to learn how to use leading software and to get results from your publications. This practical training will equip you to communicate through print media. Using software such as Adobe Photoshop® and InDesign®, you will learn aspects of design to take you from raw content to print-ready pieces.

Details

• Schedule: February 21-26, 2011: Monday-Saturday, 9am to 5:30pm
• Cost: Only $189 for 6 days of classes, all software training, and course materials.
  Room and board (6 days) available for $149.
• Location: Verity Institute, 11850 Brookville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46239

Class topics include:

• General photo editing (basic retouching, correcting photographic problems)
• Text and typography
• Layers and masks
• Interaction between Photoshop® and InDesign®
• Understanding color
• Layer effects
• Removing backgrounds from pictures

You’ll apply these skills right away by creating practical projects:

• Business cards
• Newsletters
• Brochures
• Email banners

This class is designed for students ages 16 and older. All student materials will be provided at the course location, but students are welcome to bring personal laptops. More Information

A testimony from the 2009 National Bible Bee champion

$100,000! Really?!

I could hardly believe my eyes when I read that this amount of money was the prize for the first-place winner of the 2009 National Bible Bee. What would you do with $100,000? That’s an entire year’s salary if you earn $50 per hour!

Before long, I was consumed with a craving to attain the prize. I was willing to sacrifice my time, effort, and plans to win that $100,000. Then I sensed the Lord’s conviction: “Is money more valuable to you than my Word? Why is it that you didn’t have this excitement about memorizing before you heard of the prize?”

I began to see how misplaced my priorities were. Proverbs 8:11 says, “Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” If I truly value the wisdom of Scripture more than rubies, I should have a greater excitement for hiding God’s Word in my heart than for winning any monetary prize.

In the end I signed up for the competition with a new appreciation for the value of God’s Word and an entirely different goal than merely winning the prize money. I was in it to deepen my walk with the Lord—and if I won anything, it would just be icing on the cake!

Adjusting My Priorities

To prepare, we were to study six books of the Bible and memorize nearly 1,500 Bible verses. I like figuring things out, and so I carefully calculated how much I needed to study every day in order to be ready in time. However, it wasn’t long before I began falling farther and farther behind schedule.

In desperation, I began thinking: “Would it be all right if I stopped spending as much time with the family? My younger brothers can do things without me for a while. Also, my morning prayer time isn’t that important, is it? After all, I am studying and memorizing the Bible, right?”

Again I sensed the Lord’s conviction about my priorities. He seemed to be asking me, “Are you going to put that prize above your relationships with me and others?” I remember closing my eyes and telling the Lord: “You know I am not going to be able to prepare like I hoped to, but I purpose to honor my relationships as a higher priority than winning the prize. This means I will not be perfectly ready, so Lord, if I do win, it is going to have to be a miracle of your doing.”

It was thrilling to see how my excitement in preparing came flooding back. Now I was not faced with the drudgery of all that I had to do every day, but rather I had the sense of racing to fit in as much as I possibly could. I was simply doing my best and entrusting the results to the Lord.

Enduring the Tests

The day came when we heard that I had qualified for the national competition in Washington, D.C., and we started planning a family trip to attend the event.

After we arrived, I walked into the grand ballroom of the elaborate Marriott Hotel. Beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Bright lights illuminated the front stage. I thought: “I can never stand up there in front of all these people! I will die of stage fright!”

The following morning we launched into an intense day of oral and written tests, each one timed and proctored by judges. Because of the time limit, we had to say our verses quickly, but every word we missed meant that points were deducted from our total scores. The following afternoon only twenty-one contestants passed the semi-finals and advanced to the final competition, which lasted over five hours.

The competition intensified even more when we learned that there had been a tie in our age group (the seniors). I cannot explain what I felt as I stood on the main stage, knowing that one word could mean the difference between a $25,000 second-place prize and the $100,000 grand prize—one $75,000 word! I didn’t want it to end, yet I couldn’t stand another second of suspense. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in this for the Lord, not the money. That alone gave me inward peace.

