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/