October 25th thoughts

You know, Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week nowadays.  In the morning I teach a college Sunday school class at North Oak (we also have two older congregation members in attendance and would love to have more).  It’s exciting to see each person (most of whom are in one of the Unite small groups) and catch up with them.  I really enjoy the opportunity to come together in the Spirit to discuss God things.  I particularly love the opportunity to pray for each other at the end of the class.

Afterwards we have a service and usually end up eating lunch together, which is another good time to catch up and share life together.  Sometimes I’ll get a brief nap or reprieve in, and then one of the small groups meets…

Those are really neat right now—the Spirit is moving in them and people are opening up to study God together, experience God together, and be in community in the Spirit.  Each different time is different, but I enjoy them all…

Afterwards there’s usually another short break and then I haul people out to the North Oak college suppers (they do free home-cooked meals for college age students).  That lets me interact with a whole different crew, and often chat with some international friends…

Next is a small group I’m part of with some really cool college students.  It’s just a blessing to be there and experience fellowship in the Spirit with, again, a completely different group of people.  Often I’ll stay after to chat with a few of the guys afterwards, and sometimes I won’t get home until midnight or 1 a.m.

The days are full, but have so many opportunities to listen to God and love others…  I really do enjoy Sundays…  :)

October 25 Update

First, I'll start off with an update that I posted to Unite's blog...

The small groups are going very well (we currently have four meeting—two in the Union, one in Semolinos, and one in Coffee Rules).  We’ve already has several people come up and chat with us in different groups, and we’ve been able to pray for them.  We’re also finished with the two starter studies we use and have completed week one of ‘Firm Foundations’ from New Tribes.  I’m excited to see how this study progresses over the semester.

Possibly more exciting, we have seen several prayers for individuals within the small groups answered.  Half of our small group time (45min) is devoted to study, and the other half is devoted to prayer and encouragement, with time to share what God’s been teaching us individually and/or anything we feel led to share with the group.  During this time we’ve had several important opportunities to pray for each other, and I’m excited to see God answer.  One individual was freed from some strong temptations to turn back to nicotine, another from illness/exhaustion, and several other prayers have been directly answered.

We have also received a starting $900 towards coffeehouse renovations/operations.  We need two more final bids to come in, but it looks like the whole phase one part of the project will run around $6,000 (for an industrial coffee machine, plumbing, cabinetry with a sink, and taking out some windows).  That’s an exciting beginning and another answer to prayer.

Game nights have continued to go well—many of the same people are coming back, and we’ve had between twenty and thirty-some attend most nights.  International-themed game nights are much smaller, but some important connections have recently been made that may help those increase.  Thank you sincerely for your continued prayers!

October 6 Very Brief Update

I will give you a more in-depth update soon, but in brief...
Thank you so much for your prayers!  The [alt] concert, game night, and [alt]ernative ride service went extremely well.  We had a good turn out (maybe 400 through the concert and 60-80 at the game night) and a lot of fun.  Two small groups are off to a good start and at least two more will begin this week; please also keep them in your prayers!

Also, I will have a meeting to discuss my status as a missionary and Unite and its mission on Thursday, October 7th at 7:00 p.m. at North Oak Community Church (3000 Oak Street, Hays, KS  67601)  in the Southernmost classroom.  There will be prayer and a time for questions and answers.  Please feel free to come by!

Unite's Website Launch Beta

Hello everyone!  Just a quick note--Unite has just launched our first website.  Please check it out and let us know if anything can be improved (it may go through several revisions as time and programming allow).

Thank you again for your prayers and support--please especially keep the small groups (their first week) and game nights (with the [alt] event--see Unite's website or prayer blog for details) in your prayers!!!

September 21 Prayer Requests

September 21. There were so many opportunities today to walk with God. It was an amazing day—and pleasantly tiring.

When I got home around eleven p.m. I decided to go for a walk, and almost immediately I felt God. It wasn’t just the gorgeous moon, the clear night, or the fresh breeze… It was much more. It was a realization in my Spirit that He was right there with me and always has been. You know, I think we walk with God all the time and just don’t recognize it—caught up in the false worries and fears and illusions in our days.

