Trent Dibell, Canton Baptist Temple
Trent Dibell's family joined Canton Baptist Temple in 2001, and in 2005 he was a counselor at Camp CHOF. The ministry of Camp CHOF and the working of the Lord was the catalyst that placed Trent where he is today. He was baptized at CBT, and then in 2013 surrendered for full-time ministry. With a background in education and working with youth, Trent is passionate about people and reaching them with the Gospel of Christ. Trent is also the Middle School Director where he is faithfully assisted by his wife, Tristyn, and a team of Middle School Adult Leaders. Trent and Tristyn have two children, Josephine and Zane.
In this blog post, Trent discusses James 1:1-4.
James 1:1-4: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
We all have that teen in our department with that unanswerable situation. It usually happens on a Sunday morning and you are trying to scramble for the right words with the limited time you have for a Sunday morning. I know that I have been there plenty of times and so have all of you reading this.
James 1:1-4 has truly been a foundation within the ministry God has allowed me to serve. This is a piece of Scripture I reference, use daily, and a piece of Scripture that I encourage all to apply to their lives.
The first part of using James 1:1-4 is understanding the very foundations of the Gospel of Christ. The foundations of the gospel is knowing that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is not only our Salvation, but our daily walk with Christ. It is more than a date on the calendar; it needs to be our every step. Our hearts and daily walk should be what we want to see in the lives of our students. That daily walk needs to be die to self, embrace the tomb, and wait for the resurrection, because it is coming.
The student on both ends of the spectrum have been wowed by Scripture whenever I share with them James 1:1-4. Whenever they hear the words, “count it all joy,” they stop and think about what they are hearing. “Did I hear him right?” “Is he losing his mind?”
The advice that comes from us will fail majority of the time. A technique, a strategy, a way to go about a certain situation will fail eventually. Teaching a student to know and apply James 1:1-4 will never fail or go out of style. It will only shape that student to be more like Jesus Christ. That is the resurrection! That is the Gospel!
The advice that comes from us will fail majority of the time. A technique, a strategy, a way to go about a certain situation will fail eventually. Teaching a student to know and apply James 1:1-4 will never fail or go out of style. It will only shape that student to be more like Jesus Christ. That is the resurrection! That is the Gospel!