Saturday, February 28, 2009

Compass, Ministry, Service

Apparently people get really up in arms when you tell them that you're watching the Golden Compass. Its supposed to be "anti-Christian and pro-atheism" but I don't really see it that way. Its a really great movie that tells how a girl saves a bunch of kids from this evil lady's experiments. At least that's what the first movie is about. I'm kinda hoping they make another one so the rest of the story will be found out and you're not left hanging at the part where they are going to go give her father something he needs. I don't understand where the whole atheism part plays into it, but if people want to see it, they'll see it. And yes I know that the author of the books said that's what its all about, but in the movie? Not visible at all. Sorry folks. Its not as blatant as the Narnia Chronicles--which I'm attempting to watch Prince Caspian, but the video player is being cruel right now lol.

On to a new topic, the student ministry that I'm in now is going well. There's a few ideas out there on the board that look like its going to start something new. I'm really excited about the stuff that's going to be going on. And not only that, but a few things were solved- kinda- and things are a little better. Hopefully the relationships that need to be built up will start getting built up. Next week is going to be mad crazy with all the activities that will be going on, but I'm so looking forward to it all. Really. This is what I love to do. Working with student ministry, planning things for them, working out the kinks, hanging with them and the other leaders....things don't get much better than that.

Tomorrow is Starting Point at Forefront! Starting point is basically the what we are and where we are going talk for new people. Its a really neat thing and they feed you lunch (always a bonus!). If you're new or new-ish to Forefront, come check it out and see what's going on. Also, its a baptism Sunday for the church! Totally a cool thing! Gonna go support the baptees and chill with some awesome people.

Yup. Hectic times, but goodish times.

Friday, February 27, 2009

spring break

Its spring break. Oh yes, starting at 1:20 today, I was released from the educational responsibilities and told to take the week off. Unfortuently, I'm one of the few people in the world who would rather be in school than on a break. I'm not sure what should be accomplished on this break...lots of homework will be done, several books will be read and a few meetings attended. That's about all that I know of. I'm hoping to get to do a little work somewhere to keep me busy because I hate not doing anything for days on end. Maybe God has something really cool in store for me this week....we'll just have to wait and see I guess...

Monday, February 23, 2009

E-mail!

As we all know, or now will know, I was offered an internship with Kontaktmission for this summer to Germany. I'm really excited about it! Its going to be a ten week stay and will involve everything from youth work to church planting. Today was the first day I received contact about it! Yay! First e-mail for luck and good wishes! It was the best part of the day :) Reading happy emails about that is always exciting!
Back to the mission, I'll be in Stuttgart/Jena Germany. I leave May 20th and return August 10th (or something close to the date in august). The trip costs a bit, but it covers my ticket, meals, boarding, materials, training, travel there...pretty well everything but souviners. Hopefully, I'll be able to raise the money in time to get there (if you'd like to support e-mail me).
The main thing I'm asking for from everyone is to pray that the trip goes well and that communication is understood and that everyone has a good time and the work needed is done. Prayer is the most important part of any trip!!
So yeah! that's the fun part of the day! Reading an awesome e-mail! :)

Winterjam

Today was Winterjam. Its pretty much this big concert with a lot of Christian artists. The day started off pretty normal, went to church really really early, helped set up a bit then went over to get Claire to go to the concert. We get there really early so we'd have good seats and all. For the time frame....its 11am and its rainy, cold and windy. Around 3:30 that afternoon, after standing there all day, this lady comes through the crowd asking for volunteers. I was like sure, why not? Claire has a friend so she'll be ok and I mean, it'd be cool to give a hand. So they station me at the special door with programs. I passed out over 1300 programs in a little over an hour. It was insane!! Then Paula , the lady in charge, asked if I'd mind counting money. And I was like sure, why not? Well, this is where it gets interesting. I go down to the room to count money and there's this girl there who says she knows me but I have no clue as to who she is. Turns out she's a girl from AWANA back in Waynesville, Mo. She worked in Cubbies and I worked in Sparkies but we were both in 24/7 together. It was insane!! We talked forever about monkey ball, baptizims, ninja tag, songs....it was really really cool running into her. How odd is that?! How small the world is to be running into AWANA buddies from years and years ago! So that's the crazy part of it, the awesome part of volunteering is that I was downstairs, backstage, right next to Tobymac's dressing room! I got to meet Hawk Nelson, Stephanie Smith, Brandon Heath, PuNRG, and many others! It was awesome, and when time came for the show to end, most of them remembered me and let me cut in to get my program signed and pictures taken. It was really cool!! Plus all the tech work behind the scenes.....oh my gosh. It made me wonder why I ever left theater tech. Just astounding. I'm hoping to volunteer again with them when they come through next year and when ever else I get the chance to. All in all today was pretty awesome. And now I'm wiped out and about ready to crash. Till later....peace...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Birds on a wire...

