Hello Everyone!
I hope that the December month is treating you all well! Things are finally starting to slow down for me. After next Sunday, I will be able to take a break for a couple of weeks from teaching Bible Studies. I love doing it, but it will be good to just relax, recharge my batteries, and also get my focus re-aligned. Speaking of which, there was something I read that I wanted to share with you.
I am currently reading the book, "Too Busy Not to Pray" by Bill Hybels. I am not finished with it, but I would already recommend it as a great resource if you are looking to improve your prayer life. I was reading something today that really made me think and reflect. Hybels quoted the verse in Matthew 21:21-22:
"Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
One of the first points he makes about this passage is that, "Faith comes by looking at God, not at the mountain." This was very interesting to me. I have heard different Bible studies on this verse, various sermons, but this was a very unique perspective. The purpose of this passage wasn't that you can move a mountain, but saying that there is power in prayer. The thing is you need to have faith and don't doubt which is where Hybels comes in with this first point.
After I read that, I had to sit and reflect on it for a moment. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain. How often do we focus on the mountain rather than God? We think about a sin that we are struggling with and we focus on the sin. We look at what it is, what caused it, practical steps to battle it, etc. It gets to the point that we focus so much on the sin that we forget the person who can free us from it. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain. Or say that we are serving in a ministry. We get all the statistics, find creative ways to present the information, read all the theories, get great curriculum, etc. We can get lost in that and focus on the mountain instead of focusing on God's truth and letting that work. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain.
In my life, I think that is a really big problem for me. I focus too much on the mountain and figure out how to move it instead of looking at God the one who not only put the mountain there but knows how to move it, when to move it, and why it should or shouldn't be moved. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Reading, Retreating, Teaching, and Pies
Hey Everyone!
I realize that it has been over a month since I have blogged…my apologies. The past couple of weeks I have been so tired after I come home from work that I just don’t think about it. Then when I do think about it, there’s really nothing to say. Unless you want to hear about some of the stuff I do at work…which isn’t super exciting. I could update on my Life group and things like that, but I just don’t really know what to say. Thus, you get the blank blogs. Now since I have a little time, I will try to write something.
There were a couple big events that I went to this month that were really cool. Our church had things thing called the Immersion Conference which basically was a two day conference where this professor from Union University, Dr. George Guthrie, taught us the basics of reading/studying the bible. He wrote a book called, “Read the Bible for Life” which I highly recommend. Whether you are a new Christian, been a Christian for years, or are just curious, it is a good book. What he did was interview several experts in their fields and had each chapter is an interview with that person about the topic. For example, some chapters have to do with reading the Bible in context, reading the Bible in translation, Reading the Old Testament Stories & Laws (2 separate chapters), Reading for personal devotion, reading in times of Sorrow and Suffering, Reading with family/church, and many, many, more. If this interests you, try to find the book. I got it on my Kindle, but it is also available other places.
I also got back from Fall Retreat a couple of days ago with our Youth Group. We took about 300 7th-12th graders this year! Talk about organized chaos :-) All the small groups were co-ed and I had 7th graders (5 girls and four boys). This year was really great. I loved our theme. Our theme was the cross and it was based around 1 Corinthians 1:18 which says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (ESV). I could mention all the days lessons but basically we wanted to show them how important the message of the Cross is and what it means for us as Christians. Something that has really been a struggle for our students, and a lot of adults, is the fact that they are not assured of their salvation and they put limits on what God can do and wants to do for them. There’s a lot more I can say, but frankly I’m still processing it all even after being back a couple of days! The kids have all this week off so pray that they process it too :-)
My MIT group is going well. I had to miss last week to make up some time at work and we are not meeting this week so I feel a little out of it. Also I haven’t been as faithful with this book. I like the book and it is a very good commentary on Proverbs, but it is just a little harder for me to get through. Plus Proverbs is pretty convicting so when you do have time to look at it you almost have to stop and reflect for like an hour before you can move on. My Life Group is going well. I think that we are at a place where we are starting to understand each other better. The past four weeks I have been teaching God’s story – Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. This study has been fun because it goes over the whole thing. We don’t teach the whole story all the way through a lot. It’s pretty sad. The Children’s ministry is actually going through the Bible this year (the major stories and not revelation). I’m really surprised with some of our kids. We may have one or two that know the OT and NT by now! I’m thankful for being able to teach this class because I finally memorized the books of the OT and NT. Feel free to quiz me sometime.
Let’s see, what else is there? I have been updating my status each day with something I am thankful for. I have been using the letters of the alphabet so I can finish near Thanksgiving. Today was the letter “V” and I was thankful for Volume! I have gotten some pretty good response on these. I think I will post them all in my next blog because I am almost done with them all. What has been cool about this was that it has almost forced me to be thankful for the small things. When you get to some of these letters you are like, “What starts with this letter?” It’s harder than you think! Good exercise though.
I am going to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving to see my Great Grandparents (Hi Grandmom and Granddad if you are reading this!) It will be fun and good to see the family. My parents and sister were able to go up several weeks ago, but I couldn’t make it. It should be a good time of catching up and a lot of eating. I’m starting to get hungry just thinking of the Pumpkin Pies (By the way when I got to the letter “P” I was thankful for pies!)
I better be going I hope everyone reading this has a great day!
I realize that it has been over a month since I have blogged…my apologies. The past couple of weeks I have been so tired after I come home from work that I just don’t think about it. Then when I do think about it, there’s really nothing to say. Unless you want to hear about some of the stuff I do at work…which isn’t super exciting. I could update on my Life group and things like that, but I just don’t really know what to say. Thus, you get the blank blogs. Now since I have a little time, I will try to write something.
There were a couple big events that I went to this month that were really cool. Our church had things thing called the Immersion Conference which basically was a two day conference where this professor from Union University, Dr. George Guthrie, taught us the basics of reading/studying the bible. He wrote a book called, “Read the Bible for Life” which I highly recommend. Whether you are a new Christian, been a Christian for years, or are just curious, it is a good book. What he did was interview several experts in their fields and had each chapter is an interview with that person about the topic. For example, some chapters have to do with reading the Bible in context, reading the Bible in translation, Reading the Old Testament Stories & Laws (2 separate chapters), Reading for personal devotion, reading in times of Sorrow and Suffering, Reading with family/church, and many, many, more. If this interests you, try to find the book. I got it on my Kindle, but it is also available other places.
I also got back from Fall Retreat a couple of days ago with our Youth Group. We took about 300 7th-12th graders this year! Talk about organized chaos :-) All the small groups were co-ed and I had 7th graders (5 girls and four boys). This year was really great. I loved our theme. Our theme was the cross and it was based around 1 Corinthians 1:18 which says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (ESV). I could mention all the days lessons but basically we wanted to show them how important the message of the Cross is and what it means for us as Christians. Something that has really been a struggle for our students, and a lot of adults, is the fact that they are not assured of their salvation and they put limits on what God can do and wants to do for them. There’s a lot more I can say, but frankly I’m still processing it all even after being back a couple of days! The kids have all this week off so pray that they process it too :-)
My MIT group is going well. I had to miss last week to make up some time at work and we are not meeting this week so I feel a little out of it. Also I haven’t been as faithful with this book. I like the book and it is a very good commentary on Proverbs, but it is just a little harder for me to get through. Plus Proverbs is pretty convicting so when you do have time to look at it you almost have to stop and reflect for like an hour before you can move on. My Life Group is going well. I think that we are at a place where we are starting to understand each other better. The past four weeks I have been teaching God’s story – Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. This study has been fun because it goes over the whole thing. We don’t teach the whole story all the way through a lot. It’s pretty sad. The Children’s ministry is actually going through the Bible this year (the major stories and not revelation). I’m really surprised with some of our kids. We may have one or two that know the OT and NT by now! I’m thankful for being able to teach this class because I finally memorized the books of the OT and NT. Feel free to quiz me sometime.
Let’s see, what else is there? I have been updating my status each day with something I am thankful for. I have been using the letters of the alphabet so I can finish near Thanksgiving. Today was the letter “V” and I was thankful for Volume! I have gotten some pretty good response on these. I think I will post them all in my next blog because I am almost done with them all. What has been cool about this was that it has almost forced me to be thankful for the small things. When you get to some of these letters you are like, “What starts with this letter?” It’s harder than you think! Good exercise though.
I am going to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving to see my Great Grandparents (Hi Grandmom and Granddad if you are reading this!) It will be fun and good to see the family. My parents and sister were able to go up several weeks ago, but I couldn’t make it. It should be a good time of catching up and a lot of eating. I’m starting to get hungry just thinking of the Pumpkin Pies (By the way when I got to the letter “P” I was thankful for pies!)
