Ryan's Words

Check out my little bro! I made a highlight film of him last year and I’m putting one together for him this year. These are a bunch of clips of him from this season. I haven’t edited them together well yet and there are still more games of him to put in but I still think it’s pretty cool. Check it out!

Update: Here is a new and updated version!

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I made this video to help get some support for my little brother’s football team this Friday night. The game is their first playoff game and is against the Sheldon Huskies. They are on their way to a D-1 Section Championship! Go Trojans!

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These notes are from the final session of Fall Retreat. The worship was excellent this morning and I could really feel God’s presence among the 520 students singing His praises. We took communion together this morning and it was awesome.

I’m not going to lie, I was extremely tired this morning after a late night dance party and some very late night discussions. I was still able to write down some notes in my Moleskin but they certainly are not my best quality and are mostly just quick lines that are pretty difficult in understanding without hearing them in the context of the message. Nevertheless, I will post what I wrote. The speaker was Darin McWatters.

Message Notes:

• The message was centered around the beginning of Matthew chapter 5 specifically verses 13-16.
• We are to be the salt and light in the world.
• While salt is used for flavor, in biblical times it was mostly used as a preservative. There was a very good illustration that emphasized the importance of us being a preservative.
• We should care about what is happening in the world.
• God’s laws are not His preferences. They are for everyone, Christians and non.
• The moon does not generate it’s own light, it reflects the light of the Sun. Likewise, we do not generate our own light, we must reflect the light of God.
• John 17:14 and 1 King 11:4 were discussed.
• We are good for God’s sake and His name.
• Acts 2:42 was discussed and related to fellowship, communion, and the remembrance of Christ on the cross.
• We need to care about what the world thinks about us (as the church) because we are supposed to show His love and share His name.
• We need to embrace the “city set on a hill” status from Matthew 5:14. The people of the world are looking and watching.
• Let our light shine so that they can see our lives and can give glory to God.

Overall the retreat was an excellent experience and a great time to get away from the stresses of life and school and just focus on God and learning more about Him and praising Him.

Now that I am back I will begin posting on this blog all of the posts that I had planned in my head in the format that I had intended to post. So check back soon!

-RW

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Like a lot of retreats, Fall Retreat had a breakout session that split up the men and women into two separate groups to talk about “gender specific issues.”

I still have no idea what crazy stuff the women groups talk about (And I don’t think I want to know!), but typical men groups talk about sexual sin and temptation (lust, porn, masturbation, etc.).

What I really liked about this message was that these topics were not the main points at all. Instead of just addressing these sins and explaining how to overcome them (things that most men have already heard numerous times), the message was about getting to the deeper causes of these sins and cutting them off at the root instead of the fruit.

I wasn’t able to take a lot of notes as I was really trying to focus fully on what the speaker was saying (and I dropped my pen and couldn’t find it for a while), but I will share some of the main points. The teacher was Darin McWatters.

Message Notes:

• The message was centered around the verse 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (Which both the audience and the speaker realized is a bit of an obscure verse).
• “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Darin used an illustration called The Shoe Game which is about faith. It’s a bit hard to explain but if you really would like to know I’ll tell.
• Faith and works was talked about and discussed (James 2:14-26).
• Alliteration was used again to explain “labor prompted by love.”
• God’s love for us. (Receive)
• Our love for God. (Reciprocate)
• Our love for others. (Replicate)
• Romans chapter 8 was discussed and explained.
• Trusting and loving Jesus and abiding in Him and His Word were talked about.
• Preach the Gospel to yourself daily and remember what you were before Christ entered your life and who you are now.

I would like to share more but I can’t let you know all of the secrets of “Man Talk.” If I did I’d have to kill you. Also, around this point a very small man randomly decided to start tearing down the wall between the guys and girls groups. It was very random and quite a story. You had to be there…

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This is just a set of notes that I wrote down in my Moleskin from the second session of Fall Retreat with SLO Crusade. I’m typing this mostly just so that I have easy access to them but feel free to read them and contemplate any of the points! This message was taught by Darin McWatters.

Message Notes:

• Our understanding of who Jesus is anchors our understanding of who we are.
• Jesus is the cornerstone of everything.
• We are being built up. We are not building ourselves up. Our transformation is something that is happening to us and through us by the Holy Spirit, not by ourselves.
• God is building us into a spiritual house to display His glory. It takes community.
• We don’t follow Christ for what we get out of it. We follow Christ because He is Christ!
• Even though we would prefer to be sent out like Godzilla among the Japanese, we are actually sent out like sheep among wolves.
• We are owned by God. We are His possession.
• God’s love is the only love in the world that doesn’t love us when we change. It loves us so we change!
• Jesus wasn’t killed. He sacrificed Himself. He went to the cross. It was His destination.

Awesome stuff!

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