If you are still looking for something to do this summer that will help fight boredom, have fun, and change culture as we know it, look no further than Reverse. We are still accepting spots on the trip. Cost is $250. You can fill out an application here at www.detroitreverse.com

Check out this video for more details:

Detroit Reverse Speakers from Edge Video on Vimeo.

We have traditionally had a big memorial day BBQ on Memorial weekend. This weekend is no different. Here’s what’s happening.

• EDGE Clinton Township – Sunday night, 17440 Hans, Frasier, MI 48026 6 pm. There will be carpool at JAPAC at 5:30 pm.
• EDGE Birmingham – Monday, Meet up at 15 mile and Coolidge Target Parking Lot at 12:30pm. Heading up to Justin Warns parents house – Lake Party, 21 meadow Dr, Ortonville, mi 48462 1:30-7pm
• EDGE Orion – RESCHEDULED to Monday. 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm BBQ Bonfire Bash – Facebook Event – 3265 Stoney Creek Rd, Oakland MI 48363

There is power when young people come together to shape the next generation. On Saturday, May 28, you have an opportunity to do that at the SYNC conference in downtown Pontiac. Students from churches and groups all over the area will be coming together to worship, pray, and brainstorm how we can shape our region, and the world at large. We need to get together and do this. May 28 – don’t miss it. You can buy tickets here: http://www.syncconference2011.com/#!ticket-info

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Repenting of Religion: Turning from Judgment to the Love of God by Gregory A. Boyd

The interns had an awesome discussion with Adam Smart this morning in theology class. We read a chapter from the book Repenting of Religion. It basically talks about how the act of judging gets in the way of what our true calling is as Christians. One of the reoccurring themes in the reading (and in our discussion) was that when we judge others, we are continuing to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil just as Adam and Eve did in the garden. Let me explain… Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree because they wanted to be more like God. They wanted to be able to see and understand as God does. That is essentially what we are doing when we judge others, and even when we judge ourselves. We are basically saying “I have enough wisdom to know what is right and wrong, good and evil and who is moral and immoral.” Boyd communicates this idea by saying that “our fundamental sin is that we place ourselves in the position of God and divide the world between what we judge to be good and what we judge to be evil.” This idea doesn’t just apply to external judgment, but internal judgment as well. Maybe you are equally hard on yourself as you are on other people. By judging ourselves, we are still eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because we are trying to be God instead of accepting God’s love fully and letting God’s forgiveness and love flow in our lives. Do you think this is how God wants us to live? In constant guilt and shame? No, it’s not. This is why Jesus came. So that we can be free from judgment from Him, from others, and from ourselves. Jesus came so that we can live in the garden once again, free from sin. So the question is, do you really believe that through Christ, you and others live in the garden with no judgment? That God looks at us a perfect and blameless? Are you living in a way that portrays this belief? It isn’t easy to forgive yourself and others sometimes, to not pass judgment, but it is what God calls us to do.

So what does this look like? Boyd says that “the way to acquire a reputation for being loved is to simply become loving. As we love God, ourselves, and others out of the fullness of our participation in the triune God, the world will see that Jesus Christ has been sent by the Father… We are called to live in outrageous love…when we do this, it impacts the world… We are to manifest God’s love simply because we are in God’s love.” That’s some pretty intense stuff, but it is truth. I know that I was convicted when I read this. I couldn’t help but examine my own life and wonder if I am living in this way. Are you?

Alright ladies and gentlemen, it saddens me to say this, but this shall be the last Wednesday WHAT!?!?! for a while due to the fact that I leave for my summer job tomorrow morning. Thus, the internet itself shall cease to exist and I apologize for that, but it should come back some time in the fall. In the meantime I have added a few more videos to the WHAT than usual so that you may get more enjoyment out of this grand finale.

5. Things With Ducks – I don’t know much about ducks overall, but I do know that they weigh basically nothing, they are covered in fluff, and they cross the street at specific spots based on where the “Duck Crossing” signs are, so they can obviously read. But over the last few weeks I’ve found some great videos involving ducks, so check these out.

This one is amazing. I almost wet myself the first time I watched it and that’s not an exaggeration.

4. Popcorn is Awesome – I hate popcorn. But I also do love it in some regards. I hate it because of the fact that by just eating one piece a kernel wedges itself in an unreachable spot between two of my molars and I have to get a hammer and chisel to get it out. But I do love popcorn covered in sugar, more commonly known as kettle corn. Also, apparently popcorn sounds like a Transformer when it pops. You’ll see what I mean here.

