Well the past three days of my life have been some pretty insane and crazy sweet days.
Starting off with Wednesday… Well all I can say is that prayer meeting was really cool. PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED! We had a whole bunch of outreach come!!! We had three outreach come to HC the next day! However, I will bring that back up later. Anyways, after prayer meeting, we headed to go swim at Adi’s but first Doddoo and I went to get some pizza to eat. It was one of the most gas-consuming trips Doddo and I ever had! Firstly, we went to the Pizza Hut on Fishcreek, but it wasn’t ordered there so we had to call Adi to find out where she ordered it. We found out that it was at the one on Graham Rd near Graham Square. So we head for the Hut on Graham to find one minor problem… the Hut was demolished sometime in the past! We decided to head for the one on Kent Rd but later found out that it was on State Rd! Lucky for us, we had my handy Queen Greatest Hits album to keep us on edge and enjoying the wasted time of driving! So we finally get to State Rd after an hour of driving. And we look into the sky and see a massive pitch black cloud hovering overhead. We get our pizza and then head back. As we’re heading back, the sky lit up pure white from from pure darkness with each lightning strike. Before we hit Kyle’s development, we saw a monstrous lightning struck in the YMCA clearing. It was probably the coolest flash of lightning I have ever seen and probably won’t see something as impressive for a while! Then when we got back we finally sat down and had some well deserved pizza! It was a great and adventrous day, even though Doddo and I never got the chance to swim :(.
Thursday… Well Thursday is always an eventful day, but on June 28, 2007 our bi-weekly Home Church was packed with peeps! Beginning with our HC teaching, Diana did a wonderful job discussing how we are alienated from God and how we can recover from the Fall. Personally, I thought Diana really came in with some spiritual confidence. The whole time I spent time trying to think of something to share, since we had so much outreach come. I was glad that Keith really just made me spit out what I could think of, and I managed to share something worthwhile to hear!It was really cool to just see so many people come. I really do pray that some new-timers can continue to come back! And that we can really share the gospel with them! Its always a heart-warming experience to witness new people coming, especially when several come at a time. However that doesn’t mean that everything is all good from there. Christ wants to test our faith and he does it in one way by really trying to see us really reach out to our friends and not just by successfully bringing them to body activities. On our own personal levels, he tests each of us to see how willing we are to just step out of ourselves and really just speak the gospel to the lost. He’s testing me personally right now with my friend Alex. I did have one good talk with him at last Word, but it isn’t over! Which is what makes one of the real tests in my spiritual walk, continued love to my friends and to give them the gospel…
After the HC teaching, we decided to play soccer which turned out to be a real blast! We used the soccer courts at the SMFHS and had a blast! It was some real fun and enjoyable fellowship! It was also quite a knock out, literally. I was struck with a full-blast soccer ball from BK kicked into my nuts, I was struck in my nuts again by Tom, I was smashed in the face by Justin’s rock solid body, and my lung was smashed by Neil. For a little bit I couldn’t breathe! The funny thing was, this always happen to me, I seem to be very prone to danger and excitement! Even though our team lost, the game was all-in-all a hell of a time! I was fricken thirsty too! And then after, we went to DQ for some ice cream action. A really cool time, I just hope we’ll see some continued coming of outreach and pray some new people can come in the future! Not just to come, but to come to the realization that they need Christ, and that they may receive Christ as their personal savior…
And lastly, Friday… Well besides the delightful paycheck I recieved at work (cha ching!), I had the chance to see The Doors tribute band, Mojo Rising… Kyle, B, Tray (outreach from HC), Tray’s girlfriend (arg forgot it), Mike, and I all went to the Lock 3 Live concert to see this tribute band. At first, I wasn’t sure how’d it turn out. I personally haven’t been a giant Doors fan and only know a few songs. However when they got on stage and started playing it was a real treat! Firstly, the lead singer, Ron Speck (330-882-6018), sounds just like Jim Morrison and really played the role well. They were smokin’ their cigars and cigarette. They had one of those candles that have the long wax drip. The Keyboardist did well, they all did well! There were some crazy fans there too. This one girl especially, jumped onto the stage to jump onto Ron. Yeah it was pretty crazy… not the most edifying event you can go to, but hey hangin out wit Kyle, B, Mike, and Tray was fun. Man its always about havin’ friends to relate to wherever you go!
Being a part of the Xenos body of Christ is really one in a million! I have to say this, I don’t think there’s any cooler group of teens in my life. Not to mention, it has the coolest adult leaders too! I can honestly say, I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for God’s use of this body of Christ in my life. I started off in this fellowship as a little punk jr. higher in 7th grade. I was one of the most whiny, bitchy, and selfish kids around! And if God didn’t present me to the faithful and ever willing Xenoids, no one would have wanted to take on my not-so-delightful personality, and I may have still been the punk I was, or worse. I would probably be a warrior of the Kosmos then Christ.
