Element Winter Retreat! Dec 28th-30th

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to let you know about our retreat this year; it will rock!

It's December 28th at 7pm lasting until the 30th, ended near noon.

We will have Nick Joyce and Benji Smith from the band Our Hearts Hero who rock, and have a sweet Christmas album out right now.

We also will have a Missionary, who is 24, coming to speak (still working out the details) that will be an awesome thing to hear.

Fun, Games, Connecting, Building lasting Friendships, and growing in God will all take place. Awesome.
 

Check out our facebook event page or look me up for an invite !

Prayer. Do we really know what it means and how to utilize it?

I wrote this in my song writing book some time ago. I'm not sure when and I don't remember writing it, but it really hit me when I read it while I was down in Guatemala. I read it to my Sunday School class a few weeks ago and wanted the rest of you too read it also.

____________________________________________________________________
Prayer.

How do I pray?
How often do I pray?
How sincere are my prayers?
Prayer isn't just muttering words and wishes.
It's talking to God Himself!
Communication with the creator of everything!

I take this for granted....

I have the chance to have a conversation with the most powerful being ever, and I choose short courtesies and minute long exchanges.

I have the opportunity to touch Heaven's floor, the face of God Himself and I pass it up.

What is prayer?

Praying is praising...thanking....interceding.....lifting others up.....supporting things important to us......asking for help......guidance....forgiveness.....is part my decision making process.....is silence....is belief......is having a friendship.

Can I do all of that in 5 minutes? How about 10?

Reality check. I talked to my friend on the phone last month for 284 minutes.

How long did I talk to my creator?

I say I don't have time.....Lies!

I create excuses not too....

I fool myself.....

Satan need not waste his time on me. Why should he make an effort to trip me up when I'm already on my face?

I could go on, but I'm going to go talk to my friend, my savior, my creator, God.
Before I go..... I'm curious...How do you pray?
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Read that, re-read it. We're going to be doing a series on "Spiritual Maturity" in the Element Sunday School class. Prayer is one part of that. Come and be a part of it!

Formed Holiness Conference in Cincinnati

Hey Elements!

Sorry it's been since the end of March since I did a post. As some of you know, I've been finishing my degree online and it's almost over!!! My last project is due June 8th, although I am hoping to have everything done tomorrow!

Chris Bean, UC Campus Minister for SWO sent me this, if anyone is interested check it out!





On  Saturday, June 4th  weʼll  gather  at  the  
Speckled Bird Cafe with  Noel Bouché to learn 
about  holiness, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, $15 ($10 
for students), vegetarian lunch included.  
Look for Formed on Facebook or email us at 
Formed.Together@GMail.com

Formed is the outgrowth of several friends working together to flesh out a new ‘curriculum for Christlikeness.’ We currently have 2 main offerings: a 10 month novitiate and a prayer book. We are also refining a rule of life for our communal expressions that will be available for other communities soon.

Our ten month novitiate creates and fosters an intentional rhythm in our lives, as together we seek God through our shared vows of soul-keeping, simplicity, community, prayer, hospitality, justice, work, study, holiness, stewardship, sabbath, celebration.

In our communities we follow a ‘rule of life’ inspired by the monastic tradition, with a daily balance of work and prayer, community and study. The vows of our shared life root us as we seek to live missionally, serving our neighbors near and far.

Above all, this ten-month journey is an undertaking of spiritual formation within community for the sake of the world. By entering the rhythms of our life together – grounded in prayer, shared meals, and mission – you will join a collective journey, rather than an individual venture.

Our next novitiate launches September 2010. Feel free to fill out an application or drop us a line for more information. We’d love to hear from you.

www.formed.cc

Build Your Fence

Fence:  1. archaic : a means of protection : defense

            2. a : a barrier intended to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark a boundary; especially :               

                  such a barrier made of posts and wire or boards

b : an immaterial barrier

Do you know you have a fence around you? No really! Well, maybe not in the literal sense, but it's there. Every day we go out in the the World, a world of Sin and Suffering and Pain. What do we have to protect us? How do we keep the harmful things from penetrating into our Core? 

Build a Fence!

Now I'm not talking about not going into the World. Jesus made it his purpose to Go into the World. I'm talking about keeping those things out that will harm us. 

