Here the story begins, last year we started a mini youth ministry in our high school, gathering Christians in the school to come together to fellowship every Friday afternoon. Our vision is to reach our school for Christ. (more…)

When you listen to an album, sometimes the words sound great, but the artist just lacks the conviction or experience to make it sound heart-genuine. Not so with Jeromy & Jennifer’s new album, Coming Home. And it’s not just an album. It’s a journey. A journey from suffering to faith. From intense questioning to endurance and trust.

Jeromy & Jennifer have been through a lot over the past two years. From living in Africa for several months, to the birth of a new baby, an MS diagnosis and the disbanding of FFH, they’ve run the gamut of suffering, trust, and God’s enduring faithfulness. Life is different for them now. But, more importantly, they’re different. They’ve grown, they’ve learned, they’ve dealt with the hard issues and found peace in the midst of pain.

Coming Home doesn’t deal tritely with the object of suffering either. From the first verse of:

Where Do I Go From Here/You brought me this far/Was it only to see me beg?/Was it only to get me to my knees/and then walk away… (more…)

The Chronicle Telegram, Cindy Liese
GRAFTON — It was 3 a.m. Sunday, and the temperature had dipped to the 30s.

Lauren Ferritto, 14, and Jordan Kushner, 13, were finally asleep in their cardboard box, huddled under sleeping bags and blankets.

All of a sudden, police officers started shaking the box.

“They said, ‘You have to move — you’re creating a disturbance,’ ” said Lauren, a ninth-grader at Midview High School.

She nudged Jordan, who was very angry about being forced to move.

“I got out of the box and shoved it,” Jordan said.

The two teens were among 24 young parishioners at Our Lady Queen of Peace who got a small taste of what it was like to be homeless.

“It made me realize what people go through on a daily basis,” said Jordan, an eighth-grader at Midview Middle School. “A box is cold, uncomfortable and hard.”

After spending the night outside the former Assumption Church on Elm Street, the teens said they were hungry, dirty and smelly.

But they still made the rounds at Mass on Sunday and collected $2,064 for the St. Joseph Shelter at Reid Avenue and West 15th Street in Lorain. Read the rest of this article.

Take it all

For Mr. Tracy, by Judi Weiss, RTF Staff Writer

Trust in the Lord. It sounds easy enough. Especially when everything is going good. The road is even. But what about when a crisis comes your way?

My youth minister, Mr. Tracy, was diagnosed with Hodgkinʼs Lymphoma, known as Hodgkinʼs Disease, in June of 2007. Hodgkinʼs Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system. A type of cell called the Reed-Sternberg cell is what marks it.

He began seven months of Chemotherapy then a month of radiation. After the treatment, he received what heʼd been waiting for, the clean bill of health.

This past September, the small family was hit with another crisis. The cancer had returned. With his wife Robin behind him, Mr. Tracy began his one month of radiation for the second time. (more…)

The Shack

A review by RTF Staff Writer, Derek Hanisch

Over the summer I was at the store and I saw the book “The Shack.” I read the back and was intrigued, so I purchased it. I normally know the next five books that I’m going to read, so this book got lost along the way. It didn’t even make it up to college with me. When “The Shack” was chosen by The Hardback Society (the book club I’m in) as our book of the month I had my mom mail it up to me.

After finishing the book all I can say is, “wow!” (more…)

Want to download a few of your favorite tunes from Gotee? Freegotee.com is your source for downloading free gotee music. Whether you want to discover new music or just check in for the classics, Freegotee has it for you. In fact, I’m listening to Ayiesha Wood’s new hit single, Happy, right now.

Dear Suzie, I didn’t grow up in the church, but when my parents got divorced when I was 7, my dad remarried to an extremely christian woman. After that, we went to church almost every sunday. I never really liked it until about a year ago, after I had gone to bootcamp. Now that I’m in the marine corps and on my own, I’m finding that I want to go to church on my own accord. But, I’ve been having very conflicting thoughts recently that I SO wish you can help me with. I found your website, and you’re the first person I’ve shared this with. Ok… Here it goes…

I know God loves me. I know he forgives sin. But, I’m having a very hard time convincing myself he would forgive me. I lost my virginity when I was just 15. Then, when I was about 16, I came to know Christ. But, after that, I continued to have pre-marital sex. For some reason, I have a problem saying ”no”. All I think about everyday is God and how much I want to repent and change my ways. I’ve ”repented” before, but a few weeks later, find myself in sexual sins again. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to have sex. Even while I’m having sex, all I think about is how much I don’t want to be doing it. Then afterwards, I feel so ashamed I don’t even want to pray cause I can’t face God. I want to straighted my life out so badly. Now that I’m a Marine, all I want from my male counterparts is respect.

I’ve read in the Bible where it says all sexual immoral women will go to Hell. Is this true? Am I a lost cause? I’ve been wanting to talk to my old pastor about this, but haven’t had the chance since being away from home so much. So I’m coming to you. Please help me. Tell me what to do. Will God forgive me? Can I repent? Can I still go to heaven? Please, this means so much to me. Thank you very much for taking the time out to read this. And thank you for giving me your word. I will take it to heart. Everything you say. A.

(more…)

Worth It

by B.J. Hamrick, RTF Staff Writer

I’m not the type of girl who likes to be put in a box. But on a warm fall day in the mountains of North Carolina, my friend Laura talked me into it.

Literally.

“It’ll be fun,” she said. “Just crawl in.” (more…)