UGA Wesley

Hey Everyone!!

Be sure to come to Leadership Prayer this Wednesday night at 7:00. Last week was awesome!

THIS Friday night is Friday Night Fire. It is from 8:00 - 10:00. We'll meet in the prayer chapel. Can't wait to see you all there!

Freely you have received, freely give...

The tenth annual MorningStar conference happened this weekend—did you hear about it? Before we launch into a recap, please know that you are more than welcome to talk to any of the directors or your discipler if you have any questions/comments from this weekend.

So…what happened on FRIDAY NIGHT?

On Friday evening Stephen Alls and the team kicked off the theme of the weekend—hunger. Stephen shared that he never wanted to become satisfied with where he was with the Lord—that he wanted to be content in what the Lord did today, and be ever longing for more—vowing to himself never be that far away from Him as he was today. The team really emphasized the verse that if you draw near to God, that you KNOW he is responding by drawing near to you.

A few team members shared testimonies about their hunger for the Lord. One talked about how the Lord’s heart longs to be with him more than he could ever long to be with the Lord. You can’t just “get hungry”, you have to choose to be hungry, and then you press in. He said “discipline brings freedom”; that as you are disciplined in going after the Lord you grow in freedom.

Matthew 15:21-28. This woman was hungry to experience healing, and was even rejected time and time again. But, her hunger moved the heart of God. From this passage, the team said that we have to most past initial disappointment, and press in towards the Lord.

A closing point of Saturday evening is that we can decide how close we want to be to the Lord, and that we can go after it.

SATURDAY MORNING. It was about WAFFLE, not waffles, WAFFLE. It's an acronym that stands for practical ways to get in, stay in, and practice being in the presence of the Lord.

W-A-F-F-L-E-S

W – Waiting on the Lord—locking self away intentionally; giving things to Him, and having your mind set on Him

A – Abiding in His presence; constantly going back to the Lord

F – Fleeing temptation (attention & all), turn the other direction

F – Fasting (declaring dependency on God…food, tithing)

L – Loving people; the Lord is love; if you want to encounter Him then you must love others

E – Eat the Scroll (Bible); getting INTO the Bible; repeating verses and really letting them be yours

S – Submitting to authority; we get accelerated into having authority when we honor authority

SATURDAY NIGHT: An awesome night of worship, prayer, blessing over one another, and dwelling in the presence of God.

SUNDAY MORNING: Each year, the Morningstar students take the opportunity Sunday morning to share prophetic words they have received in regards to the whole Wesley body. We're not going to list them all here, but it seems that there is a great deal of hunger for the Lord amongst you guys. Many of the words were encouraging us to go after that hunger!

You guys are a blessing!

Hey Leaders!!!

*Don't forget about "Eat the Book." We meet every Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 - 4:30 in the main chapel at Wesley. THIS week will be a recap of all that has been taught up until now. So, if you couldn't make it last year but really wanted to, you can come tomorrow and feel all caught up!! It is a wonderful time to dive into, grow in passion for, and learn how to read the Bible!!

*We have Leadership Prayer THIS Wednesday night before the service at 7:00 in the room attached to the Grand Ballroom at Tate (that's the same room as last year). Our very own Clay Kirkland will be leading us in prayer as David will be off to sit in hours upon hours of class. Jealous? I'm not.

*If you have questions about Morning Star, ask your discipler or talk to a director. No question is a bad question!

*Be looking out for more information on the Women's and Men's Retreats. They are at the end of this month. SO, save your money, pack your bags, and get excited!!!

The MorningStar Ministry Weekend is almost here! Woo-hoo!

One of my prayers for our community over the break was that we would be strengthened in the Spirit to persevere in our pursuit of God. With a new semester, a new schedule, new opportunities, we have an open door to move toward the Lord (or not). As a community, we have high hopes for our campus and city--desires to see yet-believers come to know Jesus, to see the broken restored and those that are bound up live in freedom.

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:11).

But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ (II Corinthians 11:3).

There are so many things that can divide our hearts and make our lives in God complex. My hope for us is that we will lean into God in new ways, trust him in things that have been difficult before and enjoy knowing him better.


Challenge. Pray for us that we would not lose heart or grow distracted and cluttered in our love of God. Ask the Lord how the pattern of your life helps/hurts the simplicity of your own devotion to Christ.

