New Pictures!

We are proud of you guys for keeping that sharp eye out for so long, sorry for the delays on the scavenger hunt pics. Technology didn't like us this week, we were having a fight, but we've healed and now on our Flickr account are pics from all the events we have covered so far, from pics of the LS Retreat to pics of the LS Scavenger Hunt. We only received pics from Team Russian, Team Tony, and Team Eric, so for those teams not represented here, the fault is not ours, we did try.

Below is a little preview; be sure to check out all the pics on Flickr and a few new videos from Team Tony on Vimeo:

Click here to see more pics.

About Us (Part 1)

Allison Bucca (Senior Editor) Allison, a rising senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) is majoring in Media and Communication Studies with a minor in Creative Writing. Allison has been a member of SRC since before she was born, her parents having met and married at SRC. Allison has done several marketing, writing, and communications internship and hopes to use these skills in whichever job God will hopefully lead her to upon graduation. Allison loves that Lightswitch has opened her up to many new relationships and "experiences" she would not have previously been exposed to if not for Curt's addiction to embarrassing fun.

Juan Cruz (Photography Editor) Juan is a student at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) majoring in Environmental Science. He has been a member of SRC for almost two years. He enjoys a hot bowl of Lad Na soup and a good cup of Joe. One of the things about Lightswitch that he enjoys the most is living life with people that have a passion for the gospel and for intense games of mafia.

Megan Murphy (Photographer) Megan, an aspiring photographer, recently graduated from high school during which she took classes at Anne Arundel Community College her senior year. Currently she is taking time off from school to pursue starting her own business in photography. Megan has grown up in Solid Rock Church and looks forward to what God will bring in this next season. Megan also loves that Lightswitch's motto is “What we do, we do together,” which means if one person looks like an idiot; we all do.

Brianna Smith (Assistant Editor) Brianna, a sophomore in Washington Bible College’s Applied Music Program, began attending SRC with her family in May 2009. As a part of Lightswitch, she appreciates the group’s strong bond, which reaches far beyond Sunday mornings and official church functions. Brianna also enjoys the spontaneous times of fellowship throughout the week and the times of group worship led by the Lightswitch band. Spending time with the group as a whole, as well as with individuals, greatly encourages her and motivates her walk with God.

Scavenger Hunt Recap

At the recent scavenger hunt, Lightswitch broke up into four teams of seven and one team of eight to run across Washington, D.C. like idiots all for the sake of fun, fellowship, and Curt’s personal pleasure. Through the smog of humidity teams ran, walked, and dragged themselves to win the race. Alex’s “Team We Should Have Won” knew who was on their team before Curt finished giving instructions and was out the door before the other teams even formed.

Though “Team We Should Have Won” ran hard, and sweated profusely, their racing out the door with their Russian Metro man was all Tony’s “Team We Did Win” needed as inspiration to make the actual win. Everyone was on the same page as they left the church, they wanted to win, and more than that, they wanted “Team We Should Have Won” to lose.

Highlights for some included the time of encouragement (to those who actually got to it) and doing the song and dance on the Metro. While for others it was finding various ways to use Curt’s face for humorous purposes such as rapping to it, using it to find a lost brother or son, or turning it into a “Wanted” ad.

Afterwards they all returned from the race, some by bus, some by train, and some running still believing that they could win, even when facing the reality of utter and complete failure. Team “We Should Have Won” arrived sweating, panting, and singing just a little while after “Team We Did Win” had arrived back after a day of rushed walking interspersed with bathroom breaks and sushi duckings. Eric’s “Team We Weren’t Sure if We Wanted to Win” soon trailed in followed by Jacob’s “Team We Have Jacob, He’s in a Kilt” and lastly followed by Jeremy’s “Team We Like Rasberry Lemonade.”

Overall it was a fun day of bonding, sweating, screaming about swelling feet, and enjoying the fact that by God’s grace, it is good to be together no matter the weather and no matter who wins or loses.

Stay tuned for more videos and pics to come from the scavenger hunt, so far only one team has turned in their videos, and two teams have turned in their pics. If you want to show off your team pride, give videos to Aaron and email pictures to lightswitchblog@gmail.com.

