Today was incredible thanks for the prayers! We had such a great time and everyone did such a great job. Hopefully I won't forget anything in the update, but it was a very jam-packed day so forgive me if something slips my mind.
The Sotkiewicz family arrived here safely this evening. Now we have our whole team here. Julie, who is sick, had a good day today and was such a trooper. All the urgent care facilities here around Grundy will open back up tomorrow so she will be able to go get medicine and hopefully get to feeling better right away! Please continue to pray that she has a speedy recovery and that no one else gets sick.
Our day started off with our first set of lessons for VBS. We did it all as a part of their normal Sunday School. Our theme for the week is Courage: Doing what you should do even when you are afraid. Our students jumped right in and showed a great amount of courage too! They did a great job of leading the songs, sharing stories and leading small group time with all of the children. It was so cool to watch them in action. I can't wait until tomorrow so that I can upload some pictures of our team (I don't have the camera with me tonight, sorry!) Everyone did a really great job.
In the afternoon our guys played pick up basketball with their High School Guys. It was so much fun. We held our own and even won a few games. Needless to say we are all tired out from the games, and a few of us have blisters on our feet from all the action.
In the evening our students led the Mountain Mission Students in a prayer time after dinner, and then held an open gym for their Middle School and High School Girls. Much fun was had by all.
Please continue to pray for our students, families, and the rest of our team. It has been such a special mission trip already and we hope that God lets us continue to serve and be a blessing. Tomorrow we will be working on several projects around the campus, having part 2 of our VBS, and starting our soccer camp as well. Thanks for the prayers. Tomorrow I'll also try to get some of our students and leaders to give the update on the blog. Keep up the prayers!
Showing posts with label Isaiah117Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaiah117Challenge. Show all posts
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Grundy Mountain Mission School Day 1
Hey everybody! Thanks for all of your prayers and support. Our team made it here safe and sound this afternoon. We had a small bump in the road with some car sickness, and one of our adult leaders isn't feeling well, but God definitely is watching out for us on this trip.
We are so excited because tomorrow we will be getting to start our VBS during their Sunday School hour, we will get to hang out a lot with the students, and run through all of our materials for the rest of the week. You can be praying for us that God would keep us all healthy and safe. That he would help our adult leader who isn't feeling well have a quick and speedy recovery. On top of all of this pray that our team will reveal and celebrate God's glory with passion. We want to lift Jesus' name on high and share His goodness with everyone we meet.
I am so proud of our team already. They are doing a tremendous job. Everyone did a great job traveling. Our little guys and gals were such troopers, and our students did a great job of being flexible to their schedules. When we arrived they did a great job of representing both Parkside, and God's Kingdom with how they acted. During dinner because of a kitchen accident they ran out of food, and not all of our team was able to eat as much as they wanted. Still nobody complained, whined, or even looked upset. Praise God how cool is that!
Tonight we also got to have an open gym with the Middle School Boys from the Mission. It was such a blessing. They are so well behaved and we had a blast playing basketball with them. Please continue to pray for us. I'll do my best to update the blog daily and who knows I might even find a way to get some pictures on here or on the church's Facebook page. I'm so excited to see the special things God lets our team be a part of this week!
We are so excited because tomorrow we will be getting to start our VBS during their Sunday School hour, we will get to hang out a lot with the students, and run through all of our materials for the rest of the week. You can be praying for us that God would keep us all healthy and safe. That he would help our adult leader who isn't feeling well have a quick and speedy recovery. On top of all of this pray that our team will reveal and celebrate God's glory with passion. We want to lift Jesus' name on high and share His goodness with everyone we meet.
I am so proud of our team already. They are doing a tremendous job. Everyone did a great job traveling. Our little guys and gals were such troopers, and our students did a great job of being flexible to their schedules. When we arrived they did a great job of representing both Parkside, and God's Kingdom with how they acted. During dinner because of a kitchen accident they ran out of food, and not all of our team was able to eat as much as they wanted. Still nobody complained, whined, or even looked upset. Praise God how cool is that!
