i was very much impressed by the conference this weekend. there was amazing music led by the likes of jason upton and ricardo. there were concerts by truce (hip hop from nyc), what i call a messianic native group ( i really enjoyed this.) it had the tribal feel, with a lot of drums and beats, with guitar. speakers were nicky cruz, harvey carey and reggie dabbs. in which i was impressed by all of them.
i was amazed with the quality. i mentioned earlier that this was a free event that ran primarily on donations. i think i will call later today to see if the finances came in or not. but i am wondering if the wesleyan church could take a chance. if they could see the need to reach the youth of our church in a low cost event or even a free event in which they eat the cost.
the church where i youth pastor has an event like this. i have talked about it before on this blog before. barn bash is an event in which our church for the most part has taken the cost of the event ( roughly $10,000 not including many donations from the congregation.) we do ask for a donation of $5 but do not enforce this. last year we collected $3000, which meant we payed $7000 out of pocket, splitting the bill for the youth and outreach budgets for the year.
personally i think an event like this that the youth pay $3500 on last year was a worthwhile investment. because lives are coming to Christ out of barn bash. this year barn bash will have 7 bands headlined by an up and coming christian band edison glass (they were at most of the christian fests this summer.) and 6 other quality bands. we will have a skate/bmx exhibition team (enemy opposition) which was featured at logos5 in boston. as well as a acoustic stage (headlined by the infamous dave rowe) hayrides, cornmaze, free food (we have a lot of food)
if you are in the syracuse area the weekend of sept 16 i invite you to check it out. reply for more info or go to www.myspace.com/thebarnbash
Monday, August 21, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
joshua revolution (a free youth conference)
joshua revolution was started in niagra falls, new york. today i am leaving with some teens to go to a free youth conference called field of miracles in rochester. normally free means sad and pathetic. however, when reggie dabbs is speaking and jason upton is leading worship how bad can it be? not bad for a three day event.
i like it when organizations take chances to throw a free youth event. i remember going to a youth event in december put on by my denomination that was also three days. it cost each individual about $300. maybe the wesleyans can take som notes from joshua revolution which is by the way a much smaller organization.
i like it when organizations take chances to throw a free youth event. i remember going to a youth event in december put on by my denomination that was also three days. it cost each individual about $300. maybe the wesleyans can take som notes from joshua revolution which is by the way a much smaller organization.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
in a nutshell
Leviticus 11:45 says I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Holiness is a different mindset, one that makes you set apart from the rest of the crowd. In fact that in the Greek form means set apart. Another verse in 1 Timothy 1:8-9 shares the same sentiment; “so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life.
Do you notice how it is two separate things? Salvation and a holy life, we have already been rescued from the depths, the action; the sacrifice has already been made. This action has already taken place. This action of course was Christ dying and resurrecting three days later. In a Christians life we have already accepted this, that is how we are called Christians. The belief in these two acts of Christ.
The act of salvation is past, but the idea of living a holy life is present and future. It is our job to learn how to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God as it says in Romans 12:1.
This is of course not an easy task. But is definitely not unreachable. It is very possible and definitely a reachable goal. God does not ask of us something we cannot be. We have to be different, set apart from the world in our actions and deeds.
Now this holiness does not mean perfection. And this is where the church has messed up. John Wesley called it Christian perfection. Not meaning that we are perfect and cannot sin within holiness. In a way it means that we are bent away from the sinful nature that we were so proned to. This is how we got termed with the word hypocrites, because we cannot live up to perfection.
Do you notice how it is two separate things? Salvation and a holy life, we have already been rescued from the depths, the action; the sacrifice has already been made. This action has already taken place. This action of course was Christ dying and resurrecting three days later. In a Christians life we have already accepted this, that is how we are called Christians. The belief in these two acts of Christ.
The act of salvation is past, but the idea of living a holy life is present and future. It is our job to learn how to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God as it says in Romans 12:1.
This is of course not an easy task. But is definitely not unreachable. It is very possible and definitely a reachable goal. God does not ask of us something we cannot be. We have to be different, set apart from the world in our actions and deeds.
Now this holiness does not mean perfection. And this is where the church has messed up. John Wesley called it Christian perfection. Not meaning that we are perfect and cannot sin within holiness. In a way it means that we are bent away from the sinful nature that we were so proned to. This is how we got termed with the word hypocrites, because we cannot live up to perfection.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
this morning
i saw joe lieberman on the news this morning talking about how he lost the primary in conneticut, and calling for unity between the parties. i like this idea.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
subtle sins within the church (number one)
It has been a problem within the church since before Christ walked the earth. It strikes and hits us all at times in our walk. We mess up and sin yet never even realizes that it was a sin in the first place. However that does not mean somebody else did not see it. Someone we love or someone we have never even met or someone sitting in the next pew over could have seen the action.
They look at us and say, I cannot believe they call themselves a Christian. I thought their lives were supposed to be different now. Or don’t they attend the Wesleyan church on Rt. 11; I guess they do not teach the bible over there. So what do we do about this thing people call hypocrisy? How do we handle this so we can live the example we need to in front of Christians and non-Christians a like.
When Christ walked the earth the Pharisees were the ones labeled as hypocrites and today we try to live as not to be considered the same. So how can we as a church address and rid ourselves of this stereotype.
Christ confronted the Pharisees many times to help make them understand what He was about and to tried to make their religion go from the head to the heart. What he was trying to say is that you need to be real with your faith and not to live in a way that it is all about sticking to the rules because this is legalism. You should live it out because you believe that this is truth. One of these confrontations is found in Matthew 23. So please turn there in your bibles to follow along.
Jesus in this passage warns the Pharisees of some of the sins that they are committing. This is something that might have blindsided them, because while the Pharisees knew they were not perfect it might have come to a surprise that they were sinning by living this way.
