Central Youth//Community_ For_ONE

Why do we watch movies?

2010-03-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

"The idea brings to mind what C.S. Lewis said about art functioning as a “window” onto worlds unseen. As humans, he writes in An Experiment in Criticism, we “seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves. Each of us by nature sees the whole world from one point of view with a perspective and a selectiveness peculiar to himself. ... We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own. ... We demand windows.”

Enjoy the "somewhat more Spring-like" weather, everyone!

~Vince

Did you Pay for that?

2010-02-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

Author Jonathan Merritt asks how Christians should respond to the free culture movement.

I don't know when it began. The moment when Napster launched, maybe. Whenever it was, it set off a cultural ripple infecting the masses with an insatiable desire for more, faster and free. It's called the free culture movement, and it advocates increased access to creative goods with no strings attached. Free culturalists believe that restricting access to cultural goods and creating processes designed to turn profits actually hinders creativity. They say restrictive laws such as copyrights serve as negative feedbacks, diminishing the creativity they are designed to promote.

The Internet has only made things worse ... or better, depending on your perspective. International access to the Web is difficult to police and has revealed natural limits of protective laws. With the rise of peer-to-peer file sharing systems, it has never been easier to find and acquire whatever you desire without paying a shilling for it. Some claim this produces a society of pirates and thieves, while others say the real problem is the laws that restricted access to these things in the first place. Free culturalists crave the permission to freely use, enhance and develop creative goods in a world where remix is an art form.

Does Piracy Matter?

Read the rest of the story here.

With God, there is always a fresh beginning.

2010-01-04T11:01:00.001-08:00

By Winn Collier

Original Article Link

I remember the first time my wife Miska and I drove up from Denver into the Rocky Mountains to take in the autumn colors. Summer had given way, and winter was closing in. The long lines of white aspens stood tall, like a disciplined battalion prepared for a change of the guard. Aspen-white never looks as vivid as when it holds out gold leaves for the world to see. The crisp air, the rugged ridge lines, the wild beauty of it all—such a time and place allow us to hear things we might miss most anywhere else.

A change of season is about as routine as it gets. Best I know, it has happened four times a year, like clockwork, as long as humans have been able to keep track of such things. But each time winter yields to spring, each time summer whispers to us that fall will soon arrive, nature is telling us a story. Nature is telling us the story of a God who is always creating, always remaking, forever crafting new beginnings. No matter how dry the sultry dog days of summer, no matter how bitter the winter death, new beauty, new life is always coming. It is only a matter of time.

The psalmist echoes the story nature tells. He describes people who are being formed by God as trees “planted by streams of water, which yield [their] fruit in season ...” (Psalm 1:3, TNIV). The psalmist does not live in denial of the hardship or the scarcity enmeshed with human experience. No collection of writings takes pain and disillusionment more seriously than the Psalms. However, the psalmist knows something else, something more dependable than the certainty of human turmoil. The psalmist knows God; the psalmist knows God’s story, that God is always creating, always remaking, forever crafting new beginnings. With God and God’s people, there will always be a new season, where life is infused and fruit blossoms. With God, there is always a fresh beginning.

From Scripture’s first pages all the way to the final word, God is offered as one who is creating and redeeming. Genesis gets right to it, showing God as He brings newness and life out of darkness and chaos. When Jesus arrives on the scene, redemption is a catchword for His mission. Jesus did not come to earth in order to show us how bad a shape we were in just before He finished us off. Jesus came to allow us to begin again. In Revelation where the concluding images of God’s world are painted, everything is new and has been restored. Like Psalms, there is even a tree, but with this tree, fruit is always in season. No more scarcity or lack. No more sorrow. It’s as if we have returned to the garden, starting over at the very place where everything went so terribly wrong.

