Addicted to Grace

Fourth of July

2010-07-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

I hope that you all had a great 4th of July. I got to spend it at the fireworks in State College with my wife and her parents. It was a really great time and the fireworks were really cool. Well, the ones that I saw. It had been a really long day and somehow I found a way to fall asleep during some of them, which left my wife in complete bewilderment. Haha, fun times. Anyways, I hope that you all had a great weekend and are having a great summer.

Football On The Beach

2010-06-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, know that I love to play football. Yet playing football on the beach is even better. For my activities the last couple of days I have been leading football and of course like all good youth workers, got competitive and showed those kids who was boss. Boooya!!! Here are some pictures of our great times on the beach.

Testimony Of God's Power

2010-06-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you see things that remind of God's great power and love. Last night at session here at Summer Camp, Jenn was talking about thoughts that we need to throw away. To end the session they did this drama that was a great reminder of God's power through changed lives. It was pretty incredible. Everybody wants proof that God exists. Sometimes there is no greater proof than what God has done in our lives. Check out the video. What would your cardboard say?

Summer Camp Epic Workout

2010-06-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Last night at session Jenn was talking about that is on our mind. Well fortunately for us we had a special workout instructor come in and help us to get our brains warmed up a little bit. This workout was way too good not to share with you. Maybe there is something here you can use :).

More Pics From Summer Camp

2010-06-16T04:36:00.001-07:00

Well yesterday was another fun day at Summer Camp here in Ocean City, NJ. It wasn't as warm as Monday was but we still got to spend some good time at the beach and enjoy some pretty good waves. Here are a couple more pictures. The first one is of Austin (One of my Juniata guys) being interrogated by Norm and the other is of the small group that I am helping with. Fun times!

Storming The Beach

2010-06-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Since our theme for Summer Camp this week is The Battlefield of the Mind, this morning we stormed the beach. We had a bunch of games on the beach early this morning to get students up and moving around. Here are a couple of pictures from that. The first is a squad group trying to plug up the holes on a bucket to keep as much water in as possible the second is a group of girls getting ready to do a relay race. It was a lot of fun (at least it was watching! ).

Summer Camp First Night

2010-06-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

We are here in Ocean City, NJ for our annual Central PA Youth Ministries Summer Camp. 160 teens at the beach, what a blast. We introduced the rules with a video last night. It was of Norm and I shooting each other (as well as LaVern), with paintballs. Now that was fun!!. Check out the video below. If you request it, I might even put up some of the outtakes. Hahaha!!

Superchick Concert

2010-05-18T08:27:00.001-07:00

Sunday Highway 35 Student Ministries proudly presented Superchick, John Reuben, Luminate, and Bread of Stone in concert at East Juniata High School. We were very pleased with how the bands performed and the turnout. We sold out the auditorium (Over 800 Seats) and the place was very electric and I think all who were there had a lot of fun. Thank you very much to all who came out and made the evening a great time. Here is a video of the evening.

To Preach Or Not To Preach

2010-05-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

Recently popular Christian evangelist Franklin Graham had a couple of comments that I would like to write a little about. Those comments were:

"I think its coming to this country where we (will) have the freedom to preach inside a church wall, but we will lose the freedom to do it outside. That day will probably come – maybe in my lifetime."

“(In the United States) we see everyday our rights being eroded. Just a little at a time, but its happening. Everyday. So let’s preach while we can. Let’s stand up and holler ‘Jesus Christ! King of Kings, Lord of Lords!’to the top of our voice... The secularists are going to get ticked off, the news media’s going to hate it. I don’t know, maybe the people in the White House are going to be mad. But you know what, I don’t care. Because God has called us to take the Gospel -- His Gospel, the power of God and His Salvation -- unto the ends of the Earth.”

My thoughts are as follows. This is a very interesting topic. I have wondered many times how long we are going to have the freedom to speak about our faith in the public square and really it scares me...a lot. However, I have come to the conclusion that no matter who is in the White House, no matter what bill gets passed God is in control. We can spend so much time worrying about what will be that we do not follow through on what God has called us to do. God is in control in this world and sometimes I wonder what He is up to, but His ways are not my ways nor are his thoughts my thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9) so I will worry about what I can control and that is following through with God's call on my life.