We start in vs 13. It reads “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” This shows that the Pharisees are not where they need to be in their spiritual walk. It says that they will not even enter the kingdom of heaven themselves. So you need to deal with your own heart before you can try and change others. There are many people searching for love and acceptance. They are trying to look for God but how can they find him if we are not willing to show them the way to find Christ.
I recently taught a Life studies class that was titled Sharing Jesus without Fear. The whole premise of the study was to show that we have nothing to fear by sharing Christ. It made sharing Christ come easier in everyday conversation. The first class was titled “The Sin of Silence.” William Faye the author said it like this. If you do not share Christ it is a sin. Plain and simple, cut and dry. He goes on to explain that Christ cave us a command to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” William goes on to say whether or not you are good with words or even know your faith that well, God will bless what you say because it is from the heart. God has and will continue to use everyone that has a heart to share his name. You will never lose by sharing your faith and a person coming to a decision not to follow. How you lose is never sharing at all.
The average person takes about 7 times to be witnessed to make a commitment to Christ. So Christ will use you either way. Whether it is an actual commitment or preparing somebody for his or her hopeful commitment. But it is up to us to show them the light. One of the biggest excuses for sharing Christ with someone is that they do not feel competent in their knowledge. But Christ will use our experiences and what we do know to use it for his glory.
They look at us and say, I cannot believe they call themselves a Christian. I thought their lives were supposed to be different now. Or don’t they attend the Wesleyan church on Rt. 11; I guess they do not teach the bible over there. So what do we do about this thing people call hypocrisy? How do we handle this so we can live the example we need to in front of Christians and non-Christians a like.
When Christ walked the earth the Pharisees were the ones labeled as hypocrites and today we try to live as not to be considered the same. So how can we as a church address and rid ourselves of this stereotype.
Christ confronted the Pharisees many times to help make them understand what He was about and to tried to make their religion go from the head to the heart. What he was trying to say is that you need to be real with your faith and not to live in a way that it is all about sticking to the rules because this is legalism. You should live it out because you believe that this is truth. One of these confrontations is found in Matthew 23. So please turn there in your bibles to follow along.
Jesus in this passage warns the Pharisees of some of the sins that they are committing. This is something that might have blindsided them, because while the Pharisees knew they were not perfect it might have come to a surprise that they were sinning by living this way.
We start in vs 13. It reads “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” This shows that the Pharisees are not where they need to be in their spiritual walk. It says that they will not even enter the kingdom of heaven themselves. So you need to deal with your own heart before you can try and change others. There are many people searching for love and acceptance. They are trying to look for God but how can they find him if we are not willing to show them the way to find Christ.
I recently taught a Life studies class that was titled Sharing Jesus without Fear. The whole premise of the study was to show that we have nothing to fear by sharing Christ. It made sharing Christ come easier in everyday conversation. The first class was titled “The Sin of Silence.” William Faye the author said it like this. If you do not share Christ it is a sin. Plain and simple, cut and dry. He goes on to explain that Christ cave us a command to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” William goes on to say whether or not you are good with words or even know your faith that well, God will bless what you say because it is from the heart. God has and will continue to use everyone that has a heart to share his name. You will never lose by sharing your faith and a person coming to a decision not to follow. How you lose is never sharing at all.
The average person takes about 7 times to be witnessed to make a commitment to Christ. So Christ will use you either way. Whether it is an actual commitment or preparing somebody for his or her hopeful commitment. But it is up to us to show them the light. One of the biggest excuses for sharing Christ with someone is that they do not feel competent in their knowledge. But Christ will use our experiences and what we do know to use it for his glory.
Monday, July 24, 2006
quick update
i am back from my crazy trips here and there. over the the past 6 weeks i have been in cleveland, made two trips to maine (one for my grandfathers funeral and the other for a week of vacation) and then i spent two weeks at camp. it was the best of times and the worst of times. i have felt drained the past few weeks but am very glad i was this crazy for a while. it helped me understand a lot about ministry and what my priorities need to be. maybe i will touch a little on that in future posts. but for now i am glad to be back in pulaski to get things going for moving into the parsonage, planning barn bash, and getting ready for some new things involving commonground in the fall (we are starting an afterschool hangout, and will have two bible studies in two schools this year.)
i will hopefully be able to write more often as i will actually be around a computer for an extended amount of time.
i will hopefully be able to write more often as i will actually be around a computer for an extended amount of time.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
catching you all up on my week
a letter i wrote to the youth sponsors
i am not sure how many of you will actually read this before youth tonight but i did want to send out a little greeting and to tall you what is in store for this evening.
if weather allows tonight will be an outdoor night with a campfire, roast some marshmellows, sing some songs and talk about life. this past week as all of you know has been a crazy one. it started with a visit to st joes and see the baby of shane and maria, 10lbs, all i said was i am sorry for your pain. it was a good visit as i saw where life started. then that evening came a spur of the moment trip to cleveland with bud to be with darcy and the rest of the hiltons. i was in cleveland when i received a call on thursday about my grandfather fading fast. so i hopped back in bud's car and drove home. while i driving back to pulaski i received a call of darcy's death. you never know when death will come. darci all though sick for a while just went to cleveland for a routine checkup. while there they put her under for a procedure and she never woke up from coma.friday i left pulaski for northern maine and arrived at the nursing home about 9:30pm. i couldnt believe that the man lying in the bed was my grandather. he had lost about 50 lbs and was very frail. i stayed the night there and woke up every now and then and could tell he was still breathing. the next morning we had breakfast and could tell that he was fading. his complexion started turning almost green and his breaths getting farther apart. as i held his hand he passed away. this was the first time i had ever been in the same room when someone had died. what now layed infront of me was someone mortal but i knew everything immortal about my grandfather was rejoicing up in heaven.tonight i am going to address all three people read ecclesiastes 3 as well as 1 corinthians 13:5 and tells you to examine yourself to see if your life is where it should be.
