Just a quick post....

...because I haven't posted in so long! I apologize for those who like to read these posts, but I have been so utterly busy it's unreal. I'm able to sit here and shoot out this short post as our second service is wrapping up. I oversee the Special Operations for Facilities here at the West Seattle Campus, and on Sundays I share facility duties with my roommate Phil from Germany. We each oversee a different service, today I was able to attend the 9am service and worked the 11:15, hence my being able to write this write now at 12:45pm. 

   My day began when I woke up at 5:15am, and got to the church at 5:35 after a quick shower and opened up the church and began cooking breakfast for all the staff at 6am for our 7am meeting. We meet and pray for an hour then at 8am we all break and go meet with the teams that we lead and get everything in place for the 9 am service.

   Last Sunday my day began at 5am and I didn't get home until midnight because we went to Ballard for their 7:15pm service then about 40 of us went out to fellowship after the service. LONG day to say the least...

    All for the glory of God. Amen. Thank You Jesus for this awesome year and all the unbelievable opportunities You have placed before me!

Panoramic View of Ballard..

...in 6 shots:

 the extreme left side of the room as seen from the stage...

 ...the still left side but moving towards the center...

  ...the center...

 ...heading right now from center...

 ...and the extreme right side of the sanctuary...

 ...and the stage, pulpit and worship band equipment. Pastor Mark preaches from the left side of the stage (as you're facing it), and the band sets up on the right side. This sanctuary holds approx 1200 people, and gets mostly full on Sundays for all 4 services.

Ecclesiology...

   Once again at Re:Train, this month studying Ecclesiology under Dr. Gregg Allison. GREAT class on the Doctrine of the Church! Great to see my classmates from out of state once again as well...

   Been way too busy to blog lately, with my surgery and writing my Christology paper on Colossians. Will try to be more diligent in writing. Love you all!

One Righteous Man by Red Letter

My latest worship video, One Righteous Man by Red Letter...all glory to Jesus!

http://vimeo.com/14977190

Also, check out our first week's installment of "This is Mars Hill", a weekly biographical sketch of a different campus within Mars Hill and it's Pastor. Here's the first one featuring Pastor Mark Driscoll: 

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/this-is-mars-hill/pastor-mark-driscoll

Still recovering

...I apologize for not posting lately, but with class last weekend, and then writing my papers for the class, then surgery on Friday, I really am finding myself extremely busy. 

   I do ask prayers from everyone, as I'm not making it financially, especially as I need my asthma inhalers again. Tiffany Miller has committed to helping for the year, and for that I am grateful. I know God has plans as He wouldn't bring me up here to leave me hanging, and I appreciate everyone's prayers. Thanks! More later after I heal....

Spontaneous Baptisms

   Last Sunday we had spontaneous baptisms here at both the 9am and 11:15am services. We had a total of 9 people get baptized, 4 at the 9am and 5 at the 11:15am. With the exception of maybe one or two people, everyone else just came up, talked to  a Pastor, and then went right up into the water in their church clothes! It was very powerful, watching the Spirit move on peoples hearts, and I for one was crying as soon as the first person went in the water! Here's the sermon from last Sunday, taken from our 30-month series on the Gospel of Luke. We're currently in Luke 10: 17-24:

Luke 10: 17-24 Jesus Rejoices in the Holy Spirit 

   And here are some pictures from Sunday...

 ...the worship band this week had a 4 piece brass section, which was amazing! The kids always love to be up front and praise Jesus!

...worship and praise as we see our brothers and sisters get baptized!

...more soon! May the Lord continue to bless all you do for His glory!

On Mission in Community by Pastor Cliff Low

(this was written by one of the Pastors' here at Mars Hill, and I wanted to share it word for word with all of you)

   How do we love our neighbors? That is the question that Nathaniel Blue and his community group constantly pondered in his home. Little did the Boulevard Park neighborhood know, there was a small group of their neighbors wanting to love them. As Nathaniel's community group kept learning to live out the Gospel, they were compelled to find out how to love their neighbors.

   The group discussed the question with excitement and quickly became overwhelmed with many ideas; some of which were overly complicated. As ideas kept popping out of everyone's minds, God paraded a simple yet wonderful idea through Nathaniel's window. Just right outside was the busy strip mall with a Laundromat and a Thriftway. Nathaniel noticed that on Saturday morning the Laundromat was bustling with activity. All kinds of families, many of them immigrants, were cleaning their clothes.

