So…the first week of March was an amazing week!  I had the priviledge of going to the Los Angelos Dream Center with a missions team from Evangel…but that’s a different story!

Coming back to Springfield was a whole new trip…

First day back…sewage line backed up into one of the showers.  Was a problem before I left but I had rented some equipment and had thought I fixed it…well it was fine for a week…but then…not so much

Couple other minor setbacks….then the commuter event I re-scheduled for friday…was being threatened by thunderstorms….this was already re-scheduled due to icy weather last month.

Friday…go in for a physical for a part time job I’m applying for…to start off…those are never fun…just kinda long boring and awkward…but what can you do…but just stand there.  The nurse who took my blood presure got a high reading.  So the doctor comes in and starts going off about how the reading is the kinda high that people take medication for and that I should get some tests done to see if I’m a diabetic…what?  After saying that he leaves…so I’m alone to ponder being a diabetic for like 10 mins……

………

Doctor came back…took my blood pressure….and it was perfect so no worries there!  Silly nurse…anyways the weather turned out beautiful and some people actually showed up for commuter barnswings!  In the end it was all good….

Still have a minor sewage issue…but hey…atleast I can still have my cherry pepsi (rootbeer, dr pepper, mtn dew and pretty much just about everything else with sugar)!

All is ok with the world! (almost)

So…yeah.  Another V-Day.  No big deal…just another day right?  Some friends of mine (married couple) invited me to go see a movie with them.  That was cool…I wasn’t doing anything…just laying in bed staring at the ceiling trying to think of something to do…so that seemed like a good idea.  Go to the theatre…it’s packed and the parking lot is full.  Eventually find a spot and get out and walk up to the counter.  Ofcourse…most people seem to be on dates and the others are in small groups…so I chuckle to myself “yep…I’m the guy ordering a movie ticket for one!”  Sweet!  But it’s no big deal (for starters I’ve gone to the theatre by myself before) because I’m meeting up with friends.  Get in line…just to stand there and realize the movie is sold out.  Friends are already in the movie…so what am I to do…

Nothing but walk away by myself…

I’m used to rejection on valentines day…I can live with that…but come on…even the theatres are rejecting me now!  What’s up with that?

For all you nerds out there…here’s a bit of history that may or may not be true…

“Lovers around the world can thank a Roman priest for our celebration of love on February 14.

During the mid 200′s Emperor Claudius II of Rome banned marriages or engagements due to the difficulty of enlisting soldiers in the military. Valentine, a Christian priest, secretly married couples despite the emperor’s decree. Eventually, Valentine was imprisoned and put to death on February 14, 270.

As history unfolded and the Christian Church gained more power in Rome, the priests began to eliminate pagan festivals. Lupercalia, an ancient Roman festival celebrating fertility was replaced by honoring St. Valentine’s Day.”

The Valentine guy had it easy…he only had to die on one Valentine’s Day.  I’m starting to lose count… 

(okay so I’m exagerating a bit…just amusing myself…don’t take me too seriously…most people don’t)

A couple of days ago I returned from a Taskforce trip in Lomei, Togo (Missions trip to work with MKs).  The Taskforce trip went rather well…a few minor hick-ups but the time with the MKs was awesome!  They lost 12 bags of our group on the way there…6 personal bags and 6 programs bags.  We arrived on a Tuesday, so most of us were without clean clothing and all the supplies for our individual age groups at the start.  In the end things worked out…the hotel had a laundry service and most people either had a change of clothing or were able to borrow clothes from others…so we made it without smelling too bad.  For the older youth we played many games like cuncha cuncha, snaps, magic and many others that kept everyone entertained.  Friday afternoon the bags arrived so we were able to wear our clothing!!! and then get all the candy and music to the youth before they left on Sunday.  So yeah…all in all it was a blast and everything went really well.

Then came the trip back…

Starting at 4am (Togo time) we headed over to the airport where we were some of the first passengers to check in.  Obviously the Togoleese know something we don’t.  When we were checking in our bags we spent like 5 minutes going over what seats we would like with the ticket man…don’t know exactly why because our boarding passes didn’t have seat numbers and it was a free-for all when we got on the plane.  Just a pleasant reminder of being in the third world where no good effort goes unwasted! 