i am not sure how many of you will actually read this before youth tonight but i did want to send out a little greeting and to tall you what is in store for this evening.
if weather allows tonight will be an outdoor night with a campfire, roast some marshmellows, sing some songs and talk about life. this past week as all of you know has been a crazy one. it started with a visit to st joes and see the baby of shane and maria, 10lbs, all i said was i am sorry for your pain. it was a good visit as i saw where life started. then that evening came a spur of the moment trip to cleveland with bud to be with darcy and the rest of the hiltons. i was in cleveland when i received a call on thursday about my grandfather fading fast. so i hopped back in bud's car and drove home. while i driving back to pulaski i received a call of darcy's death. you never know when death will come. darci all though sick for a while just went to cleveland for a routine checkup. while there they put her under for a procedure and she never woke up from coma.friday i left pulaski for northern maine and arrived at the nursing home about 9:30pm. i couldnt believe that the man lying in the bed was my grandather. he had lost about 50 lbs and was very frail. i stayed the night there and woke up every now and then and could tell he was still breathing. the next morning we had breakfast and could tell that he was fading. his complexion started turning almost green and his breaths getting farther apart. as i held his hand he passed away. this was the first time i had ever been in the same room when someone had died. what now layed infront of me was someone mortal but i knew everything immortal about my grandfather was rejoicing up in heaven.tonight i am going to address all three people read ecclesiastes 3 as well as 1 corinthians 13:5 and tells you to examine yourself to see if your life is where it should be.
Monday, June 05, 2006
ministry in the small town
i am going to try and write this blog in a way that tries not to be judgmental and to say that one church is better then another. i am going to attempt to show that ministry in the small town while not for everyone is fitting for jenny and myself.
as soon as we arrived here 10 months ago i noticed that people knew about our church already. our church is known for a few different areas.
1. tlc-this is the preschool that our church offers. there are about 50 3-4 year olds that run around here being taught by 5 teachers. many of these families do not attend church here but many have enrolled there kids in tlc and have started to attend because of this event.
2. care-n-share-the weekend before thanksgiving we have a free thrift store. almost all that attend this are not from our church.
3. barn bash- music festival that attracted 1500 this past year
these are just three things that we are known for in our community. now in the city, even in a small city like greenville sc there are a multitude of churches (granted it is in the bible belt) so it is harder to distinguish one church from the other. with having churches on every corner it is a little harder to convince someone to come to yours. in pulaski we do not have that problem. with as much outreach as we do. more people come here from word of mouth.
small town ministry in a way is like cheers; everybody knows your name. it is easier to run into someone that you know in a small town.
as for youth ministry, i doubt there there is a teen at pulaski high school that does not know my face and maybe possibly my name. with about 500 students 7-12 grade. it is easier for me to distinguish them as well. in greenville each high school i went into had about 2000 students 9-12. therefore in pulaski it is easier to pick out a face, establish a relationship with this student and see him on a regular basis even though he does not attend church.
small town does not take away the ministry possibilities. there is a community food bank. we as a church have partnered with it rather then having a pantry of our own because people in our area are more apt to go to the food bank anyway. same idea with clothing. we even though not in the inner city still have many people living in poverty right here. the job market here is not the best, and the jobs that are available are minimum wage.
so while one might think that the small town is an exciting place to be in ministry, it suits me perfectly.
as soon as we arrived here 10 months ago i noticed that people knew about our church already. our church is known for a few different areas.
1. tlc-this is the preschool that our church offers. there are about 50 3-4 year olds that run around here being taught by 5 teachers. many of these families do not attend church here but many have enrolled there kids in tlc and have started to attend because of this event.
2. care-n-share-the weekend before thanksgiving we have a free thrift store. almost all that attend this are not from our church.
3. barn bash- music festival that attracted 1500 this past year
these are just three things that we are known for in our community. now in the city, even in a small city like greenville sc there are a multitude of churches (granted it is in the bible belt) so it is harder to distinguish one church from the other. with having churches on every corner it is a little harder to convince someone to come to yours. in pulaski we do not have that problem. with as much outreach as we do. more people come here from word of mouth.
small town ministry in a way is like cheers; everybody knows your name. it is easier to run into someone that you know in a small town.
as for youth ministry, i doubt there there is a teen at pulaski high school that does not know my face and maybe possibly my name. with about 500 students 7-12 grade. it is easier for me to distinguish them as well. in greenville each high school i went into had about 2000 students 9-12. therefore in pulaski it is easier to pick out a face, establish a relationship with this student and see him on a regular basis even though he does not attend church.
small town does not take away the ministry possibilities. there is a community food bank. we as a church have partnered with it rather then having a pantry of our own because people in our area are more apt to go to the food bank anyway. same idea with clothing. we even though not in the inner city still have many people living in poverty right here. the job market here is not the best, and the jobs that are available are minimum wage.
so while one might think that the small town is an exciting place to be in ministry, it suits me perfectly.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
country vs city
fields of grass vs localized parks
being able to see the stars vs not being able to see through the fog and lights of the city
back yards vs no yards
lower rent for house vs higher rent for studio apartment
walking on trails vs walking on sidewalk
living in a small town of 5,000 for some feels like the last thing in the world they would want to put up with. but for me i belong in a small town. i flourish in a small town. i have everything i need in a small town groceries, gas, bank, library and the church. not that big cities do not provide everything as well but for me why drive into the city when i have everything i need?
a lot of people talk about simplifying life. i think for me when you take the city schedule of the high paced always needing to be somewhere you are not was the best thing that ever happened. i do not feel as rushed or stressed but yet i still get done the things that need to be finished and more. for me this is what country life is all about. and if i ever do want the city well syracuse is not to far away.