Tonight we also got to have an open gym with the Middle School Boys from the Mission. It was such a blessing. They are so well behaved and we had a blast playing basketball with them. Please continue to pray for us. I'll do my best to update the blog daily and who knows I might even find a way to get some pictures on here or on the church's Facebook page. I'm so excited to see the special things God lets our team be a part of this week!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Things of Interest
I just wanted to pass these things along to everybody. I hope you find them useful and/or enjoyable:
The Vilardo Blog:
Some of our Students are currently on a mission trip with their family in Kazakhstan. They are doing some pretty neat things for the Kingdom of God and are sharing some of it on their blog. I've loved keeping tabs on them. Please be praying for them during their trip!
Zach Steever in Bolivia:
During our HS Retreat this year we spent time praying for Zach and some of his students who were on a work trip at the same time in Bolivia where he teaches. It was a really neat prayer time. Afterwards he sent us some pictures of how their trip went. Their team of students dug a well and fabricated parts of the well. It was also a time of discipleship for all involved. Pretty cool to see what they did and how God let us be a part of it through prayer.
ISAIAH117CHALLENGE T-Shirts:
Necia Disse is designing our shirts for this year's Isaiah 117 Challenge. She is coming up with some cool looking stuff too. Here is just a taste of the brilliance!
Volunteer Rap from Kensington on Vimeo.
Your Kids an All-Star?:
This is a blog post that was sent to me by a friend of mine. It is by a guy named Scott Linscott. He discusses all the negative effects sports, drama, music etc. can have on students. He says some pretty thought provoking stuff and I think he is right on most of it too. We need to treat our students a lot more like we treat our retirement accounts sometimes. We can't try to rush their growth or over do things. We have to look at where we want them to be 5 to 10 years down the road and help them make good decisions that reflect our spiritual beliefs. That's really hard to do in this day and age. Be sure to read Scott's post. It's worth your time!
The Vilardo Blog:
Some of our Students are currently on a mission trip with their family in Kazakhstan. They are doing some pretty neat things for the Kingdom of God and are sharing some of it on their blog. I've loved keeping tabs on them. Please be praying for them during their trip!
Zach Steever in Bolivia:
During our HS Retreat this year we spent time praying for Zach and some of his students who were on a work trip at the same time in Bolivia where he teaches. It was a really neat prayer time. Afterwards he sent us some pictures of how their trip went. Their team of students dug a well and fabricated parts of the well. It was also a time of discipleship for all involved. Pretty cool to see what they did and how God let us be a part of it through prayer.
ISAIAH117CHALLENGE T-Shirts:
Necia Disse is designing our shirts for this year's Isaiah 117 Challenge. She is coming up with some cool looking stuff too. Here is just a taste of the brilliance!
Volunteer Thank You Video:
Here is a video that a church did to appreciate their volunteers. It's awesome and I'm gonna use it as a chance to say how much I love the team that serves our students and their families. It's awesome to serve in God's Kingdom together. This video is pretty awesome too. The people that came up with it did a great job.
Volunteer Rap from Kensington on Vimeo.
Your Kids an All-Star?:
This is a blog post that was sent to me by a friend of mine. It is by a guy named Scott Linscott. He discusses all the negative effects sports, drama, music etc. can have on students. He says some pretty thought provoking stuff and I think he is right on most of it too. We need to treat our students a lot more like we treat our retirement accounts sometimes. We can't try to rush their growth or over do things. We have to look at where we want them to be 5 to 10 years down the road and help them make good decisions that reflect our spiritual beliefs. That's really hard to do in this day and age. Be sure to read Scott's post. It's worth your time!
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Unbound Movement Free Trade Market
This weekend, my wife Alicia, a student named Evan, and I went to the Freedom Center downtown to check out a Fair Trade Market that was put together by the Unbound Movement. For those of you unfamiliar with the Unbound Movement, it is a movement (obviously) started by a group of students and leaders at Crossroads Church to end modern day slavery. Needless to say we checked it out on Saturday and it was an incredible experience.
On the 3rd floor of the Freedom Center they had an Experience Station set up to let participants get an idea what it was like to live as a modern day slave. The experience was called Restevek (which is what child slaves are called in Haiti). Overall it was sobering to see the things that they are required to do, and their quality of life is just horrendous. It's not something we want to think about, but its real and its happening all over.
Our student ministry has really been trying to teach students about what it means to seek justice and learn to do right in their community and world. Isaiah 1:17 says, "Learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, plead the case of the widow, defend the case of the fatherless." We all need to take verse like that to heart and apply it to who we are and how we live. The Unbound Movement is a great example of that.
