July 30, 2008
Less than 12 hours…
In 12 hours I will turn 40 years old and I will be on a bus with 34 teenagers headed to Nashville for our summer mission experience. (Do those two things go together?) We will be traveling tomorrow and hopefully arriving in Nashville by 3:00 PM. We will be staying at my brother’s church, Community Church of Hendersonville. \
It really is quite odd that my brother and I do the same job. Exactly the same job! Except he has two assistants and two interns! (Im not jealous…) It will be good for us to be together. He won’t be around the whole time but he will be serving with us. What’s cool is that I’ll be with Mark this weekend and then he’ll be up here for the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek at the end of next week.
Maxine and Austin will be coming down on Friday night and be there till Sunday afternoon. Austin is too young to white water raft but he’s excited about seeing his cousins. My brother and Kelley are expecting their 6th child in Sept!
We will be serving at Open Hearts, Empty Hands tomorrow night. This is a ministry that serves the homeless and does a church service afterwards. It will be an amazing experience for our students.
Friday we will be working at Feed the Children International Warehouse. I hope the students will get a picture of how much food they ship out and how much need there is in the world.
Friday night we will be attending a end-of-summer lock-in at Mark’s church. They even have a local Nashville band coming. Pray for us old people as we try to stay up all night.
Saturday afternoon, we are going to downtown Nashville and see the sites. We will eat at the San Antonio Taco Company and then attend a video shoot at Rocketown, (Michael W. Smith’s teen club).
Sunday we will be with Mark’s students in Sunday school then church. Doug is preaching on “celebrity religions” which should be good for our students. Sunday night, we are having a cookout with their students and my brother will be doing some songs off his new CD and then I’l be leading worship.
Monday is the White Water Rafting day. He will drive three hours into the mountains and it should be nearly 100 degrees that day. PERFECT! The water is soooo cold. It will be a blast.
Tuesday, we drive back and the trip is over.
Would you please pray for us as we go? The group is the youngest group I’ve ever taken any where. 23 out of 34 are 9th grade or younger. Pray for our leaders to be able to supervise, encourage, direct, and shepherd the students. Pray for the students to “get it” and have a spiritual gold nugget in their pocket when they return. Pray for safety and that there would be unity on the team.
We’ll be back on Tuesday and then I leave for the Leadership Summit Wed night.
I’m hoping to blog from Nashville and ask a student or two to share their thoughts.
Onwards and upwards!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/30 at 07:47 PM •
(4) Comments
July 30, 2008
Please Pray for Greg Laurie and Family
Would you please pray for Greg Laurie and his family? Greg is a pastor in California and I’ve read his books and heard him speak at Promise Keepers several times. His oldest son, Christopher, was killed in a car wreck on Thursday. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a two year old daughter. He was on staff with his dad at Harvest Church.
Please watch the video on Greg’s blog of the memorial service. I would hope that if I had to walk through something like this that I could stand in front of the church and say what Greg said - I Still Believe.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/30 at 08:49 AM •
(0) Comments
July 29, 2008
God is sooooo amazing!
Christie Todd sent this email along to me and we both thought it should be share with others. Great is His faithfulness!
I wanted to let you know the impact that you made on Sunday:
I had a friend who has been struggling in her marriage for a long time. She had made the decision to divorce her husband last week. She contacted the lawyer and was waiting for paperwork. I encouraged her to read Sunday’s sermon. God used it to change her heart towards her husband. He used it to help her make the decision to stay in her marriage. He used it to help her say yes to His will.
I praise God and thank you. She just left my house to spend the day with her husband as they work at having the marriage God planned for them. I am doing a happy dance!!!!
Christie
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/29 at 02:29 PM •
(0) Comments
July 28, 2008
Devyn and the 5 Day club gang
This afternoon, I scootered over to Angie Stewart’s house to sit in on a Five Day Club meeting. Devyn Woodburn was leading this group (Lydia and Michelle are in Mexico) on the front porch and did a great job telling the story of Hudson Taylor. Pray for the girls as they continue to share Christ with Livingston County’s children. I’m proud of Devyn!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/28 at 04:49 PM •
(0) Comments
July 28, 2008
Water, water, everywhere!
Yesterday was an amazing day of ministry. Thank you for praying me through the service. I really had no idea how the service was going to end until we got there. We bought the life savers at 7:00 AM Sunday morning. God is good. Several people told me they understood the Gospel better than they did before. That’s the point, isn’t it?
It was a strongly evangelistic service and there was a group praying all week that God would change hearts. If you missed the sermon, you can read it or listen to it in the sermon section of our web site.
Yesterday afternoon, I attended Becca Black’s going away party. She graduated this May and is headed off to boot camp. I encouraged her to not be ashamed of Jesus but to live for Him boldly.
