Sunday, October 25, 2009

Counting down the weeks

I only have a total of 4 weeks before the semester is over and I head back home. It will actually be 3 weeks on Friday...I am just overwhelmed. It will be 3 months that I am back stateside, and I am starting to forget everything. Last night, I put the train map of Tokyo back up on my wall, giving myself those memories. It was a constant reminder to me, and if I were to ever go back to Tokyo, I could tell you how to get some place. Right now, I am just struggling because I have to keep reading, reading, reading for my preaching class. I dislike the way that the class does quizzes, because randomly, the professor will decide to change his mind about taking them (which is great, but I wish there would be advance notice). So I am doing whatever I can to do good on this quiz I'll have tomorrow. The books will certainly get easier after this. I am definitely convinced that I learned alot from these books, however, it is so hard for me to remember things when I read, so I will be doing whatever I can to remember what I am studying...

This new book I'm reading "Christ-Centered Preaching" gives a lot of specific insights into how to write the sermons that people hear you talk about. You have to be relavent, you have to look through the texts, and things like that. So after church is over i will more than likely finish reading this book. I have fallen so far behind with this week's reading, it's not even funny, I am just lucky that the professor has given us some breaks.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Autumn Pallet

I am back in the Southend of Louisville doing this ministry for my internship. The fact that a certain amount of people come around is both a discouragement and an encouragement. There aren't always the greatest amounts of people that come here, but I still have plenty of opportunity to meet people and to talk about the gospel (should the conversation get started). So I am praying taht today is the day I get some people interested in me, and will be able to share Christ in a very productive and non-offensive way.

One of the best things that happens in October is the change of seasons. I was driving from my dorm (in the St. Matthews area) all the way down to Valley Station (the South End). The drive on the Gene Synder Freeway is just breathtaking. The leaves still sort of have a greenish color to them, but then there's the select few which have the leaves that have changes to either a golden yellow or a bright red. I understand how God just wants to have a little fun when he created the universe, because you can tell that he doesn't do this for any other reason than for his own glory. When you look at the leaves changing colors, you can honestly say TO GOD BE THE GLORY. Chris Tomlin wrote in the song "Indescribable" (from the colors of fall, to the fragerance of spring). I also have to remember that despite my circumstances of not having a lot of money to my name, God is in control! I did have money but when you have things you need to buy like new wiper blades, some vitamins, and for dry cleaners, but that all seriously adds up. So now I am just waiting on God to prove himself faithful to me. At least I don't have to worry about finding something to eat tomorrow, since I have a coupon for TGI Fridays...I should be able to get a hamburger because of it.

I was driving down, and I saw a sight I haven't seen in years, a redtail hawk. I keep forgetting how common they are, but it is always really cool to see them sitting on top of light posts or something like that. But its a reminder of God's creation is at work, and it's moving and living and breathing. God is still actively involved with his creation, and I am so blessed to say that I could see it in action today.

I will be around doing internet and meeting people, so those of you from LifeSong or from Boyce, please come out to the Pie Pantry on Dixie, I will be here...

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Outrageous October

Now that I am on Fall Break, I can chill, (sort of). I am here in the South End of Louisville doing a little bit of ministry for my North American Mission Board internship which I finally began on Monday. I am so happy to finally have some work (in a way), but this experience will not only help me earn a living, but I can also build up ministry experiences for the future by what I am doing. I found a local place (which smells absolutely amazing) down here in the South End called The Pie Pantry. What I have planned for what I am doing involves things that I learned while I was in Japan. We were in groups that strategically went out at our train stations and did ministry among people in a sort of "undercover" fashion. I am here to just study, use the internet, and meet people where they are. This place has the absolute best Chai Latte I have had in a long time, and I am so used to having the one at Founders. (A lack of flex dollars has changed that dramtically), so it is nice to find a place that sells Chai Lattes for 1/2 of what I pay at Founders (nice).

My goal is to be doing this strategic ministry two days a week, so I can make contacts and get to know the people in the community a little bit better. This is some advice that my lifegroup leader, Victor Ferrara gave me and I think its brilliant. I have so much knowledge I have gained since I have gotten back from Japan, so I am happy to be able to use that knowledge and win people for Christ. Right now, I am the only person in the shop (as a customer) right now. So I will be doing homework, and making my cover seem a little bit more hidden. I feel a little bad, but at the same time, this is something that is not my own. I just felt the push of the Holy Spirit to be here and meet people.

I feel blessed that next week I get to see my parents for the first time since August. I'll be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It's weird because we used to live there when I was little, and most of the time if we were in Texas, it would be in El Paso, where my family lived. So it is going to be incredibly weird for me to be in Texas in a completely different area, when I haven't been there for so many years. I will hopefully be seeing some friends from the trip to Japan while I am there, but it will be amazing to see SW Seminary for the first time and to go on the campus and have a tour, so I will see what will happen.

Will write again soon.
PEACE!