Archive for August, 2005
This is the first of several posts listing the quotes from the messages on the five15 retreat. I’ve broken them into several posts so they won’t be too long. I’ll be posting them over the next couple days, about one week after the actual main session for each one. Here’s the first installment.
Quotes for my message:
“One Thing God Can’t Do”
Matthew 26:36-46
“Because God is holy, He hates all sin; and because He hates all sin, His anger burns against the sinner. The wrath of God is His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is the displeasure and indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin.” A.W. Pink.
“A divine rescue is necessary. We need a savior! And in order to be our savior, in order to pay our debt, this individual must be like us – not just God in a form that merely appears to be human, but someone fully and truly human. Yet he must be unlike us as well, because he must be sinless, since only a perfect sacrifice is acceptable. He must be fully God, and not simply a man with a limited set of divine powers and abilities.” C.J. Mahaney.
“Once God, in his love, decided to save some human beings, then several passages in Scripture indicate that there was no other way for God to do this than through the death of his Son…” Wayne Grudem.
“Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine self-sacrifice.” John Stott.
“As his death was unique, so also his anguish; and our best response to it is hushed worship.” D.A. Carson.
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I spent time in my quiet time this morning reviewing Psalm 8. What a glorious passage. Of course I thought of the chart Mr. Layman showed us on the retreat. It’s good for my soul to think about this stuff often. Mr. Layman quoted John Piper: “Man is starving for the greatness of God.” Let’s have a snack, shall we?
If you weren’t there, the chart above may not make a lot of sense. Ask someone who went to explain it to you. If you were there, get your notes out! Isn’t this a wonderful reminder of the greatness of God? And we’re not just specks, we’re rebellious specks. For me, this makes the saving work of Jesus Christ on our behalf all the more glorious!
“When I look at the heavens, at the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4.
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:9.
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Congratulations Liane and Charis! For those who don’t know, Liane and Charis won the Friday Funnies contest on the Girl Talk Blog. Well done — and enjoy your Starbucks!
Ladies, check it out here.
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 Some people have been wondering to me whether there is in fact such a thing as a snipe? Let there by no more doubt.
Here’s a direct quote from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources: “Most people think snipe hunting is a practical joke or an initiation prank, but common snipes are real and provide excellent hunting and birdwatching opportunities in West Virginia.”
I did learn that the official hunting season for snipe in West Virginia is September 1 - December 16, and the daily limit is 8. So we were a little early, but safely under the limit.
Want to know more about the snipe? Here is the USGS info page about gallinago gallinago.
Hat Tip: Susan Thorson for this valuable infromation!
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We’re back, and what a great retreat we had! Thanks to all of you who set aside the time and money to come on the retreat. Over the next few days, I will be posting summaries of our experience and resources that we referenced on the retreat.
But I want to know: what was the highlight of the retreat for you?
Here are just a couple of mine:
- The unveiling of our new name: five15.
- Finding out that the fire alarm that went off before Friday morning’s main session was pulled by my Jack.
- Seeing so many of you respond so humbly during the ministry times throughout the retreat and especially on the ministry night.
- Taking Phil on his first snipe hunt.
- Grant Layman’s message on Psalm 8… God is infinite, incomprehensible, and uncontained, even by this incredibly vast universe. I’m a rebellious speck. Seeing the holiness of God and the sinfulness of my sin more clearly makes the greatness of God that much more amazing.
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We have a winner! We announced the new name Thursday morning: five15 it is.
Well done, Aaron, for submitting the winning name. Aaron, enjoy your iPod Shuffle!
We picked five15 because we think it represents so much of what our youth ministry is all about. It refers to 2 Corinthians 5:15:
“…[Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
I love how the transforming effect of the Gospel is so clearly in view in this verse. Jesus Christ is the one who died in our place, so that we can be set free from the slavery of self, and live for him. His death provides both the motivation and the power for our new life in Christ. We’ll be talking more about this verse in the near future…
So, there it is. five15 is in, “youth ministry” is out. Watch for five15 announcements, come to five15 meetings, worship with the five15 band.
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“Can you hear me now?” Not at Concord Retreat, you can’t. Not on Verizon, anyway. Cell phone reception at the retreat center is very poor. There are phones that you can use to call out, but you’ll need a calling card or credit card.
The emergency number, if someone needs to reach you, is (866) 833-2929. Don’t call this number unless it is an emergency.
You can also get this number from the church office or from the website: http://concordretreat.com.
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There really is a Whitacre, VA. My forebears hail from this tiny mountain hamlet. If you’d like to visit, you must have too much time on your hands. But here are the directions in case you’d like to swing through on your way to the retreat:
- Follow the directions provided on the previous post to get onto Rt. 50.
- Pass Rt. 259 and turn RIGHT onto Whitacre Road. Go about three miles.
- Turn RIGHT onto Redland Road. Go about a mile or so.
- Welcome to Whitacre, VA. Don’t blink; you might miss it.
- To get back to the retreat, turn around, go back the way you came. Turn LEFT onto Rt. 50, and then pick up the other directions by turning RIGHT onto Rt. 259.
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The retreat is TOMORROW! Ya-hoo!
Here are directions:
- Take I-66 WEST to I-81.
- Take I-81 NORTH toward Winchester.
- Take exit 310 for Rt. 37 (towards Rt. 522, 50, etc.).
- Turn LEFT at the light at the top of the ramp onto Rt. 37 NORTH.
- Take the 2nd exit onto Rt. 50 WEST.
- Travel about 11 miles through the town of Gore.
- Turn LEFT onto Rt. 259 (near a closed down gas station and store).
- NOTE: if you miss this turn, the road goes to from four lanes to two. Turn RIGHT onto Whitacre Road (not kidding) and turn around.
- Travel about 5 miles to the West Virginia State Line. Go 4 miles past the State Line (that would be 9 miles total).
- Concord Retreat will be on your RIGHT. Look for the smallish yellow sign and the gravel driveway.
- Follow the driveway to the large white building with columns (Main Lodge).
- Enter through the black door.
- Congratulations, you made it!
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How many of you are still going on the Summer Reading Challenge? In order to be eligible for a prize, you have to have finished either:
AND:
Did you make it? If so, the next step is to write for me at least a paragraph explaining how you benefitted from this reading. You can email it to me, mail it to me, drop it off at the office, or hand it to me tomorrow morning or at the youth retreat.
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Some people have been wondering to me whether there is in fact such a thing as a snipe? Let there by no more doubt.