It is important to remember that this fresh life God creates is not first something external. It is something that happens inside us, hidden to the human eye. Before we see the earliest spring blossom, life has long been at work under the brittle brown earth. Because we don’t see fresh hope and life erupting from us or because we don’t see (or feel) newness stirring around us, we often mistakenly believe that God is dormant. Nothing is further from the truth. God’s first concern is not what He wants us to do. God’s first concern is who He will make us to be. And this is invisible work, deep in the dirt of our soul.

Each year, the turning calendar grants us another symbol of God’s story. It encourages us to remember that God is active, and it prods us to give ourselves to the hope of a fresh beginning. We must allow ourselves to listen to the truth and to believe it. God is good, and God is at work. It might be invisible now, but He is at work. One of January’s gifts is its insistence that we consider what fresh thing God might be up to. It nudges us to abandon cynicism and to give ourselves to faith, to the anticipation that God might actually be crafting something we cannot see.

We often miss God’s activity because we are looking in the wrong place. We think God is most concerned with what we are most concerned with—the relationship we want fixed or the career we want to get on track or the vision of our life we are committed to fulfilling. So January comes and resolutions take shape, but by April, little has changed—and we believe God has done nothing. We must remember that what God is up to is far more dangerous, far more radical than what we envision. G.K. Chesterton reminds us, “The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.” God is making us into a deep-rooted tree. He is busy bringing our heart to life. It’s crazy how easy it is to miss it.

I have missed it numerous times. However, once, I didn’t. I was witness to a miracle. I saw a woman come to life.

Miska and I moved to Denver in order for Miska to go to graduate school. She began an intense two-year program preparing her for work in the art of counseling and spiritual direction. Before we loaded up the Penske moving truck in Florida, we didn’t have many of the details in place—like where we would work or how we would eat—but we knew this was a trip we had to take. The move to Denver wasn’t about a change in geography but about a change of the soul. Miska’s two years were beautiful, painful years. Miska cried many tears, good tears. Wounds that had never properly mended were re-opened, and lies that had long assaulted her bared their fangs. But my wife is one courageous woman. She allowed good friends and the power of truth to push past her walls and her hiding. She allowed grace to pierce her deeply. It’s a brave thing to open your heart to such rawness, and she opened her heart wide.

Sometime during those two years, I remember telling Miska that I felt like I was seeing her blossom, as if she were coming to life. I was madly in love with the Miska I married, but the Miska she was becoming—it was intriguing and compelling. And I was amazed by it. A couple of years ago, a friend painted Miska a picture. It is a tree, fiery golden, sturdy and alive. It isn’t an aspen, but it tells the same story those autumn-drenched aspens tell. I don’t know if our friend knew how the image speaks to Miska, but for Miska, a tree symbolizes the work God is doing in her, the work of bringing beauty and life into her world, of planting her in firm soil and calling her to blossom in her world. The picture hangs in our living room, and it is a reminder that God is always creating, always remaking, forever crafting new beginnings.

Games

Can you name the countries that produce the most of each vegetable (megatonnes/year)?

Can you name the significant events that occurred on January 1?

Can you name the NCAA Football teams who have played in a BCS game (all-time)?

In Hoc Anno Domini: So the light came into the world.

2009-12-24T04:07:00.000-08:00

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression—for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.

But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.

Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.

And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

This editorial was written in 1949 by the late Vermont Royster and has been published annually since.

Link to Story

**Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Traditions Part 3: Christmas Trees

2009-12-21T04:11:00.000-08:00

The origins of the evergreen Christmas tree are so shadowy, few places agree where it came from, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t Bethlehem. Ancient Egypt is a contender. Around the time of the winter solstice—the longest night of the year, occurring on either Dec. 21 or 22—Egyptians would bring palm branches into their homes, taking a hopeful stand against the encroaching darkness.

Ancient Rome might also be a culprit. In late December, the Romans observed the feast of Saturnalia—a week-long winter festival honoring the god Saturn—by making evergreen laurel wreathes and placing candles in live trees.