We took our Flip Camera and did some quick interviews with some of the different organizations at the Fair Trade Market. For those of you not familiar with what Fair Trade is let me try to sum it up. The idea of Fair Trade is to pay workers a fair amount for their work, especially in impoverished areas where they are normally incredibly underpaid. So check out what these groups had to say, and then check their websites out, because they are doing some pretty cool stuff and really applying what the Bible says about seeking justice.
La Terza Coffee
Their Website
Chuck from La Terza from Parkside Students on Vimeo.
I used some of my birthday money to get some of the coffee that La Terza makes in the Dominican Republic. I didn't get a chance to brew any of it yet, but the sample I got on Saturday was great!
10,000 Villages
Their Website
Connie from 10,000 Villages from Parkside Students on Vimeo.
Alicia and I bought some soap from 10,000 Villages. They also had an incredibly cool Marriage Sculpture that would make an awesome wedding present. Connie goes to University Christian Church to which has a long history with Parkside. Pretty cool stuff!
Trade As One
Their Website
Kevin Madsen who works for Trade as One, spoke for one of the breakout sessions, and we have a video for it that we are still uploading and I'll try to get it on the blog later this week. We ended up getting a lot of stuff from Trade As One's display area. They are real focused on their Fair Trade Products being quality things that you would already need. We got a awesome mint chocolate bar that was made in Bolivia, and we got some of our friends some surprises too. They had some really cool stuff and their website has a pretty cool video that tells a lot of their company's goals and values.
On the 3rd floor of the Freedom Center they had an Experience Station set up to let participants get an idea what it was like to live as a modern day slave. The experience was called Restevek (which is what child slaves are called in Haiti). Overall it was sobering to see the things that they are required to do, and their quality of life is just horrendous. It's not something we want to think about, but its real and its happening all over.
Our student ministry has really been trying to teach students about what it means to seek justice and learn to do right in their community and world. Isaiah 1:17 says, "Learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, plead the case of the widow, defend the case of the fatherless." We all need to take verse like that to heart and apply it to who we are and how we live. The Unbound Movement is a great example of that.
We took our Flip Camera and did some quick interviews with some of the different organizations at the Fair Trade Market. For those of you not familiar with what Fair Trade is let me try to sum it up. The idea of Fair Trade is to pay workers a fair amount for their work, especially in impoverished areas where they are normally incredibly underpaid. So check out what these groups had to say, and then check their websites out, because they are doing some pretty cool stuff and really applying what the Bible says about seeking justice.
La Terza Coffee
Their Website
Chuck from La Terza from Parkside Students on Vimeo.
I used some of my birthday money to get some of the coffee that La Terza makes in the Dominican Republic. I didn't get a chance to brew any of it yet, but the sample I got on Saturday was great!
10,000 Villages
Their Website
Connie from 10,000 Villages from Parkside Students on Vimeo.
Alicia and I bought some soap from 10,000 Villages. They also had an incredibly cool Marriage Sculpture that would make an awesome wedding present. Connie goes to University Christian Church to which has a long history with Parkside. Pretty cool stuff!
Trade As One
Their Website
Kevin Madsen who works for Trade as One, spoke for one of the breakout sessions, and we have a video for it that we are still uploading and I'll try to get it on the blog later this week. We ended up getting a lot of stuff from Trade As One's display area. They are real focused on their Fair Trade Products being quality things that you would already need. We got a awesome mint chocolate bar that was made in Bolivia, and we got some of our friends some surprises too. They had some really cool stuff and their website has a pretty cool video that tells a lot of their company's goals and values.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Last Day of this Year''s Isaiah 117 Challenge
Yesterday was a ton of fun. Our team that is building a deck totally hit their stride, and the Mvca football teams and two of our other groups knocked out a ton more work at the Mount Washington Cemetery. We also had one other group that helped at the East End Outreach Center and they did an awesome job too.
Afterwords, we all got to head over to the Robert's house and go swimming and eat some awesome food. When it finally came time to leave nobody wanted too. It was a blast. I think it was the perfect way to relax after a hard day's work.
