Eleveth WeeK

I love this time of year because Google releases a video that kind of sums up the year and they do a pretty good job at it. Take a look.

Also, Taylor University, a small Christian school in Upland, Indiana where my brother went does this awesome basketball tradition called Silent Night. Check it.

Mystery Monday this week was interesting because the guys had to ask out a girl and take them on a group date. It was curious to see what we could come up with in a matter of 30 minutes. My group definitely had the best time.

        Brian Wang, who is the men’s director of the Link Year, spoke to us this week about balancing many different things and used Luke 9:23 which say.

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

This verse has three components to it; Self-Denial – Giving up your wants and desires to His calling, Complete Dedication – Commitment, devotion, and time, Willing Obedience – Complying with or submission to authority. At 211°, water is hot but at 212°, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam that you can power a locomotive with. One extra degree can make all the difference. If we want to take our walk with Christ seriously then we need to turn up the heat. And it might be just a few areas that you need to turn the heat up like your quiet time or your prayer time. But we all need to turn up the heat.

“To get what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done.”

Thursday night I had the opportunity to go see a show in Branson called SIX for FREE! I like free. It was great and if you’re ever in Branson, you should go see it!

Can’t wait to be in San Diego in a week! Have a great weekend!

Until next time.

10

This week has probably been one of my favorite weeks so far this year. It started off with also one of my favorite Mystery Monday’s. We went to the Harrison K-Life house and if you don’t know what K-Life is, click here.

I haven’t been to too many K-Life houses but this is the best one I’ve seen. It has a sweet barn swing, basketball court outside, a rock-climbing wall (which was out of order) and of course a 4-square court. We all had a blast hanging out and enjoying others company. For lunch we went to Neighbor Mill Backery & Café which is the healthiest place in Arkansas and it was actually good! I had this legit three-cheese bacon pizza on flat bread. All that to say, I had a great time.

As for class this week we had three different speakers. On Tuesday we got to hear from Kyle Unruh who is the president of K-Life so he is in charge of the 36 locations around the country. One thing that stuck out to me about his talk was that the enemy of the church today is cheap grace and the great friend of the church today is costly grace and that means that there is sacrifice required when you understand God’s grace. He demonstrated that sacrifice and then He calls us to a form of sacrifice as well. One of the ways that can get manifested, which can lead to greatness, is that they choose to be discipled.

On Wednesday we got to hear from Antoine Mack who is the director at KAA 1. This guy is legit! I learned a lot but one thing that I thought was interesting was when he talked about temptation and that at our age we’re only looking at the now. Should I do this now? Should I drink this now? We aren’t looking into the future. We should be future minded and eternity focused.

Now usually I don’t talk about the Fort, which is a young adults ministry where we spend an hour and worship God through singing, prayer, and a talk. This week Adam Donyes spoke and hit a grand slam to the stars. I was really encouraged to hear his take on Proverbs 12 and you can hear it here. You will be blessed.

In class on Thursday we had a surprise special guest and you’ll never believe who it was! It was the mayor of Branson. Mayor Presley talked to us about community and politics and how Branson is still a faith-based city. It was really interesting to hear from her directly about her thoughts on different aspects of Branson.

This week was a blast. I hope you enjoyed the post!

Until next time.

WeeK Neuf

(Neuf is 9 in French)

Week 9.

First, a little update of what happened last week because I did not post. Jordan and I drove up to Kansas City where our aunt and uncle live. Last Saturday night we were able to go to the Unashamed Tour with Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashi, KB, Pro and a few others. Needless to say it was off the hook! We also got to see KU basketball dominate at the Sprint center and hang out with family and friends. It was a great break even though I didn’t get to go home to SD. It was still fun.

