Amazing Grace,,,

Today's lesson is all about Grace....God's Grace!



Nick's Take:

day 9
today's theme was grace, so worships today were more cheerful then brokenness. the same kind of stuff happened today, worship then small groups. in said small group we played a game where 3 of the members acted like a character from the story The Prodigal Son, and the rest of us asked questions of them. after that i went to lunch then headed off to a service project, i volunteer to do trail maintenance . what we did was use shovels and rakes and other tools to widen an over grown trail in Lory state park, it was a lot of fun!! when we got back we had dinner and went to worship which honestly i found not to be as powerful as the night before, although i did like the speaker. near the end of the service there was anointing done by all the staff for all who wanted to be anointed.(carol who formerly went to Lynchburg cob was one of the advisers who also help). Wednesday is our last full day and should be fun!

Robb's Take:

Grace....which is getting something we absolutely do not deserve. The story they used to illustrate God's grace was the story about the woman who committed adultery..and the memorable phrase "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"
Here we had a great example of the Grace that God has for all of us. However I take a lot of exception to some of the problems in this story. Like, where was the male adulterer? Isn't it still the same in our society today? Women today are put on a different sexual pedestal than men.
I also went to a work shop called "give a girl a chance." It's amazing what females do to become educated. We as Americans have forgotten how important education is. We view going to school as a chore where these woman work so hard to get there.
All in all this week has gone well....but I think we're all getting a little fatigued...there's a lot of energy left, and I'm excited to finish this journey!

Brokenness...we are all broken

So far so good! The theme for today was brokenness. In the morning worship the essay winners spoke, and this evening Shane Claibourne was the guest speaker. Today was also the day that the Virlina district went hiking. There was a lot going on today, and I think the kids are showing signs of fatigue, but I think it's a good fatigue. The energy here is amazing and there are lots of positive things about the youth attending this event!

Nick's Take:
day 8
Monday started like the yesterday and the next few days to come. we went to breakfast then to worship, after that was small groups. immediately following that i went to go hiking. we where given a packed lunch and got on a bus, the bus ride was about an hour. Once we got to the actual trail it was a 3 mile hike to the top, which i did without stopping in about 1 hour and 10 minutes. the views from on top of said mountain were amazing! there was even snow still on the sides of some neighboring mountains, sadly i forgot me camera...I will say that the trail leading up was pretty crappy...........I think they use it for horses, so it was literally crappy :)
when we got back i had dinner and went to worship which must say was quite better then the one in the morning! The speaker was Shane Claiborne, and the theme was brokenness. He was a very powerful speaker with a ragged look. He talked about how Jesus did not come for the powerful and brave but the weak and the meek. How god uses the weak to humble the strong and how we are all broken. yet in our brokenness we make something beautiful! Just like the grain must be crushed and broken to make bread and the grape squeezed to make wine, in our brokenness we are all made whole and as one through god!
he was also very funny and had great stories!

Robb's Take
Shane was such an inspiring speaker! He told this one story about how a homeless man went into a church on Sunday morning with his dirty clothes, and his possessions with him. The preacher came down and looked at him, then asked that he get up and go ask God what he should be wearing in this church. So the next Sunday the homeless man returns wearing the same thing as the previous week. When the preacher comes up to him he asks, "so did you ask God what you should be wearing here?" The homeless man said yes I did, but God say he didn't know because he'd never been here!
This is such a powerful story. It is amazing to think that any church would not want everybody to attend their church. I know nobody likes to talk about homosexuals in the church, but why them? Why do we discriminate against them? We have got to stop separating people from the church. It's not our church...it's everybody's church. We all belong to one body. We are so quick to point out the faults of the people around us, but how many times do we look at ourselves with that same condemning eye?
I long for a church full of people who don't see other people's brokenness, but instead see the good in all people! Let God judge...we're just around to learn as much as we can!

Who are you?

NYC is off and running. Each day is full of numerous events, but the three most important and also required are the two Worship services, small groups, and a workshop. So far the weather has been hot, but not unbearable. It is amazing to see so many people here from so many different parts of the US!

