Here is an incredible artist: Phil Wickham
So I don't have much going on, well outside of the internship that is. (Well, that is probably the biggest lie I have told in sometime.) But it's all great stuff, I am leaving the family that I have stayed with for three months tomorrow and moving in with another family. Meeting the Baker's and staying with them was the greatest experience for me, many nights we would just sit and talk about so many different things and how different the views are that we hold, but it's a generational difference, and it's cool to get to hear a different side of things. I am truly going to miss these people, well miss living with them. Thanks guys!
I am really learning new ideas and learning so many things about leadership that will benefit me so much in the future. I was at lunch with Aaron and through conversation I realized that I have things I MUST get over if I want to be effective in leadership. The largest one of those obstacles is my fear to speak up when I see something wrong and the reason is because I see myself as too young to add insight to people older than I and people will dis-credit anything I say because of that.(some of you are shocked right now that I do know how to hold my tongue, but it's true, I process everything in my head before I say it) I am never scared to stand up for what I know is right, the times I am speaking of is when someone is only talking with a narrow minded or very objective view. Some one close to me was talking the other day about wanting to start and build a community of believers and "do life" with those people around him, and if you have read any of my blogs I love this idea, I desire it. But I also understand that if you want to lead a church you must have a system in place so that things will grow and so things stay organized and the most important thing is that people are growing spiritually. In this community I never want to get away from prayer or scripture studying, I think when you get away from that you are not a Christ centered community you are just a strong community. Understand that there is nothing wrong with that, it's awesome, but if you desire to be a church and your missing out on prayer and scripture then I have to wonder if your a church or just another loving group of people. I desire a Christ Centered Community, which translates into a close spiritually growing community. Without structure people forget what they are living for, in the book of Acts(Bible) we see people sharing and selling their things to help people and it all sounds great but just a couple chapters later we see Ananias and Sapphira taking advantage of people and stealing. Without structure things wont hold up. Community is what I desire but I understand that without structure in that, i.e prayer and scripture and teaching/preaching, the community will eventually fall apart.
I am still learning to speak up when I have insight and I understand that I will never be an effective leader until I stop being fearful and speak what I believe to be true. I need to stop thinking I am too young. I am working on that and many other things.(I'm sure I'll tell you those things eventually.)
Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Twenty-second
Music time: Aaron (not the guy I'm interning under, but another Aaron)
I am such a somber kind of mood. I walk in to my office and the first thing I read was a horrible tragedy that occured yesterday at Cinicinnati Christian University, a school where many friends have gone. Here is a link to the story I read:
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/NEWS0107/808210387/1055/NEWS
I am so sorry for the loss and I honestly cannot even imagine the emotions this family is going through. The thing that really angered me was the comments people left at the end of the story, there was no compassion at all. This makes me sick, the whole thing makes me sick. I don't understand how you can forget something like a baby (but again I'm single and obviously have no kids, that I'm aware of) but in the same breath I can honestly say I have been praying for this lady and her family all morning. I am certain that bad things do happen and I am certain that being a parent and a teacher can throw your schedule off a little and make you forget the easy things, but a baby?
Either way I am in a somber mood and will be all day. I think in times like these is when the church really needs to step in and love and FOLLOW UP with these lady. Continue to lift her spirits and continue to encourage her. I think it is so easy to be there for a family while the tragedy is still fresh in our minds, but it is the coming months that are really trying for a family, trust me I know.
This one is short, becuase really I don't have much to say about it. I know to you all who don't have the same worldview I do are reading this and I'm sure this sounds very "christian-ey" (yes i created a word) but I ask that you just put yourself in this ladies shoes. Try and feel the pain and hurt. Sorry this seems so, depressing, but it's just all I can think about.
Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..