   The question of "How do we love our neighbors?" then became "What are the ways we could reflect Jesus to those who were doing laundry Saturday mornings?" From there, Nathaniel's community group decided to serve breakfast to the people at the Laundromat because many of the patrons did not have time or money to eat. The group figured that it would be a simple way to reflect Jesus' love for His people. 

   So on one Saturday morning, they served breakfast at the Laundromat to the pleasantly surprised patrons. Many people asked, "Why are you doing this?" And the group simply said "Why not? Jesus calls us to love our neighbors and this is one simple way we can show this love." One couple addressed the group and asked who they were. He responded by pointing to Nathaniel's house on the hill, telling them, "That's where we meet each Monday." The couple expressed that they would love to come visit the community group. After the group served more people, the couple that dropped by went home, picked up the kids, and came back. The group experienced tremendous joy serving the entire ear-to-ear smiling family. 

   In the end, 70 people were fed, but also had experience of being loved by a group of their neighbors. Nathaniel's community group decided to make "Breakfast at the Laundromat" a bi-monthly event, and a fruit of mission was born from Nathaniel's community group being disciples of Jesus in their neighborhood. All of our community group are learning to live out the Gospel by loving their neighbors. Boulevard Park happens to get a taste of that sweet fruit.

http://westseattle.marshillchurch.org/

...if you've got a story of how you're impacting your neighbors for Christ or want to share how you've seen evidences of God's grace in your lives, send it to me and I'll post it here to encourage all of us.

Basal Cell Carcinoma and the Sovereignty of God

   I heard from the doctor finally, and it is indeed skin cancer on my face. They have scheduled me for mohs surgery to remove it and also reconstructive surgery that same day on September 17th. It will most likely take all day, and I will be out of commission for the better part of three days, then two trips for stitch removals, from the skin graft  and where they take the skin from for the graft.

   But in all of this, I praise my God and my Savior because my name is written in heaven. No matter the trials and tribulations and sufferings we experience in our lifetime on this planet, I assure you that it is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us when we see Jesus face-to-face.

   And the possible opportunities for me to share the gospel, before, during, and after my surgery will be multiplied. Nothing happens apart from what God allows, and I know that He will use this for good and for His glory.

   I'm also praising Jesus because as of last Friday night, I successfully completed my first course in Re:Train!!! After 23 years of being out of school, by God's grace and mercy, I made it through a Master level course, which included writing three small papers and one 24-page curriculum on God's Plan of Salvation. Thank you Jesus for Your faithfulness and love!

   I will be adding another post later today about one of our community groups up here and how they reached out to their community....

Just a quick post...

...to say that I have not heard from the doctors regarding my possible skin cancer, but I will keep everyone posted.  

   I'm praising God and thankful for His mercy, forgiveness, and infinite patience with me. Why He has chosen me for any of the blessings He's bestowing upon me is way beyond my comprehension or understanding, but I seek more and more each day to live for Him who died for me and bought me with His very blood. I want everyone God brings into my life to know Jesus Christ!! May the Lord continue to use me for His glory for every day that He gives me on this planet.

Week Three...

    As most of you know, I went to the Doctor last Friday to see about this wound on my face, which they believe is skin cancer. They did a biopsy that day, and I will get the results back most likely today, and they want to do sugery to remove it and then reconstructive surgery on my face with a skin graft using skin from behind my ear. Through all of this, I know that God is completely Sovereign and I am trusting Him to carry me through this, and I pray I can be a blessing to others through this trial, and suffer well for the glory of Jesus, and share the gospel with everyone I come into contact with.

   On a happier note, I have been placed in Facilities here at the church, and I get to help oversee all that needs to be done, and help build teams of volunteers to take care of the needs that arise. I will also be working with the Children's Ministry and "Proxy" (the teen ministry), teaching/preaching, and also working with Community Groups and Redemption Groups. Community Groups are scattered around the various neighborhoods around the campus, and the goal of them is to get us all to live out our faith together in community and reaching out to our neighbors with the love of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Redemption Groups are much more intense, in that we deal specifically with sins that we are all going through, and we walk through the difficult times we each experience together, graciously loving and reflecting the image of Christ and His forgiveness. 

