When a person thinks of ministry, they shouldn't think of doing things, however this is typically the thought that comes to mind. Ministry is something that is supposed to be integrated into our lives. If you say however that you aren't called to ministry, I beg to differ. In the book below, if you read through it, you will see what I mean.
As I have grown in my walk with Christ I have come to understand that it's not about the amount of things to do as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9.
The way our brains work we need to do things in order to gain acceptance, to feel like we have accomplished things in order to show what we are. With Christ and our relationship, its not about quantity, it's about quality. James 2:18 backs this statement up. So what we need to realize is that no matter how good something is, if we are strung out among several different "ministries" you aren't being affective. To be affective you need to focus on the quality of what you are doing, not the quantity.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Connect
This weekend was spent with a group of youth from the church in Marvell, AR. and the surrounding Phillips County doing service projects. The Southern Baptist Convention entitled the weekend "Connect" signifying connecting with, God, Students, and the Community.
It was a really exciting weekend. During the weekend students are challenged to get outside of their comfort zones and go out within a community to complete construction type projects for area churches and residents. This year over 200 students and their adult chaperones worked on 14 projects across the Arkansas Valley Association.
The projects ranged from painting to hanging sheet rock, from cleaning to building gates. The diversity within the projects allows for people of different skill levels to offer their assistance.
The area that was worked in is very poor, and in need of a positive light to be shown. The students who participated from across the state provided that positive light.
This trip is very instrumental in showing students what it means to do missions, and it doesn't take a whole week to participate. That's what makes the weekend truly exceptional. This is a great trip for students to go on if they have never participated in missions before, in order for them to understand what it means to be mission minded.
It was a really exciting weekend. During the weekend students are challenged to get outside of their comfort zones and go out within a community to complete construction type projects for area churches and residents. This year over 200 students and their adult chaperones worked on 14 projects across the Arkansas Valley Association.
The projects ranged from painting to hanging sheet rock, from cleaning to building gates. The diversity within the projects allows for people of different skill levels to offer their assistance.
The area that was worked in is very poor, and in need of a positive light to be shown. The students who participated from across the state provided that positive light.
This trip is very instrumental in showing students what it means to do missions, and it doesn't take a whole week to participate. That's what makes the weekend truly exceptional. This is a great trip for students to go on if they have never participated in missions before, in order for them to understand what it means to be mission minded.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Causes
So I just finished watching Killer At Large a documentary about obesity in America. Then we also have One Day Without Shoes coming up on Thursday. I began thinking, what is it with us and our causes?
Now arguably the documentary addresses the cause differently then how we would think of a cause, but it still addresses it nonetheless. Why though do we attach ourselves to causes? I heard someone tell me they weren't purchasing Toms, because on their universities campus they have become more of a fashion statement then supporting a cause.
Why though can we not be this way about the cause of Christ? I hinted at this earlier tonight in a tweet that said "If we are a nation of addicted people, then why as "Christians" are we not addicted to Christ?" Our calling as Christians is to make his name known, this was presented in several places, the most popular being the great commission: Matthew 28:16-20.
This is what we are supposed to do, support the cause of Christ. We however have a tendency to get caught up in supporting other causes, that are just as great, but we miss Christ in the cause. If our cause is Christ, then we won't miss Him, and everything that happens when we are furthering the cause of Christ, will help further other causes as well.
Now arguably the documentary addresses the cause differently then how we would think of a cause, but it still addresses it nonetheless. Why though do we attach ourselves to causes? I heard someone tell me they weren't purchasing Toms, because on their universities campus they have become more of a fashion statement then supporting a cause.
Why though can we not be this way about the cause of Christ? I hinted at this earlier tonight in a tweet that said "If we are a nation of addicted people, then why as "Christians" are we not addicted to Christ?" Our calling as Christians is to make his name known, this was presented in several places, the most popular being the great commission: Matthew 28:16-20.
This is what we are supposed to do, support the cause of Christ. We however have a tendency to get caught up in supporting other causes, that are just as great, but we miss Christ in the cause. If our cause is Christ, then we won't miss Him, and everything that happens when we are furthering the cause of Christ, will help further other causes as well.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Montana Pt. 2
So as stated in the last post, I am continuing with talking about Montana and things that I observed.
All of us were excited to be able to help out the church that we were staying with. We hit the ground running, with no real plan on what we were doing, just knowing that we were helping. That was a pretty exciting experience in itself.
What really got to us though was that we felt that the church that hosted us, served us more than we served them. I have been on trips in the past where we were told what was expected of us and just left to get the work done. While we were at the church though, there was someone there pretty much every waking moment, willing to answer questions to the best of their ability. This really ministered to us, because it showed us not only that we were serving them, but they were appreciative of us, and thus serving us in return. Simply put, they were loving us their "neighbors" as themselves: Matthew 22:34-40.
