Fall Retreat: Jesus Dojo

Some post retreat reflections surrounding our conversation and practice of living in the wilderness as a body of 70 people from 4 different churches (St B’s, STP, St George’s and Good Shpeherd).    We began at the passover and exodus on Friday, led at times by a lantern (the pillar of fire was a little hard to make mobile) and ending at a fire.    Saturday took us out in the wildnerness (literally) setting up a tabernacle; hiking thru Greeter Falls, resting at “Mt Sinai and conversing about “Torah” (the way to live out the marriage covenant between God and his people) and even throwing aside our own “golden calves.”  Four hours of practicing Sabbath on Saturday afternoon led us into conversation and practice surrounding the exile.   And Sunday morning saw us connecting the dots as we had some conversation surrounding Jesus as the fullfillment of the Passover, the exodus, the wandering and the answer to the exile.   

“feel good lost” has continued to stick with me,
even now back off of the mountain.  i think i took away that whole message of
finding contentment even among the stress and tolls of daily life, and to accept
where i am even if i don’t know where i’m going.  i guess i’d say that i most
clearly heard the message to thrive despite not being in control, if that makes
sense.

i think i most liked our exile, when i got to lay out under the stars and just
look up.  being in nature was most excellent, and that was set apart this
retreat from me.  not knowing as many people as i usually do helped, too.  it
helped me focus more on god and introspection and less on the social aspect,
which was refreshing. 

 - Grace Oberholtzer

Living water has really stuck with me. Living water or flowing water is a great
phrase. God really is living water (versus dead water) and that was just an awesome way to express God. I absolutely loved our 4 hour sabbath!! It was a great amount of time to meet others and praise god through play. I also liked all of our conversations.  Each  one taught me something and made a big impression on me.

-Grayson Huber

Click Here to see Pics.  

All Saints Day: it’s a feast!

Emma Williams November 1 at 8:19pm

This being my first time knowing November 1st is all Saints day I had no idea what I was going to. I dressed in my costume, and walked over with the wondering stares of the people at Star bucks.
Once I walked in I heard good music and said hi to every one. Once I had sat down and waited until I knew exactly what I was to do. A few minutes past and Sally came in and told us to circle.
We watched our little slides put our phones down (we turned them all on silent!). Afterwards we feasted and remembered
the past saints in our lives. We finished and started to search.
We were in search of the past, the present, and the future saints. We remembered the lost, our friends, our family, and our sooner or later friends and family. We found them through laughter(zeke bong!), through frustration and thought(super hero or saint?), through remembrance(the banner). The banner had written on
it those who changed our lives, those how are still changing our lives, and those who will change our lives. We read a part of acts that named some of the Saints with a big S. The whole point is we
remembered, we were thankful for, and thought of, The Saints with a little s. I had never known we were all saints. I’m glad I finally found out. It makes you see life and others in a more heavenly way. It’s like the fedEx logo. In the EX part there’s an arrow at the bottom ring of the E and X. Once you’ve recognized the arrow, you can’t ever not see it. Now we see everyone as a saint. Not a person,
a saint. Not people ,saints. In our eyes were a small percentage of
Gods saints.

Emma Williams

insearchof THE RESCUE

Se*lah, October 25th 2009

Wow! The Book of Acts is quite a testament to belief and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came down! Peter, the one who denied Jesus even AFTER He told him he would, stood up and preached! A crippled man stood up and walked! The disciples grew from a group of twelve…to two hundred….to three thousand!
And remember, all this was written by Luke, a doctor, a scientific, analytical man. Cool, huh?
We are left to echo the disciples: “What do we do now?” What do we do when God calls us to heal the sick, or raise the dead, or spread the Good News? In terms of our community at Se*lah, I think Acts 2:42-47 outlines a good start:

42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

-Bryn Hooper

Family Game Night At Se*lah

Samba de Amigo – Sally’s new game!!!!!!!

Pick Up Sticks

Se*lah, September 27, 2009

 

in search of sticks. 

After Judas betrayed Jesus and suffered death, the apostles had to decide who would become one of the twelve. They didn’t know how to decide of all the many that could have been apostles, who could be an apostle. They resolved to drawing straws, or sticks. Whoever’s stick was drawn won, and it ended up being Matthais’s stick, but that wasn’t why we heard the story. By drawing the sticks, they left it to God to decide. It’s important for us to include this in our every day lives. Too much of the time, we feel the need to be in control of everything. We feel pressured to make decisions based on opinions and approval of others, when really, it’s not always wise for us to make the decisions ourselves. We need God’s help, and so tonight we realized that by drawing sticks, we’re letting God make the decision. When there’s nothing more we can do for a situation, we should let God have control. Now, that doesn’t mean taking the “easy way out”, or not deciding anything at all- if He didn’t want us to think for ourselves, he wouldn’t have given us minds. There’s a fine line between faith and common sense, and we should use our common sense to the best of our ability, because God gave us that gift. However, we realized that we can’t do this alone. We cannot live this life alone. So tonight, we’re leaving all of our lost causes in God’s hands.

firsts

Se*lah, September 13th, 2009

What a great first experience this Se*lah was for me! 

What were we seeking?  The simple answer would be, God.  But we were also searching for ourselves in relation to God.  Who are we?  Who are we in our deepest core, whom God crafted in His/Her own image?  We were seeking ourselves by seeking God earnestly.