Last night at Wildside, 50+ teenagers gathered for our annual “water games” night. It was a blast. Pics say a thousand words.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/28 at 11:32 AM •
(1) Comments
July 25, 2008
Friday is for Flowers
Maxine has been doing a lot of work to make our house look great. I mow the yard she plants flowers. I thought since it was Friday, I share a couple of flower pics. We both love roses and we have a bloom on our rose bush!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/25 at 08:14 PM •
(0) Comments
July 25, 2008
Even more pics from Mexico!
Beth Hanna has posted even more pics of Mexico Team II on her website. Lots of paint. Lots of joy!
Check out Pastor Brian’s blog for his latest update.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/25 at 08:05 PM •
(0) Comments
July 25, 2008
The “last lecturer” died today
Randy Pausch died today. If you do not know who he is, you may recognize him from a different name - the last lecture. He was diagnosed with incurable cancer and give a “last lecture” to his students and colleagues at Carnigie Mellon. It was really for his children but millions of people watched it on you tube and he ended up on Oprah.
You can read the article here.
Here’s something that really stood out to me that he said:
Pausch often emphasized the need to have fun.
“I mean I don’t know how to not have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it,” he said in his Carnegie Mellon lecture. “You just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore. I think I’m clear where I stand on the great Tigger/Eeyore debate. Never lose the childlike wonder. It’s just too important. It’s what drives us.”
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/25 at 12:05 PM •
(1) Comments
July 25, 2008
Lydia Loves Mexico but is tired
Lyida was the guest blogger from Mexico last night. It sounds like they are getting tired. Please pray as they finish up their last day of hard work today.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/25 at 08:16 AM •
(0) Comments
July 23, 2008
The Jeff Doll
Check out Ally Peck’s blog about her desire to create a Jeff Doll!. I’m all for it as long as I get half the royalties!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/23 at 09:02 PM •
(2) Comments
July 23, 2008
More Pics from Mexico
Beth Hanna has posted more pictures from Mexico. Sounds they are working hard and getting a lot done. Continue to pray for the team.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/23 at 08:51 PM •
(0) Comments
July 23, 2008
Video from San Juan Del Rio
Check out Alan’s blog No Other Name Ministries for a great video of Mexico Team II!
Also, there are some pics of the team members.
I’m jealous. i want to go back! The church looks so different even since I was there. Way to go team!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/23 at 09:27 AM •
(0) Comments
July 23, 2008
Visionary Parenting
In this excerpt from “The Parent You Want to Be,” you’ll be encouraged to think about and pray for your child’s future.
HOW TO BECOME A VISIONARY PARENT
We’ve long enjoyed hearing what happened when Disney World first opened in Florida. Since Walt had passed away, Mrs. Disney was asked to speak at the grand opening. She was introduced by a man who said, “Mrs. Disney, I just wish Walt could have seen this.” She stepped up to the podium and said, “He did.” Then she sat down.
And she’s right. Walt saw it long before anyone else because he had a clear vision. So how do parents go about seeing a picture of their child’s future? And how can they do so without imposing their own vision on their child? It starts, in our opinion, with prayer.
VISIONARY PARENTS PRAY FOR THEIR CHILD’S FUTURE
Erwin McManus, the catalyst behind Awaken, a collaboration of dreamers committed to creating environments that expand imagination and unleash creativity, tells the story of when his son, Aaron, became frightened at youth camp. He was just a little guy when some of the camp personnel told stories about demons and Satan. When Aaron returned home, he was still terrified.
“Dad, don’t turn off the light!” he said before going to bed. “Daddy, could you stay here with me? Daddy, I’m afraid. They told all these stories about demons.”
Erwin regretted sending him to the camp.
“Daddy, Daddy, would you pray for me that I would be safe?”
Erwin said to his son, “Aaron, I will not pray for you to be safe. I will pray that God will make you dangerous, so dangerous that demons will flee when you enter the room.”
“All right,” Aaron said. “But pray I would be really, really dangerous, Daddy.”
Erwin knew he was praying not only for his son’s immediate circumstances but for his future as well. He was praying that Aaron would grow up to be a man who doesn’t fear but rather stands strong and courageous. And that’s the kind of prayer every visionary parent prays.
We pray God will teach us how to be better visionaries for John and Jack. We pray God will make a picture of their futures clearer and clearer as they age. We pray each of our boys will embody traits that will serve them well as they grow into manhood and discover their callings.
And just recently, we began praying for the kinds of husbands they will be—and for the little girls out there whom they may marry. In fact, we got the idea to pray for their future this way at a wedding we recently attended. At the reception, the bride’s dad gave an eloquent speech, telling the guests that he and his wife had been praying since Julie was a baby, not only for her future, but for the man she would marry one day—the boy who would become the man who would one day become their daughter’s husband.
We also learned recently from a friend that she and her husband write their prayers for their three children in three journals they keep near their bedside. Not only are the journals tangible reminders to pray for their kids, but they serve as a priceless treasure of blessing that they’ll give to
each of their children one day. Talk about being visionary!
