proud to go to central April 24, 2011
Posted by highofseventyfive in documenting life.Tags: apologetics, central, church, easter, gospel, multi-ethnic, proud, service
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woah its pouring!
anyway. today, church was, AWESOME. when i got there i was a little nervous because i didn’t know who i was going to sit with, since my family doesn’t go to church and, on holidays, everyone else is sitting with their families, but thankfully there was a seat next to bryan and michelle 
as soon as church started, i just was crying and crying. i’m not sure why. maybe it was because of the interpretive dance and the gospel choir and those box lights and the loudness that made me cry. or maybe it was the fact that my family wasn’t with me. or maybe it was the fact that Jesus really did resurrect. or how happy my soul is that it found rest in God. or how happy i am that i am saved. i don’t know probably all of those. but i was just bawling through most of worship.
sometimes, honestly, i have doubts about my church. its not like my old one. its not as “spirit-led” and i wonder if i’m in a church thats too structured. or the fact that they care about college students but don’t care about supporting me. or how its been so hard to get connected there that i’ve joined things from two different churches now.
but, on days like today, i am proud to go to Central. Mult-ethnic worship, that is glorifying to God. a welcoming environment that isn’t scary to new people, but clearly distinct, filled with joy. it was so much fun to worship God for what he’s done, together there this morning. seriously one of the most fun sundays of the year. Pastor Gay preached an awesome message. It was so evangelistic. He went through the four apologetic points that Lee Strobel came up with for the legitimacy of the resurrection.
and he connected it with true change, giving over our lives to Jesus. and he makes Greek cool. “huper nikao baby”! i know if i was at my old church it would just be a big long sermon about grace and love and wishy washy-ness . my church knows whats up.
and, today iced venti breve iced coffee family finally came up and said hi to me! i’ve been noticing them at church but not totally sure if they were the same ones who are my customers at starbucks. but they are! and they are very nice. also in the parking lot i saw Curt, one of my customers, who came to church with his wife or girlfriend or whatever. he’s not very religious but came with her. she comes often she said. very cool.
sunday. January 4, 2010
Posted by highofseventyfive in documenting life.Tags: church, driving, getting inked, Joshua 1, new years resolutions, tattoos
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i had an eventful sunday and will record it here:
breakfast with parental units.
church.
pastor gay started a series called “get inked”. the idea behind it, having the Word indelibly printed on our hearts. i like it. he mentioned the commitment level of someone who gets a tattoo. it made me think of my own tattoo, and the pondering and prayer before getting it. and how during it, all i did was pray, “God! This is FOR YOU!” haha, i had to keep reminding myself cause it hurt alot. anyway, he talked about Joshua 1, and verse 8
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
i really liked the way he compared reading the directions of a board game to taking the Word to heart. think about it. you read the instructions of a new board game. and the first time you’re just reading it but you have no idea what it says, so then you repeat it again, kind of mumbling and trying to look at the board between phrases to see whats supposed to be happening. then the next time you repeat and sorta mumble it again, trying to memorize and have it make sense. and maybe after that you actually explain the rules to the other players.
the Word should be so imprinted on our hearts that we can mutter it under our breath as we play the game (of life).
we were given the chance to “ink” our thumbs and put a print up on a board, marking a commitment to God for the new year to be in the Word. I’m already reading every day, so my commitment was actually to get healthy, so that both parts of me match that i’m spiritually and physically healthy.
i find that i turn to food to make me feel better some times. but really Jesus should be my everything, He should satisfy. My clothes are starting not to fit. My self-image and self-worth starts to start warping away from the one God has given me. Some people gain the freshmen 15. I didn’t. but I gained the first year OUT of college 20. and its not cool. Plus, exercising is good for me, and makes me feel good, more energy. I like listening to sermons on my ipod while i cycle. its kind of my fun little secret. everyone else supposes that i am listening to music, but in fact, i am getting fed some spiritual yummies! sometimes i wish i could share it with them.
so i went to the gym.
took a shower, watched a bit of the eagles game, and then went to visit my boss’ church. it was fun! but then I couldn’t find my keys. turns out they were in my ignition. doh! thats the first time i’ve ever done that.
so he and his wife drove me all the way home (from fairless hills) to my house to get my spare key and come back so i could get in my car.
i had a nice time chatting with the mrs. and getting to know them more as brothers and sisters in Christ than just my boss and his wife. it was a nice mistake to have made.
home and to bed, i had a headache, and needed to get up early for work today at 4.
——–
i can’t believe its really starting. its full throttle ahead, green flag. now i just have to DO IT. yep, fund raising.