I better be going I hope everyone reading this has a great day!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Working together for Good
Hello Everyone!
I hope that you are doing well. I am trying to be more consistent with my blogs. I was going to do it weekly, but I will just have to do it when I remember (or when I feel I have something to say). I wanted to talk about something that was discussed at church yesterday. There were two messages I heard on Sunday. One was from our Pastor and the other was from someone I co-teach 1st graders with every Sunday. Pastor Mike talked about growing and equipping leaders. The person I co-teach with taught on Joseph with an emphasis on Romans 8:28 (We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose").
Pastor Mike started off saying, "I don't work with volunteers. I work with people that are called. No one at church volunteers, they are called." That made me feel great and it also made me feel guilty because I have been wanting to quit the Parking Lot team for months now. There is no good reason why other than I just don't want to do it anymore. Yet when I look at it, it has been a great jumping board for a lot of conversations. I see people outside the church who are like, "Do you go to Brentwood Baptist?" or they'll be like, "Aren't you in the parking lot?" Then there are people inside the church who know me or know my name because I was in the Parking Lot and when I introduce myself they would be like, "You're the guy that directs traffic!" I do enjoy doing it. It just gets tiresome and there are several people who don't listen or directly ignore you. I know other ministers get this reaction, but it just seems it is more visible out there. When it comes down to it though, I didn't volunteer for this. I remember when I was in High School someone came into my Bible study to ask for people to help. He told us, "Just write, 'I want to be part of the Parking Lot Ministry'" I was 14-15 then. I didn't know how to drive. I didn't own a car. I've only been part of the church for a couple of months and at that moment I remember thinking, "I could do that." I made a note in the church connection pad, was called on the phone that week, and my first Sunday was Easter. I have been doing it ever since...which is almost 10 years now! If you look at me, you wouldn't think Parking Lot Ministry. I am 5 foot 4, not a very loud person, not a very forceful person, and I am HORRIBLE with directions. Yet God has worked through me. If he can use a talking donkey, than he can use me (for those of you that don't get that reference...check out Numbers 22:21-41)!
Ms. Melva, the person with whom I co-teach 1st grade, gave me a great reminder this past Sunday about how God works. She was teaching to 1st graders, but this lesson applies to everybody. She quoted Romans 8:28 and asked the kid, "Does it say that only good things will happen if we love God? No. It doesn't say that. It does say that all things work together for the good of those that Love God. Sometimes bad things happen in life and we get upset. We don't know why it's happening. What we need to remember is that even though that bad stuff is happening, all things work together for the good of those who love God." I know that I tend to forget that. It's easy to get caught up in what is going wrong, the bad stuff that happens, or why things are the way they are. That's when we should remember that as long as we Love God and put our faith and trust in him, that all things will work together for the good of those who love Him.
Overall, lots of things to think about this week. I even have more, but I will wait until later to post my thoughts on the Proverbs study and also this book I'm reading.
Have a great rest of the day!
I hope that you are doing well. I am trying to be more consistent with my blogs. I was going to do it weekly, but I will just have to do it when I remember (or when I feel I have something to say). I wanted to talk about something that was discussed at church yesterday. There were two messages I heard on Sunday. One was from our Pastor and the other was from someone I co-teach 1st graders with every Sunday. Pastor Mike talked about growing and equipping leaders. The person I co-teach with taught on Joseph with an emphasis on Romans 8:28 (We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose").
Pastor Mike started off saying, "I don't work with volunteers. I work with people that are called. No one at church volunteers, they are called." That made me feel great and it also made me feel guilty because I have been wanting to quit the Parking Lot team for months now. There is no good reason why other than I just don't want to do it anymore. Yet when I look at it, it has been a great jumping board for a lot of conversations. I see people outside the church who are like, "Do you go to Brentwood Baptist?" or they'll be like, "Aren't you in the parking lot?" Then there are people inside the church who know me or know my name because I was in the Parking Lot and when I introduce myself they would be like, "You're the guy that directs traffic!" I do enjoy doing it. It just gets tiresome and there are several people who don't listen or directly ignore you. I know other ministers get this reaction, but it just seems it is more visible out there. When it comes down to it though, I didn't volunteer for this. I remember when I was in High School someone came into my Bible study to ask for people to help. He told us, "Just write, 'I want to be part of the Parking Lot Ministry'" I was 14-15 then. I didn't know how to drive. I didn't own a car. I've only been part of the church for a couple of months and at that moment I remember thinking, "I could do that." I made a note in the church connection pad, was called on the phone that week, and my first Sunday was Easter. I have been doing it ever since...which is almost 10 years now! If you look at me, you wouldn't think Parking Lot Ministry. I am 5 foot 4, not a very loud person, not a very forceful person, and I am HORRIBLE with directions. Yet God has worked through me. If he can use a talking donkey, than he can use me (for those of you that don't get that reference...check out Numbers 22:21-41)!
Ms. Melva, the person with whom I co-teach 1st grade, gave me a great reminder this past Sunday about how God works. She was teaching to 1st graders, but this lesson applies to everybody. She quoted Romans 8:28 and asked the kid, "Does it say that only good things will happen if we love God? No. It doesn't say that. It does say that all things work together for the good of those that Love God. Sometimes bad things happen in life and we get upset. We don't know why it's happening. What we need to remember is that even though that bad stuff is happening, all things work together for the good of those who love God." I know that I tend to forget that. It's easy to get caught up in what is going wrong, the bad stuff that happens, or why things are the way they are. That's when we should remember that as long as we Love God and put our faith and trust in him, that all things will work together for the good of those who love Him.
Overall, lots of things to think about this week. I even have more, but I will wait until later to post my thoughts on the Proverbs study and also this book I'm reading.
Have a great rest of the day!
Monday, October 17, 2011
I'm still here!
Hey Everyone!
I haven’t really updated my blog in a while. A lot of the time it’s because I feel like I don’t have anything to say. It could also be the fact that I have a lot to say, and I can’t put it down all in a few paragraphs. I’ll try to be better about blogging though for those of you who have been reading but haven’t seen anything recently.
Work is going well. I guess with every job you have periods where you have a lot of work, some work, and then little work. You can never really tell when that is going to be. Typically I’ll have more work on Mondays and Thursdays/Fridays. Then again that is not always the case. It depends on what checks come in the mail, if I need to set up anything, help with anything, or do some filing/catch up work. Either way, it’s good because it’s steady and there are several things I can do/help with and I am given a little more responsibility which is good.
The two classes that I teach or co-teach are going well. The first grade class I’m helping with this year is almost all boys. We have 1 or 2 girls that have come, but they don’t come every week. I enjoy this class though. We have some really smart kids in there and we don’t have any kids that really misbehave. The teaching this year is pretty cool too because we’re teaching through the Bible chronologically. The past three weeks we have been teaching on the Patriarchs. We taught on Abram, Isaac, and Jacob and next week we teach about Joseph. There’s a song we sing that goes with it and it just got stuck in my head as I wrote this paragraph! As for the 6th grade Lifegroup, it’s going well. It took a while for all of us to adjust and we are still getting there. They are getting used to being in the youth group, the way that classes are put together, and also just having a new leader and being with some new kids. I have to think differently when I teach now because I was used to teaching a group knowing they knew certain things and I can’t assume that with this group. It is kind of exciting though because I can be the one to teach them about those new things. It’s still a learning process though and I feel like even though I’ve done this for a while, it’s pretty new.
I am also in a Bible study called, “Men in Training” and we are going over Proverbs using a commentary book written by Warren Wiersbe. It’s been very good. I was one of those people who never really wanted to study through proverbs. I knew it had practical wisdom and was important to read, but I like the narratives better and I also wanted to be sure I knew the NT well enough. Digging into this study though has really taught me some cool things though and I have enjoyed doing it. It is a little more difficult than previous studies. I’m taking notes throughout the chapters because there is so much there. Weirsbe doesn’t even go through every verse but he goes through sections and themes. The group I’m in is good too. It has some of the guys that were there in previous years, but we got a lot of newer guys (or some that have returned) to the group. I’m the youngest in the group. It is an intergenerational study, so there are lots of benefits to it.
My friend Tom just graduated from the Navy a couple of days ago! I watched the dogs and house for his parents while they went to see him. He’s going to Charleston now for school, but hopefully he will be able to visit soon or vice versa. I’m very happy and proud of him, it’s just a little weird for me because he was one of my friends that I would hang out with and now we have to make an extra effort to keep in touch. It’s no big deal. We were writing letters back and forth while he was in boot camp, and now he has e-mail and phone so it shouldn’t be too much harder.
