Hunger

This indeed is the time of year for food. Delicious food at that. And I really love delicious food. Lately just this idea of hunger has kinda been all around me. The more time I spend with the Homeless and broken, the more awesome that it is, and yet more difficult at the same time and I really haven't spent that much time loving on them. I go to Food Not Bombs every week for a feeding at Finlay park, it's very cool and a great opportunity to network with Christians as well as non-christians who care for the homeless.

Lately though it's been interesting to really think about the situation at hand. I've had several people tell me that the homeless in Columbia may in fact be OVER fed, getting opportunities to have 6 meals a day. It would appear that when people think Homelessness and how to fight it, instantly we think... oh we'll go give them food. Don't get me wrong here, food is vital, and there are plenty of people who really are struggling to get food, but what are we doing to end the root causes of this hunger?

It's interesting because this has been going through my mind for a while, and I want to know what I can do to fight poverty, to get people out of their situations, and not just helping them be comfortable where they are. I believe that Jesus wants me to love everyone just as they are, and I'm fine with that, but to not long for them to get into a better situation, or to not long for them to hunger for Jesus has to be a huge part of what I do.

Two cool things to check out:


and also Sunday's podcast from Midtown, Jon Ludavina talked about Knowing God and hungering for him.

Baptiso

Tonight 25 people from Midtown Fellowship were baptized. It was awesome I got to be one of them. Baptism is an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone in the right context. Of course there is debate and people way smarter than me have different thoughts but I believe that it is a symbol of going public with our decision to join Jesus. To join him in his death and resurrection as Romans puts it:
Romans 6
"1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

It truly was a beautiful picture of how Jesus worked in the lives of all 25 people, and the spotlight was on him. Families and friends and even some strangers gathered to celebrate what Christ has done in the lives of so many. I got lucky and got a surprise visit from my girlfriend which was so great and now I'm really pumped to spend next weekend with her. I really do have a new hope and sense of what it is that I'm trying to do by following Jesus. Each day I'm dying to what I want or think I need and giving it over to Jesus and acknowledging that I'm pretty dumb and that what he wants to do is way better than what I could ever think up and it's actually the best thing ever.

Not to sound like I'm boasting about my deeds, but today I was in the park feeding the homeless because Jesus says we should, and I found myself being blown away at how it is all Jesus in that. A few years ago I could never dream that I would be giving up time to cook for and serve people who need it, and actually enjoy it or not just do it because of a court order. I am just insanely excited about God and can't wait to see what's next. It will be tough because of that whole invitation to die thing, but there is always an even bigger hope of new life through Jesus. And to think getting "Baptiso"-ed (submersed in the Greek) dunked under water could be so amazing.

Not My Gamecocks

My #6 Gamecocks tasted bitter defeat today at the hands of the mighty Vanderbilt Commodores... please take two minutes away from my blog to remember that #6 ranking for it may never come again.

OK it's tough but it is just a game that I had no influence over so I'm actually surprisingly not too upset I have other things to worry about. Today during the game I had the privilege of taking the defensive driving course at Baldwin Driver Training, because I got a ticket in Georgia about 2 weeks ago and now they will drop the points off of my ticket. So it's a sweet little deal. LOOOONG class I was there from 7:30 until 4:00 so my brain was a little fried for most of the day and I played Halo 3 on Michaels Xbox to just relax.

I also got to go back to Lexington and visit my good ol' mom, get a home cooked meal, get a large pot to cook mashed potatoes for homeless people, and some much needed praise time on the car ride both too and from. I love rockin' out to Hillsong in my car. Good times.

Tonight in my quiet time I am just really really reminded of forgiveness and grace.
This week was tough being productive with tons of school work and I found lots of ways to be selfish with my free time and then wanted to hit myself when I realized how much I was wasting. Mute Math, probably my favorite band at the moment, puts it very well in their song OK.

"Down on my knees, down on my face
you just say
it's ok

So many days I've thrown away
but you just say
it's ok

I don't think I could ever repay
your perfect grace
but it's ok

it's ok
it's ok
it's ok
yeah it's ok

you've become my embrace
just tell me that it's ok"

Simple I know, but I love it when Jesus makes the truth simple. It rings in my heart and fills me right back up again.

To end... three things I am stoked about right now.

1)Next weekend I do believe that I will get to go to Charlotte to stay with the Reverend Wade Joye finally which will be awesome.
2)I talked to a friend from North Carolina and he might be comin' to Columbia for Homeless for the Homeless which you should register for right now.
3)I get to see Mute Math November 3rd in Birmingham with my girlfriend :)

Jesus Was Homeless

Indeed he was. He said it in Matthew 8:20 "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." So it's not too surprising that Jesus calls the homeless, the sick, the hungry, the broken, the "least of these" his brothers in Matthew 25:40. Maybe I've just been reading too much Shane Claiborne but I am very excited about opportunities to serve the homeless, and figuring out if we can help it/stop it/make it gone forever. A great opportunity coming up November 16-17 is called Homeless for the Homeless. The last official count of homeless people in Columbia alone is 1,753 so that is the number that Homeless for the Homeless is trying to get to sleep out in Finlay Park to raise the awareness, then the next day will be spent serving all over the city and Tony Campolo will be coming to speak about Homelessness and what it's about and how people get in that situation and what Jesus has to say about it.

I am excited!

Really excited!

I've been trying to find ways to serve, I went to a pot luck lunch yesterday called "Food not Bombs" with some cool people. I took about 20 PB&J's to show off my cooking skills and Megan Venters made some delicious mashed potatoes. It reminded me how simple and how much sense it makes to do little random things like that. They are hungry, I have a few extra dollars to make some food and time, so why not go do it? But what really gets me excited is that by continuing to serve I will build relationships with some of the people and hopefully be able to help them beyond that one meal.

Sorry I know a lot of this is repetitive from my last blog, but that's just kind of where I am at this point in time. So if you will be in Columbia November 16-17 go register right now I made a link up there for Homeless for the Homeless and it's only 15$.

crazy week

this week has been crazy busy, it's one of those weird busy feelings after a long day and you feel really tired and you know you did a lot but you can't even process because you haven't had time. It's a very satisfying feel at the same time though now that I do have time to think, I have gotten to talk to people I haven't seen in literally years, start to fix a bad relationship with an adult who I have always just been weird with, I'm almost finished with Irresistible Revolution which is still amazing and challenging, applied to volunteer at the Oliver Gospel Mission, started a life group with the guys in my house and a few other awesome dudes and I'm very excited, and I'm spent some incredible time with Jesus.

I've truly realized how much it affects me when I don't read about, pray to, and walk with Jesus. Last week I started getting back on track after going several days and it was ridiculous to see how much temptation was in my life to be lazy and sin, and how far I can feel from God if I'm not spending time with him. I love my quiet times though. I admit I can be very random during them. Lately I've started to make to-do lists which are very very helpful. If I'm praying and feel like there is someone I need to talk to, something I should do, or just forgot some random chore I have a list handy to just write it down and continue. I also admit that it makes life way more difficult. I'm constantly struggling with having deeper relationships, being challenged more by Jesus, and to love even when I don't want to at all. It's scary too, to know what God is asking you to do when it's the last thing you want to do. Or even scarier when you don't know the next step and you have to figure it out yourself.

I do love it though and I'm very excited about what is in store. I finally am stepping out and getting involved with homeless ministry, I feel like Jesus talks a lot about especially here in terms of going and loving on "the least of these" and I am trying to take him very literally. Sunday at Finlay park there is a ministry called "Food Not Bombs" which is a pot luck lunch at 1pm for the homeless, you just show up with a dish (i will be cooking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and people come and eat. The most exciting part to me though is the people I will meet. I just pray that somehow I can show that these people are cared for and that God loves them more than they could ever understand instead of seeing "Homo Sex is A Threat to National Security" signs or "Jews Blacks Gays and Sinners will burn in Hell" t-shirts on our street corners by people who aren't spending their time to charge the gates of hell themselves.

Saturday football

Well today is another Saturday in the world of college football. This means an all day affair, of waking up watching pregame football where analysts breakdown all the games and make predictions, then watching all the games, tailgaiting and seeing tons of people (some that you didn't know would be at the game, and some that you wish you maybe didn't see), and then if you want a good seat going in the stadium about an hour early and anxiously anticipate kick-off. Some games are glorious, last week for example when the Gamecocks triumphed over the Georgia Bulldogs and even Rachel Olshine rounded up a Texas crew to cheer on the victory, and some are not so awesome, like the 0-11 season that was experienced in Lou Holtz first year. But I persevere, and tonight at 7 PM we play the South Carolina State Bulldogs, and if we lose then I think it's time to give up caring about football. Probably my favorite part of being at the game though is not really the game itself... it's the atmosphere. I love being right beside my fellas who I can readily joke with and have a good time just talking about the game, and it's good to know that we are probably thinking the same way. For those few hours we can be ridiculous and have a great time and then get tired as crap and come back to the house and eat and watch more football until we are tired. So today I am very thankful for my "mantourage" if you will, and now have to get ready for a long and exciting day.

