Between The Lines

New Site

2006-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

I've got a new blog now. I'm planning on posting on it more than i did on this one so we'll see if that works.

http://betweenthe-lines.blogspot.com/

"D-Money"

2006-07-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently that is my nickname at camp. Well week 1 of camp is over an done with. These last two weeks have been non-stop action, learning, growing, and not sleeping....i love it. I got to Salina, Kansas last thursday and we had 4 days of orientation to get ready for camp This time was spent learning about different things and ways to make camp go smoothly and affect the most students. This time also gave the summies a great time to get to know each other. There are 13 of us-8 boys and 5 girls- and we all get along really well, which surprised me. They are all awesome people and i am glad that i get to spend the summer with them. The first day of camp was kinda nerve racking for me because i was the only one of the summies, besides the two egyptians...who are awesome, who had never been to super summer, or for that matter who wasn't southern baptist. but once the students got here everything went away. it was natural and a blast. getting to know and interact with the students was amazing and i met a lot of really cool kids. There are pictures of week 1 on the just for youth website. Take a look at the pics, they are pretty cool. Anyways, i'm still tired so I'm going to go sleep.

peace out

Super Summer/ Big H

2006-06-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm about to leave for Kansas on Wednewsday to go to Super Summer. I am really excited about it. It should be a great experience and a lot of fun. I have been trying to get things ready and prepare for my lessons and skits. I don't know why but I have had a hard time preparing for these lessons. I don't know why but I just have. I've looked at them all but I have had a hard time sitting down and really digging into them until today. haha...kind of a bad habbit of mine i guess.

Anyways, I want to brag on someone for a minute. I want to thank Harry Anderson for investing time into me. When I got back from school he approached me and asked if I would be interested in getting together once a week to pray. I am really glad that he did this and was willing to invest time with me to talk, share things, and pray. He has really encouraged me and pushed me to grow. He has been a great role model not only for me but for several other guys in our church youth. So thanks Harry. Love ya bro

D&N-G.I.C.

2006-05-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tomarrow is the tri-annual D&N-GIC (Derek & Noel Golf Invitational Classic). This little shindig started out last summer as the Derek and Noel Back to School Classic and has evolved into a tri-anual event. It is filled with lots of laughs, a little smack talk, tons of bad shots, a couple good ones, and just a good ole time. I can't wait.

Can you break the code?

2006-05-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

So I went to see the DaVinci Code last night. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a good movie. Tom Hanks, who by the way is a freaking beast of an actor, did a good job. I'm glad that he was picked for his role. There are a few things that I'm confused on that were in the movie so I will post on it again later when I get my thoughts in order about it.

Gimme some of your thoughts if you have seen the movie.

Summer Time Anyone?

2006-05-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

Finally, School is done. I can't believe that I'm already half way done with college... well, not quite, but close to it. Anyway, that is just wierd to think about. I'm so glad this year is over with and I am ready for summer. I am ready to do nothing for a month. Ready to go to Super Summer for a month. Ready to move into my new house in F-City next year. I am just ready. Good things my friends, good things!

Super Summer

2006-05-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

So the end of the year is quickly approaching and finals start this weekend...yes that's right, I said this weekend. I am extremely ready to get this year over with and start the summer. I am going to be interning at a Super Summer camp in Kansas and I am starting to get excited about it. I am really looking forward to getting to meet a whole lot of new people and hopefully build some friendships in youth ministry.

NFL

2006-04-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for the last two weeks or so there hasn't been anything on espn except for nfl draft stuff. Today was the first day of the draft and I am glad that it is finally here just so they will hopefully talk about something else other than draft stuff.
So here are my thoughts so far on the draft.

Houston: Big mistake not taking Bush. He's quite possibly the best college player in years and you pass on him.
New Orleans: Of course you gotta take Bush since he's there, but I wouldn't want to play for the Saints.
Titans: Good choice with Young.
Denver: Good choice with Cutler.

Brazil Craziness

2006-04-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Ok...check out this guy in the lower left corner of the picture. You can just barely see his head.

