This past week, I went to this thing called EPIC. While there, I did many things, learned a lot, met many new friends, and got to try and show kids Christ, on top of a lot more.
Well, when we got there on Sunday night, we basically learned what the week was going to be like, but then we had this thing that we did in order to give us a little clue as to what to expect, and I volunteered to be one of the people in it. Well, little did I know that I would be getting shaving cream all over my face, to have cheese balls thrown at me haha. I will admit, this was an amusing way to start off the week, but at the same time it was kind of weird, since I was sitting in a room of people I didn't know getting cheese balls thrown in my face haha. It's okay though because a few of my friends were literally right beside me having the same thing done to them.
Before I tell you about the rest of the week, you must know that we had 6 groups. 2 Holy Spirit groups, which were both Middle School groups, 2 Saint John Middle School groups, and 2 Saint John High school groups. We did that more for an order thing , or something like that. Anyway.
On Monday, after breakfast, we all gathered in the youth center for a devotional. I think this was a very good way to start the day since I know that personally I have a hard time with getting into the word of God every single day, and just having that time set apart specifically for it was really needed. We studied mainly on the book of Colossians, because that book has a lot about God's works, and such. After the devotional, we set out for Jubilee Acres, which is where we would be helping Rescue mission kids all week have the best time they could possibly have. Monday though, The two middle school groups were the ones who stayed with the Rescue mission kids while the two high schools groups, which I was in, went hiking at the Cascades, yes, the coldest water you could possibly think of for hiking. It was fun though, I got to do flips and junk into it, and people though me and my friend were nuts for sitting in the water still for more than 3 seconds. :) Fun day. We then went back and had some free time, until Dinner, then we had a little more free time to do whatever and then we had worship. I think worship for some reason this week actually became a personal thing for me, because I know that worship is meant to be you surrendering yourself fully to God, and not caring what other people think about it. Well, I do have my sense of pride, so I do care a lot of itmes what people think about me. This week, though, something changed and I was no longer prideful enough to let my own thoughts care about myself. It was awesome
Tuesday, we woke up, had breakfast, and all that junk, then we had another devotional. This was a daily thing, and I won't go into details since it was a lot of the same thing every morning haha. We then went back to Jubilee Acres, and this time the middle school group from Saint John went hiking. So it was my groups, and the two Holy Spirit groups working with the kids trying to help them have a great time. I jsut stood back and took pictures mostly, because I'm not very good with 5-7 year old kids, haha.The kids were great though, so it was no big deal. When we went back to the church, we got to help out with VBS. I didn't do anything that day, but it was rather amusing to see my friends doing the things they were doing. We then had dinner and worshipped again. After worship, we sat down and talked all as a big group, and it was awesome, because we got to share about where we saw God working that day, and it was awesome that even my friend who went into that week not knowing Christ, had things to share where he was seeing God work. That was one of the highlights of my week.
Wednesday was the same start. Instead of going to Jubilee Acres, though, we went to the New River instead. we all went tubing down the New River, and I must say, I've never had so much fun going down a little bit more than a lazy river haha. I had a group of 6 people that I went down with the first time we did, and we just chilled and talked for a while. We then arranged ourselves in a chain-like thing, and went down the rapids like that. Get this though: On the way through the rapids, my friend fell off her tube, and was trying to get back on. Well, she sort of gets on again, and we save her midway. She grabbed onto us as we grabbed onto her, and we came out of the rapids with 7 people. It was awesome haha. That's not all. We could go down the rapids as many time as we wanted, so we all walked back up, and on the way up we recruited a few more people to join our chain. We went down the rapids again, with a total of about 36 people. I think it was awesome considering people would be exiting rapids as soon as people would be entering haha. That was the funniest part, other than my friend Stefani getting pushed away by my friend, Ben. That was really funny. The highlight for me of that day was teaching my friend Jonathan how to do a backflip on straight ground. Hasn't tried it yet as far as I know, but he will. I then landed my first side flip. It was such an adrenaline rush. We then went back to the church, and dinner and worship. After worship, we sat down again, and my friend who didn't know Christ said that he wanted to know God, but he couldn't feel it in his heart. We all prayed for him to meet Christ, and hoped that something would come out of it. That's not all. After bed time, my friend we had just prayed for, my friend Jonathan, and I snuck away, and went into the sanctuary. While we were there, My friend Jonathan told his story to us. I must say, people think that the things I go through in life are hard, but this guys story takes the cake. I'm glad he found Christ, because I'm not sure I would ever have known him if he hadn't. I then shared my story with them, and we went off to bed afterwards, because it was like 3 AM haha.