Security process at the airport:   Arrive walk through a metal detector but don’t x-ray the bags because the machines don’t get turned  on that early…heck…metal detector beeps…who cares…too early for the security guard to care evidently as well!  Check in our bags where the counter guy obviously checks our passports and gives us our boarding passes.  Walk 20 feet and go through a checkpoint where one guy looks at our passports and boarding passes.  Walk 15 feet and then you have the regular passport guy who stamps it.  Walk 20 feet and another guy checks our passports and boarding passes but this time we also pass our hand bags through an x-ray machine.  Also, walk through a metal detector but evidently the beeps still have no significance to cause any effect.  Finally, we arrive in the gate boarding room…and we sit and wait.  Ironically, everyone else waits just outside the gate boarding room….why?  Who knows…maybe they are going to that other gate just before coming in to this waiting room?  Maybe….but no.  They know something we don’t!  30 mins before take off time they start another security check…but in order to do so everyone has to leave the waiting room and line back up to get in the waiting room…needless to say being one of the first in the room made us one of the last in line…which wouldn’t be too much of an issue except for the whole free for all to find a seat…ofcourse when you get on the plane everyone is spread out and acting like they are sleeping so hopefully people won’t try to sit next to them…clever!  So back to our security check point….one guy checks the passport and boarding passes (because since the last 4 checkpoints I’ve decided to adopt a false identity and sneak on to the plane) and the second person scans us with a hand held metal detector…but again…evidently some beeps have more significance than other beeps…she only questioned about half of my beeps…I’m sure glad she didn’t ask about the uzi underneath my shirt…or the explosives in my shoes…

Fly to Morrocco…get off the plane…get on a bus drive about half a mile in one direction and go into a building.  Let it be noted that from where we get off the bus there is another bus about 20 feet away at a different exit in the building.  Walking about 70 feet through the building only to get a security checkpoint where one guys checks our carry on, passports, and baording passes (because yes…once again I’ve decided to switch identities since I just got off your plane right over there…oh yeah and I found explosives on the bus on the way over here which I put in my carry-on) and another guy gropes me for that uzi (thankfully I ditched that!).  So the pat down was too efficient that’s for sure but this time there is no metal detector…walk out the door and get on the bus (yes the one that was right next to where we got off the other bus) and drive back half a mile in the direction we came from to board a plane to fly to NY.

Needless to say I was glad to get back to the states where they check my passport once and when I get screened…they only do it once but they pay attention to all those little beeps!  The TSA may miss things here in the states but atleast you don’t get checked half a dozen times and I know they are paying closer attention than say in some places!

Ofcourse, arrival in NY lifted my spirits only to be dashed when my personal bag was the only bag not to show up…(still missing by the way…or as the pre-recorded voice says “Your status is still pending”).  Fly back to Springfield without any glitches…at this point I’ve been traveling for 25 hours.  Get back to springfield…wait for the luggage to come through baggage claim to get the bag that I brought home for a missionary (my bag…yep…still not here).  Then I go to the ticket counter to file my claim…to add insult to injury I have to wait like 30 mins.  Not any particular person’s fault…just the way it is.  Springfield is a small airport so the ticket counter people also do the luggage and check-in and everything for their respective airlines.  So, I have to wait for them to finish with the airplane and luggage and return to the ticket counter…

So…yeah…that was fun!

I’ll have more third-world stories later!

The past week has been a very vivid reminder of my own mortality.  Evangel has intramural football which was a joy to play back when I was in school.  Basically it’s one floor of guys playing flag football against the other floors.  Well, this year we put together a faculty/staff team to play against the students.  Up until the last game we were beating up on the students.  However, age finally caught up with us.  We had one guy out with a bruised rib, one guy out with a pulled hamstring, one guy out with a foot injury, one guy broke his thumb during that game, one guy was out due to the birth of his twins and another guy was traveling to a friend’s wedding.  Sadly we lost.  That was a long week…I played in 4 games.  So currently I’m nursing two slightly pulled hamstrings, bruised quads, strained tendons in the bottom of one foot and a reagrivated old rotator cuff injury.  Maybe there is a reason why there hasn’t been a faculty/staff football team before!