...So I will hear today from the doctors, and I thank you all for your prayers.

Rock Wall Pictures...

...as promised, here I am defying death for your entertainment!! (Just kidding, but although there was no way to fall, the adrenalin from climbing the wall was amazing!! First time I did it I was out of breath and my heart was pumping like crazy, it was awesome!!) I look forward to doing this again. Next crazy thing I want to do is kayak in Puget Sound!!

...almost there...

 ...made it!!

 ...whoo-hoo, repelling down was a blast too!!

11 Tips for Studying the Bible at the Dinner Table by Mark Driscoll

1. Try and eat dinner with your entire family regularly.
 

2. It may be helpful for Mom and Dad to sit next to one another to lead the family discussion.
 

3. Open the meal by asking if there is anyone or anything to pray for.
 

4. A different family member opens in prayer each night, covering any requests. This way each family member learns to pray aloud.
 

5. Discuss how everyone’s day went throughout the meal.
 

6. Have a Bible in front of the parents and have someone (parent or child) open the Bible to the assigned text in the Dinner Bible Booklet and read it aloud while everyone is eating and listening.
 

7. A parent then reads the word for the day from the Dinner Bible Booklet, and gives the corresponding definition provided in the booklet and/or paraphrases the word’s definition at an age-appropriate level.
 

8. Ask the discussion questions in the Dinner Bible Booklet, and if your kids are older then you may also consider using the Community Group discussion questions.
 

9. Let the conversation happen naturally. Carefully listen to the kids and let them answer the questions. Fill in whatever they miss or lovingly and gently correct whatever they get wrong so as to help them.
 

10. If the Scriptures convict you of sin, repent as you need to your family, and share appropriately honest parts of your life story so the kids can see Jesus’ work in your life and your need for Him too. (This demonstrates Gospel humility.)
 

11. At the end of dinner ask the kids if they have any questions for you.

(taken from the Mar/Apr 2009 issue of  "Bible Study Magazine")

Mars Hill Staff Conference Day Two...

...was AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I did not bring my iPhone (which is my camera), but another new intern here at Mars Hill, Melissa, did, and I asked her to take some shots of me climbing the rock wall, so I'll post those tomorrow. We all had a great time today, I didn't get signed up for the softball games because we didn't know that we would be able to go until Monday afternoon, but I did get to play umpire for the last few innings of the last game. Other than that, I played a few games of Volleyball, went for a cruise in the paddle boats, climbed the rock wall three times (totally addicted now!), and ate some great bbq!

   I was also able to have a couple great conversations with Pastor Mark, tell him how I got here, how God totally cleared the path and led me down it, how I never heard from Tennessee about Bible College, how honored and blessed I was to be here, and ask him any advice he might have for me after telling him what I felt God was calling me to. He's really a great guy, very personable and approachable, and humble in my estimation. Which is refreshing, considering how many people he reaches through the ministry God has entrusted to him. He welcomed and thanked me for being here and especially for being at West Seattle, because our campus here is, and has been undergoing some major pruning and is adjusting to getting back on track (that's why they brought Kyle and Pastor Bubba back from Ballard), and invited me to go to the Church Planting Boot Camp Seminar the end of September. It was awesome, because he knows I'm interning full-time and doing ReTrain, and so I asked if I would have to pay for it, and he said "no, just tell them when you sign up that I said you could go for free." And then as we were all leaving he came up to me again and shook my hand again and I thanked him for letting us interns come to the staff conference and he said thanks for coming, and said he'd see me at the Boot Camp in September. I know he's just a servant of Christ, but just as he respects and looks up to Spurgeon, he's someone I greatly respect and after getting to talk to him more today, umpire the softball game he was playing, and see the interaction he has with his wife and five kids and everyone else on staff, I respect him even more. Everyone I've met here at Mars Hill, from my new friends and brothers Kyle Firstenberg and Erik Henrikson, to the other Pastors', and other staff, has been real genuine, on fire for Jesus, friendly, welcoming, and accepted me right onto the team. 