Me. Being the awesome person I am. Am reevaluating what I want to do in life. Its really scary because I don't know if this is what is supposed to happen, what will happen or if its just me getting antsy about everything.
Honestly though, I think what is going on with everything is a subtle kick in the pants of saying this is what I'm really supposed to be doing and that it'll fall into place someday soon. I just sent a e-mail to a person asking their opinion. And hopefully, they'll get back with me and let me know what they think and everything. I think that's what I'm supposed to do. There's that "heavy heart" feeling in my chest about it. Don't know if that's good or bad or just the effect of too much caffeine.
I've questioned my position in life so much. I've changed things so much. And the only thing that has ever remained the same is this passion that most don't know about. Here's to finding out what it means...

Friday, February 20, 2009

Gay and Compassionate

"As Christians, that should be our approach to homosexuals. We have seen clearly that God hates homosexuality, but as Christians we are called to treat people with compassion. We are called love people and demonstrate Christ to them. The greatest way to demonstrate love for sinners is to compassionately show them their sin. To withhold God’s hatred for the sin of homosexuality is not compassionate, even if it’s masked with the label of “tolerance.” Withholding the only truth that can bring salvation is the opposite of compassion; it is condemnation.

As Christians we are called to proclaim the truth; and not simply for truth’s sake. We are called to proclaim God’s truth regarding the sin of men so that through the knowledge of sin God may grant faith and repentence that leads to salvation. With homosexuality it is no different. If a homosexual will turn from their sin and turn to Christ, they too can be saved."



This came froma blog that I normally don't read because the people who write it I don't particularly agree with.Their views don't coincide with mine hardly at all when it comes to people with alternative lifestyles and whatnot. I agree that we need to treat everyone with compassion, but I do not agree that it is our place to show them their sins. Pretty sure that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Granted, if they come for advice, and are open, willing and really want it...then its our place to show them what they need to see. But nowhere does it state that it's our place to point out how wrong they are and how right we are. Remember the Pharisees? They let everyone else know about the sins that the people around them were carrying. Were they compassionate because they were saving the people from themselves? Yes, homosexuality is wrong, but we don't need to point out how wrong they are. We need to love them like Jesus told us to. That's what we're called to do. Not to point out sins, but to love. By loving them, we're showing that we care and are truly compassionate. It's not withholding truth or condemning them to hell if we don't point out their sin. If we love them like Jesus, eventually they will turn and see it for themselves. We don't' need to shove our "religion" on them and condemn them for their actions now. We should be merciful and meek. Kind and caring. Loving and nonjudgmental. And we need to remember that before we try to "fix" or "save" someone else from sin(s), we need to ask forgiveness for our own.

Mormons in E-City?!!

My friend Ryan and I had just gotten back from dropping off his passport stuff and getting mine (we had to come back for his check book haha) and we ran into some Elders from the Latter Day Saints. These guys were awesome! They wanted to know more about the school and sit in a few classes. Unfortuently, most of the classes were over because it was almost two thirty. So I showed them around, took them to the student life office, introduced them to a few teachers, showed them the library, gym, chapel, etc. We talked a little about our beliefs. They asked what I was and I told them Independant....which ended up getting explained as non-denom, but I was baptized as Baptist. They asked what the Baptists believes and I told them the best I could. Then Ryan asked what they believed and that was pretty cool. They told us a little about the guy who started Latter Day Saints and showed us their book and everything. After all that I asked them their names and they gave them to us. They thought it was pretty weird that I asked them that. They are really cool people and hopefully are going to come check out the classes on monday or later next week. One is from Vegas so I told him about Verve and what's happening out there and he thought that was really neat. He hadn't heard anything like that before and thought it could work with the right people. It was just really neat to meet them and get to talk. Not gonna lie--I was like a little kid in a candy store all smiles and fun. I love meeting people like that and getting to know what they believe and everything. Its definantly on the list of things I enjoy most. Plus they were really nice. And remembered names! lol Thanks Mason and Hugo! You made today awesome!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Captivating Speeches.

