A few days ago I was reading some of my old essays from last year. I found this and thought I would share. We were supposed to write about which person in the Bible we related to most.
I feel that I relate most to Peter. I’ve noticed that Peter was the impulsive one of the apostles. He jumped out of the boat and walked on water without second thought, he quickly attacked the soldiers who had come to arrest Jesus without even thinking. Throughout his life Peter does some pretty impulsive and stupid things. Sometimes I feel like what I’m doing is impulsive and not sure if I really should be doing it. At other times I know that I’ve done something stupid and don’t know how to fix it.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being impulsive and doing things that don’t make sense. To most the people in this world what I’m doing seems stupid. I’m studying youth ministry, and the world says that’s a stupid idea because I can’t make money from it. I feel that I’m following God’s calling, just like Peter responded to Jesus calling him. According to the world’s standards I am doing something stupid, just as Peter did when he stepped out of the boat and onto the water.
At some points Peter seems to be the only one who gets it. When Jesus asked who people thought he was it was Peter who said he was the Son of God. Going back to walking on water, only Peter believed that Christ would allow him to do so, all the other apostles were too afraid and stayed in the boat.
Like Peter, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who understands. Growing up in church I understood some difficult concepts long before my peers. I don't necessarily say that I'm smarter, I just get it.
Another similarity between me and Peter is the desire to defend our savior, even if it would harm our cause. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter was quick to defend and cut off the soldier’s ear. Jesus stopped him and went with the guards anyway. Peter wanted to keep the soldiers from taking Jesus but Jesus knew this is something that needed to happen. So often I fight the urge to argue with unbelievers because they attack certain doctrines of my belief. Even though I know that this would only harm my cause and push them away from Christ rather than pull them in, I feel the urge to defend my beliefs just as Peter did.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A day in the Life....
of a poor college student/ youth ministry intern. Friday 10/8/10
Friday was an odd day. So I figured I'd write about it.
I woke up at 9, got dressed and had breakfast like normal. Then went to class at 10:20 and had a midterm. I studied quite a bit the night before and even though I was nervous, I thought I would do pretty well. For the most part I did, until I got to the last question. It asked me to list the different parts of a Suzerainty treaty from the Old testament. I knew I had studied this and figured I should know it, but my mind was just blank. I sat there for about the last fifteen minutes of class trying to remember the answer to this one question. We had the option to stay after and work on the exam if we wanted, but at this point I figured I either knew it or I didn't. So I turned in the exam with that one answer still blank (I couldn't even think of a good guess). Then I went to chapel at 11:20 and lunch at 12:30 (chicken nugget Friday!)
After lunch I was trying to decide if I had time to walk (car is out of gas) down to the bank and change all my coins over to cash before my next class. I decided not to until one of the guys on my floor said he had to go too and he was driving. (1:00ish) So I rode along and figured that I would make it back in time for my 1:40 class; I was wrong. I had figured the bank would have a coin counting machine so it would be done quickly. But they didn't, and I still can't figure out why they don't. Almost every grocery store does, our little bank in Cathlamet did, so why wouldn't a larger bank in the middle of a city have one? Instead I had to count and roll all my nickles and pennies by hand, even having the other two guys that were with me helping. By the time we got back to school (2:00) my class was almost half over, so I didn't bother going. Instead I did laundry (the reason I went to the bank in the first place).
About 4:45 I walked over to the school coffee shop and buy myself an iced grande white chocolate americano, add shot (making it 4 shots). Then brought it back to my room and stuck it in the fridge for later that night.
The rest of the afternoon/evening was fairly normal, dinner at 5, homework/goofing off afterwards. At 9 pm Aaron and I leave for Redmond Assembly of God to help chaperon for the youth conference/lock-in (the reason for the quad shot coffee). First we stop at Target so Aaron can make some exchanges. We get to the church early (10) and wait outside for whoever was supposed to arrive early to unlock the door. After waiting for about 10-15 minutes we walk around and discover that the back door to the youth room is unlocked and the other leader is in there already. So we sit around playing Beatles Rock Band waiting for the youth group to get back from Renton (Youth Conference was at New Life Renton). I Learned a few songs that they were all shocked I didn't know, because apparently you haven't lived unless you listen to the Beatles. The youth group (and the youth from Colfax AG who were also spending the night) begin playing a game of Aliens, basically a mix of capture the flag and tag. The alien runs around tagging people, if someone finds the flag (glowstick) they can tag the Alien and the game is over. The rest of my night is basically spent walking around the dark labyrinth that is the church with a flashlight (lights were off for the game) making sure the teens weren't breaking anything or hiding in any of the classrooms making out. By 1:00 all the guys are confined to the youth room while the girls go to sleep in one of the class rooms. Most the group went to sleep fairly quickly, but for some reason my quad shot (which I drank at 9) was still affecting me 4 hours later. So I was wide awake talking to one of the other night owls about nerf guns and pranks. Interesting conversation. By 3:00 I actually 'sleep'.