Clayton, our Children's Minister, came and talked with us last night as well. He asked us what dream we were chasing. He wanted to know what excited us or what we were passionate about. The answers were pretty cool. The covered the whole spectrum from playing drums, having a bakery, knowing Jesus better, serving God each day, painting and a lot more. It gets me excited to think about the many ways God can use each of our talents and abilities for His glory.
Please don't forget to continue to pray for us, that we would finish strong today and continue to be safe.
Thanks to everyone who has been supporting this group in prayer. It has been an incredible time for us all. The only thing that would make it better is if everyone who has been praying for us could come out to the Community Picnic that we are throwing tonight at 6pm at the East End Community Garden. We would love to have you be there.
Afterwords, we all got to head over to the Robert's house and go swimming and eat some awesome food. When it finally came time to leave nobody wanted too. It was a blast. I think it was the perfect way to relax after a hard day's work.
Clayton, our Children's Minister, came and talked with us last night as well. He asked us what dream we were chasing. He wanted to know what excited us or what we were passionate about. The answers were pretty cool. The covered the whole spectrum from playing drums, having a bakery, knowing Jesus better, serving God each day, painting and a lot more. It gets me excited to think about the many ways God can use each of our talents and abilities for His glory.
Please don't forget to continue to pray for us, that we would finish strong today and continue to be safe.
Thanks to everyone who has been supporting this group in prayer. It has been an incredible time for us all. The only thing that would make it better is if everyone who has been praying for us could come out to the Community Picnic that we are throwing tonight at 6pm at the East End Community Garden. We would love to have you be there.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
I117C: Day 2
Yesterday was one of the coolest days. Our groups headed out to two different work sites. One was to work on someone's house and the other work site was Mount Washington Cemetery. Both of our groups jumped right in got sweaty and worked really hard.
Julie, the caretaker for the cemetery, called me at the end of the day to say how impressed and blessed she was by our students. Not only that, but at both sites our students got to meet and get to know people from the community. They have been inviting people left and right to our Community Picnic on Wednesday. Keep praying for our students and leaders that God gives us energy to be working for His Kingdom and that he keeps us safe.
We also did something really neat in the evening too. We had just gotten back and cleaned up from the work site, and we got everyone together. We spent just a few minutes about how everybody's biggest need is Jesus, and how finding ways to show Jesus' love to people is sometimes easier than others. At the end of that group discussion we surprised the students by telling them that for the next part of the evening we were going to head out into the community and just find ways to show God's love to people.
God did some pretty cool things during that time too. One group visited people in the hospital to give out ballons and pray with patients. Another group made dinner for one of their neighbors. A couple of other groups handed out Gatorade and water in different parks. One of those groups stumbled upon a young soccer team who didn't have a snack for after the game. It was perfect! One group headed out to help get somebody some groceries. When they arrived at their place the person wasn;t home. Instead of giving up they prayed that God would lead them. As it turns out the guy they were looking for was real close by and had a flat tire! They changed it and gave him his groceries. How cool!
To celebrate we all met up afterwords to swap stories at Skyline. One of our groups that had served at Outreach that evening invited the Outreach volunteers. The servers at Skyline did great! We loved it because we practically took over Skyline and all we were talking about was the cool stuff God had let us be a part of that evening.
Thanks everyone for the prayers. Please keep them up. Today the MVCA Football team is coming out to help us at one of our worksites. Another one of our groups is still working on finishing a deck for a couple. Pray that God keeps us all safe, but also that we get opportunities to have conversations with people in the community. We want a chance to hear their story and share with them how God's story has changed our lives in so many ways. Thanks!
Julie, the caretaker for the cemetery, called me at the end of the day to say how impressed and blessed she was by our students. Not only that, but at both sites our students got to meet and get to know people from the community. They have been inviting people left and right to our Community Picnic on Wednesday. Keep praying for our students and leaders that God gives us energy to be working for His Kingdom and that he keeps us safe.
We also did something really neat in the evening too. We had just gotten back and cleaned up from the work site, and we got everyone together. We spent just a few minutes about how everybody's biggest need is Jesus, and how finding ways to show Jesus' love to people is sometimes easier than others. At the end of that group discussion we surprised the students by telling them that for the next part of the evening we were going to head out into the community and just find ways to show God's love to people.
