Babies are Cool

And we're having one!!! We're looking forward to sharing this important life event with you all!

Rock Show

We're hosting this show (sweet).

Date: May 17, 2008

Location: Prescott First Church (2110 Willow Creek Road, Prescott, AZ 86301 - Mapquest it).

Time: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Show starts at 7 p.m.

Cost: $10

These bands are all on myspace. Check them out here:

Capital Lights: http://profile. myspace. com/index. cfm?fuseaction=user. viewprofile&friendID=8081794

Kessler: http://profile. myspace. com/index. cfm?fuseaction=user. viewprofile&friendID=12901842

Bidwell: http://profile. myspace. com/index. cfm?fuseaction=user. viewprofile&friendID=17608872

A Rotterdam November: http://profile. myspace. com/index. cfm?fuseaction=user. viewprofile&friendID=54000517

Bring your friends. Bang your heads.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Hello ladies and gents! First let me say: I've been very encouraged by the good discussion you have helped carry out here on the blog. You're awesome! And I hope it helps you deal with what it means to be a follower of Christ in this world.

Here's what I would like to hear you thoughts on now (Grace us with your youthful wisdom!). Two questions that are closely related:

1) Tomorrow we are going downtown to prepare a meal and serve it to the poor. The young adults are asking for clothing donations we can take to the needy? Why do we do this? What do we learn from taking part in this activity? Where do you see Jesus being embodied? a.k.a. how/where do we see Jesus talking, acting, thinking through us? How is this different from what we normally do each day, at school for instance?

2) When we come together each Wednesday, what are the most important things we do each week? What do we learn about Jesus as we do these things? What do these things teach us about being "The Soma Project," or Jesus' hands and feet (and hair and toenails too, I guess) in the world today? How is this different from what we normally do each day?

Don't feel like you have to answer all these questions (though feel free to if you want, it would be good). We would love to hear whatever you're thinking, however long or short.

Hey Y'all, Danae's Got A Really Good Question

Matthew 14:15-21 "When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, 'This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.'
'They don't need to go away,' Jesus told them. 'You give them something to eat.'
'But we only have five loaves and two fish here,' they said to Him.
Bring them here to Me," He said. Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces! Now those who ate were wabout 5,000 men, besides women and children."

Mark 6:34-43 "So as He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.
When it was already late, His disciples approached Him and said, 'This place is a wilderness, and it is already late! Send them away, so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.'
'You give them something to eat,' He responded.
They said to Him, 'Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?'
And He asked them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go look.'
When they found out they said, 'Five, and two fish.'
Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to His disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. Now those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men."

Luke 9:12-17 "Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, 'Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.'
'You give them something to eat,' He told them.
'We have no more than five loaves and two fish,' they said, 'unless we go and buy food for all these people.' (For about 5,000 men were there.)
Then He told His disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.' They did so, and had them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces."

John 6:4-13 "Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, 'Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?' He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do.
Philip answered, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn't be enough for each of them to have a little.'
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 'There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish-but what are they for so many?'
Then Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.'
There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated-so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.
When they were full, He told His disciples, 'Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.' So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten."

If you took the time to read all that, you know that the accounts from Matthew, Mark and Luke are al pretty similar, with a little variation (but even so, why vary if it's all the same story?) Yet the account in John is like reading a completely different story. If you look in the preceding verses before it, even the situation seems to play out a little differently.

If this is the same story, why is it told so differently? Did it actually happen? Or was it a different story, and it just happened to be the same amount of people with the same amount of bread and fish?

Hm...tell me what you think.

Because I have no idea, honestly.

- Danae

Danae, This Is What I Expect By Next Wednesday.

Nobody Knows What it Means...It's Provocative.

I would like to get some dialogue going here on this site, so I thought I would start with something that's pretty in your face. This is from a guy named Kierkegaard. Not only will this discussion be cool (if we actually carry one out - which means if you actually respond) but you can also go to your teachers at school and brag tell them your youth group is discussing Kierkegaard (and I say this because I know nobody really cares). Okay, too much talk, here's the quote, slightly paraphrased to make it easier to follow:

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except promising yourself you will do what it says. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever be able to live in the real world?

This is where Bible Studies come in. Many Bible Studies are simply grand inventions to defend ourselves against the Bible, to make sure that we are able to continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. It is dreadful to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

Think about this for a moment. Then respond here on the blog and tell me what you think this means. Do you agree or disagree with what he is saying?

Sometimes A Song Says It Best