In Control

This Wednesday, we talked about God's Hands.
Instead of a summary, here's a video.
It sums up the gist of what we talked about pretty well.
Enjoy Discussioners:

Try Praying This

Praying can be hard.

Not knowing what to say, not knowing what to sacrifice, frustration is easy to come by.

Often times though, we just have to stop being comfortable, and start letting God chisel away at us.

Hide and Seek

Sometimes, we honestly can't hear from God.
And it's not because He's not trying to reach out, it's our mindset that often separates us.

We have the tendency to think God is some elusive, abstract god up in heaven trying to hide from us. Trying to make sure we only find Him at church, YL, our small groups, or Discussion.

So when we don't know what to do with the pain, when we don't know which college to pick, when all we need is someone to understand, we feel...alone.

Truth is, God isn't like that at all.

Ever played hide-and-go-seek with your dad, mom, or babysitter when you were younger? Did they go running up to the attic, to the deepest darkest corner, and say "Ha! Stupid 3-year-old, you couldn't find me"?
NO. They did not.

And sometimes, it's easy to think of God like that. Like He's TRYING to stay hidden. Like He delights in watching us struggle to find Him. But really, when you were a kid, did your dad stay hidden, or did he stick out a foot from behind the curtain so you could find him easier?

And if the foot didn't work, maybe a leg, then an arm, then his head, then a "psssst". Because he wanted to be found. It was more fun for him to be found, to laugh and giggle, because he loves you.
God loves you.

Keep your eyes open, and your heart perceptive for an arm, a leg, a whisper of God.

Cassidy's In On It Too

Cassidy freestylin' about God.

Suprised?





Let us know what you think...any lines that stick out?

Hearing God Week: The Still Small Voice

The following is an excerpt read last Wednesday from Donald Miller's fantastic book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years"

Read it. Think about it.

"...You can call it God or a conscience, or you can dismiss it as that intuitive knowing we all have as humans beings, as living storytellers; but there is a knowing i feel that guides me toward better stories, toward being a better character. I believe there is a writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness.

As a kid, the only sense I got from God was guilt, something I dismissed as a hypersensitive conscience I got from having a controlling pastor. But that isn't the voice I'm talking about. That voice really was the leftover hypersensitive conscience I got from being raised in a church with a controlling pastor.

The real Voice is stiller and smaller and seems to know, without confusion, the difference between right and wrong and the subtle delineation between the beautiful and profane. It's not an agitated Voice, but ever patient as though it approves a million false starts. The Voice I am talking about is a deep water of calming wisdom that says, Hold your tongue; don't talk about that person that way; don't look at that woman as a possession; I want to show you the sunset; look and see how short life is and how your troubles are not worth worrying about; but that bottle of wine and call your friend and see if he can get together, because, remember, he was supposed to have that conversation with his daughter, and you should talk to him about it.

So as I was writing my novel, and as my character did what he wanted, I became more and more aware that somebody was writing me. So I started listening to the Voice, or rather, I started calling it the Voice and admitting there was a Writer. I admitted something other thatn me was showing a better way. And when I did this, I realized the Voice, the Writer who was not me, was trying to make a better story, a more meaningful series of experiences I could live through..."

Hearing God: The Challenge

Yesterday (wednesday) we talked about hearing God.

Because while all the stuff we talk about at Discussion, at church, with friends may SOUND exciting or intriguing, if we miss the personal experience with Big Guns Himself, we've missed the point.

So we're trying something new.

We got into small groups and selected one of three strategies to hear God this week. If you don't have a group, get one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So here's what you do:

1) Pick a strat

2) Find out what your fellow group members are doing

3) Do it to it

4) Talk with your group members throughout the week. Ask them how their experience is going, tell them about yours, you know, keep 'em posted.

5) Be prepared to share your experience next Wednesday

Good luck! If you have the time, tell us what you're doing by commenting on this post.

Balancing

Discussion is booming right now. Our Facebook Group has grown by 30 members in the past 24 hours alone!
You guys are really making this group something special, and different. Keep it up!

This week we're doing a team/small group activity (that will be explained on tomorrow's post) and the video below seemed appropriate. Because this week, it's gonna be different.
It's gonna be awesome.

In the video, Francis Chan (bald guy) talks about our daily routine. Since this week, we're gonna be giving our "normal day" a wake-up call, BE ENCOURAGED by this video.
We have so much to learn.



So this week, take a chance on your balance beam. If you haven't tried it before, get ready for some seriously life-changing stuff to happen.

What Can Jesus Do...For Me?

It's Easter.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Like, He was a real guy, that rose from the dead.
With that same power, he can flip your life upside down.
Just like He did for these people...

Discuss This

Church is something that came up quite a bit during the "stereotype" talk, so it's probably a good thing to continue the dialogue...even if we're not face-to-face on here.

For your thought-provocation check out these two questions, but feel free to take a different angle, or ask your own...

I go to church because...
I don't go to church because...