This last weekend I was able to take my students on a student conference in Vancouver Washington. What an amazing trip. We had nine students and thee adult leaders, simply fantastic. We left early Friday morning and arrived in Vancouver hung out for a bit then grabbed dinner. Next we went to our first session which consisted of worship and the first message by our speaker (more on him later). Than had a late night activity which was Portland Comedy Sportz. Oh man this was funny and for my students if you are reading this "Can I get back in the boat now". The next day consisted of two more sessions lunch and driving home. A short trip, but oh how God moved!
The speaker for the weekend was a man by the name of Ed Newton. While he was very funny and seemed to connect well to the students he still preached the word of God which was such a wave of relief. It seems there is a famine in the land of the Word of God. Too many churches are failing to preach God honoring messages using His Word. Too many people have traded the Bible for pop culture. But Ed preached the Word of God. He used stories effectively to convey real truth, from who is Jesus, what it means to follow him and where to go from here. His messages were used effectively by God in the lives of my students. Many of them made decisions to follow him more closely and to give up the things that hold them back.
The car ride back was outstanding. We had half the group in our van. Towards the end of the drive we discussed how God had impacted us this weekend and what decisions we made. This was an encouraging time to hear how He moved as well as to hold each other accountable to these decisions.Then we spent time on each person saying what we liked and appreciated about them. This was a powerful time to encourage one another. Lastly, we ended this time praying and praise God for the week he did this past weekend. I love how God moves even in the midst of car rides.
All in all it was a great trip and many students lives are changed. I am excited to see where God leads them in these next few weeks, months and years. And to see the impact this weekend had on them. This is what I live for I love to see God move in the lives of students!
As for me I am doing well. I am still striving to honor God with all aspects of my life. My apartment got pretty messy but my spending habits are getting better as well as my exercise habits. I am thankful for God's work in my life and am excited about the changes that are going in inside of me. To God be the Glory! I am encouraged to know that I have matured greatly since being here, although only by His grace in my life. I have found how to be content and joyful even in the midst of pains and struggles. I am still learning and growing in how to better be a youth pastor, but thanks to my Senior Pastor and Jesus I continue to get better.
With Love,
Dan
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Finally
So after way too long I am giving you a life update.
As many of you know my struggle with moving here was the likelihood of loneliness. Now that I have been here for nine months things in that department have really fallen into place. I love my church and am able to go over to people's houses on a regular basis. Furthermore, I have made a lot of friends at one of the the local colleges called Moody. Its been really good for me and I am really loving how things are going in my life.
Youth group is going well and can't wait to see where things go from here. Our discipleship group that meets Sunday nights has been going outstanding. The students have been wrestling and discussing deeper truths of scripture. My relationship with my students continues to grow and I just love them all so much. I pray that God will continue to use me to impact their lives for Christ.
Another thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is who am I becoming. I realize as a 22 year old my thinking and who I am isn't set. My habits aren't fully set either. While I am not saying older people can't change but as you get older its harder and harder to change. With that being said I have really started to look into some key areas in my life that I feel aren't up to par. One key area is cleanliness. While seemingly not a huge deal I feel it is important to get a hold of. If I live with someone again I want to be able to respect them and our space. Being messy has no benefits and only feds my laziness. I have tried to remedy this by cleaning every day this week since I have gotten home. We will see how long this lasts. They say it takes 40 days to form a habit. I am on day 3 so only 37 more to go, hopefully I will make it. My second area is money matters, while I don't feel I am absurd with my money I eat out at least once a week if not like three. This is a waste of money, and isn't good for me. I have started to buy healthier food and cook for myself. This saves my money and health. Which lastly brings me to my last area health. I am trying to exercise more and eat healthier. Heart disease is the number one killer in America. I don't desire this to be me, but I know unless I change things drastically it very well could be. Ultimately I want to honor God with my home, my money and my health. I have made some steps in the right direction and will continue to do so. So if you are in Spokane, lets hang out cook some healthy food and go on a bike ride!