Thursday, the mornings have begun to be a ritual. We all knew it was the last night we had together, so we were going to make the best of it. We went back to Jubilee Acres, and the two Saint John groups were with the kids. Well, sort of. There were two groups there, and half of one group was on "station duty" even though we were never taught what to do haha. The other half of that group was doing a series of things that were made to help build up your trust in the group. This was very eye-opening, in a way. Since they had you close your eyes, you had to trust that the people you were grouped with would not let you fall, though you could not see them. This really screamed out Christ to me, because when you put your faith in Christ, you can't physically see Him, but He is always going to be there for you, and He won't let you fall. It was a very cool thing that we did. We helped out with VBS again when we got back to the church, and this time I was playing the part of one of the people who just walks by the person who gets robbed in the story of the good Samaritan. How mean of me, right? After we had worship, we, instead of having a time to sit and talk about where we saw God that day, we had a dance party with Glow sticks and shutter shades. Heck yes! haha. We quite literally danced til we were too tired to dance anymore, then we danced some more. We then had a bonfire going, and it was great to have the fellowship of all the new friends we had made that week. We just had a blast with each other, and we were singing songs and all that fun stuff. We then went to bed.
Friday, the final day. All 6 groups were at Jubilee Acres this time. We were all there to help the kids have the best time they could have. Doing whatever they wanted. After lunch though, while everyone else was watching a movie, a few friends and I started filming this movie. We decided that it would be a good idea to make a parody of the story of Daniel and the Lion's den. Instead of lions, we used fire ants. Well, we didn't have fire ants either, but you get the picture. It was really hard for me to do this, because the guy that I was doing most of the movie with kept making me laugh, so we have many outtakes of me and Justin as we attempt to make the movie great. We got through it though, and I can not wait to watch it. I kind of learned what it's like to be in Hollywood. Where we always cut and retake. It was cool though, towards the end of the movie, something clicked in me, and I was able to go through scenes with no errors on the first try. Corey though, was doing that like he did it for a living haha. It was cool though. Can't wait for it to hit youtube. I'll probably post it here if I can. We went to Loch Haven lake for my friend Haley's birthday party, and to celebrate an EPIC week, no pun intended. It was really fun to be there with all the friends that I had just made, and the cool thing was teaching my friend Jonathan how to do a backflip from the high dive. I then did a gainer off a high dive. I've done it off of a deck, but I didn't think it would be the same. It was haha.
The coolest thing about this week was my friend that wanted to get to know Christ so badly did come to meet Him. Praise God for that. I also think that is was cool that all of the middle schoolers there were so in touch with God. I saw my buddy Cole there and he was the first middle schooler I know that actually just let go of himself and fully surrendered himself to God during worship. He's got such a strong heart for the Lord, and I hope that continues. He's also going to be a famous singer one day, because he is a total BOSS at singing. I met a lot of new friends, and I must say that this week is definitely going to have an affect on how I live my life as a Christian and how I reach out to my friends who don't know the Lord. My absolute favorite thing that happened though was one Wednesday I got a call from my Young Life leader. He called to tell me that he had enough money to send my brother to Young Life camp, and I just about cried of joy. It was one of the best feelings that I could have knowing that my brother might be on his way to at least hearing the message loud and clear. I just hope he decides to go. All in all, from the friends, to the times, to the time with God, it was one of the best weeks that I have had in a good long while. I still can't wait for Saranac though. That's going to be the best week ever. I can just tell.
