September 24, 2007
Contents
1. 180 News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Parting Shot
1. 180 NEWS
See You At The Pole
Gather this Wednesday morning around your school flagpole one hour before school starts to pray. Join with your other brothers and sisters to seek God together. Be amazed at what He does!
Gather with us this Wednesday evening for a time of further reflection, celebration and prayer. This will be a combined MS and HS event and there will be no Danger Zone on Thursday evening. If you do not make it in the morning to the flagpole, please don't let that stop you from joining us in the evening.
MS Fall Retreat
Hey MSers this Sunday is the final day to register for our Fall Retreat at Camp Tadmor. The dates of the retreat are October 5-7 and the cost is $80. Talk to anyone who has been with us in the past. They will tell you....you won't want to miss it!
Go here to see pictures from last year.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
For many Christians denominations act as fences—barriers that keep them apart from fellow believers. The desire to stay with one’s “kind” is a powerful urge. And taken to its extreme, it can be a damaging urge.
As I see it, denominations are simply groups of people who tend to focus on specific verses in the Bible. Pentecostals tend to focus on passages that deal with the Holy Spirit’s active work in the world today. Baptists tend to focus on passages that urge us to spread the gospel around the world. Methodists tend to focus on passages that call for community involvement. Presbyterians tend to focus on passages that affirm the traditions of the Christian faith. None of those groups is right or wrong; each simply has a different focus in its application of Scripture.
I’m pretty sure that when you die, God isn’t going to quiz you at the pearly gates to make sure you got all the right answers to every issue. He isn’t going to interrogate you on your views concerning predestination, soteriology, and epistemology. All of those issues are important to understand and work through; however, to think that God has a special place in heaven for the person who “figured it all out” and attended the “right” church is to deny the fact that God gave us unique points of view.
Look at Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
It’s quite all right to disagree with a fellow believer about the details of our faith. Just make sure that love supersedes your disagreement. You can still love someone you don’t agree with. You can befriend people who don’t cling to the same theological pillars you hold. Remember: We’re all in this body of Christ together!
I can think of a few truths in Scripture worth going to battle over: the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, the fact that salvation is available only through him, the fact that he came to serve, the fact that God made the world. Those are all essentials as far as I’m concerned. I will defend those truths until my last breath.
Other elements of Scripture are less essential to me. For example, I would not go into battle with someone who claimed the streets of heaven are paved with 24-karat instead of 18-karat gold. The argument would not be worth the potential damage it could cause to the body of Christ.
As you continue to work out your salvation (see Philippians 2:12), you need to determine which parts of your faith are worth battling for and which call for an agree-to-disagree stance. Focus on the elements that set Christianity apart from other world religions. Leave the rest for spirited coffee table discussions.
When I get to heaven, I plan to corner Jesus for a few millennia to ask him about things I don’t understand. I want to know how he created the earth. I want to know why he refers to us as “predestined” children. I want to know why he healed some people and not others. I want to uncover the mysteries theologians have debated for centuries.
Until we have those answers from Christ himself, we must not allow debates and conflicting interpretations to divide his body here on earth. Remember that we have the potential—and the responsibility—to help the world understand Jesus’ love through the way we treat each other. Let’s not blow it over issues that have no eternal significance.
**
Taken from “Love This!” by Andy Braner, copyright 2007, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ 100 Samurai Puzzles
~ 180 Student Ministries
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got 3 birthdays this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sydney Freyer, Matt Brooks, and Callie Freitag!
5. FORGETTABLE FACT
The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan".
6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"The first service one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love of God begins in listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”
- G.K. Chesterton
===========our|sponsor===========
LOVE THIS!
“Love this!” contains real-life stories of people like you who’ve found ways to love their neighbors. This book will challenge you to make a difference in your world by loving people who are often ignored or unloved—the homeless, the addicted, the elderly, those of different races, even your enemies—and show you tangible ways to demonstrate your love.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
7. PARTING SHOT
Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's a cargo?