Nick's Take
today was our first full day at NYC!! we had breakfast then went to morning worship where ted an company did a performance. After that we went off on our own ways to small groups (each group has about 13 people and there are 160 some different groups)
then there was lunch and after that workshops. I attended a workshop about the military and the church's views on it. it was quite good! free time was after that and i napped =) there was dinner from 5-7 then worship at 7:30. there are small themes each day that in then end should add up to the big theme of NYC this year 'more then meets the eye' yesterday was 'belong' and today was 'identity' during the service there was one line that struck me, the speaker said. perhaps Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself because you can't love another for who they are until you truly love yourself for who you are. I found this to be a very profound and
true statement!


Robb's Take.
This is such an overwhelming event. I've enjoyed the worships, and I'm working hard to take the information in worship back to my small group. One of the most profound things that I have heard this week was presented at our opening worship. The speaker said, that no matter where you are in your journey of believing....you belong here! How amazing is that? How many times do we judge or compare ourselves by how much of a better christian we are than somebody else. I go to church and they don't. I give 10% and they don't. I've volunteer at camp Bethel, and they don't. The above statement means to me at least that none of this matters...we are all at different places, but we still belong to the same group.

The Sunday night's worship was illustrated by the song "This little light of mine..." The whole crowd was given a glow stick, and we activated them together. It was awesome to see the whole crowd moving their lights around! It was a very moving experiences for me, and I'll leave you with a statement that we should all strive to uphold better. "You are the light of the world." So go out and let your light shine for all to see!

NYC

We are at NYC!!! it was a busy day, so no new posts other than knowing that we are here safe, and the opening worship service was fantastic!

don't forget all you readers: you can respond to our posts so we know you are reading about what we're doing!

Day 5...more seeing things!

Our time in South Dakota is drawing to an end, but we still had a full day of sight seeing today. We started by heading out to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower, and then back to South Dakota to visit bear country USA! We ended the day with a meal at the Flying T chuck wagon dinner and show. All in all it's been a good visit to South Dakota, but I think everybody is starting to feel that NYC is getting closer!

Morning devotion was out of Psalms 34:10

Nick's Take
day 5
this mornings devotions were about those who hunger for things they think they need such as alcohol drugs and so on. They do not realize however that they don't need such things, for those who are strong with the lord shall not come to such mortal temptations.
This morning we went to devils tower in Wyoming. It was quite neat although i would have like to climb it rather then walk around it. The trail which we used to hike around it was 1.3 miles and very pretty. We then had lunch and went to bear country which was a drive through zoo in essence, it was pretty neat. after that we went to dinner at the 'flying T' a western dinner then show. in all I'd have to say it was a nice day!


Robb's Take:
Today was a good day...I think the youth are doing a fantastic job of staying within the rules, and abiding by all advisers. It was fascinating to see Devil's Tower. although I did excuse myself from the hike, and just sat and enjoyed the sun on my face. This morning devotions were about having all things provided for through God. "but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing" This to me doesn't mean we sit back and just wait for it to be handed. We as followers still have to go out and follow through on what we need. It's like the story of the man whose house is flooding, and he turns down the neighbor's offer of help saying that the Lord would provide, and then a boat comes by to help, be again he declines saying that the Lord will provide. And finally a helicopter comes to rescue him, but yet again he declines saying that the Lord will provide. After all that he drowns. So as he arrives in Heaven he asks the Lord, where were you? I kept waiting for you to save me...What happened? The Lord just looks at him and says I sent you a neighbor, a boat, and a helicopter...what more did you want?

We need to realize that through God all things are possible, and by seeking God good things will happen: however we still have to take the first step.

Day 4...Sight Seeing!

Finally we are spending a whole day in one area and looking at the sights that are available to us. Today we will be touring 4 different places. Crazy Horse Memorial, Mammoth Site, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore. I'm really excited about Mount Rushmore!!!

