I've been back here in Tallahassee for a few days now, got back on Thursday from the Pastor's Conference in Tan-Tar-A, Missouri. Wow, it was incredible!!! Not nearly as amazing as Faithwalkers, but it surely is up there on my list!!! For Sam, Alex and I, it was a litte hard to get a lot out of it because we are not pastors, yet at least, so the topics didn't relate to us AS much, but I know there is a lot that we can apply to our own lives as well as the homegroups that we will be/are leading in Gainesville. Herschel Martindale closed up the conference for us on Wednesday night as he taught through Titus 3.
He presented a point, a key fundamental belief that most Christians miss, I think I may have missed it for a while. It's changed my way of thinking a lot, I've rethought my capabilites, my desires, a lot of stuff. He presented John 14:16-18; "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
He, the Holy Spirit, will abide with you, me, us, AND He will be IN us!!!!!! All of us!!!! God is inside me, He's inside you, everyone that accepts Christ as their salvation. How amazing is this? If God's very presence is inside of me, what can I not do? Can I fail? No. Can I quit? Not me. Can I burn out? Yes, if I forget this incredibly important piece of Truth. Can I really do all that Christ wants me to do, even though I don't know exactly what that is yet? Of course! These thoughts of God residing in me has changed the way I've thought about how to overcome sin and temptations, because we are the Temple!
This church plant is hard, it's a little unclear right now of what we are doing, but I will continue to do it. Sam & I are running this joint right now, with Pastor Matt in the hospital and Pastor Ryan up in North Carolina at a conference. It's a little overwhelming, but just enough that I can handle it. They weren't kidding when they said that this was Leadership Training. I love it though, having a lot of fun and getting to meet some cool cats up here. Miss Gainesville a ton though, I can not wait to get back and do the Lord's work with my brothers and sisters up there. He has really knit our hearts together, and it's such a blessing that you can only understand through experience because words can't do it justice. I'm off to the grocery store, so peace out. Chew on that verse though, ok?
Saturday, July 1
Wednesday, June 28
over the river and through the woods...
6-25-06 @ 7:47
Here we are on our way to Tan-Tar-A for the Pastor’s And Leader’s Conference, and I’m dang excited! Frank Liu is driving, and I’m laughing at how ironic it is that 4 pastors are trying to beat the insurance system on how to legally drive this rental van. Anyways, I’m really not sure what to expect because Faithwalkers set the bar pretty dang high for me, and Alan Moore said that this was like Faithwalkers on steroids!!! This is going to be intense. I remember how long the drive was for us coming from Gainesville, so this shouldn’t be as bad as we are 2 hours ahead. This amount of time in the car should give me ample time to catch up on my Old Testament readings in my Bible-In-A-Year plan, I’m dang excited! Being around all of these all-stars for 20 hours is going to be amazing, and I’m praying that the Lord would knit our hearts together hardcore like whoa. So maybe I’ll update later on in this drive, maybe not till I get there.
Here we are on our way to Tan-Tar-A for the Pastor’s And Leader’s Conference, and I’m dang excited! Frank Liu is driving, and I’m laughing at how ironic it is that 4 pastors are trying to beat the insurance system on how to legally drive this rental van. Anyways, I’m really not sure what to expect because Faithwalkers set the bar pretty dang high for me, and Alan Moore said that this was like Faithwalkers on steroids!!! This is going to be intense. I remember how long the drive was for us coming from Gainesville, so this shouldn’t be as bad as we are 2 hours ahead. This amount of time in the car should give me ample time to catch up on my Old Testament readings in my Bible-In-A-Year plan, I’m dang excited! Being around all of these all-stars for 20 hours is going to be amazing, and I’m praying that the Lord would knit our hearts together hardcore like whoa. So maybe I’ll update later on in this drive, maybe not till I get there.
Friday, June 23
I saw this on macuser.com and I really enjoyed it. Seems to apply to almost every college student I know! Maybe not the Scientologist part...
New York magazine, as part of their Urban Etiquette Handbook, has a section on “The Four Levels of iPod Interaction : Whom you do and don’t have to unplug for” :
New York magazine, as part of their Urban Etiquette Handbook, has a section on “The Four Levels of iPod Interaction : Whom you do and don’t have to unplug for” :
LEVEL ONE
Continue at full blast. Consider increasing the vigor of your head-nodding and/or humming.
• Guys passing out bargain-electronics-store flyers.
• Idealistic-looking whippersnappers holding clipboards.
• Scientologists.LEVEL ONE AND A HALF
Subtly turn down volume.
• People in the elevator you don’t know.
• Someone attractive who sits down next to you on the train while you are listening to the Goo Goo Dolls.LEVEL TWO
Make a big show of pressing PAUSE.
• Anyone who approaches you while you’re working out.
• Non-panhandlers on the subway (may be helpfully pointing out that your bag is open, may be distracting you in a Gangs of New York–style pickpocket ruse).
• Co-workers you hate.
• Friends.
• Your parents, if you’re a teenager.LEVEL THREE
Remove headphones, toss them jauntily over shoulder.
• People in the elevator you know.
• Anyone taking your money or instructions about how to prepare your food.
• Co-workers you don’t hate.
• Your parents, if you’re an adult.
• Police officers.LEVEL FOUR
Completely remove and enclose in nearest pocket/bag/ purse.