1. 180 News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Parting Shot
1. 180 NEWS
See You At The Pole
Gather this Wednesday morning around your school flagpole one hour before school starts to pray. Join with your other brothers and sisters to seek God together. Be amazed at what He does!
Gather with us this Wednesday evening for a time of further reflection, celebration and prayer. This will be a combined MS and HS event and there will be no Danger Zone on Thursday evening. If you do not make it in the morning to the flagpole, please don't let that stop you from joining us in the evening.
MS Fall RetreatHey MSers this Sunday is the final day to register for our Fall Retreat at Camp Tadmor. The dates of the retreat are October 5-7 and the cost is $80. Talk to anyone who has been with us in the past. They will tell you....you won't want to miss it!
Go here to see pictures from last year.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
For many Christians denominations act as fences—barriers that keep them apart from fellow believers. The desire to stay with one’s “kind” is a powerful urge. And taken to its extreme, it can be a damaging urge.
As I see it, denominations are simply groups of people who tend to focus on specific verses in the Bible. Pentecostals tend to focus on passages that deal with the Holy Spirit’s active work in the world today. Baptists tend to focus on passages that urge us to spread the gospel around the world. Methodists tend to focus on passages that call for community involvement. Presbyterians tend to focus on passages that affirm the traditions of the Christian faith. None of those groups is right or wrong; each simply has a different focus in its application of Scripture.
I’m pretty sure that when you die, God isn’t going to quiz you at the pearly gates to make sure you got all the right answers to every issue. He isn’t going to interrogate you on your views concerning predestination, soteriology, and epistemology. All of those issues are important to understand and work through; however, to think that God has a special place in heaven for the person who “figured it all out” and attended the “right” church is to deny the fact that God gave us unique points of view.
Look at Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
It’s quite all right to disagree with a fellow believer about the details of our faith. Just make sure that love supersedes your disagreement. You can still love someone you don’t agree with. You can befriend people who don’t cling to the same theological pillars you hold. Remember: We’re all in this body of Christ together!
I can think of a few truths in Scripture worth going to battle over: the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, the fact that salvation is available only through him, the fact that he came to serve, the fact that God made the world. Those are all essentials as far as I’m concerned. I will defend those truths until my last breath.
Other elements of Scripture are less essential to me. For example, I would not go into battle with someone who claimed the streets of heaven are paved with 24-karat instead of 18-karat gold. The argument would not be worth the potential damage it could cause to the body of Christ.
As you continue to work out your salvation (see Philippians 2:12), you need to determine which parts of your faith are worth battling for and which call for an agree-to-disagree stance. Focus on the elements that set Christianity apart from other world religions. Leave the rest for spirited coffee table discussions.
When I get to heaven, I plan to corner Jesus for a few millennia to ask him about things I don’t understand. I want to know how he created the earth. I want to know why he refers to us as “predestined” children. I want to know why he healed some people and not others. I want to uncover the mysteries theologians have debated for centuries.
Until we have those answers from Christ himself, we must not allow debates and conflicting interpretations to divide his body here on earth. Remember that we have the potential—and the responsibility—to help the world understand Jesus’ love through the way we treat each other. Let’s not blow it over issues that have no eternal significance.
**
Taken from “Love This!” by Andy Braner, copyright 2007, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ 100 Samurai Puzzles
~ 180 Student Ministries
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got 3 birthdays this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sydney Freyer, Matt Brooks, and Callie Freitag!
5. FORGETTABLE FACT
The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan".
6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"The first service one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love of God begins in listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”
- G.K. Chesterton
===========our|sponsor===========
LOVE THIS!
“Love this!” contains real-life stories of people like you who’ve found ways to love their neighbors. This book will challenge you to make a difference in your world by loving people who are often ignored or unloved—the homeless, the addicted, the elderly, those of different races, even your enemies—and show you tangible ways to demonstrate your love.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
7. PARTING SHOT
Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's a cargo?