Well, I hope that you all get to have a week like this at some point. Everyone deserves to have times like this in their lives, even if they have to make things like this happen themselves.
I love you guys.
TJ
P.S. I am freaking excited. 4 days til Saranac.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Pride bombs vs encouragement bombs
I just read an FCA devotional that talks about how athletes like me and a few of my friends, can get that sense of wanting self-glorification, or wanting others to give us praise. Even when we're not on the field, I know that I personally, am very guilty of this. I've tended to, during my conversations with people to be bragging about things that I've done, instead of lifting the other person up. I don't like that. I want to lift the people I talk to up about the things that are good about them. The devotional talked about how we are always seeking this encouragement, and praise, but even if we get it, we have done nothing to glorify God. What glory to God is there when you seek out praise? We should be living our lives to show off God, and not our own talents.
There is a song that says
"I will not boast in anything
No gifts now power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection."
This verse of the song makes me think of how we can tend to boast in the things we do. It also makes me think that I no longer want to glorify myself, but boast in the fact that Jesus did the one thing that no human that has ever lived other than Him of course, could have done. I want Jesus to be my boasting. I also want to lift you all up.
That's going to be my goal for the rest of high school, and hopefully the rest of life. To constantly lift everyone up. No matter if they love me, hate me, don't know me, or any other way. That's one way to show Christ to other people. When you build them up, especially when the world wants to tear them down, they notice that you're different. That's one thing I can say of my good friend, Zack. He is great at building other people up. He's been reaching out to this guy who I've become friends with, and Zack might be one of the only people I know that can constantly, even if he doesn't feel well, building other people up. He's done such a great job of showing Christ to this one guy, and to others as well, that I know God is very pleased with this work. It is very encouraging to know that it can be me doing that. I just need God's help to do so. I want the love of Christ to shine through me like it has through Zack. Love you, brother.
My friend Kendall is gifted with her sports. She does sports because she loves them, but I know in her mind that she's trying to show people how Christ has affected her life in every way. She's very talented with what she does, and I've never heard her boast about it. That's encouraging to see. I've never seen her play before, but I know that she does great. She just wants the world to know Jesus the way she does. I know she's going to continue playing for the Lord, and I know that through this, people will see her love for Christ, and that Christ is the reason she's such an awesome person off the field/court as well. Love you, sister.
I think that over the coming weeks, that I will post about a certain friend, just telling the great things that they do. There are so many friends that I have that love the Lord, and they are all great at something. They show Christ so well to their friends, and I know they want others to know Him too.
I just want to say I just had a great week where the friends that I met are good at dropping encouragement bombs. They rock, and I hope to see them all again.
I love you guys
TJ
P.S. My life bangs
There is a song that says
"I will not boast in anything
No gifts now power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection."
This verse of the song makes me think of how we can tend to boast in the things we do. It also makes me think that I no longer want to glorify myself, but boast in the fact that Jesus did the one thing that no human that has ever lived other than Him of course, could have done. I want Jesus to be my boasting. I also want to lift you all up.
That's going to be my goal for the rest of high school, and hopefully the rest of life. To constantly lift everyone up. No matter if they love me, hate me, don't know me, or any other way. That's one way to show Christ to other people. When you build them up, especially when the world wants to tear them down, they notice that you're different. That's one thing I can say of my good friend, Zack. He is great at building other people up. He's been reaching out to this guy who I've become friends with, and Zack might be one of the only people I know that can constantly, even if he doesn't feel well, building other people up. He's done such a great job of showing Christ to this one guy, and to others as well, that I know God is very pleased with this work. It is very encouraging to know that it can be me doing that. I just need God's help to do so. I want the love of Christ to shine through me like it has through Zack. Love you, brother.
My friend Kendall is gifted with her sports. She does sports because she loves them, but I know in her mind that she's trying to show people how Christ has affected her life in every way. She's very talented with what she does, and I've never heard her boast about it. That's encouraging to see. I've never seen her play before, but I know that she does great. She just wants the world to know Jesus the way she does. I know she's going to continue playing for the Lord, and I know that through this, people will see her love for Christ, and that Christ is the reason she's such an awesome person off the field/court as well. Love you, sister.
