Tonight, we had an open house at Sacred Grounds for the church youth. We don't really do a whole lot for this, just kind of hang out and play games and stuff. I know it doesn't sound really exciting, but what a fantastic time! I love getting a chance to hang out and talk with our youth coaches. You would think that being partners in what we do, we would all be close friends, but it really doesn't happen like that. It is nights like tonight that really make me see the love we all have for one another and the mission we have teaching our youth!
I look back at the last year, and I am amazed at how much we all have grown in the Lord! We didn't really have a clue what we were doing when our leader left, but we were thrust into positions that we had to deal with. I have to say that we have definitely proven that we are a great team, and that whatever the obstacle, we will overcome. I am honored to be associated with each and every one of them.
Jeremy is really coming into his role as our leader, and it makes me proud to see how much he has grown since I join in this ministry.
Amy is always so grounded and easy to talk to! I always know that if I or any of the youth have any problems or personal concerns, she will lend an ear and any help she can.
Angelique is always gonna be our conservative conscience and mother figure. The love she showers the group with each week is overwhelming, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. I am one who is sometimes quick to decide, and if I am too rash, she will not hesitate to slow me down. Thanks for keeping us in check!
The amount of work the Lord has done with Mike is a true testimony to God's power. When I first met him, he was really introverted and not very confident about teaching. He is still a little apprehensive about teaching because he feels that he isn't as strong as the others, but I strongly disagree with this! He has come out of his shell with the students as well as with the other coaches, and I think that when he relaxes and just shares what he has lived and learned, he will be great. I have seen a complete 180 with him, and I am privileged to call him a friend. I am so glad that he has stuck with us through the rough times!
As for me, I have had my ups and downs with this ministry. When I first started, I really loved to teach, then Satan realized this and attacked. For a while, I didn't even want spend the time to do anything...It was all about me. I was struggling at home and church. Personally and spiritually. However, I am glad God got me through the rough patch. I finally taught again, and it was truly exhilarating! I don't know everything, but it is so fun to learn about a topic or person then teach it to the youth. I forgot how much I enjoyed doing the Lord's work, and feel ashamed that I pushed away for so long. I know that the war isn't over, but it is nice to know that with the help of my true friends and loved ones, this battle was a victory. Thanks everyone for helping me through all of the garbage, and I hope that each of you know...I AM HERE FOR YOU, TOO!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
"Junior the Revelator"
Sorry I ended so abruptly the other night and for not finishing up last night...We didn't get home until real late, and I really wanted to do this story properly. So, without further adieu...Here is the conclusion:
I would visit my aunt and uncle every week or so, and if I ever got caught alone by my uncle, it was on! He would start asking questions about what I was into, and from there he would grab his Bible and start talking. Usually, it was an hour of me going "Oh yeah?" or "Really?" In retrospect, I can really see where the Holy Spirit was at work in that man, and still is to this day. Man, do we have some good conversations!!!
It was from his house that I was coming from one day, and I remember that I was on 64W right at the McAlpine Locks...For those of you who don't know where that is, it is where that big blue bridge is that raises straight up in the air. I remember being there on the road, and God actually revealed Himself to me! Not physically in the car, but you will see what I mean. I know I sound crazy to say something like that in the 21st century, but that doesn't make it any less true. I remember feeling really warm and having this bright and blinding white light in my mind. It is here where God finally brought understanding to the meaning of the "Perfect Sacrifice." See, I had heard most of the stories from the Bible, and I just thought of them as fairy tales. I never understood why people called Jesus the perfect sacrifice, or why there was a need for a sacrifice in the first place. During this revelation from God, He showed me that the Jews had all of these different sacrifices for different sins, and that with the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus, there was no need for anymore of the sacrifices of the "law." I GOT IT! And, all while driving in Kentucky! LOL...It is a miracle in itself that I didn't crash. It sounds like a drawn out ordeal, but it happened in just a split-second. You can't tell me that our God isn't an AWESOME God!
Right there, I picked up the phone, and called a friend who I knew was a believer, and told him what happened and that I needed to be baptized that Sunday, which would have been two days later. He said, "Why wait?" So, we met in Greenville the next day, and along with two other believers, we went to Indian Creek near twin bridges and I was baptized in to the Love of Christ! That was April 30, 2005, and let me tell you, it was cold in that water, but I am so thankful for God giving me another chance at the life He meant for me.
If you are reading this, and are thinking that there is no way God would forgive you for the things you have done, STOP! I have been there, and believe me, HE WILL! If you have the need to talk about your beliefs or questions about how to ask Him for forgiveness, email me at nine99teen@yahoo.com, and I will send you my phone number so we can talk. I would love the opportunity to sit and show you the love that God has shown me in the last two and a half years. You will be floored by the change he has done in my life, and more so by the change He can do in your own.
