The Quail Springs Church of Christ praise team singing at the '08 Freedom and Faith Festival. Featuring several of our youth singles people. :)
by Pete
Recently, I have come to realize that the Spirit of God speaks to us in many different ways. First and foremost, He speaks to us through scripture; after all, Paul says that "all scripture is inspired by God" (2 Tim 3:16). However, God also speaks through a lot of other methods including the audible voice, visions, dreams, internal audible voice, impressions, etc. These methods are consistent throughout the entire Bible but always are consistent with scripture.
Recently I have been dwelling on a time in my life in which the Holy Spirit spoke to me through (what I am now understanding was) an internal audible voice. When I was going through a stressful time in pharmacy school and having trouble putting things in perspective, the Spirit revealed to me that God was calling me to be a Christian first and a pharmacist second . In another words, I felt that God was reminding me of the words of James 4:10 ("Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor"). I believe that God was calling me to a much higher standard than a life filled with comfort. I belief that God was telling me that he wanted every aspect of my life to be fully devoted on him and that true success would only come with this re-orientation.
This re-orientation has brought me perspective and comforted me in times of trouble over the last few years. In addition, I have been richly and abundantly blessed more than I have ever been able to imagine. Paul tells us to "follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our life" (Gal 5:25). God wants every part of our life, leisure time, work/professional time, etc. It is when we seek him first in humility no matter what aspect of our life that He will and can lift us up.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
by Pete
Have you ever felt like a contradiction? Have you felt loved by God and at the next moment become aware of the sin and mistakes of your life? Paul had this in mind when he wrote talked about his attempt to follow God (i.e., the "Law") versus the sinful nature in his life in Romans 7:15-25. The Song of Solomon expresses some of these thoughts as well through the eyes of the "young woman" who represents us and the "young man" who represents God/Jesus in chapter 1:5-15.
Over the last few days, the Holy Spirit has revealed some evidence of pride in my life hindering God's mission and hindering God's love. On Saturday, this song below "fell into my lap" and reminded me that I may be "dark" but that I am "lovely" in God's eyes. The crux of the matter is found in the Bridge (in my opinion). God's love is not dependent on anything other than His grace and love and not on our failures or offerings.
Dark but Lovely—Sarah Edwards
I can't understand this work of grace
How a perfect God
Would come and take my place
The stars they don't move You
The waves can't undo You
The mountains and their splendor
They cannot steal your heart
This God who is holy, perfect in beauty
Awesome in glory, is ravished by my heart
Though I am poor
You say I am lovely
Though I am dark
You say I am beautiful
Somehow my weak glance
Has overwhelmed You and
Somehow my weak love
It has stolen away Your heart
If you want to read more about the message behind this song, I would encourage you to click here and read the profound article by Dana Candler.
How many people can you count in this screen shot? :)
When brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months
in the "house of the dying" in Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer
as to how to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there
he met Mother Teresa. She asked, "And what can I do for you?"
Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him.
"What do you want me to pray for?" she asked. He voiced the request
he'd borne thousands of miles from the United States: "Pray that I
have clarity."
She said firmly, "No, I will not do that." When he asked her why, she
said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go
of." When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the
clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had
clarity; what I have always had is trust. I will pray that you trust
God."
The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined,
into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan
for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a
discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The
reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is
nailed down, obvious, and secure and walks into the unknown without
any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the
future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it
his presence and promise.
From the book "Ruthless Trust" by Brennan Manning.
My old friend Blake Blackwell taught a lesson entitled "Guard Your Heart" for the Gateway class at Memorial Road Church of Christ. Click here to hear his excellent thoughts. He's hilarious and poignant, all at the same time. My favorite part is the list of questions and prayer that he ends with.
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Amen
The following are minutes from our ministry meeting on June 7. You can also view/download/print them from the files below.
Friends,
God is at work, and we are blessed to be able to see Him working among us. As a ministry, the Young Singles at Quail Springs Church of Christ has grown exponentially over the years, from only 2 founding members a couple of years ago to now 25+. With growth comes change, and change oftentimes means re-evaluation of plans and direction.
As we look to the future and make ready our ministry for the works to which God is leading us, the realization came that there needed to be some re-organization of leadership and ministry roles and expectations. For the sake of those who could not attend, and as a reminder to those who were there, we wanted to send you a recap of the highlights of our ministry meeting on June 7.
The Quail Springs Young Singles Ministry will now have six people serving as the Ministry Leadership Team- Harrison Barbarick, Tara Buxton, Pete Johnson, Bob Mize, Auvrey Stephens, and Ann White. We met together with Dean and Dorothy Graves to brainstorm the six different areas of ministry we will help coordinate, according to our passions and gifts.
Activities- Harrison Barbarick
Communications- Ann White
Connections- Auvrey Stephens
Hospitality- Bob Mize
Service- Tara Buxton
Spiritual Development- Pete Johnson
Each coordinator will work with a team made up of members of the Young Singles group. Feel free to contact the coordinator for whatever ministry you feel called towards or have questions about. Please be in prayer about your own gifts and how you would like to serve. The hope and prayer is that this will empower and allow all members of our ministry to use their gifts in a meaningful way. Dean and Dorothy Graves will serve as our mentors, blessing us with their experience and wisdom.
Also, we would like to address Connections, our small group time on Sunday nights. After much prayer and consideration, we have decided to devote our Connections time to a "summer of service" (prayer, service projects, etc.), and the plans to divide the group into two smaller groups have been changed. Instead, at the end of the summer, those who feel called to form a smaller Connections group will do so, rather than asking everyone to try to divide our current large group in half.
We thank you for your involvement; God has abundantly blessed our ministry with many talents and hearts of service. We ask for your prayers as you discern your gifts and involvement and as we all work to glorify God. We also ask for your communication. If you ever have concerns or ideas, we want to hear them. Please feel free to contact us at coleaders@quailsingles.com or personally. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved and use your gifts.
With much appreciation and love,
The Quail Young Singles Ministry Leadership Team
Harrison, Tara, Pete, Bob, Auvrey, and Ann
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