That subject is also something I used, when I spoke at the elementary chapel at the christian school.
Overall the trip was amazing and I really enjoyed everything that I learned, not only in what I posted above, but all the little moments with people on the trip.
All of us were excited to be able to help out the church that we were staying with. We hit the ground running, with no real plan on what we were doing, just knowing that we were helping. That was a pretty exciting experience in itself.
What really got to us though was that we felt that the church that hosted us, served us more than we served them. I have been on trips in the past where we were told what was expected of us and just left to get the work done. While we were at the church though, there was someone there pretty much every waking moment, willing to answer questions to the best of their ability. This really ministered to us, because it showed us not only that we were serving them, but they were appreciative of us, and thus serving us in return. Simply put, they were loving us their "neighbors" as themselves: Matthew 22:34-40.
That subject is also something I used, when I spoke at the elementary chapel at the christian school.
Overall the trip was amazing and I really enjoyed everything that I learned, not only in what I posted above, but all the little moments with people on the trip.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Montana
For Spring Break I went to Montana with a group of students from the University of Arkansas. We stayed with South Hills Baptist Fellowship in Montana City, MT and served as encouragement to the local church as well as completing local service projects.
On our first day we went to Great Divide where a local minister has a Sunday morning mountain top service. It was really amazing and we experienced the largest local crowd ever! Really exciting stuff, as well as exciting for the group to go skiing as well. That evening our group brought a special evening service to the church so that they could get a better understanding of the group there to serve them.
On Monday we rested up and spent the day painting the church. It was a good experience just to help us get accustomed to being in Montana and prep us for the week ahead.
On Tuesday we went and prayer walked Boulder, MT. This city is being swayed towards New Age ideas and is a very dark area. It was very good to be able to just pray for the local church.
Wednesday we led chapel at the Helena Christian School which was great. I grew up in a christian school so it was great to be able to give back to the school and show our support through providing chapel service for them. That evening we once again led a special Wednesday night service at the church we were staying at.
Thursday was our final day at the church. We stuffed door hangers and then took them to local neighborhoods to show the churches support for the community. Going door to door presented alot of interesting conversations with local residents. That evening church members came and we prayer walked the church .
Friday morning we woke up and left extremely early to return home.
This is just a highlight reel of what happened in Montana. My next post will be about things we learned ect.
On our first day we went to Great Divide where a local minister has a Sunday morning mountain top service. It was really amazing and we experienced the largest local crowd ever! Really exciting stuff, as well as exciting for the group to go skiing as well. That evening our group brought a special evening service to the church so that they could get a better understanding of the group there to serve them.
On Monday we rested up and spent the day painting the church. It was a good experience just to help us get accustomed to being in Montana and prep us for the week ahead.
On Tuesday we went and prayer walked Boulder, MT. This city is being swayed towards New Age ideas and is a very dark area. It was very good to be able to just pray for the local church.
Wednesday we led chapel at the Helena Christian School which was great. I grew up in a christian school so it was great to be able to give back to the school and show our support through providing chapel service for them. That evening we once again led a special Wednesday night service at the church we were staying at.
Thursday was our final day at the church. We stuffed door hangers and then took them to local neighborhoods to show the churches support for the community. Going door to door presented alot of interesting conversations with local residents. That evening church members came and we prayer walked the church .
Friday morning we woke up and left extremely early to return home.
This is just a highlight reel of what happened in Montana. My next post will be about things we learned ect.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
College Ready
So for those of you who may not know, my parents work for Family Life which is a division of Campus Crusade. Anyway, dad works in the publication department of Family Life and manages what they place in the store and how much to price it, that sort of thing.
Since I am the Freshman Coordinator for the Arkansas Tech BCM, as well as a youth intern, dad thought it would be great for me to test out a new six week study called College Ready. This material is ment to help students with their transition into college life. This can be shown to both high school students as well as college freshman. I even remarked to a friend that I got something out of it as a sophomore in college.
I watched one session from the series just to get a feel for what the material was like. The session I selected was 5. Have Fun, simply because it was the only one not on the list of topics for Freshlife, as well as it had the potential of being a weak topic. However, they pull it out well and it proves to be just as valid topic as the others.
This definitely appears to be very solid curriculum to use, and should you have any questions direct them to Family Life. I really hope that if you have the need for a Freshman or High School senior curriculum to take care of this curriculum and reuse it.
I watched one session from the series just to get a feel for what the material was like. The session I selected was 5. Have Fun, simply because it was the only one not on the list of topics for Freshlife, as well as it had the potential of being a weak topic. However, they pull it out well and it proves to be just as valid topic as the others.
This definitely appears to be very solid curriculum to use, and should you have any questions direct them to Family Life. I really hope that if you have the need for a Freshman or High School senior curriculum to take care of this curriculum and reuse it.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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