Classes are hard for me to pay attention in. I don't know what it is, but unless I'm doing something else--drawing, writing,etc-- I just can't pay attention. Not as much is heard, things don't click and its just miserable. Which is weird. It transfers over to bible study- "quiet time" and thing like that. But it doesn't transfer over to church and listening to sermons. I can sit quietly for an hour or so listening to a sermon. There's just something about the enthusiasm of the person speaking that captivates me. Not to be all biased or anything, but I do have to say that one of my favorite preachers is the lead pastor of my church. The way that he tells the stories and shares the messages is just captivating. Another is the pastor of the branch I attend. When he does speak, its dripping in wisdom and care. Its amazing to get to listen to them. Even if its just on the podcast that is put out. It just grabs you and holds you still like a good book. Its pretty awesome. There's a video on youtube somewhere that's called "That's my God." Its this preacher telling what his God is and everything. His voice is just so powerful. I love listening to him. And there's this group, CV Drama. Their stories that they tell just captivate an audience. Its awesome.

But sometimes, I get really jealous of them. Mostly because I feel like I don't have the gift of capture. It would be amazing to be able to get up in front of people and share what's on my mind and have them all on the edge of their seats begging for more. This isn't a gift that I think I have. It kills sometimes because I'll write out "sermons" "talks" whatever you want to call them, but don't have the guts to share them because of the fear that no one will like them or understand. And then there's the whole part of being a girl. People aren't keen on having a girl "teach" or share a message. Its frustrating. I'd really like to share some of the thing....maybe one day I'll put them up on here and see what comes of it...Till later...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Friend

So I have this friend. We've been friends for as long as I can remember....ok give or take 9 years. That's a really, really long time. Especially for a military kid. This friend is someone that I have always turned to for advice. Some of the time I don't listen and do my own thing anyway, but for the most part I do listen. It just takes a really long time for it to sink in and multiple times of being told the same thing over and over again. There have been times when we've had our ups and downs. Many times when one of us got mad and refused to talk for days or weeks. But it's always come around and turned out ok. There have been many late night talks, cry sessions (mostly me on that), trips to Denny's and random crazy times. This friend has helped me through many many rough patches. Tonight we were talking, and they asked me what happened to the me I was in high school. Honestly, I don't know what happened. One day I was happy go lucky, ready to take on the world, gullible but not too much so, and the next....not so much. I guess that's what happens when you grow up. You loose all the gullibleness and overly cheery attitude and face life for what it is. My friend constantly teases me for looking like the gullible person but acting like someone much older. Always trying to get me to laugh and goof off and what not. Its fun to do that. And then we hang up the phone or close out im. And its over for a while. I really miss this friend. They've helped me through so much, shown me tons and have so much wisdom. One of these days we'll meet up again.





Me
senior year of high school
and my sable named "Bessy"




There are times when you realize
your friends are bigger dorks than
you remembered.
My friend-- senior

year.











The two of us trying to win a toy. Pretty sure
we never got it out, but it was fun trying.

Friday, February 13, 2009

revo second half

Ok, so, revolution. Revolutions are kinda like New Year's resolutions in that they are changes people want to make....but unlike resolutions they actually last longer than a week or two and don't always involve losing weight. Revolutions come about because of an injustice. Something is wrong with the system and needs to change but the normal way of passing a bill to make it change isn't fast nor drastic enough. That's kinda like how life is...there's something wrong, and the long way isn't going to solve it. We need a mini revolution! I'm not advocating that we over throw the government....just that we need a change within ourselfs. Personally, I know that I need a revolution started in me. The revolution is one of love and hope and new beginnings. Its where instead of passing judgement on others, we take a moment to hear them out. Instead of shutting the door on someone, we hold it open. Its a small idea. But it'll make a big change if we can get a few people started on the revolution of love (it needs a better title i know...i'll work on it). Cause a few will lead to many and many will lead to several and several will lead to hundreds and hundreds will...so on and so forth. What would the world look like if we just took a little more time and gave a hand to someone who needed it? What changes would take place if this revolution took place in everyone?

it'd be flipping cool that's what ! :)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Revolution??


I love that term...revolution. Its so empowering and daunting and it feels cool when you say it. But what constitutes a revolution? According to wikipedia (judge me later for using it...i still like it...