   I also met and had a great conversation with Pastor Samuel Choi, a former PCA Pastor who knows Jim Bordwine from Presbytery. He and I discussed some issues that have been going on recently with the PCA, and what brought him to Mars Hill in the first place. It's a book written by Pastor Mark Driscoll called "Radical Reformission", and I intend to read it between class readings. 

...well, time to study and do some more reading and praying, more tomorrow!!

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." ~ Philippians 1:3-6

Mars Hill Staff Conference...

...which I was blessed with being able to attend!! We had great teaching, got to hear the vision for the church, hear about the sermon series that Pastor Mark has planned for the next 3 years, and really was encouraged and blessed by hearing about how far Mars Hill has come in the last 15 years when it started out as a small bible study in Mark and Grace's (his wife) living room. God has so blessed and multiplied this body of believers, and I love that they seek to partner with other churches around the world, breaking down denominational barriers and getting the Gospel out to the ends of the earth. 

   We have an "open-hand/closed-hand" view on things here. In the closed hand are things that we will fight for, like the five solas, the inerrancy of scripture, etc. In the open hand are things that we will discuss and maybe even debate, but not divide over, like escatological views, baptism, etc. I think it's a great way to have discussions with our brothers and sisters and help unify us as we really are"one" body in Christ. 

   I will most likely elaborate more fully on the days' activities tomorrow, when we conclude the two-day conference, but for now I'm wiped out. I love you guys and miss you all dearly! Hopefully some visits are planned for Seattle soon???....

Just read that if you subscribe to Bible Study Magazine, you get a free copy of the issue with Pastor Mark Driscoll...here's the link:

http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/markdriscoll/

Two Weeks Down...

   Well today was a busy day, and filled with meetings. We started off at 9am with an intern meeting to see what and where we're all going to be focusing this year. We whiteboarded the many areas of service, and then where we felt like the Lord was calling us and also where we feel our strengths and weaknesses lie. Then I did some light maintenance around the church, and had a few more meetings with my other interns and my new boss and my Gospel coach for ReTrain. Found out that I get to attend the second-annual staff conference for the next two days, which is awesome!!! 

   Tomorrow is going to be at the Ballard Campus, from 8:30am to 4:30pm, and we're getting lectures and updates and hearing the vision of Mars Hill from Pastor Mark Driscoll, Pastor Dave Bruskas (Albuquerque Mars Hill), and Pastor Jamie Munson. It sounds like a great day and I'm looking forward to hearing and learning a lot. The following day is also part of the staff conference, but it is a family fun day, and they've rented out Lord Hill Farms in Snohomish, Washington, where we've got food, softball games, paddle boats, bouncy castles, and mini-golf. Sounds like another awesome day and I'm hoping to maybe get a few minutes with Pastor Mark to hang out. 

    All in all, I have definitely hit the ground running up here, as I just get sent to me a new book that's not going to be published until a few more months that was written by Pastor Bill Clem who taught our class last week. I have to read this and finish one 25 page curriculum that is scalable (meaning anyone else can teach it) with 5 lessons on how to make disciples, and three other much shorter papers that are all due a week from this coming Friday. Then I have three books to read in two weeks to prepare for my September class on Christology, taught by Bruce Ware.

   On a side note, several of my classmates that are all interning full time and ReTrain-ing full-time, have put in place support/fund-raising from their home churches, families, and friends. What it looks like, is they have several people who have committed to supporting them monthly for the next year, so they can successfully complete all that God has called them to. Which is exactly what I want to do as well. My boss and Pastor Bordwine also said that this is a good idea. 

   So...........for this to work for me, I would need 20 people to commit to sending in $50 a month. That would cover all expenses, food, and tuition for the year, and would allow me to focus more on school, reading and writing papers, and other ministry opportunities that are already coming up for me up here, such as outreaches, worship/music ministry, etc.

   I figured that this would be a better forum to bring this up, and if anyone feels led by the Lord to help, that would be awesome, and if anyone feels led by the Lord to share this need and tell others, even better. 