Atleast I’m not in as much pain as this guy:

So my thoughts on that past passage are this:

Very often we get caught up in the ‘preaching’ aspect of the gospel and forget about all the other aspects….the feeding, the clothing, the visiting in prison and other ideas.

Let’s not forget that Jesus came to fulfil the law and not to do away with it.  The ‘law’ (aka Word of God) is something that addresses life as a whole.  Hence…Jesus taught on a lot of issues that affect how we life from day to day and not just the big decision of chosing to follow God.

For sure…it’s all void without repentance…. but then again repentance is kinda void without everything else.  We need to be wholistic sheep and not just narrow minded goats!

Welp…those are my thoughts…

Here is a devotional that I just read…it’s something that I’ve been thinking on lately and I’ll write my response on it tomorrow.

Pass It On
by Jon Walker

“… The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!” 1 Thessalonians 1:8 (MSG)

God expects you to intentionally work at reproducing the life of Christ in others. You have this Jesus-deposit in you, and so God wants you helping others to become more like Christ.

Consider this: The mission is so vast, and your role is so critical, that he really wants you to be in thousands of places at once. Now, you may be thinking that’s humanly impossible and that God isn’t likely to defy his laws of nature to somehow place you in several different places at once. But God’s strategy is so simple, we might call it common sense.

He wants to work through you with his supernatural strength, guiding you to just the right places at just the right time to meet just the right people, so you can train them so thoroughly in God’s great truths that they will become living, breathing examples of Christ.

The Jesus-deposit in you transfers to them, and then they transfer it to others. In a sense, you are now able to teach simultaneously all over the globe because “Christ in you” is now “Christ in others.”

Some scholars call this the ministry of multiplication; it is the New Testament model for spreading God’s Good News rapidly through the intentional discipleship of believers. As the people you disciple, or lead to the Lord, share their faith, the Good News ripples across the global pond.

This is how the early church grew. The first followers of Christ welcomed with joy the message given by the Holy Spirit, and so they became a model to all the believers—their faith in God became known everywhere (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8). These were ordinary people, passing on the message they’d heard and received to the people around them, and then to the people beyond their own provinces.

Jesus compared this to the way yeast works, multiplying exponentially. In this week’s Bible verse (2 Timothy 2:2), Paul says he passed the message on to Timothy, who was to pass it on to other faithful believers, who would, in turn, pass it on others—that’s four generations of multiplication (2 Timothy 2:2)!

From now on –

· You are part of the equation. God expects you to multiply the Jesus-deposit he’s placed in you. You do this by intentionally passing it on to others, helping them to become faithful believers who will pass it on to others.

· Teach others, who can teach others, who can … “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 (NAS)

· Question: How would your life be different if others had not worked to reproduce the life of Christ in you?

Well…SOM has come to an end and life is moving along.  I’m sitting in my new office at Evangel but my mind is elsewhere.  At least I have these fancy new business cards….

Starting August 13th I will be the new Commuter/Multicultural Director at Evangel University!

I’m exciting about this change and looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that it presents!  It’s going to be a good time

Last week I was enjoying a nice little trip to Tarragona on the coast of Spain for the All Europe Retreat!  It was a lot of fun to see MKs I’ve known for quite some time and to get to meet some new MKs.  In the grand scheme of things I didn’t really do anything all that out of the ordinary.  No running with the bulls, Spanish festivals or anything of that sort.  I didn’t even make it down to the Mediterranean while I was there (I did see it though)!  Essentially I just lounged by the pool and spent a lot of time hanging out with MKs.  It was just a special time with friends and that’s what made all the difference.  So I just wanted to say hey to all my friends that I’ve gotten to hang out with this past year at movies, my house and even crusing to tunes of Eisley (sp?)…it’s been fun!  Thanks!

Going to Spain for a week….I’ll be back later!