Need Pledges for "Walk & Run for Life"

Shamane Gardner has registered her two sons Brian and Joshua for the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center "Walk & Run for Life" on Sept 26, 2009. This center helps those who are pregnant and are looking for direction and resources. We realize what a blessing Brian and Joshua are to us and if we can help families who are struggling through pregnancies we would like to do what we can!

Please consider sponsoring one of the boys. Even if its small change - it adds up! Brian and Joshua would be honored to represent you and walk! You pledge a total dollar amount; rather than per mile.

If you would like to make a pledge, please give it to either Dwayne or Shamane; they have a pledge sheet for each of the boys.

If you have questions about participating please email lightswitchblog@gmail.com

For more information on the walk just visit:
http://pregnancyclinicministry.org/

Curt's Corner #4

Curt's Corner Vacation Warning Shot from Curtis Allen on Vimeo.

Anna Shares from WorshipGod09 Conference

WorshipGod09 began for us with eleven people caravanning in three cars up to Gaithersburg to spend four days listening to messages, worshiping, and being together. The Lord answered every hope and prayer that I had for those four days.

The thing that the Lord underscored for me throughout the week was his own holiness and glory, as revealed in the gospel. John Piper preached on “The God of Worship” and pointed to the fact that Christ’s first goal in dying was not to bring us to God; Christ's first goal in dying was to vindicate God’s righteousness. He demonstrated how God’s righteousness was under question because of God's mercy. Because God had passed over, and not poured out his wrath on the sins of his covenant people, his character had to be proved righteous. Piper showed how Romans 3:25 declares this when it says, “[Jesus’ propitiation] was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” It was because God proved himself righteous by Christ dying for sin that Christ was able to save us.

One of my favorite parts of the conference was worshiping alongside the other Lightswitch folks. Every person there has such a passion and desire for God’s glory, and that was so clearly expressed in the way they sang during our corporate worship time. Time and time again we were all filled with an awareness of the Lord’s presence, and it resulted in each person emphatically praising God. Personally, I was filled with so much joy and satisfaction in the Lord as I was made aware of the amazing fact that this God who is reigning over all came down and bore my sin. And now I can live in a manner that seeks to praise and honor him. It was wonderful to praise God together and to be aware of the unity bought with by gospel.

Not only did we enjoy sitting together during the meetings, but we also
enjoyed spending our free time together as well. Favorite episodes of the four days include naming the eight boys “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” caring for Allison and Lauren who both were walking through some physical trials, spending time praying and fellowshipping, and going out to Chevy’s with Mr. and Mrs. Dickson. I came away from the conference so grateful to the Lord for this church--for how he works, for the unity he has knit, and for his love demonstrated through the local church, specifically ours.

To listen to any of the teachings from WG09, visit the following link:
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Events/WorshipConference.aspx.

Curt's Corner #3

Announcements with a Jafakin' accent. Bara baba!!

Curt's Corner #3 Near da Beeeech! from Curtis Allen on Vimeo.

Dinner with Nana and Uncle Jamie

Tonight we had dinner with Nana and uncle Jamie at Longhorn!

On Demand

As you can see by looking at the tabs above, we have a section called "On Demand." This section is for all the most up to date information on our lives as Lightswitchers. Here we will post prayer requests, service opportunities, and postings of things you’d like to sell/rent/donate, etc. Emails such as Kristy's telling us about a volunteer opportunity or Shamane's email about providing the Leidners' with meals will instead be posted on the blog.

Also, starting soon, we will weekly post stories written by you. We will be looking for you to send us your testimonies, funny stories, and more. If you have any ideas for the blog, stories you would like to share, or if you would like to join the staff as a writer, photographer, or videographer, please email us at lightswitchblog@gmail.com. The "About Us" tab above will also soon have a post with bios and pictures of all the Lightswitch blog staff. And we didn't forget about the scavenger hunt, that also coming soon. Keep that sharp eye out.

Brianna Reflects on the Retreat

There was a lot of truth to process after the retreat, not only from Curt’s messages about heaven, but also resulting from the sheer length of time Lightswitch spent together. It’s always encouraging to watch God work through specific situations to push his children onto maturity!