God did some pretty cool things during that time too. One group visited people in the hospital to give out ballons and pray with patients. Another group made dinner for one of their neighbors. A couple of other groups handed out Gatorade and water in different parks. One of those groups stumbled upon a young soccer team who didn't have a snack for after the game. It was perfect! One group headed out to help get somebody some groceries. When they arrived at their place the person wasn;t home. Instead of giving up they prayed that God would lead them. As it turns out the guy they were looking for was real close by and had a flat tire! They changed it and gave him his groceries. How cool!
To celebrate we all met up afterwords to swap stories at Skyline. One of our groups that had served at Outreach that evening invited the Outreach volunteers. The servers at Skyline did great! We loved it because we practically took over Skyline and all we were talking about was the cool stuff God had let us be a part of that evening.
Thanks everyone for the prayers. Please keep them up. Today the MVCA Football team is coming out to help us at one of our worksites. Another one of our groups is still working on finishing a deck for a couple. Pray that God keeps us all safe, but also that we get opportunities to have conversations with people in the community. We want a chance to hear their story and share with them how God's story has changed our lives in so many ways. Thanks!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Isaiah 117 Challenge Update
We have a great group of students this year for the Isaiah 117 Challenge. Yesterday they all arrived and we spent the evening hanging out and getting to know everybody. Jamie Ward came in for a few hours last night to share with us what it means to be a servant in God's Kingdom. All in all it was a great first day. Everyone is in their sleeping bag snoring away right now, but in just a couple of hours they will be out into the community working hard.
Jamie walked us through the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. We learned how the people of Israel had forgotten about the God who had created them. Everything around them was a mess, and they were just pretending like it wasn't. Jamie made a great comparison and said if Isaiah chapter 1 had been written today to us it would say, "You all come to church every week and pretend like everything is fine. You do a great job doing church, but you are missing me (God) in this whole thing, and you aren't helping anybody around you!" Pretty much the Israelites were being Sunday Christians. The type of people who come on Sundays, but thats the only time they ever think about God. That's a really easy trap to fall into, and most of us are guilty of it at times. Jamie really challenged us with verse 17 from Isaiah chapter 1. It reads,
"17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
The challenge of that verse is that it needs to be a way of life not a one time act.
I will try to keep everyone up to date on our adventures. I am so excited at what God is going to do this week. Please be praying for our team as we will be in the sun most of the day. Also be praying for us that we would truly learn what it means to be Kingdom Workers for God and not just Sunday Christians who ignore God 6 days a week. We are going to really try to grow and get beyond ourselves this week. Join us in our challenge and cover us in prayer. Thanks!
Jamie walked us through the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. We learned how the people of Israel had forgotten about the God who had created them. Everything around them was a mess, and they were just pretending like it wasn't. Jamie made a great comparison and said if Isaiah chapter 1 had been written today to us it would say, "You all come to church every week and pretend like everything is fine. You do a great job doing church, but you are missing me (God) in this whole thing, and you aren't helping anybody around you!" Pretty much the Israelites were being Sunday Christians. The type of people who come on Sundays, but thats the only time they ever think about God. That's a really easy trap to fall into, and most of us are guilty of it at times. Jamie really challenged us with verse 17 from Isaiah chapter 1. It reads,
"17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
The challenge of that verse is that it needs to be a way of life not a one time act.
I will try to keep everyone up to date on our adventures. I am so excited at what God is going to do this week. Please be praying for our team as we will be in the sun most of the day. Also be praying for us that we would truly learn what it means to be Kingdom Workers for God and not just Sunday Christians who ignore God 6 days a week. We are going to really try to grow and get beyond ourselves this week. Join us in our challenge and cover us in prayer. Thanks!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday Morning Check-In
Reds vs Cards Series
This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the 1st place Reds will be facing their Division rivals the Cardinals. I fell in love with baseball watching the Reds win the 1990 World Series as a kid. I remember during the Strike Shortened Season that the Reds and the Astros kept going back and forth at the top of the division. It was fun to watch. This year the Reds and the Cards are doing the same thing. For the first time in my life I have gotten to see the Reds in GABP while they were in first place, and that atmosphere is electric! I am so excited and nervous about this series. Hopefully the Reds can take 2 out of 3 games.
Samson and Focus
This summer our High School Guys Sunday School Class has been going through the book of Judges. Samson's story starts off in Judges 13. People here the name Samson and they think about his strength, but we spent most of our time talking about his focus (or the lack thereof). We dug into the first half of his story.
