Preaching

I preached a sermon today, at Joy Christian Community Church in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

I thought it went pretty well. It was by far my longest public speaking event. I do not think I am a very natural public speaker. Although, I do have a low voice. I should use that to my advantage.

Pastor Don is pretty much the best though. He is an extremely spiritually minded man, who opened up the service to me, took a door offering, and even exhorted the congregation to support me. Pretty sweet.

Let me take time to say that the good name of parents and grandparents went before me. I understand Proverbs 22:1 better now: A good name is more desirable than great riches.

We'll see what God brings from it.

My sermon...

Here are my notes:

There are three things I want you to know about me.

1. I decided to follow Jesus because of people who invested time in me.

A. Peter Layton-I was a sophomore and not a Christian when Peter invited me to a bible study. But he did more than that—he was my friend first. The Bible study was not an event, but an extension of our friendship. He delighted to share his life with me.

B. Peter invited me to spend the summer with the Navigators in Burlington, Vermont. Shortly after I became a Christian, I was able to hang out with a group of people who were all passionate about Jesus, and who were interested in growing in their faith. They shared not only the gospel with me, but their lives as well.

Through these people, I didn’t just receive a message. I saw a message acted out. I didn’t just hear the name of Jesus, but I saw Jesus alive in them.

2. I grew because people invested time in me.

A. A man named Jeff Kraines drove from Connecticut to Boston every week to share with me his wisdom. He taught me how to study the Bible, how to pray. He taught me the value of memorization.

B. When I transferred to the University of Arizona, a man named Bryce Bouchard began to invest time in me. He taught me about sharing the gospel with others, about how to lead an investigative Bible study, and he showed me areas of my life where I needed to repent.

I grew not simply from the information that these men shared, but from observing their lives. What I saw in them, I imitated. If it were just information I was seeking, I could have read a book. But they delighted to share not only the gospel with me, but their lives as well. It was a time investment, and it had a cost, but it was not a burden but a delight.

3. These experiences have given me a desire to share my life with others.

A. Story of David.

a. Jewish, no knowledge of Christ

b. Began to read the Bible together

c. Growing interest

d. Christmas break, came back unexcited

e. Started just hanging together.

f. Began to grow excited by the Word

g. Became a Christian, and immediately began sharing the gospel

B. Story of William

a. From Colombia, always been rejected because of his skin color

b. Came to Mexico on Spring Break

c. Was surprised because of the love and acceptance that he experienced.

d. Became a Christian and is taking the gospel back to Colombia with him

Conclusion—

This is a spiritually dark generation. There is no concept of sin, no concept of guilt. Consequently, there is a great deal of immorality and perversion. The dominant emotion is not guilt, but shame. Students are lost and hungry for something deeper, but they do not know where to look. There is a freshness to the gospel, and when students see it active, lived out, change begins. Like David and William, they are attracted to the gospel because it is shared with them not just verbally, but with our lives.

I will be spending the next two years at the University of Arizona sharing my life with students. This summer, as I prepare, I am raising up a team of financial and prayer supporters. I would love to share more about what I will be doing and how you can support me.

God is faithful.

Perhaps we say this much, but then it suddenly comes home! Has it come home? If you shake your head and feel a rise in your heart when you read it then it has come home.

You can't do what I'm doing and not see the faithfulness of God. This is why Paul says "It is through God's mercy that we have this ministry." Meaning above all that this joy in knowing the faithfulness God comes home deep in this ministry. That is the mercy of God.

Meditate son!

Kindness

An understanding of kindness comes from this verse:

This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

That is, that our actions towards others are to be guided by God's actions towards us:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christian kindness acts independent of others. It is not a response but a free action. It does not wait, but moves. Kindness is love acted.

Patience

Patience is hard for me. I am not a patient man by nature.

The key verse on patience is...

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Do you see the patience of God in your life? Do you see how He did not strike you down in your sin?

Peace

Ephesians...Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Peace is when I am with others. Peace is submission to the needs of others. Peace is quietness. Peace is personal, between one man and his neighbor.

Peace is a well-spring of joy.

What I know is that peace is not dependent on what is attacking me externally.

Joy

There are moments of such exquisite joy in the Christian walk.

What can you do in those moments but pray and worship, wherever they come?

They will shake you, shake you with a clear sight of mercy, a knowledge of the overwhelming goodness of God.

Pray for them, for they are assurance itself.

Love

There are two things that love is.

Love is patient. Love is kind.

There are other means by which love expresses itself, but these two things are what love actually is.

Reflections on an accident

My car is most likely totaled. Some facts:

1. It was my fault.
2. I had just reflected about two days earlier that I would most likely have that car until 2013 or so.
3. I love Corollas. And that car was perfect for me.
4. It was my first day of fund-raising. I have three appointments tomorrow.
5. No one was hurt, not even slightly. The girls I hit were very nice.
6. I have liability-only insurance. Any repairs to my car will come from out-of-pocket.