   Well, it's almost 11:30, and I've got to get up early to spend time in prayer and reading by Bible, before I begin my day. Thanks to everyone who's following my blogs, and I'll keep posting stuff, maybe not everyday, because I don't want them to become boring. I will say this, that even in just two short weeks of being here, my walk and life have changed dramatically. God is really pruning and conforming me, and it's not very pleasant some days, as I feel like I'm a Spiritual Boot Camp, and getting worked over every minute by the Holy Spirit, as He reveals areas of my walk that are sinful, full of idolatry, and not pleasing to Him who died for me. The book "Respectable Sins" that Marc Lind gave me and was required reading last month, really opened my eyes, and I am praying more each day that God will continue to work in and through me to His glory and strip away my pride and any and every barrier that would come between Him and me. God is so good and so faithful!!

   And I am grateful that He causes all things to work together for good...AMEN!!!

Because I love you....

...I want to share this clip from last week's sermon...feel free to comment!!

Mark Driscoll talking about Amazon.com's Top Selling books for pre-teens

PLEASE WATCH IT!!! It's only 14 minutes....

End of my first week of school...

   Well, I made it through the week, and it was amazing. One of the best parts was really getting to see God bring together my cohort group and unify us. We had some fun field assignments, and it's great to actually not just do book work, but to actually go out and apply the Scriptural truths we learn in class and live out our faith. I am so looking forward to the rest of this year. 

   Today we all had to preach a 5-7 minute sermon on Discipleship, and everyone in my group was shocked when I gave my message, because they mentioned afterwards that all week I seemed kind of insecure and unsure as to whether I belonged here, but when I started sharing God's word, they all agreed that I was like a different person, all the shyness/insecurity was completely gone, replaced by boldness, confidence, and authority. I said because it's all Jesus, not me, and when I share God's word, He is ALWAYS faithful to show up. God was glorified, in that everyone could see the Holy Spirit working through me. I cannot even take a breath apart from God allowing me to, and my goal is to continue like today, to point everyone Jesus brings into my path towards Him, and so that I may decrease, but His kingdom and His glory may multiply daily. If I can have any part in it, I am humbled and blessed. 

   I so look forward to friends and family from home to come and visit and experience the worship, community, and work of ministry that is being done up here. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, mere words cannot express how I feel being here. That's part of what my group meant when they said I seemed insecure, because I just have been speechless to actually be here. This journey has been a lifetime in the making, and for the last 12 years this is exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life; serve the Lord and do whatever He calls me to do, wherever that may be, and however that looks. I don't want to limit God. It's kind of a scary prayer, but my prayer is: 

"Lord, anywhere, anytime, to do anything for Your glory, as long as You continue to give life into this earthly vessel, my life is Yours, to do with as You see fit. I only ask that You clearly lead me, and daily make sure that I am on the right path that will most glorify You, and do not let me turn to the left or to the right, but to follow You faithfully, glorifying You with every word I speak, every thought I think, every thing I look upon, and everything I do. In Jesus' Name, amen."

   Just a few pictures, but I have the next two days off to go looking for work, so I'm sure I'll jump back into tourist mode....

...my cohort group as we went out to lunch on Wednesday. (someone said we look more like a "boy-band" than a bunch of preachers!)...

...me at GasWorks Park on Wednesday. Our field assignment was to "do community" together, so we all got the same exact sandwiches and went to the park and ate and played frisbee and baseball together. I accidentally almost hit someone resting on top of a hill when I was batting, I hit the ball too far and thus was nicknamed "Mark McGuire" for the rest of the afternooon...needless to say, I'm still the athlete of the bunch even up here and staying active!...

...a Sea-Plane taking off from the water next to Gasworks Park. It was really neat to see, as they kept doing it and there tons of kayakers in the water. That's what I'd like to do while the weather's good, so I'm going to ask around and see if I can borrow one (a kayak, NOT a sea-plane don't worry!!)...

...see what looks like a school bus driving through the water on the left? Well it is!! They have these amphibious vehicles called "Ducks" that drive around the city and then drive through the water. It's a tourist ride, but I totally want to try it!! I'm getting all kinds of cool things for visitors to do whenever I get any...(hint-hint)...

...and the week wouldn't have been complete without me standing where Pastor Mark preaches every Sunday for 5 services! I encourage everyone to join us through the Gospel of Luke. You can either watch, listen, or download into either format here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke

We're currently in part 40, which is only chapter 9:37-45, and we're going to be in Luke for about another year and a half.  Anyways, again, I miss you all and love you guys!...more soon!