Samson's parents hadn't been able to have children before him. The Angel of the Lord appeared to them and let them know that their child would have a specific purpose in life. The term the Bible uses for this is Nazarite. To be a Nazarite would mean that you would abstain from alcohol, cutting your hair, and from being in the near vicinity from corpses of any kind. To take the Nazarite vow was to commit yourself to a specific purpose and setting yourself aside.
The interesting thing about Samson is that he didn't do to good of a job with his whole Nazarite Vow thing. He lacked the focus to accomplish the job at hand. It makes you wonder what he could have accomplished as Israel's leader if he had made better decisions. If you read his story though he comes across as a brash, smug young man who was pretty stuck on himself. Not only that he tended to fly off the handle pretty easily. His fellow Isrealites didn't even support him, in fact they turned him over to their enemies at one point.
Accomplishing any goal takes focus and sacrifice. You have to be willing to give up things that you enjoy that could get in your way. You can see what your priorities are in life by looking at what you sacrifice the most for. Whatever that is, it is the thing that you are most focused on, and chances are the thing you will obtain or achieve during your life.
Indoor Soccer
A friend of mine invited me to fill in for someone on his indoor soccer team last night. I told him I could help out, but that I hadn't played soccer since elementary school. It was a lot of fun too. I will admit that the only shot I got I almost whiffed on, but I also did some stuff right (I got to head a ball too which made me feel pretty legit). Chances are though I will never get invited back because of my newb status. We did however beat the top team in the Rec League.
Isaiah 117 Challenge
It is hard to believe it, but the summer is nearly over and that also means that it is almost time for the Isaiah 117 Challenge. In case you haven't heard me say it before, the I117C is one of my favorite parts of the summer. It is such a relational service project. I love getting to know the new students and watch our students step up as leaders and kingdom workers. The I117C starts this Sunday, August 15th and goes all the way to Wednesday, August 18th. We end it with a community picnic too and everybody is invited. This year's picnic will be at 6:00pm on Wednesday, August 18th at the East End Community Garden at the intersection of Strader and Wool Street. The more the merrier so be sure to be there!
This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the 1st place Reds will be facing their Division rivals the Cardinals. I fell in love with baseball watching the Reds win the 1990 World Series as a kid. I remember during the Strike Shortened Season that the Reds and the Astros kept going back and forth at the top of the division. It was fun to watch. This year the Reds and the Cards are doing the same thing. For the first time in my life I have gotten to see the Reds in GABP while they were in first place, and that atmosphere is electric! I am so excited and nervous about this series. Hopefully the Reds can take 2 out of 3 games.
Samson and Focus
This summer our High School Guys Sunday School Class has been going through the book of Judges. Samson's story starts off in Judges 13. People here the name Samson and they think about his strength, but we spent most of our time talking about his focus (or the lack thereof). We dug into the first half of his story.
Samson's parents hadn't been able to have children before him. The Angel of the Lord appeared to them and let them know that their child would have a specific purpose in life. The term the Bible uses for this is Nazarite. To be a Nazarite would mean that you would abstain from alcohol, cutting your hair, and from being in the near vicinity from corpses of any kind. To take the Nazarite vow was to commit yourself to a specific purpose and setting yourself aside.
The interesting thing about Samson is that he didn't do to good of a job with his whole Nazarite Vow thing. He lacked the focus to accomplish the job at hand. It makes you wonder what he could have accomplished as Israel's leader if he had made better decisions. If you read his story though he comes across as a brash, smug young man who was pretty stuck on himself. Not only that he tended to fly off the handle pretty easily. His fellow Isrealites didn't even support him, in fact they turned him over to their enemies at one point.
Accomplishing any goal takes focus and sacrifice. You have to be willing to give up things that you enjoy that could get in your way. You can see what your priorities are in life by looking at what you sacrifice the most for. Whatever that is, it is the thing that you are most focused on, and chances are the thing you will obtain or achieve during your life.
Indoor Soccer
A friend of mine invited me to fill in for someone on his indoor soccer team last night. I told him I could help out, but that I hadn't played soccer since elementary school. It was a lot of fun too. I will admit that the only shot I got I almost whiffed on, but I also did some stuff right (I got to head a ball too which made me feel pretty legit). Chances are though I will never get invited back because of my newb status. We did however beat the top team in the Rec League.