So all I can really say is thank you God for giving me such loving and godly people as Kyle, Keith, and Steve. Kyle was the one guy who was not willing to let me get my way. Whenever it was time for cell, he’d always shut off the damn x-box, and I always got super pissed. Whenever we did get to play, he’d always knock me off to get other people a chance to play. Steve did the same except he’d constantly annoy me. Especially when I didn’t want anyone to screw around with me, he’d always have the nerve to push that one button that says “DON’T PUSH.” Nothing was more frustrating then dealing with Kyle and Steve in the jr. high years… But the other thing was I always had a blast at cell group, and I always went. Even though it took me years to finally catch on to how selfish and whiny I was, Kyle and Steve were always there to keep pushing that one button. Even though it helped me to be a little more cool-minded, Kyle and Steve were only hitting me on the surface, which helped a lot more then you might think. Thankfully, God put Keith into my life to really attack me at the core… Now that might not sound so good, but if you knew how I was in jr. high and early high school, it was the one thing I needed. What Keith would do was just act so cool but at the same time, be able to argue with me about something stupid like me wanting to do what I want. Eventually, one day came, and Keith let loose on me and really told me how he felt about how I have acted for the years I have spent at Xenos. At first, I reacted with my usual saltiness, but after a day or two, it finally began to sink in. The Holy Spirit was revealing to me how selfish I really am and how much of a jerk I was. Now that didn’t mean everything was good, it just meant it was the real beginning of my walk with Christ and my attempt to take on the identity of Christ and be a soldier for Him!
Well for the past two days, I’ve had a lot of time to think. So many thoughts run through my head, it’s like a large wave of water smashing against the a rocky beach. When I have pleasurable thoughts, they always involve the blessings in my life and the past events of my life that were exciting and really just good ol’ plain fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. These thoughts themselves are all blessings of the Lord because they all involve my body of Christ and my family. Oh how wonderful it is to know how much I am loved, by my savior, the friends who I have served with in the body of Christ, and my family.
So many things have been on my mind… Upcoming events in the near future like: the upcoming prayer meeting on Wednesday, my junior high cell (well a little bit at least :P), Friday’s concert at Lock 3, and always CT and Word on Saturday… But two other particular things have really encased my mind.
The first thing is the thoughts of trying to restore others who are currently absent from the body of Christ. My friend Steve in particular. Steve and I have been friends since we were really young, around 5th grade! We really came to be close friends when I became a part of a his and Kyle’s cell group which was a cell of the Xenos Christian Fellowship. As a junior higher, I was one of the most stubborn, outspoken, and cute children ever known to mankind. Through the “tender loving care” of Kyle, Steve, and the “loving” Keith, I have grown to become wiser, somewhat more “cool-minded”, and a lot more thankful for the things I have…
Nowadays though, Steve recently left Xenos on not so good terms… Which has really left a thorn in my side. Divisions only cause suffering, and if we are divided then we must suffer because then the body isn’t complete if it isn’t in one body… Steve has been my friend for a good seven years now, and this division has really had an affect on I. I want this to end, and I struggle with letting Jesus help me with this area of my life. I want to have Steve back but I am afraid. The fear that isn’t edifying; the fear that leads me away from Christ. Thankfully, however, I have brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who are helping me realize my selfishness and my hesitance to let Christ help me. Since I’m not perfect, I will always have this struggle, but that is different then pulling through. I will struggle with myself for the rest of my life, but there will always be victories as long as I turn to Christ every time! Oh, how wonderful it is to know that Christ will always come to my aid no matter how many times I turn away from him. And with confidence in Christ, I can always be able to turn to him for aiding me in my life. I hope to be able to express with to Steve too and let the Spirit convict him. When I am more matured or when the opportunity arrives, I know that if I give the situation over to God, he will be glorified!
The second thing is a certain someone in my life. The thoughts are “overwhelming” (pun intended) much more often then they used to be. It’s always a funny thought sometimes because its the basis for so many love stories, the concept of “Eros”, or overwhelming love. Some stories are nice and warm but some are just stupid… like The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet… what morons! They barely even knew each other, and they killed themselves other each other! What child-like stupidity! How often I wish that love stories were mainly focused on the concept of “agape” love, or unconditional/sacrificial love. Agape love is so powerful, edifying, and joyous! No one expresses greater agape love then my savior, Jesus Christ. The sacrificial love of Christ for mankind is the greatest love story in the history of the universe (and there isn’t a doubt about it)! Oh writing about Jesus is such an edifying thing in itself! I can not express how great of a god, God is! However, continuing with my main topic… One thing about her that attracts me more then anything is her loyalty to the Lord! Her desire to do the Lord’s will! Those characteristics are enough in themselves to make my eyes spread wide open! For a long while, I have avoided dating because my basis for dating was of selfishness and self-gratification, which is why God has protected me from it, no matter how much I longed for it, he knew what was best for me and had me suffer in order to learn the truth! Thank God! He saved me from a pit of evil and suffering, one which I was so willing to dive into! However through the Lord’s discipline, I am slowly growing stronger in him, and, recently, I have been experiencing true brokenness. Which is strengthening me! What a concept, aye? Strength in weakness and brokenness. How inverse of the Kosmos’ ideals. How different of the world’s idea of love and power! Love, what a concept! I apologize again for my loss of topic but it is hard to keep all my thoughts inside when I am so joyous and thankful for my Lord’s love! So, anyways, for the first time I want to date someone with the mind of Christ and to be serving to my significant other and to be willing to make sacrifices for her and to be able to struggle together with her and to be able to be open and vulnerable with her…
Well it was a very expressive blog tonight… I hope to continue blogging!! 