Week 1 of Semester 2

          This has been a great first week back with all of the students! We had a pretty chill mystery Monday where we shared a little about our breaks over breakfast. But the main part of this week is the speaker and this week we had the privilege to hear from the head pastor at Woodland Hills Family Church, Ted Cunningham, which is the church I attend here in Branson. He is also the author of a few books including but not limited to: Young and in Love, and Trophy Child.

            Ted’s main topic on the first day was about prolonged adolescence which is where kids aren’t growing up and are moving the 5 main adulthood milestones until they are 30 or 40 years old. Prolonged adolescence is the result of the kid-centered home where the parents are putting the kids in higher priority than their marriage. Ted put it this way, “too much privilege and not enough responsibility.” He sees this most with the ‘vanity parents’ which is where parents are using the accomplishments of their kids to impress others. I don’t thank the Lord enough for the parents that I have. Ted went through 7 different types of, what he calls ‘trophy parents’ (which is not a compliment) and I could honestly say that my parents weren’t any of that and I am truly blessed to be able to say that.

            On the last day, Ted talked about communication and what he categorizes as the 6 levels of communication. It was really interesting to see how conversations start at level 1 which is small talk and how they can jump to the other levels of desires and needs. I really enjoyed this week and I always look forward to hearing Ted on Sunday mornings. He’s pretty funny as well which makes him that much more enjoyable.

On another note, over break we had to write a 10 page paper on Mere Christianity which definitely seemed daunting at first but as I read the book it got me kind of excited about the paper. I really enjoyed the book and made me want to read more books. Next up is the Ragamuffin Gospel which a friend gave me a few years back but I’ve been lazy and have just kept pushing it away. I’m excited to read this book and might give you a little recap when I’m finished with it. Not sure when that’ll be.

2 weeks until Ireland! Getting stoked about that. Stay tuned!

Until next time!

TWELVE

Mystery Monday was pretty awesome this week. They rented out a whole theater to ourselves to go see The Hobbit. We snuck our own snacks in so we didn’t have to spend $20 on a bag of popcorn and a drink. We got to see the movie in 3D and even though I am not a huge fan of 3D, I still really enjoyed the movie and I cannot wait for the next one.

Back in week 7 when we were in Kansas City for Urban Entry (which you can see more about here) we got the pleasure of listening to the Executive Director of Reach Life Ministries, DA Horton, who blows my mind every time I listen to him. God has blessed him and is definitely using this guy to further His kingdom. DA talked to us about two things, heart transformation and maximizing moments. One thing that DA said that really stood out to me was the idea of spiritual adoption as opposed to physically adoption. What’s cool about spiritual adoption is that we can look like our Father in heaven. We can have characteristics of Him such as the fruits of the spirit but if we were to have a physical adoption our adopted parents cannot change any physical features of us, they can’t change our nose to make us look like them but when we accept Christ we have a new father and the more we get to know Him, the more we get into His word, the more we look like Him.

And on Thursday we got to hear from Darrell Shemwell who spoke to us for a day back in December. This guy has so much knowledge about the Bible and we got a little glimpse this time about God’s sovereignty. This was great as it is helping me build what I believe theologically which is pretty much why I’m here at the Link Year. Tomorrow, Friday, is going to be off the chain! First we have men’s Bible study and small groups, which are always awesome. Then we are having a little white elephant gift exchange and then we are going to Silver Dollar City which is a lot of fun.

I plan to do a few blogs during the break so stay posted.

Until next time.

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.