next time: ministry in the small town
being able to see the stars vs not being able to see through the fog and lights of the city
back yards vs no yards
lower rent for house vs higher rent for studio apartment
walking on trails vs walking on sidewalk
living in a small town of 5,000 for some feels like the last thing in the world they would want to put up with. but for me i belong in a small town. i flourish in a small town. i have everything i need in a small town groceries, gas, bank, library and the church. not that big cities do not provide everything as well but for me why drive into the city when i have everything i need?
a lot of people talk about simplifying life. i think for me when you take the city schedule of the high paced always needing to be somewhere you are not was the best thing that ever happened. i do not feel as rushed or stressed but yet i still get done the things that need to be finished and more. for me this is what country life is all about. and if i ever do want the city well syracuse is not to far away.
next time: ministry in the small town
Saturday, May 27, 2006
rural life
in the past six months a lot of my friends have written blogs on why they like the city. well today i would like to write on why i prefer small town living. it might go back to the fact that i grew up in a small town. however back then i craved to live in the city. i would go to visit boston and would long to live there. i liked the idea of having everything you need right around the corner including fenway park. i liked the sense of having choices. what do you want to eat? what would you like to do this afternoon?
everything in the small town seemed mundane and boring while the city seemed full of adventure and things to explore. when i looked at college i considered boston but settled on midwest college in a town of approximately 30,000. while i was there, it seemed there were many trips to indianapolis because there were things to do. we could watch the pacers, walk down by the canal, and just have fun goofing off.
when i graduated i went to greenville, sc. a city of about 50,000 but with the surrounding communities was more 300,000. i enjoyed the city life and while it wasnt boston, chicago or los angeles had a lot of opportunities. and of course atlanta and charlotte were between 1.5 and 2.5 hrs drive. this allowed us to explore and have adventures that were not capaple as a 16 year old with a license growing up in a small town in northern maine.
i did eventually move away from greenville after living there 2 yrs. we moved to a small town in central new york. it was small but i new syracuse was only a 1/2 hr away. so when i longed for some city i could easily reach it. syracuse is listed at about 150,000, and i knewwould offer some fun.
i have now lived in pulaski for 9 months and the few times i have even driven to the city have been hospital visits or seeing syracuse university sports, and a couple concerts. i can probably count on boths hands the times i have been in the city. i really do not even desire to go in. i have found many adventures here in the rural life. 3 miles from where i sit typing this blog is lake ontario where i have been countless times to read, hike, sit on the beach and revel at the beauty in front of me. only an 1.5 north is thousand islands where there are i guess a thousand islands. i havent counted them but have been on at least two of them.
if i drive northeast i can be in the adirondacks in 1.5 hrs and be in lake placid in 3. just yesterday i had to meet up with some youth pastors and drove by one of the finger lakes.
today was just an explanation of my surroundings. later i will talk about what i enjoy other then sites about small town living and part 3 will address what i like about small town ministry.
everything in the small town seemed mundane and boring while the city seemed full of adventure and things to explore. when i looked at college i considered boston but settled on midwest college in a town of approximately 30,000. while i was there, it seemed there were many trips to indianapolis because there were things to do. we could watch the pacers, walk down by the canal, and just have fun goofing off.
when i graduated i went to greenville, sc. a city of about 50,000 but with the surrounding communities was more 300,000. i enjoyed the city life and while it wasnt boston, chicago or los angeles had a lot of opportunities. and of course atlanta and charlotte were between 1.5 and 2.5 hrs drive. this allowed us to explore and have adventures that were not capaple as a 16 year old with a license growing up in a small town in northern maine.
i did eventually move away from greenville after living there 2 yrs. we moved to a small town in central new york. it was small but i new syracuse was only a 1/2 hr away. so when i longed for some city i could easily reach it. syracuse is listed at about 150,000, and i knewwould offer some fun.
i have now lived in pulaski for 9 months and the few times i have even driven to the city have been hospital visits or seeing syracuse university sports, and a couple concerts. i can probably count on boths hands the times i have been in the city. i really do not even desire to go in. i have found many adventures here in the rural life. 3 miles from where i sit typing this blog is lake ontario where i have been countless times to read, hike, sit on the beach and revel at the beauty in front of me. only an 1.5 north is thousand islands where there are i guess a thousand islands. i havent counted them but have been on at least two of them.
if i drive northeast i can be in the adirondacks in 1.5 hrs and be in lake placid in 3. just yesterday i had to meet up with some youth pastors and drove by one of the finger lakes.
today was just an explanation of my surroundings. later i will talk about what i enjoy other then sites about small town living and part 3 will address what i like about small town ministry.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
serving what
let me suggest an idea in the form of a question. i feel that is what i do best. alot of questions perplex my mind from day to day but one that has really been penetrating there for quite some time has been this. are we serving the church or are we serving Christ by serving in the church?
the first part of the question (serving the church) asks us essentially what our motives are for working in the nursery, being an usher or on the church board. are we there to help build the church up and have a great name in the community because of the different events and programming our church has.
or because of our love and devotion for Christ we want to help in the church because we want to see more people believe and love Him as well.
the first part can be dangerous because we are putting something in front of Christ. it becomes idolistic. but one has to ask themselves this question from time to time for a check of accountability because so many times we get caught up in all the things that are going on around us, we forget about the things that are being orchestrated from above us.
God does want us to serve people, it is seen throughout scripture. but many non-christians are doing so much in the world in the same way as Christians do. if we are not serving Christ and with Christ then i wonder what we will say we can do next without Christ.
the first part of the question (serving the church) asks us essentially what our motives are for working in the nursery, being an usher or on the church board. are we there to help build the church up and have a great name in the community because of the different events and programming our church has.
or because of our love and devotion for Christ we want to help in the church because we want to see more people believe and love Him as well.
the first part can be dangerous because we are putting something in front of Christ. it becomes idolistic. but one has to ask themselves this question from time to time for a check of accountability because so many times we get caught up in all the things that are going on around us, we forget about the things that are being orchestrated from above us.