3. Let’s Play Fetch – Sometimes people don’t want to play with dogs, which makes sense because they can be a little pesky. However, this guy is just a jerk. He doesn’t even pretend to be interested in playing fetch with this dog. He disgusts me.

2. The Best Way to Watch A Video, Ever – This takes just a bit of work on your part, but trust me, it’s worth it. What you’re going to do is mute the first video, you don’t want to hear the noises coming from it anyway. Then, you’re going to click play on the second video, keeping the volume all the way up, and finally, click play on the first video.

1. Website You Must See – Babies have been an important part of the WHAT for this whole year, and there is no reason that you should stop enjoying their hilarious antics just because the WHAT is over. So go here. Now.

Also, be at EDGE this week. Birmingham is in charge and it’s going to be incredible.

Our second night of Summer Idiot promises to be a good one as Justin Warns and the Edge Birmingham crew will be taking over Edge, talking about how to keep your summer from being boring. Start inviting: the buses leave from your campus at 6 pm.

The 2010-2011 student ministries interns are graduating. Come celebrate with us in the chapel at Troy campus Tuesday, May 17! If your life (or if you’re a parent, your student’s life) has been impacted by an intern, we want you to be there. It means a lot to our interns who worked through fundraising all year, and poured their hearts into your students. It also helps support our intern program as a whole, which has now launched over 35 leaders out over the last 4 years! Please come celebrate with us tomorrow from 7pm-9pm!

Edge Intern Recruit from Kensington on Vimeo.

Thursday night, May 19, Rochester High School is hosting Pam Stenzel, a nationally-renowned speaker on the topic of sex and abstinence. If you’re a student, there will be some guaranteed things you don’t know about sex that you will be glad you found out after you leave. Don’t miss it – grab a friend, and head to Rochester High School Thursday night. You won’t want to miss it.

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Ah, summer. The time to kick back, relax, hang out, and grad-party hop for free food. You get to turn off your alarms, your studying, and most importantly, your brain. But with summer’s freedom comes some of the most important decisions you’ve ever encountered – decisions that can change the whole course of your life. Here’s the crazy part – a lot of times, you don’t even know those decisions are happening. So, before we close out the year, Edge is determined that you won’t become a Summer Idiot with four services to help make sure your summer has purpose behind the party.

May 15 – “Freedom: don’t let anything hold you back”
May 22 – “Refreshed: the guarantee of never being bored”
May 29 – “Friendships: who’s got your back when no one’s looking”
June 6 – “Idiot: the more you learn, the less you know”

Meet at your campus at 6 pm to grab the bus to Troy campus.

Based on Jack Deere’s By the Power of the Spirit Surprised by the Voice of God

It’s been said that “Experience is not the greatest teacher; it is simply another one,” and while I have heard that quote about what seems like a million times, as I read this weeks theology, it haunted my thoughts with relentless authority exceeding the qualities of your  common cliché.

Be honest. Can you genuinely say that scripture is the primary reason for your beliefs; for every conscious decision you make?  Or could it be that the things around us, the things that we have been taught by our instructors, alongside with our traditions have more to do with what we believe than we care to admit? And lastly, are we simply living by what we have experienced in life or by the Word of God?

It’s quite a bit to consider, I know. I’m still working through these questions myself; as much as I would absolutely love to tell you all that scripture is in the forefront of all the reasons I do what I do, if I did you would have every right to call me a liar. In the text, Jack Deere declares, “… we all have many reasons why we believe and do things, and Scripture is only one of those reasons.” I found this to be true in more ways than one in my own life.

It’s become clear to me that I have many teachers in my life that come before scripture; the first being experience. When giving advice I will be the first to tell you what I have been through; my failures, my triumphs, my distractions, all of that. Or any negative feeling I have toward something usually is because I have had a bad experience which led me to feel that way and has nothing to do with what God has to say about it. God clearly tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves but because of what I have experienced sometimes that is not what I do.

Thinking of all this makes me wonder how different the world would look if scripture was in the forefront of the reasons why we do what we do. What if we knew the bible for ourselves like our lives depended on it? What if the common clichés like “Experience is the best teacher” was replaced by “God is the best teacher”?  What if that was our unconditional reality?

We have all gone through what we have for a reason and while we can allow these things to be the only teacher we have, God gives us an even better way. It’s up to you to use it.