Jesus, prep my heart for this roller coaster!!
just-in-case faith September 20, 2009
Posted by highofseventyfive in documenting life, theology.Tags: acts 17, church, faith, gospel, Jesus, matthew 8:5-10
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Jeff Bell came and was a guest speaker at church today. He’s Jeremy’s brother, from Indiana. He gave one of the most compelling gospel presentations today. It was “bring a friend sunday” which i totally forgot about. But the message was sooo good! He talked out of Acts 17, saying how the people of Athens had an unknown god amongst their idols, “just-in-case” they missed one. Likewise today, if we come to church just on Christmas and Easter, or when we really need something or come into a rut, we have just-in-case faith. This is a hard place to be in. Our lives are are centered around in fact no faith at all, and we pray or attend church just-in-case God is really there. Or we might have a buddha in one room, a statue of the virgin mary, a kabbala bracelet, etc, again– just-in-case.
But Jeff told us that we can have a just-Jesus faith. Because Jesus is the hero that conquered all, who’s big enough and powerful enough to handle anything, and worth giving our whole lives to. Jesus is the answer.
The thing that struck me today, was part of his message for believers. We looked at Matthew 8:5-10,13 where it says that a centurion came to Jesus asking for help to heal one of his servants. Jesus says, “I will go and heal him”. The centurion says, dude, you could just say it, from here, and it would happen! you are the Lord! I’m a guy of authority, i tell people what to do and they do it. How much more will that be so for you! (that was my paraphrase)
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Jeff asked us, if Jesus would be stopped in his tracks, astonished, by our faith, or by our lack of faith.
and the youth group band played, which meant there was way more energy in the room, it sounded awesome, and we rocked as we worshiped God!
oh how he wrecked it–explained. September 14, 2009
Posted by highofseventyfive in just thoughts, Media.Tags: church, crowder band, john mark mcmillan, lyrics, sloppy wet kiss, worship
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here is the post from john mark himself about the crowder cover of how he loves, and the lyric change that is causing quite a stir!
please read john’s thoughts here:
http://johnmarkmcmillan.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-he-loves-david-crowder-and-sloppy.html
“HEAVEN meets EARTH like a sloppy wet kiss”
The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy. Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus himself. These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy (“gory” may be more realistic, but “Heaven meets earth like a gory mess” didn’t seem to have the same ring). Why does the church have such a problem with things being sloppy? Do we really think we’re fooling anyone on Sunday morning, especially God? Are we going to offend him? I mean, he’s seen us naked in the shower all week and knows our worst thoughts, and still thinks we’re awesome. What if we took all the energy we spent faking and used that energy to enjoy the Lord instead? That could be revolutionary!
and to reference my old post on this topic not too long ago:
http://highofseventyfive.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/oh-how-he-wrecked-it/
i’m rather agreeing with his feelings that, jeez why is everyone so gosh darn uptight, that this beautiful imagery wouldn’t be allowed in church or on the radio or whatever. its kinda ridiculous.
spring break recap March 17, 2009
Posted by highofseventyfive in documenting life.Tags: bible study, church, God, hiking, kelly clarkson, look around you, small world coffee, spring break, talks, work
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So this past week was terrific the more i think about it.
SPRING BREAK 2009:
monday: up early, hiking with deb and dyana–in the rain. that was terrific. drive back, go with laura and christine to get laura’s tattoo. that was entertaining. i love hanging out with those two.
monday late night had an intense talk, unexpected, but much needed.
tuesday: hung out with my mom. that went pretty horrible, although we did go grocery shopping and i’ve been able to eat some vegetables this week. then, went to my grandma’s for a hair cut. we talked about God a little! she thinks the recession is God’s way of waking America up. interesting…
then i got to go to a media team meeting at Central. semi-productive.
then came home and watched LOOK AROUND YOU videos all night with Anna. TEE-riffic.
wednesday: went to laura’s, did funnel stuff, went to work. monthly STAFF MEETING! yay!
met with jess cheng after and went to small world coffee. sweeeet. i love jess cheng hang outs. went to Rider for dinner!! mucho fun, and stayed for their LG. heavy confusing stuff for me. good to see all mah buds again. they are so pumped for basileia! came back home and got all distracted and stuff again.
thursday, work 9-5. came home, watched a movie with anna and derouv and ice cream.
friday- homework, errands ALL DAY. hockey game with sarah at night to see carly. some drama on the home front, but resolved nicely. more movies and ice cream. another super INTENSE talk that night with Anna. much needed. spirit led.
saturday- homework, errands ALL DAY. church at 5 at wash cross. AWESOME. met the guy from school i had met a few weeks earlier. pretty sweet! i feel like i’m supposed to make it on saturday nights for a while. came back, more homework. i think i remember there being some fun craziness in there with all of us.
sunday- church, grocery store, lunch(grilled cheese!) went with Anna to Target in East Windsor. Always an adventure. funny music and car dancing. got the KELLY CLARKSON CD! and we made quite a ruckus all the way home and then AT home. deb came back from her retreat. BIBLE STUDY! with the cool brazilian couple! who are just SO AWESOME! i’m pumped for it. every other sunday night. woot. more craziness in the house at night.
high light jokes of the week: PETTICOAT 5, just about every line is hilarious.