Day Three of School...

Sorry, but this post is gonna have to wait. We had a long day, and then a BBQ, then I had to work on a sermon for tomorrow. It's 12:21am, and I'm in my office at church, and I am exhausted. 

   So I'm going to walk next door to my house and pass out. Good night all....

Day Two of school...

   Today, we started with worship led by Pastor Joel Brown from the Mars Hill Band "Red Letter", which was very powerful. Then we had class and heard two really powerful testimonies from two people who just became believers this year. Half of our day was spent on the streets of Seattle talking to people on the street, asking them these questions, in an order to see the needs of the community we were in:

What would you die for?
What does community look like and where do you find it?
Do you go to church? Why/why not?
Do you live downtown? Why/why not?
Do you plan on living here in the next 3 years?

   The answers were very interesting and gave us an idea of what kinds of idols people worship, and what barriers there are to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how we can bridge those gaps and break down the barriers and reach people for Christ. It was a very powerful day all around, and I ended the day having dinner with my roommate David, and then we walked to the beach to get some pictures of the sunset, and then proceeded to get lost in the dark walking through the neighborhood hills trying to find our way back home. But God is faithful and He provided us a ride home, after we walked for over an hour, finding dead end after dead end. Here's some pics from the day. I will comment on them as I post them.

   One side note about Seattle. There was an FBI report done that stated that Seattle has the highest rate of human trafficking in the US, because we have the seaports, the Canadian borders, and bus/plane/train terminals. It stated that people will wait at the stations for young girls alone with backpacks getting off of buses, trains, etc, and take them and sell them. Very satanic and awful. So what has Mars Hill done about it? There are women's ministries, where the women go into strip clubs and where prostitutes are and talk to the women and share the gospel with them and pull them out of the bondage they're in. So please pray for this ministry as it can be very dangerous for all involved. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to see people living out their faith and doing things to further the Gospel and reaching out and making a difference in this city for Jesus Christ.  

...me getting ready to hit the streets for Jesus!

...one thing about Seattle you should know. They value their dogs more than children in the city. This looked like a kid jail in a park, where the dogs can run free. There are more "doggie daycares" than regular daycares. The city of Seattle is closing schools because there are not enough kids. The outlying suburbs have kids, but the metropolitan downtown areas have nearly NO children. The liberals that don't believe in procreating with all soon die off, with no offspring left to follow them. Very sad. This is what I am up here against...

  ...me and a statue of Jimi Hendrix...

...the local church with the rainbow banner...

...the sidewalk on Capitol Hill has sections where
you can learn different dance steps, this one is called:

..."OBEEBO", never heard of it...

...the Downtown Campus...

...and the sunset off Puget Sound, beautiful isn't it? ...more tomorrow!!

First Day of School....

   ...has actually come and gone. And it was awesome! We began the day with prayer and coffee at the house, my roommates Michael Baker and David Wright. David just got here yesterday from Newcastle, England, and we've been having a great time getting to know one another. Our last roommate Phil, is coming from Germany and will be here in a couple weeks. He's still working out his visa, so please be praying that God's will be done and he makes it here soon. Michael got up with us to pray with us before school. And then tonight when we got home we all had dinner together and shared our testimonies with each other for about 3 hours. Ryan (Wagenhauser) was over too, so we got to hear his story as well. It was awesome to hear about how Jesus has worked in each of their lives, and it is amazing to see how He sovereignly hand-picked each one of us for this house this year. This year will definitely be like no other and I think that we are all going to grow so much in the grace and knowledge and humility of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and again I pray that He breaks each one of us down and conforms us to His image day by day to equip us to Go and make disciples and make a huge impact in this world for Jesus Christ. Amen?