God does want us to serve people, it is seen throughout scripture. but many non-christians are doing so much in the world in the same way as Christians do. if we are not serving Christ and with Christ then i wonder what we will say we can do next without Christ.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
stats on new orleans
1,000,000 before katrina 200,000 after 14,000 used to live in the lower 9th ward, now only 6, i talked to two of them 108 square miles of flood damage new orleans did not flood until about 24 hrs later because there was no one to work the pumpstations it was flooded with anywhere from 1-21 feet of water people there consider it a man made disaster not a natural disaster there are officially 1,600 death from the storm and still many missing there were more deaths by suicide after the storm homes that were going for $500,000 can now be bought for $70,000
if you want a job you could easily have one: burger king is offering a $10,000 sign on bonus if you agree to work for a year, plus $10 an hour and benefits. olive garden is paying $14 an hour plus tips. i do not think i saw a business without a help wanted sign. but even if they find all the workers who will be there customers. stores close for the most part by 7 pm.
if the federal government gave every family $200,000 to rebuild it would of cost less then the rebuilding to date and that number is still growing.
family of faith community church lost their pastor who became ds over texas/louisiana 2 month before the hurricane hit. they were still looking for a pastor to replace him when katrina hit. it just restarted in mid february and had 47 people on easter sunday. most of which never attended church before. in the two month pastor dale munsell has led 8 people to Christ and awesome things are happening each day. while we were there brian gave his heart to Christ and has since started taking his grown children to church. God is doing some amazing things down there.
Monday, May 01, 2006
my trip to the warzone
friday--i couldnt sleep tonight. i was anxiously awaiting my alarm clock for 5am so i could get up and meet the team at the church to leave for new orleans. little did i know what i was getting myself into.
saturday--we arrived in new orleans about 4 pm and as we drove to the church the fema trailers stuck out. there were so many of them. they looked bigger on tv and yet it has been 8 months since the storm people were living in them, and will continue for quite some time. today i have hear stories of how it was a man made disaster (as viewed by the residents of new orleans) because the drain pipes were not turned on and working coreectly. i have found myself unusually quiet just taking in the sights and sounds of everything around me.
sunday--we drove around and saw more desolation. neighborhoods destroyed and neighbors have long left this city of 1 million. it now stands at 200,000. this lady showed us the levies and drove us out 7f miles away from new orleans to show us her orange grove and house or what is now and open field with a cement slab where the trailer used to be. she said the trailer was found 4 miles from the site. obviously in no shape to be used ever again.
the superdome is being rebuilt by what seemed like ants. and should be ready for there opening game against the falcons. as we later walked around the french quarter and bourbon street drunk girls kept approaching me yelling "boston" in reference to the red sox hat i was wearing. i wonder if this is real or if the boat underneath the bypass will continue to make it a dream.
tuesday--service is a lifestyle that i am still trying to grasp. even though i have spent today laying sheet rock and mudding i find myself at times missing other types of service . others find sweeping, dishes and anything else that needs to be done, but yet i sit here and journal.
today i met the couple we are helping rebuild. they were so thankful. they waitedout the hurricane in their him and it was more then a day later when the flooding reached their house. the insurance of course did not cover the cost of rebuilding. they were only reimbursed $10,000 which half went to central cooling.
thursday--the reason i came was to serve. little did i know exactly how we would be serving. as the week progressed i found playing ping pong with the pastor as serving to relieve his stress, and his family hasnt yet moved down to the area. another is one of the teens father. he is a great guy with a heart to match yet is still young in his faith. talking with him has been great for him as well as for me. he has had an outlet. the other is the family whose house we are working on. suck a great couple who have a lot of burdens. they want to take us out to the favorite chinese/seafood restaurant. one who is willing to serve must allow themselves to be served.
friday--i have continued to notice the attitude of carlene. she continues through the day and every now and then you hear her mumbling. but she is talking to God the whole time. she is such a servant. and i am seeing that this is what i need to aim for.
overall-- there has been a lot learned about new orleans, myself and the church. but when it comes down to it we just need to serve.
saturday--we arrived in new orleans about 4 pm and as we drove to the church the fema trailers stuck out. there were so many of them. they looked bigger on tv and yet it has been 8 months since the storm people were living in them, and will continue for quite some time. today i have hear stories of how it was a man made disaster (as viewed by the residents of new orleans) because the drain pipes were not turned on and working coreectly. i have found myself unusually quiet just taking in the sights and sounds of everything around me.
sunday--we drove around and saw more desolation. neighborhoods destroyed and neighbors have long left this city of 1 million. it now stands at 200,000. this lady showed us the levies and drove us out 7f miles away from new orleans to show us her orange grove and house or what is now and open field with a cement slab where the trailer used to be. she said the trailer was found 4 miles from the site. obviously in no shape to be used ever again.
the superdome is being rebuilt by what seemed like ants. and should be ready for there opening game against the falcons. as we later walked around the french quarter and bourbon street drunk girls kept approaching me yelling "boston" in reference to the red sox hat i was wearing. i wonder if this is real or if the boat underneath the bypass will continue to make it a dream.
tuesday--service is a lifestyle that i am still trying to grasp. even though i have spent today laying sheet rock and mudding i find myself at times missing other types of service . others find sweeping, dishes and anything else that needs to be done, but yet i sit here and journal.
today i met the couple we are helping rebuild. they were so thankful. they waitedout the hurricane in their him and it was more then a day later when the flooding reached their house. the insurance of course did not cover the cost of rebuilding. they were only reimbursed $10,000 which half went to central cooling.