After two grueling tie-breakers, they finally declared that three winners had been clearly identified. However, they wouldn’t announce the winners until after the banquet! That was the hardest meal I ever ate.

Recognizing Life’s True “Competition”

Finally, the moment came. They called the three winners onto the stage. First they announced the third-place winner. Cheers. Applause. Then second-place. More cheers. More applause. It began to dawn on me that I was the only one left!

As they handed me the gold trophy amid the roaring applause and flashing cameras, I remembered that these earthly rewards were nothing compared to the true treasures I had hidden within my heart. Those treasures will never fade or disappear with time. They will be with me for all eternity.

As my Dad likes to say, this was all just practice for the “real thing.” Will I continue to value God’s Word as I should? Will I continue seeking out the rich truths contained in each passage? Will I find the answers in Scripture that apply to the questions, situations, and difficulties I face every day? Will I keep the priority of my relationships with God and others far above personal goals? This “competition” began the day after the Bible Bee ended, and it will continue for the rest of my life.

—Daniel Staddon, age 19

Perspective is a big part of life. It’s a big part of photography obviously too. Photography just channels your perspective to see what the artist wants you to see. It’s an endless game of finding the right height or twist of the camera to get an image just right. People spend fortunes learning how to see life through a camera. I know I have.

But today I was thinking back to a time in my life when my perspective was way messed up. A time when I thought that the way I was was the way I was going to be for the rest of my life. I had some deep habits that I really didn’t like and I couldn’t kick. And it left me more and more unhappy with myself everyday. I had deep agreements that I made with the enemy about myself, lies that I believed must be true about myself. Just like this image, my perspective of life and the freedom I have in Christ looked okay, but in reality I was totally upside down.

From the outside you might think I was a pretty good guy living life a step better than everyone else. Or that’s how I hoped everyone was seeing me. But on the inside I knew it wasn’t true. But I couldn’t find the truth because of my deep-seated pride. I was "doing okay!" At least that is what I thought from time to time. I figured I would get things straightened out on my own or learn to live with the way I was living life and be happy with it since there was obviously no other choices. I was bound by sin and pride. Changing was out of the question.

Through a series of events God was merciful enough to me to allow my habits to be exposed to some of the people I held dearest. I broke their hearts. It was then I was left with nothing but to find truth. My perspective was so wrong. I couldn’t see things right. Something inside me screamed it was over and there was no point in going on and to just give up trying. I could never change. But there was a small voice that said, "The only way out is to find truth and and the only way to find truth would be to humble myself." And no matter what I was to submit to the authority of my parents. That was hard. I knew at this point the only thing I had left in this world was my God. I realized that my life was not my own anyways. I was living as if I could make all the final decisions, and I needed to give that authority to my heavenly Father.

In my quest for truth I found the Psalms really spoke into the place where I was. One of the scriptures I really hung on to for strength was Psalm 30. The whole chapter is chuck full of what I needed for where I was at that time, but these verses especially meant the most and gave me right perspective.

" To you, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
“What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"

God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And as upside-down as our perspectives can get sometimes, God wants to see each and every one of us turn to him and live in his strength and freedom.

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
~Psalms 16:11

It’s time to confess and forsake these false joys of our hearts that leave us feeling empty and dirty and turn to the one who promises "fullness of joy" in his presence and true "pleasure" at his right hand.

Draw close to him and he will draw close to you. That is also promised in the Psalms. If you haven’t ever read that book of the Bible or it’s been a long time since you last did I would challenge you to go there with any questions you might have and see what Father answers you there. I can’t wait to hear what he shows you.

Praise God that he is a Father of mercy and second and third chances.

Resources I found helpful:
Scripture
The ultimate source of truth. I memorized a lot of it because I had to change my perspectives and thinking patterns.

Walking with God by John Eldredge
This book did more to challenge me and the way I saw myself before God than I think any other book. It explains what I meant by "agreements" with the enemy and lies we believe about ourselves. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages.

Your Relationship with God by Dr. Gary Smalley.
This is a book about Dr. Gary Smalley working through some hard times himself and it really encouraged me to build some practical disciplines into my own life.