• Co-workers who could have you fired in less than an hour.
• Anyone who’s crying.
• Police officers standing next to someone who’s pointing at you and saying, “That’s him!”
Thursday, June 22
rednecks and registration
Honoring Him with my finances has been incredible. Yesterday was a weird weird day. I sold my car, which was awesome cause I got to pay off two of my credit cards and tithe some of it. But the buyers were nuts. First off, from the first time this guy calls me to get info about the car, he's short with me, rude, and just doesn't know how to do business. He suprised me by actually showing up earlier than he said he would, AND he had the cash with him. So these two redneck guys my age check out the car, and the one guy that wants to buy it says he wants to go for a test drive, which is all good. We get in the car, I'm in the backseat, and let's just say that my dead great-grandmother can drive stick shift better than this kid.
He puts the engine up to 3,500 rpm's, THEN lets out the clutch as we are trying to back out of the parking lot. Needless to say, I was scared/thinking "what if I go Home early today?". This kid starts driving around the FSU stadium like he was Dale Junior or something, it was nuts. He can't shift, he can't drive straight, all him and his friend talks about is how it's got good low end pickup and junk, things that immature hot-headed teenage boys talk about. So we take it back to the house after the thought of going Home early runs through my head about three or four more times. He signs the paper work, hands over the cash, I sign over the title, it's a done deal. He drives off, I thank the Lord for providing a buyer so quickly, I'm at peace. Alex and I get in the car to go up the street to the Wachovia to deposit the money and my paycheck, when I get a phonecall from this joker. He said the car died at the gas station. "Oh, crap, what did you do know?" runs through my head. After we make the deposit, we head up to the gas station where they are, and after I get in the car, the car starts up fine. I don't want to even know what they've done to that car. As we are about to pull back out into the street to go home, they run up to Alex's Jeep and ask for a flipping refund!!!!!! I told him, "Bud, as it states on the Bill of Sale, the car is as is where is with no warranty implied or stated. The car is fully in your hands now, I'm out of the picture." And we drove off. I can't believe this guy!!! The audacity he has!!! We go home, all is well.
About 19:30 at night, he calls me again!!! He starts yelling at me, calling me an effin liar!!! I was getting aggrivated to say the least. He says that he took it to a mechanic and they took off the alternator and it was fried. Great Dale Jr. what did you do know in the last two hours you've owned my car? I told this guy that he forewent his chance to take it to an auto mechanic before he bought it, which he never did, and he got all pissed off at me and hung up!!! I can't believe this guy. So it's a done deal, I've got the money, he's got my car, and two of my credit cards are paid off. The audacity of some people will always baffle me till Kingdom come!!!
He puts the engine up to 3,500 rpm's, THEN lets out the clutch as we are trying to back out of the parking lot. Needless to say, I was scared/thinking "what if I go Home early today?". This kid starts driving around the FSU stadium like he was Dale Junior or something, it was nuts. He can't shift, he can't drive straight, all him and his friend talks about is how it's got good low end pickup and junk, things that immature hot-headed teenage boys talk about. So we take it back to the house after the thought of going Home early runs through my head about three or four more times. He signs the paper work, hands over the cash, I sign over the title, it's a done deal. He drives off, I thank the Lord for providing a buyer so quickly, I'm at peace. Alex and I get in the car to go up the street to the Wachovia to deposit the money and my paycheck, when I get a phonecall from this joker. He said the car died at the gas station. "Oh, crap, what did you do know?" runs through my head. After we make the deposit, we head up to the gas station where they are, and after I get in the car, the car starts up fine. I don't want to even know what they've done to that car. As we are about to pull back out into the street to go home, they run up to Alex's Jeep and ask for a flipping refund!!!!!! I told him, "Bud, as it states on the Bill of Sale, the car is as is where is with no warranty implied or stated. The car is fully in your hands now, I'm out of the picture." And we drove off. I can't believe this guy!!! The audacity he has!!! We go home, all is well.
About 19:30 at night, he calls me again!!! He starts yelling at me, calling me an effin liar!!! I was getting aggrivated to say the least. He says that he took it to a mechanic and they took off the alternator and it was fried. Great Dale Jr. what did you do know in the last two hours you've owned my car? I told this guy that he forewent his chance to take it to an auto mechanic before he bought it, which he never did, and he got all pissed off at me and hung up!!! I can't believe this guy. So it's a done deal, I've got the money, he's got my car, and two of my credit cards are paid off. The audacity of some people will always baffle me till Kingdom come!!!
Tuesday, June 20
should...
I should be in bed, but I decided to update this thang. I've never felt like my life has been in more order than it is now! It's such an incredible feeling. This summer we've been going through the Crown Financial Study and it's made me realize how much He is in control of those areas of our lives, and how I need to honor Him more with that. So today I downloaded Mvelopes, a program from Crown that helps you organize your finances even more based on your debit and credit card transactions, its so amazing! I'm getting my mom on it, and probably my brother too, if that kid ever gets a job. Having a plan of getting out of debt is incredible!!! The end is in sight! Especially because within the first day of having my car up for sale on Autotrader, I've had 3 calls and 2 offers, in which the bid is $100 over my asking price! He is so faithful!!! I dunno, life is great, I love Him, and I can't wait to get out of debt! Goodnight!
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