The Cowgirls are coming!!!!!

Let me clarify...horses do not define me. :)

However, Homemade Horse Camp is one of the highlights of the Ritchie family summer. My three sisters and four of their good friends have horses and instead of spending hundreds of dollars and 2 hours daily commute to schlep them to a local horse camp, our respective mothers decided to put on our own horse camp.

We trailer the horses to our next-door-neighbor's barn and have lessons, games (read: musical chairs with horses...:), demonstrations, classes, amazing meals, and crafts. My role is enabler...or grunt worker. I run to Walmart about 85 times, and then run to get some hairspray for one of the girls then make 20 lunches and then switch the laundry over. I love it so much!!!!!

The highlights of the week were the miniature horse show, the HUGE trail ride (as in 6-8 hours long nonstop) and the Independence Day Parade. The girls decorated their horses and costumed themselves in extraordinarily creative outfits and marched down the street to our neighbor's infinite amusement. This year we had a fairy, pirate, musical note, two Indians, a patriot, an Arabian princess, Russel (from the movie UP), a fire woman, and Miss Horse Camp 2009 (me in my prom dress and cowgirl boots). It was a blast.

So now you know what my life is like...lots of good work to be done, happy, and currently full of little cowgirls.

His,

Sarah Ritchie

RUC Secretary

Race to Register

Hey everyone! Those who are registered by Aug 9 are entered into the drawing for a new mini-laptop!

My Summer so Far : Amanda

So, I got this internship in the capital of my country, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I'm working in the office of a Minister of State doing research, attending committee, Question Period, and tons of other meetings. It's fantastic.

But the exciting part of my life happens OUTSIDE of the office (as it is with most people, I suppose!) annnnd I'm not legally allow to share what I do in my office anyways. =)

So I'm living at the National House of Prayer with like 10 other people... and occasionally I feel the need to prank people. Like last night. I had a roll of suran wrap in my closet (doesn't everyone?) and wanted to warp Jerimiahs car. Except he doesn't have a car... so we did his bike! Brilliant! I'm sure he'll be stoked when he needs to get to work this afternoon.
Honestly, I don't understand why he doesn't love me.



Then the other day, my friend and I went down to the market, wandered around all the booths, took pictures with the flowers =), and grab a gelato. It was lovely. We go rollerblading together several times a week, and like to experience the city together. Once we got on a bus and took it all the way to Kanata (which is like an hour away!) When we got there, we got hit on by high schoolers. It was halarious... Yes, we are dorks.



And finally, I need to include the highlight of the summer so far; I got to meet the Prime Minister of Canada, The Most Honourable Stephan Harper! It was a glorious moment (I'm sure I heard angels singing) as we chatted about where I was from, where I'm working, go to school, etc... forgive me, it was kind of a blur. =)



From your RUC President,
Amanda Van Hierden

The Summer Life of RUCians

So... I want to keep the RUC blog going, even though we aren't in school. So for the next two months, a different RUCian is going to be featured and give us a glimpse of their summer life!
The purpose is so that you can get to know each person a little more and feel more in contact with us over the summer... so comment to let us know you are reading, cuz that makes any blogger happy! =)

Record Turnout at Year-end BBQ

Found in Regent Announcements::
May 3, 2009

The Regent Undergraduate Council (RUC) organized a year-end, campus-wide barbeque Friday, April 24. An estimated 500 students, faculty, staff and their families enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixings, plenty of sides, and a wide variety of snacks, including popcorn, snow-cones, cotton candy, and more. Beautiful weather, great promotions, free food, and plenty of fellowship made this event a recipe for success. Held on the patio and lawn outside of the Ordinary, Christmas lights, balloons, streamers and more highlighted the trees and picnic tables.


The event was punctuated throughout by activities such as a three-legged race, soccer, kickball, and Ultimate Frisbee and it culminated with a pie-eating contest and a piñata for the kids. Several participants enjoyed the various activities offered, as well as numerous fans cheering them on. People of all ages and positions at the university enjoyed this fantastic event.

