Paintball Pictures 6-30-07

Being that we're Christians, we like to shoot guns at each other in our spare time... We call it our "holy wars". Here are some action shots of some brave soldiers. Haha. JK








And the painful shots that bonded us...

Romans 3&4

Some thoughts about these chapters. Feel free to add..

Ch. 3 v10-20
No one is righteous and we've all blown it. Paul says that the law proves this and "by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight." Verse 24 says that we are justified freely by His grace alone. It never hurts to remember that nothing we could ever do would make us worthy of His love. On the same token, nothing we could ever do could make Him love us any less!! Paul says in verse 28 that a man is justified by faith apart from the law. Grace and faith seem to be two key words in this chapter.

Ch. 4 v3
I thought it was interesting how Paul said that "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And in verse 21 & 22 Paul writes, "and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness." For the longest time, I've viewed myself as a pretty unrighteous guy... Never have I thought that God would see me as righteous just because I believe God will do what He says He will do. God says He's forgiven me of all my junk and shortcomings. I guess its time I start believing Him and I'll be one righteous dude.

Justin

Dave's Simpsons Character

Simpson's Characters

So Dave told me how to make my own Simpsons character online... I thought it was fun. If you want to make one, go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/ Feel free to post yours and we'll guess. Guess who this is? (too much free time...)

Romans 1 & 2 (July 11)

Today we discussed Romans 1 and 2. I thought we could write a few thoughts about our readings on a weekly post. So feel free to edit this post and add to it as much or as little as you would like! This way if people have to miss the group for one reason or another, we can still feel connected and share our thoughts about the reading.

In chapter two, I was reminded about judging people. Ch 2., v 1-2. Paul says that we condemn ourselves by how we are judging other people. I often make presumptions about people, good or bad, but have nothing to base my feelings on. This is just another verse that helps me to check my own thoughts and feelings toward others. Another point that struck me in the reading was verse 4 in chapter 2. Paul writes that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. Cool man mentioned that this is a key reason as to why he is at the Vineyard. I'm with him. I think church should be about kindness and forgiveness.

Justin

Softball tournament tonight...Good luck, guys!!

Upcoming activities

So we had a great 4th of July! Thanks for coming and hanging out with us! No one got hurt too badly with fireworks. Although Dave did have to get rid of a shirt that he burned a hole in... It was a success and the rain held off! Now I just have to eat the rest of these burgers...

So next week we'll be discussing Romans 1 and 2. This should be a little shorter than Rob Bell's 1 hour sermon and a bit more interesting than Hosea! Not that there is anything wrong with that.. See you soon!