sometime things take much longer than you’d like them to…
this is one of those instances. but, i’m glad to tell you that i got three of the video segments i have from africa uploaded to google video. how do you access them, you ask? easy. look to the right of this page. see that? it’s called a sidebar. it has different sections. one of those sections is titled “africa videos.” click on one of those three videos: africa slideshow, mooré rap, or welcome song. that will direct you over to google video, where the video is being hosted. while you’re there, maybe rate the videos for me and leave a comment if you feel so inclined.
God bless!
not a word we use a lot, but it should be part of our lives…
first off, what does it mean? the word koinonia is a greek word found in the new testament. it’s found a dozen times in the new testament, and refers to fellowship. not fellowship in the coffee-and-donuts way, though. koinonia takes fellowship to a completely new level.
i’ve recently been learning the power in koinonia fellowship. as a youth ministry, we’ve now started small groups on wednesday night as part of our time together. we gather together, sing a couple songs of worship, i introduce the study for the night and take us through the word, and then we break into smaller groups where we can make application to our lives and pray for each other. in just the few weeks we’ve been doing small groups, i’ve had students openly confessing things to others in the group, students praying for each other, and also following up with each other.
i’ve been meeting with a small group of guys at a coffee shop in redmond for years now. we gather together, study the word, make application to our lives, and pray for each other. this typically results in follow-up calls through the week to check in with each other, and accountability is developed.
so i still haven’t adequately defined what koinonia is. as i mentioned above, its not coffee and donuts. we throw the word “fellowship” around a lot at church. people talking as they’re going into service is “fellowship.” women chatting between services is “fellowship.” men saying hi as they pass in the parking lot is “fellowship.” is this right? it might be fellowship, but it’s definitely not koinonia fellowship. taken from thayer’s greek-english lexicon, koinonia is “fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse.” strong words to give definition to koinonia.
the early church was growing exponentially. at peter’s sermon, three thousand were converted. after the healing of the lame man, another five thousand were saved. yet we read in acts 2 that they were meeting from house to house. eight thousand in a house? i don’t think so. i have to believe the house to house meetings were much smaller and intimate. they still went to the temple to worship, but they gathered in houses for koinonia. these meetings take on many different names and identities. i’ve heard them called koinonia groups, home studies, house to house, home fellowships. the list is endless. and the name doesn’t really matter. what really matters is, are you in koinonia? do you have a person or group that you meet with during the week that knows your struggles, prays for you in good times and bad, and isn’t afraid to ask you the tough questions? is there someone you gather with that points you to the word, leads you to the cross, and directs you to Jesus?
i’m glad i didn’t make blogging more often one of my new year’s resolutions…
because that would be a resolution i’d be failing miserably at.
in fact, i didn’t make any new year’s resolutions, so i guess i’m good in all respects. i just looked at the date and realized that i’m well over a week into this new year and still haven’t made a post. my apologies to those of you who read and have been wondering where i’m at. to answer that question, all i can say is i’m still here, but digging my way out of a pile on my desk. that’s why i think i need a bigger desk. i keep getting more papers handed to me and created by me, but i have nowhere to set them anymore. things have been pretty busy lately, and i don’t anticipate they’ll lighten any before my trip to africa.
i’ve been having some thoughts and ideas rolling through my head, though, so when i get a chance to formulate them more i’ll put them up here for you all to read. things with the youth ministry have been going well (we just made a few minor changes at the start of the year) and we’re getting ready for an outreach tomorrow night and a 4 day winter camp next weekend. if you want to see a little more about the youth ministry i’m involved in, you can check out the other blog i author for our youth. you can find it by clicking here. while you’re there, poke around and read a few comments. it’s a pretty fun blog that the students get to be involved with.
sorry there’s not much of a point to this post. just wanted to let you readers know i haven’t forsaken this blog in 2008 and there will be more content coming up soon.
i got my visa and my travel immunizations, so i’m ready…
don’t i wish it were that easy. yes, i got my visa stamp in my passport earlier this week and i got my mmr (measles, mumps, rubella) shot last week, my tickets showed up in the mail today, and all of the travel plans have been arranged. one small detail, though…
teaching! as i mentioned in my first post concerning africa (click here to read), i’m going over to teach at a pastor’s school that is just forming. i will actually be at the inaugural conference. what a privilege to get in on the ground-level and see how God will use this school to equip pastor’s to teach the Word of God. i’ve digressed from my point. my point is, i’ll be teaching. i was able to have lunch yesterday with one of the guys i’ll be meeting in africa and teaching alongside while there. he is actually lining out all of the teaching schedule for the five of us that will be teaching. i found out yesterday that he and i will be splitting up the old testament book of joshua. i must confess, i’m quite intimidated. this guy left his profession as a doctor to go to seminary and is now pastoring a church in washington state. its humbling to think that i’ll be teaching next to this guy (as well as the others). in fact, God has been humbling me a lot lately. i continue to cling to the promise that God uses the foolish things, because thats the category i think i belong.
