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February 2008
12 February 2008
Retreat
We had a great time at the Singles Retreat in Townsend this past weekend. Over 70 attendees heard about "Living the Authentic Life in Real Time." With topics such as "Navigating the Relationship Minefield" and "The Lies We Hear From Others and Tell Ourselves," we had plenty to discuss and much more to ponder. New pictures have been uploaded on our site (click "Gallery" option). Thanks to all who attended and those who helped cook, unload, and rearrange the room, the staff at Valley View, and most of all, to Christ for the time to worship Him freely.
By the way, check out the article about our Singles Minstry in the Knoxville News Sentinel from Saturday by clicking here.
16 February 2008
More From the Retreat
Check out a video review of the 2008 Singles retreat.
18 February 2008
You can always find more info about our singles at our Facebook site. Search for "SHBC Singles" and look for the "Authentic Life" banner.
21 February 2008
Authentic Life
We try our best here in the Singles Ministry to live lives that are authentic with God and with others. Some say that authenticity is the outdated stuff of yesteryear...is it? Click here. Or here.
28 February 2008
Into the World
Did you ever build couch cushion forts as a kid? I did. With great care and precision, I would stack and prop the cushions until they were in the prime positions. Pushing one cushion from the front of my fort, I would leave my safe, soft confines long enough to gather my toys, crawl back into my structure and then seal the opening behind me. I controlled what entered and what exited my little fortress.
Sometimes I think we do a similar thing in Christianity: build a fortress, seal ourselves inside and come out long enough to gather our toys only to crawl to “safety” once again.Once we surround ourselves with soft walls of spirituality that bear little weight, become fascinated with the “toys” in our lives that we value far too much, or insulate and isolate ourselves from the “outside” world by structures of our own making, we become focused on our comfort and ease. And as long as I focus upon myself, my view of everyone else becomes dim. Once my focus is firmly set upon maintaining my comfort, then anything or anyone that runs contrary to my plans for ease poses an unacceptable level of threat. After all, I’ve worked hard to arrange the cushions on my fort as I think they should be arranged. I like to stay put.
The words of George McLeod challenge life in our cozy forts: “I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek...at the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died and that is what He died about.”
In light of our tendency to “hunker down and hide out,” the words of Jesus in Luke 10:2, hit hard: "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Is it time for you to leave the fort?
DCG