Harry here,

wanting to tell you the latest and greatest about OLD School. This summer we are offering 2 separate tracks for OLD School!

1. The first trip is our traditional, or as Spencer calls it, “the greatest hits”, trip. Students will get to backpack, canoe,cliff jump, whitewater raft, and mountain bike all while spending quality time being taught from the Word and building relationships with our awesome staff members.

2. The new trip is a 1 week backpacking-only trip where students will spend their entire time backpacking through stunning wilderness areas and ascending some of the highest peaks that the South has to offer. This trip offers students the unique chance to really “get away” from normal life, in order to stretch themselves both physically and spiritually.

We are busy getting everything in order for the summer program. From buying gear, to calling people, to praying about summer discipleship texts,  we are moving full-speed ahead. We are very excited about the summer and realize that it is going to get here even sooner than we expect. Please join us in prayer specifically over the Scriptural passages we will be teaching out of and choosing the staff that the Lord would have lead these trips and these students.

Southeast Conclave

January 26-28, 2012

Location: Chattanooga Convention Center (Chattanooga, TN)

http://www.southeastconclave.org

Acts29 Members Conference

January 31-February 2, 2012

Location: Crosspoint Church (Orlando, FL)

http://www.acts29network.org

Youth Commission International, youth leaders luncheon

February 9, 2012 (11am – 1pm)

Location: Great Wolf Lodge (Concord, NC)

FREE for youth pastors!

Contact for registration: John Johnson (Parkwood Baptist)

http://www.youthcommission.us

Resource Conference, at Columbia International University

February 23-24, 2012

Location: Columbia International University (Columbia, SC)

http://rccola.eventbrite.com

The writer of Hebrews uses the example of the Exodus generation (the people God freed from slavery in Egypt and led into the wilderness) as a warning to us against having an “evil heart of unbelief.”  This generation had seen the power of God on display.  God rescued them from slavery and was leading them to a new land.  And yet, these people repeatedly grumbled against the Lord.  This all came to a sad conclusion for this generation.  They refused to go into the Promised Land out of fear of the people living there.  This act of rebellion and unbelief provoked God’s wrath, and He swore that this generation would not enter the Promised Land.

This generation seemed to have some type of faith.  After all, they believed enough to put blood on their doorways and save their first-born sons.  They trusted God enough to walk across the bed of the Red Sea between two towering walls of water.  But, the overwhelming pattern of their complaint, mistrust and rebellion exposed a heart of unbelief.

Not because they doubted at times.  Not because they sometimes slipped into sin.

No, it started from the time they left Egypt, and it happened again, and again, and again… for years.  God said, “For they always go astray in their heart.” They took the provision of the Lord for granted, longing for the food they ate as slaves over the manna they ate in freedom.  They resented the leadership God placed them under.  They grumbled; they complained; they rebelled.  And every time their hearts grew harder, and harder until their hearts were so calloused that they stood overlooking the Promised Land- the land they had wearied their feet and bodies to reach- and willingly, decisively said, “NO.  I will NOT go in.”

This is the evil heart of unbelief: A recurring pattern of rejection, mistrust, rebellion, complaint, resentment that climaxes in looking at Jesus, knowing all that God has to offer and then making a decisive, final rejection – renouncing Him and saying, “NO.  I don’t want this.” and then walking away.

Therefore, the writer of Hebrews warns us, “TODAY if you hear His voice do not harden your heart as in the rebellion.”  Do not start down that path.  Do not callous your heart to the voice of the Lord.  Believe God.  Believe Jesus.  Obey his voice.  Trust His promises.  Reflect on who He is and what He has done (both throughout history and in your life personally).  Remember His salvation with awe and thankfulness.  Walk in humility with Jesus.  Consider His faithfulness and know it is by God’s grace we remain faithful.  Then, the overwhelming pattern of your life will be belief.  The way you respond to difficult times will expose a heart of belief.  The way you fight against temptation will say, “Belief.”  Even how you respond to falling into sin- grieved, repentant and then resolved to walk ahead and keep fighting- will say, “Belief!”

