Acts 1:8-Update 5 (Week 3)

Posted: 06/21/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Acts 1:8 | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Week 3 has been another great week. There’s so much I could say about this week, but I don’t want to bore you, and honestly I don’t want to type it all out. So here’s a quick recap of the week.

Monday: Training with EDGE on how to teach health education.

What I learned: I don’t want a parasite.  Dengue Fever can’t be prevented and has no cure. I don’t want that either.

Tuesday: Worked at EDGE Mission House.

What I learned: Always seal a tile floor before using it.

Wednesday: Worked more at the EDGE Mission House.

What I learned: One building can own way to many fans, and they can all need cleaning at the same time.

Thursday: Worked with Kentucky Changers.

What I learned: Severe storms and pouring concrete don’t mix.  Potholes can activate airbags.

Thursday Night: Refresh

What I learned: The worst Monday nights practice can turn into the best Thursday nights music. It’s great to see friends from home. I can’t wait to spend some more time with Curtis Woods in the Dominican. God is good.

Friday: Finished jobs with Kentucky Changers.

What I learned: Concrete Work is extremely hard. Actually helping people with their needs is extremely rewarding and humbling.

Saturday: Handed out water with Crossover Louisville.

What I learned: I still hate gospel tacts. I like to show God’s love and kindness.

Well, there you have it. Tomorrow we get to go to Sojourn Church again in the morning, and then we’re off to the SBC to start registering people. Until next time… peace be with you.

Assuming God’s Intimacy

Posted: 06/15/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Spirituality | Tags: , | 1 Comment

So I went to Sojourn tonight. During the message the pastor began to talk about God’s intimacy with us and I began to write the following in my Journal. Some of this is word for word from what he said and some of it I just wrote. I hope it blesses you.

We confuse intimacy with assumption. We simply assume God’s love. We assume His intimacy. That assumed intimacy denies the bad news. God is present in lives before they ever come into relationship with Him. But, He is present as judge and as condemner. He is present condemning us to hell, to eternal separation from Him. That’s what makes the intimacy so sweet. That by the grace of God, and the death of His Son, He turns from condemner to lover, from judge to Saviour, from God of justice to God the Father.

Acts 1:8-Update 4 (Week 2)

Posted: 06/14/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Acts 1:8 | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s been an incredibly busy week, and I’ve had literally no time to keep you all up to date. I’m sorry about that… but now I’ll give you a quick update of what’s been going on.

Monday thru Thursday of last week we spent our mornings working at Jefferson Street Baptist Center. JSBC is a homeless shelter in the heart of Louisville. We had two main jobs while there. Half of the group did some painting and other various cleaning/maintenance work. The other half spent time in the day shelter simply spending time & building relationship with the homeless folks who came through the doors to escape the elements for a few hours. It was a blessing to be able to help out at Jeff Street and see the good work they are doing there.

In the afternoons on Monday thru Thursday we had discipleship training with Dr. Chuck Lawless, a professor here at SBTS. I could not even begin to share all that he taught us, but his main topic was spiritual warfare as it relates to evangelism, fighting temptation, etc. Again, it was a huge blessing to be taught by Dr. Lawless. I think I can speak for the team in saying that we all learned a lot.

Monday evening was spent planning/practicing for our Thursday Night Worship Experience which I’ll come back to in a few minutes. Tuesday and Wednesday night we spent at our Ministry Points. Both nights a group of us went to Waterfront park. Tuesday night we played a good game of ultimate frisbee and we were able to meet a man at the park. Wednesday night there was no one around to play frisbee with so we decided to take a walk through the city. All in God’s timing we were able to meet a homeless man, tell him about Jeff Street, give him some help, and pray with him. Obviously it was not God’s will for us to meet someone at the park that night, but He led us right where we needed to be.

Thursday night we held our worship experience, Refresh, at Springdale Community Church. (Hunsinger Lane was having VBS that week so we were unable to use that venue.) Due to the change in location we decided to cancel the frisbee portion of the evening which turned out well because a huge storm rolled in at about 8 o’clock. The worship experiece still went great and Keith Inman shared another great message with us. This week we will be back at HLBC with frisbee at 7 and the service at 9.

Friday we spent all day at EDGE Outreach training on how to install water purifiers, do vision clinics, etc. All part of the prep for the Dominican Republic. We learned a lot there and I now feel much more prepared for the trip. We had the rest of the weekend off to rest. That was much needed!

This morning we attended Hunsinger Lane and had the opportunity to spend a good morning of singing and Bible study with them. After lunch at Panera we headed back to the Seminary to rest… and that’s where I find myself now. Tonight after dinner, a few of us are going to head to an evening service at Sojourn Church and then probably just relax for the rest of the night.