In recent months, God has reminded me of the gospel's importance, and so I have been trying to preach Christ’s death and resurrection to myself. Yet Curt challenged us to add heaven to that sermon. Whether it’s stress over a deadline or frustration with my own fallen state, I am constantly reminded that God has granted me eternal forgiveness, and that heaven will be free from frustrations and imperfections! What a motivation to persevere!

I became even more aware of the extent of God’s mercy as I listened to Curt's prayer during one of the sessions. He thanked God for the rewards he promises to the faithful believer, and for extending that blessing towards us who can only please him by the power of his Holy Spirit. Yes, God forgave my failures, both past and present. And yes, Christ rescued me from hell. Those truths alone should draw me to my knees in total amazement. But there is more. Not only has he cleansed my heart from sin, but he promises eternal reward in heaven for my obedience. And even more unfathomable is the truth that any obedience I demonstrate only occurs because he enables me to obey. Without him, I am powerless to change my own heart.

I am still encouraged by the way Lightswitch came together during this retreat. In the past, I have experienced many situations in which believers, even those who have known each other for years, failed to invest in one another's lives. As a result, fellowship was hindered by exclusive cliques or by reclusive individuals. During this retreat, however, I experienced an atmosphere of mutual love, respect, and unity that could only exist by God's grace!

Mealtime was one of the many instances I observed this unity; I noticed that a lot of people sat with a different group at each meal. I had to laugh when April and I walked into the dining hall one day, and April suddenly ran over to a table with a less-than-equal boy-to-girl ratio, shouting, “Hey! Why are we, like, segregated?” I also saw the married couples sitting with the singles, and vice-versa. It encouraged and convicted me. It reminded me that we believers need each other and are responsible to support one another.

Singles Mtg of the Switch

At the last singles meeting (8/13/09), Curt gave a message concerning evangelism to kick off our new series, "Two Ways to Live." He highlighted Romans 10:1-15, focusing on the fact that it is our job to proclaim the gospel, but it is not our job to save souls, that is up to God (1 Corinthians 3:7). Curt has enlisted Lightswitch to serve alongside Susan Cole, who works with "American Friends," to put our goal of evangelism into practice. "American Friends" is an organization that connects international students with Americans to form relationships and help the student's transition into American life. More details concerning our involvement will be released soon.

Single Girls Only: Now that Kennesha is back : ), and the Meath girls are leaving
: (, we are again reshuffling the accountability groups. Before the end of this month, email Curt which girls you would like to have in your group, whether it is adding new people or keeping the ones you have.

Prayer: Keep in prayer Anthony Cole, Jen Miller, Kirsten Etherton, and Holly and Clara Meath, as they prepare to leave the state, the country, or just their neighborhood for college and work.

Curt's Corner #2

Are you ready for the scavenger hunt?

Curt's Corner #2 from Curtis Allen on Vimeo.

He Let the Bed Bugs Bite, a Conclusion

Jeremy thoroughly did not like the idea of sleeping in a cabin with bed bugs. Shortly after Jeremy had awoken, Aaron the Spindster awoke to discover that his bed was crawling with the horrible pests as well. Jeremy quickly threw his bedding out onto the cabin’s front porch and gathered up his things. After a thorough inspection of his belongings before packing them up, Jeremy left the cabin in search of another place to sleep.

Jeremy walked to the car where he had decided to spend the night. It was already close to 4 a.m. and he was by now quite tired. Although the car wasn’t very comfortable, he decided it was much better than sleeping with dozens of small insects stabbing his flesh and using his blood as a beverage. He lay awake for a long time, exhausted yet somehow not quite able to sleep. A few days later he found out that apparently Jared Etherton had been asleep in a tree nearby. Luckily he did not know this at the time or there would have been a very great temptation to do something to the poor lad. He eventually fell asleep and had a short nap before waking up when the sun rose.

Later that day, the resident entomologist, Sarah, confirmed the reportings of bed bugs and collected samples for analysis. Why anyone would want a sample of a blood-sucking creature Jeremy was not sure, but she informed him that it would have a fairly quick death. Jeremy would have preferred a long, drawn-out death because he felt that the insects deserved it for their horrendous and unjust actions against his very precious blood.

After arriving home that evening, the great purging began. The cauldrons bubbled and boiled as the hot steaming water flushed out and destroyed any bed bugs or eggs hiding in Jeremy’s belongings. He could hear their tiny screams coming from his clothes and baggage as he dunked it into the steaming water, but he cared not. They had started this war, and he was going to kill them all.