Love,
Dan
As many of you know my struggle with moving here was the likelihood of loneliness. Now that I have been here for nine months things in that department have really fallen into place. I love my church and am able to go over to people's houses on a regular basis. Furthermore, I have made a lot of friends at one of the the local colleges called Moody. Its been really good for me and I am really loving how things are going in my life.
Youth group is going well and can't wait to see where things go from here. Our discipleship group that meets Sunday nights has been going outstanding. The students have been wrestling and discussing deeper truths of scripture. My relationship with my students continues to grow and I just love them all so much. I pray that God will continue to use me to impact their lives for Christ.
Another thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is who am I becoming. I realize as a 22 year old my thinking and who I am isn't set. My habits aren't fully set either. While I am not saying older people can't change but as you get older its harder and harder to change. With that being said I have really started to look into some key areas in my life that I feel aren't up to par. One key area is cleanliness. While seemingly not a huge deal I feel it is important to get a hold of. If I live with someone again I want to be able to respect them and our space. Being messy has no benefits and only feds my laziness. I have tried to remedy this by cleaning every day this week since I have gotten home. We will see how long this lasts. They say it takes 40 days to form a habit. I am on day 3 so only 37 more to go, hopefully I will make it. My second area is money matters, while I don't feel I am absurd with my money I eat out at least once a week if not like three. This is a waste of money, and isn't good for me. I have started to buy healthier food and cook for myself. This saves my money and health. Which lastly brings me to my last area health. I am trying to exercise more and eat healthier. Heart disease is the number one killer in America. I don't desire this to be me, but I know unless I change things drastically it very well could be. Ultimately I want to honor God with my home, my money and my health. I have made some steps in the right direction and will continue to do so. So if you are in Spokane, lets hang out cook some healthy food and go on a bike ride!
Love,
Dan
Monday, January 17, 2011
Jesus Our Healer
It has been quite some time since a last blogged and for that I apologize. There have been my thoughts, ideas, happenings, etc. That I wanted to blog about but never seemed to get to it. With that being said I am doing well. I am loving being a youth pastor. These last 7 months have been a huge blessing. I continue to grow and be stretched. The church family is fantastic and I love them all. But I do have a special heart for my students it has been a such a privilege to work with and along side them. I am pumped about 2011. This is going to be an exciting year full of exciting things. To many for one blog post however, one of them being a Discipleship group that I recently started. Last night we had our second time together. It was great just to lead the students in discussion and listen and watch as they taught each other. This will be a life changing experience for those who let it be.
This last Sunday I was able to preach for the second time at my church. I preached on Jesus being our healer. We so often see Jesus as a physical healer and not a person who can heal my wounded heart. Or we don't see him as big enough or powerful enough to effect change. This is nothing short of a flat out lie. Jesus is a healer, able to heal your deepest darkest wounds. Regardless if you were hurt by someone close to you or your own sins. If this is something you struggle with then I would encourage you to do a few things. First find someone who you can be real and honest with. Second be real and honest with God. Once that happens try to let it go. Because only then is God able to heal. I am not saying you won't still feel pain, but I am saying he can free you from it controlling you. Let his love fill you, and let go of the pain.
Love,
Dan
P.S. Click on the link to go to the sermon (however will on be available for a few weeks)
Sermon: Jesus our Healer
This last Sunday I was able to preach for the second time at my church. I preached on Jesus being our healer. We so often see Jesus as a physical healer and not a person who can heal my wounded heart. Or we don't see him as big enough or powerful enough to effect change. This is nothing short of a flat out lie. Jesus is a healer, able to heal your deepest darkest wounds. Regardless if you were hurt by someone close to you or your own sins. If this is something you struggle with then I would encourage you to do a few things. First find someone who you can be real and honest with. Second be real and honest with God. Once that happens try to let it go. Because only then is God able to heal. I am not saying you won't still feel pain, but I am saying he can free you from it controlling you. Let his love fill you, and let go of the pain.
Love,
Dan
P.S. Click on the link to go to the sermon (however will on be available for a few weeks)
Sermon: Jesus our Healer
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