When asked to comment on the event, RUC's President, Amanda Van Hierden, said, "The Regent Year-End Barbecue was a huge success. Far more people attended than we anticipated, most likely due to the beautiful weather and the need for students to get out of the Library! As the sun went down, the relaxed atmosphere was maintained with the Christmas lights strung from tree to tree. I was thrilled to see the fantastic turnout and want to thank everyone who attended for helping us make it a successful event!"

Pastor Cheeks, Director of Community Life, also commented, saying, "This End of Year Barbecue event hosted by RUC was an outstanding community building event. It offered students, faculty/staff, and their families a time of fun, fellowship, and relaxation at one of the busiest times of the academic year. I also witnessed very good collaboration between student leaders and university leaders. Job well done!" A lot of hard work went into making this event a success, with sponsorship from Regent Commons Housing, Undergrad Student Services, and assistance from Student Life and Community Life.

The Regent Undergraduate Council, Regent's officially sanctioned undergraduate student body government, serves as a liaison between the student body, faculty, and administration in order to foster an academic environment integrated with Christian principles that enable the student body to pursue their academic goals to their fullest potential. RUC is comprised of six elected members of the Executive Board, including president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, public relations officer, and chaplain, as well as up to two senators from each major in the School of Undergraduate Studies. More information about RUC can be found on their website, www.regent.edu/ruc

Article retrieved on May 20, 2009 from: http://www.regent.edu/acad/undergrad/announcements/?article_id=12&view=full_article

---Regent Year End BBQ---

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for everyone that made the Regent End of the Year BBQ a HUGE success! There was probably over a hundred collective hours dedicated to the planning and preparation of this event, and we had a surplus of volunteers (a fantastic representation from SAA- Thank you!) during the evening.

Far more people attended than we anticipated, most likely due to the beautiful weather and the need for students to get out of the Library! I also attribute it to the fantastic way the Undergrad students pulled together for live advertisement, holding up signs and accosting innocent passerby’s. They handed out candy and bags of animal crackers to persuade people to attend.

Apparently you did your work well, because there were over 500 people at the event. Which, we expected around 250 people, so needless to say, there was creative measures taken to ensure there was enough food =)

We served BBQ’d hamburgers, hotdogs, salad, and also had cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones for a carnival feel.

As the sun went down, the relaxed atmosphere was maintained with the Christmas Lights strung from tree to tree. I was thrilled to see the fantastic turnout and want to thank everyone who attended for helping us make it a successful event!

--Amanda

RUC President

BBQ much?

So it's funny, we expected, oh, 250 people to come to the barbecue. Well, we wound up with over 500 guests! The evening was a total blast, so if you weren't there, then you definitely missed out [not to rub it in or anything, haha]. There was TONNNSSSSS of food, sports, pudding pies, cotton candy, balloons, and people.

If you have any suggestions or feedback, totally give us your thoughts by commenting here or on our facebook page :].

--

Now, I know I'm not the Chaplain, in fact, I'm only the Secretary for a few more days. However, I want to just leave a quick word. This verse has helped me get through finals, stress, and the craziness of the past few weeks. Hopefully God will speak to you as He did to me :]

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us" -Romans 8:18 (NIV)

Be blessed!

--Christen

RUC Secretary

RUC BBQ!

There is SO much to do!
Not only do I have to finish up School, get ready to move, but we are also planning the Year End BBQ!

We are expecting around 250 people, eating hamburgers, hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy, snow cones... and playing soccer, frisbee, and other games.

It's going to be our largest event, by far, and though a lot of our really cool plans fell through, it's still going to be a HUGE success! I've included some pics of our advertising... so check 'em out. The full album is in the link below:
 

