BRINGING SEXY BACK

This weekend we kick off our annual dating and sexuality series.  This year it will be 4 weeks long and is called, "Bringing Sexy Back."

It's sure to be relevant to the world that students live in today, be Biblically sound, and be packed with memorable moments and some great reminders.  Here's a summary of some of what is to come for those who want the inside scoop:

VALENTINES DAY WEEKEND:  Bringing Sexy Waaaaaaaay Back.  A look at God's original design for sexuality and "good sex".

FEB. 22:  I'm Too Sexy for You.  A look at what makes us truly beautiful and attractive.

MARCH 1st:  If You Got It...  Thinking and Re-thinking modesty, mystery, and sexual expression.

MARCH 8th:  Mirror Mirror on the Wall....  Finding peace in our sexuality and healing the wounds we sometimes inflict upon ourselves.

ok... well bring a friend and bring your brain... this series is gonna help us think smart as we invite God to shape our whole life, soul, mind, and body into what God desires.

ENCOUNTER WINTER SCHEDULE

Encounter will not be meeting much during break. We do meet this Sunday as we finish off our "Emmanuel" series with a message about "God through us".

For obvious reasons, we will not be having small groups on either Wednesday of Christmas Eve or New Years Eve. We also will not have service on the weekend of December 28th. Head over to main service with your family.

We start back up again on January 4th with a new series and at our normal times of 9 and 10:45 am.

We will also kick off the new year with a night of dodgeball on January 7th from 7 to 8:30pm. We'll post rules and such in a post soon.

Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and join us in 09 for a great new year!!!!

THE HUNT IS BACK ON

So, we dreamed up the plot to steal, hide, and then give a bounty for a "lawn ornament" as Sarah calls them. I just call it a lighted deer. Anyway, watch the videos below.

This one is the challenge.




This one is the rules and the first clue



However, the clue was too easy and within hours a student had figured out that "1/2 way between Jesus and a dizzy family" was on mount helix on a trail 1/2 way between a large cross and famous house that actually rotates.

So... I got the deer back and I re-hid it.

Here's the deal:

• Same rules.
• in the city of La Mesa
• I will not pay a ransom should you find it and hold it hostage and doing so will forfeit the prize
• You may not dismember, alter, or otherwise jack with the deer. Doing so will forfeit the prize.
• You must be in both services on Sunday, Dec. 21st to claim your prize. Prize however is now $40 cash plus $40 off either OGN or the Spring Retreat. That's an $80 prize.
• Code to unlock the deer is the same.
• New updates everyday the deer is not found. They will add up to the location of the deer. No, it will not move. No, I will not be offering another ransom when this one is done.
  

Now the clue:

Is here on twitter or in the side bar. Good luck.

BLACK AND WHITE BALL IS LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY!

BLACK AND WHITE BALL- DECEMBER 12TH!

Less than 2 weeks from today, is your chance to Get dressed up in your best duds and come to encounter on December 12th from 6:30 to 9pm for a great time. You'll get a first class meal, the unstoppable and unpredictable comedy of Issac Improv, and a night to never forget.

Buy your ticket in advance in Encounter. Seating is limited to 150 and the cost is $20 per person for this no-regrets night of your life!

• Walk the Red Carpet
• Eat Well
• Laugh Often
• Enjoy some new and old Friends.
• It's gonna rock.

IT'S THE ANNUAL BLACK AND WHITE BALL!

NEW SERIES STARTS THIS WEEKEND

Ever wanted to ask God a question? Well, this series is based on ones you turned in and we have some great surprises in store for you with some fun and thought provoking stuff. Here's the line up by weeks and some of the questions that inspired them:

November 16: Dear God, who are you really?

• If you love everyone, why don’t you let everyone into heaven?
• Why do some people hear your voice and they don’t truly want to hear it and when people need to hear You they can’t?
• Why is satan’s voice louder and easier to follow than God’s?
• I feel like many things about walking with you are just becoming cliché. So many statements on t-shirts, cheesy emails …you know. So how do I get past the sermons I’ve heard ten times, the “fully rely on God” statements, the “Jesus freaks.” I feel like it’s all been done before. Can you show me things I’ve never seen? The fresh, the different, the new…not the cliché?
  

November 23: Dear God, why am I me?

• Why did you make me the way I am?
• What do you want me to do to live for you? Where do I need to be? How can I be your servant?
• Help!?
• Why am I a middle class white boy in America and not a 12 year old African girl in charge of raising my family?
  

November 30: Dear God, what's the deal with sex and sexuality?

• Why would you give us sexual urges at this age and then say no sex?
• Why am I so confused? Why does the bible say you’ll always love us, but then it says that you don’t love same sex pairings? Does this mean you don’t love me?
• Why is sex so bad? It’s a natural thing so I’m just wondering.
  

December 6: Dear God, why do people suffer?

• Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? Is it related to the concept of “free will?”
• Why are you making life so hard for me? Is this a test? Please dear Lord, I need some help!
• Why don’t you just end all the pain and suffering? I know your suck an awesome God, You can do it.
• How come my friend was killed and I wasn’t?
  

Deember 13: Dear God.... ?

• this week will be decided during this series as more questions come in. Special guest speaker, Scott Berglin will be here this weekend. It's gonna rock.

MYSPACE IS BYE BYE SPACE

After a student leader meeting discussion on Sunday, we have canceled our myspace account.

There are 3 reasons:

#1. SIMPLIFY: We are communicating through e-mail, text message, myspace, facebook, twitter, and this blog with students and parents. This is too many inputs and some had to go. We decided myspace is the first to go.

#2. EASE AND RELATIVE PURITY OF FACEBOOK: We decided that facebook is cleaner and easier to use. There are no crazy backgrounds to navigate around, all the pages look the same, they are just as "private" if not more so than myspace, and we don't get ads like this one on facebook. This was in the sidebar of our encounter myspace page as I canceled it. Ridiculous!!!! Can we make a lie look any more sexually ridiculous than this one?


#3. LACK OF USE: We had not logged into or updated Encounter's Myspace page since last June and only received two complaints in 4 months.


SO......

• if you want some social networking and get pictures of events and announcements via message with us. TRY OUR FACEBOOK GROUP HERE.

• If you only want simple announcements via text, JOIN US ON TWITTER HERE.

• If you enjoy this kind of information, keep coming back to our blog or login via an RSS reader of your choice. I like Bloglines.