So there are the facts. I have to say, it was unexpected. I had earlier been reflecting on the astounding goodness of God. Does this change things for me?

Several days ago, I had the privilege of hearing Jerry Bridges speak. He spoke on what it means to trust God. Here are his three points.

1. God is sovereign.
--The accident was in God's power. He caused it.
2. God is wise.
--What he is doing in it is according to his plan.
3. God is good.
-- What he is doing is for my benefit.

I believe these things when times are good. So I should believe them now as well. It is interesting that often the small annoyances-the inconveniences that are hard to fathom-are harder to deal with than the larger problems. Why would God want to take away the car that I just got, that he just brought me? It doesn't seem to make any sense.

Listen to J.I. Packer:

For the truth is that God in his wisdom, to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know about the providential purposes which he is working out in the churches and in our own lives. "As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thous knowest not the work of God who doest all." (Eccl. 11:5 RV)

We must believe that the inscrutable God of providence is the wise and gracious God of creation and redemption. We can be sure that the God who made this marvelously complex world order, and who compassed the great redemption from Egypt, an who later compassed the even greater redemption from sin and Satan, knows what he is doing, and "doeth all things well," even if for the moment he hides his hand. We can trust him and rejoice in him, even when we cannot discern his path.

Listen to me:

I am greatly blessed. Let me tell you how...

1. No one was injured in the accident.
2. My parents and friends all helped me, supported me, and were gracious towards me. Bryce helped diffuse the situation (the accident occurred right near both our houses). My dad as always was wise and gentle.
3. I have insurance!
4. The police allowed us to resolve the accident civilly, so I wasn't cited.
5. I had a car in the first place.
6. I still have my old car, Zooey, with her black tinted windows, and her complete lack of air conditioning.
7. My friend Mike Glasser lent me his second car for a week, until I can get Zooey from Nogales. What a friend God has given me!
8. I was able to drive the car to my Summit, and help Ryan and Valerie get there as well.

But even if none of these blessings were in place, still God would be good, still he would be wise. I am merely saying that I do not have anything to complain about. The bottom line is that God gave me that car. Now he has taken it away. I do not know or understand his purposes, but they are good.

What you all have been waiting for

Let me tell you about the Summit.

1. First of all, it was fun.

2. Second of all, it was spiritually refreshing.

3. Third of all, there was much secret joy, and many secret tears. It was emotional.

4. Fourth of all, I will now be less vague, since that seemed to be a problem last time.

Here is a picture of my team (this is experimental)



In Red, my man Dustin "Smushie" Butler.
Next to him is Robin "Thus Far Nicknameless" Klapheke.
Next to her is Diana "D-Ro" Ro.
Next to her is your faithful correspondent.

This is my team, and they are really cool. In fact, no offense to any other edgers in my class, but I'm pretty sure we got the best two girls of them all. They are both fun, passionate, mature women of God.

I have feeling that Smush and I are going to get pretty close. He is a man of God and we are like-minded yet compliment each other.

Anyways, here are some highlights...

1. Getting to know Brad Jones (and visiting a micro-brewery with him and two successive nights. Brad is a guy my age from Penn State, and we know a lot of the same people. I had met him once before, but it was nice to get to know him. I always enjoy new friends.

2. Getting to know Dustin better. The guy is awesome! He is funny but thoughtful. Humble, gentle, and zealous.

3. G-mail chatting with Lindsey Winters during admin time, then watching several edgers update their Facebook pages in the middle of Kevin's talk. It was fun calling them out on it by writing on their walls. Of course, that also made me somewhat of a hypocrite. But it was a seriously boring talk.

4. The "Who's the biggest nerd" contest, in which my passion for L.M. Montgomery books could merit me only fourth or fifth place at best. The winner, Brett Marshall from ASU collects novelty David Winters cottages (I think my Grandma collects those)!

5. Team time with Lori and Bryce. Except later that night I threw up. But we got sweet tattoos.

6. Having Lori Bowman as a funding coach.

7. A couple names...Jerry Bridges, Drew Frazer, Jim Leube, Vic Black, Jim Rinella, Alan Andrews. Speakers all who were pretty sweet to listen to.

8. A conversation I had with Kyu-ho about worship. That guy is wise and deep.

9. How Biblical everything was! Seriously, funding school was so encouraging.

10. Coming home again. Arizona sure is a great state.

After the Summit, I went and spent a few days with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Linda in Denver. They were very hospitable as always, and I had a great time. We went up to Vail, with my mom's cousin Mike Smith and his daughter. My friends Ryan and Valerie from ASU came along too since we were driving together.

I saw my old friend Kyle Keperling from the summer of 2003. Incidently, Brian Smith from the same summer was in Breckenridge, so I saw him as well. It was a good time.

That whole summer training program proved fertile for me. I have many friends and acquaintances scattered all over the country from it. A couple more photos for you photographically inclined fellows...

Brad Jones is standing next to me, and Lindsey Winters is the second from the left.












This is us enjoying a hip-hop interlude during funding school.