Back from Kenya

I am back from both Kenya and Alpharetta, GA. It's bittersweet but right now I'm reminiscing about a particular funny situation that we were in while hanging out with college students at the university of Nairobi. They have a Christian group of about 400 that meets every week called "The Journey" and after their 2 hour programming they have like a 2 hour dance party. So here is just a clip of what it's like to be caught in a Kenyan Dance party... aka Aerobic Worship.

28 Days Later

Monday morning around 9:30 AM I depart for Alpharetta, GA. There I will meet up with my Journey team. Twenty strangers who may have a little bit of an idea of who we are through the wonderful world of facebook. We are from all over the country from Hawaii to Indiana, and go to all sorts of different schools and have different stories, different lives, goals, experiences, but somehow all of us have one thing in common. We have no idea what we are getting into.

Too often I like to plan out the way I want my life to unfold. I plan classes, trips, what my routine is on a day to day basis, and yes most of the time I don't consult God on the everyday "normal" things. The beauty of this trip is that I have a rough idea of where I'll be, Kenya, and what I will be doing for some of the time, a sports camp, but have no clue about 90% of what is about to happen.

It puts me in a very awesome situation. I have no choice but to trust God. I have so far to go in terms of being the man that God can make me but I am loving doing this one little bit at a time. I recently watched last week's video cast of Elevation church and Steven Furtick talked about how God changes us little by little. Of course one of the first questions is... why? I mean he is God can't he change me completely and all at once? Well the answer is yeah he could. But then Steven says maybe he doesn't do this because if he did then we would have no need for God.

I may get frustrated about uncertainty or wondering why I can't do certain things yet or get over some issues that just keep bringing me down, but I don't ever want to get to a point where I think I am in complete control of myself and find no need for God.

So I leave you with something I hope speaks into your life, and what I hope God will show me in the 28 days that I'm gone.

Deuteronomy 7:21-23
21 Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. 23 But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

Mandrew vs. Wild

I have expressed before my love of the show Man vs. Wild starring survival super guy, Bear Grylls. I mean even the guys name screams bad to the bone. Fridays at 9PM the Discovery Channel brings into my living room a new episode, but somehow they knew that wouldn't quench my thirst for survival and showed the show literally all day long. I have watched far too many episodes to the point where I've almost tried to convince myself that I could survive in the wild.

Yesterday was my first adventure to Half Moon Outfitters and I felt like a kid at a candy store. If you don't know what it is then you can check it out here but basically it's a shop for all of your outdoor, camping, and nature adventure needs. The people there are really cool and let you test out pretty much anything you want and have probably tested out most of what is in the store. I bought some Chaco sandals after the guy told me that he had spent several months in Kenya climbing mountains in his very own Chaco's.

The other night I went camping out on Lake Murray with some people and it was quite the experience but it left me wanting more. On top of all of the purchases and growing love for the outdoors and doing something adventurous I am reading Mark Batterson's In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, which is very much about taking risks and fighting battles that most people would think you would be crazy to fight. So all of this is mixing in for something that I'm not sure of yet. I feel like all of these things are more than just a coincidence and somehow God wants to use it.

This is my last weekend before going to Kenya and I am getting excited to the point that it is getting hard to sleep. I've been having some really awesome time in prayer and just being as real as I can possibly be with God. I want so bad for God to heal all of Kenya and I've been trying to increase my tiny view of God every time I think of just how messed up things are. One of the coolest ways God has been showing up is in others around me and people who I am actually not even that close to. There have been so many people who have told me that they have prayed for the trip and many people have committed to pray during the trip and it's incredible to know how many people want God to have his glory on that continent.

Extra Dimension

I'm 19 years old, don't have a job, am going to college and still trying to figure out what God wants me to do, and already I'm trying to plan out my next year when I am not even halfway through this one. Yesterday I heard a pretty awesome sermon on money at Midtown Fellowship. Now don't get me wrong I'm totally content with where God has me, I'm in a situation where I can do just fine without a job and I'm blessed to be able to live the life God has given me. But as I was hearing about money I was wishing I had more to offer to God and other people. Then I started making scenarios in my head like "well if I get a job when I come back then I'll be able to give a 10% tithe and help out people who I know need help." But then this added a whole new thought process.

Well, if I have a job then I won't be able to manage school, social life, church, and job that's just too much. And I start to freak out and get stressed and wonder how in the world I am going to be able to handle it because I do know that I probably need to get a job once school starts back, for various reasons.

This morning though as I continue to read through Mark Batterson's In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day I read something that was pretty awesome. Batterson talks about how God is like a parenthesis on our lives. Meaning that he is with us in the things that we are a part of but also just before us and right after us where we can't physically be. He then talks about how God has dimensions to him that we can't even comprehend which is why a day to God can be like thousands of years or thousands of year can be like a day. There are things in this world that to us seem completely impossible to accomplish. But after reading this morning I think that is where we have to just trust God to show up. It's like if we were stuck in a 2D comic strip and were limited just left or right. It would be all that we know and then imagine if we had 3D capabilities, we would be able to jump out of our 2D comic strips and so some amazing things.

What I'm saying here is that all I know is stuck in the world that I am living in. Just things Andrew Stewart, but God knows it all and then some. So if I rely on him then I'm not going to understand how God does things, but I will be able to see some amazing things happen.

Panameño Extremo

Through the yearly ski trips and Chi Alpha '06, I developed a nickname that has proven to be more like myself than I could ever have imagined. Panameño Extremo tends to shine through my personna from time to time without any warning. Yesterday was one of those days.

In honor of Matt Mays's Birthday several of his loyal companions headed over to Prosperity, South Carolina to leave our mark on Lake Murray. The adventure was simple... Tube Wars. It was a deathmatch of 2 vs. 2 on single rider tubes. Rob Watson and myself commandeered one tube whilst Clint Spence and Trey Bostic were our counterparts on the other tube. Philip Mays was our fearless navigator who showed no mercy on the throttle.

Rob and I started off on the wussier tube, but held our ground long enough to cause a collision that forced both of us off of the tubes and then we took over the nicer tube. We did a few more runs in which Rob and I stayed on like true men, but then came the big daddy of them all.

We went over a huge wake and Rob was bobbing on my back with every bump, and then before we knew it, we were swung out of the wake and into unknown terrain. Then Philip swung us right into Clint and Trey and our tube completely turned over and Rob fell off. This is where my extreme nature took over. I was literally hanging on to the tube upside down trying to complete a barrel roll. It was about one of the funnest feelings I've ever had. I was skimming on the water and the tube was holding on to me for dear life. Unfortunately it was a little too difficult to turn it all the way over, but it is needless to say that any other human being would have shown so much mastery over the tube and the elements.

I love the lake.

Tall Duck and Handsome

Tall, Duck, and Handsome was written on the front of quite possibly one of the most awesome shirts I have ever encountered. Yesterday Michael Heaton and myself made a day trip up to Possum Kingdom, South Carolina to visit our friend Paige from USC. She took us around and over to Greenville where we went to an awesome vintage store. It was there that I found that shirt but for some reason I didn't buy it and now I am regretting it.

It was a very fun trip and I am realizing how much I like to just drive somewhere with no real plan and just hang out and talk and have a good time. Greenville is a pretty nice city I must say and I was reconnected with Bellacino's which strangely enough I haven't had in over year and there is one here in Lexington. PIZZA GRINDERS are the best things ever!

As another update on Africa today is the last day to get money in and I have it all paid for I am just waiting on them to update the website and see who may be in need of money and see if I can help them out. The next step is to make sure my passport is gonna get here in time and then get to a goodwill and stock up on clothes. I'm getting very excited and anxious but I also am just enjoying the summer for now.

BigStuf is coming up the 24th and I am stoked.

But for now I'm off to Groucho's.

75th post way after Rachel

Ah so I too have made it to the glory that is 75. And it's quite ironic because yesterday I caught up on many blogs that I haven't been able to read on my 2 week vacation and Rachel Olshine's 75th post was one of them and we talked on the phone since I am now IN.

So let's see what has gone on?

• Orlando taught me that even though you may not see people for long periods of time (especially family), you can still have awesome loving relationships with those people. Me and my dad and family had a blast and it's been about 3 years since I've seen all of them.
  
• Being "IN" actually does feel good, we have the sweet new plan where I can do umlimited messaging and I've been taking advantage of that so if you have verizon, which a million people do, then be on the lookout.
• A break from everything may seem impossible but once you get it, God really does replenish you and make problems that you thought were too big, seem like child's play.
• Rampage World Tour is a never ending video game that gets old after the first 3 levels.
• Guitar Hero is still the love of my life and I am determined to beat Free Bird on Expert.
• Spending time with Clint and Gretchen last week at the beach was just way too much fun, and I never knew that I would like mobile homes as much as I did but they can be very cozy when done right.
• I've realized to non-christians sometimes the very practical things in our lives can seem like very radical things to them. It's something that I think we should be on the lookout for. I mean the tiniest things we believe, say, or do can really blow others away when they come to the first realization of who God is.
• I love People so much!!!!
• Who would have thought that God would provide more money than I need to go to Africa!!! I'm so stoked and hopefully I will have a chance to help provide for some of the other people who might come up short.