Well, I should be going. I will be sure to blog more. Have a great rest of the day!
I haven’t really updated my blog in a while. A lot of the time it’s because I feel like I don’t have anything to say. It could also be the fact that I have a lot to say, and I can’t put it down all in a few paragraphs. I’ll try to be better about blogging though for those of you who have been reading but haven’t seen anything recently.
Work is going well. I guess with every job you have periods where you have a lot of work, some work, and then little work. You can never really tell when that is going to be. Typically I’ll have more work on Mondays and Thursdays/Fridays. Then again that is not always the case. It depends on what checks come in the mail, if I need to set up anything, help with anything, or do some filing/catch up work. Either way, it’s good because it’s steady and there are several things I can do/help with and I am given a little more responsibility which is good.
The two classes that I teach or co-teach are going well. The first grade class I’m helping with this year is almost all boys. We have 1 or 2 girls that have come, but they don’t come every week. I enjoy this class though. We have some really smart kids in there and we don’t have any kids that really misbehave. The teaching this year is pretty cool too because we’re teaching through the Bible chronologically. The past three weeks we have been teaching on the Patriarchs. We taught on Abram, Isaac, and Jacob and next week we teach about Joseph. There’s a song we sing that goes with it and it just got stuck in my head as I wrote this paragraph! As for the 6th grade Lifegroup, it’s going well. It took a while for all of us to adjust and we are still getting there. They are getting used to being in the youth group, the way that classes are put together, and also just having a new leader and being with some new kids. I have to think differently when I teach now because I was used to teaching a group knowing they knew certain things and I can’t assume that with this group. It is kind of exciting though because I can be the one to teach them about those new things. It’s still a learning process though and I feel like even though I’ve done this for a while, it’s pretty new.
I am also in a Bible study called, “Men in Training” and we are going over Proverbs using a commentary book written by Warren Wiersbe. It’s been very good. I was one of those people who never really wanted to study through proverbs. I knew it had practical wisdom and was important to read, but I like the narratives better and I also wanted to be sure I knew the NT well enough. Digging into this study though has really taught me some cool things though and I have enjoyed doing it. It is a little more difficult than previous studies. I’m taking notes throughout the chapters because there is so much there. Weirsbe doesn’t even go through every verse but he goes through sections and themes. The group I’m in is good too. It has some of the guys that were there in previous years, but we got a lot of newer guys (or some that have returned) to the group. I’m the youngest in the group. It is an intergenerational study, so there are lots of benefits to it.
My friend Tom just graduated from the Navy a couple of days ago! I watched the dogs and house for his parents while they went to see him. He’s going to Charleston now for school, but hopefully he will be able to visit soon or vice versa. I’m very happy and proud of him, it’s just a little weird for me because he was one of my friends that I would hang out with and now we have to make an extra effort to keep in touch. It’s no big deal. We were writing letters back and forth while he was in boot camp, and now he has e-mail and phone so it shouldn’t be too much harder.
Well, I should be going. I will be sure to blog more. Have a great rest of the day!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friend to the Navy
Hey Everyone!
I hope that everything is treating you well. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day in August! This summer has flown by so fast. Also so much has happened since the last time I posted - most of it having to do with my father. Since I know I will forget details and may not get everything right, here is a link to my Dad's caring bridge site where you can read about what has happened and what is currently happening.
In other news, one of my best friends went to Boot Camp a couple of weeks ago for the Navy. I'm very excited and proud of him. We hung out a lot and went to church together since High School, so getting used to him being gone will be different. I know he doesn't like the attention, so I'm not going to tell him about this post. But if you could send a prayer out to him and our Armed Forces, that would be great.
There's probably a lot more to say but I'm kind of tired. Have a great rest of the day!
I hope that everything is treating you well. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day in August! This summer has flown by so fast. Also so much has happened since the last time I posted - most of it having to do with my father. Since I know I will forget details and may not get everything right, here is a link to my Dad's caring bridge site where you can read about what has happened and what is currently happening.
In other news, one of my best friends went to Boot Camp a couple of weeks ago for the Navy. I'm very excited and proud of him. We hung out a lot and went to church together since High School, so getting used to him being gone will be different. I know he doesn't like the attention, so I'm not going to tell him about this post. But if you could send a prayer out to him and our Armed Forces, that would be great.
There's probably a lot more to say but I'm kind of tired. Have a great rest of the day!
"Eternal Father, Strong to Save": The Navy Hymn
Words: Rev. William Whiting (1825-1878) & Music: Rev. John B. Dykes (1823-1876)Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 10)
Hey Everyone!
I hope that you are all doing well! Today is our last day in Hong Kong and will probably be my last blog until I get home to the states. I hope that you were able to follow what we were doing. I wish I could have gone into more detail, but the time constraints with Internet as well as the time constraints during the day permitted me from doing so. Hopefully in future blogs I can tell a little bit more about what I learned this week!
Today was a good day to just relax and fellowship with CBIBC. We were able to do our VBS presentation to the church. We sang 3 songs, two volunteers gave a testimony, and we recapped what happened during the week. Some final numbers would be that we had 98 kids total register for VBS and we talked to over a dozen kids with at least 4 of them making decisions to follow Christ and become Christians! At the service, the church presented us with gifts for this week. Those that didn't go last year got a stamp with their name and Chinese character, and for Zach, Courtney, and I we got some wall pictures to hang (on this trip I got a wall picture of Hong Kong and a wall picture of the Chinese character "diligent" all from the church). I believe Courtney got the Chinese character for faith and Zach got the Chinese character for Love. We also gave Janice a gift from our team for being with us all week. Deejah bought this book on Nashville with a bunch of art having to do with the city and we all signed it. I thought it was a great gift, and I am glad that she took initiative (Go White team! *that's the team for preteens*)
After church, we ate at this western restaurant with some of the other church members. Courtney, Jennifer, Hannah, Deejah, and I all talked with Oscar Au (I will double check the spelling of the last name later) and we had a great time. He is such a smart and good Christian man. He teaches at the University and he's a deacon at the church also helping to lead music from time to time. We also got to hear from Pastor Billy's wife - name escapes me...sorry - and she told us about how her and Billy met (got engaged after 3 dates) and their life doing missions in Asia and all over.
Right now I am just finishing up the blog before we go explore a little bit more of the city. I hope that you all have a great rest of the day, and I will hopefully again blog soon!
I hope that you are all doing well! Today is our last day in Hong Kong and will probably be my last blog until I get home to the states. I hope that you were able to follow what we were doing. I wish I could have gone into more detail, but the time constraints with Internet as well as the time constraints during the day permitted me from doing so. Hopefully in future blogs I can tell a little bit more about what I learned this week!
Today was a good day to just relax and fellowship with CBIBC. We were able to do our VBS presentation to the church. We sang 3 songs, two volunteers gave a testimony, and we recapped what happened during the week. Some final numbers would be that we had 98 kids total register for VBS and we talked to over a dozen kids with at least 4 of them making decisions to follow Christ and become Christians! At the service, the church presented us with gifts for this week. Those that didn't go last year got a stamp with their name and Chinese character, and for Zach, Courtney, and I we got some wall pictures to hang (on this trip I got a wall picture of Hong Kong and a wall picture of the Chinese character "diligent" all from the church). I believe Courtney got the Chinese character for faith and Zach got the Chinese character for Love. We also gave Janice a gift from our team for being with us all week. Deejah bought this book on Nashville with a bunch of art having to do with the city and we all signed it. I thought it was a great gift, and I am glad that she took initiative (Go White team! *that's the team for preteens*)
After church, we ate at this western restaurant with some of the other church members. Courtney, Jennifer, Hannah, Deejah, and I all talked with Oscar Au (I will double check the spelling of the last name later) and we had a great time. He is such a smart and good Christian man. He teaches at the University and he's a deacon at the church also helping to lead music from time to time. We also got to hear from Pastor Billy's wife - name escapes me...sorry - and she told us about how her and Billy met (got engaged after 3 dates) and their life doing missions in Asia and all over.
Right now I am just finishing up the blog before we go explore a little bit more of the city. I hope that you all have a great rest of the day, and I will hopefully again blog soon!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 9)
Hi Everyone!
I finally have a moment to sit down and tell about what we did today. One of the great things that we got to do today was sleep past 7! We didn't have to meet for our activities until 10am, so it was good.