Signing off for today. God bless your socks off,
Capture. Create. Discover.
Something Amazing!
Britton Felber

Britton attended the WIT! Singles conference in 2009. He is currently maintaining and perfecting a brilliant photography business, where he combines innovative, new concepts with hard work to produce a satisfying result for all his clients. Britton’s everyday life can include plane-hopping from one photography engagement to another. He also travels with his parents and five brothers visiting different places, where he enjoys capturing the beauty of God’s creation through his lens.

Click Here to visit Britton’s Blog

I went on a Journey to the Heart in 2007. I knew that I’d have some stuff I’d need to get cleared up before I left, as I didn’t really want to be calling home to confess stuff to my Mom. I’d been meaning to go for a while, but had simply procrastinated in my confessions to my mom. Finally, I realized I could hesitate no longer, and after confessing some of the transgressions to her one night, I signed up to go. As previously stated, I had confessed “some” of the things I’d done to her, using justifications such as “That’s a sin against God” or, “she doesn’t need to know” as excuses to not confess everything. These were just lies that Satan had used to keep me in bondage even longer. I went on the journey, and it didn’t seem like anything special. At this point in my life, I was in a stage of “spiritual deafness”. I knew God heard my prayers, but I believed I was too far away from him to hear the answers.

In a way, it was true, as sin can deaden the conscience and will prevent our spirit from communicating with God’s as a result. Despite this roadblock, God was good. I had one question on my mind going up on the journey, and through one of the other guys up there, God provided the answer to my question, and the next step for me. I was still in high school, but I was anxious concerning what I would do after I was finished. On my journey, God gave direction for the next step after graduation, and I was able to start preparing to go through Basic Training down at the International Alert Academy.

With the fact that I needed to prepare for Alert in mind, I was aware of the money needed, and physical preparation necessary to go to Basic Training, but had faith in God that, despite the fact I still could not clearly hear God’s voice, He’d revealed his direction, and would provide for it. During my final year of high school, I got a call from a friend concerning an offer to work for him doing landscaping over the summer. This was in reference to an off-handed comment I had made to him at a party one month before I’d gone on my journey, stating I thought it would be fun to work with him some time. Over the course of the summer, I got physically fit by way of spreading over an acre of mulch, and various other activities. During my time of employment with him, I made $300 more than was needed for Basic Training! To see God provide a way to get the necessary funds as well as providing me with an all-day workout schedule confirmed once again his direction in my life.

After bidding my employer and friend a farewell, and thanking him for the summer job, I departed to Texas for 9 weeks of intense physical and spiritual training. During that nine week period, I was in the word on a daily basis, memorizing, and meditating, but I still didn’t feel any closer to God, and I still didn’t feel as if I could hear his voice. The scriptures were not coming alive to me. I had no doubt about my salvation, but I was desperately aware that something needed to change. Even after finishing that program, I felt as if my relationship with God was merely confined to me getting in trouble, and Him getting me out again.

After the completion of Basic Training, there was a ten month period wherein I returned to neglecting the Word, and only praying in times of dire need, or when constrained to do so.

I heard about the WIT Singles conference about 3 weeks before it actually happened, with my sister planning on attending, and both her and my mom lobbying for my attendance. There were still those lies I believed about the sins which I’d committed in the past, and a new one had been added to the list. “Those are so far in the past, nobody would care about them anymore.” The truth was, they really weren’t all that far removed from the current time, and I still struggled with them occasionally. There was also a young lady whom I’d been interested in pursuing a relationship with, and so I signed up to go. Shortly after I signed up, events changed and I realized that the relationship I had envisioned wouldn’t work, but I was already signed up, so off I went.

Man, I did not know what I was getting into. Being in sessions all day doesn’t appeal to most people, but the material was refreshing, and surprisingly relevant. And to be perfectly honest, if you’re going to be hanging out in sessions all day, it might as well be with several other young people to converse with during breaks. Aside from the principles learned, the biggest for me of which was building a relationship with God, the biggest breakthrough I had was after the teaching on being completely open, and confessing everything, bar none, to your authorities, at the end of the week, I made a call home to my mom and just confessed to her everything, starting with the one thing I had been withholding from her for over 5 years. After that, I experienced such a joy and freedom, and as Paul Speed had mentioned earlier in the week, “You know you’re free when you’re able to make a choice. As a slave to Satan, you’re forced to do whatever he wants you to.” I had that freedom to make a choice. I also started experiencing the voice of God speaking to me, and giving clear direction from his Word.

