Vacation Bible School - 2008

SO, we are in the middle of our 2008 Vacation Bible School, and things are going great. We have had over 100 kids the last two nights. This is great to have this many kids coming to VBS, but it also puts a great strain on our resources and volunteers as we try and deal with very large groups of kids. But overall this VBS is going great. We are raising money for Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge. For those that don't know it is an Assemblies of God program that provides ministry tools and resources to missionaries around the world. Basically the money we raise will be able to make sure kids around the world can have programs like VBS where they are. The kids are really getting excited about this as we are making it a Boys VS Girls Contest. As of last night (wed) the girls were winning, but barely. We are not sure of the money count - and it really would take too much to count all the money, so we are doing it by weight, and just a guess is that the Girls bucket weighs slightly more than the boys right now. We will all find out on Friday who wins.

Overall VBS this year is going great and we are excited about the impact that is being made on over 100 kids each night. FUN, FUN, FUN.

God is AWESOME!

The First Church of Second Life (a response)

I just read this blog post from Out of Ur called The First Church of Second Life.  I have recently been intrigued by Second Life as it seems to be gaining in popularity and being mentioned more and more as the new and upcoming way to Social Network.  I created my own Second Life user with the name of Brit Quandry to check out exactly what Second Life was all about.  

Here is kind of my thoughts about the whole Second Life program.  I personally found it kind of creepy.  For one, I couldn't use my real name - now I know for many people this is actually a positive for them because they can become something different in their "second life" than they are in their first life, but that leads me to the second reason that I find it creepy.  I think it is creepy because people who don't like who they are in their first life end up with their alter egos in Second Life.  They can do the things that they only wish they could do in their real life.  If they secretly want to be a stripper - that is available to them in Second Life. If they secretly want to sell drugs - just do it on Second Life. My point is that Seconf Life seems to be a way for people to escape reality, which I don't think is necessarily a good thing.

Now I do want to say something positive that can come out of Second Life. I think that almost any of the Social Networking sites, whether that be Myspace, Facebook, or Second Life allow the minster to see into peoples lives and see the needs and struggled that they may not see in the course of the noemal day. People seem to be more open to sharing their personal life over the internet through a social networking site than they are through other means of communication. I think this gives the minister, whether that be the pastor of thr church or youth pastor or even children's pastor an avenue to minister to someone's needs more effectively because the need is known, rather than just guessing. So while Second life seems to me to have some real creepy qualities, I also see the value in it as a ministry, I truly hope and pray that those churches and ministries that are utilizing Second Life can be effective in ministering in cyberspace.

The Return of Internet

As I said yesterday, our internet had been down for a couple days. I go to the point of frustration as this had been a common occurrence with our internet provider. Here was the rub. The internet provider we had was providing us free internet in exchange for using our facility for a wireless signal tower. So now I have decided to sever the contract and instead am signed up and paying for DSL internet. It is much more reliable and faster. AND so NOW I am reconnected to the world out there and hopefully will not be disconnected again for quite some time.

Now to catch up on how the world has changed in 3 days.

Without Internet

Well we have been without internet at the church and at home now for almost 3 days. You may be wondering how I am writing this blog post without internet, all I can say is a Blackberry is a wonderful thing. Anyway, throughout this time without internet there is something I have come to realize - not having the internet is like not having a car. You don't really realize how much your life revolves around it until you don't have it. For example, I really would like to do some research on Sunday School curriculum where the kids and adults are all learning the same thing. The problem is, without the internet I really can't look these things up. It really makes me wonder what people did 15 - 20 years ago when they wanted to do some research. I guess that people went to a library or something, but that doesn't seem to be as useful as it once was. This could be a reason why we are seeing the world change at a more rapid pace than ever before. Now instead of waiting months or years to find out what the new wave of thinking is by reading a book, it is now immediately at your finger tips on the World Wide Web. When someone figures out something new, or has a new idea and they mention it on the web it is available for everyone within a matter of seconds. Even those with a rudimentary knowledge of the Internet can find out what people are doing all over the world and whether or not it is beneficial to them. This has great impact for ministry because as ministers we need to, at the very least, know about these trends and possibly even utilize some of this within our own Ministry area.

So here I sit without internet, trying my best to surf the web on a cell phone - and boy can that be painful.
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Jewish Rabbi Visit

So the last two days we had a special guest speaker. He is a Rabbi at a Messianic Jewish Congregation in Phoenix and also a staff Evangelist for Jewish Voice Ministries International. I invited him to come to speak to us about our Jewish heritage as Christians and on how Israel plays a role in the end times. What we got was that and so much more.

Saturday Rabbi Jack (that's his name) shared with us how Christianity wouldn't exist were it not for the Jews. Then he talked to us about prophecy and showed us various prophecies in the scripture and where they had been fulfilled. He also showed us some prophecies that were being fulfilled in our own time. The biggest point - That Christ is coming back soon, we need to be ready for his coming and urgently tell others that they may prepare themselves for his return.
Rabbi Jack returned on Sunday to teach us about The Ancient Jewish Wedding and how it was symbolic of Christ's return for his bride (the church). This somewhat simple comparison was something that I had never heard before. It was eye opening that the similarities are so obvious yet many, even most Christians have never heard it before. Anytime we get to see a glimpse of what Christ's return is going to be like, even if only in a symbolic way, it is truly exciting. Again the main point - Be Ready.

We never will know the time when Christ will return for his church. Scripture tells us that no man knows the day or time of his appearing. Only the Father knows. What we do know is that his return is always getting closer. It could be tomorrow, or the next day, next week, next month, next year. We never know - :e could return as you are reading this blog. What we do know is that he is coming and when he does we need to be ready for his appearing. We don't want to be caught unprepared like is told in the parable of the 10 Virgins. 5 of them were foolish and did not take extra oil for their lamps. When the bridegroom arrived, the foolish ones did not have enough oil. They had to go buy some more oil and missed the coming of the bridegroom. Christ is the bridegroom, let us not find ourselves unprepared when he returns for his bride.
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Saying Goodbye to our Friends from the Congo

Over the course of the last 10 weeks our church has been privileged with the influx of over 15 men and women from the Congo. They have been here working with Freeport-McMoran training to go back to the Congo to the mine there. While they have been with us they have brought a fresh spirit of excitement to our church. They ministered to us in so many ways. On two occasions they took the stage and sang several worship songs from their churches in Africa. They sang in Swahili, French and English. It has truly been a blessing to have them with us.
Today I had to say goodbye to them for the final time. They were due to leave for Tucson this evening and then board an airplane for a 22 hour flight back home. We, as a church, and I personally are going to miss them tremendously. We will never forget the blessing that they have been to us. I told them before they left that if I don't see them again on this side of Heaven, I will definitely be looking for them on the other side.
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Another American Company selling out to foreigners

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25253126/

Now I am not a drinker. I don't drink beer, wine or any other alcoholic beverage. You might say I am a 'tea-totaler'. Even though I don't drink, I do find it somewhat disturbing to find out that another American business may possibly be selling out to a foreign business. It seems like one by one all of our american businesses are selling out. It gets harder and harder everyday to find things that are truly American Made. There are many items that may be made here but the money is going to pad the pockets of people overseas. We wonder why our economy is in the tank when so much of our money gets sent out of the U.S.A. So anyway, while I could really care less about the Beer industry, it does sadden me to see another business possibly sell out, especially one that has been around as long as Anheiser-Busch.
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