The first thing we did today was go to Lantau to see the big Buddha. I say big because it is 112 feet high. That's pretty big! I went to see it last year, so I probably told more about it on my previous blog. The thing with this is we had to take the MTR (Mass Transit System) to get to the cable cars and then the cable cars took us over the river and mountains to get to Lantau Island. For those that were not a fan of heights, they could go on a bus. We got there and we saw the Buddha as well as the Po Lin Monastery. The worse part of the trip was we had to climb like a thousand stairs to get to the Giant Buddha. But, it was still an incredible display of architecture.
After we saw the Giant Buddha, we went to a local fishing village. The village was actually one of the only fishing villages of its kind left in Hong Kong. The time we visited now is low tide, so the river is not as high as it was and also some parts are just dry. The village didn't bother me too much except that there were some live fish which I just had to stay away from. Most of the stuff there was dried out. I actually tried some miniature bananas and cherries there and it was pretty good. It was a different sort of scene to see there. You forget what it's like for some people in the world who live near the sea and don't have a whole lot. Although when you looked at their "houses" you did see some big screen TV's, so it wasn't really void of technology.
After the village we had a long bus ride, and then a long MTR ride. We made it to the Hotel a little while ago, and we just decided to eat here. I just got done twenty minutes ago, so here I am! I am about to head out though because I am getting a little tired and we have our VBS Sunday presentation tomorrow where we tell the church what we did all week and the children sing the songs for them. It should be good.
Have a great rest of the day!
I finally have a moment to sit down and tell about what we did today. One of the great things that we got to do today was sleep past 7! We didn't have to meet for our activities until 10am, so it was good.
The first thing we did today was go to Lantau to see the big Buddha. I say big because it is 112 feet high. That's pretty big! I went to see it last year, so I probably told more about it on my previous blog. The thing with this is we had to take the MTR (Mass Transit System) to get to the cable cars and then the cable cars took us over the river and mountains to get to Lantau Island. For those that were not a fan of heights, they could go on a bus. We got there and we saw the Buddha as well as the Po Lin Monastery. The worse part of the trip was we had to climb like a thousand stairs to get to the Giant Buddha. But, it was still an incredible display of architecture.
After we saw the Giant Buddha, we went to a local fishing village. The village was actually one of the only fishing villages of its kind left in Hong Kong. The time we visited now is low tide, so the river is not as high as it was and also some parts are just dry. The village didn't bother me too much except that there were some live fish which I just had to stay away from. Most of the stuff there was dried out. I actually tried some miniature bananas and cherries there and it was pretty good. It was a different sort of scene to see there. You forget what it's like for some people in the world who live near the sea and don't have a whole lot. Although when you looked at their "houses" you did see some big screen TV's, so it wasn't really void of technology.
After the village we had a long bus ride, and then a long MTR ride. We made it to the Hotel a little while ago, and we just decided to eat here. I just got done twenty minutes ago, so here I am! I am about to head out though because I am getting a little tired and we have our VBS Sunday presentation tomorrow where we tell the church what we did all week and the children sing the songs for them. It should be good.
Have a great rest of the day!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 7 & 8)
Hi Everyone!
Because I didn't post yesterday, I will have to cover two days worth in this blog. Once you see what I post, you'll understand why.
Day 7
Today was day four of VBS. We were talking about the woman at the well (the Samaritan woman with the husbands) and focusing on telling others about Jesus. This day was particularly hard for me because I just felt extremely tired this day. I felt like I had no energy. I was trying everything I could to get some more energy like listening to music, moving around more, and luckily God gave me enough energy to sing with the kids, do what I needed to do for the classroom, and sing at the end of the day. I about fell asleep on the desks after we were done. That day, however, we were not going back to the hotel. That day was our day to go to Stanley Market. Stanley market is this big open market where you can buy lots of cool things. You can bargain for prices like in the Ladies' market, but they are a little harder to bargain with. I'm horrible at haggling for prices, so I just pay full price. I ended up getting some good stuff, but during this time I started to feel dizzy. Then after I felt dizzy I got a headache. I drank some water and juice because I thought I was dehydrated, and then my stomach hurt so much it felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily Courtney had some medicine that I took, and after the long bus ride we finally made it to the hotel where I just crashed and took a nap. It helped a lot even though I was still dazed. I ended up going to bed early and I think it really helped (although I forgot to take me sleeping pills so at 11:00 I finally gave in and took them to help me sleep).
Day 8
Now to today! Today was our last day of VBS. It was interesting though because we only had half of the kids show up today. There was a level 3 typhoon warning here and according to Government regulations, we had to cancel classes for the real young kids (preschool and kindergarten aged children). Then there were lots of kids that had other obligations today and then some that just couldn't come because of the weather. We had 9 in our class. I personally would rather have more because believe it or not, they were actually easier to manage when there were more of them! We ended the day pretty well though. We actually have our family night tonight in about 3 hours. Hopefully the weather will be good and we can have plenty of the family and children coming to see about this week.
Other than that, things are pretty good. Now we are just seeing what the weather will be like because that determines our activities for tomorrow. If you could just pray for the family/kids as well as CBIBC for following up with the family and kids, that would be appreciated.
Have a great rest of the day!
Because I didn't post yesterday, I will have to cover two days worth in this blog. Once you see what I post, you'll understand why.
Day 7
Today was day four of VBS. We were talking about the woman at the well (the Samaritan woman with the husbands) and focusing on telling others about Jesus. This day was particularly hard for me because I just felt extremely tired this day. I felt like I had no energy. I was trying everything I could to get some more energy like listening to music, moving around more, and luckily God gave me enough energy to sing with the kids, do what I needed to do for the classroom, and sing at the end of the day. I about fell asleep on the desks after we were done. That day, however, we were not going back to the hotel. That day was our day to go to Stanley Market. Stanley market is this big open market where you can buy lots of cool things. You can bargain for prices like in the Ladies' market, but they are a little harder to bargain with. I'm horrible at haggling for prices, so I just pay full price. I ended up getting some good stuff, but during this time I started to feel dizzy. Then after I felt dizzy I got a headache. I drank some water and juice because I thought I was dehydrated, and then my stomach hurt so much it felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily Courtney had some medicine that I took, and after the long bus ride we finally made it to the hotel where I just crashed and took a nap. It helped a lot even though I was still dazed. I ended up going to bed early and I think it really helped (although I forgot to take me sleeping pills so at 11:00 I finally gave in and took them to help me sleep).
Day 8
Now to today! Today was our last day of VBS. It was interesting though because we only had half of the kids show up today. There was a level 3 typhoon warning here and according to Government regulations, we had to cancel classes for the real young kids (preschool and kindergarten aged children). Then there were lots of kids that had other obligations today and then some that just couldn't come because of the weather. We had 9 in our class. I personally would rather have more because believe it or not, they were actually easier to manage when there were more of them! We ended the day pretty well though. We actually have our family night tonight in about 3 hours. Hopefully the weather will be good and we can have plenty of the family and children coming to see about this week.
Other than that, things are pretty good. Now we are just seeing what the weather will be like because that determines our activities for tomorrow. If you could just pray for the family/kids as well as CBIBC for following up with the family and kids, that would be appreciated.
Have a great rest of the day!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 6)
Hi Everyone!
Today was a very important day for us. Today was the day we were presenting the plan of salvation to the kids. The story for the older kids was centered around Jesus and Nicodemus discussing how you can be born again. The younger kids were talking about Peter walking on the water. The way that we were presenting it in the older kids class was I would give a little introduction to the story. I had an activity. They had a sheet of paper and they had to find a partner with a matching name. The catch was that they could not open their eyes they had to shout and basically find them through hearing and touch. It was related back to Nicodemus and the questions he had for Jesus. Mainly, "How can one be born again?" It set up Courtney for being able to talk about the ABC's (Admit, Believe, and Confess) as well incorporating the verse and God's story. It went pretty well. Actually one girl in our class made a decision to accept Christ, so it was very good!
It was a very busy day for me though. I agreed yesterday that I would help with the music which meant that I would do the rapping part for the song. Basically it was just me rapping the John 3:16 verse. The kids seemed to like it. I know I got some compliments from the adults :-) I also volunteered to do a drama for the Younger kids about Peter walking on the water. So right after I did my rap, I ran backstage to get into my costume, ran upstairs to the classroom, and gave my "drama" for Peter. It was different because I have never done a drama for just Kindergarten before (and it was a smaller group). It was more interactive, which was fine with me. From what Zach and Nicole said, they seemed to listen and understand the story very well after that. I enjoy doing the dramas for kids, so it was fun for me! Then at the end of the day, Zach asked if I would talk to this little Girl (7 yrs old) who said on her commitment card that she had questions about God. So I talked with her about who God was, who Jesus was, what they did, what sin was, etc. I relayed the information to Zach and Rachel (her teacher) and it was very good. I don't think she was ready to make a full decision, but she understands everything very well. I've never really counseled someone that young before, but it was fine.
