Valor Live!
Alaska Summer Project Application
2012 Valor/OCF Spring Retreat
Truth
Mars Hill Church Series
http://marshill.com/media/sermons
If anybody is looking for some good sermons to listen to or maybe confused about something you’ve read, I encourage you to look here and listen to some of these sermons from Mars Hill Church.
Be a Movement | The Resurgence
Organizations? Not Interested…
A few months ago this AP story was posted on Atlanta’s 11Alive news site:
Civil rights icon Andrew Young says he has little use for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization he once worked in alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Young says that then, the SCLC was a movement and Dr. King resisted the idea of selling memberships. Infighting and allegations of mismanagement are threatening to undermine the social justice group co-founded by King in 1957.
The group is headed to court on Wednesday. Young says the fight is over an organization—not a movement—and that he is not interested in organizations but would be glad to support a movement.
“If anybody is doing anything that is a movement, or the possibility of a movement, I would be glad to support it,” said Andrew Young, in another article. “But I’m not interested in organizations.”
Neither am I. Read more 
Fortune Favors the Bold!
I found a shirt at Old Navy the other day that I had to pay full price for. Those who know me know I don’t frequent Old Navy and I rarely shop. The shirt had a version of the phrase, “Fortune Favors the Bold”. I’ve loved that one since I was in the Corps. The kind of counter-terrorism work we trained for was intense in a lot of ways. Our typical engagement was expected to occur at less than 15 yards and in less than 2 seconds. The motto of Marine Close Quarters Battle training was “Speed, Surprise, and Violence of Action”. That’s how I lived for a while even after I got out. I picked up the shirt because it reminded me of that time of intensity. It also reminds me of heroes like Chesty Puller. At the Chosin Reservoir on 1951 he and his men were surrounded and outnumbered nearly 30 to one. His response went something like this, “Great. Now we can shoot at those bastards from every direction.” Needless to say he was a man of boldness. It earned him 3 Navy Crosses and countless other decorations. He seriously could not fit all his decorations on one uniform! Fortune favors the bold! He sized up the situation, made a decision and took action. He fought with intensity and refused to give in. Though outnumbered he was victorious and overcame his enemies. Read more
The Fear of Man (via Living Hope)
This is an article by Ricky Chelette of Living Hope Ministries, based in TX. Such great insights to the Fear of Man which I myself have struggled with as well as many people I know. This article is very encouraging, and if you struggle with Fearing Man and tie your identity to the approval of others rather than Jesus, this article is for you. Be blessed. ~jimmyI have learned that men make poor idols and even worse gods. They are frail, broken, wounded, flawed, imperfect, undependable, and sinful. They are just like me.Article by Ricky Chelette
“Ricky, can you come to my office.”
Those words would bring chills to my spine. I was a new Christian. It was my first church. And I really didn’t know what I was doing as the new youth minister. Let’s face it; the church was really brave to even hire me. I had virtually no experience in youth ministry other than the three years I had served as a volunteer at my home church. Furthermore, since I didn’t come to know the Lord until I was 18, I had not even participated in a youth group. I didn’t know what was “regular and customary” for youth ministry. The pastor took a risk when he hired me, a senior at a Christian college, and for that I was most grateful.
There’s a Discipleship Crisis in the Church Today | The Resurgence
In the US, this year 3,500 churches will close, this month 1500 pastors will leave the ministry, and today approximately 7,575 people will move on from church. Of those who move on, some never affiliate with a religion again saying they just “gradually drifted away from the religion.” America is experiencing, not only economic decline, but also church decay. Why?
Although there is no single reason for the collapse of the church, one has to wonder what would have happened if the pastors were not responsible for most of the ministry in these churches? What if the people who left, moved on equipped and committed to discipling others in the faith? What if these churches acted more like a community of disciples and less like consumers of spiritual goods and services? Wouldn’t the outcome be different? Churches would be more resilient and people would be less prone to drift. The church collapse is, in part, the result of a discipleship crisis.
Valor Christmas Competition / Project 10-17 November
With Christmas coming up, we have a great opportunity to have a little inter-ministry competition! So….. its UPPERCLASSMEN v/s KNOBS to see who can raise the most money between 10-17 November to give multiple gifts to those in need through Compassion International.
Be Active!
Hey guys,
I know Parent’s Weekend has come and gone and I hope you all got to see and spend time with your parents and have a great weekend, and I know mandatory PT for most of you is over. However, I urge you all not to become lazy in your physical fitness or your spiritual fitness because becoming slack in one or both can be very bad for us all.
Concerning physical fitness, we all have to pass a PT test once a semester, so if that isn’t enough incentive for you to stay in shape let’s take a look at what scripture says about your body. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Read more
Male Call – The Cultural Decline of Men is a Problem for us all*
“Most of us [men] were raused by women,” reflects the iconic Tyler Durden in the movie Fight Club. “I’m wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.” Around the time that he was born, a significant number of women were deciding that men weren’t the answer – which led to large numbers of Tyler’s generation being brought up without fathers. And that leads to the oft-remarked phenomenon of the couch-potato man-child, thumbs twitching over his Playstation. Read more
