Oregon Winter Retreat!!!

Hey, got back from my retreat a couple days ago, it was fun! We went snowboarding, splunking(in which I managed to hit my head a dozen times because I was relying on someone elses flashlight), and hung out at the house playing pool and jamming on our guitars(those of us that were cool enough to bring a guitar, lol, J/K)! It was fun, we met up with another youth group from Apple Gate Christian Fellowship, dunno exactly where that is though. But I got a rep pretty fast, lol, I was the one that was really bad at pool but addicted to it and the only girl with a guitar. I wore my Miami University sweat shirt a lot and so they all nicknamed me Miami.
The "theme" of the studies were Superheros:

Daredevil- stuff happens but that's ok, we gotta keep going. God already sees us as perfect because he loves us, we go through stuff to make us stronger. Daredevil is just like Gideon in the Bible.

Superman- we all have our "cryptonite", just need to identify what it is and learn how to fight it. Don't let satan decieve you. Superman is like Samson in the Bible.

Batman + Robin- accountability partners! When we haven't been doing so hot we should have that best friend to pray for us and get us back on track.
The Holy Spirit is our best accountibility.


So yeah, be a superhero in a non superhero world.
We even watched the movies just before each study! It was great.



Ok, this isn't even to do with the Winter retreat but I figure it's better than taking up 2 topic theads. This is a poem that a friend sent to me, it was cool so I wanted to post it here:


Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow.


It's just cool, lots of people stereo type as holier than thou, perfect, only my way not yours, unloving christians. God forgive the christians that are not living rightly and sending wrong signals, unfortunately it is the majority. It's not religion, it's a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's sad that THAT fact is so hidden and undiscovered.

 

While I find most Christians pretty distasteful, I wrote a great paper on Superman and Christ parallels for my film and religion class that I was pretty proud of putting together. It'll be published in a self-published book I'm throwing together of philosophy work in the next few months.