pastor appreciation (oct 29th)

it started with an extra hour of sleep due to daylight savings, which is a blessing in itself. i really appreciated that extra hour, especially since we had huge wind gust all satuday night that kept waking me up. our 8:15 service was even affected by the wind as it knocked out our power within five minutes of the service starting. it was a great service without power as our worship team went unplugged and our pastor spoke without a mike. it is amazing how we rely on electricity and technology today. however when it comes right down to it the presence of God was there.

but to move along since what i wanted to addres was pastor appreciation. they surprised us with paying for the three staff and spouses to go to the gathering in florida the first week of january. on top of this we were showered with cards, gifts and baked goods. i am really impressed by the churches thoughtfulness. this gift of the gathering was not something they worked into the annual budget but was payed for by a love offering. it is really amazing that the board and the congregation saw this as a need.

just wondering what some of your churches did for pastor appreciation?

if paparazzi just asked

paparazzi have gotten a name for themselves to be as invasive as a colonoscopy. i once watched a show where some paparazzi just asked to photo the celebrities and were alllowed. this way the celebrities could allow what shot was used. it was less intrusive and the celebs had a say in it.

last sunday i was doing some prep work for youth on sunday night as a student from syracuse university came by the church. he told me that his class was doing a photo story on the town of pulaski. this was something the class would do every year. they would pick a different town and this year they had chosen pulaski. daniel (su student) told me that his job was to cover our church. he wanted to take pics on the life of our church.

so the friday he showed up with his two cameras worth approximately $3000 each and he followed me throughout the day taking pics of my day. he was there with me when i met a couple guys for lunch (he did put the camera down long enough for some pizza and wings). he went along with me as i showed him the salmon fish hatchery. i visited one of the teens who was target practicing with a bow (hunting season started the next day). he even came along with me to celebrate canadian thanksgiving. (yest i know i am not canadian, but the other two pastors on staff are). he even stayed around to photo me and some of the teens as we got together to play xbox. it was a pretty long day and both of us were wiped by the end of the day. but like i said he wanted to get the whole weekend, and this was just friday.

saturday was a little more laid back as he came over and met jenny, took some pics of her and i loafing around the house. when jenny left for work he followed me over to get some pics of me in my office. most of the day he was working on his presentation so we did not see a whole lot of each other. on saturday evening. all the towns people had a chance to see the pics as a slide show at the fire hall. there were definately some amazing pics to see. they covered the town of pulaski very well.

i have never really been followed around like that before. it was a little strange but yet fun. i am sure daniel felt a little out of place as well. but through out my somewhat reality tv/ paparazzi experience i am definately glad he asked because how weird would it be to have a guy with a camera following you around for a whole weekend. it does have the potential to be quite stalkerish. but because he asked i did not have to file for a restraining order to keep him away. so i guess this is a story written to and for paparazzi. please just ask.

our perfection is imperfection

one of my friends in college told me of a friend of hers who scored a 1600 on his s.a.t.'s. she told me that he had a free ride to harvard. not too shabby i thought. scoring a perfect score on any test is pretty good but to get through what is roughly a 4 hr test without getting one question wrong is very impressive.

joe mauer of the minnesota twins won the mlb batting title with a .347 average. which is amazing in its own right. the interesting thing about this is the best hitter in baseball only got a hit 35% of the time.

perfection is different from every angle. in academics we see it as being smart, one who can remember a statistic or fact from a time of study to answer a question correctly. what really stands out in this is our perfection is still imperfection. this guy who received a 1600 on his s.a.t.'s still doesnt know everything. he is still limited in his knowledge. as smart as this guy is, he might not have any common sense, he might not know how to give a car an oil change or fix his plumbing when there is a leak. as he is perfect in one area he still might not be able to conquer another.

joe mauer saw success with getting failing 65% of the time. i am personally awed by both of these achievements because both show skill, hard work and a sense of achievement. they have reached the top of what they were achieving for. as good as joe is he still could show improvement because he is not perfect.