September 18, 2007
Contents
1. 180 News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Parting Shot
1. 180 NEWS
Fall Fusion
This year's Fall Fusion was the biggest and best yet. 107 of us packed into Safari Sam's for an incredible night of fun, that no one will ever forget!
Here's how it looked...
Remember to keep pressing on to win the "prize!" (Philippians 3:14)
MS Fall Retreat
Hey MSers have you signed up yet? Our annual Fall Retreat at Camp Tadmor is just around the corner. The dates are October 5-7 and the cost is $80. Pick up a brochure this week for all the details. The final day to register is Sunday, September 30.
Here's last year...
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
Can you understand science and still believe in God? I remember clearly when I first started asking that question—and how I answered it.
I was a fourteen-year-old freshman at Prospect High School in northwest suburban Chicago, sitting in a third-floor science classroom overlooking the asphalt parking lot, second row from the window, third seat from the front.
I already liked this introductory biology class. It fit well with my logical way of looking at the world. I was incurably curious—always after answers and constantly trying to figure out how things worked.
That's why I liked science. Here the teacher actually encouraged me to cut open a frog so I could find out how it functioned. Science gave me an excuse to ask all the "why" questions I was wondering about, to try genetic experiments by breeding fruit flies and to peer inside plants to learn about how they reproduced. To me, science represented the hard facts and the experimentally proven. I tended to dismiss everything else as being mere opinion, superstition—and mindless faith.
It was no accident that my admiration for scientific thinking was developing at the same time that my confidence in God was disappearing. While many of my classmates in Sunday school and confirmation class seemed to automatically accept the teaching of the Bible, I needed reasons for trusting it. When nobody wanted to hear my questions, I began to suspect it was because nobody had any convincing answers. And if there wasn't any scientific or rational evidence for believing
in God, then I wasn't interested.
That's when, on that day in biology class, I began to learn about scientific discoveries that, for me, opened the door to atheism.
My teacher explained that life originated millions of years ago when chemicals randomly reacted with each other in a warm ocean on prehistoric Earth. Then, through a process of survival of the fittest and natural selection, life-forms grew increasingly complex. Eventually, human beings emerged from the same family tree as apes.
Everything fell into place for me. My conclusion was that you didn't need a Creator if life can emerge unassisted from the primordial slime of the primitive Earth, and you don't need God to create human beings in his image if we are merely the product of the impersonal forces of natural selection. In short, I decided, you don't need the Bible if you have The Origin of Species.
By the time I was halfway through college, my atheistic attitudes were so entrenched that I was becoming more and more impatient with people of mindless faith. I felt smugly arrogant toward them. Let them remain slaves to their wishful thinking about a heavenly home and to the straitjacket morality of their imaginary God. As for me, I would follow the conclusions of the scientists.
If I had stopped asking questions, that's where I would have remained. But with my background in journalism and law, demanding answers is part of who I am. So when my wife, Leslie, announced that she had decided to become a follower of Jesus, it was understandable that the first words I uttered would be a question.
I didn't ask it politely. Instead I spewed it out: "What has gotten into you?" I simply couldn't comprehend how such a rational person could buy into an irrational religious belief.
But in the months that followed, Leslie's character began to change. Her values underwent a transformation, and she became a more loving, caring, authentic person. I began asking the same question, only this time in a softer, more sincere tone of genuine wonderment: "What has gotten into you?" Something—or, as she would claim, Someone—was undeniably changing her for the better.
Clearly, I needed to investigate what was going on. And so I began asking more questions—a lot of them—about faith, God, and the Bible. I was determined to go wherever the answers would take me—even though, frankly, I wasn't quite prepared back then for where I would ultimately end up.
This multifaceted spiritual investigation lasted nearly two years. Because science had played such an important role in propelling me toward atheism, I spent a lot of time posing questions about what the latest research says about God. With an open mind, I began asking:
* Are science and faith incompatible? Am I right to think that a science-minded person must reject religious beliefs? Or is there a different way to view the relationship between the spiritual and the scientific?