thursday--the reason i came was to serve. little did i know exactly how we would be serving. as the week progressed i found playing ping pong with the pastor as serving to relieve his stress, and his family hasnt yet moved down to the area. another is one of the teens father. he is a great guy with a heart to match yet is still young in his faith. talking with him has been great for him as well as for me. he has had an outlet. the other is the family whose house we are working on. suck a great couple who have a lot of burdens. they want to take us out to the favorite chinese/seafood restaurant. one who is willing to serve must allow themselves to be served.
friday--i have continued to notice the attitude of carlene. she continues through the day and every now and then you hear her mumbling. but she is talking to God the whole time. she is such a servant. and i am seeing that this is what i need to aim for.
overall-- there has been a lot learned about new orleans, myself and the church. but when it comes down to it we just need to serve.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
new orleans
i am off for a week to refurbish some home in new orleans for a week. i will see you all then. updates to come
please for the team. there are 17 going in all.
nathan
please for the team. there are 17 going in all.
nathan
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
confronting (the cover up)
with each sin there is an effect. someone or something is affected because of what happened earlier. because of achan his whole family was stoned to death. because of the act that david took with bathsheba, their baby had to die. it is amazing to me to realize how far someone has to take their sin in order to deal with it.
achan buried his silver and the coat. he had to have this stuff, that he disobeyed God, in order that he could bury it underneath the tent. someone would have realized that he had taken it. so because of this he hid his plunder. he obviously knew it was wrong since he buried it. but when it was found his whole family was affected.
david's cover up was pretty harsh as well. he tried bringing uriah home from the war, but he wouldnt sleep with bathsheba. so then david sent him back to the front lines and had him killed. it continued to escalade until the baby that he had with bathsheba died. luckily for david he had a friend named nathan. nathan came to tell him about his sin with a story about a farmer stealing the lone sheep of this poor guy.
wake up calls are awesome and very prompt. i like them better then alarm clocks. every time i go to a hotel i love calling the front desk for a wake up call. nathan was david's wake up call. i always wonder how far david's sin would have gone if it wasnt for nathan. nathan was a true friend to call him on his sin.
today however we do not have many people like this. today if i approached someone about a sin in their life, they would reply "you cant judge me, you dont know the situation." and they are right, i do not. i do not know how many times they were tempted before they fell. or "i am no able to change who i am." and they are right a lot of people have storied past and have grown up in some horrible situations. or "i do not believe in mistake, i only believe in learning from my experiences." now this part i have to differ with them because if we minimize our sins to a learning experience then it is not good enough. granted i think when we do fall we have to learn from them and take with us to make us become who God wants us to be.
but when we minimize the sin to just a learning experience is there a sign of repentance? and as i have learned many times, with out my repentance there can be no forgiveness. and i think without the forgiveness there can be no idea of change and moving on from the situation.
with david and achan, someone approached and confronted them with their sin. i wonder how long they would have held onto their sin if they hadnt been confronted. i think we as Christians need to learn how to confront people with their sin, not as an act of judgment, but as an act to get things right between them and God.
so how do we do this? how do we set this example?
achan buried his silver and the coat. he had to have this stuff, that he disobeyed God, in order that he could bury it underneath the tent. someone would have realized that he had taken it. so because of this he hid his plunder. he obviously knew it was wrong since he buried it. but when it was found his whole family was affected.
david's cover up was pretty harsh as well. he tried bringing uriah home from the war, but he wouldnt sleep with bathsheba. so then david sent him back to the front lines and had him killed. it continued to escalade until the baby that he had with bathsheba died. luckily for david he had a friend named nathan. nathan came to tell him about his sin with a story about a farmer stealing the lone sheep of this poor guy.
wake up calls are awesome and very prompt. i like them better then alarm clocks. every time i go to a hotel i love calling the front desk for a wake up call. nathan was david's wake up call. i always wonder how far david's sin would have gone if it wasnt for nathan. nathan was a true friend to call him on his sin.
today however we do not have many people like this. today if i approached someone about a sin in their life, they would reply "you cant judge me, you dont know the situation." and they are right, i do not. i do not know how many times they were tempted before they fell. or "i am no able to change who i am." and they are right a lot of people have storied past and have grown up in some horrible situations. or "i do not believe in mistake, i only believe in learning from my experiences." now this part i have to differ with them because if we minimize our sins to a learning experience then it is not good enough. granted i think when we do fall we have to learn from them and take with us to make us become who God wants us to be.
but when we minimize the sin to just a learning experience is there a sign of repentance? and as i have learned many times, with out my repentance there can be no forgiveness. and i think without the forgiveness there can be no idea of change and moving on from the situation.
with david and achan, someone approached and confronted them with their sin. i wonder how long they would have held onto their sin if they hadnt been confronted. i think we as Christians need to learn how to confront people with their sin, not as an act of judgment, but as an act to get things right between them and God.
so how do we do this? how do we set this example?
Saturday, April 08, 2006
judas: now a book
it is still early into the investigation if you ask me. but all the buzz lately is about the discovery of the book of judas. they say judas was asked by Christ to turn him in. as i watched the news, i sat there as reporters asked questions such as "will this change what they teach in sunday school this week?" i wondered to myself the same thing. would it change? we have grown up thinking of it as a betrayal. then they talked to another "scholar" who said that the word betrayal in greek means to hand over. which i checked. it does.
it all goes back to did Jesus really tell Judas to turn him in. the answer, maybe. Jesus did tell judas that he would be the one to betray him. however Jesus told him this after judas had already went to the chief priests and agreed to turn Christ in for 30 silver coins. this would be comparable to 4 months of work.
the whole controversy with this book is that if Jesus really told judas to betray him then it would not have really been a betrayal in the first place. it would have been judas following orders.
aside from the book of judas, i wonder what he was really like. how deceptive a man was he. we have heard that he kept the money for the disciples and possibly could have stolen from that. but i wonder what was going through his mind when he turned jesus in? did he really do it for the money? was the greed in his life so big that he turned in a friend of three years? did he turn him in so he could see the prophecy fulfilled? did satan really take over his body so the judas that all the other disciples knew was totally different? these are the questions that go on in my head every so often. specifically during this time of year.