It's been an awesome two weeks and I am so stoked about what God continues to do each and every day. I hope this was a good way to make my return to the blog world.

The Kraken Ate My Cell Phone

I kid you not ladies and gentlemen, the Kraken himself has devoured my free cell phone that I got with a two year agreement from Sprint this past week. It was an awesome ride at Seaworld but unfortunately I overestimated my pockets and at some point during the ride it fell out. I really don't think there is any hope of getting it back. I reported it missing and have called back several times and I lost it thursday so I think I may have to get a new one, but the only problem is that I didn't have insurance and my contract doesn't run out until october, so I might be getting a pay as you go phone until then. I really don't know yet.

I've been with my dad since wednesday and it's been a blast. We went to Orlando and went to Sea World, Busch Gardens, Cocoa Beach, Universal Studios, and the Islands of Adventure. I'm pretty worn out though and I am blogging from Savannah Georgia right now and am very ready to get home. God has shown me some cool things on this trip and I will update later.

what's good

1) Lake Murray
2) Jet Ski's
3) Wakeboarding
4) Tubing
5) Fancy smancy friends who live in really big houses on the lake with a mini water park in their backyard
6) Bar-b-q (mustard based of course)
7) Friends
8) Trampoline's
9) Getting a shower after a long, fun day in the water
10) Realizing that today I didn't do anything productive, and being totally fine with that.
11) Getting a quick blogpost in before a sure to be awesome quiet time

Today was like a true sabbath for me, and I guess I didn't even realize that I don't have days like that often. I woke up super late and had breakfast at like 1:15 in the afternoon and then spent the rest of the day on the lake at Trey Bostic's house. My cell phone had absolutely no service so I was pretty unreachable, but had an awesome day no doubt. It's amazing because even after what would seem like a totally selfish day, I honestly think God taught me some cool stuff and enjoyed that I could have some fun.

Good Grandma Stories

For about 3 months I have had the pleasure of living with many family members, 4 to be exact and a 5th that is about to be born very soon. My grandma has been staying with us because my grandpa passed away in December and it's just a better situation for her to be here with a lot of people than alone in her hot house in Panama. She is 83 and looks very very old and she kinda walks with a bit of gimp, but she is sharp and a very funny lady. She loves to tell jokes, make fun of people, and mess with people.

She fooled me the other morning with her sweet little old grandma innocence. I was eating breakfast alongside her and my cousin and from under the table I felt a foot kinda brush my leg. So I looked over and she was just eating and concentrating on her food so I thought it was just an accident and moved my leg so that she wouldn't hit it again. Not long after I felt the foot brush me again, so I tried to position my leg just right so that she couldn't touch it, because still it just looked like she might not even have a clue that she kept bumping my foot. Well the third time she couldn't contain herself and looked at me and just started laughing. It may not be funny to you but I thought it was hilarious because I just don't think of grandma's being like that.

She is a really awesome lady and I have learned tons from her, and I thank God that she has been able to be in my life and that we can communicate and have a good time despite the 64 year gap.

God has inspired me to try and find truth in pretty much everything since I've been reading Rob Bell. For example today my grandma was telling me a story about when my grandad got robbed once in Panama. He was coming home from work one day and was bringing home a lot of money that he had been saving up so that he could pay tuition for my mom's college so that she could take classes and all that. He traveled down a dangerous road so that he could get home a little faster but apparently it was a mistake because a man with a knife took all of the money he had on him. My grandma said that he was normally a really happy guy, and that he was usually working later, but had gotten off early to get all the money, so as he was walking home this particular day he just looked really shook up and sad and his neighbors asked what was wrong. So he told them that he had been robbed but that the bigger issue was that now he didn't have money to pay for my mom to go to school and the money was due the next day. Now understand that in Panama, minimum wage is just a little over a dollar an hour. So everyone in my grandad's neighborhood were pretty poor people. For whatever reason they were compelled to give him the money. I don't know if the deal was for my grandad to pay them back or what because my grandma ended the story with the neighbors pooling money together and offering it to him.

It struck me in that moment that this is what compassion and the church should look like. The neighbors saw a need and took care of it for him. Now I have no idea if these neighbors were Christians or what but I was just in awe of God showing me this truth. It was just one of those cool moments where my grandma probably thought I was weird because I had this huge smile on my face because of what I was thinking, and she was probably thinking that I had no feelings because I was smiling after she told me they got robbed. All I know is that I'm very very stoked about what God's doing all around.

Consistency

I think this may be a marathon on right now, but I'm watching back to back episodes of Survivorman. Since Trevor Miller introduced me in Indiana, I have become a big fan. Les Stroud goes to some crazy places around the world and teaches you how to survive for a week. Maybe it's a macho thing that draws me and digs deep into some manly love of nature and conquering crazy odds, but all I really know is once I start watching I can't stop.

Today and the past few days have been amazing and much needed in the life of Andrew Stewart. I've been able to mix fun and relaxation with some serious growth and consistency with spending time with God. One of my many struggles has been to find a time to spend with God everyday. For the past several days I've found that at night time before I get sleepy tired is my favorite. My house is quiet at around 10 or so, so I just go to my room and read the word, pray, think about what's going on and what the next step God wants me to take is. I've also finally been getting around to read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and it's very good in my opinion. I'm not sure if I agree with everything he says, but that's ok and he even says that. He's simply starting conversations and thought processes. I just pray that I keep this up for good and if I find that night isn't good that I would change the time of day to give to God.

Speaking of consistency, I checked out Midtown last week and this week, and I do believe I'll be going there very more frequently. It's at a good time 7PM and it's really a place that I feel like I can be very effective. I'm still praying through and seeing if God wants me to be a part of it, but so far so good.

Consistency is a nice thing to have mixed in with the changing world we live in and I'm even blogging more which has been good to get some of my thoughts out. Well back to Survivorman and then lights out.

Post Olshine Thoughts

David Olshine rocks my world from time to time. I have heard him speak several times at the Horeb, and he is just one of those guys who sucks me in and has my full attention and I can always learn something from what God says through him.

Today there was a brief Greek lesson when he said that we need to add knowledge to our lives. The Greek I believe he said was gonosco (i'm not sure on the Greek spelling i'm no expert in any way, shape, or form) but it sounds quite similar to one of the spanish words for knowledge or knowing... conocer.

Now this really spoke to me because in that one second that he said the Greed it immediately turned on a light in my spanish speaking side. The other word for knowing or to know in spanish is saber. Saber you would use if know how to count to 10 or if you know where Groucho's is. Conocer is mostly used when referring to people, like "yo conozco a Austin Crane" and it adds an element of the intimacy that Olshine talked about today.

You see we can know stuff about God and sound all smart and not ever really be committed to getting involved with God, or we can jump in and actually get to know him and have a relational God. I would say it's definitely cool to know you're stuff about God, but the experience is where we get that true wisdom that only God can offer, and it's what inspires life change. I would rather see someone loving a homeless person or sick person than talking about how much God loves the homeless and the sick while they do nothing.

So a thank you to David Olshine for some very thought provoking vocabulary from the Greeks. I'm off to Monterrey to celebrate 31 years of Wade Joye.

Changes

Change is what we do as humans. From the moment of conception we turn into an entirely new life form, and in 9 months we outgrow our home in our moms and step into the world. From there we quickly change from this helpless little baby into a walking, talking, little person. Here in the USA we then go to school, meet new people, and begin the education process, all the way through high school in our towns, probably move several times or stay put but then graduate and change the game again by going to college or working. We are always experience new and different people, places, and situations and we have different thoughts and opinions.

Just from taking the time to read this blog you are different. You aren't the same person you were 12 seconds ago. The most radical change that I personally have experienced is the new life that I have found in Jesus. But you see I've also read in the Bible itself that God is the same as yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He's always God.

Always.

Amazing, because you see Jesus was God too, because he did say that he and the Father are one, and because I have accepted him as my savior he has promised that I have the spirit of God in me. So somehow I have this never-changing, everlasting God in me, yet I am always trying to change me to become more like him.

For me things seem to really be changing a lot lately. I thought that I had God figured out at this point in time, but then he rocks my world. I'm probably changing my double major to Media Arts and Graphic design, I'm seeing old friends get more distant and realizing I might not see some of them again, and I'll be in Africa in less than 2 months which is going to be a complete change from what I'm used to here.

That's just some of the change in my life. Just think about what you've got going on and then everyone else in the world. Yet God is still God. He doesn't have a new agenda, or have to meet new people, or experience new things. He's been there and done that 6 billion times. It's both comforting and frightening to me at the same time.

God's plan has always been the same, it's what he is. Love.

