Turkey, Football and Faith...

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

I had the joy of spending Thanksgiving morning with some great friends. We gathered @ Westminster Academy's West Campus and embarked on our 1st annual "Gangway Turkey Bowl." It was a blast! However, it did serve to remind me that I am no longer 18 and I just can't, no matter how much my mind/ego wants to, keep up with some of these guys (and gals - shout out Patia and Lezlie).

After the game it was a refreshing drive home, a quick shower and a hike up to Stuart w/Amy to my dad's house for dinner and a superb Cowboys victory! (shout out Tullian)

Unfortunately, the following day Amy had to work so we headed home early. Although, I was quite tempted to stay b/c my sister-in-law was talking about some crazy "Black Friday" shopping and the schedule she was proposing sounded at least intriguing. Then I came to my senses and wisely declined.

That next evening Amy's parents and siblings (minus Jenny) came to visit for the weekend. It was a double blessing b/c we had waited to tell them that we were pregnant, so when we laid it on them they were ecstatic! But, then they surprised us w/ a new TV! Ok, well it's not brand new, but it's new to us and it's huge!

We had a great time with them, just hanging and being together. They left yesterday and it's always a bit sad watching them go.

All of this came rushing back down upon me this morning as I was having my morning devotions. I was reading through Hebrews 11 - the "faith hall-of-fame" chapter - and got to thinking about life, especially my life. The chapter begins with a definition of what faith is and then proceeds to give a list of biblical examples of faith in action, of people who not only professed faith but lived in it. As I read, I had to stop and examine my own life. Is this what my daily experience looks like? Is my faith always genuine or do I often profess a generic wish/faith? If I were to exercise this kind of faith, the kind Abraham and Noah and Moses had, would my life be extremely different? All these questions immediately collided with my afore mentioned Thanksgiving schedule. I thought to myself that in the midst of all that "to do" I don't remember ever having to really exercise any faith - it all just happened. Now, I'm not saying that any of the activities I did are wrong or bad, I'm just wondering if they are distractions.

See, in this world we live in, if we are really honest, we rarely need to exercise real, genuine faith. This world offers us everything and anything. If I want food I go buy it. If I want stuff I go shopping. If I want companionship I go to the Internet. Whatever we want, it's at our fingertips. This world has made faith the enemy and seeks to afford us with every opportunity to be self-sufficient and composed. Thus, faith is becoming less and less a necessity for us. This is a serious problem b/c this world we live in has propped itself up as the ultimate means of gratification and eliminates our desire for something else, something better.

All these thoughts rushed upon me this morning and I just thought I'd share them. I hope that we can all be pricked by these questions and take a hard look @ ourselves and our lives. May God be honored and all of our faith increased!

For His Kingdom...

We've moved into the 21st century...

Chris and Dylan are now in the Twittershpere! That means we can now be found on Twitter.com.

Follow @dylankallioinen and @choyeperry.

For His Kingdom...

Let's all get together...

On Sunday my cohort and partner in crime Dylan was not well. He was stricken with a bad case of "everything on the inside wanting to be on the outside" (thank you Brian Regan for the description). How this came about is a seeming mystery, but we suspect that it may be some kind of divine trickery being played on him for making fun of Kyle for being sick - but who knows.

Anyway, all that was to say that He was not here on Sunday and so I had the opportunity to speak to both the Middle School and High School students together. This always makes for an interesting time. It's always quite humorous to observe this awkward social environment and note the changes in certain student's behaviors. We do love experiments here in the Student Ministries :)

Despite the awkwardness of the situation it really was a sweet time.

Our discussion for the morning centered around King Hezekiah and the impending doom being proposed by Assyria. It really was a perilous time for Judah and its capital Jerusalem. So, we explored the background of what was going on and then focused our attention on King Hezekiah's prayer (found in Isaiah 37:14-20). This is a most amazing prayer for several reasons. It is quite genuine and personal. Hezekiah does not pray abstractly or ritualistically, but refreshingly from his heart. He lays the burdens confronting him and his people before the Lord with great humility and yet, wonderful boldness. The prayer is also direct and honest. Hezekiah pleads for rescue and protection from Assyria. He notes their power and strength, but trusts that it is all at the hand of the Lord and He will deal with them accordingly. He then proclaims his unwavering trust in the Lord, the one true living God. He recognizes that none of the other nations' false gods could save them, but the God of Israel is REAL and will save them.

With all of this right in front of us, I posed some inescapable questions.

- Do we trust the Lord with the same intensity and surety as King Hezekiah?

- If so, do we then pray with such genuine honesty and faith as King Hezekiah?

These questions are most pressing and dire for all of us to ponder. See, Hezekiah was surrounded by enemies, his people were living in fear, the spiritual temperature of Judah was mild at best and to top it off he had Assyria showing up on his doorstep insulting him, his people and his God. This is likely a situation that not many of us comfortable, church going, optimistic Americans can fathom or understand. Thus, Hezekiah's prayer does not affect us as it should. It lacks the force that would come if we truly could place ourselves in Hezekiah's place (or even in the place of an Israelite living in Judah at that time).

So, we need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to help us rightly understand the circumstance of Hezekiah in order for us to grasp the wonder of his prayer. From there, we must confront ourselves with the above questions and search long and hard for their answer. For, Hezekiah's God is our God and His faith ours. Thus, we must seek God in prayer as Hezekiah did, with intensity and purpose, laying our burdens before the Lord and imploring Him to act on our behalf.

Revival fire fall on your people in this day, O Lord!

For His Kingdom...

Volleyball...

So, tonight our WA Lady Lions volleyball team will be taking on the Calvary ladies in a regional showdown. Some how a rivalry has been created between these 2 teams. This is interesting being that both schools are dedicated to the same one, true, living God and are bound to train up their students in righteousness and Godliness. But, however it has come about, it is set and sometimes fierce.

Thus, tonight's game will be intense to say the least. I'll be there to show my support and I hope the gym will be packed; not with hatred and hostility, but with love, humility and good sportsmanship.

See you all there!

For His Kingdom...

Ooops...

So, my first question is - "I wonder how many people's church lives were affected by the time change?"

Our Sunday school attendance was low on Sunday and I propose 3 possible reasons:

First, the time change messed our student's (and possibly parent's) sleeping habits up and this resulted in an altered church day.

Second, our students ingested so much candy and sugar over the weekend that they were either sick or the "crash" was too much and they could not physically get out of bed.

Or third, and more likely, I'm a really boring Sunday school teacher and the students are starting to revolt.

Whatever the reason, we hope to see more of our students out this week and weekend! So, if you've missed coming as of late, we've missed having you and hope to see you soon!

This week we are on for all of our regularly scheduled events (please see above calendar for more info.) and want to not only greet old friends but meet new ones! So, if you are coming to either our mid-week gatherings or our Sunday school, bring a friend or bring 2 :)

See you all soon!

For His Kingdom...