Isaiah 117 Challenge
It is hard to believe it, but the summer is nearly over and that also means that it is almost time for the Isaiah 117 Challenge. In case you haven't heard me say it before, the I117C is one of my favorite parts of the summer. It is such a relational service project. I love getting to know the new students and watch our students step up as leaders and kingdom workers. The I117C starts this Sunday, August 15th and goes all the way to Wednesday, August 18th. We end it with a community picnic too and everybody is invited. This year's picnic will be at 6:00pm on Wednesday, August 18th at the East End Community Garden at the intersection of Strader and Wool Street. The more the merrier so be sure to be there!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Year in Review Part 3
July
Bigger Picture: Bernie Madoff's life just kept getting worse. As evidence of his huge ponzi scheme became clearer everyone was dumbfounded by the size of it (ponzi just sounds like corruption). Thankfully as a recent college grad and a student minister I had no millions to have squandered by him.
In My World: Alicia took her NCLEX test. The test is just a big shiny way of the US deciding whether or not you get to be a nurse. Anyways the precautions to make sure people don't cheat just make the test more stressful. Everyone that Alicia and I talked to said they had a breakdown after they took it and they were sure that they failed. I bet you could make a ton of money offering counseling sessions outside of the testing facility on test day. Well, sure enough Alicia passed with flying colors and started working at Anderson Mercy Hospital like the next week.
In Student Ministry: ISAIAH 117!!! This was one of my favorite things from the past year. We had such a great time serving our community and just growing with Students. Everybody worked so hard. It was just such a God thing. The neat thing is that cool Kingdom of God coming to Earth kind of stuff is still happening because of Isaiah 117. If you are wondering what the ISAIAH117 CHALLENGE was/is go read Isaiah 1:17 and that will sum it up pretty well. Basically we spent a week trying to Glorify God by learning to do right in our community.
In My World: George Frank and his wife Cassi went to Ireland. It made Alicia and I very jealous. Don't worry we got over it.
In Student Ministry: The school year was just around the bend so we had a Student Ministry Movement seminar for our parents and ministry leaders. The Chicfila was definitely a highlight. My favorite parts of it though were having students there serving our parents and leaders, having time to talk and pray with the parents of our students, and getting a chance to share my passion for growing students to be Engaging Christ Followers. A lot of good things came out of that Saturday afternoon.
In My World: I Rick Rolled the staff at Parkside. I thought it was all fun and games until I came out to my car and Bart had slit my tires. He didn't really, but he totally could have.
In Student Ministry: Rel Community and Friday Nights at the Crossing got kicked off for the school year. Our volunteers and group leaders have done an awesome job all year. It has been so incredible to see students come to the Crossing on Friday night and a few weeks later end up coming to Rel Community and joining a group . Its awesome to get to see people who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus share their story with students who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Its definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.
Bigger Picture: Bernie Madoff's life just kept getting worse. As evidence of his huge ponzi scheme became clearer everyone was dumbfounded by the size of it (ponzi just sounds like corruption). Thankfully as a recent college grad and a student minister I had no millions to have squandered by him.
In My World: Alicia took her NCLEX test. The test is just a big shiny way of the US deciding whether or not you get to be a nurse. Anyways the precautions to make sure people don't cheat just make the test more stressful. Everyone that Alicia and I talked to said they had a breakdown after they took it and they were sure that they failed. I bet you could make a ton of money offering counseling sessions outside of the testing facility on test day. Well, sure enough Alicia passed with flying colors and started working at Anderson Mercy Hospital like the next week.
In Student Ministry: ISAIAH 117!!! This was one of my favorite things from the past year. We had such a great time serving our community and just growing with Students. Everybody worked so hard. It was just such a God thing. The neat thing is that cool Kingdom of God coming to Earth kind of stuff is still happening because of Isaiah 117. If you are wondering what the ISAIAH117 CHALLENGE was/is go read Isaiah 1:17 and that will sum it up pretty well. Basically we spent a week trying to Glorify God by learning to do right in our community.
Oh and CIY Move was awesome too. Joe, Kyle, Lindsey, and Jess... Can you say SARDINES?