That's it... love. And from some Rob Bell reading and digging into the scriptures I've been learning that love is the most complex thing ever. It's why we are here, and it's everything God is and does. It may sound mushy but this love is crazy, I mean God has done some things that this world would definitely not classify as love. The plagues, leading armies to kill people (even women and children), God's love is bloody all over, look at how Jesus ended up. Yet it's all love.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is no matter how much we change, our goal needs to be God and if God is love then that should be pretty high on our priority list. And it may call us to do crazy things... (i'm not saying go out and kill innocent women and children and call that love) but we need to draw guidance from the holy spirit of God in us, because it knows it all and has been through it all, and we can't even stay the same for 5 minutes.

Boo For No Show-ers

So today I called up the fellas for small group and told them to meet me at Firehouse subs so that we could talk about the awesomeness found within the words of James. I got there about 10 minutes early, ordered me some food, got my food and started eating it, and then Devin showed up right at 6:30 when we normally start.

He ordered his delicious sub and then sat down with me and we waited for about 20 minutes eating and just talking. By that point I realized that probably no one else was coming, and I was kind of bummed because I love me some James and I wanted to know what they thought about it. My bummed-out feeling was gone pretty soon though because for the first time I got to have some one on one time with Devin and it was really cool. For the first time I felt like I was actually having an impact on someone's spiritual life directly, he told me something that was on his mind and it was cool for him to be comfortable to tell me what he was going through, and fortunately God had just the right things to say to him through what God's been teaching me lately. We did even talk a little James and it was a successful small group even though the attendance was one person.

I gotta run because it's 2AM and that means Boy Meets World is on... (yes i do still like that show). So good night!

Yay for James!

Relaxation has been hard to get this first week of summer just because I have decided to stay awake until 3AM several nights pulling some pranks. Last night though I went to bed at like 12 and woke up at about 10:30. Glorious!

This week for small group I will be leading our discussion on James. Hopefully the fellas at least will have glanced at it because James is one of my all time favies. It's full of all kinds of God inspired goodness and I am enjoying rereading it.

I'm pretty excited about a "project" I have this week. Well I don't know if I can call it a project, but I do get to make the Senior Video for the Mount Horeb Graduates this week and it will be the first time that I get paid to make media, so it's a pretty sweet opportunity and I hope that I can do a good job at it. I feel like media is my calling, and I guess this week is my first test.

So I will leave you with this little nugget from James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Amazing how religion has gotten to where it is.

Chi Alpha Highlights

if you missed the goodness that is known as chi alpha, then fret no more here is a video to fill your belly with a tasty snack of what chi alpha is! A big thanks to Google Video for being awesome like that

Summer

It's a beautiful time of the year. The time of year when there is no school and a lot of free time to enjoy life.

I've been home since Friday and sleep has never been so appreciated! I've been doing a lot of thinking about what this summer has in store for me, and I'm kind of nervous and scared. Obviously there are going to be a lot of changes at Mount Horeb with Wade and Ferris leaving to own the worship scene at Elevation, and I know I'm going to Kenya for a month and I really don't have any idea what's in store for me there.

I've been thinking about what happens after this summer, and I really don't know. I think maybe I just need to worry about what's in front of me and let God handle the rest, but I'm always trying to be in control.

It has been exciting though. I remember several years ago when Daniel Barrett left the Horeb. I was pretty upset, and was angry also. This time is much different. I'm so happy for the Joye's because it's an awesome opportunity and I know they are going to do some incredible things. Trevor has been extremely optimistic as well. He is pumped up about the changes and I know God's going to use him for some really cool things at Mount Horeb.

God is working and moving all around and I think on that note I will go to bed, so I can make it to the dentist in the morning and join Julianna in her hunt for a job!

I ♥

Hillsong United blows my mind, in a very very good way. They have the new stuff on their myspace and they are doing a thing called "The I ♥ Revolution", and I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it just seems so awesome, like a movement of loving people. But yeah so you can go to either of those links or you can watch this awesome trailer. I want to make stuff like this! YouTube rocks.

what wade joye would blog about

Since the whole world cries out for the glorious return of the Reverend William Wade Joye, I figured I would put myself in his astute mind and try and blog about what he would be blogging about.

I think he would start with the new Hillsong United songs that released on iTunes that he bought. They are bad to the bone I will not lie and you can click on this link to hear it from their myspace.

Hillsong is just amazing, it's their first studio recorded album, and it still rocks. Wade Joye would probably also talk about the success of Chi Alpha last weekend, and how he was absolutely terrified during my groups Air Band performance. My group did a hardcore song by "The Chariot" and it was all out blood bath. But Wade Joye would say that he was impressed with our being able to win the "Bigger and Better" scavenger hunt when we came back with a tire that was about 5 feet tall, and goes on a huge tractor.

Wade might would even go as far as to say that he is most excited about the release of Spider-Man 3 tomorrow, in which Will Troutman will be making a visit to see it with Wade, Ferris, and Wade's Parents. Adding to that list, I will be buying 3 tickets today to take my brother Bryan and my little cousin Jorge (pronounced Hor-Hey). My cousin's favorite super hero is by far spider man and he's been talking about this movie ever since he got here in January.

I think Wade would also throw in some talk of the promotion of the 8th graders to Ignite this Sunday, and would say that we are "pulling out all the stops" for the 8th graders so you should be there this Sunday night.

Hopefully this filled your belly with the goodness that is Wade Joye, if not then you try and get inside his mind and share his thoughts with the world.

May 2nd

Yeah so today is only May 1st, and you may be wondering why in the world this is called May 2nd. Well normally I don't like to tell stories like these because they freak me out and I think that people won't believe me and think I'm crazy. But I don't care here it goes.

A few weeks ago, and I can't remember what night, but I had a really really weird dream and two things that freaked me out happened. I promise I had a dream that I was in the back of an 18 wheeler storage compartment with some people I didn't know moving a tractor wheel that is as big as me. Well Saturday at Chi Alpha I had DejaVu when I was in a junkyard with those unknown guys (Ben, Kenny, and John Eric: Spencer's friends from King Academy) moving that exact same tire. I had this big ol' smile because for some reason it feels like that's where God wanted me. It's happened before and I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe some type of prophesy that I can only remember whenever the dream comes to life, maybe I just think I'm having DejaVu. All I know is it has something to do with God but I don't know exactly what. The only other thing I remember from that dream is someone saying May 2nd.

It freaked me out because I didn't have a clue what it means and when we moved that tire I got worried that maybe something bad was going to happen. I have developed a new theory though.

Today at lunch with Rob, Michael, Gretchen, Paige, Callie, and Gretchen's Mom (Dawn Ellen she's insanely awesome) Gretchen and Momma Ellen surprised me with $1300 that they had raised from their church to help me get to Africa. I know you're thinking well yeah that's cool and everything, but today is still May 1st... Well the checks are going in the mail tomorrow.

so yeah, maybe that's not what the significance of May 2nd is, but I think that it's a little too huge and a little too much of a coincidence to not actually be God's providence.

God is way bigger than I can even imagine, big thanks to everyone for the support so far for Africa, you have no idea how much it means and how much God is doing.

BigStuf Video

I hope this works but I am going to try and upload a video from youtube that I made for my media arts class. It's a promo for BigStuf camps this summer which is amazing. If it works out then I should also be able to post clips from Ignite as I upload them to youtube.

Success

Chi Alpha kick off, was amazing. It was cool to have some new people come in and share Christ in a different way. Chris Brown is a good worship leader, he's different in his style than what the igniters are used to, but it was still good to see that they engaged under a change like they did. The speaker Darren was hilarious, yet his humor and way of speaking was different from what the igniters are used to as well, again they responded well. I think that even though it's in Lexington, having a change like that will make it seem like they are miles from home, hopefully recharge them and get something "ignited" in the youth group. God is gonna do some big things this weekend. An interesting challenge is to wear a small rock in your shoe tomorrow and then wait until tomorrow night for elaboration. I love suspense, and trying to deduce what in the world a rock in my shoe all day has to do with Jesus.

I don't know but I'm sure I'll post it in my post chi alpha thoughts on sunday!

Mohawk

That's right you are reading this correctly right now... andrew stewart is the new proud owner of the mohawk. I'm weird like that and I don't know why. My mom flipped out and it made me happy cuz I like to surprise her with stuff like this cuz then she thinks i'm just weird. it's kinda for chi alpha and kinda just cuz i've always wanted to do it. i'm gonna load a picture on to facebook soon and then i think i'll make it my picture on here so that you can get a sneak peek... if not tonight then tomorrow you can see it at chi alpha!

UPDATE! the photo should be working now so let me know what you think... be honest cuz it really won't hurt my feelings if you think i look lame... cuz i always look lame anyways

Albums

This will be an attempt for me to try something different. I'm going to blog about music. It could be disastrous because I don't really know what I'm talking about, I mean I love music, but so does everybody in the world so I'm no expert at all. I have come to a realization though that I don't really like singles or "hits" or just one song from a band. I do listen to maybe just one song at times, but I don't think a one hit has ever really been my favorite. My favorite music comes from full length albums. My favorite band of all time is Relient K, and maybe that's typical church kid music, but I really didn't get into "Christian" music until I was in either 8th or 9th grade so most of my life has not been influenced by the christian music scene.

