Friday, February 29, 2008

Friday

I'm glad its Friday! Its been long/busy week! Things are starting to pick up with school work and with spring right around the corner, I need to get as much as I can done now. The next couple of months are probably going to be some of the busiest of my life. I am looking forward to seeing what life is like when the dust clears but am not necessarily excited about the day to day stress. Despite the business, however, it is truly an exciting time of life!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Pride

"The worst viper that is in the heart,
the greatest disturber of the soul's peace,
the most hidden secret and deceitful of all lusts"
-Jonathan Edwards

This week I have been once again confronted with hideousness of my own pride and sinfulness. What a dreadful thing to be prideful, and what freedom there is in true humility. Edwards also wrote..."The pleasures of humility are really the most refined, inward, and exquisite delights in the world." After recognizing, once again, this disgusting trait of mine, I picked up C.J. Mahaney's book on Humility. I've read it before but in light of my current struggle I thought it would be a good idea to go through it again! It's not a large book and very easy to read but also packed with truth!

The thing about pride is that it makes no logical sense. When a situation is looked at truthfully, there is never a reason for being prideful. C.J. quotes Spurgeon who said that pride is a "groundless thing" and "a brainless thing" and goes on to say..."but despite the sheer folly and unreasonableness of pride, it manifests its stubborn presence in countless ways within all of us."

It is a bitter sweet thing to be confronted, again, with my own folly. I am grateful for its recognition, but sorely need His grace to help me through it! C.J. defines humility in this way...

"Honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness and our sinfulness"

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Domination!

As a Valentines gift for my Lady, I took her to Nashville to see her team play the Nashville Predators. It was a great game of domination as the Stars won over the Predators 6 to 3! We had a great time!

There were two awesome fights in the first period and about 5 overall! It was great!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

City Ministry

For my Urban Missions class, we are required to do a case study on an urban Church here in Louisville. My group was assigned to Servants Heart Church in an area called Portland here in Louisville. Earlier today, my group and I had a meeting with the pastor and key lay member where we were able to learn about the ministry they were doing there in Portland. These were cool people who are doing whatever they can to reach the area for Christ and are not afraid to think outside the box, or even take some heat from others, to make it happen. And what is sad is that most of the heat they are receiving is coming from people inside the church over petty, non-essential issues such as clothing style, or what time the service is held. When will we learn? At any rate, they're making it happen, and all for the glory of God!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Reading Update Part two: Whats Next?

What's next on my reading list? Though it is difficult to consistently read books that I want to read, it is necessary.

First, then is When People Are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the fear of Man.










Afterwards...Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality.

Reading Update

It is with great joy that I can FINALLY report that I have finished Simple Church.

Great Book! I would highly recommend it! The concepts in this book are truly revolutionary for church life and addressed many of the issues that I have noticed in my own experience in most churches. This book is a great encouragement!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Time Well Spent

Pastor Steven Furtick had a great post today about time and investment! Every opportunity with people should be seen as an investment! He said that a pastor friend of his said that there are three ways to use time:
  1. Waste it,
  2. Spend it,
  3. Invest it.
I am a very task oriented person and like things on a schedule. This can be a strength but it can also be a weakness for many times in ministry you never know when an opportunity may come up to invest in someones life. And when these opportunities do come, I must see them as just that...investment! Many times I am guilty of seeing people more as obstacles than opportunities! This should not be! Every encounter with someone is an opportunity to encourage, to admonish, and build up! People are an investment! If ministry isn't about people than what is it about?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Hall Ball VIII Cont.

As mentioned, we had the eighth Semi-annual Hall Ball event. As is our custom, apparently, we came in third place of seven. Not bad, but I was hoping for something other than third this Semester. I was proud of my boys though, we had good turnout and fought hard! As a graduating Senior, this was my last Hall Ball. It was kind of bitter sweet, but the future is bright, and I am ready for a change!


