Back from SidexSide

The title's not exactly true. There were two groups of kids at the retreat: Kids in SidexSide made up of people 7th grade and older. And kids in "Snodaze" for people 7th grade and younger. To my surprise, my youth leader decided that all 180's 7th graders were going to go to Snodaze, so that's where I was placed. At first, I was dismayed. I mean... I kind of wanted to go to SidexSide because I figured the sermons and music would be more... Well... "Olderish" I guess. And I have to admit, the music in Snodaze was a bit childish. We sang songs I sung in third grade at my church for pity's sake, but, the sermons were excellent. Snodaze's preacher, Todd Erickson, was really good. The theme of the weekend was "Fearless." Pretty much being able to proclaim and speak out fearlessly about God and not being hindered by fear. In the first sermon we learned about Slavish and Childlike Fear. As it says in Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge- What is that fear?
Slavish Fear results when we fear the punishment of God. We do everything out of fear of wrath and not out of devotion to Him.
Childlike Fear results when we love and want to please God so much, that we're desperate to follow God's will and our fearful of doing anything not according to God's plan because we're so anxious to follow him.
A verse that goes with this is 1 John 4:18, which over the course of the weekend, has become one of my fave verses: There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
So it says: "There is no fear in love." And then it reinforces this statement in the following sentences of the verse. If we're fearing God's plan and will for us, our relationship with Him isn't right. "The one who fears (slavish fear) is not made perfect in love."
That's something I struggle with. I mean, what if God wants me to go and be a missionary in Iran or something? I'd be extremely fearful, but I would do it, but, to be honest, I don't know if it would be out of Slavish Fear or Childlike Fear. *sighs* It's something I have to work on.

The next sermon focused on Childlike Faith. In Mark 10:14, it says: When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children."
What's so amazing about those children? They wholeheartedly and easily rely, trust, and have faith. For example, if my Dad were to tell my little brother Caleb to jump four feet down off my top bunk, and that he'd catch him, he'd trust him in a heartbeat. No hesitation. They're so trusting that doubt or indecision never even crosses their mind. That's Childlike Faith. Whatever God says to do, we do it, casting complete, unwavering faith in him. Childlike Faith is to trust that whatever He desires for you to do, you do it, trusting him just like a believing, relying child. What exactly is faith? Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Does faith save you? This morning, I brushed my teeth, having faith completely that water would spew out of the faucet and out onto my toothbrush. Obviously, it did. No, faith alone isn't enough. But faith in Jesus is a whole different story. The story of Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego is an extraordinary example of faith in Jesus, a superb display of Childlike faith.

After these two, there were three more sermons. One focusing on God's constant companionship with us and his omnipresence, the next on Ephesians 6:10-20 about the full of armor of God, and the last one on our Hope given to us from Jesus by his resurrection. Without that act, our faith would be futile. If His death on the cross had been the end... Well. There would be no "hope". One of the questions asked in the sermon was: What is your hope? It's not like a "I hope so!" hope, it's a firm, certain hope. If we cast our faith on people, we'll be disappointed cause we all mess up. But in God our Hope is as solid as a rock. We'll still be confronted and persecuted on this earth, but every time we fall, we'll fall on a Hope as a powerful and substantial as that.

Aside from all the sermons, I had a LOT of time to just hang out with my friends around the campus. With Caleb from Ballin' With God and Joey (my cousin), I played basketball practically non-stop. I even gave up tubing off this massive tubing hill to do it. It was pretty much an obsession during my time there. *grins* I also bought and ate junk food (much to my mom's dismay) including a Twix bar (best candy bar in the world; anyone who disagrees... well... you're missing out :D), a Mountain Dew, and peanut butter M&M's. Not much but immensely filling. Oh, and I forgot to mention, every night the people in my dorm and I had these awesome devo periods and on Saturday night, Jimmy, my youth group leader, put me in charge. I felt pretty good about that knowing Jimmy trusted me enough to lead it so yeah, it was really cool. :D

*goes back and looks over what he's written* Wow, I wonder if this is the longest post I've ever made... *laughs* I know, compared to most people's longest, this entry is mini, but to me: it's a record.
Alright, well I better close this post before it gets too long.

Jake

Retreat

Alex and Hannah have both already posted about this so I'll make this entry brief. At 5:00, my youth group, 180, is taking a bus to Wisconsin to massive retreat center for youth. We'll get back Sunday afternoon (thankfully before the start of the Superbowl *grins*) so this an adios for the weekend. :D

Later,

Jake

Atrocious Articulation

Found this on my friend Seth's blog and then received permission to use it here at Thoughts of a Warrior. Check it out and you'll understand the title. *grins*



I wonder what a Lennon goat is anyways... *shrugs*

Jake

Going... Going... And Going again...

