I’m Not Ashamed to Own My Lord ~ hymn

This is a bit late because I spent this weekend with the youth from our church, listening to classes, thinking about, and considering the topic of “Unashamed” at the Challenge Youth Conference.

What do you think about what you first see that word? Unashamed

I certainly don’t associate it with a discussion about faith.

But y’all – I was challenged this weekend. Challenged by many thoughts and ideas presented, and by the discussions we had with the young ladies we were chaperoning.

Some of the thoughts I wrote down, I would like to share with you. I will credit the men who I am quoting but please do realize that these were all in a much larger context and setting. They all have to do with the idea of being “unashamed” in your faith.

Wes McAdams in discussing being Unashamed to Confess.

• Whose “with-ness” do you value most?
• Admitting to being “with” Jesus WILL put you at odds with people.
• Every time God stated to not fear, it is because He is with the person being told that.
• Fear often keeps us from stating who we are “with” because we don’t want to be alone. But we are NEVER along. God is always with us. Do Not Fear!
• Don’t let who you sit with means more to you than how much God loves you.
• Let your heart be saturated with God’s love.

Lonnie Jones and Ben Hayes in a discussion and Q&A about ministry with teens and the larger body of Christ.

• Emotions and thinking don’t often play well together.
• Love is not staring at someone eye to eye; it is standing shoulder to shoulder with someone and looking forward together.
• Emotions are information, not instructions. Understanding that difference really helps in being able to communicate during difficult times.
• Students need to have these 3 perceptions about themselves.
  • I am capable.
  • I am significant.
  • I can affect the outcome.
• With those three perceptions, they learn four important skills.
  • intrapersonal
  • interpersonal
  • systemic (more of you than me, group dynamics)
  • judgmental (decision making based on values, not peers)
• Consider the importance of the ministry of presence, just being there.
• The Lord’s Church is an organism, not an organization.
• Students need to be taught the whole Bible, the big picture. Without that, they cannot learn how to apply it to their life or to talk with others about it. (Facts, concept, application)

Travis Bookout in talking about Unashamed to Wash Feet.

• Pride is a cancer that kills your relationship with God.
• Sometimes, kind things don’t change people. Judas betray Jesus with clean feet.
• Only the cleansing Jesus offered can clean. Judas walked out of that upper room with clean feet but he himself was not clean.
• Greatness can be accomplished with ordinary means.
• Accept kindness with gratitude and allow it to change you. Then turn and share it.

Ben Hayes on Unashamed to Stand Before a Pagan God.

• Battles & blessings & battles & blessings & battles & blessings . . . a constant cycle that we will undergo. Ex – Philippians 4:11-13
• The time to make a decision about how you will stand and who you will stand with is not in the midst of a difficult situation. You have to have made that decision long before.
• When we trust God in all the little things in our lives, it becomes easier to trust God with the big things when they come our way.
• Trust in God; ignore the ungodly; offer yourself as a living sacrifice; impact those around you – seen in Daniel 3 (Nebuchadnezzar’s observation) and John 14
• Trust leads to the ability to ignore the outside voices and the ungodly. Ignoring leads you to being willing and able to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God’s will. Being that living sacrifice is how you impact the world.

David Shannon spoke on Unashamed to Own My Lord.

• There are two places of existence – In Christ or in the world.
• Joseph of Arimathea had to take a stand and it likely cost him everything. He probably struggled with that stand for a long while. But when it came down to when it mattered, he stood with Jesus.
• Courage is when your trust in the Lord is greater than the fear you face.

Lonnie Jones with the idea of Unashamed to Confront Our Brethren When Living Faithless Lives.

• If being God’s child is not enough for you, nothing will make you happy.
• Numbers 14 is a verse of great power “If the Lord delights in us. . .” – God does delight in us so why do we doubt or fear His power?
• It is not us against them; it is God against them. We just have to stand with God.
• When you feel insecure or ashamed, it is because you have forgotten that you are being carried on your father’s back. Deut 1:21
• We don’t have a bigger impact on the world because we don’t take it.
• Being ashamed is just unbelief wrapped in a different name.
• Shame and disbelief belong together.
• Faith and unashamed are together.

Y’all, this is just what I had time to write in my notes and process. I am hoping we can get a hold of recordings of these sessions because they were packed with so much! I know that as an adult I gained a lot by attending Challenge Youth Conference 2019 (CYC). I hope the teens all gained as much as I did.

Of course, through it all ran the theme of unashamed. Which brought this hymn to mind often this weekend. Click the title to listen to it at Great Songs Chapel.

I’m Not Ashamed to Own My Lord

lyrics: Isaac Watts
music: Carl Glaser

I’m not ashamed to own my Lord,
Nor to defend His cause;
Maintain the honors of His word,
The glory of His cross.

Jesus, my God!  I know His name,
His name is all my trust;
Nor will He put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost.

Firm as His throne His promise stands,
And He can well secure
What I’ve committed to His hands,
Till the decisive hour.

Then will He own my worthless name
Before His Father’s face,
And in the new Jerusalem
Appoint for me a place.

Blessings,
Lori, At Home.

Tagged: Bible, hymn