The reason I love Relient K so much is because I can sit through there entire CDs and not get bored of listening to it. I like sensing a theme and getting a feel of what they were going through and then applying it to my life. It's even been awesome through the years to hear the differences from their first CD to their latest. They have this good mix of witty funny stuff, mixed in with serious deep issues. On their new CD for example there is a song that is basically one big pick up line it's called "must have done something right" and here are some of the lyrics:

"We should get jerseys, cause we'd make a good team
but yours would look better than mine, cause you're outta my league"

and it's all happy and peppy, but yet the very last song on the CD is called Deathbed and that song makes me want to cry everytime I hear it cause it's so beautiful. It follows the same chord progression in one part of the song as their intro song, and I don't know it just makes me appreciate their creativity.

Yesterday I busted out some Hillsong and that whold album is all about Jesus and showing him loudly. I learn to like almost every song by bands like that who are just good at what they do and aren't concerned about just making a quick hit for the radio. It really does remind me of the Bible because even though there is so much amazing stuff in the Bible, it all points to Jesus. The bible isn't about one feel good book and then stops there, no it tells the whole story which at times is scary and depressing. But then again there is always hope found in the truth found in the Bible.

This whole thought process was started from lunch last Friday. I was sitting with Christian Tyler and Chad Rochester who are two awesome guys that play with Wade Sunday nights and are in Baumer. I asked them about their new CD that was about to release and they told me it was geared more towards being an Album rather than a compilation of "hit songs" and we just talked about how we prefer stuff like that. I love those guys, they are just real genuine guys and insane musicians.

So I guess to end off this particular blog leave me some feedback, you can be honest and it's totally cool if you disagree with me, because I mean obviously I'm no musician, but would you rather pop in your favorite band's CD or listen to a wide range of good songs from like 20 bands?

Productivity

Checklists are the bomb. I love them a lot because I can physically scratch off things that I have accomplished that need to get done. It feels good and like a huge load is just lifted off whenever you scratch off that one thing you had to get done and finally did. I can't wait for the glorious feeling when this week is over and I will throw away my little yellow post it note of to-do's.

Needless to say it's getting crazy at USC because in 9 days I will be completely done with my Freshman year, so it's important that I finish out strong because there is a possibility that I might get four A's and that never happens.

I am totally stoked for Chi Alpha coming up Thursday. Last year it was amazing and I know this year will be "bigger and better". I get to chaperone with my homie Robbie Kopp, and David Crocker (he's the man too), in the Bouknights house where there are these awesome secret passages. I think I'm going to enjoy just being completely goofy all weekend and sharing Jesus with the high school crowd. I was at prom last weekend and got my groove on and that was probably the most fun I've had in a long while. The only downside is that I still haven't caught up on sleep from that night and I don't think it's gonna happen until school is over. But that's alright cuz the college life has accustomed me to being sleep depraved.

Here is a short list of things that make me happy:

1) Getting Fergie Songs stuck in your head
2) Country-Fried Steak
3) Finishing Self Paced Astronomy Finally
4) Hillsong... I've been listening to them today... still amazing
5) Trevor Miller, he's 24 and still the man, he gives people thank you cards for his B-day I mean how could you not love that?
6) Relying on God to provide for a trip to Africa
7) Going home to see my family (i'll be there tomorrow getting help with a spanish presentation)
8) Looking forward to Chi Alpha
9) You for reading my blog!

They Just Walked Away?

There is this guy named Jesus, and one days he's out in the Temple Courts preaching. I'm gonna borrow info from Clayton King here but Clayton said on a given day in the temple courts there were about 300-400 people, who would come out to hear what Jesus had to say. So he's just sitting there being Jesus and spreading the good word to a sizeable crowd when the Pharisees bust into the courts with a woman who was caught in adultery. She was "caught" meaning she was most likely still undressed and probably very freaked out. You see it was a trap to try and get Jesus, so that they could have an excuse to not follow what he had to say and kill him. The Pharisees were a sneaky bunch, they probably knew that this woman was known for having committed adulterous acts already. Maybe she was "that girl" who everyone around knew was a little shady. And it could even be that one of the pharisees agreed to be in the act with the woman . They catch only her. There is never mention of the man that committed adultery with her, and they drag her right smack dab into the middle of the courts. Then they demand that Jesus tell them his opinion on the situation.

That's like in the middle of sunday morning church, suddenly a mob of guys dragging a naked person in and being like "look what she did, what do you think about it pastor?"

Now the woman who is probably the most embarassed she's ever been in her whole life is also probably frightened for her life, because according to the law of Moses a woman who committed adultery was supposed to be stoned to death. She knows the law, she knows the consequences, and she knows that right now she is at this crowd's mercy and things aren't looking good, because the only person who might be able to save her is Jesus but this mob is trying to trap him and it seems like a pretty good trap. If he agrees and says that she should be stoned, then he is guilty of wanting to be a murderer, but if he doesn't let her go then he's not obedient to the law of Moses. It's a no win situation, you the pharisees don't care if this woman lives she's just a tool, it's actually pretty disgusting what they do here.

So now it's up to Jesus to say something, either way he's a bad guy. So here's what he does according John 8:6 "he bent down and started to write with his finger". Now probably most of you who read my blog know this story and have heard it hundreds of times and have heard of the theories as to what Jesus wrote, because John actually never says what he wrote. A theory that I like is that he bent down and started writing names of people that the pharisees maybe had inappropriate relations with, but were secret and only they would know, or that Jesus wrote down some of their own sins that been kept deep, dark secrets. I don't really know, but say that Jesus does point out their own sin, something that I never really thought about happens.

They walk away.

They are silent and they just walk away. Jesus says that if anyone is without sin then be the first to throw the stone. The law didn't change and woman still committed adultery, yet they just walk away.

How many times have I just walked away? I've really been thinking about how I talk to , think about, or treat the unchurched or the unsaved lately and it sickens me. So many times I just get angry at what non-christians say or do, I get mad at all the drinking, all of the shootings, the crazy messed up things that happen in the world and I look down on people with disgust. Now I'm not saying that sin is good for non-believers but why should I waste time being mad at them and wanting them to follow Jesus when they don't even know who he is.

I try and trap Jesus too, I'm like well the way these people are living means they are going to end up in Hell and if I start talking to them or trying to get to know them then some of that Hell might rub off on me Jesus and I just can't have that. I act like I'm a little too good for that. Yet I always say that I want to reach those people, but I suck at doing it. Jesus has that power to forgive, to change, and to restore people to what he intended for them to be, and he's challenging me everytime I look down on others. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me so much lately, and so much in the past but it seems like once Jesus gets all up in my grill, I just walk away from his challenge.

The next part of the story is amazing. All of the people leave, and it's just Jesus and this naked adulteress woman who hasn't said a word the whole time. It's probably very awkward just standing there with Jesus totally exposed. She has just had a near death experience and then this guys starts writing in the sand and people don't want to kill her anymore. I probably would have been silent too. Jesus then asks her "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

and she says "No one, sir"

and Jesus declares "then neither do I. Go now and leave your life of sin."

That's the kind of guy I want to be. When people are convicted of their sin, and they know that they are far from God and are completely exposed (not physically exposed) I don't want to condemn them. I want to tell them that Jesus has beat sin and they don't have to live life this way anymore. I don't want to throw stones, because who am I besides just another sinner like the rest of the world?

holy cow

dumb title I know, but in all honesty I don't know how else to put what I'm feeling right now. Three nights ago I was almost crying over life stuff and just being confused. Africa specifically is where I was struggling the most. I stayed up late in Charleston Friday night after going to a formal with Sarah Moon, she told me that up until last semester she had never surrendered her life truly to Christ, we then had a very good convo about what it means to follow Jesus, in which I'm sure I may have sounded like a whiny baby venting over how my situation was with the Africa trip.

After we talked I went into the living room where I was sleeping and I realized how lame I can be. Sarah had been one of my best friends for more than a year and not once had I taken the time to have a 5 minute conversation with her about how her walk with God was. Someone else did, and now she's changed forever, it was so encouraging yet so convicting talking to her. I layed there questioning my own character as a so called Christ Follower and just thought of countless things that I have let go wrong. Last summer feeling energized and totally on fire I was ready for a campus takeover of USC, now with only 2 weeks left I don't think I've had a real genuine meaningful conversation with more than 1 or 2 non believers.

I'm laying there not able to fall asleep and just asking myself and God what went wrong, I had a good long vent about it all with God and eventually he comforted me enough to fall asleep. I told him that I really needed to know whether or not I was the guy he wanted to go to Africa or if I just wanted to glorify myself.

The next night for whatever reason coming back from Charleston I decided that I would stay here in Columbia for a change and go check out First Baptist with Michael and Rob because they had told me some good things and I've been meaning to go like all year. Matt Mays was with us and he stayed in my dorm room and we had yet another amazing convo in which I just poured out to him all the stuff that I was scared about and so insecure about. I hadn't been raising the money, I still don't have a renewed passport or all the immunizations, and important paperwork was due Friday which I just mailed today and I could go on and on. I prayed to God that if he wanted me to go or stay that I needed to know something soon, because I was literally freaking out.