Every since Jesus left this earth his command has been to preach the Gospel. Franklin Graham is right that we need to preach the Gospel, but it is needed whether our freedoms are eroding or not. This is what we are all called to do. My problem with him lies purely in his methodology. Does standing up and hollering really do any good? Sure Paul tells us that the Gospel is foolishness to those who do not believe (1 Corinthians 1:22-24), but still our approach is increasingly important to those who are increasingly skeptical about what we claim. It seems to me that it is in the context of relationships that we are able to convey to others what it is we believe and how that has made a difference in our own lives. Jesus did some preaching to the crowds, but a lot of his calls to repentance were in conversation with others. Some of it took place around the wells, in eating with the sinners in their homes, or at a person's place of work.

There is absolutely no doubt that one of the founding principles of this nation was freedom of religion. However, I find it interesting that so many who fight so hard for that seem to ONLY want freedom of Christianity. They get so upset when other religions exercise their freedoms, but cry out when it seems like Christianity isn't allowed the voice they want it to have. If we truly want freedom of religion (A good thing) then we must be prepared for those who do not subscribe to the Christian religion to talk about what they believe. Really one of the beauties of freedom of religion is the conversations that can happen when many from different beliefs can stand up and converse about they believe in an open dialogue. As Christians we have the truth and we should be open to discussing that with even those who are in opposition to what we believe. Unfortunately many cries for freedom of religion really only mean freedom for Christianity.

To Run Or Not To Run

2010-04-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

I was e-mailed an article yesterday and I thought I would respond to it a little bit. The article can be found here: http://mondaymorninginsight.com/blog/post/you_are_going_to_hell_and_taking_someone_with_you/.

I encourage to read the article, but basically Todd, the author of Monday morning insights, was responding to another article in which a certain Dr. Thompson was saying that we should all encourage other to get our students out of public schools because they are evil and promote things that are in opposition to Christianity. Todd doesn't quite agree and points out, "Whatever happened to being a light in the darkness?"

As a young adult who does not have any children of my own perhaps my view on this is somewhat skewed and maybe when I do have children my viewpoint will change I don't know. I read the original press release and Dr. Thompson used a couple of Scripture references WAY out of context and basically said public schools are evil and private schools are perfect and you hate your neighbor if you do not tell them to get their children out of public schools and since this is "obviously" the good thing to do you are sinning if you don't do it.

Do public schools promote things that are opposite of Christianity? Sure. However, that does not make private schools perfect either. As someone who went to both a Christian and a private school, there were a lot of things that were Anti-Christian at the private school as well. Also, in talking with a Principal at a Christian school, there are many there who question whether Jesus really is the only way to God. Private schools are not necessarily some safe-haven that we can run to in order to escape all of the evils of this world. Also, I think the level of education that I received was greater at the public school that I went to. That is not something to be taken flippantly either.

Greater than that, though, Todd makes a great point in saying, "Whatever happened to being a light in the darkness?" This I think is the crux of the issue. In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls his disciples to the salt of the earth and goes on to also call them to be a light on a hill. This applies to us as well. In the OT God compared Israel to olive trees. Olive oil was mainly used to light lamps. God is calling Israel his light to the rest of the world. Paul tells us that we have been grafted into that olive tree and so we also are to be God's light to the world.

In my opinion is much more loving to be a light in the public school than to run away and hide from it. Jesus never ran away and hid. Rather he engaged the culture around him with the truth of Scripture in a loving manner. I think that Dr. Thompson has his definition of love screwed up a little. Just my opinion, though. What are some of your thoughts.

Superchick

2010-03-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last year a group of Youth Pastors got together and decided that we wanted to work together and do some big events to reach out to the youth here in Juniata County. We have done a couple of events so far that have gone really well. Here in May we have decided to have Superchick in concert. The date is May 16th at East Juniata High School. Also, playing are John Reuben, Bread of Stone and Luminate. If you would like more information about this event you can check out www.highway35.weebly.com. Tickets are $6 (a great price for the amount of music that you will hear). Ticket information can be found at the website. This should be a great event.

To Save A Life

2010-01-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

The movie "To Save A Life" has been in the Selinsgrove Cinema Center for almost a week now and opening weekend went incredibly well. The movie opened in 440 theaters across the United States and out of the 44o the Selinsgrove Cinema Center ranked number 39 in ticket sales, which is really incredible for our area. Not only that but the movie was around 15 in total box office sales among all movies for the past weekend and is rated #1 on the fan ratings on fandango.com.