I think that over the coming weeks, that I will post about a certain friend, just telling the great things that they do. There are so many friends that I have that love the Lord, and they are all great at something. They show Christ so well to their friends, and I know they want others to know Him too.
I just want to say I just had a great week where the friends that I met are good at dropping encouragement bombs. They rock, and I hope to see them all again.
I love you guys
TJ
P.S. My life bangs
Monday, June 13, 2011
The things I used to know
You know how when you're talking to someone, and it could be that you're helping them with a problem, or just putting your 2 cents in? Afterward, you realize that whatever your advice was, or what you told them is the best thing to do, is the very thing you do not do. Ever felt that way? Cause I do, right now.
Sometimes when I have some friends with problems going on in their life, and they're one of my Christian friends, I feel almost obligated to tell them to pray about whatever it is that is stressing them out. I'll say something like "Just give it to the Lord" or "Tell God about it, not me" A few minutes, hours, or so later, I realize that there are many things that I don't tell God about, and then I have just given advice that I don't follow myself. So I feel hypocritical, and it stresses me out.
The latest time of me doing this was me telling a friend about living the life we're called to live. Bold, and free. Well, I realized shortly after I did this that I haven't been living boldly. The free part I feel I have been, simply because I have come to the realization that we have been set free from bondage, and slavery, and sin, and, and, and, and. The thing is, I don't live boldly. I don't ask for things from Christ with boldness. I don't speak my mind boldly. It's just like I'm letting myself get bogged down with fear, and then I try to tell myself I've been set free from this, but then it's either too late, or not the right time to say the things I want to say. Granted, a few of these things I want to say, require other people to be there. I just feel I haven't been living my life the way I've been called to. How can I expect to reach out to people and show them Christ, if I can't live boldly, or live in the freedom?
I feel as if I am very bad at giving advice that I follow myself. Why this is, I couldn't tell you. My only prayer is that I would not only start to take my own advice, but that I would really start to live in freedom. Live with all the boldness in the world. I've also told people in grades younger than me, to learn from my mistakes. Well, by God, it's time for ME to learn from my mistakes.
Thank you for listening to this.
I love you guys.
TJ
Sometimes when I have some friends with problems going on in their life, and they're one of my Christian friends, I feel almost obligated to tell them to pray about whatever it is that is stressing them out. I'll say something like "Just give it to the Lord" or "Tell God about it, not me" A few minutes, hours, or so later, I realize that there are many things that I don't tell God about, and then I have just given advice that I don't follow myself. So I feel hypocritical, and it stresses me out.
The latest time of me doing this was me telling a friend about living the life we're called to live. Bold, and free. Well, I realized shortly after I did this that I haven't been living boldly. The free part I feel I have been, simply because I have come to the realization that we have been set free from bondage, and slavery, and sin, and, and, and, and. The thing is, I don't live boldly. I don't ask for things from Christ with boldness. I don't speak my mind boldly. It's just like I'm letting myself get bogged down with fear, and then I try to tell myself I've been set free from this, but then it's either too late, or not the right time to say the things I want to say. Granted, a few of these things I want to say, require other people to be there. I just feel I haven't been living my life the way I've been called to. How can I expect to reach out to people and show them Christ, if I can't live boldly, or live in the freedom?
I feel as if I am very bad at giving advice that I follow myself. Why this is, I couldn't tell you. My only prayer is that I would not only start to take my own advice, but that I would really start to live in freedom. Live with all the boldness in the world. I've also told people in grades younger than me, to learn from my mistakes. Well, by God, it's time for ME to learn from my mistakes.
Thank you for listening to this.
I love you guys.
TJ
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The end of my Sophomore year.
It's the end of my Sophomore year in high school.....Already?! I remember thinking that these years were going to last forever, but this year flew by faster than my freshman year did. I met a few more people that have become a big part of my life.