Now, the hard part is going to be making the right choice every day, for the rest of my life, and by God’s grace, I will be able to.

Stephen is currently working at the IBLP Headquarters. For more information on the programs mentioned above, please visit: WIT! Ministries, The Alert Academy, or Journey to the Heart.

“As soon as we stepped into that room, we knew something was different. It was no longer our meeting room, the place we had been coming to each morning to meet with our teams to share about what we were learning. It was no longer the place of constant chatter, of the low rumble of voices floating all across the room. Now it was still and so quiet. Even the lighting had changed, it wasn’t the brightly lit room we had just been in that morning. Now it was dark , almost somber, except for the hope of dozens of candles, so stark in the darkness, quietly shining their light from all corners of the room.

But it was something else that caught our attention and kept it, something that arrested our senses as soon as we entered the room. All these other things were simply a complementary setting, background for the main focus. And there it was standing in the center if this sacred place. Everyone immediately noticed it, and we took the whole scene in as we silently gathered around it, though no one told us to.

It stood tall, it’s base was surrounded by white cloth spreading in drapes across the floor, and candles were circled around it, putting forth their humble light. It was simple, maybe that’s why we liked it, It was ugly…but yet it was so beautiful. I went up to it, I felt it’s rough surface; looking up at this symbol of suffering, wondering why He did it. Thinking about what it meant, what it meant for me….and what it had meant for Him. Many of us sat there for hours, simply singing and praying, proclaiming freedom and blessing.

No one needed to say it, we all knew it. Jesus was there. We were living in that knowledge. Of course Jesus was there; He said He would be. Along with this, we also knew just as fully that Jesus’ love was there. It was so easy to tell. You could see it. It was standing in the center of the room.”

Written by Sam, June 2010.

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7)

❒ Examples in Scripture
● 2 Samuel 9—Mephibosheth was crippled from a very early age because his nurse believed that David was out to kill the descendants of Saul and Jonathan. He lived in a far away land, crippled and in fear, because he believed King David wanted to do him harm. In truth he was heir to the covenant between David and Jonathan, but was living in a desert because he believed, “I am nothing more than a dead dog.” David mercifully repeated the truth to him: to bless and restore him in the kingdom.
Just because we stumble and spiral downward time and again, only means that God continues to pursue us over and over again.
● 1 Kings 18–19:18—A great spiritual showdown had just taken place, with Elijah commanding the people to take a stand between which God they would serve. The prophets of Baal were slain, and the great drought miraculously ended. Jezebel sent a threat to his life, and he ran in fear. He stated his lie twice: “…I, even I only am left.” (1 Kings 19:10,14) God spoke the truth directly to his lie, “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal…”

❒ Danger of a Lie:
● Lies affect your relationships with others as well as with your heavenly Father. (Psalm 51:6)
● Your lies will feed the lies of others. Reactions based on a lie will reinforce the lies being spoken to others.
● Lies are used to excuse character flaws—a cop-out for shortcomings.
● Some traits attributed to “just my personality” are nothing more than a mask for the fruit from deep-seated lies.
● You are created in the image of God; Are these accusations against your character true of the attributes of God? Where in the character of Christ do you see your lie? What are we believing about ourselves that does not line up with God’s character?

Separate Person from Performance
Do the circumstances of life dictate who you are as a person? You may never “get it together” or be “as smart as” others, but does that change who you are in Christ? If nothing changes in your outward circumstances, are you still loved and accepted in Him?

❒ How Do We Believe a Lie?
1. Validation—Whoever you give the power to validate you, you also give the power to destroy you—invalidate you.