So, consider Jesus.  Remember His faithfulness.  Take care.  Guard against an evil heart of unbelief.  Exhort one another.  Protect one another from being hardened by deceitfulness of sin.  Sin is deceptive.  At times, the vegetables of Egypt will sound more desirable than manna, but do not allow one another to be led astray.  Draw each other back to the reality that what we have is superior to anything the world has to offer, because “we have come to share in Christ.” And Christ is better than all things.  And we know we have come to share in Christ, if we hold fast and stand firm, to the end.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,  having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

In the Old Testament, God would send angelic messengers to His appointed prophets.  The prophets would then tell the message to God’s people so they could know Him better.  There was always blessing for obeying God’s word and consequence for ignoring or disobeying God’s word.  “…the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution”

The writer of Hebrews takes up most of chapter 1 to show us how much greater of a messenger Jesus is than the angels or the prophets were in the Old Testament.  He is so much greater because He himself is God.  Jesus speaks with absolute authority, the same authority by which He created the universe by His spoken word.  He created time and space by just speaking.  The writer further points out that, “He upholds the universe by the word of His power.”  This is really cool to think about.  Since the beginning of the creation the world, Jesus has always sustained it, and He continues to sustain it today.  This means not only is He holding it up in existence, but He is also directing everything to its appointed end.  Everything that has ever existed, anything that has ever happened, it has all served His purposes.

Jesus, as the sovereign God, has created and has been directing all of history by the power of His word.  This is huge for the believer. We have been saved by hearing His Word in the gospel.  The new creation has taken place inside of us by obeying His word to repent and believe.  This is not where it stops for the believer.  Just as the universe is sustained and directed by the Word of God, so must the rest of our lives be sustained and directed by the Word of God.  This is why chapter 2 opens with these words of warning, “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it…  How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

There is a danger in not living under the sustaining Word of our great prophet, Jesus Christ.  The danger is that our thoughts, emotions, and actions will drift away from Him.  We must be dedicated to living in submission to the words of Christ.  To be sustained and directed through this life we must read, meditate on, memorize, and meet together to hear the preaching of the Word of God.  For the believer this is not only necessary, it is a source of joy.  Let us not neglect this great salvation.

I used to think that every adventure had been completed by now. I thought that nearly every mountain has been climbed, nearly every inch of the globe explored…  and certainly that every person had heard about (or at least had the opportunity to hear about) Jesus and the Scriptures.

This is not so.

These stats come from Joshuaproject.net.

What will you do with the light of the Gospel? This great need affects us all… none of us can afford to remain unengaged. The command is to go and make disciples of all nations. How will you be involved in that?  Will you be obedient? We pray that you will be. So many have not heard, and you have the message. You have the light. Go.

Please pray for Bobby and Maridith. You can follow them on facebook, twitter, or via their website.

The main theme of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ is greater than everything and because of that we should remain faithful to Him to the end.  In the opening verses, we see that God has been making Himself known to people from the beginning, and that the greatest way God has done this is in His Son, Jesus Christ.

On this journey through the book of Hebrews, we will see the greatness of Jesus from different angles.  Every day we experience the blessings of light; almost everything we do is dependent on it.  Many times we take it for granted and rarely are we able to appreciate the full beauty of light.  What is cool about a prism is that as light passes through it, the prism separates all the colors that make up light, so you can see each one distinctly and appreciate the beauty of each one.  Like a prism, the book of Hebrews helps us separate out different aspects of who Jesus is so we can see the greatness of each one.  We will see Him as the glorious Son revealing the Father, the warrior king rescuing His people, and the great high priest purifying His brothers.

When we better see Jesus for who He is, we will find that He is greater than everything, and that He is faithful and true.  When we know Jesus in this way, we will want to be faithful and true to Him.