So this turned out to be anything but a quick update, but, it’s been a good week and I wanted to share it with you all. Because after all, you are all part of this team! Thanks so much for your prayers!

COG

Posted: 06/07/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Music | Tags: | Leave a comment

cog

Just a little break from the 1:8 updates.  Tonight I got the chance to see one of my good friend’s band.  Aaron Crozier and his two brothers make up the Christians Rock treo COG. It was the first time I’ve gotten the chance to see them play live, and it blew me away.  I also found out that they have opened for the likes of eleventyseven, Grits, John Ruben, and Falling Up.  From what I hear there is a full album to come soon!  You should definitely check them out.

Acts 1:8-Update 3

Posted: 06/06/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Acts 1:8 | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Well, week one is almost over.  Here’s a summation:

Lots of new people.  New friendships forming. Ultimate Frisbee. Tommy Johnson. Waterfront Park. Low Ropes Course. Hunsinger Lane. Creepy Laundry Room. Getting Lost. Ultimate Frisbee.

Our Thursday night outreach went extremely well last night.  I’d guess we had well over 50… for it to be the first week… and since it was raining outside and ultimate frisbee is one of the main “attractions” of the event… That turnout is huge!  Everything seemed to go very smooth and Keith did a great job speaking to us.  Today, we met for the first time with one of the leaders form Jefferson Street Baptist Center.  He spent some time talking to us about social justice and evangelism.  Then this afternoon we headed out to a low ropes course for some team building… that was fun too.  I also got to kayak for the first time.  It’s pretty fun.  Then tonight, back to Waterfront for more ultimate frisbee with some more cool new people.

Tomorrow… sleep in and chill.  And a COG concert!

Acts 1:8-Update 2

Posted: 06/03/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Acts 1:8 | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Yesterday was another good day!  We did some more good discipleship training with Tommy Johnson, the Freeman’s cooked a great meal for us, then we headed out for Ministry Point Discovery.  What’s that?  Glad you asked…

Several evenings throughout the summer our team is going to go out into the community of Louisville to simply live like Jesus towards people in the city.  There is no set location or plan for the evenings. We are simply supposed to go with some of our teammates somewhere in the city and meet people, carry on conversations with them, learn their stories, maybe invite them to our Thursday night gatherings, you know… just live like Christians are supposed to.

Well last night my friend Breanna and I thought we would go to Sunergos Coffee and talk to some people there.  It’s a nice little intimate environment and we thought it would be a good place to strike up some conversation.  Well… I had a nice smoothie, but unfortunately no one was there.  We waited for about a half hour, but no one came to sit and chill so we decided we could be better used elsewhere.  We went to meet up with some others from our team at Waterfront Park.  When we got there we were pleased to see our teammates playing kickball with some teens on one of the fields in the park.  We quickly joined in on the fun.  It was really cool to get to meet these guys and girl and start to build friendships with them.  We’re hoping to get in touch with them and see them more this summer.  In fact, some of the girls are already planning on meeting up with the girl we met there during some of our free time on Saturday.

It was a blessed day!  Thanks God!

Acts 1:8-June 1 Update

Posted: 06/02/2009 | Author: | Filed under: Acts 1:8 | Leave a comment

Day 1 was a success. Yesterday I got to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, where I will be living for the next several weeks, at about 4:15. I got checked in and moved in to my… small but functional room just in time to leave for dinner. We had an excellent meal at Keith Inman’s house. Keith is the State Director of BCM’s and the one who is ultimately in charge this summer. After dinner we had an orientation meeting to over view the summer followed by an excellent desert. Needless to say, we ate well. After the meeting we came back to our rooms to finish unpacking and get some rest before getting up at 7:45 this morning.

Today we started out with breakfast followed by a team devotion. Daniel Freeman, one of our team leaders led the devotion. He challenged us to search our lives for unconfessed sin before we start this summer. After the devotion we went into our morning sessions. This week Tommy Johnson, the campus pastor from Western Kentucky University, is talking to us about discipleship and what it means to be a true disciple. After he talked to us we headed down to lunch followed by a tour of the seminary campus followed by the first of many games of ultimate frisbee. We came back and showered and had some time to rest, then we got oriented at the rec center so that we can use it for the rest of our time here. After that, we headed off to Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church to begin planning for the Thursday night worship experience we will host there every week. The evenings will include games, refreshments, and a time of music and speaking. I have the privilege of being in the band for these evenings. I’m really looking forward to playing with these other worshipers. After Hunsinger Lane we made a quick Wal-Mart run, and now we’re back in the dorms.

I’m going to try to keep the updates more brief and maybe a little more exciting than this from here on out… but this is what you get for day one and two. Thanks for reading and praying.