Hi Gang of Warriors! (COHORT!)

I hope your Thanksgiving season was a blessed one. We sure had fun. Lots of things to say THANK YOU for in this blessed year of completion, 2011… I hope you did read the Jaeson Ma article (LONG!) I posted on fb, it is amazing how God has fulfilled it throughout the year.

We are looking forward to the Prayer Summit on Saturday, December 3rd, 4:30-9 pm starting with supper. Many of you have said you are coming, so it will be fun. Taco night… bring whatever you think goes with that! Chips? Dip? Your fav soda? Cookies?

I am sending along this really great link to a 24/7 advent worship/meditation/prayer guide. You can subscribe to it and use it to help you get in the real spirit of Christmas, and stay there throughout advent! I love it!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/24-7-spaces-for-advent-2011/id421841174

And of course, the 24/7 prayer group and their weekly blog is just good to follow, because they help us keep our eyes on the world – where God’s heart beats! Here is a link to a recent posting if you want to get in on their stuff… the last one talked about the biggest prayer meeting in EGYPT in 100 YEARS!!!! Can you imagine?! God is on the move, and we want to be out there moving with him! Wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ze3pgTiJEo&feature=relmfu

I am busily putting together the theology classes for UR 1-2, January 13-15, 2012. This week I am doing the class about the history of the Bible! I think you will all love it, because it helps us to be so much more in love with God’s Word knowing what people have sacrificed for it throughout the centuries.

I am continually jazzed reading about people all around the WORLD digging into the Bible, and committing themselves to training for a life of service in Kingdom work, whatever that may cost them. NRSD students – you join an elite group in every country and all over the planet willing to invest your lives in the gospel! (I have been reading books from Voice of the Martyrs, can you tell?)

Hope to see you Saturday, December 3!

Joan Tyvoll

November 7th Update

Monday, November 7, 2011

Hail Cohort! It is a sunny November day. Steve and I checked our personal almanac and remembered that last November 11-13 we got a blizzard with 20+ inches of snow. Wow. It could be coming!

Steve and I have been working at connecting with all of you the past 2 weeks or so, and it seems like most of us are plugged in with a coach/accountability person, or getting there. That will be key for your growth and stability in the next 2 years. Who knows? Maybe we will all establish some great patterns for life! Hooray! That is what we pray for!

Put the Prayer Summits on your calendars! Hopefully they will be good for you and any friends you want to bring along! Saturdays: November 19th & December 3rd; 4:30 – 9 pm Supper; then prayer! Recommended reading for Prayer Summits: the 2 Dutch Sheets books.

What you can be working on:

• Putting together a personal “Rule” (a la John Wesley) that fits your life, feeds you adequately and is also challenging your growing edges daily and weekly.
• Please, Please journal! It will be life-giving for this Kairos time of learning and growth.
• I am inviting you to regularly check out my R&BT website. The devos are from my own current conversations with God, and since you and the school are much on my heart these days, I write many if not most of the devos with the cohort and the Tyvoll clan in mind.
• Be sure to be doing the reading assignments because that can provide you with ongoing meat to chew on concerning school and the direction and plan we are going with. It is all good!
• As you dig into the postmodern book by Grenz, try to find concrete examples of postmodern thinking and behavior going on around you every day. Journal them, and bring them with you on January 13th to aid our discussion concerning the spirit of the age: Postmodernism.

What Steve and I are working on:

• A Sys Theo Position Paper form for those of you who requested a way to process the Sys Theo topics…
• A plan for doing Bible study together next retreat so we can learn how, then practice doing word studies, finding our way around reference books, etc.
• Steve and Ben are our go-to guys for practical people helping skills. Pray for them as they put together workshops that will help us help others in practical and wise ways.

Hi Everyone

There have been several requests for Prayer Summit times in between retreats. S & I are just putting them on the calendar for you all and anyone you want to bring along.

RSVP so I know how many to prepare for - we will start with a light supper - soup, sandwich, something like that.

Book: Beginner's Guide to Intercessory Prayer, Dutch Sheets (Optional purchase, we will just be talking about the principles in it)

4:30-9 p.m. Saturday nights

November 19th, 2011

December 3rd, 2011