Motivational Insights From Spiritual Retreat How can we spiritually grow closer to God and our peers around us? How can we develop our relationships with our friends in positive, beneficial ways? Activities such as camping, attending church, and participating in spiritual retreats can accomplish these goals. Engaging in Atlanta Adventist Academy's spiritual retreat this past weekend helped me to develop my character on spiritual, mental, and social levels. Throughout the course of the weekend, I was able to strengthen relationships between former and new friends, experience the mental and social aspects of teamwork, and learn how God works through negative situations. Spending quality time with my classmates encouraged me to spiritually and …show more content…
On Saturday night, a song was played that encouraged some of AAA's students to get up and dance. When Mr. Jones announced that the dancing was inappropriate for spiritual retreat, he also mentioned a fact that I wasn't aware of at the time. He said that he was thankful that people like Christian Lawson and Matthew Cordner were able to easily dance and express themselves. Since they were very ill or injured at one point in their lives, it is a miracle that they are still moving and dancing around today. Remembering their smiles and laughs while they danced reminded me that God can definitely heal us and take control of our lives. He can lead us out of times of trouble and use people to help make situations better. God always has a plan for us and uses various situations and people in unique ways to teach us lessons and messages. After thinking about this topic for several hours, some of my close friends decided to apologize on behalf of those who were dancing. They asked our bible teacher for forgiveness and sought to correct the issue. Observing my friends as they reflected on their sin and asked for forgiveness, reminded me of God's unfailing love and salvation. When Mr. Jones and Mr. Janetzko forgave those who were at fault, I thought about how lucky we are as humans to get second chances from our endless sins and faults. This negative experience opened up a new insight that I would have never thought about if it didn't
As I continued to chat with my pastor that day, I really sensed the hurt in his eyes – the anger that comes from an unsolvable injustice, the tiredness of a problem. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked, “Having a bad day?” Sensing that I was truly concerned, he let the truth be told. “I talked with a woman today whose baby died suddenly of unknown causes. As we worked through her grief, she talked about how numerous friends and family, even a religious leader had patted her on the back, shook their heads and said, ‘It was God’s will.’ I find few things worse to say to a grieving parent. Saying nothing at all would be of more help.” It was obvious from our conversation that he had an understanding greater than I about God’s will, and his insight created in me a curiosity and desire to learn more.
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
In studying Donald Whitney’s “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life”, Mr. Whitney reminds us that once we become followers of Christ that we aren’t just supposed to sit around waiting on God and His Holiness but rather we are to actively pursue Him.
The lights dimmed. You could see everyone raising their hands while closing their eyes. In this moment, there was only silence. Each person keeping still. Tears running down the faces of the ones who have been touched. Touched not physically, but touched emotionally in the soul. In this moment there was no fear, there was only strength. Standing and gazing over all the people who were singing, I led them in praise and worship. For many years throughout my highschool career, I’ve led my youth and church through many worships noticing how each and every individual grows and prospers to enhance their fullest potentials. Leading through my voice has strengthen my voice. My voice has grown from a child to a young adults. Leading a group in my church through my voice has not always been easy though, but the ending reward of knowing what I have accomplished in aiding those who need the help is fulfilling.
Patients are people that God put into our path that need us to hold up their hands
As I reflect on spiritual disciplines it is easy for me to look at them and weed out the ones that I do not think apply to me and the ones that I am drawn towards. But as I press into God and ask him what he sees fit and what I need more of, the picture begins to looks different than what I thought I saw before. Since I am so obviously human, I would rather see my life through a different more accurate lens than one that is tainted and imperfect like those of my human eyes. When I look at my life spiritually it is easy for me to see the spiritual disciplines that just come naturally to me such as worship and service. Since I know that those are areas of my faith that I thrive in, I tend to gravitate towards those to try and satisfy my spiritual life but I leave other parts to suffer. I want to gain better understanding of my faith and ultimately cultivate a deeper relationship with the Father.
In this paper two topic from the Psychology and Spirituality course will be discussed in regards to spirituality and their influence on my personal life. I will examine how I have grown and what I have learned from the week on Spring Lake ranch and how I wish to continue moving forward in my attempt to be spiritual and build a closer relationship to God.
This is important. We aren't lone wolves, we can't do this alone. You need mentors, you need friends, you need family. The body of Christ is a good family to have. Stay plugged into a good Church.
I am a musician. Recently, I enjoyed that moment when you hear a song for the first time and are instantly captured. The song was playing at a restaurant where I was performing. I asked a friend in that moment about it, for it was from her playlist. She said it was a song about Catholic and Protestant religions, and she shared that she had previously thought it would be a great song to add to my repertoire. I thought the song was a strong statement of unconditional love, and the notion of divine Goddess energy, when I initially heard it. Inspired to perform it, I worked out the lyrics and chords and viewed the music video, and, unexpectedly, found myself profoundly amazed and deeply moved.
In today’s society, there are a large number of individuals who are on the pursuit for spiritual development that is consistent with their “belief that spirituality is vital for growth and essential for dealing with life’s problems” (Morrison, Clutter, Pritchett, & Demmitt, 2009). Even moreso it’s no surprise to learn about the movement among the vast number of clients seeking to address concerns of spirituality within their counseling sessions.
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral
In today's world, there are many different ways to get involved in religion; various methods have attracted groups of all ages and races. One popular association is FCA or Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This particular group has helped me to find Christ in my own life. There are a lot of unconventional activities to help the younger generations get involved. Some of these activities included Death Week, which focused on death and pain, meetings about family and divorce, lectures to help people reach for their goals, and encouragement speakers. There is a great deal of fun incorporated into all the seriousness, though. We went on ski trips, did missionary work, and put on skits. All of these activities involved Christ in some way, and helped the younger generation to realize that being spiritual was not 'uncool.'; When I attended the FCA meetings, it was the one time that I actually felt free from all my problems. FCA helped me to find my spiritual self and gave me a sense of completion.
Spiritual formation is one subject that I like to discuss in that it really helps one reflect on their own spiritual journey and where they are in that journey. The devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy any step forward towards God. He is not after anything tangible that we possess, rather, he is only after our faith in God and belief in Jesus. Knowing this is part of our spiritual journey as fighting against the enemy requires spiritual warfare in which the only one that can help is Jesus. A transformation in our character to be like Jesus is essential to our spiritual growth. This cannot be done without being intentional with our time, finances, and disciplines.
Attending the Life-group within the church I helped strengthened social skills that I am still developing and syncing to my new chosen lifestyle. Communication skills is another that I was able to strengthened due to the uneasiness of the whole process for me. As with any group that a person joins in, the spot light is temporally casted on the new visitor of the group. Always a little introduction of who I am, what I do, and my interests are. The first part was easy, all the families brought lunch for themselves and my son and I sat visiting getting to other families that attended as well. I might have played a storyteller to my life here putting me into a small lead for a short period of
One could not fail to observe the joyful mood that was witnessed in the congregation. The congregation sang praise songs with an obvious happy mood, I was inspired with the mood and I joined the congregation in praising and worshipping God. Such days are rare to