They started a new series Sunday at First Baptist the talk was a big talk on how more than %40 of the world still hasn't been reached with the Gospel. In the end there were two ways to respond:
1)They passed out cards to pray for a foreign country where the Gospel needs to be advanced
2)They have an account with Thousands of dollars that they like to empty out to help people who have been called to go to these places. All you have to do is fill out the application.

I nearly had a heart attack. Eight hours ago I'm begging God to show me something, and instantly he humbled the mess out of me. Not only that but now he's just showing off, from people who I talked to today at Mount Horeb I'm getting $600. Tonight I saw the movie Invisible Children about child soldiers in Uganda with Gretchen and she called me about an hour ago (at 11) and said that from various people and even her sorrority I have at least $300 more coming and she was pumped up about it.

It is insane, and that's from 2 sources in one day. I mailed 15 support letters so far so I really just have no clue what God is gonna do, but he definitely has overflowed my cup and got me to shut up in a hurry. Tomorrow I get the passport made and then Friday I get the shots I need to travel, and then I'm pretty much set. I just know God is all over this and I'm more than ready to do whatever it takes.

allergy season

My Easter wasn't the most pleasant of days. In years past I'm generally outside enjoying some amazing weather, but since last year I have developed allergies. I don't know how or why it didn't affect me in earlier years, but this year it has hit me with no mercy. For the past month I've been having all kinds of random crappy feelings and I actually thought I was getting better and coming out of the allergy funk until Easter morning. My body was ready to wake up and get ready for church, but a funny thing happened when I tried to open my eyes to get out of bed... my eyes didn't open. They were shut from this nasty gunky stuff that came outta nowhere.

I got up rinsed my eyes out with water and saw that they were bright red. Pink Eye. So I went back to sleep for a few more hours because I knew I couldn't go to church and give it to everyone. My mom has really bad allergies and pink eye is sometimes a cause of it for her so she has some medicine just in case, and of course it didn't help me at all, so we had to head to urgent care last night and get some more powerful stuff.

After waking up today it still hasn't gotten much better so my mom talked to an eye doctor friend of hers (Mitchell Bailey's dad actually) and he knows his stuff so he said that a bunch of people are getting like a stronger pink eye I guess that requires two different medicines, so my eyes are pretty drugged up. I did get to miss class today though which is kinda nice except I haven't been able to be very productive with other stuff I need to get done.

Being stuck inside has let me have a good bit of time to think about Easter and what it really is though. It amazes me to think about it. For the most part most of the people in this country probably agree with a few things...

1)Jesus was a real human being who lived about 2000 years ago
2)Jesus's teachings were "good" and that he was a good man
3)Jesus died on a cross after being beaten brutally, and was then buried

BUT the key part of what Easter is and who Jesus is, is the fact that Jesus's life didn't end there. The Bible teaches, with hundreds of people as witnesses, that the heavily guarded, stone covered tomb that he was buried in was EMPTY 3 days later, and that Jesus actually came back to life after physically dying one of the most brutal deaths imaginable.

I don't think that everyone is on the same page with that one. If we were then I think the world would look a lot different. I mean I have never seen anyone actually come back to life. As Wade Joye might put it, Jesus told death to "make him a sandwich". It's incredible. It changes everything forever.

So what happens after Jesus comes back to life? He appears to people, Mary Magdalene first and then the disciples (except for Thomas at first), they are overjoyed. So they tell Thomas, and they are just so happy to tell him that Jesus is back and alive and Thomas doesn't believe it, in fact he says the only way he will believe is if he literally sees Jesus and then puts his own fingers in the holes where the nails were from the cross. It's made me wonder how many Thomas's are still around even in today's world. Thomas believed Jesus existed, he was one of his followers. He knew Jesus was killed and buried, but even when his closest friends told him that they saw Jesus back from the dead, he doesn't believe that. The only way they can convince him is if they show him Jesus.

Jesus comes again and this time Thomas is with them. Jesus lets him touch where the nails went through, his scars. Thomas instantly believes. Whats interesting to me is that obviously Jesus could conquer death so couldn't he easily have filled up the scars from where the nails went through? I think so, but what would be the need? To see the scars and what damage it should have taken on him, and to see him there fully restored to life is amazing. I know when I decided to follow Jesus I got new life and yeah I think I still have scars to show from the life I was living, but it's what makes it amazing. To hear and see where Jesus can take a person is what it takes for people to believe. Some people have been hearing about this Jesus guy for a long time but they don't see him because his followers aren't showing their scars and showing people Jesus.

Yeah bit of a long post but hopefully you enjoyed what's going on in my allergy filled head.

Blades of Glory

Good times tonight with Wade, Ferris, Robbie, and Will Troutman. We went to five guys which turned out to be pretty good, I didn't get a burger because I ate before going, but the smell of the goodness of the burger filled me up. We then proceeded to Columbiana Grande cinemas and experienced Will Ferrell and Jon Heder pull off a very funny movie about figure skating. It was good, I mean even Pam from "The Office" was on it. I just checked my e-mail and as it turns out I did get an A on my Media Arts video which is really really awesome. Very good night I would have to say because it's not often at all that I get to hang out with all of those people especially Will and Robbie since Will is in Atlanta (doing really awesome things) and Robbie is at Erskine. It's always refreshing and awesome to catch up and hear about the awesome things they are getting to do and how God is using all of them.

I would tell you more but it would just be too "mind-bottling" you know when your thoughts just get trapped in your head like in a bottle. Good night.

Birthday

Yesterday I reached the age of 19 years. I have to be honest, it snuck up on me. And it came and went really fast. It was a pretty good day though I would have to say. I slept in through my morning class, but my roommate went and he got a paper back that we had to turn in a while ago and I got a 94. If that wasn't enough I turned in my BigStuf video that I made and my teacher literally started an applause after it was done and said it was way better than my first one... so hopefully that's another A. I had a good lunch and the soon to be birthday girl Gretchen gave me a cupcake, and to celebrate both of our birthdays we went to dinner with some people at the copper river grill. To finish off the birthday festivities I ate the cake and laughed at the Jokes that Megan Venters gave me.

Over the next few weekends I'm slam packed... here's what's going on

1) Next weekend I just got invited by Sarah Moon to go to her upcoming Formal in Charleston (she's in Zeta Tau Alpha if you're wondering) and it will be fun cuz I love Charleston and hanging out with Sarah.

2) Prom is coming up and I'm going with Megan Venters, should be the bomb we just went and picked out a vest and Tie that I am gonna wear (brown) to match her dress. I know I'm out of high school but that doesn't mean I can't still rock out a prom.

3) Chi Alpha I'm getting pumped about Chi Alpha, it really was incredible and it's crazy to look back to last year and see where God has brought me. It will be good getting to hang out with the small group fellas outside of just wednesday nights. This year's video team has been able to step it up and deliver some good Chi Alpha promos, last week was Survivor Reid part one and you'll have to be there to see the next one.

Hakuna Matata

I recently decided that I was going to completely re-do a project for my Media Arts class, it is a silent film that can be no more than 3 minutes long with no sound and your own music, or it can be a Public Service Announcement that can be no longer than a minute long. My first idea I thought was actually pretty good and different, but it's insanely hard to make it look good without any dialogue. So I am making a commercial for BigStuf, hopefully it comes it out good and funny like I'm hoping... I mean I even drove all the way to Charleston today to shoot about 20 seconds of video.

I've passed out several brochures and commitment cards to people to help out with my Journey to Kenya, and got more chances to tell people about it today, I'm really hoping God does some amazing things that I wouldn't even believe with all of this. When I got home I got a very pleasant surprise in the mail. I get excited when I get mail because no one ever sends me anything. Today I got my journal that has pretty much information on anything that I would want to know about the trip. There was a really cool part on common phrases that we can use when we are there, and sure enough Hakuna Matata was on there, and I was all happy that I already knew one phrase thanks to the Lion King.

It's been a little tough though lately with the trip and I've been praying, and need to pray even more that God would just take this, but my mom hasn't really been very supportive so far, in a way I can understand that she is worried and doesn't want anything to happen to me, but also it's hard to not have her being happy and thankful for the opportunity that God is giving me. I know she wants me to do awesome things but it can be tough at times when she doesn't show it.

I'm really excited though about all of the cool things going on right now. Chi Alpha is coming up which last year was just amazing, and I know this year will not dissapoint. Also tomorrow with the student leadership team and video team we will be making a video that will go along with Nick's next talk on Elijah and it will also be great. If you want to know how to survive in Lexington then you will want to see this video.

Unleash 2

Vision

what is it?
well i'm gonna borrow from some people, namely Steven Furtick.

When I went to check out Elevation he used this verse that can be applied to so many areas of life.

Proverbs 29:18 [niv]
"Where there is no REVELATION [vision], people cast off restraint, but BLESSED is he who keeps the law."

Maybe this is one of the most important factors in a successful church. There are plenty of churches in America where the Pastor is not the one with the vision. Maybe the Pastor started off with a vision and then once things got rolling they let things creep in. Maybe its committee's that take that vision away from the Pastor, or just one powerful person with a lot of money. Or maybe the Pastor never had that great vision to begin with.

