The 180 Blog

Contents
1. 180 News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Video of The Week
6. Forgettable Fact
7. Potent Quotables
8. Parting Shot

1. 180 NEWS

June is Party Month!

It all starts this week!

Senior farewell Party, Wednesday June 13. SPECIAL SENIOR SLIDE SHOW!
8th Grade Farewell Party, Thursday June 14. SPECIAL 8th GRADE SLIDE SHOW!
Freshman Welcome Party, Wednesday June 20.
6th Grade Welcome Party, Thursday June 21.
Summer Celebration, Wednesday June 27, 6-8pm, $2.

MS Guys Grub Camp
Middle School guys make plans now to be with us at Grub Camp this year! On June 22 we head up the Clackamas River to Indian Henry campground for the camping experience of your lifetime! You won't want to miss this one! Go here now to download a flyer with all the info. you need to know! The registration deadline is THIS SUNDAY, June 17.

Promotion Sunday
This Sunday is Promotion Sunday! This is the Sunday everyone moves forward to the next grade. Plan to meet with us in the Worship Center during the Sunday School hour for a special gathering and ceremony.

Message Board
A couple of years back we had a 180 Message Board. Well it is now back! Thanks to the hard work of Stephen Fiddes and Zak Boyle the 180 Message Board has made a return. Click here, register, and join in on the many conversations that are taking place!

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Jeremiah 20:7-13

O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.

But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

I hear many whispering, "Terror on every side! Report him! Let's report him!" All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, "Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him."

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.

O Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.

*Meditation*
Begin by reading this passage slowly three times. Then sit quietly for a few minutes. Before you read anything else, quietly ponder these words: "O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed."

[Pause to read.]

The New Jerusalem Bible translates verse 7 this way: "O Lord, Thou hast seduced me and I was seduced; Thou hast overcome me and prevailed." It's one of those verses you have to read twice. After all, it's not every day you read "Thou" and "seduced" in the same sentence! But, in fact, "seduced" is probably closer to what Jeremiah was feeling.

It's like Jeremiah is saying, "I was deceived. I was seduced. I didn't bargain for all this when I responded to the call of God." But then, the more he experienced the intensity of God's passionate love, the more he was drawn to it, the more he was captivated by it, the more it began to beat with intensity in his own heart.

But that passionate love comes with a cost. It did for Jeremiah and it likely will for us. Consider some of the following comments:

* "I've become a laughingstock."

* "Everyone mocks me."

* "People think I'm some kind of weird religious freak."

* "My friends want to know why I'm not sleeping with my boyfriend/girlfriend."

* "People think I'm stupid, because I wasn't willing to cheat on the test."

* "People don't get it when I invite them to church with me."

Have you, as a Christian, ever felt that sense of "Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?"

Stop for a moment as you ponder that question. Allow God to meet you in the midst of your feelings, even if they are feelings of deception and betrayal.

Imagine God holding those feelings in his hands. Imagine yourself holding in your heart the intensity of his love (like a "fire shut up in my bones," as Jeremiah put it). You may want to stop to write down some of what you're feeling.

[Pause to journal.]

In spite of his frustration with God, Jeremiah writes "the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior." The great news in all of this is that God is with you in the midst of the craziness. He will not lead you where he will not go. You will not speak by yourself. You will not go alone. This is not a God who "loves 'em and leaves 'em." You may have been seduced, but you have not been deceived.

God is there with you all the time.

God is there with you.

God is there.

God is.

Take a few moments to savor this truth by closing your eyes and meditating on the phrase, "The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior."

**

Taken from Enjoy the Silence" by Duffy & Maggie Robbins, copyright 2005, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.

3. SURF REPORT

~ 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

~ ACT, Inc
A student site for ACT test takers

4. BIRTHDAYS

We've got four this week! HAPPY Birthday Wishes go out to David Fiddes, Spencer Raibley, Stephanie Cook, and Tori Freitag! We wish you all the best!

5. VIDEO OF THE WEEK

An important truth in life....things are not always as they seem!

6. FORGETTABLE FACT

"Ough" can be pronounced in eight different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully."

7. POTENT QUOTABLES

"If you believe what you like in the Gospel and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."
- St. Augustine

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."
- Mother Teresa

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TAKE SOME TIME TO ENJOY THE SILENCE
In this busy, noisy world it's important to spend time with God. Enjoy the Silence has 30 guided exercises that will teach you about an ancient discipline called Lectio Divina. You'll have the chance to read Scripture, meditate on it, take some time to listen to God, and then journal about what you've read. This is a devotional that will help you understand the heart of God.

Order here.

Also available in your local Christian bookstore.

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8. PARTING SHOT

The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.