* Does the latest scientific evidence tend to point toward or away from the existence of God?
* Are the teachings about evolution that spurred me to atheism all those years ago still valid in light of the most recent discoveries in science?
"Science," said two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, "is the search for the truth." And that's what I decided to embark upon—a search for the truth. I hope you'll join me as I retrace that journey.
**
Taken from by "The Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel, copyright 2004, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ Institute for Creation Research
~ Answers in Genesis
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got three this week! BIG 180 Birthday Wishes go out to Breann St. John, Anthony Ramirez, and Steven Alexander. We wish you all THE BEST! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
5. FORGETTABLE FACT
An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books - a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."
- Albert Einstein
"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."
- Sir Isaac Newton
===========our|sponsor===========
INVESTIGATE THE TRUTH ABOUT CREATION
This new release from journalist Lee Strobel investigates the latest scientific discoveries from physics to biology and discovers they point convincingly toward a creator God.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
7. PARTING SHOT
Why is "abbreviation" such a long word?
1. 180 News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Parting Shot
1. 180 NEWS
Fall Fusion
This year's Fall Fusion was the biggest and best yet. 107 of us packed into Safari Sam's for an incredible night of fun, that no one will ever forget!
Here's how it looked...
Remember to keep pressing on to win the "prize!" (Philippians 3:14)
MS Fall Retreat
Hey MSers have you signed up yet? Our annual Fall Retreat at Camp Tadmor is just around the corner. The dates are October 5-7 and the cost is $80. Pick up a brochure this week for all the details. The final day to register is Sunday, September 30.
Here's last year...
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
Can you understand science and still believe in God? I remember clearly when I first started asking that question—and how I answered it.
I was a fourteen-year-old freshman at Prospect High School in northwest suburban Chicago, sitting in a third-floor science classroom overlooking the asphalt parking lot, second row from the window, third seat from the front.
I already liked this introductory biology class. It fit well with my logical way of looking at the world. I was incurably curious—always after answers and constantly trying to figure out how things worked.
That's why I liked science. Here the teacher actually encouraged me to cut open a frog so I could find out how it functioned. Science gave me an excuse to ask all the "why" questions I was wondering about, to try genetic experiments by breeding fruit flies and to peer inside plants to learn about how they reproduced. To me, science represented the hard facts and the experimentally proven. I tended to dismiss everything else as being mere opinion, superstition—and mindless faith.
It was no accident that my admiration for scientific thinking was developing at the same time that my confidence in God was disappearing. While many of my classmates in Sunday school and confirmation class seemed to automatically accept the teaching of the Bible, I needed reasons for trusting it. When nobody wanted to hear my questions, I began to suspect it was because nobody had any convincing answers. And if there wasn't any scientific or rational evidence for believing
in God, then I wasn't interested.
That's when, on that day in biology class, I began to learn about scientific discoveries that, for me, opened the door to atheism.
My teacher explained that life originated millions of years ago when chemicals randomly reacted with each other in a warm ocean on prehistoric Earth. Then, through a process of survival of the fittest and natural selection, life-forms grew increasingly complex. Eventually, human beings emerged from the same family tree as apes.
Everything fell into place for me. My conclusion was that you didn't need a Creator if life can emerge unassisted from the primordial slime of the primitive Earth, and you don't need God to create human beings in his image if we are merely the product of the impersonal forces of natural selection. In short, I decided, you don't need the Bible if you have The Origin of Species.
By the time I was halfway through college, my atheistic attitudes were so entrenched that I was becoming more and more impatient with people of mindless faith. I felt smugly arrogant toward them. Let them remain slaves to their wishful thinking about a heavenly home and to the straitjacket morality of their imaginary God. As for me, I would follow the conclusions of the scientists.