As a semester we have experienced so much, from backpacking all the way to Honduras. We have seen the majesty and glory of God on display in his creation and his love being cultivated in each of our lives. Love for his word, all people, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, for the Gospel and for God. We have been taught faithfully from his word, we have seen it applied in our lives and we have searched it in our quiet time, sought it out and sought to teach it to each other through our student led classes. We have been poured into by the staff and leadership, always seeking our sanctification and growth / maturity in Christ. It is the relationships that God has developed and the bonds in Christ that I will be using as a model for the rest of my life as to how the church and other Christians should relate. When I seek to spread the gospel and make disciples it is these bonds that I will seek to replicate with my neighbor, always seeking his well-being and growth in Christ.

Words cannot describe this semester. It is amazing how attached you can get to a bare cabin with plywood walls and floors with bunk beds and cubby holes. With all of the places that we have visited and spent our time, the mountains, caves, river, the everglades, they all hold a fond memory. But one of the things that I have been led to understand and know in my heart is that it is not the place that we have come to hold dear but the work of God that was done in those places; it is the God that I hold dear, the God who has blessed me so to bring me into the body of Christ and with this group of believers. I don’t know what life will be like when I return home, for the only life that I have known I cannot bear to live anymore, sinning against the God I love and denying Christ with my actions and living for myself. It’s a new trail that I have to blaze and I know that as long as God is in front of me I have nothing to fear.

GoodSearch Contest Dates
Nov. 25,2011–Jan. 31, 2012

Concept
The person to earn the most money between Nov. 25 and Jan. 31 using GoodSearch, GoodShop and/or GoodDining on behalf of “Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters–SWO” will win the Grand Prize — a free trip to Snowbird Outfitters. Second and Third Place winners will also be awarded. Winners will be announced Feb. 3, 2012. 

Prizes
Grand Prize: One scholarship trip to Snowbird Outfitters and a $50 Snack Shack voucher. The scholarship trip may be redeemed for one ski retreat during the 2011-2012 winter season or for one week of summer camp during the 2012 summer season (scholarship may be designated to person of the winner’s choosing).

 Second Place: Choice of one Snowbird hoodie OR one Snowbird T-shirt and CD.

 Third Place: Choice of one Snowbird coffee mug OR one Snowbird CD. 

 **Quarterly prizes will also be awarded to the individuals who are leading in funds raised, respectively, by Dec. 14,   Dec. 30 and Jan. 18. Prize may include, but are not limited to, Snowbird stickers, Snowbird magnets and $5 gift cards to various stores. Winners will be contacted via email.

Instructions
To enter the contest, visit www.GoodSearch.com, register with a valid email address and list “Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters–SWO” as your cause. You will be able to access GoodSearch, GoodShop and GoodDining through this same website for the duration of the contest.  Make sure you are logged into GoodSearch with your username each time you search and make purchases in order for them to be credited to your account.

To earn donations through GoodShop, search for a store at www.GoodShop.com and click “Shop this store now.” You will be directed to that store’s website and a specified percentage of your purchase will go to Snowbird. You must access the online vendor through GoodShop in order for your purchase to benefit Snowbird.

GoodDining requires additional registering at www.GoodDining.com. Please review complete instructions on the website.

For your convenience, you can also download Snowbird’s customizable toolbar for easier access to GoodSearch. Simply follow the on-screen instructions in your browser. (Available for Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.)    

Disclaimers 
** All participants, whether newly registered or veteran GoodSearch users, will be assumed to start the contest at $0.00 on Nov. 25 at 12:01 a.m. If you have funds raised and are not in the top 50 people listed, please email anne@swoutfitters.com with your amount raised. Full-time staff members who purchase goods through their GoodSearch accounts will not be counted in the contest numbers but are encouraged to continue using this venue to raise funds for Snowbird.
** GoodShop donations from purchases may take up to eight weeks to clear and be credited to your GoodSearch account.
** Amazon.com purchases via GoodShop benefit Snowbird but are not reflected on individual accounts. Money earned through Amazon.com will go into Snowbird’s general fund raising account.

