“I’m ready for a Christianity that ‘ruins’ my life, that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable. I want to be filled with an astonishment which is so captiviating that I am considered wild and unpredictable and…well…dangerous. Yes, I want to be ‘dangerous’ to a dull and boring religion. I want a faith that is considered ‘dangerous’ by our predictable and monotonous culture.” – Dangerous Wonder

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for this. I’m ready for my life to be “ruined”. I heard during a talk one time that that is the best and most dangerous prayer one can ever pray…”God, I want you to ruin my life”, so that all that is left of me is what’s of you. It hurts, but it’s a beautiful kind of hurt. So many times in my life I have been afraid to do that. Afraid to be broken, afraid to be uncomfortable and afraid to have my life “ruined”. The thing I forget though, is that when God breaks us, he is doing that so he can bless us. But being broken, having your life ruined is scary. That means giving up control. That might mean being uncomfortable. And who likes giving up control? Who likes being uncomfortable? I know I don’t and I don’t know many people who do. If you are uncomfortable though, it means your sticking your neck out there, it means you’re taking a risk, you’re taking a chance. That’s something the disciples and apostles did. They were uncomfortable. They gave up control, but they did that because they knew there was something better out there for them. While they didn’t know what that something was, they knew that God was going to take care of them, they trusted Jesus enough to know that he was going to lead them in the right direction and not lead them astray.  God isn’t going to let go of you when the going gets tough. He’s not going to lead you into the deep to let you sink. He’s going to be there, even when your life is “ruined”. So are you up for it? Are you ready to let God ruin your life?

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So Cletus has this float trip every year, I think you guys might know that already, but in case you didn’t, I just told you. (: Somehow, I always find myself in the position of the person leading the raft. The one making sure we go the right direction, where there appears to be the highest water level. And usually at the end of the day, my arms are tired from all the rowing, but I’m happy because I think I helped get us to the end of the river through all my efforts.

A few days ago, I went on a white water rafting trip with covecrest people. In white water rafting, you get your own personal guide in the raft. And it’s his job to guide the raft, decide which way to go, constantly rowing to steer and all.

You have no idea how hard it was for me to not be in that leader role. Many time I felt the urge to row to steer the raft in the direction I thought was best, to get us to the next area faster, whatever. Having problems trusting Don, our guide, even though he’s been doing this more years than I’ve been alive. Looking back at some of the drops, the way I would have gone wouldn’t have been the best direction.

On the river of life, God is in my raft trying to direct me “right” “left” “rest.” It is very tempting to go in a different direction, sometimes the harder way. It’s hard to trust God knows what he’s doing, even though He does indeed know. Sometimes I just have to rest and let God do the steering and let Him lead me to where He wants me to go.

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Who: All high school teens, including incoming freshmen and graduating seniors
What: Golfing, but with only putters…and possibly a windmill
When: Sunday night. 7pm-9pm
Where: We will most likely be meeting at the parish hall at 7pm then caravanning to the golf place.
Why: ‘Cause it’ll be loads of fun, and you have the opportunity to beat Bob and make him look silly. What more reason is needed?

Cost: $5.50
mini-golf-permission-form1

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Do you have a crush on God?

So often I notice or hear about people having crushes on other people. Now what that means is that they are so wrapped up in the awesomeness of that other person they usually don’t notice other things going on around them. I also notice/hear about how that next week that same person has a new crush or something.

Here’s the thing: I have a crush on God!

I only am completely wrapped up in God when I need him; it’s usually when I am having trouble in my life. Is that a bad thing? No, I wouldn’t say its a bad thing, because I am at least coming to him at some point in my life. BUT what is bad is that when I am not upset, I tend to have a crush on something/someone else. Maybe it’s my phone or FIFA 08, or maybe it’s even a girl, but it’s not God. What I need to do is to fall in love with God so that I go to him all the time, not just when I need him.

So here’s the question I ask of you:

Do you have just a crush on God, or do you love him?

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STEUBENVILLE

ST LOUIS MID AMERICA

When: July 17^th- 21^st

Leave Thursday evening comeback Monday morning

What: A weekend retreat put on by Steubenville University, our host will be Righteous B and there will be two thousand high school students from around the country in attendance. There are only 25 spots available for this retreat I will take people on a first come first serve basis.

Who: All high school students

Where: Missouri State University in Springfield, MO

Cost: $200 (includes conference fee, t-shirt, two overnights)

Deadline: April 21^st must have deposit in; balance is due by July 1^st

Register Online at www.stlyouth.org/steubenville click on week 2.

For more information call Bob at 314-623-5258 or email at hamer@saintcletuschurch.org

Print out flyer below and turn in bottom half with deposit to reserve your spot

STEUBENVILLE 08 word.doc

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