Video from Portland mission trip

So here is a video from the recent mission trip to Portland. Abbey Howard you are stellar for doing an awesome job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpqUZymRU7A

I have been challenged...

This past week was awesome. I went with the senior high youth from the church I have been interning at for the summer (Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene) on a mission trip to The Community of Adsideo in Sellwood, Oregon. We spent the week with them. And it was flat out awesome.
How many times in the Bible do we see community being talked about? A lot is the answer I am looking for. How many times does your average church here in the US actually get involved with the community? Not a whole lot.
But this was a different story. This church really practices being the embodiment of Christ to those there in Sellwood and Portland as a whole. The people of this church have a remarkable desire to know people, no matter who they are, at a deep level of community.
This is what church is intended to be about. It's about being the church, and being Jesus the whole week! Not just for 90 minutes on a Sunday morning.
Adsideo challenged me, and I am stoked for the future. I hope you are too...

Peace and Love

It is well with my soul... Dedicated to those who have passed this week

This week has been rough. A few people that I have known have gone on to heaven. Today at the memorial service for one of those people, this hymn was sung. If anyone ever needs encouragement, I would suggest reading the story behind the author. It is pretty awesome stuff. To go through the things he went through yet to still say, "It is well with my soul," is downright incredible. But this is what faith in Jesus Christ is all about. Just this past week I read of how even through losing your oldest son who was just twenty years old, a father could still sign off a letter, "With great joy in a great God!"

It Is Well with My Soul

Text: Horatio G. Spafford
Music: Philip P. Bliss

---

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
 when sorrows like sea billows roll;
 whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
 It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
 It is well with my soul,
 it is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
 let this blest assurance control,
 that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
 and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
 (Refrain)

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
 My sin, not in part but the whole,
 is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
 praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
 (Refrain)

4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
 the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
 the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
 even so, it is well with my soul.
 (Refrain)

The world has lost a great man but heaven has gained him

I was so deeply saddened by the passing of Ben. It doesn't seem fair at all to me. He was a friend. One that I didn't know too well, but still, a friend. He was almost always smiling and this is what sticks out to me about him. Maybe God brought him to this earth for the purpose of brightening people's days. I think that is a possibility. Thank you Ben...

do this peeps!

Matthew 25:35 & 36
"35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'"

Jesus is calling us to do this... Why don't we? Let's get on it!

San Francisco....

Was awesome.
For those of you that don't know, I went on a mission trip down there with the junior highers from my church. It was great. We went with the organization CSM (Center for student missions.) They did an awesome job. It was probably the busiest mission trip I have been on, and one of the coolest. We worked with the homeless, poor, kids, AIDS victims, tons of people. It was awesome to be able to give food to people, to show them love, to play with kids. Just great stuff. I wish I was back there.

it's been a really long time.

It has been forever since I have blogged...
So much has happened since my last blog.

1) I finished my junior year of college
It wasn't my favorite year of my life. This school year I kind of just pulled away. For those of you that don't know (which I don't really know why you would be reading this if you don't), I am a missionary kid. As a missionary kid I am also seen as a third culture kid. This means that I have a home culture which is my parents, another place that I call home, and I have lived in a place which is neither of those two. Because of both of the previous criteria, this means that I am different to your average American kid, or your average kid anywhere really. It also means that I have experiences that most of my peers have not had. It also means that I don't really consider America home. Being a TCK also means that I really miss being around others who know who I feel. Because of all of the previously stated facts, I just don't really get all that close to my average peer at NNU. I get close by their standards. This is because I can generally act like them and even talk like them. But I am still missing out, and longing for that connection I made with friends in boarding school and with other MKs. Anyways, with all of that said, I sort of was tired of life, and tired of faking being close to people. So I withdrew, and I basically hung out by myself for most of the year. It was a good time for me. It was a good time to sort of think through my life.

2) I went to Mexico with a team from NNU going with Amor Ministries.
This trip was awesome. I had been longing for some third culture experiences basically since I got back from my last experience last summer. And I had also been planning this trip with a professor and three other students. The team that we had was awesome. It was great to be with some neat people, and above all to really just do the work that God calls us each to do. He calls us to love one another, and what better way than to build a house for fellow human beings. It was just great. I loved being on bumby roads again, and I actually liked being back in horrible traffic. Mexico is a great place. I hope that I can remember some of the lessons I learned on that trip.

3) I started a summer internship
This summer I am the Pastoral Intern at my church, Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene. It has been a great experience so far. I share an office with the youth pastor, who is pretty neat. The rest of the staff are great too. So far I really have learned a lot about church dynamics, and how the pastoral staff work together. It has been a busy job, and everday I learn something new.


So those are really the highlights.

It seems to me like I am really just stuck right now. I have kind of reached a point where I am fed up with some things. Life is good. But at the same time it is meaningless. And I find that all around me there are just more and more things that can hinder our relationship with Christ.

I am tired of politics. I am tired of egos. I am tired of the media. I am tired of...

it goes on