wesleyans have in our doctrine what is called holiness or as john wesley called it christian perfection. as much as we discussed it in classes throughout college, it is still something that sits before me as a mystery. how does one attain it. if one does attain it does that mean i will always have it or can i lose it. psalm 119:96 says "to all perfection i see a limit; but your commands are boundless." this verse shows that perfection does have a limit, at least in human terms. it does not mean that if we are holy that we are perfect and we can never sin anymore. it only means human perfection is not necessarily referred to as 100%. it cant because it puts it on our terms, that we do not need Christ to attain perfection. it is saying that our imperfection is only perfected through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. show me a perfect human and i will still show you his flaw. show me an imperfect person and i will show you a perfect God who can use this person.

community has been talked about a lot lately as well. and as much as God will help us with our imperfections i think perfection comes out in community. where one is strong he can help out someone who is weak in that same area. everyone has their own gifts and talents that can be used. each one of us also have our own weaknesses that can be helped with someone elses strength. we will always do better in a pack, herd or group. it helps with protection, encouragement and challenge. when one is sick, someone takes care of him. when one is strong he provides strength and leadership. perfection is still limited, because we are human. however in a group things do get improve chances.

barn bash ( a week after)

barn bash continues to grow in many ways, not just in number but also in quality. we had an amazing time this year and are excited to see all the good things continuing to happen after all is said and done. we had over 1500 hundred peole at the event this year. we pumped up the evangelism side of things and had two known people accept Christ for the first time.

forgive and forget

a few weeks ago at a bible study the leader gave this quote "one's ability to forgive an offense is key to one's ability to forget." i am not sure what i think of this quote. sure i think it is great on the surface. sure we should be able to forgive and i think it is important not to continue hashing out the past by continuing to remind yourself of what this person did to harm you. but i wonder if we can possibly forget?

i think everything in life happens for a reason. our reaction to that circumstance will either build us and make us stronger or hurt us and make us weaker. i have also heard for years not to forget history or we would be doomed to repeat it. now i now this might not be a biblical concept, but why should we continue to allow ourselves be susceptible to making another mistake.

forgiveness of course is a biblical concept. first Christ forgave us and in ephesians 4:32 "forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." and psalm 103:12 "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." and i know this is referring to God forgiving us, and i know it says that he forgets our sins. but how can we as a human forget. is it possible, and if it is possible do i want to forget. shouldnt what we just went through be important enough to remember so it doesnt happen again.

this has been my mind since i have heard this, and at this moment i am not holding onto a grudge, and have forgiven those who have wronged me. at this moment i cant say that i actually remember one either. but i would like to hear from you. what do you think about forgiving and forgetting?

crazy broom lady

i have driven by the same spot atleast 2-4 times a day for the last year. maybe it was that i was in a hurry and did not notice, maybe i was listening to whatever music was playing on my cd player, maybe i am just not as observant as i thought i was.

last month however i noticed her for the first time. her hair was matted and gray. her clothes were dirty and unkempt and she had a broom in her hand. she was sweeping the sidewalk. my first thought, well isnt that nice, someone taking pride in the sidewalks of pulaski. it was a couple days later that i noticed her again. this time she was standing on a bench about 10 feet from where i had seen her the first time. another time i was driving with some teens they referred to her as the crazy broom lady. i asked if she was there often. they laughed and said all the time. they said she has chased many cars off with her broom.

she has been on my heart lately as someone who obviously needs help. i am not sure where she lives but i do know where i can eventually find her. i am not sure if i will ever go up to talk to her, but it sure does show the need that is right here in our own small community.

but it brings me to this. i probably drove by her a multitude of times and never noticed the need. now that i notice the need i am not even sure that i want to do something about it or even if i would now what to do with it anyway. maybe she really is crazy and is off her medicine. but how many times are there needs in front of us everyday, people whom need help, and lives that need transformation. today i read in psalm 119:82 that "my eyes fail looking for your promise; i say when will you comfort me?"

so many people are asking this question, without knowing who they are asking it to. others might know who they are asking but are asking the wrong person. others might be speaking to God. but they feel there is no answer in sight. maybe we are the answer God is trying to give them.

free events

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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