The first new person I met is named Garrett. I don't remember his last name, but we all call him beefcake, so that's what he is haha. He has a similar story to mine, and from the first day I met him, I knew that it wasn't a mistake. He has such a heart for the Lord, and he just loves Jesus with all his heart. It's been such a blessing getting to know this guy
Another new face I met this year is Ryan Danger Wood. We just call him Danger. He actually did not know Christ until he went into college with Adam and them at the University of Mary Washington. Now he's got a great heart for the Lord. He also loves to pray for pretty much any other person in the world who wants it. The Lord is going to use him in so many ways.
There's a few more people I met, but my memory won't serve me right now, so yeah. The people I have met this year have been almost as life-changing as the people I met last year. I can't wait for Junior year, but most of all I can't wait for Saranac. It's just one month away! I can not wait.
Man, I am just shocked that I have made it to my junior year. I'm more shocked that my middle school years are still well within memory. I'm about to start a new journey. Each new year is a journey, and I can't wait to embark on this one with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord has greatly blessed me this year, even if it did include some of the hardest tests of faith I've ever had. I am thankful that I got through this with His help, and the help of my loving friends. I wouldn't be anywhere without you guys.
I love you guys.
TJ
The first new person I met is named Garrett. I don't remember his last name, but we all call him beefcake, so that's what he is haha. He has a similar story to mine, and from the first day I met him, I knew that it wasn't a mistake. He has such a heart for the Lord, and he just loves Jesus with all his heart. It's been such a blessing getting to know this guy
Another new face I met this year is Ryan Danger Wood. We just call him Danger. He actually did not know Christ until he went into college with Adam and them at the University of Mary Washington. Now he's got a great heart for the Lord. He also loves to pray for pretty much any other person in the world who wants it. The Lord is going to use him in so many ways.
There's a few more people I met, but my memory won't serve me right now, so yeah. The people I have met this year have been almost as life-changing as the people I met last year. I can't wait for Junior year, but most of all I can't wait for Saranac. It's just one month away! I can not wait.
Man, I am just shocked that I have made it to my junior year. I'm more shocked that my middle school years are still well within memory. I'm about to start a new journey. Each new year is a journey, and I can't wait to embark on this one with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord has greatly blessed me this year, even if it did include some of the hardest tests of faith I've ever had. I am thankful that I got through this with His help, and the help of my loving friends. I wouldn't be anywhere without you guys.
I love you guys.
TJ
Friday, June 3, 2011
I'm no expert on crazy, but..
Yeahh, tonight was just one of those nights where you go into something expected great things, and then even greater things happen to you during that time. I am sincerely, positively, and absolutely blown away by the things that I have experienced tonight.
One thing that I learned while at this Bible study with my bros, is that Jesus ministered for 3 years. No secret, that's common knowledge for someone who studies the Bible and knows a little bit.Thing is, when you look at the Bible, taking into account everything that it says Jesus did, and put it back to back, day after day, you'd cover a grand total of 2 weeks. Two freaking weeks! The man ministered to people for 3 years, and the Bible only has 2 weeks. So many miracles, so many things we don't know about what He could have done! Just imagine; the guy who turned water to wine, 7 loaves of bread and two fish into enough to feed 5000 men, walked on water, raised the dead ect. We don't know even 3/156th of what He did. We've only got 2 weeks of what we know He's done. Isn't that just insane?!
Another thing we learned about is the entire thing behind Revelation's view on Satan, and the 1000 years of Christ ruling. That was amazing to hear about because Revelation can be a very confusing thing. I learned about how people who have already made the journey to heaven will rule with Christ during this thousand years, over the people who haven't yet gone to heaven or may not even be going to heaven. They get to rule over the parts of the earth while Christ sits upon His throne in Jerusalem. It's going to be a great 1000 years, that time.
Another thing I learned that is quite scary, but shows just how powerful God really is, is found in Genesis 6:3. It says "My spirit will not contend with humans forever, they are mortal.Their days will be one hundred and twenty years" This is basically saying there is a point to where God will just not chase you anymore. If your heart is THAT hard. That's scary for me because there are a lot of friends I have who do not know the Lord, and if they deny Him that much, then the Lord won't fight for them. It's a very scary situation.