Our Christmas trees might have roots in Scandinavian folk mythology. According to these beliefs, the entire universe was contained in a really big ash tree called Yggdrasil, which balanced the sun, moon and stars in its evergreen branches. With this in mind, the ancient Scandinavians celebrated the winter solstice by hanging apples, nuts and little animal-shaped cakes from evergreen trees. Perhaps the ornamented trees reminded them of their place in the universe. Or rather, the universe’s place in Yggdrasil.

Regardless of the culture, these tree-related customs reminded people winter wasn’t forever. After all, the winter was a scary time for ancient pagans. The days grew shorter. The sun appeared less and less. Vegetation withered up during the winter months. But evergreen trees? The harsh winters didn’t faze them. Maybe evergreens had magical powers. Maybe they were eternal. Which is why eventually connecting them with Jesus wasn’t all that difficult.

One Christmas tree origin story involves St. Boniface, an eighth-century monk and the eventual archbishop of Germany. He had a run-in with some local tribes who worshiped a tree at Geismar known as the Holy Oak of Thor. They considered the tree some kind of leafy deity. Boniface wasn’t too keen on this, so he did what any good saint would do: He chopped down the sacred tree.

According to legend, the tree split to reveal a small, miraculous fir tree growing amid its gnarled roots. Boniface seized the timely metaphor and suggested the little fir tree ought to remind those pagans of Jesus. See how it seems to point toward heaven? And see how its color is constant, like the love of Christ? And see how it sorta seems to symbolize the death of paganism and the rise of Christianity?

So Boniface (and in other tales, Martin Luther) gets credit for the Christmas tree. But most scholars agree this story is probably apocryphal. It pretty conveniently disguised the fact that evergreen trees have always played a big role in winter solstice observances. A big, fat, pagan role.

Link to Story

Christmas Traditions Part 2: The Date

2009-12-18T10:42:00.001-08:00

Question: What day was Jesus born?

Answer: We don’t know, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t Dec. 25.

Even the date of Christmas doesn’t belong to Christianity. While the Bible doesn’t record the date of Christ’s birth, there’s little to suggest He was actually born on the 25th of December. As you might recall from the Christmas story, there were “shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8, KJV). December, in Palestine, is in the middle of the region’s cold, October-to-April rainy season. Sheep would have been inside, not out in the fields.

Regardless, Dec. 25 is a date with a lot of history. It was the feast of the Son of Isis in ancient Babylon, a festival marked with plenty of eating, drinking and even gift-giving. Dec. 25 often marked the end of the Romans’ Saturnalia celebration. The date also coincided with Yule, an ancient German pagan festival occurring on or around Dec. 25.

And in the early years of Christianity, that specific day was celebrated as the birthday of the Persian sun god, Mithras. The religion built around this deity, Mithraism, had become a major rival to the Church in fourth-century Rome, and Dec. 25 was a big party day for the pagans whom Christians hoped to convert. Which posed a problem: How do we convert these guys if we immediately make them give up their favorite feast?

So, even though the early Church hadn’t really bothered to observe Christ’s birth at all, Pope Julius I chose Dec. 25 as the official feast day to honor Baby Jesus. And what a coincidence that this date not only competed with rival religions but made it a lot easier for new converts to drop their paganism while holding on to the day’s merriment, feasts and fun. The papal pronouncement became official in 375 A.D. Suddenly Jesus had a birthday.

Link to Story

Christmas Traditions Part 1: Gift Giving

2009-12-17T11:09:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!

For those of you who wonder why you hang ornaments on pine trees, or give gifts, or practice other Christmas traditions, you are in luck! Enjoy the coming few posts before the big C (Christmas) Day. Much peace and love, Vince

The gifts. This one’s a no-brainer, right? Don’t we give each other gifts on Christmas (and on our birthdays) because the wise men gave Jesus gifts on His birthday?

Not so fast. Yes, the wise men gave gifts to Jesus. But if you’ll read Matthew’s Gospel carefully—instead of, say, getting your history from nativity scenes—you’ll notice the wise men didn’t actually show up at the manger. At all. According to Matthew 2:16, they arrived two years after Christ’s birth. So those weren’t exactly birthday gifts. It’s more likely they were traditional and symbolic gifts reserved for a king.