I am such a somber kind of mood. I walk in to my office and the first thing I read was a horrible tragedy that occured yesterday at Cinicinnati Christian University, a school where many friends have gone. Here is a link to the story I read:
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/NEWS0107/808210387/1055/NEWS
I am so sorry for the loss and I honestly cannot even imagine the emotions this family is going through. The thing that really angered me was the comments people left at the end of the story, there was no compassion at all. This makes me sick, the whole thing makes me sick. I don't understand how you can forget something like a baby (but again I'm single and obviously have no kids, that I'm aware of) but in the same breath I can honestly say I have been praying for this lady and her family all morning. I am certain that bad things do happen and I am certain that being a parent and a teacher can throw your schedule off a little and make you forget the easy things, but a baby?
Either way I am in a somber mood and will be all day. I think in times like these is when the church really needs to step in and love and FOLLOW UP with these lady. Continue to lift her spirits and continue to encourage her. I think it is so easy to be there for a family while the tragedy is still fresh in our minds, but it is the coming months that are really trying for a family, trust me I know.
This one is short, becuase really I don't have much to say about it. I know to you all who don't have the same worldview I do are reading this and I'm sure this sounds very "christian-ey" (yes i created a word) but I ask that you just put yourself in this ladies shoes. Try and feel the pain and hurt. Sorry this seems so, depressing, but it's just all I can think about.
Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Twenty-one
O.A.R.- "this town"...the significance of this song choice is that I will be watching them live this Friday...YESSIR!!
Well, it's been a while. But I'm back so every one can now stop crying and anxiously waiting the next time I wrote something.(I say all that just to build up myself, I know no one is eagerly waiting to here what is going on in my crazy mind.)
Well now it's time too fill you in on whats been going on.(trust me it will be a mess) So I went to a conference last weekend that was really awesome, since I am the intern under the lead minister I get to go on all the sweet conferences and this was one of them. I feel that my leadership skills are being matured and I really look foreword to seeing the knowledge that I gain throughout the course of the year.
Well here is the insightfully confusing mind of me. So about this time last summer I felt a strong passion to do a church plant. I jumped on this like a fourth grader at a birthday party. I was all for this idea, I searched areas that had no churches for few or dying churches, I started looking at organizations that helped people start a church, I was sold out on this idea. But then I started thinking about logistics and because of age and money, or the lack there of, I wrote it off in my mind. A few months go by and this thought came back into my head, like before I was sold out on it...but yet I again I wrote it off. This happened a couple more times throughout this past year. Well this whole summer I have been trying to really figure out what God's plan is for me, praying that He will show me the direction. Well at the conference last weekend it came back. Now this conference was a leadership conference so the speakers were mainly from churches and were leaders in their churches. But Bill Hybels (a prominent leader in the church) interviewed a couple people, go figure they were people who had a dream and a vision and a calling and nothing was going to stand in the way of their dream. Well the first woman is the founder of Teach-for-America, an organization that takes the top teachers in America and places them in very low income schools to provide a great education for kids. This woman was 22 when she saw this vision and was 23 when all this started. Age was not going to stand in the way of a vision.(When I heard this I thought, "oh no, God is getting ready to shake me.") I was floored by this woman's drive. But the next interview was another woman who graduated at 22 and went to the stock market and found herself trading millions of dollars. Well after a couple years she felt God calling her to go into the prison systems and teach men how to become entrepreneurs and how to maintain a business. But in order to do this her and her husband had to put all their money into this mission. So she tells this story about how they gave ALL their money to this and even took an early penalty hit on their 401k (i don't know what that means but it sounds bad) and then moved to Texas. Well the night they got to Texas someone broke in and stole everything they owned. They had nothing. (At this point I KNOW God is holding me up and just slapping me in the face saying- "hey are you hearing this? Yeah, I got you.") What are the odds that the same things these young women went through and God brought them through are the exact same things that I make as an excuse that I can't do a church plant?
Well after the conference I understood God was trying to tell me something and I knew all I could do is pray about it. Well I chose to try and let this church plant thing just sit, I mean I still have a year here and then one more year of school. So there is at least 2 years before I can/want to do anything. But what happens next is hard for me not to say it was God's hand coming at me again. One of my close friends Anthony a.k.a Tangy came into my head and I decided to call him. Now understand that this guy has a calling from God that is incredible, it's much to long to get into but know it deals with supporting missionaries, it's incredible. Well in the past we have talked about planting a church but like usual it passes. Well he brings it up. We get into this huge discussion and find ourselves just laughing a nervous laugh because we are unsure what God is trying to do, but we we know he is doing something. And I have enough faith to understand that if He is calling me to do something then He will take care of me.