i realize this was a bad thing for judas. Jesus said "it would be better for him if he had not been born." but in the long run someone had to do it. someone had to turn the Christ in so he could be arrested and give His life for us on the cross. i am personally very thankful for the man they called a traitor. it had to happen somehow.
it all goes back to did Jesus really tell Judas to turn him in. the answer, maybe. Jesus did tell judas that he would be the one to betray him. however Jesus told him this after judas had already went to the chief priests and agreed to turn Christ in for 30 silver coins. this would be comparable to 4 months of work.
the whole controversy with this book is that if Jesus really told judas to betray him then it would not have really been a betrayal in the first place. it would have been judas following orders.
aside from the book of judas, i wonder what he was really like. how deceptive a man was he. we have heard that he kept the money for the disciples and possibly could have stolen from that. but i wonder what was going through his mind when he turned jesus in? did he really do it for the money? was the greed in his life so big that he turned in a friend of three years? did he turn him in so he could see the prophecy fulfilled? did satan really take over his body so the judas that all the other disciples knew was totally different? these are the questions that go on in my head every so often. specifically during this time of year.
i realize this was a bad thing for judas. Jesus said "it would be better for him if he had not been born." but in the long run someone had to do it. someone had to turn the Christ in so he could be arrested and give His life for us on the cross. i am personally very thankful for the man they called a traitor. it had to happen somehow.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
working hard to sin
i have grown up hearing the statement that "it is easier to sin then it is to follow God." or something to that extent. i have heard this based on the reason that it is too hard to do right and to follow God. you are never going to please Him anyway, so why even try? it always made sense to me, because while it takes an effort to follow God, you can sit in your lounge chair watching a basketball game and sin. (not that watching a basketball game is, but it could be glutony or sloth, maybe it is your thought life or you had a few to many beers.
but i want to take a look at what sin is. it can be defined as missing the mark. well if you have a target and miss the target you must hit something else other then a target, maybe it is the grass or the tree behind the target. so each time you sin you must affect something or someone else around you. this could be directly or indirectly affecting them in to how they view you.
now when you miss the mark, it can be unintentional, meaning that it was an accident or something that you did not quie realize it was a sin in the first place. this in a way is more acceptable because how can it be your fault when you were ignorant. every now and then someone will slip but it is easier to stand back up when it is unintentional because you are first of all trying to follow God in the beginning. but when you do realize that it was a sin it is still importan to confess this sin.
the send part of sin is where it starts to become hard work. intentional sin is an outright, blatant mentality that you are going to do whatever you want when ever you want to do it. this sin can be hidden or exposed. when you have an exposed sin and you do not care what others think, well that is easy. but trying to keep an intentional sin hidden can prove to be difficult.
most people i think who try to hide their sin know the difference between right and wrong. they are for the majority are the ones who attend church or have at least attended church in the past. these are the people sitting next to you in the pew and singing the same song and listening to the same message. but becuase they are trying to hide this sin from you and everyone else, they look, talk and act like you. trying to cover up something and keeping a lifestyle to match can be hard work, always hiding and pretending that you are someone you arent.
these are the people that are on your worship team having sex with there girlfriend. these are the ones who are gossipping but trying hard to not let everyone find out. this is the guy having an affair with his secretary. or driving dangerously fast on the interstate because you are in a hurry. this is the teenage guy who goes to bed a little later then his parents so he can download some porn from the internet or the recovering alcoholic taking a swig thinking that no one will ever find out. these are the teens at camp that sneak off to study anatomy. these are the ones that know the rules but blatany break them.
unfortunately they are sugar coating everything they are doing because they do not think it will affect anyone outside of them. no one willl ever find out. so what do we do when we are in this situation? or know someone else? what is it that you would do?
but i want to take a look at what sin is. it can be defined as missing the mark. well if you have a target and miss the target you must hit something else other then a target, maybe it is the grass or the tree behind the target. so each time you sin you must affect something or someone else around you. this could be directly or indirectly affecting them in to how they view you.
now when you miss the mark, it can be unintentional, meaning that it was an accident or something that you did not quie realize it was a sin in the first place. this in a way is more acceptable because how can it be your fault when you were ignorant. every now and then someone will slip but it is easier to stand back up when it is unintentional because you are first of all trying to follow God in the beginning. but when you do realize that it was a sin it is still importan to confess this sin.
the send part of sin is where it starts to become hard work. intentional sin is an outright, blatant mentality that you are going to do whatever you want when ever you want to do it. this sin can be hidden or exposed. when you have an exposed sin and you do not care what others think, well that is easy. but trying to keep an intentional sin hidden can prove to be difficult.
most people i think who try to hide their sin know the difference between right and wrong. they are for the majority are the ones who attend church or have at least attended church in the past. these are the people sitting next to you in the pew and singing the same song and listening to the same message. but becuase they are trying to hide this sin from you and everyone else, they look, talk and act like you. trying to cover up something and keeping a lifestyle to match can be hard work, always hiding and pretending that you are someone you arent.
these are the people that are on your worship team having sex with there girlfriend. these are the ones who are gossipping but trying hard to not let everyone find out. this is the guy having an affair with his secretary. or driving dangerously fast on the interstate because you are in a hurry. this is the teenage guy who goes to bed a little later then his parents so he can download some porn from the internet or the recovering alcoholic taking a swig thinking that no one will ever find out. these are the teens at camp that sneak off to study anatomy. these are the ones that know the rules but blatany break them.
unfortunately they are sugar coating everything they are doing because they do not think it will affect anyone outside of them. no one willl ever find out. so what do we do when we are in this situation? or know someone else? what is it that you would do?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
women in ministry
check out the stats that the wesleyan church just released on women in ministry.
http://www.wesleyan.org/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=E7B47906A5AD4EC3AE3D3ED6DA544B63&type=gen&mod=Core%20Pages&gid=6AC0E9B553C547D58F66A17866567D65&AudID=299A16BD5B604108B06C70F8A8FDACA5
in this article released it addresses the numbers of women in ministry. the question i have are these statistics good, or at least show progress within the wesleyan church? my first guess is they are not. the other day i received in the mail "the wesleyan church directory" which has addresses for every pastor within the united states. now one can estimate that there are 35 names on each sheet with 125 pages. which we can estimate about 4400 pastors in the u.s.