--Amanda

RUC President

Regent Year End BBQ- April 24th

April 2009 Easter Devotion

Christ's True Sacrifice

May the peace of the Lord be with you! It is an amazing thing to know and understand the true meaning of Easter. It is the most important holiday of our Christian faith, and it should call us to a sincere contemplation of the cornerstone of that faith: Jesus Christ. We would do well to make such reflection a daily habit, so that we might remain acutely aware of just how much we need Him.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Praise the name of Jesus! His sacrifice has given us peace with God (Romans 5:1). As I have reflected on the sacrifice of Christ, I have asked myself what the greatest part of that sacrifice was. I believe that Jesus was most distressed by this: the separation from God that resulted from sin. From the gospel accounts we see that His worst moment on the cross came when he cried, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'-which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). It was not His physical sufferings or the abandonment, betrayal and rejection of the human race that caused Him so much distress. It was the fact that His relationship with God the Father was in jeopardy. This, then, was Christ's true sacrifice: He gave up His relationship with God so that ours might be restored. Jesus knew what we needed the most; He knew what mankind was lacking, and His sacrifice restored it to us. Again I say, praise the name of Jesus!

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:6-11)

So now I ask that, as Christians, we take some time to reflect on just how thankful we are for Christ's sacrifice. We should also take a hint; there is nothing more valuable to us than our relationship with God. The restoration of that relationship should give us more joy than anything else and the pursuit of it should be our constant goal and focus. It is the gift that has been given to us by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Take advantage of it! It was Christ's true sacrifice, and He has made it our true reward.

May the joy of the Lord be with you as you consider Christ and all that He means to you. Be blessed!

Brad Zimmerman
RUC Chaplain
Sophomore, Global Business major

April 2009 Devotion

The Curse of Complacency

Praise be to the Lord our God! May His name be lifted up and glorified in all the earth! For the Lord our God is holy and worthy of all our devotion and all our worship. Let us never forget to turn to Him in all things, and to trust in Him to guide our lives through any and all circumstances. May the Lord be with you this month of April as you seek to draw closer to Him. Let nothing stand in the way of your relationship with God Almighty, for there is nothing better in life than a close relationship with Jesus Christ.

Indeed, let NOTHING stand in our way! We are constantly tempted to become complacent in our faith; to be satisfied with the status quo. On the straight and narrow path to God there are many opportunities to turn to the left or to the right, and we constantly find excuses to do so. We lose our focus and our purpose in life and in God. Yet He has called us to more than that. He has called us to live radically and fully dedicated to Him, and every day counts! Are we actively seeking God? Do we commit every day to Him? We are called to live above and beyond the call of duty; do we take that call seriously?

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not earthly things... Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on your new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." - Colossians 3:1-10

Our trek toward God is a daily process; every day we are presented with decisions that can bring us closer to Him or lead us away. The question is, which decisions will keep us on the straight and narrow? More often than not we know the answers and we know how to execute them, yet we hold back. Why? Are we afraid? Afraid of what? Getting to know God better? Leaving behind our sins and doubts for something so much more satisfying? Stepping out in faith? Dear God, save us from our cowardice! Save us from our complacency and our fears, that we may seek You unhindered!

God has called us to be HOLY and FEARLESS. He has called us to be more than we think we can be; to despise sin and actively seek to expunge it from our lives; to love others with a radical love that no one else in this world can offer. If we cannot find that love, strength and peace within ourselves, then maybe it is time to take a deep breath and closely examine our faith. We constantly need to return to Christ to receive fresh perspective about our faith and our daily actions. We must live as closely to God as we possibly can. The only way to do so is to trust and obey. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26)

Seek God, therefore, with all your heart! May the Lord richly bless you as you set aside the corrupt things of this world for His Name's sake, and may He draw you ever more deeply into His presence! Be blessed.

Brad Zimmerman
RUC Chaplain
Junior, Global Business major

February 2009 Devotion

Do We Trust in Jesus?
I pray the peace of the Lord Almighty has been, and will be with you and yours this month of February.
There come times in our lives when we are presented with a simple, yet powerful and significant dilemma: to reject God or to trust Him. The decisions and repercussions of these choices reach far deeper into our worldviews and consequent actions than we realize. We can call ourselves Christians, and yet our lives may still be plagued with doubt and fear. The real question is, do we truly trust in Jesus? Have we given Him our doubt and our pain, our fear and our sorrow? Do our lives and actions reflect that trust? Do we walk truly confident and assured that He is with us through all circumstances, big and small?