The best thing that happened tonight though, and the thing that I believe is going to be a big part of my walk with Christ, is my buddy Walker asked Carter's granddad about speaking in tongues. An honest question which received a great answer. Michael then asked John if he could pray over us in tongues, so we could speak in tongues. This scared me at first, because I never fancied myself the guy who could speak in a language he didn't know. Thing that made it all the better, it wasn't usually like a language spoken on earth. Speaking in tongues uses Angelic languages. The things we say will only be understood by those who might know the language, or by ourselves. Picture first, 12 high school guys freshman to senior, sitting around a dining room table, all praying in the spirit, or speaking in tongues.Yes, boys and girls, as of today I have spoken in tongues, and I must say, it was the most amazing experience I've ever had. It was very filling to know that the Holy Spirit just came down upon all of us, and we all spoke in tongues for the first time for some of us, like me! Picture this now, 12 teenagers, praying in the spirit and the mind, for 45 minutes straight, just because. Pretty crazy ain't it? This is why I think tonight was one of the best, but one of the craziest nights ever.
I have been blessed to know these guys, and I hope that I will continue to grow with them.
I love you guys
TJ
One thing that I learned while at this Bible study with my bros, is that Jesus ministered for 3 years. No secret, that's common knowledge for someone who studies the Bible and knows a little bit.Thing is, when you look at the Bible, taking into account everything that it says Jesus did, and put it back to back, day after day, you'd cover a grand total of 2 weeks. Two freaking weeks! The man ministered to people for 3 years, and the Bible only has 2 weeks. So many miracles, so many things we don't know about what He could have done! Just imagine; the guy who turned water to wine, 7 loaves of bread and two fish into enough to feed 5000 men, walked on water, raised the dead ect. We don't know even 3/156th of what He did. We've only got 2 weeks of what we know He's done. Isn't that just insane?!
Another thing we learned about is the entire thing behind Revelation's view on Satan, and the 1000 years of Christ ruling. That was amazing to hear about because Revelation can be a very confusing thing. I learned about how people who have already made the journey to heaven will rule with Christ during this thousand years, over the people who haven't yet gone to heaven or may not even be going to heaven. They get to rule over the parts of the earth while Christ sits upon His throne in Jerusalem. It's going to be a great 1000 years, that time.
Another thing I learned that is quite scary, but shows just how powerful God really is, is found in Genesis 6:3. It says "My spirit will not contend with humans forever, they are mortal.Their days will be one hundred and twenty years" This is basically saying there is a point to where God will just not chase you anymore. If your heart is THAT hard. That's scary for me because there are a lot of friends I have who do not know the Lord, and if they deny Him that much, then the Lord won't fight for them. It's a very scary situation.
The best thing that happened tonight though, and the thing that I believe is going to be a big part of my walk with Christ, is my buddy Walker asked Carter's granddad about speaking in tongues. An honest question which received a great answer. Michael then asked John if he could pray over us in tongues, so we could speak in tongues. This scared me at first, because I never fancied myself the guy who could speak in a language he didn't know. Thing that made it all the better, it wasn't usually like a language spoken on earth. Speaking in tongues uses Angelic languages. The things we say will only be understood by those who might know the language, or by ourselves. Picture first, 12 high school guys freshman to senior, sitting around a dining room table, all praying in the spirit, or speaking in tongues.Yes, boys and girls, as of today I have spoken in tongues, and I must say, it was the most amazing experience I've ever had. It was very filling to know that the Holy Spirit just came down upon all of us, and we all spoke in tongues for the first time for some of us, like me! Picture this now, 12 teenagers, praying in the spirit and the mind, for 45 minutes straight, just because. Pretty crazy ain't it? This is why I think tonight was one of the best, but one of the craziest nights ever.
I have been blessed to know these guys, and I hope that I will continue to grow with them.
I love you guys
TJ
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