Sold Out for God

Neil T. Anderson, Saucy Robert L., Park Dave

Description

With a great new title and cover, Sold Out for God (formerly Radical Image!) captures the energy and enthusiasm of youth on fire for God! Anderson, Saucy, and Park, authors of the devotional Higher Ground (a Gold Medallion finalist in 2000), take teens on an exciting adventure into their "life in Christ." Readers will discover how to: Live a holy (not boring!) life Take on the challenge of difficult situations Make decisions God's way Sold Out for God helps young adults actively live their Christian faith.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736954402
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Unless otherwise marked, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New Interna- tional Version ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by per- mission of Zondervan Publishing House. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Verses marked T HE M ESSAGE are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

SOLD OUT FOR GOD (formerly titled Radical Image) Copyright © 1998 by Neil T. Anderson, Robert L. Saucy, and Dave Park Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Anderson, Neil T., 1942– [Radical Image!] Sold out for God / Neil T. Anderson, Robert L. Saucy, and Dave Park. p. cm. Originally published: Radical Image! ©1998. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978 - 0- 7369- 0708 - 8 1. Teenagers —Religious life. 2. Teenagers — Conduct of life. 3. Sanctification. I. Saucy, Robert L. II. Park, David, 1961– III. Title.

BV4531.2 A55 2001 248.8'3—dc21

2001024975

All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior per- mission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

To Larry Beckner for your tireless service to parents, youth leaders, and teens with Freedom in Christ Youth Ministries for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To the prayer team at Community: Steve and Cindy Blair, Jim and Sharon Springston, Jenn and Gina Lockerby, and Eric Sanders.

And to my best prayer partner of all— Grace, I love you! Thanks for all your support and love.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Harvest House Publishers, especially Bob Hawkins Jr., Carolyn McCready, LaRae Weikert, Betty Fletcher, Barbara Gordon, and Gary Lineburg. Thank you for sharing our vision to help youth discover their freedom in Christ.

The Refiner’s Fire

Contents

1. Awesome, Holy Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Totally Saved and Set Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. Totally Holy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4. A Radically Changed Relationship . . . . . . . . . .

5. A New You with a New Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

33

47

65

91

6. Making the New You Real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

7. Who’s Changing You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

8. Transformed! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

9. Truth: That’s What Sets You Apart! . . . . . . . . . 179

Notes

The Refiner’s Fire

Be holy, because I am holy. —1 P ETER 1:16 Father, in the Name of Jesus, baptize me with the Holy Spirit and fire until sanctification is made 1 real in my life. — O SWALD C HAMBERS

This book is about God’s radical pursuit to make you like His Son, Jesus, and our pursuit to be holy like Jesus. It is about sinners becoming saints and children of wrath becoming children of God. The theological term for this change issanctification. The command given by God to every one of His children is “be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). We are forgiven, but we have not yet been perfected. There is no more important work in any youth group than sanctification. Paul says, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so pow- erfully works in me” (Colossians 1:28,29). “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thes- salonians 4:3). Everything else is secondary to God. He will certainly guide you concerning college and career choices, but His primary concern isn’t whether you are a carpenter, engineer, or missionary. It’swhat kindof car- penter, engineer, or missionary you are. In fact, He may find it necessary to sacrifice your career in order to con- form you to the image of God. It is character before career and maturity before ministry. With all the sin in our churches and today, there can be no Bible truth more understand than sanctification. The world,

youth groups important to the flesh, and

the devil will pull out all the stops and make every effort to stop this process in your life, but we are committed to helping you understand God’s desire for you to grow in Christ. Everything we have to say can be summarized by one verse: “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). We believe the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth, and that truth will set you free to be all that God calls you to be. The Nobel Peace Prize is the supreme award given to those who have made an exceptional contribution to the betterment of the world. Other Nobel prizes are given to those who have made outstanding contributions in the arts and sciences. There is a story about the Nobel prizes that is rarely told.

Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, made his for- tune by inventing powerful explosives and licensing the formula to governments to make weapons. One day Nobel’s brother died, and by accident a newspaper printed an obituary notice for Alfred instead of his deceased brother. It identified Alfred as the inventor of dynamite who made his fortune by enabling armies to achieve new levels of mass destruction. Nobel had the unique opportunity to read his own obituary in his lifetime and see how he would be remem- bered. He was shocked to think that this is what his life would add up to: the merchant of death and destruction. He then took his fortune and used it to establish awards for accomplishments contributing to life rather than death. And today Nobel is remem- bered for his contribution to peace and human 2 achievement—not explosives.

If you were able to read your own obituary, would it tell a story of selfishness or selflessness? A life lived for the