   So after getting to Mars Hill Ballard and getting some coffee, we found out what cohort groups we're in. I'm in the "Church Planter" group and my cohort group leader is Noel Heikkinen from RiverView Church in Lansing, Michigan. He's an "Acts 29" Church planter, and the church he pastors is fairly large and is doing an awesome work building the Kingdom. I hope to learn a lot from him. My goal at this point is to either become a Mars Hill Campus Pastor, or an Acts 29 Church Pastor/Planter. Here's Noel's church website: http://rivchurch.com/

    The day was packed and busy from 9am to 5pm when we finished. Our group all went to lunch together and shared stories, but the highlight of the day for me was meeting Mark Driscoll and hearing his vision for us over the next year. No church is perfect, but I believe that Mars Hill really has a biblical model for doing church and community and building God's kingdom by making disciples and planting churches and really  making an impact for Jesus Christ in this fallen world. I am so blessed to be here. We finished the day with an awesome time of prayer and worship for 45 minutes, and then left and came home and tried to unpack the day in our minds. Tomorrow we're going to have class at the Downtown Seattle campus for half of the day. Here's some pics...

...one of the Mars Hill Church buses; they have three that I saw...

...part of the sanctuary at Ballard. This room holds about 1,800 people...

...my roommate from England David Wright, outside the Ballard Campus...

...my group at lunch...

...the stage at Ballard...

...and driving by the Space Needle on our way back to West Seattle...more tomorrow!!
I MISS YOU ALL!

My first weekend....

   ...was amazing. Utterly amazing. Awesome. Unbelievable. Spectacular. Colossal. Huge. Intense. Tremendous. Voluminous. Astonishing. Incredible. Blessed. Rapturous. Joyful. Enormous. Stupendous. Huge.  Humbling.

   I'm trying to find the words to express how unbelievable this weekend was, and what it feels like to be in the center of God's will and I have not found any words to even begin to convey how I feel. Whatever I think I want to say, it's bigger and better than that. I cannot tell you how much I love Jesus Christ and my Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit who dwells within me. I want to scream it from the rooftops and proclaim it on the mountain tops. MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD! I LOVE YOU JESUS!!! 

  Okay, let me try to come back to earth and write this weekend's blog...whew!!! 

   Saturday began with my roommate taking me out to breakfast at a trendy West Seattle eatery called "Luna Park". Great omelet I had called the "Carnivore", three eggs with ham, bacon and sausage, and hash browns too. Then I worked a wedding which was so beautiful that I cried the whole time. Especially since my weddings were in a courthouse or satanic, it was amazing. 

   Today began with a breakfast meeting at the church at 7am and from then until I left for my orientation dinner at 5:30pm it was non-stop....working both services, in a few staff meetings, helping oversee the Children's Ministry, making sure that all areas were well staffed...

   I am learning so much up here. My main goal this year is MATURITY, which for me encompasses learning patience, humility, self-control, discipline, how to lead and delegate, providing, protecting, loving, all without losing any of my fire and zeal for Christ and being a better leader, disciple, son, brother, father and eventually husband. 

   The Orientation dinner tonight was awesome too, finally getting to meet face to face my fellow classmates and brothers in Christ. And as usual, I was running around shaking hands, introducing myself, and being more hyper than anyone....I probably met 20 new people tonight...

  Anyways, here's some pics from the weekend, but I'm beat, it's after 10pm, and we leave at 7:30am for class which goes from 9 to 5pm tomorrow...miss you all!

...the "Batmobile" ride at Luna Park cafe...

 ...a huge blue strat inside the cafe...

 ...the Luna Park cafe, The sign in the window says "Best Milkshakes in Seattle", which is a very BOLD statement. I didn't have one, but I will have to try one someday...very cool little diner and great food!!

 ...getting set up for the wedding...

 ...the ceremony...

 ...the couple praying and about to have communion together...

 ...me taking a break from the wedding, (actually I was getting more kleenex for my tears!)...

 ...and me at the Orientation Dinner. More tomorrow after class!!

Film & Theology, and Food too!

   Today was spent at home, relaxing (something that will very soon become a rare occasion I'm sure!), praying, reading and studying. My roommate Michael Baker, worked all day, and we were both invited over to Ryan and Erica Wagenhauser's house, a couple from our church. Ryan is on the communications team, which means he works in audio/video and other forms of technological communication. We were joined by another brother in Christ Matt Behr. Ryan, Erica and Matt all come from Montana, moved out here last year to serve the Lord at Mars Hill. 

   We had a great dinner, fellowship, and watched 2 movies and discussed the theological impact of both of them. The first movie was "Legion", about the end of the world because as the movie puts it "God has lost faith in man", and so angels are sent to destroy mankind. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it was very graphic in the violence and language, and used the Lord's name in vain quite a bit, which ruined it for me. 