● Do NOT look for a spouse to meet your needs, and to fill voids in your life! Many marriages come to each other looking to take what the other person has that you want or are lacking.
● Disappointment comes by expecting from another what only God can give. Allow God to answer your core questions. (Isaiah 57:15; Micah 6:8)
2. Hurt/Rejection—The enemy comes in on the tail end of a wound with a lie
● Many times you are hurt or rejected by the very thing you look to validate you. If that painful experience is not responded to in the grace of God, bitterness will take root. Satan will add incident after incident throughout life to reinforce it.
3. Bitterness—Comes when we “sit down” and have a conversation with the Enemy.
● We shake hands with the Enemy and make an agreement
● If we do not take hold of the grace of God, you become the victim. Victims never get free. 4. Lie—Conclusions about your identity based on circumstances or acceptance by others.
● “Because of this circumstance (this person who hurt me), therefore I must be ___________ (worthless, stupid, on my own, etc.)”

❒ Use Irritations to Identify Core Lies
Allow God to show you the issues of your heart, one at a time, level by level. ● Ask God what is keeping you from discovering your lie?
● “Why do I react this way? Why do I have these habits? Why can’t I respond to others and engage emotionally? What is it inside me that leads me to choose to not lay my life down?”
● When we humble ourselves, take our own responsibility and die, God raises us up from the grave to walk in resurrection power.
● You cannot identify your lie and find the truth if you are hiding sin and/or bitterness. When the grace of God is resisted, freedom is bound.
● Certain facets of life, capabilities, abilities, failures, etc, may be true, but what is the deeper lie that pins that to your character? What is the deeper lie from the Accuser of your soul telling you about yourself as a person? i.e.: “I can’t do this or that, therefore I am ____________” (worthless, a ‘nobody’, etc.)
● Repent—take responsibility for making an agreement with the Enemy and agreeing to these lies, instead of just succumbing to the “fact” (lie) that he doesn’t love you, you’re not worth pursuing, you’re abandoned, etc.
● Cry out for God to show you your true character, of who you are in Christ, Whose image you are created in! Expose the lie you have accepted as truth for so many years, and renounce it in the name of Jesus.

❒ Speaking Truth to Others
“Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Engage – Pursue – Restore to Truth vs. Fear – Run – Abandon
● Satan is the Father of Fear and Lies who seeks to divide and conquer. (John 8:44)
● Lies are woven into the things that you fear.
● Reach into the lives of others when they are reacting. Ask them, “What are you afraid of?
Whatever is driving and tormenting you right now is not of God. What is the truth in this situation? What is this saying about His character?”
● When dealing with your children, look for possible lies they are believing which would affect their behavior. They may not always be in rebellion, but are hearing the Enemy’s lies, causing them to withdraw from the rest of the family.
● Just because you identify your lie, does not mean you won’t hear it again. But once you are on guard, you have the weapon of Truth to now recognize it as such, and can speak the Truth to it.

List of Common Lies:
● I don’t have what it takes
● I’ll never be man enough
● I’m not adequate for the task
● If I’m not perfect, I won’t be loved
● I’m Stupid
● I’ll never measure up
● I don’t fit/belong
● I’m just passive
● “He doesn’t love me—if he did, he would ___________”
● I am on my own—abandoned to do it myself
● I am not special, and have nothing to offer
● If I do not control, I will be hurt. I must protect myself
● I don’t need anyon!
● I’m worthless, not deserving
● I’m not needed
● I’m not worth pursuing

Personal Reflection:
❍ When you begin to spiral out of control, what are you hearing? (I’m an idiot, I’m inadequate, I’m on my own, etc.)
❍ What is your first memory of hearing this lie? Where was the grace of God resisted?
❍ When did you enter into a conversation, shake hands with the Enemy, and agree with the lies he fed you about yourself, your spouse, your children, or others?
❍ Identify Commands of Christ that have been violated.
❍ Take responsibility for having that conversation with the Enemy.
❍ Take your questions to God, and allow Him to answer.
❍ Cry out to renounce the lie, and speak truth to replace it. (Speak it out loud!!!)
❍ Resist bitterness, grab hold of God’s grace, and walk in His Truth.

(Photo via Flickr)