So, we are standing on the street corner in downtown Porto Allegre waiting for our bus driver to come and pick us up. So we are just chillin...taking pictures, making small talk, and just kinda hangin out. All of the sudden, (i don't remember who) but one of us says "hey thomas i think this guy is talking to you". Now I had seen this guy a little earlier yelling but I had no idea he was yelling at us. I though he was just selling stuff on his corner and trying to sell things to people walking by. So thomas turns around and we see this guy charging us with a wooden crate in his hand. When thomas turned towards him the guy turned back around quickly and ran back to his corner. Now at this point we are all just kinda like "what the heck is going on". Thomas is just as confused as we are and is standing there looking at us and back at him and back at us again. About this time, i hear grant scream "thomas look out" and see the wooden crate being hurled in the air at thomas along with crazy yelling in portuguesse. The crate comes crashing down on the ground as the guy chucks a trash back in our direction. Luckily the crate did not hit anyone even though i think the trash bag may have caught either Kristi or Amy's foot. So, once again we are left standing there...in a foreign country...with a crazy Brazilian guy throwing stuff and hollering at us. All the while three police guards are standing about 30 feet away watching this unfold. A few seconds later, the guy comes running back towards us to get his crate back. Here is where the story gets a little interesting. Seeing the guy coming to get his crate back, Grant gets the brilliant idea to kick the crate away from him and try to explain in english to the guy that he can go tell the police about it but that he isn't getting his crate back. Now this never occured to me at the time but thinking back on it, this could have gotten kinda crazy. haha I mean, what is going through your head right before you kick the crate away..."i'm in brazil with a crazy guy yelling and throwing things at us and i'm going to take his crate away." yeah...great idea. haha Now of course none of this was going through my mind at the time and I'm sure it wasn't going through Grant's either. However, in the end it turned out ok. The police that had been watching for a while finally decided to come over and make the guy leave us alone. The funniest part of the story to me was that the whole time this was happining, thomas is standing there doing absolutely nothing. haha i mean, he is the only one that could mabey understand this guy and he stands ther like a confused little kid for about 10 minutes. it was really pretty funny. Well that concludes my crazy brazilian story which i may or may not have altered in any way, shape, or form.

Life Verse

2006-04-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:1-2

2006-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

"You are not your own; you were bought at a price." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conveit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Phil. 2:3

"Serve one another in love." Gal. 5:13-14

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say. 'If it is the Lord's will, we ill do this or that,' ...Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." James 4:14-17

More Pics

2006-04-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

2006-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

So this last week at Stumo the speaker talked about leaving an impact. This was something that I had kinda been thinking about over this last week or so. Last time I was home me and my dad were kinda talking about something like this and it was sorta stuck in my head. It got me thinking about the way that I act and the way that I go about my life.

Sometimes I feel like I don't always live my life like a person in a postition of leadership should...which is probably not good since I am going to be pursueing youth ministry. So the talk at Stumo this week was something that I needed to hear. So here are my notes from the talk...

1. Pray: "Pray without ceasing." 1Thess. 5:17
"to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

2. Serve: "do not forget to do goodand to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Heb 13:16
-people will remember the little things that you do for them.

3. Shepherd: "be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve." 1 Peter 5:2

Legal... (cool)

2006-04-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the English Camp...

oh and by the way...this is the pole that Zack ran into two years ago, ahahaha. Perhaps teh funniest thing I have ever seen

O livro esta na meza

2006-04-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

So I am back from Brazil and am completely overwhelmed. The trip was so awesome I can't even put it into words or know where to even start. I love how beautiful the country of Brazil is and how friendly and open the Brazilian people are. Both times I have been i am in awe of how much the Brazilian people love us. They are so nice and are always wanting to talk to you about anything and everthing.

Ok...so where to start....? Here is a short outline of some things we did

Tuesday we arrived in Brazil and got to hang around the camp with the missionaries.

Wednesday: Hugo and Hellen needed help working on their house which they are in the middle of building. We learned how to pour a concrete floor which is a little different from the way we do it in the US. We also helped them get their hall way walls up and painted. They were so nice and awesome to hang out with. I was really glad we got to help them out and I hope it helped.

Thursday: We went into the city of Porto Allegro to talk to one of the schools. Going to the schools has always been one of my favorite things we do when we go to Brazil. It is fun to get to hang out and talk with the students and get to know them. They are so welcoming and treat us like rock stars. After visiting the school we went into downtown Porto Allegro where we had an interesting encounter, but I will write about that later.

