We leave for Mexico on Saturday. I am excited. All these months of planning, praying, and preparing for this week are coming to fruition. God has been busy breaking me down in getting me ready for the trip, and I know He is going to rebuild and restore me.
We’ve faced obstacles. We’ve been told not to go. I’ve even received a few emails from people that were somewhat negative of my views.
The Enemy was on full assault…because he is scared. He knows that when we are the Body, we advance the Kingdom.
And he’s failed. This trip is important because it is what God calls us to do. It’s important because we learn a lot about ourselves, our friends, and most importantly, God.
We will be blogging during the trip. Please, follow along with us, as well as all the other Traders Point trips at http://servingtheworld.org.
Today at LifePoint, Bob taught on the Forgotten Virtue of honor. Here is the link to his post : Sunday is a big day.
I would like to honor my best friend and my wife Nicole. She is by far my better 99.99%. I am a much better man because God blessed me with an amazingly wonderful woman. I cannot begin to fathom where I would be without her.
I would love to honor God. I will forever lack the words that will express what He means to me and to you and to the world, but I will try to say something. Without God, everything is meaningless. I live because He exists. I love because He has shown me how to love. I live for Him because He died for me. Thank you Lord for Your love.
I want to honor LifePoint church. Even though we have just started attending, we feel that God lead us there for a reason, and we are excited for Him to reveal His plans for us.
I want to honor Traders Point Christian Church. We miss you, but we know that there is a reason. We learned so much, and we see that God was preparing us for something big. The list of thank you’s would be too long, but I do have to thank Aaron for his leadership and submission to God. His vision casting has been so instrumental in keeping TPCC on course when the many transitions could have taken the church off course. I also want to thank the entire staff and all the elders for everything that they do.
I hope that we can rediscover honor – it truly is a forgotten virtue.
This was on my friend Bob’s blog. Very thought provoking. I use social media, but I am not trying to build a brand. I don’t want to be famous. I just want to connect.
Much like Paul. I am never going to be cool, but I will try to be your friend. I will become what I can to reach you.
But above all else, I will try to let God use me as He will, and let that be my driving Force.
I love to read other blogs, and I always check Chris’ to see what is going on with him, and I read this post. I love his points, and he has a gift for being transparent. Check it out.
P.S. I thought about trying #1 also…but I don’t want to be “that guy” either.
I read this blog by Eugene today, and it is really good. And really, really convicting.
In my last post, I vented about the situation, but I feel I was a little harsh. I gave some thoughts, but they were not really constructive. I am sorry for that. It took Eugene's loving approach to show me how it's supposed to be done.
Eugene's advice is great, and not just for Jon & Kate, but for everyone.
Since I've started Twittering, I have formed new relationships with pastors all over the country. I have started to interact with men in Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois -and the list is growing longer. I have started to read new blogs, and the information I am getting is awesome. I am getting different insights on how to approach ministry, and things are whirring in my head. Some of you may have noticed that I added new blogs to the list, and I will probably add more. I just finished reading Jason Curlee's posts on Youth Ministry expansion, and it gives me encouragement over the direction of ours.
Something I did not expect is the faternity that exists amongst those I Twitter with. Even though I have not met these men, there is a bond that connects us. I should know better, because I have encountered the same thing in Mexico on the mission trip and in Florida on the Spring Break trip. The bond of Jesus connects us is ways that transcend distance or discipline. I suspect that some of those relationships will last for years, simply because of the mission we have accepted and the support we need to fulfill our mission.
I don't know if I will ever be able to meet everyone in person, but given the opportunity I will do so. I know of at least one or two that I will meet next time I am in Miami – Benny Salas and Herns Eugene. I'd like to stop by Corpus Christi and meet John C Atkinson and Jason Curlee, and Albany, GA to meet Doug Rea. That's just to name a few.
I'm still meeting new people, and who knows how much this list will grow.
I have realized that since I have started Twittering, I have totally ignored blogging, and I am sorry for that. I don't really have an excuse since I can blog from my iPhone, so that makes me feel even worse. It's not that I believe that this blog is that important, but I do feel an obligation to those loyal readers like Nicole who enjoy reading the ramblings of a person who is just trying to live for God.
That being said, I thought I would give an update. I just wrapped up another online class and I have started one on the 15th and am starting another one on the 3rd. I only have one more onsite class and the rest will be done online. I am on track to complete classes in March of 2010 and I should hopefully graduate in May of 2010. It's going to take a lot of hard work, but it will be so worth it.
The High School Ministry is going well, and I am excited to see the work God is doing in the kids lives. CRIBS has been awesome this year, and I feel that it is getting better every week. The kids are bonding and really starting to open up, and our discussions have been deep and thought provoking. The one thing that makes me both happy and sad is that this year's Seniors are graduating. These are the students who were Freshmen when I got involved in the ministry, and to see them move on to the next stage in life is great, but I will miss them. Still, I can't get too sad because my current small group is comprised of Freshmen, and I look forward to walking alongside them.
Well, I intend to blog more often, and at some point I will devote an entire entry to my friend and brother Phil who is in my cohort because he is that awesome, so be on the lookout.
One of my favorite blogs to read is the "Stuff Christians Like" blog. Jonathan is very funny, but can be very profound and enlightening in his writings. His post on Treating God like Letterman treated Carsonwas one that spoke to me and made me think. As I read his breakdown, I saw the very same behaviors in me – things that I struggle with. And things that I am thankful for.
