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serving, our part in the Story & harry potter

July 15, 2011 in adventure, student ministry, thoughts with Comments Off

 the amazing d2s11 team!                                                                                        

i’ve not made it to the final chapter of Harry Potter Story, but hope too. and in the last couple of days have finished up several projects including four days of Kingdom work in mansfield with Dare2Serve11. i guess i’m trying to weave together some random thots on why there is such engagement with the fictional harry potter and our own lives and especially in the lives of our students.

wrapping up the week-long serving opportunity with an incredible group of 140 students and adults it was clear, as we worked together we all want our stories to matter. there was conversation about the final release of HP coming. and in our small group times the similarities to another epic story – the lord of the rings rung out as we talked about living life fully for the Kingdom.  thot this post over at red letter christians : Why We Are Drawn to Harry Potter Theology by Danielle Tumminio offered some sense.

As movie theatres reel the final film, and as we reflect on the years we shared with members of Dumbledore’s Army, perhaps this is the takeaway: Seek.

Seek with all your heart and all your soul and with your closest friends by your side.

If you do, you may find yourself on an unpredictable path to places you never knew existed. You may meet people so unlike you that they could be properly called a centaur and you a house elf. You may walk into a dark and forbidden forest. You may battle your greatest enemy.

we all want our lives to matter.  when we risk stepping out and serving, wherever, huge things can happen…and its as clear as the  text message i received from andie, a freshman and one of the students on the d2s11 trip…before i was even home from dropping everyone off to step back into their regular lives...yep!

mission:alabama ~ronnie’s story

June 24, 2011 in adventure, student ministry with Comments Off

Mission:Alabama 2011 New Hope Community Church

been a crazy couple of weeks. most important i was part of team of 18 students and adults who headed off to AL to help with Paul Turner’s Rebuild Alabama Paul is on staff at Pleasant Grove Assembly in Pleasant Grove. Rebuild Alabama is his effort to coordinate teams of student ministries who are willing to engage and help rebuild the tornado ravaged area.

I’m not sure any of us were really ready for the destruction we saw. its been 7 weeks since those EF4 monsters ripped through this area on the north westside of Birmingham. Our host at Pleasant Ridge Baptist, Fred kept saying it was like a “war zone”. having never been exposed to a “war zone” none of us knew what to expect.

one story that captured our memory was that of Ronnie. Ronnie lives in Adjer, AL and his area was equally hard hit. He lost his home and is currently living in garden shed from Home Depot. I took the team of guy students on our second afternoon to see if we could pull down some precariously perched tree limbs. Ronnie insisted on giving us a tour of what was left of his home. watch the video and you’ll see what we encountered. (more after the jump)

The high winds and storm freaked all of us out.  And unfortunately we weren’t able to do any work for Ronnie on this trip. We did stop by on our way out to pray with him and offer him some encouragement. We were humbled by his disappointment, not in our inability of doing work, but in what he said was “not getting to know us better.” I was glad we returned after the storm passed and we were able to help him re-secure a canopy over his current shelter.  He shared that the reason he wanted us to see his home wasn’t so much to see the destruction as to see the wall outside his mother’s bedroom.  Like many homes, that wall was filled with photos and family heirlooms.

Ronnie's Cross - in video at 0:48

the only thing left on the wall, that didn’t fall off was the cross.  He shared with me that several folks have tried to take it down, but he just won’t let them.  what’s interesting too, is that a group from Indiana showed up several days after the tornado.  During that visit, Ronnie made a profession of faith.  He was humbled by God having saved his and his mother’s lives and for the kindness of complete strangers to show him Christ’s love.  He’s story has been contagiously shared by the team.  attitude is everything.

freedom!

June 3, 2011 in adventure, culture, thoughts with Comments Off

this will make your friday and maybe even the weekend. what joy when we accomplish a dream. the only thing to have made this better would be for our young friend to shout “FREEDOM!” at the conclusion. enjoy.

ht lanie roberts

freerunning…think i’ve found my new sport…

April 5, 2011 in adventure, thoughts with Comments Off

all the good stuff starts in cali…wow.

sweet glory hallelujah symc!

March 13, 2011 in adventure, music, student ministry, thoughts with Comments Off

symc was filled with so many good things…and the OC Supertones were one more. For more than ten years and with seven albums and millions of fans the O.C. Supertones were renowned as the premiere rock – ska band in the land.   so in the company of 3,000 of those fans (some established from almost a decade ago…to others by the end of the night.) it was a great closing to the last night of the conference. Love that throughout their performance their heart was and still is…”to glorify God and to edify His people.”

 

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