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Report: Arkansas Infuse Retreat
By Jeremy Brown
In my opinion Arkansas is one of the most beautiful states next to Florida. The reason I say that is because I am an outdoors person and Arkansas is such a nature ridden state: beautiful scenery, nice down home country feeling, and many other things I missed due to our short time spent there. It is truly a beautiful state!
At the Second Annual Infuse Retreat we covered the most important topic you could possibly converse about in my opinion. We discussed the many ways you could communicate with our Lord and Savior. The ways you can communicate with your Lord is through prayer, fasting, meditation, and good works. We are not saying these are the only way to communicate with God, but these are some common ways you communicate with God, and I am pretty sure many people already know some of these communication tactics or have already used them. We also talked about ways in which you can perform these ways of communicating better.
On the first day of the Infuse Retreat, Rayburn Williams conducted a Bible Study on the first four commandments, which relate to how we communicate with God through worshiping God on the Sabbath and how we should not put other gods before Him. Also on the first day of the retreat Tony Buchert conducted a Bible Study on how we relate to God through prayer. Mr. Buchert focused on four points we should put more emphasis on while praying: that we have faith in HIM, that we appreciate what HE has given us, that HE is number one in our lives, and that we seek HIS will.
On the second day, there were three Bible Studies. Mike James gave the first one on why we should study our Bible and better ways to do your Bible Studies. Mr. James had two key points during this Bible Study. His first point was on why we should study our Bibles. We do it because it provides knowledge for salvation, it is God’s Word, it helps us stay away from false teaching, and it increases faith. The second point was on how to study the Bible? You study your Bible through reading, taking notes, and using Bible helps such as Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and other reference books. You can also write down questions and later ask your minister, and finally you can chain reference.
Anika Sandy-Hanson held the second Bible study of the day on how we communicate with God through fasting. Usually we only fast on the Day Atonement, but you can fast whenever you want to make your relationship with God stronger and to show God how sincere you are. An example was given out of the Bible of a village God was going to destroy because of their abominations, but when the villagers repented and fasted, God spared their lives, but the villagers were later destroyed because of returning to their evil ways.
Denny Ledford held the third Bible study, which was the final Bible study of the day, on how we communicate with God and our community through good works. An example was given on how some of our major corporations give back to the community. Wal-Mart is an example of giving a great deal of money to surrounding communities. Since it was the Sabbath, we had services with the Fayetteville, Arkansas congregation. There was a cookout at the church after services. To end the day we had a get-together at Minister Wayne Turnbull’s home. We went swimming and enjoyed conversation with our fellow brethren.
On the final day of the Infuse Retreat two Bible Studies were held. Mike James presented a Bible Study on communicating with God through meditation. The key points focused on were questions about meditation, scriptures on meditation, and meditation exercises.
The final day Jeff Reed held a Bible Study on relating to God and the Holy Spirit. Everything we studied over the Infuse Retreat weekend was beneficial to me. I learned many new techniques for communicating with our Lord and Savior. You can go to God and talk to God anytime, just the way you talk to your friends. When you are down and sad or trodden from a hard day’s work, you are never alone because God is always with you. God is a father and friend who is always there and will always be there to listen to your happy and sad days.
The thing I am trying to say is we need to stop using God. Do not go to God when it is convenient for you, and don’t save fasting, meditation, prayer, and good works only for those times when you need something. You should do some kind of communication with God daily to build a good strong relationship and communicate with God all the time even on your happy days. Just talk to God and you will see a difference in your life. I know it is something we must all work on especially when you come in tired from a hard day’s work or you have just eaten and you sit down on your comfy couch and fall asleep. Give God a little of your time everyday even if it is just to thank Him for allowing you to see another day. i
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