a beautiful weekend it was...

This weekend was SO much fun!

Aaron came up and Heather came home and man oh man was it a party.
Friday night Aaron, Heather, Kory, Laura and I hung out... we went to Old Bag and well... I will just leave it at that.

"6 PPICKLES"

Then we went to see pirates... boooo. Heather and Laura slept... and I made faces the whole time. Those faces are the new thing. Everyone is doin it.

On Saturday we had the cookout of all cookouts. Seriously. There was so much food and so many recipes and so much love and so much laughing. The family seperated into committee groups for the day. Grandpa was on the Management Committee. Dad was on the Puzzle Committee. Aaron and I were on the Fruit Salad Committee and we made a killer fruit salad. Life is so much more fun when you are on committees.

Then after the cookout we all went down to Fruit of the Vine and experienced some incredibly holy moments. The take off your shoes kind of holy moments. It's beautiful to see spirits and souls with such different stories come together as one in prayer. It's beautiful that those friends of ours who have all they own in a backpack give gifts to us. We got a puzzle from a man and the thing is he has no idea the blessing that the puzzle has brought to this house hold. Team work, laughing, fighting, bossing, loving, time with eachother. All because of a puzzle he Heather and I to have. That is beautiful. It is beautiful to hear them encourage one another when their own lives are not the slightest bit encouraging. It's beautiful to hear them offer their few belongings and their "home" to their brothers and sisters in need. You want to talk about Acts chapter 2 type living? Go down and see how the homeless live. It's beautiful... its holy... its Christ.

We had some good talks after... God is moving.

I just got the absolute best present I have ever recieved in my lifetime. It was an early birthday gift from Kim and she donated money on my behalf to one thing I am extremely passionate about... HIV/AIDS in Africa. There is no present that will ever come close to that. There is nothing else that I would have wanted. Your so thoughtful.

Once again I feel that beauty and be crushing sometimes. This is one of those times.

You are everything that is bright and clean, the antonym of me...

It is an absolute honor to be a servant of God...

to be a servant... of our beautiful God... is a privilage.

In the past week I have been blessed with the opportunities to hold the hands of the homeless, feed the mouths of the hungry, pray with the souls that are broken, love the people who are in desperate need of love, and give free healthcare to the sick.

My life... in one word... is changed.

My desires and passions are changed.

My thoughts and prayer life are changed.

My view of Jesus is changed.

There is a need... a huge need... and we gotta start living bigger... and start living to give...

I love to see what God is up to in the hearts and lives of the people in Columbus. It is something big. It is something real big. And this generation is doing some incredible things.

This life is so much more than "us" and I fail to recognize that a lot.

I love in Isaiah 40 how it says that God's understanding no one can fathom. It couldn't be put better.

This summer is going to be stretching...



"Beauty can be crushing at times, can't it?"

The beautiful days of summer

We are coming at you live from the basement of the MVNU library. Kim and I came up today to visit Laura Lynn and Aaron. We suprised Aaron at work with some homemade cookies and cream ice cream.

Summer is just wonderful. I've been making good use of the WAC before it closes down for good... and I have also been making good use of my new bicycle and the bike path by my house.

1 Thessalonians 2: 3- 12

3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Do you want to talk about witnessing? This is the way that Paul did it... they shared their lives with these people... and treated them gently, like a mother cares for her children. Then again it says they dealt with them as a father deals with his children, encouraging and comforting.

Where on earth have we gone wrong? Where in the bible does it say to hand out tracks and hold signs outside events condeming people? I don't see where people get that. This is the way to go. This is the way to be effective.

This is powerful stuff...
"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."
1 Corinthians 1:17

Lets not let the cross be emptied of its power anymore...