This morning's devotion was on Isaiah 30:18....oh and I think Nick actually called his mother today. I was so proud of him

Nick's Take:
day 4.
finally we have a full day of site seeing. (we also got to sleep in for an extra hour). We left in the morning to go to crazy horse, which is a really cool yet unfinished carving of an Indian chief. we then had a nice catered lunch after which
we went to the mammoth site which i found very interesting! after that we drove throw Custer state park and saw various wild life including a herd of buffalo! for dinner we went to the most prestigious of our destinations, mount Rushmore!
devotions this morning talked about how God often make us wait. that can be a good thing though if you are of the mind set that the journey can be better then the destination.

p.s. if you have not heard of all those places don't worry i hadn't heard of them till this trip.

Robb's Take
Day 4 felt like the longest to me. I was really missing my cute little baby girl, and my wife as well. I don't think I started the morning off very well, and that might influence what you read here!
Today was the day for me. This was it...the thing I was super excited about I finally get to see. Mount Rushmore! How awesome is that?!?! I love history, and studying history and political history, so I was finally going to get to see these 4 great presidents faces in the side of a mountain! First we have to go to Crazy Horse, which I admit is a pretty impressive sight! the precision that cna occur with explosives is quite amazing, however I wondered if this was the best way to immortalize these original inhabitants of this great land. The Native American idea of living as one with the earth doesn't seem to be shown by blowing up a mountain side to carve a statue into it. After that we saw some interesting things, but then came Mount Rushmore! and to be perfectly honest...I was a little underwhelmed with it. Don't get me wrong, it's a sight to see, but maybe not a bucket list item as it was with me.
all this leads me to how I took this mornings devotion...I think the journey is an amazing ride! sometimes even better than the final destination. At least in this case it was for me!

On a different side of things, I want to ask a question. Do we as a group of believers need to keep up with the idea that the "devil" puts things in our way to keep us from doing good? Is this a thought that we should continue on with? I struggle with this idea everyday. I guess it all comes down to the famous saying "do bad things happen to good people?" I think in my faith journey that I have become more of an optimist. Trials and Tribulations aren't "bad" or "products of the devil" in my eyes, they are instead a chance to be sure that our original desires are still what we want. Bad things happen, but I choose to allow that to let the best come out. if this is our mentality and our way of handling what may be up ahead on our faith journey, then there is no bad...there can be no room for bad. If we don't allow room for Bad....then all we're left with is...good. Right?

Bad Lands on Day 3

Finally we started seeing things other than Corn, and Corn, and fast food, and corn and a river here and there, and then some more corn....I think you get the picture. Today we got into South Dakota, and there are some great wide open views. We did get a Robb's dream car show at our first rest area. There had to be about 12 beautiful Corvettes all in a caravan together down the road....ahh what a great sight! We took some pictures today so we have those for you and our morning devotion was on John 14:27.

Oh and Nick won the bus' straw throwing contest! GO NICK!!

Nick's Take:
day 3.
our first sites would be seen today. we arrived at Badlands National park. it was highly awesome and i could finally stretch my legs and climb some hills! it was a quite peaceful place which was oddly enough what the devotions in the morning were
about. the talked about two peaces one found in your self and found instilled into you through Jesus. the badlands where as i said very cool! and it being a national park there was lots of wildlife. while there i saw hundreds of prairie dogs and
a lone coyote. this was a welcome sight after only seeing corn and highways for the past two days. i always find nature to be peaceful and spiritual, and this being a spiritual journey i think my favorite sites will be those of nature!



Robb's Take:
It was amazing to finally have sights to see outside the bus. I've been getting a little road weary with the same views to look at, and finally having something that i've never seen before was refreshing. The Bad Lands are incredible, but also temporary in the grand life cycle of our earth. The idea that something so beautiful can be deteriorating right in front of us, is quite a humbling thought. How much can we as temporary being on this earth learn from the Bad Lands? With the study of John 14:27 today and the discussion of peace of mind not just a world without war, I take away a notion that peace (of mind) is everywhere. WE spend so much time worrying about this, or about that...and whether or not we got Johnny to soccer or Cindy to rodeo practice, that we never let ourselves sit and enjoy the world around us that is so full of peace. I took time today to stand in the middle of this wonderful creation, and I just enjoyed it. I stood there feeling the breeze on my face, the views of browning grass blowing in the wind, and interesting craters created by water and air in the rock. I stood in a land that doesn't know it will be gone eventually, and found peace...it was a wonderful thing to behold.