  1. Complete change from one constitution to another
  2. Modification of an existing constitution
A constitution is a set of laws and bylaws and rules and stuff, but you probably knew that. People are always talking about making revolutions in the world and changing things from the way that they are to the way that they should be. Does anybody really know how things should be? Honestly, can anyone look into the future and see a utopia and say, "Hey! Ok- this is what we need to do to get there." Can anyone look down from above and see what we need to change?

The first time I ever thought about revolutions outside of history class was when I was driving through the tunnel going to wal-mart in Chattanooga. There was a Ron Paul Revolution sign above it. I didn't understand it at first. and yes I might have googled it to see what it was about and everything. But it struck me as something not boring like the history classes had made it. This revolution was about love. About society and the betterment of it and the people living in it. That's pretty cool in my book. It got pushed out of my mind due to homework and work and other things. Then, I started going to Forefront (amazing church!!). They have a sign that they put in the lobby that says "Revolution already in progress". I never really thought about that until today. They are starting a Revolution in how they view people, how they love and serve and worship and do community with people. Its a very cool thing....

Anyway...I'll have to think more on this later....i'm supposed to be heading off to work.

peace

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A book

I finished Deity formally known as God not too long ago. It was a very good books and I highly recommend that people read it. The second to last chapter was possibly the best. If not the best, the top two of best. Its explainable, but not in a way that would grasp the full concept if it all and the awesomeness of that chapter so let's just say it spoke to me....

You are my beloved child. I loved you before you could ever attempt to do anything to impress me or earn my love. You are forgiven. I know what you've done, I know how far you've gone. But have heart, there's nothing that you can do that can separate my love from you. You are my beautiful creation. I am so proud of you.
DfkaG, --Stevens.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Significant life

Gel group tonight was pretty interesting. Especially after the tedious, frustrating day I had. We talked about lives of significance. What makes a life significant? For me, you first have to define what you mean by that. Its such a broad term and what may be so to one person, isn't to another. From the Christian worldview, its leading a significant life in the kingdom of God. Its making an impact for God. But, to be significant in God's kingdom all we have to do is what were were made to do. All we have to fulfill is our purpose. Our purpose in the kingdom is doxological-- fancy word for saying giving praise and glory to God. That's it. That's our entire purpose. We are to give praise and glory to God in everything we do. Unfortunately, that purpose doesn't fully satisfy most people. We want to make a viable impact. And to make that impact, we have to make a significant impression on someone or something. Now this is where it gets fun. Say a guy walks into a store and sees a robbery in place, stops the robbery and single handedly captures the criminal and saves the day. That's significant right? Say a girl sees a hobo on the street one day, and the next day takes them a meal. That's significant too right? Which one is more so? Is giving someone who is sneezing a kleenex significant? It may not be to others, but to that person sneezing their guts out through their nostrals it is. Is takeing some time to go chat with a old person in their old folks home significant? To most of the young generation its not, but it probably made that old person's day. To lead a significant life, one doesn't have to chain themselves to a tree, stop a bullet, save the world, cure aids or anything else (not to say that's not important...) But to be significant in someone's life, all you have to do is love them. All you have to do is take a little bit of time out of your busy schedule to love someone. Go that extra mile and get out of your comfort zone. We should do this because Jesus made a significant difference in our lives by loving us. He loved us so much he did the ultimate sign of love. He knew, knows?, that to make an impact on our lives, all he had to do was love us unconditionally and give it all to the glory of God. Jesus's life fulfilled the human purpose of living (praise and glory to God). And by doing that, he lead a life of significance. Mother Theresia lived a life of significance because she loved. Paul, Peter, Mark, John, Luke....they all loved and look how significant their lives were. Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. By doing that, by loving unconditionally and limitlessly, we'll lead lives of significance. What's awesome about that is, we'll never know how much of an impact we've made on a person till way down the line. You'll never know how much that kleenex ment to that person at that time. Pretty awesome,huh? All you have to do to be significant is to love. How simple is that?

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Body Snatcher

In class today the thought that Christianity is ridiculous came to my mind. We were talking about how the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. How you are no longer you but God. Thinking about it from a secular view, it sounds a lot like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". It kinda bothered me a little. I was thinking about it, and frankly, I'm not sure if I want someone to take away who I am and replace me. I can understand why so many people have trouble grasping this concept. Its so foreign and science fiction like. Think about it, this other body, spirit, comes into you. It fills you up. Starts to take control of your life. Its weird. Just sayin....I can relate to the secular view on this.