We just finished up our ISM Winter Retreat last weekend at Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds. It was a really special time as many of us got to really listen to the word of God, as well as some very informative special lectures by Daniel from Gracepoint Fellowship Church and Acts2Fellowship in Berkeley. Daniel spoke about how there are things that science cannot explain, such as consciousness, thoughts, and the mind. He also gave a good summary of a case for the resurrection of Jesus and how it is possible even through the evidence allowed by skeptics!
Chul and Sharon gave wonderful messages about Jesus’ temptations and how we can encounter Jesus honestly, even with our doubts and all. Brothers and sisters gave their testimonies about how they experienced God dealing with them about their ambition, moving closer to God in spite of family obstacles, and how they came to know Jesus personally. Many students received prayer from the staff, and it was a really wonderful time. As you can tell from the picture, Chul really opened wide his heart to us. (see 2 Cor 6:13)
Finally, we had a lot of fun playing games like acting out Bible passages as a group. Meowmeow (and my team in absentia) won with their funny rendition of Noah’s Ark and received coupons for free Dreyer’s Ice Cream. We also acted out various animals, with Josiah’s money (and Sanghoon’s banana + Shufei as the tree) taking first place. And I must say, my chicken act with the other guys was pretty funny too…! Even Mia said it was good, so it must’ve been. I guess it’s hard to compete with animals when they have props like Shufei.
As you can tell, we had a blast and a blessed time. Who says you can’t have both? Hope you won’t miss out on our next ISM retreat!
One thing about Daniel’s presentations–for example with regard to the anthropic principle–that I especially appreciated was that he included what the other side has to say, explaining who the major figures are and the historical background behind their positions. This really helped me to identify clearly at what level the opposing sides engage each other, because previously I had a hard time contextualizing arguments one way or the other. It’s pretty amazing how robust the case is for a theistic, and specifically, a Christian world view.