So after all of that, I was pretty tired! We had lunch in a small restaurant in an upper room (very good) and then we went to visit the new headquarters for the ICM (Inner City Ministries). I talked about them in my blog the past couple of years. I can't go into a lot of detail due to my time constraint, but here is a link to their website http://www.innercityministries.org. It was great visit and I hope that CBIBC and BBC can help support this for years to come.
Tonight is going to be a fun night because Courtney, Zach and I are going to be having a guys night out! Just to be clear on the numbers...including Janice who is our go-to person on this trip, it is us 3 guys and 10 girls. We're going to probably eat at Outback and see the new Transformers movie. Good guy stuff! Be sure to pray for tomorrow that we may have energy and also follow-up with those kids we didn't get to talk to today.
Have a great rest of the day!
Today was a very important day for us. Today was the day we were presenting the plan of salvation to the kids. The story for the older kids was centered around Jesus and Nicodemus discussing how you can be born again. The younger kids were talking about Peter walking on the water. The way that we were presenting it in the older kids class was I would give a little introduction to the story. I had an activity. They had a sheet of paper and they had to find a partner with a matching name. The catch was that they could not open their eyes they had to shout and basically find them through hearing and touch. It was related back to Nicodemus and the questions he had for Jesus. Mainly, "How can one be born again?" It set up Courtney for being able to talk about the ABC's (Admit, Believe, and Confess) as well incorporating the verse and God's story. It went pretty well. Actually one girl in our class made a decision to accept Christ, so it was very good!
It was a very busy day for me though. I agreed yesterday that I would help with the music which meant that I would do the rapping part for the song. Basically it was just me rapping the John 3:16 verse. The kids seemed to like it. I know I got some compliments from the adults :-) I also volunteered to do a drama for the Younger kids about Peter walking on the water. So right after I did my rap, I ran backstage to get into my costume, ran upstairs to the classroom, and gave my "drama" for Peter. It was different because I have never done a drama for just Kindergarten before (and it was a smaller group). It was more interactive, which was fine with me. From what Zach and Nicole said, they seemed to listen and understand the story very well after that. I enjoy doing the dramas for kids, so it was fun for me! Then at the end of the day, Zach asked if I would talk to this little Girl (7 yrs old) who said on her commitment card that she had questions about God. So I talked with her about who God was, who Jesus was, what they did, what sin was, etc. I relayed the information to Zach and Rachel (her teacher) and it was very good. I don't think she was ready to make a full decision, but she understands everything very well. I've never really counseled someone that young before, but it was fine.
So after all of that, I was pretty tired! We had lunch in a small restaurant in an upper room (very good) and then we went to visit the new headquarters for the ICM (Inner City Ministries). I talked about them in my blog the past couple of years. I can't go into a lot of detail due to my time constraint, but here is a link to their website http://www.innercityministries.org. It was great visit and I hope that CBIBC and BBC can help support this for years to come.
Tonight is going to be a fun night because Courtney, Zach and I are going to be having a guys night out! Just to be clear on the numbers...including Janice who is our go-to person on this trip, it is us 3 guys and 10 girls. We're going to probably eat at Outback and see the new Transformers movie. Good guy stuff! Be sure to pray for tomorrow that we may have energy and also follow-up with those kids we didn't get to talk to today.
Have a great rest of the day!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 5)
Hey Everyone!
Well, we made it through day two of VBS. We had 92 kids today, so we were just one short from what we had yesterday! I think it was from our class, because we only had 16. It was a good day though. The curriculum presented a little bit of a challenge to teach, but we all made adjustments and followed through. The biggest thing about day two is getting them prepared for day three! Tomorrow, we present the plan of salvation. We had a longer meeting this afternoon about that. We talked about the right and wrongs ways to talk to kids about their decision. We also mentioned about how that day is typically the hardest. The technology might not work right, the kids may be extra disruptive, our coach might not get their on time, there are just a lot of things that seem to happen when we come to day three! It's like Zach told us, "When we do something for God, he's not the only one who notices." If you could just pray for strength, clarity, and patience tomorrow, I would appreciate it. The Jet lag hit me pretty hard this morning, but luckily it didn't get me down. The lack of sleep and time change are starting to show though, so it's getting tougher to have the kind of energy I had yesterday.
Tonight will be a good night. In about 30 minutes our group will leave so we can tour the oldest church in Hong Kong (St. John's - Zach said it was close to 150 years old). We will then go to the Peak after that to have a very nice dinner and view of the skyline. I am also planning on buying a hat and trying a crepe. I am feel so tired I may wear the crepe and eat the hat :-)
Have a great rest of the day!
Well, we made it through day two of VBS. We had 92 kids today, so we were just one short from what we had yesterday! I think it was from our class, because we only had 16. It was a good day though. The curriculum presented a little bit of a challenge to teach, but we all made adjustments and followed through. The biggest thing about day two is getting them prepared for day three! Tomorrow, we present the plan of salvation. We had a longer meeting this afternoon about that. We talked about the right and wrongs ways to talk to kids about their decision. We also mentioned about how that day is typically the hardest. The technology might not work right, the kids may be extra disruptive, our coach might not get their on time, there are just a lot of things that seem to happen when we come to day three! It's like Zach told us, "When we do something for God, he's not the only one who notices." If you could just pray for strength, clarity, and patience tomorrow, I would appreciate it. The Jet lag hit me pretty hard this morning, but luckily it didn't get me down. The lack of sleep and time change are starting to show though, so it's getting tougher to have the kind of energy I had yesterday.
Tonight will be a good night. In about 30 minutes our group will leave so we can tour the oldest church in Hong Kong (St. John's - Zach said it was close to 150 years old). We will then go to the Peak after that to have a very nice dinner and view of the skyline. I am also planning on buying a hat and trying a crepe. I am feel so tired I may wear the crepe and eat the hat :-)
Have a great rest of the day!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 4)
Hey Everyone!
I hope that everything is treating you well. There is a lot to talk about today because it was our first day of VBS and we also visited a daoist temple. I'm going to start with VBS.
It is always stressful the first day of VBS. You have the kids you know already registered, but then you have kids that come who didn't register. You are in your classroom trying to get last minute things done, make sure everyone has everything they need, and you are meeting the kids for the first time and trying to get them not only in the right place but also get them excited about this week. I don't know if God just gave me extra adrenaline this morning, but I remember having more energy than I have had in the last couple of days! Like I said before, we had only 10 officially registered on our list. I told Courtney that I felt that we would at least have 15 and Deejah (our other co-teacher) said she prepared for twenty. What happened was my group (the preteens) got 17 kids! It was wonderful and I actually know several of them from previous years. So we got to the worship time and they LOVED the opening theme song. They were dancing and having a great time. Then we went to class. They were all engaged, listened pretty well, and were open to try new things. Let's just pray this continues throughout this week! Overall we ended up having 93 kids at VBS today! We may even have more near the end of the week. The main issues are that we are having some really big classes and more helpers are needed. We also had to adjust our schedule so that all the kids can do all the rotations. It's crazy, but we are also very thankful that we get to be with all these kids! Pray for strength and that we may be able to show them we love and care about them while telling them about the Bible.
The second thing we did today was go to a Daoist temple. Courtney, Zach and I went to this temple two years ago so you can probably find me talking about this in a post from 2009. They have done several renevations now and in the open square, they have mats and incense where you see a large amount of people casting lots and praying to their Gods. There are several Gods all around the place and they go to the one that they believe answers them the best. From what I can tell, there isn't very much loyalty. It's very complicated, and unfortunately I can't cover it in the amount of time I have on this internet connection.
Right now we are on our break about to go to dinner. Everyone feels very hot, but it doesn't seem like Jet Lag has really hit anyone hard yet. I'm tired myself, but I am refusing to take a nap because I think I would be set.
Have a great rest of the day!
I hope that everything is treating you well. There is a lot to talk about today because it was our first day of VBS and we also visited a daoist temple. I'm going to start with VBS.