Friday-Sunday: ENGLISH CAMP. This is the best part of the week. I love hanging out with the students and getting to know them. They are all so awesome and friendly. They are willing to be open with you and talk to you about anything. They are so fun to hang out with. I will write more about the English Camp later too.

That's all I have for now. This is just a short intro to our trip and I don't know where to begin talking about details so I will hold off for a little while until I can get my thoughts organized.

I will say this:
The country of Brazil is a place that desperately needs God. I think something like only 3% of the country is Christian and 60% of the population is under the age of 30. Spiritism is the main religion in Brazil and it is a graveyard for Christianity. The people of Brazil desperately need Christ in their life. Pray for this.

I will write more later and post some pictures.

"those who are trying to make it through the next few hours and everyone in between"

2006-03-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

I picked up this cd the other day. I had heard that it was kinda like David Crowders's cd so I went and picked it up. I like Crowder's cd for the most part, but I really like this one. It is really good.

go get it.

Charlie Hall- Flying Into Daybreak

Brazil

2006-03-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was hanging out with some guys from church and we were talking about the first year that we went to Brazil. It was fun talking about the trip and hearing stories about last year (which i didn't go on).

I am getting siked about going again. I leave on Monday to go again. I am pumped and cannot wait to get there. This time I think it will be a little different because I am going with all adults and no youth, and we are going to be doing a few different things this time. Never the less, I am excited to go.

Here are some things to pray for:
-for safetly for the team
-for the missionaries already there
-for the camp
-for the Brazilian youth
-for a successful trip

It's madness baby

2006-03-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

Finally...probably one of my top 5 favorite times of the year...MARCH MADNESS.

The tournament kicked off today with some great games right off the bat. Boston College barely pulled out a double overtime victory over Pacific. That game scared me cuz I got then goin to the final four.

Can I get a shout out for my boys in red as we take on Bucknell tomarrow. Woopig

Discipline

2006-03-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

How to Live a Life of Discipline

I beat my body and make it my slave. 1 Cor. 9:24-27

1. Establish Your Spiritual Disciplines.
The Lord disciplines those he loves. Proverbs 3:12

The Big 4:
1. Get in the word
2. Prayer
3. Fellowship
4. Share your faith

Hebrews 12:10-11 God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

2. Do Everyday Activities with Excellence.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23

- You will never make a disciple if you yourself are not disciplined.
-Rely on a greater power for help

-Pray- ask God for grace to have discipline
-Plan- set goals

3. Tap into God's Power.

Let God be your Motivation to be disciplined.

Right - Wrong - and Grey

2006-03-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

"Everything is permissible for me"- but not everything is beneficial.
1Corinthians 6:12

Lately I have been thinking about some things and I was just getting myself more and more confused. I was having a debate with myself about whether certain things were right or wrong to do. There are three different areas:
White- things that are easily distinguishable as right
Grety- things you are not sure are right but aren't sure are wrong either
Black- things that are easily distinguishable as wrong
So for me, I was having trouble identifying the "grey" areas.

Here is a list of several things- decide for yourself if they are black, grey, or white.

drugs lying helping the poor smoking cigarrettes drinking sex

hiring a prostitute ... to paint your house gambling cursing smoking cigars

smoking cigars but not inhaling making out praying riding a bike

sharing the gospel with a friend who isn't a believer hanging out with druggies

Anyways, when I got to stumo this last Tuesday, I was shocked to find that the speaker was going to be talking about these "grey" areas. Wow, does God have some awesome timing or what? So anyways, here are some things that I came away with from the other night. Oh and that list above was also from the speaker and I though it was kinda funny so I put it up here.

How To Navigate the Grey Areas

1. Will it bring me closer to Christ?
"all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." 1 Corinthians 10:23

2. Could it turn into an addiction?
"all things are lawful for me, but not all things are are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." 1Corinthians 6:12

3. Could it cause anyone to stumble?
""Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 1Corinthians 8:8-9
- when I first heard this I was like, "whatever, me doing something shouldn't have an affect on another person, they are just being immature."
-right after thinking that the speaker said this "a sign of maturity is someone giving up their rights for the sake of someone else."
-wow...ouch

4. Will it help or hurt my testimony?
"For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." 1Corinthians 10:32-33
-as Christians, our reputation is HIS reputation.
-as Christians we are always being watched and analyzed. we be aware that we are not hurting our own reputation, but we are hurting God's reputation.

