A Great Conversation...

As many of you know I am currently working as a Sales Associate at Urban Outfitters at the Fashion Mall @ Keystone at the Crossing.  I have had the opportunity over the past couple of months to have some great conversations with some great people that I otherwise would not have met.  Although I am currently not serving vocationally at a church, I have had a lot of opportunities to serve his church through his ministry.  The opportunities I have had to speak with some great people has reminded me about the importance of making yourself available for the holy spirit.  He reminded me that even if you are not excepting it, it is important to understand that when you make yourself available, a conversation will happen.

For so much time over the past two years I have been involved with leading other people to be available for the holy spirit and have conversations with people they care about life, ministry, & who God is to them.  I spent so much time doing the leading that I forgot to have those conversations myself.  It has not been until now that God has shown me the importance of doing this as a leader.  If I am going to lead people, I am realizing now that I need to have the conversations myself.

Working at Urban Outfitters over the past couple of months has shown me how powerful our God is.  As I look toward to the future whatever ministry I have the opportunity to serve in whether it be vocationally or on a volunteer basis, I will never forget the importance of the little conversations.



till another day,




normallyINDIE

The Bible - Epic MiniSeries...

As many of you may know, The Bible has been center stage over the past 6 weeks and not just because it was Easter two weeks ago, but because the History Channel has aired a 10 part series on The Bible.  Nothing like this has been taken on before by a Director or a group of people, but they decided to take on the entire 66 books of the bible in a 10 hour miniseries.  A daunting task, but courageous to take it on.  

Many of my ministry friends had a lot to say about this series specifically with its' lack of accuracy with the actual scriptures and its' dramatic adaptions, but what I found to be true was that the scriptures were being put on center stage for the past 6 weeks and there were regard viewers like never before.  

As a student minister, I found the Bible miniseries not only to be good, but very beneficial for those I am trying to minister too on a regular basis.  Something that us in students ministries are fighting on a daily basis is the lack of comprehension or understanding of the scriptures.  We are constantly have to communicate and paint a picture from words on a page, that can sometimes be difficult to paint.  But the benefit behind this miniseries is that it does an amazing job of putting faces with the stories.  It allows those that are visual learners the opportunity to engage the scriptures in a new and powerful way.  Thus for those who learn in this way, making the excitement of the scriptures alive and rekindling that fire that may have been lost at a younger age.  

Like everything else that has been produced about the bible or an interpretation of the scriptures, we must understand just that.  It is an interpretation of the scriptures and the directors did not mean for it to be taken as 100% accurate.  They understood that they would be unable to tackle some big sections of the text as well as making some of it more dramatic than need be.  Some of the main concerns I heard from friends of mine was Samson's ethnicity, their accents, & the emphasis on Mary Magdalene.  What I have to say to all of that is that you are missing the bigger picture.  A layperson who has never read the bible in there life is not concerned as to whether Samson was a powerful, white, jewish man or whether Mary Magdalene spoke in a powerful way amongst the disciples, they are seeing the power of God found in the New Testament and ultimately the hope that comes with Jesus Christ.  

What I found to be true was that the powerful picture of Jesus' death and resurrection was depicted in an amazing way for billions of people to see, many of which will be changed by this.  I do believe that God is saying to us that through this series his name is being glorified.  Although there were some minor details that should have been fixed doesn't change the fact that the gospel was being preached in a new and powerful way.  It is important for us as pastors to recognize this importance, despite our scholarly criticism.  

till another day, 

normallyINDIE. 

Bearing Fruit...

As many of you know, I had the opportunity speak at Twin Oaks CC's main stage.  It was an amazing opportunity to speak to our members that I do not always get.  I had the chance to not only speak to our students and their parents, but also a ton of new visitors that were excited to try our church for the first time.  We are currently in our 40 Days in the Word series this past week being Meaning of the Text.

It was an amazing opportunity to speak to our church and most of all to go through the text of John 15. Never before did I fully think about what it meant to bear fruit and the fact that Jesus has called all of his disciples to do so.  I understood that we need to "bear fruit" we are told that hundreds of times, but never did I really look into the text to understand how to do that.  What I found was amazing.  Like the majority of our faith, it comes down to the idea of remaining in Christ, taking up residency in his arms.  That being the case we will bear fruit, we will see God's glory, and his joy will be made complete in us.  It is as simple as that and the simplicity behind this idea just makes my life that much better.

I serve a creator that has made himself available to us all through is word and I am so excited to continue on this journey of discovery.  If you would like to listen to the message from Twin Oaks CC Click Here



till another day,



normallyINDIE