Was Jeremy successful? Did he win against the bed bugs? He certainly hopes so.

Brianna's Thoughts From Day Two

We awoke Saturday morning to the dramatic news flash: bed bugs! The boys’ cabins were infested. Displaced from their bunks, the guys had apparently retreated to random couches, cars, and…trees. Word of the invasion quickly spread to the girls' side of the camp, and the next few minutes sounded a like this: "Eewww...oh yuck!" "Now I'm worried about every itch I feel...is that a bed bug?" "Quick, search your luggage!" Oh well, I guess it added to the total “camp experience!”

Most of us slept-walked through breakfast and stumbled into the conference room for our morning session with Curt. We listened to two testimonies, one from Mike Perry and one from Shamane Gardner, that powerfully demonstrated how confidence in an eternity with God provides unfathomable peace strength to persevere through trials. I am thankful that Curt asked them to share; oftentimes, I fail to realize the full implications of a truth until I see how they play out in the lives of other people.

We then proceeded to the "confidence course," a rope obstacle course that tested our teamwork skills. We broke into two groups, and each group had to progress through five different stations. My favorite station was the ropes course where the entire team had to work their way along a rope to the finish line. At first it seemed fairly simple with us acting as tight-rope walkers holding onto a rope that tangled overhead. The difficulty gradually increased however, as handholds grew further and further apart until we could only hang desperately onto one another!

As I half-walked, half-stumbled along the rope, my arms swinging wildly in circles and grabbing for the nearest person, I realized as never before that I am not a gymnast! In the words of Curt, “People showed off moves they never knew they had!” We also had to carefully slide each other through the rope "spider web," fling each other over a wall, and balance the entire group on a giant wooden “teeter-totter.” Team bonding took on a whole new meaning, especially when it came to awkwardly squeezing twenty, sweaty people onto a 3'x3' platform (I don't think any of us thought we'd ever see Jeremy and Jacob hold each other so tightly!). It was so much fun taking on the course together and having to rely on each other to finish intact!

We had a few hours of free time after lunch, during which some of us jumped into the paddle boats and engaged in an intense game of basketball-water-polo in addition to a race across the pond. Another group struck up a spontaneous jam session, while the smart ones snored away in their cabins.

Our final group session successfully summed up the weekend’s focus on heaven. I was especially challenged by Curt’s point that my reason for honoring God must not stop at “my sins are forgiven.” I must add to that viewpoint the reality and the motivation of heaven, because knowing my ultimate endpoint will drive me to persevere through any circumstance. No matter how I interpret Revelation’s account of the “end times,” the outcome is 100% certain, an eternity with God!

After the session, we packed, ate dinner, and drove out. I don’t know about anyone else, but I went into complete zombie-mode on the way home! Despite the exhaustion, I was grateful for the time I was able to spend with Lightswitch that weekend! The retreat was a definite all-around success. For me, one of the retreat’s biggest blessings was the strong sense of unity. We spent time together, not as individuals or as cliques. We gelled as a group of brothers and sisters, worshipping God, gleaning from His Word and from each other, and just having a blast! I was reminded that we are not in this battle alone. As we seek to sift through and apply the truths of heaven to our daily lives, God has blessed us with a support system within Lightswitch. I felt for the first time as a new member of the group, that “What we do, we do together!”

Notes and Quotes from Day Two of LS Retreat

He is God, therefore we believe in him, we don’t need to believe in him in order for him to be God.

The presence of God is what makes Christianity different from every other religion. We are made to desire being in the presence of God.

“The dwelling place of God will be among men in heaven.”

To some degree we are blind; God allows suffering for us to see the world the way it really is.

“Life is summed up in two words: ‘Thank you.’”

It is cowardly to hear the gospel, know the gospel and shrink back from living the gospel.”

Don’t shy away from hard work for fear of legalism. It is godly to work hard to be godly. It is easy to not want to work hard.

We won already; this victory should affect the way you play. The game is over. We won. Work hard. Be a conqueror. Thank God.

Day 2

In a 100 words or less

Wake up. WAKE UP!

What a Savior.

Testimonies.

Faith and grace.

Death drew near.

Strengthened from a fall.