How did we seek?  We were seeking through music, craft, prayer, silence.  We were seeking through the ways we were made to seek.  I found it a very moving experience to watch everyone seek in the way that resonated within themselves deeply.

What did we find?  We found Jacob dreaming and making an altar to the Lord.  I can’t speak for all of us, but I know that for me, I found that God is in everything, even when we least expect it. 

How then shall we live?  We shall live mindfully.  What a great way to find God in our daily lives?!  Step out of the traffic and pay attention.  Pay attention to that same path you travel everyday.  Pay deep, close attention and you will find the sacred.  We shall live mindfully.

I am thankful for this experience.

-Brett

A Much Needed Holy Pause

Se*lah, September 20th, 2009

insearchof our story.

Selah this week was needed all around. From the sound of things in my conversation group, everybody’s week was just as long and dreary as mine (of course, the rain didn’t help). On this journey, God’s way, we all get a little worn down at times and need rejuvenation. For me, that is exactly what Selah provided for me. I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to say, what I needed to do, or the massive pile of honors physics homework I had waiting for me. Selah was exactly that, a Selah, a holy pause in this hustle and bustle we call life. We found new ways to connect to God through music, drawing, painting, and simply being. We remembered that we are truly living on the edge of heaven and earth. We continued our life as gates, the gates connecting heaven and earth, through which others can come to know God as we do.

One thing struck me in particular this week; it wasn’t even something we necessarily talked about. A simple stray comment I heard got me thinking. While discussing the scripture of the night, I heard someone say, “If Jesus was back, I think we would know.” I began really thinking about this. Will we? Will we really know? I brought this up in my conversation group and I guess it inspired a lot of thinking in them too (I didn’t get any answers). But seriously, how will we know when it happens? It’s not like there’s going to be a big, flashing neon sign above his head saying “This is the Lord Jesus! He is here!” Selah was a literal godsend to me. Because of these questions he raised in me, I have been more attentive than ever. I have been finding him in everyone and everything. I saw him in the little butterfly at my house, I saw him in my friends, I saw him in the lightning, I saw him in the rain. I found him…everywhere; as if he heard my questions and in return was opening my eyes to show me that if we just look, we can’t miss him.

It is my senior year, and consequently, my last year of Selah. I have been trying to get my little sister to join me on Sunday nights for a long time now and this Sunday, she did! I was proud of her for taking a new step in her relationship with God. For as long as she has been alive she has known prayer to be on her knees in the sanctuary with her head bowed. I believe Selah will be good for her, as it has been for me. She deserves to know what a holy pause is like, as does everyone. Selah. What a good thing to have again. I have missed it.

-Christina M

Day Camp- Thursday

Today was an emotional day for the day camp major group. We started off by further spreading grace through various community service projects, getting the kids to take part and learn a little something about God in the process. Whether we were cleaning a graveyard or painting a swingset, the kids were just as eager to help as the youth.
Next, we went back to Mountain T.O.P with the daycampers in tow for fun with bubbles and a delicious treat of banana boats. This was when the small amount of time we had left with them really started to set in. There were lots of muttered “I love you”’s and “Your my best friend!”’s as the kids were loaded back into the vans to be taken home again.
When we arrived back at camp, we gathered for major group sharing, where tears started to flow early as we recounted our fun times of bonding with the kids. The tears continued to come as we began worship in stations, singing songs of grace as we gazed at the stars and made pipecleaner dandelions.
As we celebrate with our daycampers and YRG’s tomorrow one last time, keep in your thoughts and prayers during our last full day on the Mountain.

Prayers needed on the Mountain

I am sorry to say that Keith’s father passed away yesterday after taking a turn for the worse on Tuesday. Keith and Caleb drove home today. Though they are no longer on the Mountain, or residing in Tennessee, they remain part of our comminuty. You can write them a letter to let them know of our support and love.
Also, Corey took a fall and twisted his knee. He is currently resting, and using ice to help the swelling. He plans to stick it out and depart with the rest of us on Saturday.
Keep them in your prayers.

from the field.

Hey there from Mountain Top. I have being doing service projects all this week, and they are all over the county. Today, my YRG, went to paint a house, and the lady who lives there is the sweetest woman!! She is pretty old, but looking excellent for her age. The painting today was nonstop, and it was really hard, but every five minutes, the lady would come out of her house and always say, “Oh, its just perdy-`she was trying to say pretty, but she always said perdy – ?” and it was so sweet, and funny. So when we were done, we went around on the front porch, and talked to her about her marriage, and she would talk about her husband. She said, “ A week before I got married, my husband bought all my furniture. He got a table, bed, couch, stove, and a fridgereator.” Now when she said refridgerator backwords, we all started cracking up really bad, and she was just standing there so proud. I was really cracking up bad, so I had to walk away and let it out of me! It was so funny. Then she said,” Now, I got married at the age of 15.” And she asked all of us girls in my YRG if we were married yet, and we are only 13 and 18, and we said” No ma’am.” She said, “Well, ya need to find yourself a good fella soon.” Earlier in the day, Sam, our leader of our group’s YMG’s came over to cheak on us. He went and talked to the old lady, and had a nice converstation with her. When he left, the old woman said,” Boy, that man good lookin! You girls need to go talk to him, he’d be a fine man for yall to marry. “ It was SO funny! She had a good ole crush on Sam. But it was an awesome day, and really funny! I love doing the service projects, because when I do these things for the people, It feels SO good, and proud. Its awesome! This whole week is an experience I will never forget. -Skye R.