I guess all I can ask is that you pray. Not just for me but pray and ask God what he is calling you to do. Where is it that you can be tool for Him? Pray that God's vision to save the lost is your vision. Pray that His heart is yours. But understand by praying for these things you may be called to do something you think can't be done, but remember that God is so much bigger than the struggles we create in our mind.
Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..
Well, it's been a while. But I'm back so every one can now stop crying and anxiously waiting the next time I wrote something.(I say all that just to build up myself, I know no one is eagerly waiting to here what is going on in my crazy mind.)
Well now it's time too fill you in on whats been going on.(trust me it will be a mess) So I went to a conference last weekend that was really awesome, since I am the intern under the lead minister I get to go on all the sweet conferences and this was one of them. I feel that my leadership skills are being matured and I really look foreword to seeing the knowledge that I gain throughout the course of the year.
Well here is the insightfully confusing mind of me. So about this time last summer I felt a strong passion to do a church plant. I jumped on this like a fourth grader at a birthday party. I was all for this idea, I searched areas that had no churches for few or dying churches, I started looking at organizations that helped people start a church, I was sold out on this idea. But then I started thinking about logistics and because of age and money, or the lack there of, I wrote it off in my mind. A few months go by and this thought came back into my head, like before I was sold out on it...but yet I again I wrote it off. This happened a couple more times throughout this past year. Well this whole summer I have been trying to really figure out what God's plan is for me, praying that He will show me the direction. Well at the conference last weekend it came back. Now this conference was a leadership conference so the speakers were mainly from churches and were leaders in their churches. But Bill Hybels (a prominent leader in the church) interviewed a couple people, go figure they were people who had a dream and a vision and a calling and nothing was going to stand in the way of their dream. Well the first woman is the founder of Teach-for-America, an organization that takes the top teachers in America and places them in very low income schools to provide a great education for kids. This woman was 22 when she saw this vision and was 23 when all this started. Age was not going to stand in the way of a vision.(When I heard this I thought, "oh no, God is getting ready to shake me.") I was floored by this woman's drive. But the next interview was another woman who graduated at 22 and went to the stock market and found herself trading millions of dollars. Well after a couple years she felt God calling her to go into the prison systems and teach men how to become entrepreneurs and how to maintain a business. But in order to do this her and her husband had to put all their money into this mission. So she tells this story about how they gave ALL their money to this and even took an early penalty hit on their 401k (i don't know what that means but it sounds bad) and then moved to Texas. Well the night they got to Texas someone broke in and stole everything they owned. They had nothing. (At this point I KNOW God is holding me up and just slapping me in the face saying- "hey are you hearing this? Yeah, I got you.") What are the odds that the same things these young women went through and God brought them through are the exact same things that I make as an excuse that I can't do a church plant?
Well after the conference I understood God was trying to tell me something and I knew all I could do is pray about it. Well I chose to try and let this church plant thing just sit, I mean I still have a year here and then one more year of school. So there is at least 2 years before I can/want to do anything. But what happens next is hard for me not to say it was God's hand coming at me again. One of my close friends Anthony a.k.a Tangy came into my head and I decided to call him. Now understand that this guy has a calling from God that is incredible, it's much to long to get into but know it deals with supporting missionaries, it's incredible. Well in the past we have talked about planting a church but like usual it passes. Well he brings it up. We get into this huge discussion and find ourselves just laughing a nervous laugh because we are unsure what God is trying to do, but we we know he is doing something. And I have enough faith to understand that if He is calling me to do something then He will take care of me.
I guess all I can ask is that you pray. Not just for me but pray and ask God what he is calling you to do. Where is it that you can be tool for Him? Pray that God's vision to save the lost is your vision. Pray that His heart is yours. But understand by praying for these things you may be called to do something you think can't be done, but remember that God is so much bigger than the struggles we create in our mind.
Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..
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