Saturday, August 29, 2009
Fridays with the kids
We worked with the Children at First Chinese Baptist Church on Fridays throughout the summer. It was such a fun experience that we just might have enjoyed more than the kids.
Week One
Before Forge on Thursday we were seated in the room and prayed before the meeting started. When we finished and opened our eyes, another of the leaders had walked in and joined the prayer time. Kevin quipped, 'we're still missing some, so lets pray again.'
But in all seriousness, God has honored the prayers that were offered and we had about 15 new students at Forge. Usually we run about 30-35, and we had about 50--not that it is all about numbers, but I do believe that numbers in some way do mean something.
I could feel the excitement in the room as the students started coming. One even came an hour early! Then they started coming in a steady flow a half-hour early. They were hungry to meet some fellow believers and to get connected with a Christian community. The BSM students ('my kids,' as I often refer to them, and they refer to themselves) we so open and welcoming to them. I stood at the door with two other students welcoming the new arrivals and inviting them in, then sometimes if the student had been really nervous as they entered the room, I would walk in just a few seconds after them and one of the kids would have already found them and started conversing with them. I was so proud!
After Forge most of the new kids stayed around talking, laughing and then taking it upon themselves to meet others that they had not yet met. They were very eager and several of them came up to me afterwards and asked how they could get more involved.
It was such a humbling night. We had prayed before, but sometimes we just don't know what we are praying for. Granted we know that our desire it to meet and love and reach students, but who? how? where? when? etc... As we were praying, I was reminded of this passage in Romans:
"For we do not know how we ought to pray, the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is, because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of His people and in accordance with His will. We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him. Those whom He has called according to His purpose." Romans 8:26-28
And then there was this excitement and hunger present that night. I don't know how else to describe it. It was also exciting because we knew that it was not because of us. The desire of the BSM this year has been, "we will do nothing that we can take credit for." So we desire to become a people of prayer and we will seek the face of God that we will know how we can serve. In the end, it is not how great of conversationalists we are, it is not how cool we are, it is not how good we sing, it is not how grand of events we can pull off, it is who HE is and how He manifests Himself through our lives when we are completely surrendered to Him.
But in all seriousness, God has honored the prayers that were offered and we had about 15 new students at Forge. Usually we run about 30-35, and we had about 50--not that it is all about numbers, but I do believe that numbers in some way do mean something.
I could feel the excitement in the room as the students started coming. One even came an hour early! Then they started coming in a steady flow a half-hour early. They were hungry to meet some fellow believers and to get connected with a Christian community. The BSM students ('my kids,' as I often refer to them, and they refer to themselves) we so open and welcoming to them. I stood at the door with two other students welcoming the new arrivals and inviting them in, then sometimes if the student had been really nervous as they entered the room, I would walk in just a few seconds after them and one of the kids would have already found them and started conversing with them. I was so proud!
After Forge most of the new kids stayed around talking, laughing and then taking it upon themselves to meet others that they had not yet met. They were very eager and several of them came up to me afterwards and asked how they could get more involved.
It was such a humbling night. We had prayed before, but sometimes we just don't know what we are praying for. Granted we know that our desire it to meet and love and reach students, but who? how? where? when? etc... As we were praying, I was reminded of this passage in Romans:
"For we do not know how we ought to pray, the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is, because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of His people and in accordance with His will. We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him. Those whom He has called according to His purpose." Romans 8:26-28
And then there was this excitement and hunger present that night. I don't know how else to describe it. It was also exciting because we knew that it was not because of us. The desire of the BSM this year has been, "we will do nothing that we can take credit for." So we desire to become a people of prayer and we will seek the face of God that we will know how we can serve. In the end, it is not how great of conversationalists we are, it is not how cool we are, it is not how good we sing, it is not how grand of events we can pull off, it is who HE is and how He manifests Himself through our lives when we are completely surrendered to Him.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Spring overview
Who doesn't love free lunch?!
UTSA Roadrunners
Ashley with the cupcake she made
Cory and Joel wanted pizza
FUGITIVE NIGHT
Al won--twice
Lots of games...
Rowdy's head for the homecoming parade
Emmanuel and Andy
Abigail giving Katie a piggy-back ride
Travis carrying Sam and John
When Thierry and Stephanie came to visit UTSA
UTSA Roadrunners
Ashley with the cupcake she made
Cory and Joel wanted pizza
FUGITIVE NIGHT
Al won--twice
Lots of games...
Rowdy's head for the homecoming parade
Emmanuel and Andy
Abigail giving Katie a piggy-back ride
Travis carrying Sam and John
When Thierry and Stephanie came to visit UTSA
April is the time for Fiestas!