It is always stressful the first day of VBS. You have the kids you know already registered, but then you have kids that come who didn't register. You are in your classroom trying to get last minute things done, make sure everyone has everything they need, and you are meeting the kids for the first time and trying to get them not only in the right place but also get them excited about this week. I don't know if God just gave me extra adrenaline this morning, but I remember having more energy than I have had in the last couple of days! Like I said before, we had only 10 officially registered on our list. I told Courtney that I felt that we would at least have 15 and Deejah (our other co-teacher) said she prepared for twenty. What happened was my group (the preteens) got 17 kids! It was wonderful and I actually know several of them from previous years. So we got to the worship time and they LOVED the opening theme song. They were dancing and having a great time. Then we went to class. They were all engaged, listened pretty well, and were open to try new things. Let's just pray this continues throughout this week! Overall we ended up having 93 kids at VBS today! We may even have more near the end of the week. The main issues are that we are having some really big classes and more helpers are needed. We also had to adjust our schedule so that all the kids can do all the rotations. It's crazy, but we are also very thankful that we get to be with all these kids! Pray for strength and that we may be able to show them we love and care about them while telling them about the Bible.
The second thing we did today was go to a Daoist temple. Courtney, Zach and I went to this temple two years ago so you can probably find me talking about this in a post from 2009. They have done several renevations now and in the open square, they have mats and incense where you see a large amount of people casting lots and praying to their Gods. There are several Gods all around the place and they go to the one that they believe answers them the best. From what I can tell, there isn't very much loyalty. It's very complicated, and unfortunately I can't cover it in the amount of time I have on this internet connection.
Right now we are on our break about to go to dinner. Everyone feels very hot, but it doesn't seem like Jet Lag has really hit anyone hard yet. I'm tired myself, but I am refusing to take a nap because I think I would be set.
Have a great rest of the day!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Day 3)
Hey Everyone!
Let me be a little selfish for a moment and say, "Happy Birthday to me!" :-) I have to say that it has been a great birthday for me today. I woke up and my team members all said "Happy Birthday," I got a card from one of my prayer partners (thank you Ms. Melva!) and I got a note. When we went to the church and introduced ourselves, Pastor Thomas told them that it was my birthday and they all sang "Happy Birthday" to me! They also gave me a gift of a birthday card and a wonderful picture of Hong Kong. Even though it can be tough being away from home on your birthday, I felt very welcomed here.
Today we went to CBIBC to worship. It was a great service and the whole room was filled with people! We had a commissioning for VBS in the service where we told where we were from, what grade we were teaching, and our occupation. The service was great it was in English and Chinese so we would sing in English and then the others could join in the same song in Chinese so we would be doing the same song in two languages! It was pretty cool. My co-teacher, Courtney, sang a solo (Softly and Tenderly) for the offertory which was great and then Zach preached with a someone translating what he said.
After church, we ate dimsum at a restaurant. I had a little bit, but not too much. Then we toured the campus. CBIBC is meeting at a University...I believe it is Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I will try to put some pictures with my blogs once I get home, but it is a beautiful campus...full of a lot of smart people!
Right now we are taking a little break until dinner where we will eat at the Spaghetti Factory. Please keep us in your prayers for tomorrow. Particularly the kindergarten/preschool classes as well as the 3rd and 4th grade because they will have the most kids. We have 10 so far and I actually heard that we may only have 10 this week. Either way, it will be great. I heard that we have more registering today and some coming tomorrow, so we might actually get more than 80 kids.
Have a great rest of the day!
Let me be a little selfish for a moment and say, "Happy Birthday to me!" :-) I have to say that it has been a great birthday for me today. I woke up and my team members all said "Happy Birthday," I got a card from one of my prayer partners (thank you Ms. Melva!) and I got a note. When we went to the church and introduced ourselves, Pastor Thomas told them that it was my birthday and they all sang "Happy Birthday" to me! They also gave me a gift of a birthday card and a wonderful picture of Hong Kong. Even though it can be tough being away from home on your birthday, I felt very welcomed here.
Today we went to CBIBC to worship. It was a great service and the whole room was filled with people! We had a commissioning for VBS in the service where we told where we were from, what grade we were teaching, and our occupation. The service was great it was in English and Chinese so we would sing in English and then the others could join in the same song in Chinese so we would be doing the same song in two languages! It was pretty cool. My co-teacher, Courtney, sang a solo (Softly and Tenderly) for the offertory which was great and then Zach preached with a someone translating what he said.
After church, we ate dimsum at a restaurant. I had a little bit, but not too much. Then we toured the campus. CBIBC is meeting at a University...I believe it is Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I will try to put some pictures with my blogs once I get home, but it is a beautiful campus...full of a lot of smart people!
Right now we are taking a little break until dinner where we will eat at the Spaghetti Factory. Please keep us in your prayers for tomorrow. Particularly the kindergarten/preschool classes as well as the 3rd and 4th grade because they will have the most kids. We have 10 so far and I actually heard that we may only have 10 this week. Either way, it will be great. I heard that we have more registering today and some coming tomorrow, so we might actually get more than 80 kids.
Have a great rest of the day!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Days 1 & 2)
Hello Everyone!
First off, I want to tell you that if my blogs seem to be all over the place (thought-wise) it's because I am timed with the amount of internet I can use (15 minutes per XX amount of dollars), so I am trying to get my thoughts together quickly!
We arrived in Hong Kong pretty much without any problems! It was a good thing although when you put together the total amount of time we were in the air along with the times we were waiting for a plane, we did a total of 21 hours of travel. It was tough. We flew from Nashville to Denver to San Francisco to Hong Kong. I don't think it really matters how many times you have done a flight this long, you never get used to it. I felt a little sick on the plan so the last hour and a half was me praying, "God, please don't let me get sick!" Luckily once we touched the ground, it was okay. The flight just seemed longer because I couldn't sleep and also we didn't have our own TV's that we could usually watch movies on and such.
Today (day two) has been really good! We got up early and headed to Evangel College where we will be doing the VBS. We met some of the people we are working with, set up our classrooms, and had a time of de-briefing. We are expecting around 80 kids! It should be pretty exciting. My class has 10 so far, but we are expecting around 4-5 to arrive that haven't gone through registration.
After we got done with that, we headed to this Christian Retreat center where we had a time of singing and prayer with our group and Pastor Thomas who is helping us coordinate and work VBS. It was a great time to hang out with the group and pray for this coming week. The weather has also been fantastic, so hopefully it will continue! The only thing is it is very hot. I have to keep reminding myself to stay hydrated.
Tomorrow we got to the church that we are parting with CBIBC (Clearwater Bay International Baptist Church). I will let you know more about that tomorrow. Just continue to pray for us as Jet Lag is setting in for some people and also the reality is kicking in that we are really in Hong Kong, VBS is really happening, and we need to be ready!
Have a great rest of the day and thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
First off, I want to tell you that if my blogs seem to be all over the place (thought-wise) it's because I am timed with the amount of internet I can use (15 minutes per XX amount of dollars), so I am trying to get my thoughts together quickly!
We arrived in Hong Kong pretty much without any problems! It was a good thing although when you put together the total amount of time we were in the air along with the times we were waiting for a plane, we did a total of 21 hours of travel. It was tough. We flew from Nashville to Denver to San Francisco to Hong Kong. I don't think it really matters how many times you have done a flight this long, you never get used to it. I felt a little sick on the plan so the last hour and a half was me praying, "God, please don't let me get sick!" Luckily once we touched the ground, it was okay. The flight just seemed longer because I couldn't sleep and also we didn't have our own TV's that we could usually watch movies on and such.
Today (day two) has been really good! We got up early and headed to Evangel College where we will be doing the VBS. We met some of the people we are working with, set up our classrooms, and had a time of de-briefing. We are expecting around 80 kids! It should be pretty exciting. My class has 10 so far, but we are expecting around 4-5 to arrive that haven't gone through registration.
After we got done with that, we headed to this Christian Retreat center where we had a time of singing and prayer with our group and Pastor Thomas who is helping us coordinate and work VBS. It was a great time to hang out with the group and pray for this coming week. The weather has also been fantastic, so hopefully it will continue! The only thing is it is very hot. I have to keep reminding myself to stay hydrated.
Tomorrow we got to the church that we are parting with CBIBC (Clearwater Bay International Baptist Church). I will let you know more about that tomorrow. Just continue to pray for us as Jet Lag is setting in for some people and also the reality is kicking in that we are really in Hong Kong, VBS is really happening, and we need to be ready!
Have a great rest of the day and thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Hong Kong 2011 (Pre-Trip)
Hello Everyone,
In less than 7 hours, I will be meeting at the church and then going to the airport for my 3rd mission trip to Hong Kong. It is the night before and I am looking at my bag of supplies, my personal bag, my carry on bag, and downloading some last minute books for my Kindle. I have a nagging feeling like I am forgetting something, and I am sure that I will. I don't intend to, but it is a Scott Lemons tradition to forget at least one thing on a trip no matter if I am going across town or across the world.
