PA CONFERENCE EDUCATOR'S RETREAT AND PSALM 100

PA EDUCATOR’S RETREAT

October 29-31, seven individuals comprising Pennsylvania Conference educators and their spouses joined me at Laurel Lake Camp for our optional Educator’s Spiritual Retreat.

We focused our time in prayer, reflection, Bible study and fellowship. Some of the key spiritual materials we used for focused study and reflection were: Psalm 100; Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, page 101; Christ’s Object Lessons, page 299-300; and He Has Made Me Glad by Ben Patterson.

As part of the spiritual reflection we did, each of us wrote our own paraphrase of Psalm 100. Here is what I shared with our retreat participants.

“Everybody! Get excited about the goodness of the Lord.
Fill the whole land with boisterous noise for Him.
Do everything you can for Him.
And do it with a glad heart.
In fact, practice being in His presence with music in your heart and songs of joy and praise from your mouth.
Continuously dwell on the fact that God is sovereign and mighty—the only God.
Remember, you and I are made by Him—intentionally, intelligently, and independently from any ability of our own.
We are cherished by Him, valued and cared for as precious family.
So—every chance we get—let us come to Him with thanksgiving and thankful hearts.
In fact let’s go to His house just to tell Him how good He is.
Every time we use His name, remember all His goodness with unending gratitude and honor.
Lord—You are truly the best.
There is no end to Your mercy.
Your words and actions are true and trustworthy to all people of all ages.
There will never be a time when You are not that which is accurate, dependable, faithful and completely righteous.” Psalm 100, Hartwell paraphrase.

Writing a paraphrase is not at all to take the place of the Holy Scriptures (even though Jack Blanco’s paraphrase, called the Clear Word Bible is very popular with a number of Adventists). Writing a paraphrase of a portion of scripture is one way to reflect and ponder the meaning of the Holy Word of God and how God might apply it to you and your life.

As part of our time, we gathered for quiet worship in the LLC Lodge.

One of the popular features of this meeting place, was the opportunity to gather around a warm fire in the fireplace.

Our educators in attendance expressed great appreciation for this time to grow, pray and enjoy God’s presence.