Unless you only give Christmas presents to royalty, your holiday gift-giving owes less to the wise Magi and more to Saturnalia, the aforementioned Roman winter solstice feast. Its celebrants would exchange small gifts with each other according to socioeconomic status. The rich gave jewelry or gold coins. The poor gave homemade edibles. Children would give and receive little clay dolls. And everyone gave “strenae,” evergreen boughs thought to bring good luck.

But, hark! Gift-giving isn’t completely pagan. It does have a legitimate—but probably legendary—connection to Christianity, thanks to St. Nicholas. Yes, that St. Nicholas. The kindly fourth-century bishop of Myra used his family’s affluence to give anonymous gifts to the poor (including once dropping a bag of gold down a family’s chimney). After he died of old age, admiring townsfolk continued his habit of secret gift-giving, with credit going to jolly old St. Nick.

Giving gifts to the poor in honor of Jesus? For something rooted in paganism, it fits pretty nicely into a Christian framework.

Story Link

To Give, or Not to Give to the Homeless?

2009-12-07T07:29:00.001-08:00

My stomach is empty, as is my fridge. It is very much time to make a trip to the grocery store. I grab my wife, wallet and keys, and fly out the front door.

Minutes later, ravenous, I am scouring the aisles of the grocery store, piling sustenance into my cart. I have breads, cereals, meats, cheeses, puddings, pastas, frozen burritos, and produce. Kozy Shack, Life, Prego, Tillamook. Never grocery shop when you are hungry. Your savings will disappear at the checkout.

With a full cart (and then some) my wife and I exit the store. I am almost sprinting, ready to tear open a bag of Kettle Chips for the car ride home.

We get to the car and unload our groceries, caught up in the excitement of our forthcoming gluttonous feast. Then, we hop in and speed out of the parking lot. As we approach the first stoplight, we look to our left and notice a woman sitting on the median.

She is perched on an overturned shopping cart. She is dressed in tattered, mismatched clothing. Next to her is another cart filled with empty soda cans and plastic water bottles. Amidst the recyclables are several bags of belongings—socks, shirts, and small household items. Her face is sullen and vacant. She does not speak, but only looks up at us through weathered, distant eyes. The woman holds a sign:

Homeless.
Need Help.
God Bless.

Full story here.

The Holiday Season and God

2009-11-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Yup, this week starts the 2009-2010 holiday season! One not so neat thing about it is they won't be able to make any more New Years Glasses (2010 doesn't fit like the past 9 years have). You can lament all you want, but they will have to work some magic to make some funky glasses to fit on your face for the new decade (I still can't believe a decade has gone by like THAT!)

Onto other things, after hearing some powerful sermons on stewardship, money, and God, as well as talking with some friends on these and other related topics, I felt I wanted to share these with my youth friends!

"When you build a city near no mountains and no ocean, you get materialism and traditional religion. People have too much time and lack inspiration."
-Donald Miller

"1 month of the year, people get 'thankful' - the other 11 months, it is easy to fall into the trap of being a 'functional atheist'. You can recognize Jesus died on the cross and know He rose from the dead for your sins, but your life turns out to be more of an artificial life, you expect less from God, you expect more from yourself, your plans, your schemes, and are submitting yourself to yourself, which also yields to you your fears. This can be a clandestine (secretive) way of acting which says 'I don't trust that God would take care of me'."

Furthermore, we all can fall into the trap of being ungracious. You feel that you achieve what you have by your hand ALONE, and subsequently ask, "why can't others do the same as me? why are others not working as hard as me?" Judgement sets in, and can take the form of simply judging others and not looking to how God is blessing them in their life.

The question: What would our lives look like if we walked with these gifts of the Spirit every day? If we strived to work on this, let it soak into our every day self, with all of our classes, encounters wit different friends/family/church people, how would you look?