Well, that is how I became a Christ-follower. When I read it, it is a little hard to believe, but that is how it happened. It seems that I have to be constantly reminded what God has done to me, and I want to thank Chad for bringing this blogging thing to GCC. It really has made me take a long look inside, and I have needed to do that for a while now. Chad, you have started a snowball with this thing, and it looks like the whole dang congregation is gonna be on here before it's over with! LOL...
I would visit my aunt and uncle every week or so, and if I ever got caught alone by my uncle, it was on! He would start asking questions about what I was into, and from there he would grab his Bible and start talking. Usually, it was an hour of me going "Oh yeah?" or "Really?" In retrospect, I can really see where the Holy Spirit was at work in that man, and still is to this day. Man, do we have some good conversations!!!
It was from his house that I was coming from one day, and I remember that I was on 64W right at the McAlpine Locks...For those of you who don't know where that is, it is where that big blue bridge is that raises straight up in the air. I remember being there on the road, and God actually revealed Himself to me! Not physically in the car, but you will see what I mean. I know I sound crazy to say something like that in the 21st century, but that doesn't make it any less true. I remember feeling really warm and having this bright and blinding white light in my mind. It is here where God finally brought understanding to the meaning of the "Perfect Sacrifice." See, I had heard most of the stories from the Bible, and I just thought of them as fairy tales. I never understood why people called Jesus the perfect sacrifice, or why there was a need for a sacrifice in the first place. During this revelation from God, He showed me that the Jews had all of these different sacrifices for different sins, and that with the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus, there was no need for anymore of the sacrifices of the "law." I GOT IT! And, all while driving in Kentucky! LOL...It is a miracle in itself that I didn't crash. It sounds like a drawn out ordeal, but it happened in just a split-second. You can't tell me that our God isn't an AWESOME God!
Right there, I picked up the phone, and called a friend who I knew was a believer, and told him what happened and that I needed to be baptized that Sunday, which would have been two days later. He said, "Why wait?" So, we met in Greenville the next day, and along with two other believers, we went to Indian Creek near twin bridges and I was baptized in to the Love of Christ! That was April 30, 2005, and let me tell you, it was cold in that water, but I am so thankful for God giving me another chance at the life He meant for me.
If you are reading this, and are thinking that there is no way God would forgive you for the things you have done, STOP! I have been there, and believe me, HE WILL! If you have the need to talk about your beliefs or questions about how to ask Him for forgiveness, email me at nine99teen@yahoo.com, and I will send you my phone number so we can talk. I would love the opportunity to sit and show you the love that God has shown me in the last two and a half years. You will be floored by the change he has done in my life, and more so by the change He can do in your own.
Well, that is how I became a Christ-follower. When I read it, it is a little hard to believe, but that is how it happened. It seems that I have to be constantly reminded what God has done to me, and I want to thank Chad for bringing this blogging thing to GCC. It really has made me take a long look inside, and I have needed to do that for a while now. Chad, you have started a snowball with this thing, and it looks like the whole dang congregation is gonna be on here before it's over with! LOL...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Traditions of Men
Tonight at church, we talked about the traditions of men. There has been a lot of change going on around GCC since our new pastor arrived, and they have been much needed! Tonight, we focused mainly on the fact that our communion table has been moved. I just can't make myself see why this would be a problem, but for some people, it is.
Anyway, there is a tradition at our church, and most other churches that I have been to, that really gets under my skin. That is the offering plate. I find it absolutely offensive that we pass around a plate specifically for people to place their money in. What bothers me is that other people are watching whether or not you put something in the plate. I know that they are not supposed to be judging me if I don't have anything to put in or if I already put my offering in for the month, but that doesn't mean that they aren't! If I don't have something to put in, this is the time during my worship service to feel GUILTY! Every single time the offering comes around, it think to myself, "Here comes the guilt plate." I can't tell where in the Scriptures it says, but I can't help to feel that it is a sin to make another person feel guilty about anything. I know that our church doesn't mean to make us feel guilty about this, but that doesn't change the fact that it does, and this is something that I feel needs to change.
I don't know what the average donation is per member in our church, and really don't need to know. However, I attended a church once that did not pass around an offering plate. They had "joy boxes" next to the exits, and the pastor told the congregation that if they were going to give an offering to put it there. Nice and simple. To really put an exclamation point on it, the average donation there is $8.00 per member. They have 10,000 members, and 8 bucks a pop, that is a lot of money for the Lord's work, and not a single person had to be guilted into giving.