What kind of person do you find yourself becoming? We're all moving somewhere--toward being more religious, more promiscuous, less generous, more "spiritual"... It's always been interesting to me that the term 'Christian' was originally used as a derisive insult--"little Christs." When Jesus' followers referred to themselves, they said disciples of Christ, followers of the Way.

The difference betrays a fundamental shift that we must make in the direction of our own lives. To be a Christian, especially in the South, is to go to church and to go to heaven when we die, to live 'good' while we're here. To be a disciple, a follower of the way, is entirely different. Its a movement toward something. Eugene Peterson calls it a 'long obedience in the same direction.'

From scripture, the goal of God is for us to become like him, one degree of glory to the next (I Cor 3, Col 2, Romans 8...). We put on Christ and have the Spirit in us, inspiring us toward the life of God. We find ourselves cleaned up and given power to live in holiness (because God is holy). But the old self rears up so often and, among other things, keeps us in our Southern religion more than the present Kingdom of God.

So, what kind of person are you becoming? Is your present course leading toward or away from a life lived with God? I'm praying that our community would be radical in our devotion to Jesus, in our pursuit of holiness, and in our love toward our neighbors. More than simple identification or association, that we'd participate in the activity of the kingdom all around us.

...and here's the culture of honor link. Sorry for the mistake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFxM9xn3-4Y

Sorry for the late post...I had some internet trouble this morning.

For the next few days, I'd like to direct our focus as a Leadership community toward the Spring semester, toward a few things I've been considering over the break and asking the Lord about.

One of my personal focuses (foci) has been purity of heart and purity of devotion. I'd like to live in a natural and authentic relationship with Christ, without any spats, divisions, arguments, indifference. But in reality, I'm often strapped down by guilt of what should have been, could have been, should be..."you should pray more," "you should make more of an impact on ___", "your life should count more for the kingdom." Some interior voice makes me feel like I've failed.

It may be different for you (probably is), but the voice of the Evil One accuses and seeks to destroy the life of God in us. The reality of my heart is that I LOVE GOD. I enjoy him. I seek him out. The should have been, could have been speaker is not the Lover of my soul.

I'd like to see our community walk down a road toward freedom from accusation, to enjoy God for who he is, to take our highest pleasure and delight in him and the good gifts of his kingdom. Purity of devotion and heart can't be far from that...love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.


This week's questions: What is the direction of your heart? toward God? What is he saying to you about the Spring and how he wants to work with you to advance his kingdom?

“6 Year Old Boy Floating Away in Balloon”

“Ex Dog Stafford has 5 TD and win”

“In a Rush, Georgia Defeats Tech”

“Michael Jackson, 50, is Dead”

These are just a few of the headliners of 2009. Every year at this time, television shows are dedicated to recapping the events of the past year. Some are good. Some are not so good. Some are down right tragic. Nevertheless, we love to sit back and remember. We take pictures, we shoot videos, and we keep journals all in an effort to recall the past. But do we do this in all aspects of our lives?

We spend hours on our knees in prayer asking and pleading with God to move. But how often do we sit back to simply remember the ways in which He has answered us? When do we stand and rejoice for the mercy that He has shown? In Joshua 4, God calls the Israelites to build a stone memorial so that future generations could remember the deliverance and faithfulness of their God. Why don’t we create memorials to remember the goodness of our God? Deuteronomy speaks repeatedly of not forgetting the Lord your God who has shown Himself faithful.

As you say goodbye to 2009, take some time to remember all that has happened in your life this year. Look back in journals or at pictures. Allow yourself to think about the good and the bad. Remember prayers that you prayed and prayers that were answered. Any emotion that has been stirred up, take it to the Lord. Allow Him to speak into the deep places of joy and into the deep places of sorrow.
Recall the last time you remember truly knowing of God’s faithfulness in your life. It could be from last week or last year. Allow that memory to sink in and renew your hope in Him. Let this become your stone memorial. Look back to it to constantly remember that He is good…all the time!

Scripture: Joshua 3 and 4

Challenge: Encourage the rest of us by sharing your stone memorial with us here on the blog.

Boredom Buster: Find the most bizarre news article of 2009 and share the link here.