A key reminder for this, which happens to be something that I have to remind myself daily, is that change is a process that may take seasons. Furthermore, it is not a station you simply arrive at and POOF, you are unscathed and blameless (unless you are up with our God :) )

Check out 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 - Paul thanks God for Jesus Christ before he gets into any deep theological confabulations (discussions). He knows what keeps him going, what is the most important at the core of his letters and teachings, and what was the most important to God: a relationship with Jesus and the Father.

Our Clothes

2009-11-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

A few girls recently involved in the national organization, Younglife, hosted a sleepover, featuring a What Not To Wear-inspired fashion show. Together, they also watched a few episodes of the TLC television show. More important than the clothes, Litz and Savard desired to give the girls a better understanding of what messages their clothes were communicating.

"Respecting their bodies wasn't high on their priority lists," Savard said. "It was: 'What attention can I get, and how can I get it?'"

"We just wanted to extend to them that if you take the time to find things that fit well, you can really transform how you look and feel about yourself,"
Litz said. "If you are dressing for your body, then that's when you're the most beautiful."

The girls embarked the next day on a shopping trip, lasting eight hours, and proved to be quite exhausting. "We learned a lot of nice ways to say no," Litz said. But, the experience was instrumental in helping the girls understand that clothing can both express and invite respect.

"A lot of them [had] put up walls," Savard said. "'People are going to notice me for this.' In reality, they were making up for something else. It's just been cool to help them come through that. It was definitely something that God did, and I was so happy to be a part of it."

---I do not intend for this story to tell you what you should and shouldn't wear, but to be critical when you look at yourself in the mirror. Look for meaning behind the reasons why you wear certain things.
Your clothes, even without any labels or logos on them, send messages to the opposite sex, the same sex, and people you do not know.

Grace like Rain

2009-11-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

*Devotion by Cindy

Do you need to forgive yourself of something??? Grab a cup of coffee….this is a tough subject!!

Maybe you caused direct harm to another person…maybe you lied… maybe you betrayed someone who trusted you…maybe you lost your temper and said very hurtful things…maybe you belittled or humiliated yourself or someone else…..maybe you stole something…maybe you cheated…maybe you broke a promise…maybe you emotionally or physically abused someone…

It is only after we have gone through a process of deep self examination that we might begin the journey of allowing transformation, which could then set the stage for self-forgiveness. I guess the bottom line is: only if we can determine that we need to forgive ourselves for something, will it be possible for us to even attempt it.

So, what are some things we need to do to begin that journey? One thing is that we have to learn our limitations and pitfalls. That means we have to confront ourselves and recognize that our inflated sense of self might be what is getting in our own way. Do we acknowledge and realize sometimes how VERY ruinous some of our personality traits and actions might be? When we do the hard work to unveil and reveal our own limitations, it starts a path of opportunity to be HONEST….and HONESTY is the essential action of any true personal change, including self-forgiveness.

To accomplish self-forgiveness, we must put away self-destructive emotional weapons, such as guilt and shame. Another factor in self-forgiveness is taking the appropriate amount of responsibility, and then doing the work that will lead to “letting it go”. We sometimes find it easier to forgive OTHERS, because we can make excuses for them, or pretend they meant no harm. For some reason, when it comes to self-forgiveness, excuses seem much more difficult to mount. While we need to find a way to hold ourselves accountable, and to take full responsibility for our actions, we also need to find a way to not continue to allow our past transgressions to be converted into self-directed weapons. While we need to find a way to be honest and admit our wrongdoings, we also need to gain insight into these poor decisions, confess them, make true and lasting changes, and then proceed with a transformed heart on a new path.

Learning to self-forgive is to transcend the pit of despair and rise to compassion and empathy. I think self-forgiveness is a choice that will bring peace, deep joy, relief, unconditional love, true ownership, and a sense of power over one’s health and well-being.

So, do you need to forgive yourself? Do you WANT to have peace, deep joy, relief, unconditional love, true ownership, and a sense of power you’re your health and well-bring?? Then today is the day to start the wonderful journey!