There are two things I think our generation really has trouble with. The first is asking—we have been taught to pray and ask and then run in our own power. We ask God to fix us, help us, and then hurry up and study the Bible and pray and work to fix ourselves… We don’t truly ask in a spirit of patient submission, waiting for and having enough trust in Him and His nature to answer… Instead we quickly disengage and do things in our own forever limited power, hoping and forcing ourselves to believe that in some magical way God will also be working with us to help tip our efforts over the edge this time—never realizing that in choosing to use our own power instead of trusting in God that we are sacrificing the very answer and power that could help us. We don’t really ask or let God’s power flow through us but instead use our own. (I’m not saying that He doesn’t answer prayers in spite of this, but I am saying that I think we often accidentally work against Him and His very answers to our prayers).

The second thing is that many in our generation don’t often really listen. I don’t mean this to say that we don’t try or discipline ourselves to meditate or hear… but just like we ask and then do it ourselves we ask and don’t listen. It’s interesting because I find that when I TRY to listen I’m so busy trying that I’m not listening. It’s also funny, because I honestly think the reason we don’t listen well is that we don’t ASK God to help us listen and then wait for His answer. I have asked God and seriously sat and listened or tried to meditate and hear or prayed and prayed and prayed… but I was so busy trying that I wasn’t actually listening in faith, trusting that He’d answer. I have to admit that only recently have I asked God to help me listen and then waited, trusting that He really will help me to listen and hear (and He has).

I think we listen sometimes but by accident—it’s those moments when we see the stars in the sky as the moon lights up the clouds slowly gliding across our vision… when we can smell the night in the air and feel the cool breeze brush our skin… we come alive and our souls sing as we listen to everything around… Or maybe it’s when we see a beautiful thunderstorm across the horizon and feel the pressure and the temperature drop as it nears… or when we see that certain smile and joy in a child that forces us to laugh… or any number of other times when God’s presence and magnitude are just so blatantly apparent that we forget what we’ve learned and listen like we did more naturally when we were children. Sometimes I think we’ve learned so many lies and wrong perspectives from this world that we’ve educated ourselves to the point we’ve forgotten some simple and very necessary things… You know those moments I just mentioned when we can feel God’s presence?—how can a person discipline themselves into something like that? We can try and get better at it, but without the release of control to God and His spirit, it misses… Those moments when we feel God’s presence are seldom if ever brought about by our efforts, but they hit us in our soul… I think that we NEED those moments—that our spirit is built to listen and be refreshed by God’s presence all around us but that we now have to ASK Him to help us do just that….

Tonight I enjoyed some of that—I walked and heard and felt and smelled and was refreshed by His presence… I heard a motorcycle across town rev like mad and felt joy for its rider, listened to the music of the crickets and walked through some sprinklers at the park, feeling their drops hit my skin… I relaxed and enjoyed the night air and the moon and stars… and most of all felt the presence of the Lord and thanked God DEEPLY in my Spirit for His love, presence, and refreshment. This little time, remembering His magnitude and praying thanks, KNOWING that it ALL is in His hands… gave me so much peace. I was able to walk and enjoy truly in the peace of the Lord—a peace I all too seldom ask and listen to walk in.

Prayer requests

That God help me ask, listen, and abide in His peace… trusting in Him and that all is in His hands

That God help me not fear or become prideful and be thankful and have trust in Him…

Prayer Request Sept 22

This morning at the university 'See You at the Pole', a young woman asked for prayers that her family support her recent career decisions. Please pray that she and her mother seek God and His Spirit in this and come together in Him. I know that she feels peace but her mother doesn't. It is very obvious that she loves her mother dearly and considers her a best friend, and that she is very hurt by the lack of support. Please pray for them both and that the young woman and her mother move in God's Spirit in this.

Answered Prayer Sept 22

This month I was looking at a one-hundred dollar gap to get to my needed $350 per month and was fearing more than I should (instead of trusting God—what a foolish thing when He’s shown me time and again how trustworthy He is).  As this was in the back of my mind after a college supper, a couple stopped me in North Oak's parking lot and asked where I was going.  When I told them a group of us (who was with me) was headed to WaKeeney to visit a friend who had gone with us on a mission trip, they said they wanted to give me gas money.  The amount they gave ($50) was more than needed, but they graciously said I could keep the change.  I thanked them sincerely.  There was also a couple who asked my folks what I have been up to just last week and requested a support letter.  Just the other day I received $50 from them.  Since the gas went to my credit card (and I will be able to pay that next month), I received exactly $100, which was the amount needed.  This demonstration was a very direct answer to a prayer I’d made that God help me trust Him more and fear less.  What a blessing to serve Him, and how exciting it is to see what’s next!