This has been an extremely eventful day. How so? Well, woke up at 7:00, had a half-an-hour to shower, eat breakfast, ect and then headed out to Minneapolis to Orchestra Hall to view an orchestra play theme songs from popular movies such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings :D :D :D, and Fantasia (ugh). It was... fun. I guess... Well, no, not really. I mean, the Star Wars and LOTR was awesome- aside from the fact that during the LOTR performance this really, really high-pitched, sixth grade boy got up and sang like a girl. *laughs* I barely suppressed laughter. I'm not even kidding. The only reason I didn't burst out laughing then and there was because my cousin Ryan cast me this threatening glance that clearly communicated: Don't you dare. So yeah, I held it in there. But then there was this other song. One that went on, and on, and on, and on... And it was so boring and dumb that I couldn't help myself so I laughed quietly into my fist. *grins* Thankfully, the production only lasted about two hours so I was saved. :D
After Orchestra Hall, my family navigated the way back to our car and headed out to a friend's house to eat lunch, and then, immediately after, headed out to a community center as an activity for one of my homeschool coops ROCK. It was a lot of fun playing basketball and other cool stuff, but when I swam, I found that swimming with contacts in is pretty irritating. I mean, every time water gets into your eyes they move all over and sting, so yeah.
And now, during this short respite I have at home, I'm about to get going. Again. But I'm really excited. :D I'm going to one of my best friend's (Hunter) birthday party/sleepover. *grins* I can't wait. :D
Also, I'm glad I got to read at least a little today while I was on the road. Anyone heard of the Ranger's Apprentice series? I'm rereading them and I have to say, they're completely incredible. That is not an understatement. I know I say this about A LOT of books, but this is genuine. Really. Whoever hasn't read them MUST check them out.
And with that, I will close this post.

Jake

Crushed, Despondent, Utterly Disconsolate, ect.

Vikings lost to the Saints in a HEART-BREAKER. Literally, it was devastating. We HAD the WIN!!!!! askfjsdkfjsdkl IT WAS OURS!!!!! AHHHH!!! So close and then Favre HAD to go and throw an interception. WHY? We could have kicked the field goal then and there and been victorious and guaranteed a spot in the Superbowl! We blew it... We SO blew it... Arghh!!!

A very crestfallen,

Jake

180 Tubing

So last night, from like 7:00 p.m. to 10:00, my youth group, 180, went tubing at this monstrous tubing hill. There were four tracks where we could race and it turns out, we could have linked too and gone in groups, but the tracks were so icy from the rain (yes, it was raining while we were there :D) that the surveyors didn't allow it for the night. But because of the ice, the tracks were SO fast. My hat pretty much threatened to blow off every time I went down it was so swift. After a while, some of the boys got a little bored so we decided to start a new trend. Taking off our coats and sweatshirts so we were just in our t-shirts, we raced down the slope amidst the falling rain and snow. Okay, I'm not going to lie. It killed. Ice and snow buffeted my bare arms and face until they were throbbing and freezing. But, being as stupid as I am, I decided to, with my friend Caleb, take the next step upward in our experiment... going down the slope... with no shirts. *grins* I'll admit it, it was a really stupid thing to do, but it was AWESOME!!! We were flying while being pelted by all sorts of winter elements and I LOVED it. I can't wait until next time I go tubing to do it again. :D So yeah, that was my daring tubing endeavor. *grins*

Just a little side note that is completely irrelevant to the main post: CURSE OF THE SPIDER KING IS AWESOME!!!!!!!! Batson has done it again!!!

Jake

A Reading Rampage

Sorry for the lack of posting, but, by looking at the title, you can probably tell what I've been doing. :D Well, last time I posted I mentioned the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I was just starting it; not sure how good or bad it was as I knew no one who had read the trilogy and would give me an opinion on it. Thus, I plunged in the manuscript not knowing what to expect; and now as of two days ago, I have emerged utterly and totally amazed.

I'm not kidding. This trilogy was something else (in a good way). I mean, it had me hooked! I couldn't put it down. It was incredible. (Don't be warded away by the kind of creepy book cover- it's just a gargoyle). The author, Johnathan Stroud, is such an enticing author. The trilogy is intense, action-packed, deep, and extremely humorous as you'll find out if you read it. :D

Now, enough about the Bartimaeus Trilogy. There's another novel that right now has me completely engrossed- The Curse of the Spider King. :D

It's awesome! I love it. I'm on page 200-something and so far, it's great! Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper really cooked up something good.

And now to get back devouring it... *grins*

Jake