College Retreat Report

Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

"Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts ... let us not lift our soul to another, and God let us be a generation that seeks, seeks Your face oh God of Jacob..."

The retreat was...well it was powerful ... in fact it was so powerful I have yet to recover and organize my thoughts and realize what exactly happened ... sorry if I ramble, I will update this entry as things become more clear, so keep checking back.

Besides staying at the hotel, being with my friends and my church, ice skating and meeting new people, my favorite part (besides the incredible worship) was the SEX TALK and Q&A session by Pastors Judah and Chelsea. It was fun as well as insighful and informative, plus it was a kick to see that side of them hehe! Bottom Line: Guard and Keep your heart a.k.a. time, words and actions. Keep your emotions in check and pace physical as well as spiritual bonding. I was a little disappointed the whole retreat wasn't devoted to purity, but now that I think about it, it was ... since purity is a lifestyle, indirectly, the other 2 sessions of the retreat addressed purity as well. And of course I can't wait until Wednesday when Pastor Judah will start the "Learning to Live Pure" series!

So before I talk about each session, I just wanna fill you in on whats been going on lately ... it seems that in every sermon I hear, God speaks to me, but not through the sermon as a whole. Usually it's just a small part of it, some small point that touches me deep down and causes a revelation. So when its time for the altar call, I cant really stand up because God has already dealt with me in those areas. That's a good thing right? When we are at a point where God still reveals Himself and His truth in our lives yet the "big stuff" is already dealt with and we are right with Him. I'm still kinda getting used to that, but it feels good to check your heart at each altar call and come up clean.

So in the first session on Sunday night, Pastor Judah preached on God's glory and identity. It was pretty heavy and powerful stuff and God definitely spoke to me about letting His glory shine in my life. I know what my identity in Him is. I know what I am called to do and I'm not ashamed, uncertain, or trying to hide (vail) it. I'm not ready now though... Like Jason was preaching in the third session on Monday afternoon, I still have some fears and insecurities and I'm not sure I can handle being placed in the cleft of a rock and have God take His hand away! I don't ever want God to take His hand away from me! But I do want the glory... I want to see it, I want others to see it, and I want to live in it... So I know God is preparing me for it...Even though I'm impatient and want everything right now, God loves me enough to ignore my cries of protests and not give me what He knows will harm me if not recieved at the right time. I do want God's timing because it's perfect and I trust Him in it, but at the same time I want to speed up the preparation process... lol oh well, I'll just submit to HIS will, how's that?

Currently listening : Restored By Jeremy Camp Release date: 16 November, 2004