If I had stopped asking questions, that's where I would have remained. But with my background in journalism and law, demanding answers is part of who I am. So when my wife, Leslie, announced that she had decided to become a follower of Jesus, it was understandable that the first words I uttered would be a question.
I didn't ask it politely. Instead I spewed it out: "What has gotten into you?" I simply couldn't comprehend how such a rational person could buy into an irrational religious belief.
But in the months that followed, Leslie's character began to change. Her values underwent a transformation, and she became a more loving, caring, authentic person. I began asking the same question, only this time in a softer, more sincere tone of genuine wonderment: "What has gotten into you?" Something—or, as she would claim, Someone—was undeniably changing her for the better.
Clearly, I needed to investigate what was going on. And so I began asking more questions—a lot of them—about faith, God, and the Bible. I was determined to go wherever the answers would take me—even though, frankly, I wasn't quite prepared back then for where I would ultimately end up.
This multifaceted spiritual investigation lasted nearly two years. Because science had played such an important role in propelling me toward atheism, I spent a lot of time posing questions about what the latest research says about God. With an open mind, I began asking:
* Are science and faith incompatible? Am I right to think that a science-minded person must reject religious beliefs? Or is there a different way to view the relationship between the spiritual and the scientific?
* Does the latest scientific evidence tend to point toward or away from the existence of God?
* Are the teachings about evolution that spurred me to atheism all those years ago still valid in light of the most recent discoveries in science?
"Science," said two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, "is the search for the truth." And that's what I decided to embark upon—a search for the truth. I hope you'll join me as I retrace that journey.
**
Taken from by "The Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel, copyright 2004, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ Institute for Creation Research
~ Answers in Genesis
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got three this week! BIG 180 Birthday Wishes go out to Breann St. John, Anthony Ramirez, and Steven Alexander. We wish you all THE BEST! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
5. FORGETTABLE FACT
An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books - a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."
- Albert Einstein
"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."
- Sir Isaac Newton
===========our|sponsor===========
INVESTIGATE THE TRUTH ABOUT CREATION
This new release from journalist Lee Strobel investigates the latest scientific discoveries from physics to biology and discovers they point convincingly toward a creator God.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
7. PARTING SHOT
Why is "abbreviation" such a long word?
September 10, 2007
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
Fall Fusion
With the start of the new school year comes one our most exciting events of the year...FALL FUSION! Like in year's past Fall Fusion will be taking place at Safari Sam's in Sherwood, and is happening this Friday, September 14. The time is 8:45pm - 1:00am and the cost $25. Please meet at, and be picked up at Safari Sam's. The night will include unlimited arcade play, mini golf, unlimited pizza and pop, and much more! New this year is a chance to win a 1GB mp3 player! We are giving away two of them, along with other great give aways, and one just might go to you!
Here is how Fall Fusion looked last year.
Download a flier here and invite all your friends!
MS Fall Retreat
It's coming...
Now that you have seen last year be sure to sign up for our retreat this year! It's happening once again at Camp Tadmor and will be October 5-7. Be sure to pick up a flier this week and make sure you are registered by Sunday, September 30.
Revolve Tour
Hey middle and high school girls there is still time to get registered for The Revolve Tour! Join us for an amazing event with thousands of other girls just like you. The event takes place on November 16-17 at the Rose Garden Arena, and features Hawk Nelson, Natelie Grant, KJ-52, and Ayiesha Woods, among others. The cost of the event is $49 . Please turn your money in to either Aaron or Alison Giest by this Sunday, September 16.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
*Listening *
1 Samuel 7:5-13
Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”
When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against
the Lord.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.
They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.
Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
*Meditation *
In the Old Testament, the Israelites sometimes placed a large stone or built a monument to mark where God had done a great work. Those monuments helped them remember God is faithful. The monuments were often given names, as in this story, where Samuel names the spot Ebenezer, which means literally “stone of help.”