This week we were blessed to hear from a real man of God. Shay Robbins is someone who I’ve looked up to since my first years at Kanakuk K2. He blew my mind and got me very excited for my personal quiet time. I don’t know where to start but here we go…

There are a lot of reasons why we were separated from God but specifically in this generation we are facing issues that have never been such a huge problem. One of the enemy’s strategies is to make young people a shallow generation. All of the advances in technology, social media and communication have caused us to be shallow. Families used to sleep on top of their houses in Israel and Judah to get away from the heat and they would gaze at the stars million of miles away for their entertainment. They would sit around the fire and tell stories and their idea of a good time was to sit around the dinner table and laugh and share life together. All of which precipitate depth in people’s lives. Our depth is limited to the distance between our face and the computer screen. In a lot of ways we are producing a generation who are emotionally, relationally, and socially inept.

Hoped you enjoy this post!

Until next time.

8thWeeK

Week 8

Mystery Monday this week was a blast! We went laser tagging and did a little mini golf. I’m proud to say that my team did very well in the laser tag tournament. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to see who actually got first place but I was happy with our accomplishment. The mini golf was fun because it was all in doors with black lights which made it kind of hard to see but it was still fun. (I didn’t play competitively or else I probably would have gotten frustrated from my lack of sight.)

This week was a little different because our Thanksgiving break so we only had two days of speakers and on Wednesday we had our men’s bible study, small groups and accountability time which we usually have on Fridays.

On Tuesday Adam Donyes spoke to us on relationships or as he likes to call them REALationships. A few things that stood out to me that he shared with us was the three M’s. Master, Mission, and Mate.

Master - If they don’t love their Master, Jesus, then forget it. Lust is a feeling, Love it s commitment (2 Cor. 6:14-16 / Luke 22:41-43)

Mission - Often times the more we chase a relationship with others the less we chase Christ. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and   sin which clings so closely, and   let us run   with endurance the race that is   set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising   the shame, and   is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. “ -Hebrews 12:1-2 Our relationships with others should be an overflow of our relationship with Christ. We often drown out God’s voice by those we are infatuated with, but we have to let God be the voice in our life.

Mate - Relationships are meant to increase your relationship with the Lord, not decrease. Genesis 2:18 tells us “the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." It is good for us to find someone who will be encouraging to us in our walk with Christ.

On Saturday I will be headed to Kansas City with my brother Jordan to hang out with some extended family for Thanksgiving. I’m sad I won’t be going home to San Diego but am excited for this new adventure.

Until next time.

the 7th weeK

Week 7

What. A. Week.

It started out with an interesting Mystery Monday. We learned five important life skills with different stations. Changing a tire/checking oil, writing thank you cards (which can go a long way!), two-stepping (I am now a pro), how to manage yourself during an interview, and how to share the gospel. These, I thought, were all great skills to learn. They were all informative and fun!

A few hours after Mystery Monday ended we started our trek up to Kansas City where our Urban Entry was. We went straight to a house where we were welcomed with a meal catered by Oklahoma Joes. Now, this wasn’t the first time for me but if you haven’t had some Oklahoma Joes, you’re missing out. We hung out for a little bit, played some ping-pong, piano and played some games. The next day we headed over to the Hope Center which is a

“Christian community development organization that, out of our belief in God, is working diligently to renew the forgotten impoverished east side community where we live and serve. We are investing in its people, in particular the youth, anticipating that their transformed8 lives will offer the hope and leadership needed for our inner city community to flourish.”

This was such a blessing to be able to help out an amazing program. We did most of our work in a deserted church that is owned by the Hope Center and is right next to it. On Wednesday we got the pleasure of listening to DA Horton who is one of the best communicators I’ve heard. Here is a book he wrote called G.O.S.P.E.L., which I have not read but I’m sure it’s amazing and I cannot wait to read it.

What I took out of Urban Entry was how much more my worldview has expanded in knowledge just from what I’ve seen in one of the most dangerous cities in the US. And also in 2009 Forbes Magazine named KC the most abandoned city. To me this was very eye opening to see all of the hurt and abandonment where there is a lot of potential. A lot of the houses there are abandoned which makes the cost for some of the houses very inexpensive. The Hope Center recently bought a three-story house for $3,000 and made it livable for about $7,000 more. The demand for living in this area is so low. This was definitely one of my favorite weeks so far.

Pictures are not up yet but will be in the next few days @ Link Year's Flickr.

Until next time.