so pray for me in the coming weeks as i begin studying joshua and considering what the Lord wants to share with the burkina pastors. again, if you want to learn more about the ministry in burkina faso, click here. wennam ya somma – God is good (in burkinabe´)
i’ve been rolling this around in my head for a week or so now…
do you ever feel out of place, like you just don’t belong? when you get around certain friends, do you have trouble fitting in? if so, good!
i just finished reading a book about how to deal with peer pressure. it wasn’t for me, but i did get some interesting insights out of it. the reason i read it is because starting in january i’m going to be working with a small group of students from our youth ministry, working to disciple them and develop them in their christian character and leadership. one theme that seems to run through the book is to not worry about fitting in with other people, but being the person God has created you to be. you are unique. i know its cliche now, but its true.
speaking of unique, check out this video i uploaded to google yesterday. a little home video, but not of me.
yes, those were duck slippers and a ball cap with an 18″ bill. a little shopping spree in the rogue valley mall, jcpenney’s to be specific. we were down visiting family friday and saturday. let’s just say the video is a result of a white elephant gift exchange.
but the timing couldn’t have been better. i had just finished reading the book when this video footage was shot. i thought, “that’s it! why do we worry so much about blending in?” think about Jesus. Jesus was among all the people, but i have to believe He was radically different. not in His clothing or appearance, but the way He carried Himself and interacted with the people. so many people today thing getting a tattoo will make them unique. the funny thing is, most people now have them, so the people without the tattoos seem to be the unique ones. the same goes for clothes, cars, computers, and the like. these things don’t make us unique.
if you want to be unique, live your life for Jesus. walk in relationship with Him every day and see where He takes you. see what opportunity He opens up for you to minister for Him. when you do this, you’ll stand out. in fact, you’ll shine! people will see it, and if you’re diligent to give glory to where its due, they will glorify our Heavenly Father!
merry christmas
that is, if the Lord wills…
let me put extra emphasis on “if the Lord wills.” i tried to go to africa last year and it didn’t happen. instead, i went to paris and back in 36 hrs, sleeping in charles de gaulle airport. i can look back and laugh about it now, but at the time it was exhausting, discouraging, frustrating and the like.
it all started with a snow storm in chicago, which cancelled my flight out of redmond, oregon on a tuesday morning. we re-booked our tickets and were supposed to fly out later that day. we waited in the lobby most of the day, made it into the terminal, waited to board, and then heard the announcement. “flight xxxx from redmond to san francisco has been cancelled due to mechanical problems.” by now the day was shot and there was absolutely no way we would make our connection in paris. i went home and spent about 6 hrs on the phone with air france and united that night, trying to work out new tickets to get to africa. thinking i had it all sorted out, i headed to the airport on wednesday morning. by this time my travel partner had decided to bag the trip and try again in a year or so. not me, though. i was determined (a nice way of saying stubborn). so i got to the airport on wednesday morning, now holding tickets with united, air france, and royal air maroc. the lady at the ticket counter checked me in and wished me well. i was on my way!
redmond to san francisco, no problem. smooth flight. san francisco to london heathrow, no problem. london to paris, no problem. paris to ouagadougou (wah-gah-doo-goo), problem. by the time i landed in paris my flight to africa was already gone. next available seat to africa – one week. on a two week trip, with 3 or 4 days of travel, that would only leave me a matter of days in africa. no money for a hotel, no travel partner for accountability, no way to africa. the solution? get on the phone with united and get some tickets home. what a fiasco. not that it was all bad, though. it gave me a great topic of conversation on the flights home, and i got to share the Lord with several people as a result.
so that’s my africa story. if the Lord wills, i’ll make it to africa this year. i’ll be helping a couple that builds church roofs and also be teaching at a couple of bible schools and conferences. i’ll post more on it later, but if you want to see more about this ministry, you can check out their website by clicking here. its a great ministry, and i’m blessed to be able to go this year. the trip will be in february, but the immunizations and visa processes start now. as i make progress, i’ll keep you posted.
i think i used up my average word count for the week in one night…
i was worried that last night was going to end up being a really short study, when in fact i ended up being a bit long-winded. as i posted on monday, we took a look at the “i am” statements that Jesus made in the gospel of john. we didn’t, however, look at all seven of them. good thing, too, or we would have been at it all night. we ended up taking a look at the first four statements made by Jesus. they are:
• i am the bread of life (john 6:35)
• i am the light of the world (john 8:12)
• i am the door for the sheep (john 10:7)
• i am the good shepherd (john 10:11)
i must say i don’t feel like i did any of the texts justice, but that’s up to the Lord. i so appreciate teachers who can take any text and make you see Jesus in them. after all, Jesus did say in john 5:39, “you search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
i must confess i often take too much of a pharisaic approach to my reading. i look for neat insights, helpful information, rules and regulations, instead of looking for Jesus. i know that the purpose of the Bible is to point me to Jesus, to give me a greater understanding of Jesus, but i often miss that. last night was a good reminder for me, though.
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