So, what are my thoughts? Generally on pre-trip journals, one talks about their goals on the trip, how they are feeling, what they want to accomplish, etc.
What I am looking forward to:
I am looking forward to seeing my team members open up the prayer cards that have been written for them by their friends and family. I am looking forward to seeing them open them up before we leave, and hear the stories of when they opened up a letter of encouragement just at the right time. I am looking forward to being with my fellow Christians. Not only my friends from America going on the trip with me, but my friends across the world who love Jesus and his people. I am looking forward to seeing the kids laugh, play, and learn important truths. I am excited to see how God will work in and through the volunteers to minister to the kids and community. I am looking forward to eating real Chinese food and seeing architecture, artifacts, and stepping into a country that has an extremely rich heritage.
What I am anxious about:
It is a really long flight to Hong Kong. I got some bad motion sickness last time and two of our members last year got really sick. I know one was influenced very much by the plane ride because I was there! I'm also not looking forward to how my body reacts to the time-change. I'm hungry at weird times, I get tired at inappropriate times, and I'm not a fun person to be around when I'm tired or have to deal with unexpected change (It's how I'm wired. Unfortunately the people closest to me get the brunt of it. Thanks for sticking with me even though I can be a pain!) I'm also anxious because I know that even though this trip is somewhat "easy" because our main responsibility is just VBS, it is very difficult spiritually. I could tell even the months leading up to this trip. I have been faced with so many different things personally that have been distracting me. There were times in the past couple weeks when I have even felt like throwing up my hands and saying, "I quit. Go on without me!" Yet I know that there is a reason I'm going and there's a reason why each of the individual people are going on this trip. We just got to have faith. On the plus side of this, I know we have a lot of people intentionally praying for us on this trip. Sometimes you need people to pray for you when you do not have the strength to do it yourself.
Well, I better get back to what I was doing. Hopefully all this stuff will calm me down because I have to get up REAL early.
Have a great rest of the day, and keep checking back for more updates!
Scott
In less than 7 hours, I will be meeting at the church and then going to the airport for my 3rd mission trip to Hong Kong. It is the night before and I am looking at my bag of supplies, my personal bag, my carry on bag, and downloading some last minute books for my Kindle. I have a nagging feeling like I am forgetting something, and I am sure that I will. I don't intend to, but it is a Scott Lemons tradition to forget at least one thing on a trip no matter if I am going across town or across the world.
So, what are my thoughts? Generally on pre-trip journals, one talks about their goals on the trip, how they are feeling, what they want to accomplish, etc.
What I am looking forward to:
I am looking forward to seeing my team members open up the prayer cards that have been written for them by their friends and family. I am looking forward to seeing them open them up before we leave, and hear the stories of when they opened up a letter of encouragement just at the right time. I am looking forward to being with my fellow Christians. Not only my friends from America going on the trip with me, but my friends across the world who love Jesus and his people. I am looking forward to seeing the kids laugh, play, and learn important truths. I am excited to see how God will work in and through the volunteers to minister to the kids and community. I am looking forward to eating real Chinese food and seeing architecture, artifacts, and stepping into a country that has an extremely rich heritage.
What I am anxious about:
It is a really long flight to Hong Kong. I got some bad motion sickness last time and two of our members last year got really sick. I know one was influenced very much by the plane ride because I was there! I'm also not looking forward to how my body reacts to the time-change. I'm hungry at weird times, I get tired at inappropriate times, and I'm not a fun person to be around when I'm tired or have to deal with unexpected change (It's how I'm wired. Unfortunately the people closest to me get the brunt of it. Thanks for sticking with me even though I can be a pain!) I'm also anxious because I know that even though this trip is somewhat "easy" because our main responsibility is just VBS, it is very difficult spiritually. I could tell even the months leading up to this trip. I have been faced with so many different things personally that have been distracting me. There were times in the past couple weeks when I have even felt like throwing up my hands and saying, "I quit. Go on without me!" Yet I know that there is a reason I'm going and there's a reason why each of the individual people are going on this trip. We just got to have faith. On the plus side of this, I know we have a lot of people intentionally praying for us on this trip. Sometimes you need people to pray for you when you do not have the strength to do it yourself.
Well, I better get back to what I was doing. Hopefully all this stuff will calm me down because I have to get up REAL early.
Have a great rest of the day, and keep checking back for more updates!
Scott
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Waiting by Kerith
Hey Everyone!
It has been a long time since I posted last! I apologize for that. A lot of times I don't post because either I don't have anything to say or I have so much to say that posting would not do it justice. Then unfortunately, you get these posts where I cram a lot in and am all over the place. Hopefully you will be able to follow. If not, I will try to do better next time :-)
I believe that last I posted was in January. A lot of different things happened since January. As far as my Lifegroup, we studied, "Experiencing God." It was the first time our group did a book together where they were required to do some actual reading/work on their own. My co-leader and I both did it with them and were pretty faithful. I know that we got a lot out of it, and we hope that some of our guys did too. It's a pretty eye-opening study. So often we ask ourselves, "What is God's will for my life" instead of asking, "Where is God at work and how can I join him there?" There's a lot more lessons in that book. If you are interested, I recommend taking a look at it. After that study, we had a couple various lessons, and now our Student Minister Linc is teaching our group about Leadership. I've already learned something, and I think they are too.
Men in Training this semester was over Joe Gibb's, "Game Plan for Life." If you are a man interested in some of the hard-hitting questions of faith, this is a good book for you. It's been a great study for me and great meeting with men of all ages to talk about faith. I look forward to next semester when we study Proverbs. My friend Tom who has been going with me to this study will be in the Navy soon, so it will be a little Bittersweet not having him there with me. There are two separate posts I can do about the things I just mentioned, but I will go ahead and move on.
I have been having a great time hanging out with my friends! I have had lunches with Tom and Zach, I got to have great meetings with Jay, Chris, Linc, and Brian (ministers), and I even went down to Georgia to see Philip and Ferrell! It was a lot of fun, and I hope that those relationships continue to grow.
Now...the Job situation! It seems like this particular subject has been the center of all my thoughts for the past several months. I have been struggling with vocation vs. occupation, where God wants me to be, where I want to be, what the opinion of everyone is, what will happen with Choice A, what will happen with Choice B, where my purpose is, where God is working, where my talents lie, etc. For those of you that are not familiar with Personality types, let me give you a description of mine. I am a type "C" personality. That means I am constantly surrounded by my thoughts, details, I analyze practically everything. Even with this post I will proofread this, post it, and then proofread it again to make sure it's how I want it. I cannot take a break from my thoughts. So because of this, this has been really getting at me. Yet there has been a bit of a breakthrough...
My main concern has been staying around this area because of my involvement with church family/friends. I have a group of guys that I have been teaching for almost 5 years that I want to be there for (at least two more years), I have a place where I am growing spiritually, there are opportunities to serve, and I am developing some good relationships. It is a little difficult to find teaching jobs in this area. Now don't get me wrong. There are several people are are getting jobs in this area, there are things I really could have done to beef up my resume and I could have substitute taught. Saying that, I realize that I could have done more to try to secure a spot. Yet I really felt that I shouldn't do that. It's hard to explain, but I just didn't have a huge desire. What did I do? I stayed at my job. In my job I started to get a lot more responsibilities. While doing these responsibilities I realized that I was actually pretty good at what I did. Others started to realize I was pretty good at what I did. I enjoyed doing it. It turns out, there is a whole career field that employs what I was doing. A couple weeks ago I met with a few of our directors who told me about these opportunities. So after much prayer, prayer from friends and family, making lists, and all the other crazy things that I do, I have decided to pursue this. It will be a lot of work, I may succeed, I may fail, and God knows if it will work out...but I'm going to try.
So there you have it. Now we wait. Just like Elijah waited at the brook of Kerith (here's where the title comes in!) Did you know Kerith means "the cutting place?" It's in that moment of waiting where God cuts away anything that is detrimental to your spiritual health. He already cut the pride that was an issue in my life. Now I believe he is tackling obedience and trust. I just hope it doesn't take something drastic to make me learn those lessons like it did for me to learn my lesson on Pride!
I hope that you all are having a great day. Thank you for reading, and I hope to post again soon!
