EPIC @ the Park
FYI, EPIC at the park has been cancelled for this evening due to rain!
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The Chill 2009: Purity
During my life, I have been a LOT of places. I have lived in four different states, twelve or so houses and have taken vacations all over. Everywhere I have gone has created great memories, but nothing can compare to my favorite place in the world. Camp Otyokwah. The veiw is so majestice, everywhere you look. But that’s not the only reason. Both years EPIC has gone to the Chill here, so many memories have been made and will be made in the future.
This year, our winter retreat was focused solely on the subject of purity. It was a sensitive subject at first. Many of us didn’t want to be the first to ask questions. But as the weekend went on, we became open and honest with eachother, turning a purity talk into a spiritual conversation about honoring God physically.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend and we all had a great time learning about eachother, ourselves, and most of all, our commitments to God.
Here are a few pictures. Copy and paste the link below for the full album on facebook! No need to be a member.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67761&id=595057217&l=bdd07
A Lame Excuse
There are some things in life I fail to comprehend.
For instance, Simon Cowel on American Idol. Simon is easily pointed out as the toughest, cruelest, and meanest judge on the show. Every year I want to throw large inanimate objects at my TV when he says the following words “I’m not being mean, but…”
If you watch the show, then you know that the next words that come out of his mouth are somewhere along the lines of this:
“…that was the worst audition I’ve ever heard.”
“…you’re ugly.”
“…your voice sounds like the noise a cat jumping of the Empire State Building would make as it’s falling.”
Sad part is, that last quote is something he actually said on the show a few weeks back! Talk about harsh. Simon doesn’t like to think he’s mean–Instead he says that he’s “brutally honest.” Seems like someone’s just making up excuses to do what’s wrong instead doing what’s right.
Oh wait.
I do that all the time. Everyday, actually. I make up excuses for the things I do wrong–the sins I commit almost on purpose. Such as walking away from the clean dishwasher in the morning because “I’m late” or being mean to my brother because “he started it” or “he’s getting on my nerves.”
We all make excuses to work around our lifestyle. God gives us standards to live by, and when we don’t meet those standards we come up with excuses. Paul explains the need for perfection in Philippians 3: 7-14. To sum it up, he says that everything he thought was awesome or fine or so-so before is now junk. Nothing’s important but the love of Christ. Paul acknowledges that he’s nothing without Jesus, he needs him, and longs to become closer to him. To become closer to Jesus he strives to be perfect, yet realizes he’s never going to reach that goal. The less imperfect he becomes, the closer to God he gets. And that’s really all that matters.
If you know me, you know that I LOVE PAUL. Everything in the bible that Paul writes never ceases to amaze me. Especially this passage. It’s so wonderfully simple: give it all up to Jesus. It’s really hard to give up control, especially when it comes to things I don’t want to do (and thus, make up excuses NOT to do them). That being said, I’m confident, and know from other life experiences that when I do, everything changes for the better and my relationship with Christ grows.
Philippians 3 & 4 are my favorite, I encourage you to read them when you have the chance. And feedback is always fantastic. Thanks for reading!