Make it a great week, praising God from whom all blessings flow, especially the blessing of being free of guilt and shame through self-forgiveness.

*I hope you found this devo interesting and can shed light on your own hearts battles.

Try out this quiz! Palindrome word pairs :)

How can God's Light shine MORE out of you?

2009-10-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

As it is now Halloween week, we will or already have come in contact with many pumpkin carving parties (ours was fun!!) But, much of this holiday revolves around darkness, scary themes, horror movies, and vandalism the night before.

Some of you may or may not have celebrated Halloween to the same extent, or even at all. Some families choose not to give energy or worship to gools, witches, sorcerers, or little kids begging for candy.

As Christians, this holiday is not usually anything special, unless you enjoy dressing up. But I challenge you to make it a time of year for personal reflection.

This holiday symbolizes gools and ghosts, which some equate to fear. All year long, there is brokenness and fear abounding. This can be felt if you do not get good enough grades, make the state team (let alone the team in the first place), come home to a family argument, are rejected by a possible girl/boy friend, or other personal experiences that have kept you awake at night, doubting, or second guessing God. Even without people dressing up or the TV showing Halloween horror movies, there are always scary things around us.

We are free to have fun, dress up, or munch of popcorn as we watch a scary movie. We are also free and called to shine the light of Jesus Christ in our day to day existence!

At night, when all is dark and scary, sometimes the only thing lit can be pumpkins sitting in windows or on door steps. Notice how they are inside and outside! How can you better shine the light of Jesus Christ in your own personal way inside and outside your home while there is so much darkness around?

In tradition, enjoy some Halloween style sporcle quizzes :)

Can you name from the descriptions the most common icons for Halloween?

Can you name the most common Halloween costumes for kids and adults (2008)?

Peace and love,

Vince

Praise awaits the King!

2009-10-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

As I have reflected on the past few weeks of Youth Group and Sunday school, I continue to Give Praise to the King of Kings, our almighty God!

"Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed. O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. When we are overwhelmed by sin, you atone for our transgressions."

[Psalm 65:1-3]

Bible Term Look up!

Zion: a fortified hill in Jerusalem, then conquered and named "City of David", then also King Solomon's temple.

Atone: Making up for mistakes.

Transgression: mistake or a wrongdoing.

I just noticed the few words, "to you shall all flesh come".

Many different religious groups continue to come to God. This is a special week in the Jewish faith. From last friday to this friday, the Sukkot (Feast of the Tabernacle) holiday is being celebrated. I visited with some friends last night a Messianic Jewish household in nearby Scotland. We sat out back under their man made Sukkot, enjoyed hot tea, coffee, ginger bread cookies, pasta, fellowship, and a great learning experience.

There may not be many Jewish American's in this area, but where I am from there is a large community base. I grew up thinking Jewish people were cheap, followed too many burdensome rules, and were private to outsiders. Last night changed that for good.

Recently, I learned from some friends that God is seen and worshiped by many different religious groups in many different ways. This can be influenced by your culture, language, homeland, family, and religious book you go by. This family saw their observance of the Torah as a way of worshiping God, as a way of drawing closer to God, and by no means burdensome.

Talk to me about this experience, because it was really eye opening, fun, and I learned a ton about the bible! We could go and visit their family as a youth group sometime!

Here is a link that describes some of the similar within the Muslim community.

And some goodies...

--W omen in retrospect as they say they began to diet in 4th grade!

--American states without the letter "A" in it. (Quiz)

--List the numbers 1-100 in 1 minute! (Quiz)

Peace and love

VMG

For everything there is a season...

2009-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

If you like the 1965 hit "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds, the changing of the colors of the leaves and the cooler days, or you are a fan of King Solomon's writings in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, you would agree that times change. Life changes. You and I change.

