In Review

Well, the thing in Bloomington last night wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but it was nonetheless good. To refresh, I took the youth to B-town to Sherwood Oaks CC for Pure Passion, with Ryan Dobson and a performance by Slingshot 57. The band was pretty good for what they were (kind of a punky-youth-alt-rock sound...if you need an explanation, you won't like it!) but we really couldn't understand the words. On their behalf, this was partially due to where we were seated in relation to the spread of the speakers. Anyhow, Ryan Dobson spoke, and was he funny! I really liked his style of humor. Very animated, lots of sarcasm. He was slated to speak on abstinance but didn't really talk about it directly. There was a video of college students responding to questions about pre-marrital sex and its rightness or wrongness that lead into his talk, but he never referred to it. Basically, he made two points in the two big stories he told. 1.) Girls, for the most part, don't understand that how they dress greatly affects how guys look at them and react to them. As an add on to this point was a subpoint directed at parents. If you [parents] are not setting the example for your kids in your relationship with one another as to what kind of dating relationships your kids will have in the future, and dad's, if you are not "dating" or treating your daughters in the way they ought to be treated by a future mate, you are not doing your jobs as parents. So, girls, cover up; parents, make sure they do; dads, date your wife and your daughter[s]. 2.) He talked about truth and right vs. wrong. He told of an encounter with a guy on a plane who thought truth was relative to the person. Through a series of hilarious illustrations, he helped this guy start to realize that there are some universal truths. Both of these subjects can be related back to abstinence, he just didn't do it. So, in summary, Slingshot was a 6 out of 10, Ryan was a 7, and we all had a pretty good evening out.

Proverbs 2:6 says, "For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Knowing what we do about the book of Proverbs, this verse fits right in line with what we would expect from God. The book is full of his wisdom, his words. It's only fitting to think that if we seek after it and ask for it that we will find it and get it! This goes right along with Jesus' words in Matthew 7, "Ask...seek...knock...". I think it is important to note that this wisdom and knowledge comes from God's mouth. It follows that relationship with God is needed in order to recieve the fullness of God's wisdom. If we only turn to God when in a fix, we have a very shallow understanding of who God is and what he's about. We assume he's there just to get us out of jams and be a super-holy "Ask Jeeves" site. But if we pursue God to something deeper than what most of us know now, we'll start to know him as he wants to be known and be able to exclaim, like Paul did in Romans 11, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen," (11:33-36). That's knowing God! And when we know him that way, his wisdom will be in us.

Sunday 12/5: 7 week LIFE group fellowship dinner-no regular Youth Group (come hungry!)Sunday 12/12: Christmas carroling (come ready to sing!)
Saturday 12/18: Toys for Tots distribution @ Harmony United Methodist Church
Sunday 12/19: Holiday Dinner (come hungry!)
Wednesday 12/21: A Big Deal Christmas (White Elephant gift exchange & party)

Later...