August
Bigger Picture: The Bengals made Cincinnati proud by capturing America's attention in this year's addition of Hard Knocks. During the show Chad Ochocinco blessed us with new catch phrases like Kiss Da Baby and Child Please. Which were really cool until someone besides Chad Ochocinco said them and then not so much. Still the best Bengals memory form August was Chad kicking not only an extra point, but also the ensuing kick off in a preseason game. SMH.
Bigger Picture: The Bengals made Cincinnati proud by capturing America's attention in this year's addition of Hard Knocks. During the show Chad Ochocinco blessed us with new catch phrases like Kiss Da Baby and Child Please. Which were really cool until someone besides Chad Ochocinco said them and then not so much. Still the best Bengals memory form August was Chad kicking not only an extra point, but also the ensuing kick off in a preseason game. SMH.
In My World: George Frank and his wife Cassi went to Ireland. It made Alicia and I very jealous. Don't worry we got over it.
In Student Ministry: The school year was just around the bend so we had a Student Ministry Movement seminar for our parents and ministry leaders. The Chicfila was definitely a highlight. My favorite parts of it though were having students there serving our parents and leaders, having time to talk and pray with the parents of our students, and getting a chance to share my passion for growing students to be Engaging Christ Followers. A lot of good things came out of that Saturday afternoon.
September
Bigger Picture: Parkside's river campus opened up. The whole process of the River Campus coming about was a God thing. It was real privilege to be a part of the process. It is great what God is bringing about in our lives, at Parkside, and in the Kingdom of God. I still love it when someone asks me, "How many Parksiders were at the River Campus this Sunday." (The correct answer is ALL of them at the River Campus are Parksiders).
Bigger Picture: Parkside's river campus opened up. The whole process of the River Campus coming about was a God thing. It was real privilege to be a part of the process. It is great what God is bringing about in our lives, at Parkside, and in the Kingdom of God. I still love it when someone asks me, "How many Parksiders were at the River Campus this Sunday." (The correct answer is ALL of them at the River Campus are Parksiders).
Oh and how could I not mention Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMA's. I would offer up my thoughts abut when I first saw it, but I don't want to get dogged by Kanye on his next album. Come on though Beyonce's video was the best video of all time right? File that whole incident under "Things I Don't Care About"
In My World: I Rick Rolled the staff at Parkside. I thought it was all fun and games until I came out to my car and Bart had slit my tires. He didn't really, but he totally could have.
In Student Ministry: Rel Community and Friday Nights at the Crossing got kicked off for the school year. Our volunteers and group leaders have done an awesome job all year. It has been so incredible to see students come to the Crossing on Friday night and a few weeks later end up coming to Rel Community and joining a group . Its awesome to get to see people who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus share their story with students who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Its definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Caption Contest
Alright, post a caption to this photo as a comment on the blog. After a few days I'll pick my favorite. Winner gets a free Rel Community or Isaiah117Challenge T-Shirt. Bonus Points to whoever can name the person in the picture too. Have a great Christmas!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Psalms of Repentance
Here is the list of Psalms I was talking about today during my message:
Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143
Take a look at Psalms 102. I feel like I can really relate to the guy who wrote this. Especially with the way they labeled the Psalm. I have definitely felt afflicted before.
Psalm 102
A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.
5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD :
19 "The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death."
21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.
23 In the course of my life [a] he broke my strength; he cut short my days.
24 So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you."
Let me know what your thoughts are as you read through these Psalms. Touch base with the blog during the week to talk about what you have been reading. I'll go through these as well. I'll also be updating people on how our local mission trip is going. It starts this afternoon. We have an awesome group of students coming to give of their time and talents to share God's love. Be praying for us as we serve Him!
Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143
Take a look at Psalms 102. I feel like I can really relate to the guy who wrote this. Especially with the way they labeled the Psalm. I have definitely felt afflicted before.
Psalm 102
A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.
5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD :
19 "The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death."
21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.
23 In the course of my life [a] he broke my strength; he cut short my days.
24 So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you."
Let me know what your thoughts are as you read through these Psalms. Touch base with the blog during the week to talk about what you have been reading. I'll go through these as well. I'll also be updating people on how our local mission trip is going. It starts this afternoon. We have an awesome group of students coming to give of their time and talents to share God's love. Be praying for us as we serve Him!
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