This is a really great movie and if you have not seen it I would encourage you to do so. It is showing for the rest of this week and at least for next week as well. If you have seen this movie and enjoyed it take some of your friends to see it. This can be a great way to reach out to some of your friends.

You can also check out what some other people are saying about this movie:

The Source
Fandango

Summer Camp

2009-06-22T20:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I am at Ocean City NJ with over a hundred students and leaders from Central PA for our annual Summer Camp. Yesterday was our first day and so we have finished up with our second day and are getting ready to go to sleep. I know some students are going to stay up all night, but I am not going to be one of them. I am pretty tired and looking forward to falling asleep. So far it has been a lot of fun. There has been a lot of laughing and fun times. Unfortunately the weather has not been that great for the beach, but hopefully that gets better.

My Anniversary

2009-05-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

It continually amazes me how fast time flies. There have been countless examples of this in my life. The most recent example is the fact that this Sunday is my 1 year Anniversary with my beautiful wife. I can't believe that we have been married a year already.
To celebrate our anniversary my wife and I are leaving tomorrow evening and going camping. I am really looking forward to this time spent with her and being able to get away in a nice area.

An Instrument of Peace

2009-05-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

During staff meeting today we were given an exercise to spend some time in prayer and listen to what God was speaking to us. The following prayer is something that God laid on my heart. I really hope that this is how I can live my life. I know that so often I fall short, but it is definitely something to strive for. This prayer is originally by St. Francis of Assisi and I think it rings as true today as it did then.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Wow, what an amazing prayer. What are some ways that we as Christians can be an instrument of God's peace? Let me know what you think.

Boxing

2009-05-20T06:36:00.001-07:00

The other night my friend Norm and I decided that it would be fun to do some boxing. He had just bought some new gloves and headgear so we go together and well boxed. We videotaped the whole thing and so I am going to share some portions of that with you. I hope that you enjoy it and get a good laugh out of it. It is obvious that we are not professionals and really at most times have no idea what we are doing, but we had fun. Check out the video!

Let me know what you thought! It was a lot of fun and maybe Norm and I will have to get together and do this again.

The God Delusion

2009-05-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

I've Been reading the book "The God Delusion," by Richard Dawkins. As the title suggests Dawkins is an atheist and believes that there no evidence that a being such as God exists. I am only a couple of chapters into it and it is a very interesting read. I hope to blog some more about this in the future, but for now I want to focus on a quote that appears under the cover of the book. Dawkins writes, "We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
When I first read this quote I chuckled to myself and enjoyed the wittiness of such a statement. It got me thinking though. What makes the God that I believe in any different than all of the gods throughout history that I reject. I by no means intend to find an end to this discussion, but I hope to start a conversation that perhaps many of us can dialogue together.
For me I cannot deny that there is something beyond myself and to understand what that force out there I put my trust in the writings that derive from the nation of Israel and the early followers of Jesus that we call the Bible. (I know this is no proof to someone who doesn't believe, but at this point I am simply trying to perhaps show why I believe in God. I'm not necessarily trying to write out a proof of any sort.)
For someone like Dawkins there is no room for faith. Everything he believes has to be able to be scientifically tested. For me though, I simply cannot accept that in life we can boil everything down to scientific proofs. From all of my experiences life spins in such ways that it is often hard to understand. There are things in this world that I will never understand and I am okay with that. In life I believe a certain amount of faith is needed and I place my faith in the God of the Bible. Do I have all of the answers, by no means.
This God, though is a God of love, mercy, compassion, and grace. These things are so needed in my life because I am so well aware of how pathetic of a person I am. I screw-up all the time and I am thankful for a God who loves me with all of my imperfections. This is also a God who does not sit in Heaven but chose to come to earth and is active in our lives not to control our lives, but to guide and give us strength.
These are some of the things that I think set this God apart from any other god in History and even sets this God apart from any other deity in the other religions that exist today.