VISIONARY PARENTS PICTURE A SPECIAL FUTURE FOR THEIR CHILD
Sidel, a young Jewish mother, was proudly walking down the street pushing a stroller containing her infant twins. As she rounded the corner, she encountered her neighbor Sarah. “My, what beautiful children,” Sarah cooed. “What are their names?”
Pointing to each child, Sidel replied, “This is Bennie, the doctor, and Reuben, the lawyer.”
Jewish homes have had a long history of picturing special futures for their children. In the Old Testament, Isaac prophesied that his son Jacob would be a strong leader (see Genesis 27:28 – 29). And Jacob, as a grown man, prophesied about the future of his sons. But don’t worry—you don’t have to be a prophet to picture a special future for your child. You can’t predict his future with biblical accuracy. But you can encourage your child and help him imagine his potential. When a child feels in his heart that the future is hopeful and that Mom and Dad believe in what he can become, he faces life with a strong optimism.
You picture a special future for your child when you say things like, “You have such a generous spirit, I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up helping a lot of people when you grow older.” Or “You’re so helpful around the house, I bet you’re going to make a great husband [or wife] to the person you marry someday.” Or “You enjoy studying the ocean so much, I wonder if you might be a marine biologist someday.”
These are ways of planting little seeds that may or may not take root. The point is, as a visionary parent, you are considering your child’s future. You aren’t imparting your own egocentric vision of what you want your child to become. You are sensitive to your child’s unique gifts and qualities, and you point them out on occasion to highlight how they could be maximized in the future.
**
If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.
~ Brian Tracy
**
Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott are founders of RealRelationships.com and the Center for Relationship Development at Seattle Pacific University. Their bestselling books include Love Talk, Your Time Starved Marriage, and the award-winning Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts. Their work has been featured in the New York Times and USA Today and they have appeared on CNN, Good Morning America, and Oprah.
Learn more about and purchase “The Parent You Want to Be” here:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=435
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/23 at 09:11 AM •
(1) Comments
July 23, 2008
Deep Thoughts With David
David Grimes has written a post on Pastor Brian’s blog that is filled with his style of wit and wisdom. Way to go Dave! (All except that part about getting more work done than us!)
I love IL at this time of year. I took a walk this morning and the wind was cool and the sun was warm. That’s a great combination. I talked to a friend in MS yesterday and he said it was 102 degrees. I don’t really miss that for months at a time.
Maxine and I spent last night helping at Milt’s house. I have to say I had a really good time. I’m learning all kinds of tricks of trade, Milt will always stop and explain to me what’s going and why. He’s used to working with students so he’s very patient - even when I accidently nailed part of the wall to the floor! Marty and Christy, Josiah, and Maxine and I built two walls last night. We had a goal and finished the second wall right before sundown. I now can use a nail gun and learned how to do a plum line. I know how to build a wall and I’m good at carrying wood. That’s the extent of my skill set. We ate pizza and laughed together. (Josiah, you gotta have a goal!) If you would like to lend a hand, just give me or Milt a call.
It occurred to me that building a house is so much easier than building a disciple of Jesus. The house is like a puzzle. Once you put all the pieces together, it’s done. Ministry is just not like that. It’s a life long process and we are not “done” until we get to heaven.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/23 at 08:20 AM •
(1) Comments
July 22, 2008
God is here…God is there…God is working everywhere!
This morning I am really excited to see what God is up to lives of students. I’m preaching on redemption this week and the fact that Jesus wants to redeem us then transform us. That’s exactly what’s happening.
Here’s an email from Katie V. from Korea:
“Hi! I am having a wonderful time here. I had an experience today I wanted to share with you, we have music time with the children here and we have been teaching them the song “open the eyes of my heart Lord”. we sang the song yesterday and today and sure enough… today during my cooking class while we were enjoying the rice crispy treats we had just made, some of the younger students began singing “open the eyes of my heart Lord…” out of no were. they just began singing… and it was so beautiful.
I asked one of the pastors to teach me a song in Korean. he is teaching me “God is so good.” I want to earn it so that I can sing it to my home stay mother, who is in the choir at church. she speaks very little English but she would be sooo surprised and happy that I learned that song.
God is here, in South Korea. I feel him with me everyday. and I know God is there in Pontiac, and in Bourbonnais. Its a weird feeling…that I keep getting. knowing God is here, God is there, God is in Mexico, God is in China, God is in Kenya… makes me realize as much as a human could understand…how BIG God really is. can hardly take it in…
I hope everything is well at PBC. tell everyone thanks again for everything!!”
Way to go Katie V!
For a student view of Mexico and what God is doing, check out Pastor Brian’s blog this morning to hear from Stephanie Edens. She has written a wonderful post about the openness of the Mexican’s and their love for each other.
Masha returned from her trip yesterday from Belize and I’ve been told she has 800 pictures to show us!
God is at work in Korea and in the 5 Day Clubs here in Livingston County. He’s here..He’s there and everywhere!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/22 at 08:19 AM •
(1) Comments
