[ Unashamed: The Monthly Newsletter ]
Hebrews 10:22-24 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.


[ Welcome to the second round of monthly newsletters! ]

Yeah, that's right, you guys. Our second round of monthly newsletters. That means this month starts the second year of these newsletters. They have gotten progressively less informative and more entertaining than anything, I think, but they are useful just the same. Point in case: this one announced the second set of monthly newsletters! How exciting is that! (even more exciting is that this one is basically on time :O).

Admittedly, there isn't actually much to report. The only things I can think of are these: that Liz (previously brokenwingedangel and others), one of our crew members, had gotten things sorted out with her account being hacked, and has her original screen name back. You can find her hanging out and doling out punishments as freelance lover; and secondly, we may or may not be reorganizing the thread directory- we'll keep you all informed as we make decisions and if we start moving stuff around on you guys again (must be this time of year or something); and finally, the reappearance of our praise reports section in the newsletter! I bet no one even noticed it was missing- I know I didn't (and I write the darn thing every month) until randomly a couple weeks ago, when I was looking through some of the old newsletters and realized it was missing from some of the new ones. So if you make it that far down, you'll notice we have a section for it again. 8D



[ Let's talk about something else ]

Whew! Man, all those announcements! Made my throat dry! -grabs some water-

I don't wanna steal anyone's thunder, but without anything else to talk about, I feel I'm groping for things to fill up this space. So I'm gonna give a short intro to our monthly Bible verse, which freelance lover kindly wrote a short thing about. 3nodding

We chose these verses because we thought it went well with the theme of last month's verse, and kinda thought it would be nice to ... continue the theme? And while Priestley's note ended on the joy and security of knowing that God will always remain and that His plan is faithful, this month's verse, and freelance's note begin with the importance of drawing near to God for this purpose. It then goes on to talk about our relationships in Christ with one another- freelance goes into more depth and detail on it.

With that said, I think I'll turn the newsletter on over to her. 3nodding



[ A Word from our Crew ]

While I was looking over this month’s selected verse, I realized how much this verse is really saying. It encourages us to be in a constant relationship with God, keeping ourselves pure in both body and mind and remain faithful, and to support others in their walk with God. I think these three ideas are essentials to a walk with God, and can help provide spiritual fulfillment.

The first part, in my opinion, is actually the hardest. Draw near to God. Sounds simple, but in today’s world we are constantly on the run. Finding time for yourself, much less God, is a difficult time process. Time alone with God often gets pushed to the backburner and we tell ourselves “after I finish this and that, I’ll read my Bible.” But time with God is important to our spiritual wellbeing and can lead to a more fulfilled life. If you’ve been struggling with managing your time with God, trying resolving just to do something small for the next month. Spend five to ten minute in prayer, reading the Bible, journaling, meditating- whatever helps you feel closest to God.

Remaining pure, in both body and mind is also an important part of a relationship with God, and tends to follow with drawing near to God. It’s important that we remember out body is a temple and it should be treated as such, and that our minds should always be pointed towards God. I believe that if we are in fact drawing near to god, our minds will be pointed in that direction and will aid us in remaining pure, in both body and mind.

The last part of the verse mentions something I think is one of the most important parts of the Christian faith- fellowship. I think having a faith community is absolutely one of the best ways to keep your mind focused on God and to keep you accountable. Last summer I had the opportunity to live, work, and play in a Christian community and it was absolutely one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Everyone was striving towards the same goal- for the betterment of God’s world. I encourage everyone here to find a friend, sibling, relative, or someone else close to you and become accountability partners. Keep one another accountable on your spiritual walk, and if one of you is struggling with your faith, you have a trusted partner to work it out with. Encourage one another and talk freely about your faith.

I encourage everyone to take some time out of their busy lives and draw near to God. Spend some time in prayer or with a trusted brother or sister in Christ. Remember God desires a relationship with us, but we have to meet him halfway.



[ Prayer requests ]

These are all the prayer requests that have come in during May. If you'd like to make comments and offer support, feel free to post in the individual prayer request threads inside the Prayer Request subforum.

Mona05
it's kinda hard to explain. i'm devoted to God when i'm with friends, at youth group or at our school Christian club, Rhema. but when i'm at home, it seems to all fall apart. i don't hardly listen to my parents, and i always seem to be mad at my little brother. and when i try to change it, i'm ok for about a week, then i go right back to how i was before. please, just pray for me to change that and have a better attitude at home and just that i treat my family better.

thank you in advance.

dawgwhisperer
Please pray for a friend David M. Foster Sr.
He is very ill, does not know the Lord sad
he has a lot of anger, bitterness & trust issues
He is so sick that his store is closed and
can not afford to hire someone to keep it open

Please pray that the Holy Spirit soften his heart so
he can forgive people and let Jesus indwell in him heart



[ Praise reports ]

We also like to praise God for what He's done in our lives, giving Him glory for the immense blessings He's given us. These are the praise reports that have been posted in May. If you'd like to praise along with them, or offer your own praise reports, you can do so in the Praise subforum.

Casanova Rodeo
I don't thank God enough for always putting someone in my life so I don't feel alone and so that I have someone I can talk to face to face.

Last year I had an English teacher I got along with really, really well. She had to go on maternity leave, and I was pretty devestated. I was convinced this year I'd have nobody at school I could talk to, then a substitute came into my art class and she stayed for 6 months. Over that time we became great friends. Now that she left I feel pretty lost again, but it's about time for that English teacher to come back. God has wonderful timing.

At youth it's the same thing, really. I have a leader who I really connected with and I can talk to her about anything. We go out for coffee and things, and she's really great. I have another leader I connect with on the same level, who I never really got a chance to get together with. Now my first leader left to Ethiopia to get a son that she adopted, and since that happened the second leader and I have been talking a lot more. It seems like God really knows that I need support in my life, aside from him.

Thank you God for your perfect timing and how much you care about me. You're truly amazing.

Lisa Faye
We sure didn't expect this.
We were a little behind on mowing the lawn. All we have is an electric mower. And sometimes, it draws too much power and makes the breaker shut off. Especially if the grass is too tall.
Well, someone up the street from us came by on his riding mower, pulling a push mower. He gave it to Cecil, who was trying to mow the tall lawn with our tiny electric mower, saying, "I have a mower. I don't need this one. It's full of gas. Keep it."
Cecil woke me, and showed me the lawn, finished in less than an hour. And when he told me of the mysterious person who gifted us the gas push mower, my jaw dropped. surprised
I know I might have asked for one in the past. But I never would have expected someone to give us one that works just fine.
Just, wow. biggrin



[ June's Birthdays ]

This month, Unashamed wishes a happy and blessed birthday to:
Captain_Theoretical
thejesusfreak
Shien no Ryuu
Hawthorn-Thorne Angel-
Imotoku
stardustie1
sweetly~broken~by~Him

Hope it's a great one, guys!