Variety Post

So, apparently its been a while since I last posted.  This has come to my attention from a number of people calling, emailing, etc.  My excuse for not posting is simple, and I'm pretty sure I explained a while back how I started a blog at the worst time in the youth ministry year, I've been a little on the busy side. And when I haven't been busy, I haven't felt like blogging. (And if you say, it doesn't take that much time to post.... for some reason it usually takes me like an hour, yea my mind works slow and takes a while to process thoughts into words which is why I was always writing papers into the wee hours of the night in college... that and procrastination, but anyway). So this is going to be a variety post in a sense ranging from what I've been doing to what I've been learning and maybe a bit of randomness in between.

School is underway, which means that ministry has changed from being spur of the moment to being much more scheduled and organized (and if you know me, then you know I'm not the best at being scheduled and organized).  With school comes sports, and in ministry terms means going to the school and sports events (which I absolutely love by the way).  For example, last Thursday I went to the junior lunch, was there from 11-12:30, then went to the 8th grade football game @ 5:30, then went to the 9th grade volleyball game as soon as the football game was over (shout out to my girl Kelsey who is an absolute stud on the volleyball court), then went to the 9th grade football game as soon as the volleyball game was over (another shout out to my boys Kyle and Craig who tore Huntsville up). More school lunches and games this week, woohoo!

So people in Harrison are beginning to discover my gifts and passion for technology, electronics, etc.  Needless to say, they are truly discovering that I am a blessing to the town as more than just a youth pastor.  Jack at Eagle Heights of course knows about my abilities and has been more than eager to put them to good use.  Greg, our director of family ministries has been very observant of me and how I've used those gifts in my youth ministry and has been excited to put them to use for the church as a whole.  We had a staff meeting yesterday and were talking about the possibility of adding lights to our chapel for a Sunday school class that meets in there.  I was doing my best not to say much, then Greg decided to announce my knowledge and that I look at it and give my "expert" opinion. (expert...haha) It then came to my attention that I was needed to run sound at some point in the future for our traditional service. I also have a number of electronics that are slightly messed up waiting on my attention to take apart and try to fix when I have time.  My couches look like a waiting room with patients waiting to see me. I guess my passion for taking electronics apart in order to fix them started at a young age. I remember once when I had a super nintendo I believe.  This was back when the power supply was a box that plugged directly into the wall.  Well, my super nintendo wasn't working right and I came to the conclusion that it was something wrong inside of the box plugged into the wall. Being the very young kid that wanted to fix stuff that I was, I began to take the box apart to fix the problem. The one thing that I hadn't figured out at that point was that you should unplug the box b/f taking it apart... oops!  Needless to say there was a little spark and a little talking to from dad after that one, BUT I did fix the problem! And now I unplug things b/f going to work on them. 

So, I read something today that really grabbed my attention about what I talked about the other day on the issue of eternal security. Deuteronomy 13:1-4 - "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes places, and he says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.  It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere.  Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him." Again, I don't believe that we can lose our salvation, but I do believe that we can abandon it. Why would God test us if it wasn't possible for us to "fail the test." He allowed Job to be tested to prove his love for God.  He allowed Judas to be tested, Judas abandoned his faith, "Satan entered Judas," he failed the test. 

I had more that I was gonna talk about, but I think I'll save them for another time. This went longer then I expected. Hopefully I can remember what I was gonna talk about long enough to write about it next time.