For questions or to request additional information, please contact Anne Tully, funding development coordinator, by email at anne@swoutfitters.com or by phone at 828-321-2210. 

We will have some great Sea Kayaking pics very soon for you… but in the meantime, here are a couple of river pictures that you may not have seen.

Well in 2 Peter chapter 3 the Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus is coming back soon and when He comes, He will finally punish sin and sinners and reward His people. Then in verse 13 He tells us that after destroying this world, He will create a new one and it will be perfect, it will be a place that will be characterized by the righteousness of our Lord and Savior. How amazing will that be?! I’m talking about a place where sin no longer exists, where heartache never happens and only what is good and right can ever happen. How awesome is that going to be?

But what about us for now? How do we live today because of this? Peter tells us this too. We need to make sure that we are found “in Him” and commit ourselves to living in His righteousness now. We need to work hard to become the types of people we will be in eternity. And of course we must realize that God is waiting to come back so that we have more time to share the Gospel with those around us.

Be challenged and comforted because Jesus is coming soon for His children.

Here are some pics from the Caving section. Enjoy!

Harry McSween here:

There has already been an update from our rock climbing trip this semester, but I figured another couldn’t hurt. I was out with the students on this trip, and let me tell you we had a blast! We had 2 picture perfect days of short top rope climbing and 2 monster rappels both close to 150 feet! After that a couple days of rain kept it gloomy for a little while, but the sun came out and a typical Table Rock wind of 30 mph dried the rock off very quickly for us on our multi-pitch day. On our multi-pitch day each student was able to climb at least 300 vertical feet and summit Table Rock which offered some spectacular views that day. The next 2 days we spent bouldering at Rumbling Bald; sometimes it is nice to climb without your feet being so far off the ground. We had a lot of fun here and I posted some pictures of some crazy things we tried while we were there.

The teaching on the trip was fantastic as well. The rain that dampened our climbing gave us a lot of time to pursue each other in relationships, spend time reading The Word, and listen in on a lot of teaching. Some students taught lessons to the rest of the group on topics like: Why is the virgin birth an important doctrine to uphold? and Why was the death of Jesus necessary to pay for our sins? It was great listening to these guys teach and encourage each other. Also, I had the privilege to teach on Spiritual Disciplines, and these guys and girls were eating it up. It is so encouraging for me to see these young adults practice what they hear so quickly; by the end of the trip many of the students had started memorizing large portions of scripture.

I couldn’t have asked for a better trip than this. To be able to teach the word, build relationships with other believers, encourage the body, and rock climb… You just can’t beat it!

The OLD Schoolers are out caving right now. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue through the book of Ephesians.

and even better teaching on community and relationships within the body of Christ from Ephesians. Today, our students head out for rock climbing! Please pray for continued blessing from the Lord on our teaching, safety, and community.

Everyone is doing great. The students have now completed 9 out of the 14 days of their first semester section. By this time, they have learned the basic skills that they will carry and master through their course. Most nights have had lively discussion from the book of Ephesians, led by our semester instructors.

Please continue to pray for these guys! We’ll keep you posted.

For those of us on staff, it was a cool opportunity to worship alongside of men and be mutually challenged in the area of godly masculinity. Also, it was unbelievably encouraging to see senior adults passionately following the Lord. All too often it is easy for us to get the impression that the only life in our churches is from the youth groups (because that’s predominantly what we see), yet this weekend we got to see men from every spectrum in life in pursuit of the Lord. We are already planning on how we can make it better for next year.

Coming up soon we are really excited for the annual Snowbird Marriage Retreat. This year it will be held here October 21-23 and the spots are filling up. We are already full on-campus and the only spots left are for off-campus housing. So if you know anyone that would like to come, please have them call the office as soon as they can before we are totally out of space.

