Friday September 5th & Some Thoughts...

This Friday evening the Malone church (New Covenant) is celebrating their 30th anniversary, and Danny & Giselle Bonilla will be sharing. We also have Jae-Jae Lombardo & Linda Morales from NTC singing a special during the service. If you can make it, let's plan a night on the town, leaving here at about 6pm and catching a bite in Malone when the service concludes. Please post whether or not you will be able to make it, because if there are enough of us we could perhaps take a van over.

Hey...has anyone given any thought to Brit's post on Psalm 51:6? If not, why not? Come'on put some thoughts down on what she wrote. In the last three weeks two huge disappointments have happened in Christianity...revelations about Todd Bentley and now Austrailian singer Michael Guglielmucci, the guy who recorded the Hillsong runaway hit, "You're My Healer." He recently confessed he never had cancer after deceiving tens of thousands of believers, not to mention his wife and family. He has also confessed that the cancer deception was just an extension of his secret addiction to adult pornography for the last 16 years. The following www.youtube.com link is very disturbing, and also enlightening of how sincere people can be led astray. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcswYwQczPc&feature=related) I would say, in light of these recent Christian news events, that Brittany's post is especially pertinent.

How will we know who/what is true and who/what is false? "...truth in the inward parts..." ummhhhh...time to post...

1- fun!

This Friday evening (August 29th) there will be a cookout/fire at my home. It's the first week of college classes and we thought that this would be a fun way to relax. It'll start around 7pm and if you need directions to my house please email me at meg_curry67@yahoo.com or my dad at doncurry1@twcny.rr.com. We'll provide the hot dogs & buns, but if everyone could bring either a liter of soda, a desert or chips, then that would be great. Write a quick post on here stating what you'd like to bring, so we don't end up with 10 bags of Doritos and no drinks. Thanks! We hope to all see you here. :-)

verses

On Friday evening we discussed my "life verse", an impacting, life-changing verse. I would like it if everyone could post one of their "favorite" or life-changing verses, and explain why it is meaningful. It will be interesting to read your thoughts on them and it will help everyone to understand each other a bit better.

"...but I press on to take hold of THAT..."

Great night last night as we considered Php 3:4 - 13 and how the apostle Paul was perpetually reaching to take hold of "...that..." for which Jesus had taken hold of him. I so appreciate how Paul lived in the tension and peace of knowing he was in the center of God's will, yet at the same time continually reaching for ALL God had for him in this life. Everyone who has been laid "hold of" by Jesus has been apprehended for a both a GENERAL and SPECIFIC purpose. General in that we are all supposed to become more like Jesus and "bear fruit," yet specific in that according to Eph 2:10 "we are...created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do..." "...Prepared in advance..."??? You mean there are specific things we are to accomplish for Him in this life that He has already prepared for us to do. YES! Now to me that is a big thought...any thoughts???

What Potential...This Blogging Thing...

Wow...my first real experience in 'blogging'. (Wayne, I heard that...'what an old _art he is) If you haven't yet, PLEASE check out the blogs from the previous post...some really good thoughts there, and let's keep 'em going. For me, this is another vehicle to have an exchange with people who are really digging for truth. When I was in University we would sit around and speculate on the 'God thing' because we were really interested, and we did not care what crazy things someone might say, all we wanted was the truth. Truth, unlike knowledge, must be sought out vs. being acquired, though it may be right there in front of us all the while. That's why Jesus is called, "the way the truth and the life," not 'the way the knowledge and the life', since He must be sought after and found, like the treasure in the field, which is worth everything once we understand its value. Let's keep digging...and blogging.

Friday July 18th..."2 - You" gathering....

Time to connect again and we cannot wait! I have asked Gabe to head up our worship time, so we are going to worship, I mean "no holds barred" worship. Remember, however, that each time we gather there may be some guests present, so we need to make sure we love and receive each person so they do not feel 'outta place', making sure we are flexible in everything we do. The life mantra of the apostle Paul from 1Corinthian's 9 is a model every Christian should endeavor to follow.

"19 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people:

20 religious, nonreligious,

21 meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists,

22 the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.

23 I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!"

PLEASE COME WITH ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE ON YOUR HEART. IN FACT, PLEASE DO US A HUGE FAVOR AND EITHER POST YOUR QUESTION, OR IF IT IS PERSONAL, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO ME AT doncurry1@twcny.rr.com SO THAT WE COULD BE A LITTLE PREPARED. The questions can be about anything from "Is there really a heaven and a hell, and how can we know?," to "What about pre-marital sex?," to, "How can the church become more relevant to my friends?," to "Does God really hear our prayer?" or "Does the bible say anything about homosexuality?" There is no guarantee that each question will be answered to your satisfaction, but just addressing them as a group and journeying toward an answer is sometimes 90% of the battle. The chances are that if you have a question, or are questioning, then most if not all have the same question or questions. The truth is if we don't have questions or at times question things, then we are not being intellectually honest. Growth requires heart-rending questions. Let's not hold back, it's 'open season' for questions.

Enjoy The July 4th Weekend...

It has been brought to my attention that most of the YA Community is busy this weekend with family and friends. In light of this we will postpone our next meeting until Friday night July 18th. Please note our format will remain the same....1-Fun, 2-You, 3-Me & Mary/Mel & Barry, 4-The Door, with the 18th being 2-You week. By 'You' it means that our time together is dedicated to any question or concern you may have about anything, whether it be about doctrine, life, career, future, end-times, relationships...whatever you want to discuss we will discuss...it's open season so let's dive in.