   The second movie we watched was "Book of Eli", which I really enjoyed, but I won't get too into it because this one I actually recommend, but again it is graphic on the violence and language, which I didn't mind too much because it fit with the story. If someone wants more info on either of these movies, email me and I'll fill you in, I don't want to spoil it if someone wants to see it for themselves. I wouldn;t let anyone under 13 see either one though.

   Tomorrow I'm working a wedding at the church for 4 hours and making $100!! Praise Jesus for His continued faithfulness!!! Here's a pic from dinner, more tomorrow...

...left to right: Ryan and his wife Erica Wagenhauser, my roommate Michael Baker, and Matt Behr, and yes, we drinking Pyramid Apricot Ales with dinner!!! ("Betty Brews", to Dave and Brian....)

Day Four...

   Today was settling in day and preparing for school and getting the house ready for my international roommates, one of which gets here this Sunday from England. Another one is coming from Germany, not sure when he'll arrive because he's working out getting his visa for the US.   
   This morning started off with the delivery of my new dresser, given to me from a young couple who live about 45 minutes North of me in Lynnwood WA, and they attend Mars Hill Shoreline. Great couple, didn't even want any money for gas. Total blessing! Thank you Jesus, for Your faithfulness. Everyone I've met up here is so loving and has such a sense of community and family. 

   Then I mowed the lawn and hung out here and studied. I signed my rental agreement, which expires July 31st, 2011, so I'm officially here for the next year!! I'm trying to take on a sense of ownership in this house, and thanks to living with Dave for the past 7 months, I'll be able to take care of the house and make it look nice and be a good steward of what Jesus has entrusted to me. I took some pictures of inside the church this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to a movie and dinner tomorrow night! I got invited over to Ryan and his wife's house to watch "Legion", have dinner, and discuss theology. We're going to start having Film & Theology nights here at West Seattle, and our goal is to eventually have childcare so it can be a date night for the adults, where they can have some wine or beer (this is Seattle and we are Reformed after all!), cheese, and enjoy a movie while their children are downstairs playing. This body of believers is very pro-relationship and marriage, and encourage date nights. We have a Biblical Parentint Conference coming up the end of August up at Ballard I'm going to try to get to. 

   Enjoy the pics, more tomorrow...

...my new dresser...

 ...the freshly cut lawn...

...the piano and cross on the stage. This piano sounds great, I was playing it this afternoon...

...part of the sanctuary as seen from the stage...

 

Sunset in Seattle...

Top Secret Student Info...

...Psst! Hey you!,  yeah YOU!. Want to know the secret to being a student/intern and work a part-time job?? You must be sworn to secrecy, but here you go:

 ...that's right. Get a roommate who works for Starbucks, and he'll give you tons of free "Via", which is Starbucks' instant coffee!! They come three to a pack, so you're looking at 21, make that 20 cups. I'm drinking one as I blog....

Day Three...

Man, it was HOT today!! Especially riding my bike around these hills!!! I attempted to get a Washington License today, but there were about 925 people at the DMV, sweating like it was a Turkish Bath! Needless to say, I split, and decided to ride down by the water and take some pics of my journey. Here you go, although once class starts next week and my internship and working, I don't imagine I'll get many chances to just be a tourist like I was today. But when I get visitors from the South, I'll know where to take you all...(hint-hint!)

 One of the main streets around here, still hard to pronounce!

The line to get on the Vashon Island Ferry....

Side view of the ferry as I began my ride down the beach...

...riding with no hands and taking a picture of it!

Some pics of the beach near Lincoln Park (not the band, that's Linkin Park!)...

more beach....

see the ferry out there?...

more of the same beach, as I'm heading to....

...the Mars Hill intern/student local pub!! They have couches and it's a very cool atmosphere inside. Mars Hill members frequent this establishment to discuss theology over good beer! Now THAT'S, Reformed!!...

...and I was hot and sweaty from my ride, and I decided to have one beer, seeing as how I won't be able to afford another one for a loooong time. This was a great beer, it's called a "Whistling Pig Hefeweizen", from the Leavenworth Brewery, where our Colville team stopped last week. (the town, not the brewery...)

See you tomorrow!!