Hidden Agendas

2009-05-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

I was looking over the band line-up for Purple Door the other day and I came across a band that I had listened to a lot growing up but hadn't listened to in several years, so I decided to go to their website and see what they had been up to. I came across some writings that the lead singer of this band had done and I decided to take a look at some of them. One of them struck me in particular. If you want to read the whole thing you can go here.
I will try to summarize it for you. He was on a plane and was looking forward to sleeping and had a seat alone but then someone sat with him. At first he felt very frustrated, but figured perhaps God had a reason for sitting this man beside him so he talked with this man throughout the flight looking for an opportunity to share his faith with this man. He didn't have a very good opportunity to share his faith and didn't want to force it so as the time went on it didn't look like it was going to happen. He kept praying about it, but didn't bring it up. At the end of the flight though this man asked him if he went to church and continued by inviting him to a meeting that was a part of Christian cult known for its heretical teachings. The irony here is impossible to miss and the writer felt betrayed in a way because the passenger was not interested in having a conversation with him he was simply interested in getting to the point where he could invite him to a meeting.
I guess the point here is that if we talk with people only to get to the point to share our faith do they feel the same way? The writer at one point writes that he has often heard it said that, "Christians always seem to have a hidden agenda." I think a lot of times when we try to share our faith it comes out that way. Jesus called us to love others no matter who they are, what they believe, or what they have done. Relationships are important and can't we focus on having a relationship with others without having a hidden agenda. Maybe we should have and "agenda-less faith." If as we are getting to know someone and the topic of faith comes up great, but I don't think we should try to force it. Can't we simply have a relationship with someone because we care about them and not because we are trying to get them with a bait and switch. Our faith should be an out-poring of who we are and not some hidden agenda that we are looking to turn on someone.
Maybe if we are going to have an agenda it should be loving and serving others and not trying to force a rehearsed evangelism attempt on others. Let me know what you think.

2009-04-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little late on this, but I hope that you all have a had a wonderful Easter. I had a great day spending time with Jess' family. It was a beautiful day and a great reminder of how special Jesus' sacrifice was. I hope that you all had a very enjoyable and blessed day.

2009-04-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at the poll that I have on the side of my blog and I saw a huge error. I laughed at myself and moved on. Can you pick it out. Leave me a comment and the first person with the correct answer will win me telling them that they are awesome!

2009-04-02T17:42:00.001-07:00

I know we all have bad days. However, that doesn't make them any easier to handle when they come.

I had one of those days today. It was just one of those days where nothing goes right. It's frustrating and often times very disheartening. I find myself questioning God in times like these. It got me wondering though, whether God allows these things to happen so at least I will talk to Him. Perhaps when I question Him in these times, He is thinking well at least he is talking to me.

I know I should look to God even when the days are going well, but so often I don't. When days go bad though, I am definitely looking to God, even if it is often casting blame his way (even though most of these days are a result of MY stupidity). Maybe God enjoys these times, not because of what is happening to me, but because he gets to hear my voice. These days are always a reminder to me of how I to look to God in all things.

Anyways at least there is always tomorrow and the hope that it will be a better day.

2009-03-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had another practice for the newly formed hardcore band! It was a lot of fun. We are working on a couple of songs and it is going really well! I have a couple of questions for YOU. We do not have a name? Leave me a comment for any suggestions that you have for our name. How could you pass up this opportunity to name a band :). Anyways let me know what you think.

2009-03-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

How about this for some Central PA beauty. I took a little time this afternoon to drive through Shade Mtn. It was great to be alone and be surrounded by nothing but peace and quiet. It's great to get out and clear my head and have a great time for reflection and prayer. I find that I do not do near enough of this.

2009-03-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

I play guitar in a worship band. We don't have a name, but it's fun. We've played at a couple of different youth events and at a couple of church services. I really enjoy listening to hardcore/metal music though. This may seem odd, but it is what I enjoy. In college I played in such a band for about 2 years. It was a lot of fun and I miss it a lot. Norm (the bassist from the worship band) and I have been talking for several months about starting a hardcore band and this evening we got together and were working on writing some stuff for that. I am really excited and can't wait to play it. So it looks like our worship band will also double as a hardcore band. It doesn't get much better than that. I'm pretty sure that if the Bible had mentioned worship bands it would have also mentioned that they should also play hardcore music. I could be a little off on that, but I'm excited to see what comes of our double band. You should come and hear us play sometime.

2009-03-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

I've resisted blogging for a long time because I am not proud enough to think there are others out there that would be interested in hearing what I have to say. However, I've been pushed by a friend to start on a different forum but this is what I have chosen and we'll see how it goes.