Think of the moments when God has done great works in your life. In what ways do these experiences serve as monuments to remind you of God’s ongoing work
in your life?
Think about one of these moments. Did it occur on a retreat or at a camp? Perhaps at a worship service? Did it happen at a really good place in your life? Or did it happen during a really hard time? Name that moment and ponder it for a while.
As you look back at your “Ebenezer” moment, consider what you learned about God in that place. In what ways did God help you in that time? If there were a plaque with an inscription on that monument, what would it say?
In your time of reflection, take that moment and set it up before God as a stone that marks his presence in your life saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped me.”
**
Taken from "Enjoy the Silence” by Maggie & Duffy Robbins, copyright 2006, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ Light a Candle
~ Sacred Space
Daily prayer online
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got 1 birthdays this week. This week's 180 Birthdays Wishes go out to Corey Gellinger! HAPPY birthday Corey. Hope it's a GREAT one!!
5. VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Last night at our Mexico Outreach Team reunion party we premiered the extended version of our Mexico trip video. Go grab yourself a cool drink (Doesn't a Mexican Coke sound good?), make yourself comfortable and enjoy the ride!
6. FORGETTABLE FACT
The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced.
7. POTENT QUOTABLES
“One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well."
- St. John of Avila
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice.”
- Meister Eckhart
===========our|sponsor===========
ENJOY THE SILENCE
It’s not that you don’t want to read the Bible, you may just not know how. “Enjoy the Silence” has 30 guided exercise that will help you understand the spiritual practice of “Lection Divina.” Divided into sections, the book will give you a selection of Scripture, prompts for meditation, a chance to Listen to God, and a way to respond to what you’ve read.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
8. PARTING SHOT
If rabbits' feet are so lucky, then what happened to the rabbit?
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
Fall Fusion
With the start of the new school year comes one our most exciting events of the year...FALL FUSION! Like in year's past Fall Fusion will be taking place at Safari Sam's in Sherwood, and is happening this Friday, September 14. The time is 8:45pm - 1:00am and the cost $25. Please meet at, and be picked up at Safari Sam's. The night will include unlimited arcade play, mini golf, unlimited pizza and pop, and much more! New this year is a chance to win a 1GB mp3 player! We are giving away two of them, along with other great give aways, and one just might go to you!
Here is how Fall Fusion looked last year.
Download a flier here and invite all your friends!
MS Fall Retreat
It's coming...
Now that you have seen last year be sure to sign up for our retreat this year! It's happening once again at Camp Tadmor and will be October 5-7. Be sure to pick up a flier this week and make sure you are registered by Sunday, September 30.
Revolve Tour
Hey middle and high school girls there is still time to get registered for The Revolve Tour! Join us for an amazing event with thousands of other girls just like you. The event takes place on November 16-17 at the Rose Garden Arena, and features Hawk Nelson, Natelie Grant, KJ-52, and Ayiesha Woods, among others. The cost of the event is $49 . Please turn your money in to either Aaron or Alison Giest by this Sunday, September 16.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
*Listening *
1 Samuel 7:5-13
Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”
When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against
the Lord.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.
They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.
Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
*Meditation *
In the Old Testament, the Israelites sometimes placed a large stone or built a monument to mark where God had done a great work. Those monuments helped them remember God is faithful. The monuments were often given names, as in this story, where Samuel names the spot Ebenezer, which means literally “stone of help.”
Think of the moments when God has done great works in your life. In what ways do these experiences serve as monuments to remind you of God’s ongoing work
in your life?
Think about one of these moments. Did it occur on a retreat or at a camp? Perhaps at a worship service? Did it happen at a really good place in your life? Or did it happen during a really hard time? Name that moment and ponder it for a while.
As you look back at your “Ebenezer” moment, consider what you learned about God in that place. In what ways did God help you in that time? If there were a plaque with an inscription on that monument, what would it say?
In your time of reflection, take that moment and set it up before God as a stone that marks his presence in your life saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped me.”