400 of these are women whether they are ordained, licensed or still studying for the ministry. check out the stats and let me know what you think?
http://www.wesleyan.org/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=E7B47906A5AD4EC3AE3D3ED6DA544B63&type=gen&mod=Core%20Pages&gid=6AC0E9B553C547D58F66A17866567D65&AudID=299A16BD5B604108B06C70F8A8FDACA5
in this article released it addresses the numbers of women in ministry. the question i have are these statistics good, or at least show progress within the wesleyan church? my first guess is they are not. the other day i received in the mail "the wesleyan church directory" which has addresses for every pastor within the united states. now one can estimate that there are 35 names on each sheet with 125 pages. which we can estimate about 4400 pastors in the u.s.
400 of these are women whether they are ordained, licensed or still studying for the ministry. check out the stats and let me know what you think?
Monday, March 06, 2006
my questions and biblical answers
i grew up with the mentality of "if you have a question you will be able to find the answer in the Bible."
well as i became older it was finally time to look all these answers up in scripture. and for the majority of my questions i did find answers. but there were still other questions that i had that the answers were not scripted out in front of us. or the answers became really vague.
we have the answers of "love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neigbor as yourself." this helps us put things in perspective of who or what is the most important. i also have the answer that "God created the heavens and the earth." but i dont have the answer of exactly how or when that came about. we have the answers of "do not murder," but we do not necessarily have the context of what this means pertaining to capital punishment, suicide, abortion or euthanasia.
we have come to the assumption that if we just follow scripture then we are doing God's will. but how can i follow scripture if there is not necessarily something written on certain idea's? how can i know the best case scenario? in college they told us there are 4 things that we can figure these questions out. the first being scripture. well we know that scripture is and should be the first thing we go to. but after this we can go to what does the tradition of the church say?
the more and more i look at something from the perspective of the body of Christ i see that not all churches agree with all the answers to the questions. (now i want to assure all of you that are reading that what i am discussing right now are the minor's of the church so i do not want to get to bent up on them because they are not essentials for salvation. but rather i am just trying to figure out God's heart on these issues.) or the fact that some churches do not actually have a statment pertaining to some of my questions. so i go on the quest of talking to people asking them what they think is black and white. and then trying to decipher if i am just going to have to live with the idea of there being the chance that there is a lot more gray areas then i desire.
i am one that likes being told how it is and how things should be done. it is a lot easier to figure out an assignment if there are instructions and it is a lot easier to drive the quickest route from point a to point b when you have directions.
unfortuantely life is not all cookie cutters and mapquests. but rather sometimes to get the answer we have to work out the problem on paper. we can try and figure it out but sometimes we have to settle for the unknown.
the bible is still the first place i look for answers and will always be direction i head first but i am realizing more and more the third and fourth places to look for answers are a vital part because we might not be able to find them in scripture or tradition of the church. but rather we must look in reason and experience. experience takes our lives on a journey to show us the answers. reason can take all that we gather over those experiences and shows us how we can learn from them and try to decipher what exactly God's heart is on these issues.
well as i became older it was finally time to look all these answers up in scripture. and for the majority of my questions i did find answers. but there were still other questions that i had that the answers were not scripted out in front of us. or the answers became really vague.
we have the answers of "love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neigbor as yourself." this helps us put things in perspective of who or what is the most important. i also have the answer that "God created the heavens and the earth." but i dont have the answer of exactly how or when that came about. we have the answers of "do not murder," but we do not necessarily have the context of what this means pertaining to capital punishment, suicide, abortion or euthanasia.
we have come to the assumption that if we just follow scripture then we are doing God's will. but how can i follow scripture if there is not necessarily something written on certain idea's? how can i know the best case scenario? in college they told us there are 4 things that we can figure these questions out. the first being scripture. well we know that scripture is and should be the first thing we go to. but after this we can go to what does the tradition of the church say?
the more and more i look at something from the perspective of the body of Christ i see that not all churches agree with all the answers to the questions. (now i want to assure all of you that are reading that what i am discussing right now are the minor's of the church so i do not want to get to bent up on them because they are not essentials for salvation. but rather i am just trying to figure out God's heart on these issues.) or the fact that some churches do not actually have a statment pertaining to some of my questions. so i go on the quest of talking to people asking them what they think is black and white. and then trying to decipher if i am just going to have to live with the idea of there being the chance that there is a lot more gray areas then i desire.
i am one that likes being told how it is and how things should be done. it is a lot easier to figure out an assignment if there are instructions and it is a lot easier to drive the quickest route from point a to point b when you have directions.
unfortuantely life is not all cookie cutters and mapquests. but rather sometimes to get the answer we have to work out the problem on paper. we can try and figure it out but sometimes we have to settle for the unknown.
the bible is still the first place i look for answers and will always be direction i head first but i am realizing more and more the third and fourth places to look for answers are a vital part because we might not be able to find them in scripture or tradition of the church. but rather we must look in reason and experience. experience takes our lives on a journey to show us the answers. reason can take all that we gather over those experiences and shows us how we can learn from them and try to decipher what exactly God's heart is on these issues.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
euthanasia and living wills
received some great conversation on capital punishment. now i would like to ask everyones view on euthanasia and living wills. what do you think?
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