 From the Editor |
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Salvation Begins w/the Word of GodTrue RepentanceGod’s Patience & YouBaptism, Are You Ready?Real SalvationHeaven & HellWill Non-Christians be Saved?Infused at the Feast of Tabernacles |
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Is the Bible Real?What’s Your SeedMy Memories From the Feast of TabernaclesWhat Does Baptism Mean?What’s Wrong With Counting?Q&ABy You: PoetryFinding Financial Peace and Freedom |
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Infused at the Feast of Tabernacles
Early Thursday morning September 16, 2004, the eye of Hurricane Ivan passed directly over Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was the Feast Day of Trumpets and I awoke early that morning to hear the news. Our local elder, Clint Mahoney, had informed me the night before that our Trumpets service in Oxford, Alabama would have to be canceled. We would spend the day watching and waiting for Ivan to continue its destructive path through our State. As I had unfortunately anticipated, Pensacola Beach, Florida was on the western side of Ivan’s eye wall and was damaged severely. I would later learn that it was the hardest hit community of all four hurricanes that devastated Florida this year. By Jeff Reed | ||
I had been looking forward to the Feast of Tabernacles at Pensacola Beach all year. I was especially excited about participating with the Infuse services for teens and young adults that was planned. As the strong rain and winds pounded outside my house, my thoughts dwelt on the fact that the Feast at Pensacola Beach would no doubt be canceled. The Infuse services were very important and, as far as I could tell, were not going to take place. Clint confirmed what I already knew the next day. The Pensacola Beach feast site would be canceled. But fortunately Infuse would still take place, but in another location. Because of the hard work of many people it was announced the following Monday that the Infuse services would be in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hurray! I was even more excited.
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DAY 1: Everyone involved with Infuse had a luncheon between morning and afternoon services. This was an informal gathering, which served as the kickoff of Infuse at the Feast. A wide variety of sandwich fixings and fruit were provided for the hungry participants. Loren Chamberlain, Noni McVey and Mike James spoke on the creation of the Infuse program and the challenges of bringing it to North Myrtle Beach. “I think that we are going to see some great things happen because of you young people who care and want to be a part of God’s church,” Mrs. McVey told the gathering. Some great things were going to happen during the week.
DAY 2: In order to accommodate with the existing plans of the Feast, Infuse services began at 9:00 a.m. This was pretty early for me and for many others. For those from the western time zone this would be the equivalent of 6:00 a.m. Many of those folks were there an hour early setting things up! It was thrilling to see all the enthusiastic young people ready for the first Infuse service ever. The service started with praise music that is very different than a typical Church of God service. The music had a contemporary sound and the lyrics were projected on a big screen. There was no one song leader. There was an entire group of talented musicians and singers leading the songs. I could see many were hesitant at first to sing along, but by the last day of services everyone was singing loud and praising God. Mike James led the first service. He spoke about the reality of the resurrection and the process of being changed from mortal to immortal in a twinkling of an eye. He illustrated this by using volunteers to recreate a science experiment. Two volunteers represented an atom. The other two represented the detection devices that affected and measured the experiment. Mike electrically charged and split the atom and the two volunteers “split” and walked back to their detection device. One of the detection devices affected the spin of one piece of the atom. At the exact same moment, “in a twinkling of an eye”, the other piece of the atom changed its spin without being touched by the device. There is communication between these two parts of the atom that science cannot explain. This was a great illustration to show God’s awesome power and that the future resurrection is a reality. Later in the second day there was a table-hopping activity that was planned. Two rows of chairs were lined up so that they faced each other. The participants sat in the chairs and would get to know the person directly in front of them. After a few minutes had passed, one row would shift so that each person was now facing someone new. This continued until everyone had a chance to get to know everyone else. | ||
DAY 3: Several experts were on a panel that led the dialogue on a living a Christian life in pop culture. Some of the issues discussed included dating on the internet, facing challenges in college, what to say to family members that leave the church, the roles of women in the church, and how to live and eat healthy. It was an open discussion where anyone could voice his/her opinions or concerns. I personally found this format very rewarding.
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DAY 4: I awoke even earlier so I could participate in the morning exercise program led by George James. He is a professional trainer and is very skilled in the exercises he taught the class. George would demonstrate the techniques and give explanations for each movement that was performed. Everyone who participated learned a great deal from this activity. Services on this day were led by Tony Buchert. He discussed the six characteristics of leadership. Tony talked about our future leadership roles in God’s Kingdom and the necessity of developing leadership now. He passed out a worksheet that covered these characteristics and encouraged participants to discuss evidence of leadership in their life. The characteristic that he emphasized the most was being a servant. The example of Christ’s servant leadership was used to show us how we should serve in God’s church. DAY 5: I was given the opportunity to speak at the Infuse service. I told the story of how I began to learn about God’s truth. I spoke about a friend that I attended high school with who was in God’s church. I had even participated in filling his school locker with garbage one year while he attended the Feast of Tabernacles. His example of following God’s laws eventually influenced me, even though he never knew it. I discussed the events in my life that led to my baptism and looked at how to know when one is ready for baptism. The goal of my message was to show the need for baptism and being infused with God’s Spirit to meet the challenges in our lives and be in God’s Kingdom. | ||
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Later that day the Infuse volunteers helped build a house. We assisted the Habitat for Humanity of Horry County. Everyone participated in various aspects of the building process. Some hammered nails, some drilled, and some lifted trusses into place. Everyone had a job to do. We worked together as a team and made a great deal of progress toward the completion of the house. This exemplified what Tony had discussed the previous day about being servants like our Savior. This was the most fun I had at the entire feast. It demonstrated that we in God’s church can work together with our various abilities and achieve positive results in whatever He has for us to do.
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DAY 6: Duane Nicol spoke about biblical touchstones. They are the standards by which we should live our lives. They are principals that when put into practice give us positive results. He discussed the aspects of our society that can lead young people astray. This led to a discussion about the sexual immorality that has become popular in our society and how this leads to unhappiness. Marriage was shown to be a touchstone that leads to happiness and fulfillment that the immorality of the world is unable to provide.  DAY 7: The final day of Infuse consisted of a discussion of creation versus evolution. Mike James introduced the topic by presenting the differences between micro and macro-evolution. He also discussed the fallacy of theistic evolution. This was an interactive study of God’s word and scientific principals to prove the truth of creation. There was a lot of participation from the group, which made the discussion more satisfying for everyone involved. When it was all over, I asked many people what they had thought about Infuse in North Myrtle Beach and the response was overwhelmingly positive. It was successful from the very first day. The topics discussed were challenging, the activities rewarding, the music uplifting, and the participation was phenomenal. We gathered together to praise and rejoice before our Lord. I can’t wait until next year! The future looks bright. | ||