It has been a long time since I posted last! I apologize for that. A lot of times I don't post because either I don't have anything to say or I have so much to say that posting would not do it justice. Then unfortunately, you get these posts where I cram a lot in and am all over the place. Hopefully you will be able to follow. If not, I will try to do better next time :-)
I believe that last I posted was in January. A lot of different things happened since January. As far as my Lifegroup, we studied, "Experiencing God." It was the first time our group did a book together where they were required to do some actual reading/work on their own. My co-leader and I both did it with them and were pretty faithful. I know that we got a lot out of it, and we hope that some of our guys did too. It's a pretty eye-opening study. So often we ask ourselves, "What is God's will for my life" instead of asking, "Where is God at work and how can I join him there?" There's a lot more lessons in that book. If you are interested, I recommend taking a look at it. After that study, we had a couple various lessons, and now our Student Minister Linc is teaching our group about Leadership. I've already learned something, and I think they are too.
Men in Training this semester was over Joe Gibb's, "Game Plan for Life." If you are a man interested in some of the hard-hitting questions of faith, this is a good book for you. It's been a great study for me and great meeting with men of all ages to talk about faith. I look forward to next semester when we study Proverbs. My friend Tom who has been going with me to this study will be in the Navy soon, so it will be a little Bittersweet not having him there with me. There are two separate posts I can do about the things I just mentioned, but I will go ahead and move on.
I have been having a great time hanging out with my friends! I have had lunches with Tom and Zach, I got to have great meetings with Jay, Chris, Linc, and Brian (ministers), and I even went down to Georgia to see Philip and Ferrell! It was a lot of fun, and I hope that those relationships continue to grow.
Now...the Job situation! It seems like this particular subject has been the center of all my thoughts for the past several months. I have been struggling with vocation vs. occupation, where God wants me to be, where I want to be, what the opinion of everyone is, what will happen with Choice A, what will happen with Choice B, where my purpose is, where God is working, where my talents lie, etc. For those of you that are not familiar with Personality types, let me give you a description of mine. I am a type "C" personality. That means I am constantly surrounded by my thoughts, details, I analyze practically everything. Even with this post I will proofread this, post it, and then proofread it again to make sure it's how I want it. I cannot take a break from my thoughts. So because of this, this has been really getting at me. Yet there has been a bit of a breakthrough...
My main concern has been staying around this area because of my involvement with church family/friends. I have a group of guys that I have been teaching for almost 5 years that I want to be there for (at least two more years), I have a place where I am growing spiritually, there are opportunities to serve, and I am developing some good relationships. It is a little difficult to find teaching jobs in this area. Now don't get me wrong. There are several people are are getting jobs in this area, there are things I really could have done to beef up my resume and I could have substitute taught. Saying that, I realize that I could have done more to try to secure a spot. Yet I really felt that I shouldn't do that. It's hard to explain, but I just didn't have a huge desire. What did I do? I stayed at my job. In my job I started to get a lot more responsibilities. While doing these responsibilities I realized that I was actually pretty good at what I did. Others started to realize I was pretty good at what I did. I enjoyed doing it. It turns out, there is a whole career field that employs what I was doing. A couple weeks ago I met with a few of our directors who told me about these opportunities. So after much prayer, prayer from friends and family, making lists, and all the other crazy things that I do, I have decided to pursue this. It will be a lot of work, I may succeed, I may fail, and God knows if it will work out...but I'm going to try.
So there you have it. Now we wait. Just like Elijah waited at the brook of Kerith (here's where the title comes in!) Did you know Kerith means "the cutting place?" It's in that moment of waiting where God cuts away anything that is detrimental to your spiritual health. He already cut the pride that was an issue in my life. Now I believe he is tackling obedience and trust. I just hope it doesn't take something drastic to make me learn those lessons like it did for me to learn my lesson on Pride!
I hope that you all are having a great day. Thank you for reading, and I hope to post again soon!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Treasures in Heaven
For as long as I remember, I pretty much always said the right things in church. I would answer the questions correctly, offer some insight, and even times think I was morally superior to others because the answer was so obvious to me and not to them. I would think, "They are the ones who don't get it. This is so simple! Why does anyone have trouble following this?" When I first started leading small groups, I thought similar things.
Then I started to grow up and face new challenges. I started dealing with more difficult decisions, different periods of life, and different situations. Pastor Mike said that when you get older, you deal with the same problems/issues at different levels. It's like a winding staircase. When I thought about this, I realized that I was doing well at the bottom of the staircase. I started to progress up as my faith matured. Now I am where I was before, but at a higher level. What do I do? It's the same issue, but at a higher level. How do I deal with this issue at this point of my life? This issue that has been on my mind a lot lately was an issue that I thought I didn't really have a problem with.
After listening to sermons, reading passages, and looking at my life, I realize that i do have a problem. The issue I am talking about is seeking after worldly treasure. In Romans it says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world..." (Romans 12:2) Jesus points out, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 19-21). Where is my heart at right now? Am I storing up treasures in heaven?
I have been dealing with this passage for about a year. It's mainly because of my attitude toward money. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and Money. You will hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other (paraphrase from Matthew 6:24). I give to the church, and I am happy to say that my giving has gone up over the years. But is my main reason for wanting a higher paying job so I can give more to the church? How much of my motivation for getting that job is to satisfy my wants and desires? I know that the world tells you to get more money so you can get more stuff. An apartment is not good enough, you need a house. That car is not good enough, you need a newer model. You need to update all your electronics, or else you will be behind and look stupid. All these ideas are lurking in our minds of how to use our money. It's no wonder that one of the Woes Jesus mentioned was, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort" (Luke 6:24) Let's face it, compared to a lot of the world, we're rich. Do we really get comfort from all of this? Temporarily we may. But eternally? The treasures that we value on earth are not the treasures that are valued in heaven. We can't buy those.
The second part of Romans that I didn't quote says that we need to renew our minds. We need to ask ourselves what is of true value? If we think about it, it won't be anything monetary. What we value, what Christ values, is something that can't be bought with money. Now, does that make money evil? Only if we let the money rule us rather than we ruling our money. If this Economy has taught us anything, it is that we cannot trust in money. It may not always be there! We can take the advice on our money though and Trust in God. I think that is a great reminder. Whenever we pay for something, we should read that sign and understand that it is in God we trust which is why we can part from that money. After all, "Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33).
I pray that we call can have an attitude of seeking Treasures in Heaven rather than Treasures on Earth. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Luke 12:34.
Then I started to grow up and face new challenges. I started dealing with more difficult decisions, different periods of life, and different situations. Pastor Mike said that when you get older, you deal with the same problems/issues at different levels. It's like a winding staircase. When I thought about this, I realized that I was doing well at the bottom of the staircase. I started to progress up as my faith matured. Now I am where I was before, but at a higher level. What do I do? It's the same issue, but at a higher level. How do I deal with this issue at this point of my life? This issue that has been on my mind a lot lately was an issue that I thought I didn't really have a problem with.
After listening to sermons, reading passages, and looking at my life, I realize that i do have a problem. The issue I am talking about is seeking after worldly treasure. In Romans it says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world..." (Romans 12:2) Jesus points out, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 19-21). Where is my heart at right now? Am I storing up treasures in heaven?
I have been dealing with this passage for about a year. It's mainly because of my attitude toward money. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and Money. You will hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other (paraphrase from Matthew 6:24). I give to the church, and I am happy to say that my giving has gone up over the years. But is my main reason for wanting a higher paying job so I can give more to the church? How much of my motivation for getting that job is to satisfy my wants and desires? I know that the world tells you to get more money so you can get more stuff. An apartment is not good enough, you need a house. That car is not good enough, you need a newer model. You need to update all your electronics, or else you will be behind and look stupid. All these ideas are lurking in our minds of how to use our money. It's no wonder that one of the Woes Jesus mentioned was, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort" (Luke 6:24) Let's face it, compared to a lot of the world, we're rich. Do we really get comfort from all of this? Temporarily we may. But eternally? The treasures that we value on earth are not the treasures that are valued in heaven. We can't buy those.
The second part of Romans that I didn't quote says that we need to renew our minds. We need to ask ourselves what is of true value? If we think about it, it won't be anything monetary. What we value, what Christ values, is something that can't be bought with money. Now, does that make money evil? Only if we let the money rule us rather than we ruling our money. If this Economy has taught us anything, it is that we cannot trust in money. It may not always be there! We can take the advice on our money though and Trust in God. I think that is a great reminder. Whenever we pay for something, we should read that sign and understand that it is in God we trust which is why we can part from that money. After all, "Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33).
I pray that we call can have an attitude of seeking Treasures in Heaven rather than Treasures on Earth. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Luke 12:34.
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