In my post from last week I had mentioned that I was attending a concert of the band The Head and the Heart in Columbia, MO. It was awesome.

First I will start off with what this weeks Mystery Monday held for us. We got into our groups of four and were given a Disney movie with some kind of twist. My group received Peter Pan and the Lost Ducks. We had two hours to come up with 15 pictures in five different locations. We then had to narrate a story line using those 15 pictures in front of the whole group. We were all graded on a ten point scale and my team received a nine. Unfortunately there was a group that received a ten out of ten but we had a fun time in the process.

This week we had the distinct privilege to be able to hear from to hear from Mike Aleckson (blog) for the past three days. Mike is the Director of Information Technology Strategy for Compassion International, a worldwide ministry to over 1.3 million young people dedicated to delivering them from poverty in Jesus’ name. Mike taught us the Big Picture of the Bible. His goal was for us to see where we fit into God’s Big Picture. The first day he went through the history of the Bible for example, the times of Moses, Abraham, David, the Exile, etc. The second day we talked about God’s covenants; Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and the New Covenant. The last day was how we fit into this Big Picture. What we can personally do in our selected vocation to glorify God. In Matthew 5:48 it says “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This scared me at first because there is no way I can be perfect. I am a sinful man with flaws. But the Greek translation for perfect in this verse is teleios, which means to fulfill your purpose. In whatever career we choose we should make sure it is pleasing to God. Knowing this, I will carefully pick what college, major, etc. so that I can be glorifying God in everything I do.

Last week I forgot to mention that on Wednesday nights we have a singles ministry called the Fort that meets in the K-1 Chapel. This year we are going through Proverbs and this was the third week we’ve met. Unfortunately the website is not up yet but you can follow them on twitter @fortworship.

Until next time.

(The title rhymes.)

Man! This first real week of the Kanakuk Link Year has been so awesome! The community alone has already been impactful in my life. I know that some of the friends I am making here will be with me 20 years from now.

Our weekly schedule goes a little like this…

Monday – Monday’s are what we call Mystery Monday. We all meet in front of the lounge and get into groups to carpool to our mysterious destination. This week we went to Skate World for a little fun. I had a blast skating around with everyone. This lasted until lunch time and we had the rest of the day free.

Tuesday – On Tuesday the one and only Don Ford taught our class. This guy is awesome. Don talked to us about the importance of goals.

Goals must be: God centered, Written out, Attainable / God-sized, Measurable, Time sensitive, Clear (two sentences or less), Concise / specify (should fit on the back of a business card), Shared with others.

Following this template will make sure your goals will be met. I can’t wait to see the outcome of using this method.

Wednesday – On Wednesday Jay Holden (@jayholden) , who is the Executive Director of Marketing at Kanakuk Kamps, spoke to us about our strengths. He helped us analyze what are strengths are and how to best use them. I’m excited to use my strengths the way God intended them to be used.

Thursday – Thursday was a true blessing because we got to hear from Darrell Shemwell who is one true man of God. His knowledge of God’s word and his drive to study it blows my mind. Just to get a glimpse of how to study the bible on our own was awesome. I can’t wait to hear him speak again in December.

Friday – Friday. Men’s bible study, Jonathan groups which is our small groups, and then accountability groups. Then we’re done for the day. Friday's are always awesome.

Weekends are free and with some other students I will be driving to Columbia Missouri to attend The Head and the Heart concert. I’m kind of (really) excited.

Recap on a few things I’ve learned: Community is very important. To not let the devil put his finger prints all over me. Goals are important to set and to set them correctly. God gave us strengths to utilize for His glory. To check the original language the bible was written in to get the best translation.

This was a great start to the year and it’s only going to get better from here. For more information on the Kanakuk Link Year, click here. And to see photos so far, click here.

Until next time.

Link Year Week Two

The Kanakuk Link Year - It's here