End-of-the-year-Banquet
Andy and Cat
Katy and Sami
The guys played musical chairs--blindfolded
Trevor won the shoe game
Andy made the lemonade
Jack and Carlos serving the ladies
Ashley covering up the shoes
The guys cooked lasagna... yum!
Fiesta UTSA
The Katies
Emmanuel, Jack, Joseph and Lance
Katie, Rhoda and Ashley after beating the boys at basketball ;)
Ashley and Emmanuel
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Andy and Cat
Katy and Sami
The guys played musical chairs--blindfolded
Trevor won the shoe game
Andy made the lemonade
Jack and Carlos serving the ladies
Ashley covering up the shoes
The guys cooked lasagna... yum!
Fiesta UTSA
The Katies
Emmanuel, Jack, Joseph and Lance
Katie, Rhoda and Ashley after beating the boys at basketball ;)
Ashley and Emmanuel
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Righteous
I would strongly recommend the book, 'Prodigal God' by Timothy Keller. The book talks about the Parable in Luke 15. This is not the story of the father and his younger son, no, it is about the father and his TWO sons.
If you are familiar with this parable, you know that the younger son gets tired of living the way he always has, he sees the world around him and he wants to go and 'live it up' so he asks his father for his share of the inheritance. To ask for the inheritance while the father is still alive is a huge sign of disrespect for the father. But the father sells land and livestock to give the younger son his share of the inheritance.
The son goes off and spends all of his money on 'worldly things'--probably gambling, prostitutes, trying to buy himself a bit of happiness. He realizes that he cannot and now he is worse off than he was before. He is working for a farmer and feeding pigs. He decides to go home and apologize to his father and work as an employee. He begins that long walk home. Finally as he is nearing the house, his father sees him in the distance and runs to him.
The father puts his fancy clothes on the son and throws him a party with the best food he has. This is where the older son comes into the picture: everyone is celebrating inside the house for the lost son has returned.
The older son is angry that the father has shown such great love for the younger son and has not given him what he has given the younger son. The father comes to invite him into the festivities and the older son refuses, citing the father's ignorance to give the older son what he had bestowed on the younger son and then he adds, I have never disobeyed your command!
You see, both of the sons are distanced from the father. One because of his sins and immoral life. One because of his 'righteous' spirit; he has done everything right, but has missed the heart of it all. God didn't require him to DO everything perfect, but to trust in Him and to have a humble heart before Him.
You see, it is so easy to be the older brother. Many of us were raised in the church, maybe even in Christian families and we know what Christ requires of us and we do it thinking that that is what pleases him and not only that, whenever we see people not doing that, we judge them--ok, I may be the only one who does that-- thinking that we cannot believe that they are so sinful. Yet our hearts are in the same place, if not worse. God didn't come to call the healthy, but the sick. And often we think we are healthy. We are good; we're doing everything right, God must be happy with us.
May our hearts be sensitive to Christ and may we be on the lookout for our hearts becoming 'older brother hearts'.
If you are familiar with this parable, you know that the younger son gets tired of living the way he always has, he sees the world around him and he wants to go and 'live it up' so he asks his father for his share of the inheritance. To ask for the inheritance while the father is still alive is a huge sign of disrespect for the father. But the father sells land and livestock to give the younger son his share of the inheritance.
The son goes off and spends all of his money on 'worldly things'--probably gambling, prostitutes, trying to buy himself a bit of happiness. He realizes that he cannot and now he is worse off than he was before. He is working for a farmer and feeding pigs. He decides to go home and apologize to his father and work as an employee. He begins that long walk home. Finally as he is nearing the house, his father sees him in the distance and runs to him.
The father puts his fancy clothes on the son and throws him a party with the best food he has. This is where the older son comes into the picture: everyone is celebrating inside the house for the lost son has returned.
The older son is angry that the father has shown such great love for the younger son and has not given him what he has given the younger son. The father comes to invite him into the festivities and the older son refuses, citing the father's ignorance to give the older son what he had bestowed on the younger son and then he adds, I have never disobeyed your command!
You see, both of the sons are distanced from the father. One because of his sins and immoral life. One because of his 'righteous' spirit; he has done everything right, but has missed the heart of it all. God didn't require him to DO everything perfect, but to trust in Him and to have a humble heart before Him.
You see, it is so easy to be the older brother. Many of us were raised in the church, maybe even in Christian families and we know what Christ requires of us and we do it thinking that that is what pleases him and not only that, whenever we see people not doing that, we judge them--ok, I may be the only one who does that-- thinking that we cannot believe that they are so sinful. Yet our hearts are in the same place, if not worse. God didn't come to call the healthy, but the sick. And often we think we are healthy. We are good; we're doing everything right, God must be happy with us.
May our hearts be sensitive to Christ and may we be on the lookout for our hearts becoming 'older brother hearts'.
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