I am not accusing anyone of any wrong! I just think that if this offends me, imagine how it makes a guest feel when you hand them a plate to put money in! I look around when the plate is making it's rounds, and I remember going to church with a friend while I was in high school, and his mom would give us a dollar each so we could have something to put in. Ridiculous! Please notice that my grudge is with the offering PLATE, not the offering itself. We are supposed to give joyfully to the Lord the firstfruits of our labors because everything we have is His anyway, and all He asks in return is the first 10%. Don't put something in the plate for the sake of putting something in the plate.
These are my feelings on the subject, and if I have offended someone, please let me know. I would love to talk about this further, and I hope that there is a reason this is done that I am missing. Anyway, leave me a comment, and let me know your feelings about the offering plate. I love blogging!!!! What a great way to get your feelings out.
Anyway, there is a tradition at our church, and most other churches that I have been to, that really gets under my skin. That is the offering plate. I find it absolutely offensive that we pass around a plate specifically for people to place their money in. What bothers me is that other people are watching whether or not you put something in the plate. I know that they are not supposed to be judging me if I don't have anything to put in or if I already put my offering in for the month, but that doesn't mean that they aren't! If I don't have something to put in, this is the time during my worship service to feel GUILTY! Every single time the offering comes around, it think to myself, "Here comes the guilt plate." I can't tell where in the Scriptures it says, but I can't help to feel that it is a sin to make another person feel guilty about anything. I know that our church doesn't mean to make us feel guilty about this, but that doesn't change the fact that it does, and this is something that I feel needs to change.
I don't know what the average donation is per member in our church, and really don't need to know. However, I attended a church once that did not pass around an offering plate. They had "joy boxes" next to the exits, and the pastor told the congregation that if they were going to give an offering to put it there. Nice and simple. To really put an exclamation point on it, the average donation there is $8.00 per member. They have 10,000 members, and 8 bucks a pop, that is a lot of money for the Lord's work, and not a single person had to be guilted into giving.
I am not accusing anyone of any wrong! I just think that if this offends me, imagine how it makes a guest feel when you hand them a plate to put money in! I look around when the plate is making it's rounds, and I remember going to church with a friend while I was in high school, and his mom would give us a dollar each so we could have something to put in. Ridiculous! Please notice that my grudge is with the offering PLATE, not the offering itself. We are supposed to give joyfully to the Lord the firstfruits of our labors because everything we have is His anyway, and all He asks in return is the first 10%. Don't put something in the plate for the sake of putting something in the plate.
These are my feelings on the subject, and if I have offended someone, please let me know. I would love to talk about this further, and I hope that there is a reason this is done that I am missing. Anyway, leave me a comment, and let me know your feelings about the offering plate. I love blogging!!!! What a great way to get your feelings out.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
How does that Nike slogan go?
I really don't know where to go with this bloggin thing...I guess I will just talk about what comes to mind.
I was just talking to Dawn, my beautiful wife, about this Sunday. We, the THRIVE band, have been invited to perform at Georgetown Christian Church! Talk about psyched! It is awesome that they were so impressed by us that they want us to be special guests. I mean, most of us are brand new musicians. Playing music for the Lord really gets my blood flowing!!! Turns out that we, along with Stephanie, have been asked to perform at another event sometime within the next few weeks, and we get to perform "The Reason" again. That is gonna be great!!! It is amazing that God is opening doors for us as a group, and I am truly thankful.
I want to thank all of you who commented about yesterday's post. I don't share my feelings a whole lot, but I think the time has come for me to start doing so. It seems that for a long time, I have acted like the world owes me something. I have even taught about people who put on the Christian face when around certain people, but change that when around others. The irony is, it seems that I was one of the very people I was trying to teach against. I really want to thank you, Chad. You said something Sunday that really smacked me in the face! I am gonna paraphrase what you said. You said that if we have a scheduled sin, something we know we are going to do, that we should not take communion. That is the first day since my baptism 2-1/2 years ago that I purposefully did not accept the elements, and it HURT! It is nice to know that this Sunday, I can have communion with a clean conscience. I guess in all this rambling, I want to say to anyone who is struggling out there...IF YOU WANT TO GET AWAY FROM A CERTAIN SIN, DO IT!!!! STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, MAKING EXCUSES FOR IT, WHINING ABOUT IT, AND JUST DO IT!!!! I wish I had followed that advice sooner, but hey...Better late than never!
Thanks for reading my thoughts, and for those who did not quite get the Doogie reference from my last post, he always sat down at the computer and typed his thoughts at the end of each episode...
Shalom to All!
I was just talking to Dawn, my beautiful wife, about this Sunday. We, the THRIVE band, have been invited to perform at Georgetown Christian Church! Talk about psyched! It is awesome that they were so impressed by us that they want us to be special guests. I mean, most of us are brand new musicians. Playing music for the Lord really gets my blood flowing!!! Turns out that we, along with Stephanie, have been asked to perform at another event sometime within the next few weeks, and we get to perform "The Reason" again. That is gonna be great!!! It is amazing that God is opening doors for us as a group, and I am truly thankful.