Friday was an odd day. So I figured I'd write about it.
I woke up at 9, got dressed and had breakfast like normal. Then went to class at 10:20 and had a midterm. I studied quite a bit the night before and even though I was nervous, I thought I would do pretty well. For the most part I did, until I got to the last question. It asked me to list the different parts of a Suzerainty treaty from the Old testament. I knew I had studied this and figured I should know it, but my mind was just blank. I sat there for about the last fifteen minutes of class trying to remember the answer to this one question. We had the option to stay after and work on the exam if we wanted, but at this point I figured I either knew it or I didn't. So I turned in the exam with that one answer still blank (I couldn't even think of a good guess). Then I went to chapel at 11:20 and lunch at 12:30 (chicken nugget Friday!)
After lunch I was trying to decide if I had time to walk (car is out of gas) down to the bank and change all my coins over to cash before my next class. I decided not to until one of the guys on my floor said he had to go too and he was driving. (1:00ish) So I rode along and figured that I would make it back in time for my 1:40 class; I was wrong. I had figured the bank would have a coin counting machine so it would be done quickly. But they didn't, and I still can't figure out why they don't. Almost every grocery store does, our little bank in Cathlamet did, so why wouldn't a larger bank in the middle of a city have one? Instead I had to count and roll all my nickles and pennies by hand, even having the other two guys that were with me helping. By the time we got back to school (2:00) my class was almost half over, so I didn't bother going. Instead I did laundry (the reason I went to the bank in the first place).
About 4:45 I walked over to the school coffee shop and buy myself an iced grande white chocolate americano, add shot (making it 4 shots). Then brought it back to my room and stuck it in the fridge for later that night.
The rest of the afternoon/evening was fairly normal, dinner at 5, homework/goofing off afterwards. At 9 pm Aaron and I leave for Redmond Assembly of God to help chaperon for the youth conference/lock-in (the reason for the quad shot coffee). First we stop at Target so Aaron can make some exchanges. We get to the church early (10) and wait outside for whoever was supposed to arrive early to unlock the door. After waiting for about 10-15 minutes we walk around and discover that the back door to the youth room is unlocked and the other leader is in there already. So we sit around playing Beatles Rock Band waiting for the youth group to get back from Renton (Youth Conference was at New Life Renton). I Learned a few songs that they were all shocked I didn't know, because apparently you haven't lived unless you listen to the Beatles. The youth group (and the youth from Colfax AG who were also spending the night) begin playing a game of Aliens, basically a mix of capture the flag and tag. The alien runs around tagging people, if someone finds the flag (glowstick) they can tag the Alien and the game is over. The rest of my night is basically spent walking around the dark labyrinth that is the church with a flashlight (lights were off for the game) making sure the teens weren't breaking anything or hiding in any of the classrooms making out. By 1:00 all the guys are confined to the youth room while the girls go to sleep in one of the class rooms. Most the group went to sleep fairly quickly, but for some reason my quad shot (which I drank at 9) was still affecting me 4 hours later. So I was wide awake talking to one of the other night owls about nerf guns and pranks. Interesting conversation. By 3:00 I actually 'sleep'.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sermon #2
This is my second sermon for Preaching class. I did an exegesis on Joshua chapter 3. There are some things I like and somethings I am annoyed at myself for.
Aside from the sermon this is a short blog. I am now an intern at Redmond Assembly of God, I've enjoyed working with the youth there so far. I'm still having a hard time remembering so many names.
I'm still looking for a job and could use prayer if you feel so inclined. Also if you have any ideas where I could apply that would be helpful.
Please comment with suggestions or observations about my sermon.
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