A Spiritual Fence works in both ways of the definition above. 

1. To prevent escape

When I think of this my thoughts go to our urge to participate. Let's say we used to have a liquor problem. Having an intact fence can help keep Us from escaping our commitment to be sober and  indulging in that old habit.

   2. To prevent intrusion 

I think of my daily life. All the temptation that I experienced at my old job. I was constantly in people homes inspecting, giving estimates and eliminating pests.

Oh yeah, those kinds of pests. The one thing that was hard for me, and any guy, was the fact that 90% of the time I was in a house of apartment with a women. Usually married, sometimes a daughter. There really wasn't anything I could do about that, no matter how uncomfortable it was to be put in that situation. You know that old saying about "idle hands" and the devil? I had to build a fence around me to protect me from temptation. A fence that eventually I built so high that I didn't even notice when I was being flirted with. I can remember coming out of a house and a co-worker going on and on about how flirty the customer was with me. I had no clue because of my fence!

Sometimes the World batters our fence and it ends up like this:

Battered >>>>

Broken >>>>>   

Tore Down>>>  

Abused>>>>

Neglected>>

Jerusalem shows us how having a wall like the above will work out....

Nehemiah 2:17

Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."

There's only one was to keep your fence maintained and looking great. There is only one way to protect ourselves from things getting in and ending up like Jerusalem did.

Build it with Glue and Stone??

Nope. Build it with:

<<<<<<This!

Proverbs 4:23

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Colossians 3:1-2

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing(are you?).

Is your fence broken? Does it need repaired? Is it too short to keep sin out?

Build your Fence.

I'll help.

The Post.

The Post. Around 100 years old. Sitting at an intersection in the Deer Park suburb of Louisville, Kentucky.
I walked out of the guitar shop that this is in front of and it caught my eye right away. Two seconds later I was pulling out my phone and taking a picture of it.

Have you ever had one of this moments where you see something and BAM! your mind gets flooded with all of these thoughts and revelations? This was one of those moments for me.

Look at all of those staples. There must have been over a thousand starting about 7 feet high and going to about 2 feet off of the ground.

What must those signs have said?

Or?

I looked at this Post and I immediately thought of myself. We are very similar Mr. Post and I. We both have been around a while (him more than me), we both have seen many changes, and we both have had signs stapled to us.

Signs stapled to us that we had NO CONTROL over.....

Or maybe sometimes we had signs stapled to us (me) that we (I) did have control over.....

I think of all the labels I have had over the years. Some good, some bad.  It's makes me thing of some of the labels Jesus Christ has. Some good, some bad.

Saviour, Prince of Peace to some.
Terrorist, Usurper, and trouble maker to others.

We are a Post. Just like Mr. Post, we have, and will continue to be stapled too.

Some signs are stapled to us, other signs we staple on ourself.

I know that no matter how I act, some people will still staple signs that are untrue on me. But I know that for the signs I do have control over, the ones that I earn, will be good signs.

What signs do I want to earn?

Caring, Understanding, Christian, Confidante, Teacher, Selfless Giver, Unconditional Friend, Hope Inspirer, Hero, Loving Son, Loving Brother, Loving Husband, and some day...Father.

This is what I was:

And by the Merciful Grace of God this is what I am:

Notice the staples are still there. We all have scars of who we were and what we did in the past. They remind us of how we got to where we are. And warn us to never go back.

We all have this opportunity. What will you do? Keep your signs? Or ask Jesus Christ to wash the slate clean?

Here's to acquiring new signs and staples!!!

AWAKEN! Young Women's Conference.

For those interested. Awaken is March 4th and 5th and is from junior high to college age women. There is a small group from Bethel Naz going. If any are interested let me know and I'll get you in touch with Andrea Davenport who is taking charge of it. Check out AwakenConference.com for more details!

Element Blog #2

Coming this week, will be a series of posts that will cover some topics I've went over in Sunday School. I think the series on Spiritual Profiling has helped us see exactly how Jesus interacted with different groups of people, and how we may follow His example to interact and witness with the people we come in contact with.

I'll also have various other blog's that just come up that I think we need to talk about. Also, feel free to suggest a topic for me to blog on. I know you just looooveeeee my input! After all, I don't know it all, but I used too!

Tim