**
Taken from "Enjoy the Silence” by Maggie & Duffy Robbins, copyright 2006, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ Light a Candle
~ Sacred Space
Daily prayer online
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got 1 birthdays this week. This week's 180 Birthdays Wishes go out to Corey Gellinger! HAPPY birthday Corey. Hope it's a GREAT one!!
5. VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Last night at our Mexico Outreach Team reunion party we premiered the extended version of our Mexico trip video. Go grab yourself a cool drink (Doesn't a Mexican Coke sound good?), make yourself comfortable and enjoy the ride!
6. FORGETTABLE FACT
The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced.
7. POTENT QUOTABLES
“One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well."
- St. John of Avila
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice.”
- Meister Eckhart
===========our|sponsor===========
ENJOY THE SILENCE
It’s not that you don’t want to read the Bible, you may just not know how. “Enjoy the Silence” has 30 guided exercise that will help you understand the spiritual practice of “Lection Divina.” Divided into sections, the book will give you a selection of Scripture, prompts for meditation, a chance to Listen to God, and a way to respond to what you’ve read.
Order book here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
8. PARTING SHOT
If rabbits' feet are so lucky, then what happened to the rabbit?
September 4, 2007
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
Pool Parties
Last week was a great end to a great summer. Many of you joined us for our pool parties and had a great time! Here are the pictures.
HS Pool Party
MS Pol Party
Fall Fusion
With the start of the new school year comes one our most exciting events of the year...FALL FUSION! Like in year's past Fall Fusion will be taking place at Safari Sam's in Sherwood. The date is September 14 and the time is 8:45pm - 1:00am. Please meet at, and be picked up at Safari Sam's. The cost is $25 and includes unlimited arcade play, mini golf, unlimited pizza and pop, and much more! New this year is a chance to win a 1GB mp3 player! We are giving away two of them and one just might go to you!
Here is how Fall Fusion looked last year.
Download a flier here and invite all your friends!
MS Fall Retreat
It's coming...
Now that you have seen last year be sure to sign up for our retreat this year! It's happening once again at Camp Tadmor and will be October 5-7. Be sure to pick up a flier this week and make sure you are registered by Sunday, September 30.
Revolve Tour
Hey middle and high school girls there is still time to get registered for The Revolve Tour! Join us for an amazing event with thousands of other girls just like you. The event takes place on November 16-17 at the Rose Garden Arena, and features Hawk Nelson, Natelie Grant, KJ-52, and Ayiesha Woods, among others. The cost of the event is $49 . Please turn your money in to either Aaron or Alison Giest by Sunday, September 16.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him." [ John 7:38]
When animals come down to a river to drink they have no concept of
where the water is coming from or where it's going. God is the source of
living water. When our lives become this water, we can roll down the mountain
and touch the lives of many. We may weaken and become a mere trickle, or
we can grow and become mighty, washing away anything that gets in our way.
Rivers don't care about obstacles. They go around, through, rolling—never
stopping. God uses our lives to touch others. They, in turn, touch more lives.
We'll never know how many lives we've touched.
OZ (Oswald Chambers) says:
A river touches places of which its source knows nothing, and Jesus
says if we have received of His fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have nothing to do with the outflow—"This is the work of God that ye believe..." God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.
Just between you & God:
Don't get wrapped up in who and where.
Ask God to keep you moving in and around. Ask for the strength to keep going
when you're weary. Ask for the patience to reach everywhere you need to go.
**
Taken from "Everything Counts" by Steve Case, copyright 2003, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ BibleGateway.com
A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages
~ World Vision International
A Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got FOUR birthdays this week! We want to wish GREAT BIG GIANT BIRTHDAY WISHES to Kip Koenig, Heather Wilson, Samy Hurt, and Emily Eitzen! We wish you all THE BEST!
5. VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Evidence!
6. FORGETTABLE FACT
There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo.
7. POTENT QUOTABLES
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."