Seasons change, and "for everything there is a season". I challenge you to embrace that change. It may be a small one (your mom makes a new dish for dinner, a new bus driver, new TV shows on at night) or maybe one of more intensity (family drama at home, struggling in a class, coming face to face with yourself as a sexual being). Either way, you are not the first to feel odd, afraid, unsure, excited, or downright mad. King Solomon writes, though, that he notices

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

If you want to dig in deeper and enjoy podcasts, check out this podcast by Mike Hindes, a missionary. His sermon is on change and how we can embrace it. You will not be disappointed by it!

For some fun, name the most common English words!
or for a challenge, and loves of Asia (Katie?? haha), name the Asian country by its capital!
or do this quiz with your parents and learn some old wise adages!

See you all soon! Thanks to all of you for coming out each week and being yourself. Let's continue to bring new friends, be welcoming to each other, and have fun and eat well!

"The Lord is GOOD to ALL [Psalm 145:9]

2009-09-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

Is it friday yet???

Not yet, but until then, enjoy these slices!

Why is the English language so annoying sometimes? Check it here.

Can you list all of the major banned books in America?

Or, can you list all of the countries in the world spelled with only five letters?

Has that caught your attention?

Here is a article by Relevant Magazine discussing the hot topic of abortion.

"Unfortunately, some Christians with a vested political interest in wedge issues seem to care more about the volume of their own polemic than they do about saving actual people—and that prevents a lot of the good that brothers and sisters could accomplish if freed from fear of demonization.”
"Simply saying we’re “pro-life” and voting accordingly is not enough—it’s the easy way out. The hard work is translating belief into action, putting feet to our faith, transcending rhetoric and seeking solutions."

Read the complete story here.

What do you all think?

See you all tomorrow night. God Bless!

Imagine

2009-09-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Your imagination comes out....in your decisions and actions, and it can be for good or for bad.

Need a break from studying? Play

1) Name all of the countries in the world
http://www.sporcle.com/games/world.php
*List in the comments box your score and let's see who gets the most!

2) Identify the judges from the Old Testament Book 'Judges'
http://www.sporcle.com/games/bookofjudges.php

Peace!

A Call to Persevere

2009-09-08T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll!

It is a new week (a short one, too), I will see everyone at Central on Wednesday. Come ready to play outside!

Check out these links:

Intelligent Evolution: Can we believe in a Creator and evolution?
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/current-events/18120-intelligent-evolution
Girls as young as 4TH GRADERS are Dieting?!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204731804574386822245731710.html
See how many Old Testament Books of the Bible you can name!
http://www.sporcle.com/games/biblebooksold.php
For music fans, see how many artists you can name who have the most #1 singles!
http://www.sporcle.com/games/artistsingles.php

²⁰But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²²And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

~Jude 1:20-23

Watch Out Now!

2009-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I will be updating the blog with details about Youth, but also posting neat articles for you guys to read.

Let's get it started with a little blip about facebook.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902400.html?sid=ST2009082902522

Comment..discuss..reflect..and broaden your mind set!

And for fun...2 quizes from my favorite quiz webpage: Sporcle

1) Name all of the New Testament Bible Books (http://www.sporcle.com/games/biblebooksnew.php)

2) Identify chatting acronyms (lol means laugh out loud) (http://www.sporcle.com/games/chatacronyms.php)

Peace,

Vince

2008-11-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Reflect: [ri-flekt]
–verb (used with object)
1.to cast back (light, heat, sound, etc.) from a surface: The mirror reflected the light onto the wall.
2.to give back or show an image of; mirror.
3.(of an act or its result) to serve to cast or bring (credit, discredit, etc.) on its performer.
4.to reproduce; show: followers reflecting the views of the leader.
5.to throw or cast back; cause to return or rebound: Her bitterness reflects gloom on all her family. –verb (used without object)
6.to be turned or cast back, as light.
7.to cast back light, heat, etc.
8.to be reflected or mirrored.
9.to give back or show an image.
10.to think, ponder, or meditate: to reflect on one's virtues and faults.
11.to serve or tend to bring reproach or discredit by association: His crimes reflected on the whole community.
12.to serve to give a particular aspect or impression: The test reflects well on your abilities.