Props to Dikios for taking home the Aaron Filipone Cup and defeating the multi-semester champions Prototacos!
Though a part of Doulos, I must admit, she looked pretty cute in that little bow!
(photo taken by my Lady, who is getting pretty good with the camera!)

Hall Ball VIII

We fought hard! Came in third of six. I'm tired. I'll post more later!

Friday, February 15, 2008

They're Watching

"Everything you do teaches somebody something!"
-Dr. Jimmy Scroggins

I heard this quote the other day and thought it was really great! I think I see the truth in this quote so vividly because I see it so clearly in myself. When I was growing up I was ALWAYS watching someone. I was always watching to see how someone would respond to different situations or even in conversations. I know how closely I watched other people and therefore know that there are others watching me.

This is one of the main reasons why personal integrity is so important. Someone is ALWAYS watching and learning! The Lord sees all we do and this alone is reason enough to strive for integrity, but also everyone around you is influenced by the things you do and the decisions you make! In the end, our drive should be to please God and everything else will flow out of that. Our motivations should come from seeking to please the Lord and not man, but let us never forget that people are watching and learning from everything we do!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

American Idol

So every Tuesday night, my girlfriend and I hang out with some friends Hannah and Chris and watch American Idol. Its a great time to just hang out and chill! I must say I was a little disappointed with some of the calls and can't help but wonder how much is staged, but we're gonna be positive! Anyways, it was a good time and thought I would post some pics!




Snow

Ok, so here's some pics of the snow! Its definitely not a blizzard but its a considerable amount for Louisville!



Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Things

Snow...despite my predictions we got about 3-4 inches of snow yesterday in a matter of a few hours which is much more than we ever get here on a regular basis. Currently I am in a, you guessed it, coffee shop and was going to upload some pics of the snow and such but neglected to bring the cord I need to connect my camera to my computer. So...I'll post a couple of pics later.

School...it seems to be going better. The Lord is beginning to help me through my mire(y) wallowing and have more of a positive attitude, at least about finishing strong. I have a lot of paper work to due in the next few months leading up to graduation. That is just weird, yet glorious.

Photography...things are slow this time of year, but I'm trying to be more purposeful about just bringing my camera around and having fun. Things in the spring will pick up for sure!

Back to work!...

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Shane and Shane

Had the opportunity to see Shane and Shane in concert last night! They rocked the house! I wasn't sure what to expect since the last time I saw them in concert they were a bit disappointing, but not last night! They came along with Bethany Dillon, and David Nasser as the speaker. It was a great evening!

For now, back at Quills for some more studying with the Lady! :)




Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Priorities

Yesterday I made some adjustments to my priorities. I have been working through Simple Church for WAY to long now and need to start finishing it up. I have loved every bit of it, however it seems like the time to read it always escapes me now that the semester has started. There is always something I MUST do and since reading Simple Church is a "like to" and not a "must" it always gets pushed to the side.

So, I decided that whenever I sit down to study or whatever I am going to start by reading Simple Church for at least a little while. The other work MUST get done and will get done. This way both get accomplished. I'm tired of things that I 'want' to do getting squeezed out by what 'must' get done. Hopefully this will eliminate that problem and help facilitate movement through the reading 'I' want to accomplish.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Mondays

Mondays are the busiest days of my week. I'm always glad when they come to a close. The rest of the week is usually pretty chill! Today was better than most due to the fact that it was an amazing 65 degrees outside, and those who know me know that I LOVE warm weather! It was just such a refreshing change rather than the biting, freezing weather we've had in the last few weeks!

So now, I'm tired and am glad that its bed time!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Broomstick Hockey!

We had an awesome student counsel event tonight called broomstick hockey. They rented an ice arena for a couple hours and just let us go at it! There was much checking! Good stuff!


Buck!
Tyler!
Nick!
Ethan with his "stupid helmet" and a nice gash!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Good Music!

Picked up a copy of Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams yesterday. This is great, chill music! If you're in the mood for something mellow, check him out!