Ropes. Lots of ropes.

Too close for comfort.

Hold my hand!

Grab my back!

Toss her up!

Suck it in!

Squeeze her through!

Don’t drop Jacob!

Paddle-boat-water-polo.

Aching muscles.

Afternoon breeze.

Sweaty. Stinky.

All in one room.

Heaven. Remember.

Conqueror or coward?

Rewards for faithfulness.

Game over.

We've won.

Clean up.

Pack up.

Forgot a pillow.

Left a towel.

Did someone get Jared?

Drive off.

Rain.

Can’t see road.

More rain.

Safely home.

Don't Forget About Keepin' That Sharp Eye Out

Welcome back to the blog! Did you think we would just leave you hanging? As promised, more things have been posted since your last visit. Check out the Vimeo video stream, two new videos have been added. They won't always be released in order, so make sure you scroll through all of them in case you may have missed one of you doing something embarrassing. And as you can see below there are two new blog posts about the retreat. About five blog posts will be on the homepage at any given time. If you missed something, just go through the archives in the labels on the right hand side, or click through the links at the top of the page. The blog will consistently be updated every couple of days, so stay tuned for more to come.

Curt's Corner #1

Curt welcoming us to the blog, in his own unique way.

Curt's Corner Beware from Curtis Allen on Vimeo.

He Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Quick, take a really good look at your bed. Right now. Do it. If you see something that looks like a blood-sucking, flesh-piercing, fear-inspiring, bane of my existence, temptation to anger, then you have seen what is commonly referred to as “cimex lectularius.” Maybe it’s not “commonly” referred to as that but if you asked any degree touting entomologist (or Sarah Jeanne) they would be able to tell you that what you have seen is known to most of us as a bed bug. If you’re not sure what one looks like, below is my interpretive painting of one of these creatures.As you can see, the large fangs and aggressive speech make this creature’s intent obvious. It desires to drink your blood like a small insectoid Dracula. Why do I have such a personal grudge against these small insects? Let me tell you a story.

A long, long few days ago, in a camp far, far nearby there was a happy group of campers called Lightswitch. Among them was an innocent, happy boy named Jeremy. Jeremy was thoroughly enjoying the evening and spending time with his friends, but that was all about to change.

Jeremy and his friends were up quite late that night enjoying one another’s company and doing things all together (someone should come up with a slogan catchier than that, something like “if or when we do something, we do it inclusively as long as people can make it”). When they were finally ready to go to bed, the guys went to their cabin, only to find that a lumberjack named Jacob was in the middle of an anti-tree campaign that would have prevented the sleep of anyone who stayed in the cabin.

Luckily, there was a vacant cabin next door. Jeremy and his friends decided that they would spend the night in this cabin instead. This would be a decision Jeremy would later regret, for in this cabin lived something far worse than a noise violation comparable to a jetliner taking off. Yes, in this cabin were the bed bugs, silently waiting to feast upon the unaware (and quite tired) Jeremy.

So Jeremy and his friends got ready for bed. At this point it was discovered that the cabin also had an unusually high population of nocturnas theologous (commonly referred to as nocturnal theologians). These creatures were harmless, however, (and rather intriguing) so Jeremy (as interested as he was) soon drifted off to sleep to the sounds of Bible doctrine and an African American bedtime dance.

40 minutes later…

Jeremy awoke to find the nocturnas theologous still chirping their sweet salvation songs, but something wasn’t quite right. Jeremy’s eyes quickly settled on a small bug scuttering its way across the bunk-bed wall. Jeremy quickly reverted to the girly influences of his upbringing and jumped out of bed in a way that made some think he was sleep-walking. When asked what the problem was he muttered something about bugs. At which point “He Who Knows These Things” (a.k.a. Ben Rodgers) verified that it was indeed the dreaded bed bug. This was the beginning of the infamous night of the bed bugs. To be continued in a future post.

Brianna's Thoughts from Day 1

So I had definitely looked forward to this retreat for weeks. But I must admit, being one of the newest members of Lightswitch, I was also slightly apprehensive and unsure of what to expect from the weekend! Friday afternoon, everyone gathered at the church and proceeded to tackle the first challenge of the weekend: packing up the vans. I and six other girls managed to fit all of our luggage into the Bucca-mobile. Curt and Juan called our incredibly-crammed trunk "Ridiculous." I considered it extremely impressive! The trip to our surprise destination was long, but so much fun. The roads wound through the most gorgeous countryside, and jammin’ out to Sting, Josh Groban, Dino, and Holly’s progressive 70’s rock music also helped prevent any possible boredom!