- Mother Teresa
"There have been meetings of only a moment which have left impressions for life ...for eternity. No one can understand that mysterious thing we call 'influence' ...yet everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives."
- J.B. Miller
===========our|sponsor===========
SPEND A YEAR WITH OSWALD CHAMBERS
Oswald Chambers is infamous for his soul-stirring devotionals.
We've adapted and expanded his bestselling devotional classic "My Utmost for His Highest" just for you!
In "Everything Counts" you'll discover powerful insights, direction, and challenges to live with reckless abandon for Christ.
Order here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
8. PARTING SHOT
When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
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
Pool Parties
Last week was a great end to a great summer. Many of you joined us for our pool parties and had a great time! Here are the pictures.
HS Pool Party
MS Pol Party
Fall Fusion
With the start of the new school year comes one our most exciting events of the year...FALL FUSION! Like in year's past Fall Fusion will be taking place at Safari Sam's in Sherwood. The date is September 14 and the time is 8:45pm - 1:00am. Please meet at, and be picked up at Safari Sam's. The cost is $25 and includes unlimited arcade play, mini golf, unlimited pizza and pop, and much more! New this year is a chance to win a 1GB mp3 player! We are giving away two of them and one just might go to you!
Here is how Fall Fusion looked last year.
Download a flier here and invite all your friends!
MS Fall Retreat
It's coming...
Now that you have seen last year be sure to sign up for our retreat this year! It's happening once again at Camp Tadmor and will be October 5-7. Be sure to pick up a flier this week and make sure you are registered by Sunday, September 30.
Revolve Tour
Hey middle and high school girls there is still time to get registered for The Revolve Tour! Join us for an amazing event with thousands of other girls just like you. The event takes place on November 16-17 at the Rose Garden Arena, and features Hawk Nelson, Natelie Grant, KJ-52, and Ayiesha Woods, among others. The cost of the event is $49 . Please turn your money in to either Aaron or Alison Giest by Sunday, September 16.
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him." [ John 7:38]
When animals come down to a river to drink they have no concept of
where the water is coming from or where it's going. God is the source of
living water. When our lives become this water, we can roll down the mountain
and touch the lives of many. We may weaken and become a mere trickle, or
we can grow and become mighty, washing away anything that gets in our way.
Rivers don't care about obstacles. They go around, through, rolling—never
stopping. God uses our lives to touch others. They, in turn, touch more lives.
We'll never know how many lives we've touched.
OZ (Oswald Chambers) says:
A river touches places of which its source knows nothing, and Jesus
says if we have received of His fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have nothing to do with the outflow—"This is the work of God that ye believe..." God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.
Just between you & God:
Don't get wrapped up in who and where.
Ask God to keep you moving in and around. Ask for the strength to keep going
when you're weary. Ask for the patience to reach everywhere you need to go.
**
Taken from "Everything Counts" by Steve Case, copyright 2003, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ BibleGateway.com
A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages
~ World Vision International
A Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got FOUR birthdays this week! We want to wish GREAT BIG GIANT BIRTHDAY WISHES to Kip Koenig, Heather Wilson, Samy Hurt, and Emily Eitzen! We wish you all THE BEST!
5. VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Evidence!
6. FORGETTABLE FACT
There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo.
7. POTENT QUOTABLES
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."
- Mother Teresa
"There have been meetings of only a moment which have left impressions for life ...for eternity. No one can understand that mysterious thing we call 'influence' ...yet everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives."
- J.B. Miller
===========our|sponsor===========
SPEND A YEAR WITH OSWALD CHAMBERS
Oswald Chambers is infamous for his soul-stirring devotionals.
We've adapted and expanded his bestselling devotional classic "My Utmost for His Highest" just for you!
In "Everything Counts" you'll discover powerful insights, direction, and challenges to live with reckless abandon for Christ.
Order here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
=================================
8. PARTING SHOT
When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