Not long after I arrived at Regent University, my mother passed away. She took her own life. This month marks the first anniversary of her death. For the first time in thirty-eight years, my father did not have a valentine. Despite the manner of her death, my mother loved and served the Lord all her life. Countless people have been blessed by her sincerity and her fearlessness to live out and proclaim the redemptive message of our God. She loved and cherished my family and left us a great legacy and some big shoes to fill. Yet still, she left us. Why? What need was there for this to happen? Why would God allow such a thing? I had to make a choice: To reject God, or to trust Him.

When Job was faced with tragedy, loss, and unspeakable suffering, his wife told him to, “curse God and die” (Job 2:9), to which he replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10). Job eventually came to understand something through his suffering: some things are too great for human
understanding, and God works all things in accordance with His good and perfect will. It is as simple as that. Even though we do not always understand why the world must be the way it is, we cannot deny the power of God‟s mercy and grace if we choose to trust Him.

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, “Let us learn to live in the presence of the living God; let us pray the Holy Spirit that this day and every other day we may feel, „Thou God seest me.‟ May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us, delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well of the Creator never fails; happy is he who dwells at the well, and so has abundant and constant supplies near at hand. The Lord has been a sure helper to others: His name is Shaddai, God Allsufficient…
let us, then, dwell in closest fellowship with Him. Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave Thee, but dwell by the well of the living God.”

It is as simple and as difficult as that. We have to give it up to God. We have to trust in Jesus. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us. This translates not only into our great perspectives on life, but also the minutest details of our daily existence. It is, most honestly, a question of life and death. Without God we cannot truly live; our lives are nothing but a fleeting shadow if we cannot bring ourselves to trust in Him to give us purpose and fulfillment. Even if we have not had great pain or suffering in our lives, this question still confronts us: Do we trust in Jesus?

Psalms 30:4-12 says “Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may endure for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning…you turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” May the grace and mercy of the Lord Almighty be with you and yours, and may you find your sole source of strength and joy in He who loves us yesterday, today, and forever.
Amen.

Brad Zimmerman, RUC Chaplain

January 2009 Devotion

WWJD & WWWDFJ
Greetings! May the Spirit of the Lord Almighty be with you and yours in this New Year and month of January! The Lord our God is faithful and deserving of all praise. Let us be fearless as we unashamedly seek to live a life fully dedicated to Him. The world desperately needs to hear, know, and see the redemptive message of Christ at work. Let us be faithful, therefore, to honor our Lord, our Savior, and our Comforter in all that we say and do.

How shall we honor Christ? Remember that phrase, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)? Let’s take that and add to it WWWDFJ (What Would We Do For Jesus). How would we treat Him if we came face-to-face? The fact is that we meet Him every day.

'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.' – Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

To honor Christ we must do for others as we would have done for Him, and we must treat all men with the same love and honesty that Christ did. This brings to mind other questions: Who do we honor? Who do we respect? Who do we invest in? Christ honored the sincere and the faithful. He honored many who were held to be of little account by the world around them. He honored the poor widow (Luke 21:1-4) and the criminal who hung next to Him on the cross (23:39-43). Jesus loved those who were despised. He honored Zacchaeus the tax collector (19:1-9) and the Roman centurion of great faith (7:1-10).

Would we see these people as Jesus did? Do we treat the people in our lives according to their status and title, or according to their hearts and motives? Are we afraid to take the stand that Jesus did? These are all questions that should be on our hearts as we seek to grow in Christ. Jesus mandated us to take His message to the world (Matthew 28:16-20).

This is not always an easy way to live. Are we willing?

Jesus expects us to treat all men with the respect, honor, and kindness which we would have treated Him, and to unapologetically carry His message of justice, worship, love, forgiveness, and redemption. Each and every day is one that we have to live for Him, and one that we will never have again. Our families, our friends, our colleagues, and all the people of the world NEED us to honor Christ TODAY.

May you find the strength and wisdom through God our Father to live in such a way that all would know that God reigns in your life; “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Be blessed!!!

Brad Zimmerman, RUC Chaplain