Not only was I there, but I was also here.  Check this out.

Mexico was beautiful and my honeymoon was awesome.  It was awesome, except for the sea sickness and me accidentally getting some of the water in my system.  It’s true, you really should not drink the water.  I washed my hands then ate something and thought I was going to die.

Jennie and I really started missing all the youth and family we’ve made in the church while we were there and can’t wait to see all of you now that we are back.

While most of you were kept safely in the basement or, “Mud Rooms” of your respective host homes I was stuck at the church all by my lonesome. I tried to stay safe but never really could get the feeling from my bathroom of safety. That and it was hot, dark, and kind of smelled. All of those elements came together to force me out and into dangers face. That’s right, I’m dangerous.

So, I figured I would try to fold all the shirts and have them ready to give out once the storm calmed down. I think that killed about twenty minutes and then I got a little stir crazy. I started roaming around and watching the storm go crazy outside. I think I decided to start taking pictures because if I just sat around I’d start getting nervous, which makes my stomach go crazy, and I didn’t want to be in the bathroom. That’s when I hopped outside to get a shot of the flood.

I would take some pictures and then get freaked out by the wind or the rain or if something looked like it was swirling. When I got freaked out I would dart back to the bathroom and wait to see if anything was going to happen. After a while I started to get bored and felt like maybe D-Now ’08 was a bit of a bust so I started trying to take pictures that could be used as apologies if I were to be sucked away.

After my little bit of crazy, apologetic, self-loathing. I sucked it up and started to notice that things looked really cool, during my ventures out into the wild. That’s when I took, what I like to think are really cool looking pictures. After I took them I just thought they were cool pictures but the more I think about them the more I’m reminded of Psalm 19 where it says, ” 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” I think there is a lot of truth in those verses, on the one hand you’ve go the fact that nature displays God’s creative genius. On the other hand, I think that something as simple as water passing over bricks being beautiful speaks to God’s artistic genius. He didn’t just create everything, he did it better than any artist ever could. I think that’s pretty amazing.

I think you guys are amazing and I hope that you think you are amazing.  God made you and he didn’t just throw you together, he painted each stroke of you with a masters touch.  You’re so much more amazing than any picture of rain, and I’m pretty blown away by my picture.

After the jump, check out the full set of pictures that I took during the Tornado.

I’ll try and get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Thanks!

The Lock-In: I’m planning on having pictures up on the website as soon as I can. We’ve got a lot more pictures from the part at the church than we do at the actual lock-in. That’s because my picture takers fell asleep. Did you know that we had over 120 youth at the lock-in? There were five different ministries present and you guys put away about 60 pizzas! I had a great time and want to thank each and every person who came out to help. The Norrods, KK and Lori, and Carolyn were all such huge helps, when you see them make sure you give them a big hug. They didn’t have to help, but they did.

The Super Bowl: 18 of you made it out to help feed about 100 homeless people. You got to watch what will go down in history as an instant classic in American Football. Also, you got to help meet the needs of those that Christ called “The least of these.” Thank you all for being so well behaved. You were all shining examples for Christ and I had a great time getting to hang out with all of you. Again, huge thanks go out to Carolyn Bullock for driving the bus for us. Remember she had just driven the bus for the lock-in.

Keep your eyes glued to the website as I announce something pretty cool and a few other tidbits.

I hope you guys like it. I’m going to put the first little tidbit after the link to give you an idea of what you’re going to read.

1. Are There Errors In The Bible:

“A few days ago I received an email from a reader of this site who was concerned about how to answer those who claim that the Bible is a book filled with error and contradiction. Such claims are common and, sadly, are more and more being put forth even from within evangelical circles. This reader affirmed his belief in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture but was looking for some guidance on how to answer the multitudes of claims against the Bible.

I’d like to take that on.”

2. What Does Inerrant Mean:

“When I first began to develop and understanding of this doctrine, I found that the doctrines of Scripture cannot be neatly separated, one from the other, for they are intertwined and interrelated. So in the first article I wrote about inspiration, canon, transmission and authority. Today I will turn to inerrancy, first explaining what it is not (often a good place to begin, I find) and then providing a working definition.”

3. Errors And Contradictions In The Bible:

“This is the third and final article in this short series dealing with inerrancy and with the Bible’s supposed errors and contradictions. In the last article we defined what inerrancy is not and then attempted to adequately define the term. I suggested the following definition: The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. Today we will look at some common objections to this doctrine as well as some problems that may arise if we deny it.

I like the picture that paints, of God’s hand treating the soul of a deceased Christian preciously. It reminds me of the way you see someone carrying a new born baby. How they gently cradle the head and protect such small fragile bones from any damage. That’s a beautiful picture in light of both the YWAM and New Life Church shootings that occurred recently. God sees their death as precious.

I think God places such love upon the death of His saints, because nothing gives us such an impacting chance to share the Gospel. Nothing offers us as much of an opportunity to show the love of Christ, after our brothers and sisters in Christ have been killed.  Unfortunately the shooter will never know Christ, it’s hard to decide which is more tragic.  Pray for the families involved.

Here’s some recent articles on the topic.

Both Shootings Connected

A Series of Updates

Just make sure you’re praying for everyone involved.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  How does our Savior ask us to remember Him?  By partaking in His sacrifice.  By reflecting upon His suffering and the atonement that it earned us.  The Communion is a time of deep introspection, to make sure that we are not taking lightly Christ and His life and death.  It is also, though, a time to take the focus off ourselves.  It’s a time to focus on Christ, to focus on the joy that he brings and the hope that he fulfills.  The communion is a time to remember Christ, completely.  Matthew 26:17-30

9/11 is a memory.  A not too distant memory, and a still painful one at that.  Let’s remember those that risked their lives and those that died.  But, just like our Lord’s Supper, let’s not let the focus stay on people.  Let’s point our focus towards God, and in doing so point, possibly, point the focus of a few others heavenward as well.

This 9/11, do something in remembrance of those that lost their lives, share your faith, so that something far more tragic than phyiscal death doesn’t occur.