I hope you have all been keeping up with the news from the trail of the semester students, but I have an update from a different trail.  This past weekend a group of student leadership from Mount Pleasant UMC in Mount Pleasant, NC went out on a weekend OLD School trip!   It was a short trip, but the students had a blast. We packed in a lot of lessons on living in the backcountry, and Andrew Monk taught through Romans 12:1-2. The students spent the entire weekend living out of their packs on the trail. It seemed that they left as quickly as they came, but we pray and believe that the Lord can make an eternal impact on our lives and the lives of students in a short weekend like this. Check out the pre and post trip pictures; see if you can tell which is which. I’ll give you a hint… they look a little cleaner pre-trip.

Keep following the blog for more updates on our semester students. We hope to have some video updates as well to truly give a “From the Trail” look at the semester.

Feel free to drop a note in the mail for any of our semester students or staff. Mail is like gold out there, and we can get it to them quickly at resupply.

Please continue to keep these guys and our semester instructors in your prayers!

For some of you, you got really excited about living for Jesus during the summer and experienced an awesome “camp high”. Now you’ve gotten into the groove of school with homework and sports and other things fighting for your attention, it’s possible you’ve let your pursuit of Christ burn out a little. Of course this isn’t our intention, it’s just the nature of how things happen.

So what needs to happen now? It’d be easy for you to just sit back and be lulled to sleep in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But what you need to do is: Wake Up and Remember. In 2 Peter 3:1, Peter tells the church that he is writing them to “wake them up by way of a reminder”. That’s what needs to happen to us.

This remembering needs to be both past and future. What I mean by that is that we need to remember the Gospel. Peter did this is 2Pet 1:3-11. He reminded them of the work that God has done in their lives through the Gospel. In fact, he reminded them that everything needed for life and godliness has been given to them. You too need to remember this. If you are in Christ then the Holy Spirit of God has taken you from death to life and is living inside of you. And you have the Word of God at your hands.

Peter also encouraged them to remember the future. I know that sounds crazy but what he meant was that Jesus and the apostles promised us that Christ would come again and when He comes, He is coming to judge this world. So we need to make sure that we are found in Him and working for Him when He comes.

Let’s be really practical with this. Your friends at school that you hang out with everyday, eat lunch with, study for mid-terms with, or play on the same sports team with, will have to give an account to God for what he/she has done with the Gospel. If you aren’t living a life that accurately reflects the Gospel and sharing it with them how will they ever know Jesus?

Let this quote from Tom Schreiner encourage and convict you today:

“Believers need reminders about the truths they already know and accept precisely because such reminders, though including the mind, address the whole person. In biblical thinking reminders grip the whole person, so that we are possessed again by the gospel and its truth, so that we are energized to live for the glory of God.”

We will be updating this blog regularly to keep you “in the know” with this semester. Follow our Twitter(OLDSchoolSWO)  and Facebook as well to get info on the semester you may not see anywhere else!

Download Semester Prayer Sheet

The reason why I’m bringing this up is because it’s becoming more and more popular for Christians to question whether or not the beginning of Genesis should be trusted. Of course, if I say it like that, there’s no way that you would think that any Christian would agree to it. But it’s happening. In an online newspaper post last week, Karl Giberson, a professing Christian professor and speaker, basically said that the Bible is a collection of books some of which are history and some of which are fiction. Can you believe this?! Fiction! He’s saying that we can pick and choose what books we want to believe from the Bible. Which in turn makes us the ultimate authority on what truth is… which means that we are the ones acting as god.

This is what is being taught as Christianity in our culture today and we need to make sure that we are properly understanding the Scriptures. God has revealed Himself to us in a way that we can understand in the Bible. Be diligent to, “hide His Word in your heart”. And be careful because there are many out there who claim to be Christians and even Christian leaders who are false teachers.

Thank you to all of you who were faithful to pray over our students and staff members this summer.

Our Semester program begins in 43 days! We will soon be sending out our prayer sheets for the semester. If you would like one of these sheets, and are willing to join us in prayer, please contact us.