I want to thank all of you who commented about yesterday's post. I don't share my feelings a whole lot, but I think the time has come for me to start doing so. It seems that for a long time, I have acted like the world owes me something. I have even taught about people who put on the Christian face when around certain people, but change that when around others. The irony is, it seems that I was one of the very people I was trying to teach against. I really want to thank you, Chad. You said something Sunday that really smacked me in the face! I am gonna paraphrase what you said. You said that if we have a scheduled sin, something we know we are going to do, that we should not take communion. That is the first day since my baptism 2-1/2 years ago that I purposefully did not accept the elements, and it HURT! It is nice to know that this Sunday, I can have communion with a clean conscience. I guess in all this rambling, I want to say to anyone who is struggling out there...IF YOU WANT TO GET AWAY FROM A CERTAIN SIN, DO IT!!!! STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, MAKING EXCUSES FOR IT, WHINING ABOUT IT, AND JUST DO IT!!!! I wish I had followed that advice sooner, but hey...Better late than never!
Thanks for reading my thoughts, and for those who did not quite get the Doogie reference from my last post, he always sat down at the computer and typed his thoughts at the end of each episode...
Shalom to All!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Back on the narrow path...
This is my first entry, and I could not really think of a better time. See, I have kind of been on a mental sabbatical. I don't really know why I started backsliding, but I have a couple of ideas. Anyway, I am back into the Word everyday, and that is really helping me. That reminds me of a quote I heard a while back, "Sin keeps you away from the Word, but the Word keeps you away from sin." Think about that. If only we could keep ourselves in the Word or just making sure that we keep the values in the Word at the front of our minds at all times. That is very difficult to do in the society we live in, but there are ways. Here is what I have started doing:
1. I download podcasts of sermons to listen to on my mp3 player to and from work. It is about a 25 minute trip one way, so there is almost an hour with God right there. Some of the podcasts I download are:
-Chad Doerr (GCC of course!)
-Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell and others)
-Stephen Furtick (This guy is super cool)
-Mars Hill Christian Church (Seattle)
2. Limit TV watching...I am a story junkie! I love movies, tv shows, and books as long as there is a good story to immerse myself into. This is really bad for me because I always chose TV over reading the Word. I am in the process of drastically cutting my TV schedule, which will open up time for important things like family, friends, and reading. (I have really missed my friends and family over the last month or two, and I am really excited about the changes happening here!)
3. Pocket-sized Bible...My best friend Jeremy had the privilege to go to a Christian leadership conference called "Catalyst." While he was there, he had the opportunity to pick up a pocket-sized Bible for me. I really appreciated him getting it for me, but I didn't know how often it would get used...Today, I read Jude, 3 John, and some of Revelation just because he got me that Bible! It is just so easy to carry around, and it seems to call for me when I am waiting for something like at the doctor's office today. Thanks Kane!!!
It feels so good to be back on the narrow path. I want to thank all of you who cared to ask me what my deal was...It is hard to approach people and ask them what is wrong, and you all have made me look into myself and see what my deal was.
Well, that is my first blog. Whew! I sort of feel like Doogie Howser...
1. I download podcasts of sermons to listen to on my mp3 player to and from work. It is about a 25 minute trip one way, so there is almost an hour with God right there. Some of the podcasts I download are:
-Chad Doerr (GCC of course!)
-Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell and others)
-Stephen Furtick (This guy is super cool)
-Mars Hill Christian Church (Seattle)
2. Limit TV watching...I am a story junkie! I love movies, tv shows, and books as long as there is a good story to immerse myself into. This is really bad for me because I always chose TV over reading the Word. I am in the process of drastically cutting my TV schedule, which will open up time for important things like family, friends, and reading. (I have really missed my friends and family over the last month or two, and I am really excited about the changes happening here!)
3. Pocket-sized Bible...My best friend Jeremy had the privilege to go to a Christian leadership conference called "Catalyst." While he was there, he had the opportunity to pick up a pocket-sized Bible for me. I really appreciated him getting it for me, but I didn't know how often it would get used...Today, I read Jude, 3 John, and some of Revelation just because he got me that Bible! It is just so easy to carry around, and it seems to call for me when I am waiting for something like at the doctor's office today. Thanks Kane!!!
It feels so good to be back on the narrow path. I want to thank all of you who cared to ask me what my deal was...It is hard to approach people and ask them what is wrong, and you all have made me look into myself and see what my deal was.
Well, that is my first blog. Whew! I sort of feel like Doogie Howser...
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