No matter the case people in the church when they don't catch the vision that God has for them, then restraint comes off. You may have tons of awesome people in love with God who want to see people come to Christ but if they don't have a vision from God or don't follow His vision then they are more likely to just be following their ambitions. Then everyone has their own agenda and things get away from what God wants for the community and for the church.

Perry said at Unleash, "God doesn't give committees a vision". Ouch, but true. I haven't read a single story where God told a board of directors what the church should do.

To be honest it was something I had never really given much thought to. I mean I've felt like I've been called to do ministry, and actually do it in a church plant, but I've never thought of submitting to that church's vision. To being more of a servant than I ever thought. I'm studying Media Arts and want to do creative things to engage people and turn their focus to Jesus, but if what I'm doing overall isn't in line with the vision then I'm just making things difficult. It's a challenge to set aside some of what I was thinking and just be willing to follow what God is calling me to do and who he is calling me to serve, because to be honest he hasn't planted a vision of leading a church so I need to be ready to listen to whoever God appoints as my leader.

When that happens awesome things happen. They are bound to. That's why Newspring has 1800 volunteers ready to do whatever. The people have Jesus and they have caught the vision for Anderson, South Carolina via Perry Noble. They literally have THOUSANDS of names written on the walls of people who don't know Jesus, because the congregation has the vision and they are seeing it work week in and week it.

Vison is pretty important. If you have it lead with it, and make sure that you surround yourself with people that trust that and that will serve that vision with you.

That was what God said to me during the Second main session at Unleash, and I believe I just may write one more blog about Unleash cuz it was that good.

Unleash Part 1

In regards to Newspring's conference on church leadership today I would first of all like to say, "Wow!".

$45 for a day of learing about how an effective church works, incredible worship, Perry Noble, and God speaking to me in a huge way. I think they got ripped off. Not really though cause the way they do things is cool.

Newspring's volunteers are what make that place run. They average about 8000 people every sunday with 3600 people who are official members. 1800 of those people volunteer in some way to completely enhance and make their church something to look forward to, something that brings people to Jesus in a loving way.

We showed up at 9:30 AM and got parked by people with smiles on their faces. As soon as we got out of the car another friendly man greeted us and gave us a brief rundown of registration. At registration we got a warm loud "whoo" for Lexington, South Carolina. Volunteers were everywhere serving in every way, and always with a smile on their faces. I was amazed.

Newsprings volunteers get the vision that God has given to Perry Noble. They are in love with Jesus, and want to serve in any way to reflect his love. I went to a "breakout session" on Staffing for Success and learned that the average church in America staffs one person for every 50 members/attendees in church. Newspring however only staffs 1 person per 100 attendees, and it's because they have volunteers who step it up every week and do ministry.

The focus is so outward that you can't help but be blown away. God moves those people, and they aren't afraid to take roles. I mean they had a service where Perry challenged them to write the names of those people who they would like to see come to Jesus on their walls. The names are still up there. The other challenge was to get those people to Newspring, and the next week 250 people gave their lives to Jesus.

Incredible.

It's the kind of passion that I want to be a part of so badly in church. A church that is driven by a radical vision that makes me uncomfortable, and feels like it's something I could never do. A church that is made specifically for the people who don't come to church. A church that as Wade Joye put it "you wouldn't have to apologize to your friend who visits".

I'm not sure how many parts this blog will be made into but I feel like I've rambled on a good bit for now. The next one will be on Vision and what Perry had to say about it. I'm so pumped right now, it's awesome.

Insomnia

I went to bed early tonight, at like 10:15 after hanging out with rachel, callie, and nick at the wired bean for a while. I was so proud of myself cuz I have to be awake at like 6:00AM to make it out to Unleash, the conference up at Newspring tomorrow. I'm so excited. The excitement however isn't what has me awake again here at 12:30AM.

Earlier today on my "Atomic" clock, I hit a few buttons becasue the time was off, and apparently one of those buttons was to make an alarm come on at 12:00. Not fun, it really freaked me out becasue I've never used that thing as an alarm and it beeps really loud and really fast.

A couple things that I'm going to get off my mind though.

1) I'm still very excited about Africa, I'm kinda scared too but i've been having some really awesome encouragement in quiet times and from the awesome people I know. My mom isn't really for the trip though, which is tough because I REALLY need her to support me. I'm gonna have a good long talk with her soon, and try and give her the whole rundown though so pray for that.

2) I've really been looking forward to Unleash. There seems to be a diverse mix of different topics and areas of church growth that are going to be discussed. I love listening to Perry Noble and I'm very curious to find out how Newspring has gotten to where it is now. Church planting is something that I feel God has wanted me to be a part of so I'm ready to learn how to do it.

3) Spring Break couldn't have come at a better time. I was so stinking busy before that I couldn't take another week of a full schedule. God's been giving me some much need rest and relaxation. It will be over soon, so in the meantime I'm just enjoying it and getting ready for the last month and a half of freshman year.

oh, crap

During my 2nd study session tonight for my big midterm at 9:30 tomorrow, I started to play with my ear which as of about 3 days ago started getting a bump that grew. I had gotten bumps like these before that come and go and they are weird, you normally wouldn't even notice. But it kinda hurt so I pressed it just to see what happened... and sure enough puss and blood and all of that goodness came out. So I'm pretty sure my earring hole is infected, and it took me like a half hour to try and get it to stop bleeding. I had to call my mom and I'm sure it made her happy because it meant that I had to take out my earring which she has hated from day one. Hopefully it doesn't get worse or else I'll be starting my spring break with a visit to the doctor.

study

The art of studying is one that I am still yet to master. I can't do it well at all. I can give at most maybe a full hour of concentration and then my mind moves on to other things. Today me and Josh went to go study for a huge midterm that we have Thursday. We went to the Horseshoe which is just amazing. We studied for an hour as the sun was about to go down and then it started to get cold so we headed back to our room. From then it was all downhill. We got caught up for an hour playing Halo 2, and then ate dinner and tried to find a quiet place in the Library to study. We found one but there were too many people around and we couldn't talk so we left and came back to try our study room.

We gave it a good 20 minutes before we started drifting, and then it was back to more video games. It was fun. I did at least give it a try too. Normally I don't study for long at all so I think I did well and if I can give it another solid hour tomorrow maybe I'll be fine. I've realized that college is so much about socializing and getting to meet people and just hang out. It's fun, but can be a huge distraction whenever you actually have to do school work.

Burn for You

"there's fire in my bones
uncontainable
and it's causing me to burn
it's causing me to burn
it's causing me to burn for you...

i'll go anywhere
i'll do anything
at any cost for you my king"


Steve Fee has written the anthem for a crazy decision that I just made. I have decided that coming up with $3600 to go work with 20 strangers for people who I've never seen in a country that is overrun with disease and can be very dangerous is absolutely crazy talk. It's also what I feel God has called me to do from July 9th-August 6th of this year. That's right I'm going to be a Journey intern. All the time we hear of the atrocities that are taking place in Africa, and it even gets people to thinking, "Why can't God fix this?" Well I think God can fix it and I think he is calling all of us Journey interns to go out there and build loving relationships with people in a hurting world, and to serve them in any way that HE has equipped us to.

To the average person I hope it does seem crazy that I am actually VERY excited to be able to have the opportunity to raise the money and then go for a month of my summer vacation to serve my God and my King. I so badly have wanted the mentally of I'll go anywhere and do anything and God is giving that to me right now. There is definitely a fire raging inside of me right now because of the bad stuff going on, but the potential that this trip has.

With this decision comes a lot of commitment and A LOT of trust in God that he will provide, cuz I certainly don't have $3600. So there is really one thing that I am going to need from those closest to me and those who want to help.

1) The first and absolute most important thing is PRAYER- pray for the people of Kenya. Praise God for the awesome stuff that he has already done there through BigStuf, but also Praise God that he isn't stopping yet. Pray for my group Journey, and for me, for our safety and that I will become a more discipled follower of Christ leading up to this trip and during this trip. And pray for the director of Journey Suzanne Barber, becuase she will be doing not 1 trip but 2 this summer. Just pray for her safety and leadership and all that good stuff.

So yeah that's about it, there are a few ways that the general public can help fund this trip if you led to do so. Most of you who read this blog I'm sure I'll be asking, but I'll also post later when I have all the details. Thanks for your support!

The Verdict

Today, (actually yesterday since it is now 2AM) was decision time for Bigstuf. The assembled a 16 member team to intern their camp this summer. Sorry to have dragged out the suspense this long as to whether I'm in or out. The final decision is that I will not be one of the interns this summer. When I first read the e-mail I have to be honest, I was pretty upset. My roommate could tell and he was kind of quiet and tried to cheer me up by offering a Halo session to me. I think I took it well though, I understand that it's tough for them to make a decision like that because they haven't physically met anyone who applied, but I know that they definitely were very careful as to pick who they thought God wanted to be there this summer. God's got things in store for me this summer that will hopefully include a trip to BigStuf but not as an intern.