Curt chose a gorgeous site for our retreat: Summit Lake Camp. As soon as we arrived, the whole group spread out to snap pictures and explore, undeterred by the persistent rain. Everything on the grounds was photogenic: hills, forests, the mountain view...everything screamed out God’s creative power! I could not help but marvel at the world’s stubborn denial of His work in creation, when everything around us only reinforced that creativity! The girls from my cabin discovered a huge empty field and some beautiful hills behind our cabin, and proceeded to run to the top and then race back down screaming, “Charrrrrrrrrrge!” Must have been something in the air…

After dinner, we met in our own on-site “conference room” to worship. Ben led us in singing some powerful songs that pointed us to Christ and helped to prepare our hearts for God's Word. In my opinion, the absence of lyrics projected on a screen added something to this time. It may seem trivial, but singing praises to God from memory was new to me, and I felt like I was able to praise God more freely. I purely enjoyed this experience!

Curt then shared about the often-forgotten truth that heaven is the believer’s final destination, and that this truth should affect our day-to-day lives. He made the profound statement that “Sanctification not focused on destination will lead to condemnation.” We were all reminded of God’s awesome mercy in saving us, not just for this life, but for an eternity in His presence. I was grateful to Curt for focusing our attention on heaven. I know that I often shove many simple truths, such as the believer's assurance of heaven, aside, or at least push them into the background. Yet God was faithful to bring that truth to the forefront this weekend.


After the session, about forty of us engaged in an epic round of mafia. A total blood-bath ensued which lasted well past midnight, and resulted in many ten’s of victims. Who knew about Allison and Lauren’s brutal sibling rivalry, the hidden resentment toward blonds and minorities (*cough*Juan*cough*), or Ken’s secret suspicion of his wife! Unfortunately for Ken, his suspicion of innocent Laura was proven wrong, and after she was wrongly accused and killed we proved whose side we were on by killing him. Accusations flew, the room-temperature rose significantly...and I laughed hysterically! We stumbled (literally) into our cabins around 2 a.m. and managed to catch a few hours of sleep before breakfast.

By this time, most of my nervousness had disappeared, and I fell asleep excitedly anticipating the next day. To be continued in a future post.

Notes and Quotes from Day One of LS Retreat

“Sanctification has far more value in reminding us of the destination.”

“Be reminded of the reward; it is the deep breath that I take.”

“Add heaven, add destination to sanctification. Add it.”

“What we do, we do together, will be forever, with a bunch of other people.” (speaking of us in heaven)

Day 1
A haiku?

Pack. Squeeze. Fit.
Drive. See. Rain.
More Rain. Wishing well.
Cabins. Dinner. First Meeting.
No notes. God’s grace. Heaven.
Heaven! Heaven? Heaven.
God over all.
All I have is Christ.
Mafia. 42 people.
Juan’s dead.
The blondes are dead.
Let’s kill Laura.
Mike Perry did it.
Mike Perry didn’t do it.
Ben must have done it.
Ben didn’t do it.
2am. 3am. 4am.
Sleep.
Bed bugs.
For some.
No sleep.

Welcome

Welcome to the Lightswitch blog! This is made for Lightswitch and by members of Lightswitch for the purpose of furthering the community we are building together under the banner of “What we do, we do together.” This blog will be a one-stop shop for all members of LS who want to keep up with the latest news and upcoming events. We will be posting videos and pictures from events we do, and thoughts and questions from messages we hear on Sundays or at the Thursday night meetings.

We’ve got some great material coming up, and we want everyone to have a part in putting this blog together. So do not be shocked if someone from the blog team -- Allison, Ken, Evy, Brianna, Juan, Shane, Aaron, Jen, or Mike -- asks you to submit pictures or writing. We want everyone to be a part of the fun, and even if you don’t join in willingly you will most likely still find yourself on the blog.

Posts will go up on a regular basis every couple of days. So keep a sharp eye out, this is only the beginning…