So that was the first half of the talk. We will talk about the second half next week. Anyways, the point of this post is this:
I am just blown away at how He does things at exactly the right times in our lives.
As far as for me and my "grey" areas, I need to stop being concerned with whether I think they are right or wrong, but think about the big picture. Sure I can physically and legally do a lot of things, but if I call myself a believer I need to look at whether it is hurting my chances of showing others Christ.

Youth...part 2

2006-02-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

From having to postpone the date, to not knowing if we could pull off the music, to having to make last minute changes to somethings,...I think it went rather well.

To be honest I was pretty skeptical of how well this whole thing would turn out and if it would be a flop or not. The day before there were some things that I was worried about that we wouldn't be able to do and it would turn out bad. However, Sunday mornings sermon by Grant really put things in perspective for me.

I wasn't doing this for myself, for anyone, or anything. I was doing this for God. Like Grant said his sermon, we are to have an audience of One, Him. We were there to fellowship, listen, and worship Him; thats it. The only audience was God.

After realizing that it was about him, I think that it turned out great. Granted there were a few mistakes in the a few songs, but that is just a minor detail.

I think it was good for the youth to get together and fellowship. I thought Harry did a great job of giving them some encouragement in this time of transition.

Sunday night reminded me of back when I was in youth and we did this on a regular basis. Now that I am not in youth anymore it was just awesome to see all of them getting together to hang out and worship God.

I am hoping that we can start doing this more often and make this a regular thing.

Youth

2006-02-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Turner and I have been working (talking about) on getting a youth service together for the youth at Grace. I think it has been hard on the youth program not having a youth pastor around. I am not around that often but from what I hear things aren't going so great. The life groups are struggling and there is nothing going on for large group meetings. This means that there is no unity amoung the group and I think that is something that needs to be there.

So we finally got things worked out and we are going to start a service for the youth. We were going to have the first one last sunday night but because of the weather we postponed it to this coming sunday night. I am really excited about doing this. I think it will be a good opportunity for the youth to come together, which hasn't happened in a while. I am praying that this will give people some encouragement while they don't have a youth pastor.

It's Snowing!!!!

2006-02-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so after all of the hub bub about this huge winter storm we actually do get some snow. One thing I hate about Arkansas is that every time the news says anything about snow, everyone makes a huge deal about it and freaks out; and most of the time it doesn't even do anything.

However, this time they were right. It started snowing about 3 hours ago and is still coming down pretty good. The campus looks really cool all covered with snow and lit up.

Way to go weather team...you got it right this time.

Heaven

2006-02-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

What do you think heaven is going to be like? In my bible study we are going through Ephesians and tonight an interesting point was brought up. I don't think it really had too much to do with what we were talking about but it was interesting.

Someone said how God made the earth in 6 days. Then he said that He has been preparing a place for us since then.

If God made the earth in 6 days and it is beautiful, what is heaven going to be like? I can't even begin to comprehend this.

I just though that was an interesting point and totally crazy to think about.

What to do??

2006-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have been thinking hardcore about somethings. I am trying to decide what I am going to do this summer. I have a couple of options and I want to be able to do them all but I know I can only do one. Stumo does a summer project called Kaleo which is a leadership training/evangelism thing. I have talked to some people that did it last summer and I have heard nothing but good things about it. Also I would like to do a youth internship somewhere. I would like to do it at Grace but without a youth pastor I don't really know how that would work. Also there is a youth camp that I heard about that might be good to work at this summer. I wish I could do all of them but I can't. Right now my thoughts are this:

- I only have 2, mabey 3 summers left...it seems like I have longer but in reality I am going to be graduating sooner than I think
- I want to to something that would be good for my future plans
- I want to do kaleo at some point and my thoughts are it would be better to do it sooner than later
- I'm thinking I can always do an internship the next summer or even mabey during the year next year

I don't know...