Moving on from the bad news. BigStuf actually gave my application stuff to Journey. Journey is a missions part of BigStuf that focuses solely on serving in Kenya, Africa. I spoke with Suzanne who was pretty awesome in explaining what Journey does. Building relationships with the Kenyans is key to what they do. She said that she would really like for me to join their team which is leaving on July 9th and returning August 6th of this summer. It really does sound like an incredible opportunity, it will be a big decision to make because I will be away in a foreign country for a month, completely out of my normal life. I asked her to give me this weekend to think and pray about it.

I have done a lot of thinking and praying already and the next step is to see what my mom thinks, and get the opinions of those closest to me, to weigh in. I think I have a pretty good idea already of whether or not I'm going but I don't want to rush it without weighing it all out.

So with that said I will let everyone know by Monday.

Hambone

About one year ago, the craze that caught the nation by storm was a dance called the Hambone. Some of you may remember the hambone and all of its splendor, but what some of you may not remember is how I defeated the likes of Michael Heaton in a hambone competition, but there is video proof courtesy of Taylor Johnson. Enjoy!

I'm dumb

Today was a day where I realized how idiotic I truly can be. I had my blog yesterday saying how I was nervous about hearing from BigStuf today March 1st. So I wake up late today because my 9:30 class was cancelled. I immediately got up and checked my e-mail to see if they had sent anything. Nothing at all. It was about 10AM and I figured that it might still be too early to hear anything from them. So I check again, and again, and waited for a phone call, or text message or something, until it got to be about 5 o'clock and I thought "wow, I totally just got sweated."

I then proceeded to bigstuf.org and realized that Tomorrow March 2nd, 2007 is actually the day that everyone will know. I felt stupid. I laughed. But that just means that the tension is on all day tomorrow until I hear from them.

Sorry to have lied to you on my previous blog, but it was unintentional. I promise. It's time to spend some quality time with God though, so tomorrow I should have yet another blog that will hopefully tell whether or not I'm in this summer with Bigstuf.

Mid Week Thoughts

Tonight I saw the glorious battle wound that Wade Joye received from his parathyroid surgery, and we led a successful small group. Our guys didn't read (well some of them did) so it was somewhat challenging but the input that we got was awesome, and I could tell that we got them thinking about God in a new way.

Tomorrow could be pivotal for my life, because BigStuf will be letting all of it's intern applicants know whether or not they will be spending a summer with them. I'm pretty nervous, and I keep thinking that tomorrow they either won't call or won't send an e-mail and then I'll feel really dumb.

ManFuel update, I am pretty excited about it right now. We are about to start a mini series called "Close Encounters" it's going to be pretty basic but hopefully profound, and it's about how to get Close to God.

I just bought Copeland's latest CD, and I must say I'm quite impressed. I'm digging it a lot, there is a good melodic feel to it with some really cool synth drum beats. But yeah so that's what's going on for right now, more to come.

Sabado

Saturday is here! Nothing really too exciting is actually going on but I'm happy it's a weekend that I don't have too much going on. Today will be mostly relaxing with my good friend Michael Heaton. We are gonna go watch us lose another basketball game today at 3:30, then I'm gonna go get my little brother to spend the night over here for his first time ever. So I'm gonna try and show him a good time around here. Tomorrow morning we wake up early and we head up to Charlotte, NC to Elevation to root on Wade Joye as he leads worship up there. God's doing insane things here and I'm excited to see what kind of madness he's doing up in Charlotte.

sigh of relief, sorta

yeah so today at 2:30 was the phone interview with BigStuf. Wow! Those were some tough questions. I have to be honest, a few had me sweaty and thinking really hard. I was honest and straight with them, but I felt like my nervousness held me back a bit. I dunno I guess overall I feel confident as long as I don't keep second guessing my answers. It felt so good to finally get to talk to them though because it has been running through my mind all week long.

So now I breathe a sigh of relief, except not really because I'm going to be anticipating the answer for the next 3 weeks when they choose 16 lucky people to be their interns this summer. I do have some peace though because I know if God wants me there, then I'll be there.

But yeah now off to doing homework and working on a devotional for Manfuel tomorrow night.

I'm so Busy, But loving it!

So it's Thursday night, and it's right about the time when a week ago I decided I would join Matt Mays and Michael Heaton on an adventure to the city of Charleston. It was fun I'm so glad I went and got to spend quality time with them and some of the coolest girls ever. Very spontaneously I got my ear pierced, and unless everyone is lying to me then it's actually looks cool.

Monday night Mount Horeb had it's monthly college worship night and the band Declare was there. Good guys and awesome worship and an incredible challenge from Nick. So many things have been falling into place lately that it's just unbelievable for me but awesome to know that God is capable of so much more. I like to serve people, but I don't do it enough yet there are so many out there who need to be served and who need Jesus even more than that. Nick basically said step it up in a very real way.

One of the coolest things that I have ever been able to be a part of just started this week, it was called Pancake Bible Study, but we changed the name to MAN FUEL, cuz it just sounds cooler. Basically it's a really laid back environment where Michael, Matt, Rob, Josh, and myself turn the study room of our dorm (for as long as it will hold us) into a pancake kitchen/video game hall, and just hang out and get to know people, and then a look at how Jesus wants us to live. This is aimed for people who don't know Jesus and feel intimidated by church or other campus ministries. It's a creative idea or at least we think so. Basically some inspiration from Steven Furtick on getting creative when it comes to reaching people. Similar to the paralyzed man who was lowered through a hole that was made in the roof to Jesus. We are trying to get a little crazy. It's totally free, and we are going to keep the teachings as basic and simple as we can. We want people to catch hold of Jesus through this, but we need tons of prayer and dedication. It's tough to balance everything and then be able to put on something quality for non-believers but God can do it, and I'm excited to be a part of it with some guys who are passionate about others coming to Christ.

Tuesdays will be our night because that's when it fits right now, if you are college-aged come and check it out 7PM. If you don't like it, then at least you got free pancakes.

Another always good part of my life is small group. Last night we started talking about the first chapter of Wild at Heart, and got to talking about manly stuff. The guys had so much to say and it was so awesome to see how all of us relate no matter how old or how different we look. As Brett put it, "it was MAN-tastic!!" It's one of the best small groups we have had if not the best, and I'm excited about diving into our manly hearts.

I finally finished the book It Came from Within, and it has been just what I needed to read. I'm realizing how much junk I have in my heart and how much I have stored over 18 years and am working very hard with the Holy Spirit in order to get rid of it. God is in control right now which is so relieving because I'm no good at controlling my life.

Michael and I were talking about this semester the other day, and we both haven't gone a day where something isn't going on. Like honestly tonight has been the only night where I've had a few hours to just relax. It is so awesome to be apart of everything that I am a part of and be busy serving him, but then again God commands us to rest. So this weekend I'm gonna take it easy and perhaps go somewhere where I can just be still in the prescence of God.

Sorry this was long but hopefully you enjoyed the update. And please pray for all the cool stuff God's doing.

Tribute to Ferris

I'm the worst blogger of all time, I have links to everyone except Ferris Joye... until now, that's right the very first one is hers. She blogs good stuff so go check it out. RIGHT NOW!!!

Tomorrow I should have a new post with a lot on it, Gods doing amazing stuff and I need to blog it out.

For now just go check out some wade joye worship or new pictures on this page.

strong

so tonight i had a good time just kickin it at the wired bean with some friends, and at some point i realized how funny it is that we call certain people "strong christians" or "good christians".... it made ma laugh a bit. I mean what is a strong Christian? Nick Cunningham must be a strong Christian cuz that guy can bench press like 500 pounds and he loves Jesus. I'm just really glad that as Christians there are no levels to that. Grace alone has saved me... I want to serve Jesus in any way possible, but just because I talk a little bit more about Jesus than someone else doesn't mean I'm any better at being a saved sinner than anyone else.

I know i've called people strong christians before, but tonight it's just really funny to think about some of the things that I say or do without even thinking about it.

I struggle with forward motion...

If you haven't heard that Relient K song, then listen to it. It's great. The chorus says:

"I struggle with forward motion, I struggle with forward motion, WE all struggle with forward motion"

The struggle is actually doing something. The series at Ignite right now has been incredible, like really. It all has come together for me, and all is still processing through my head as one thought. Nick has reallly brought it this time, I've been so convicted and know that I need to be out there taking any and every opportunity I get to help people. The worship last night was absolutely insane in my opinion, it is probably the first time during worship that the Holy Spirit has actually said "Go and Change the World". I must say I'm really impressed with what God has done so far, and how much so many of us have grown and made a difference in people's lives. But I must say that I'm glad I still feel convicted and know that there is so much more out there that God wants done. I'm ready for the challenge, I know I struggle with actually doing it, but it excites me.

My prayer is that the youth of Ignite would take to heart the whole series, and that they would begin to see how much the world needs Jesus no matter how much they want to deny it. I want people to think they are crazy because of the way they love people, and most of all I want them to forever change Lexington County, that this county would know who God is because of what they have done.