November 2008

Well.

It is November 2008 and we are almost done with 2008. Very cool.

Several months after challenge and I still regularly reflect on what God did with students hearts' and minds' at Challenge this summer. What an amazing provision of God to draw our youth group together as we hit this fall.

He is sovereign and tampers with peoples' lives. What an amazing gift to us!

PC.

We're Back.

We arrived back home at 6:56 p.m. on Friday, July 4th. For those of you that followed the blog and prayed for us this last week, thank you. God revealed himself to our students and there was significant spiritual growth. But don't stop praying. Now that we are home, the growth begins now. We are entering a season where we will focus on intense spiritual growth with our students. We will ask them to participate in seeking God and call them to a high level of accountability. I'm excited to see what God will do this fall, but I am also excited to see how our students respond to who he is because of the catalytic week of Challenge 2008!

Father, that we would be a people that seeks your face and that you would continue to reveal yourself to us!

-Amen


I'm blogging back at www.chrisrollman.blogspot.com. See you there!
PC

Well...It's the last day of Challenge. Tonight, after our 7 o'clock rally, we get on a bus and head to Wichita, KS. The funny thing is, I'm excited to go back. I'm excited to go back and address a few of the needs of our community. God is doing incredible things in the hearts of our students and God is instilling his heart into them. I was blown away last night at the response that students have had this week to the God of the universe. We offered a time for kids to share. We offered a time for kids to cry. They did. They shared, they cried and they will remember. Some met God here. Others were challenged by God here. Some took some step towards God here, this week. He is the almighty God, maker of heaven and of earth, and there is no one like him!

May we go from here, experiencing his spirit and his truth and worshipping him in both. May the God of the universe protect us during our travel and may we be blown away by his unbelievable grace and mercy!

Thank you for following the blog this week. It has been a great way to communicate and will offer something for students to look back through as they remember this week. I'm excited to see all of you on Friday night, fireworks night. :)

In Christ,

Pastor Chris.

Picture video...

Check it out! It's fun stuff...

Musings from Amos.

Think Deeply with me.

During Challenge 2008, I made a promise that I would go through an old Testament book during my quiet time. God laid it on my heart to read the book of Amos. I had never really read through or studied Amos. It really wasn't because I thought of it as a boring book or a book that was hard to understand...Rather, it was just simply a book of God's word that I had glanced through. As I began to dig deep into scripture, I uncovered something not so profound, but lifechanging for me. In the next several lines, if you choose to read that far, you will see the heart that God is working on...Here it goes...

I am complacent. And God hates complacency. You see, the whole book of Amos is littered with God telling his people that they are not on the straight and narrow path! It is a book that displays God's glory and his splendor and his majesty...But even moreso than all of those attributes, it displays his JUSTICE. He is a completely just God and we often say that, but when we really think about what Just looks like, it's not a good thing for me and you that God is just! He reams Israel over their inability to obey his word and what he has asked them to do...In fact, in his justice, he displays his power. He promises an earthquake. He promises captivity. He promises all kinds of different consequences. And I am completely amazed that each time that there is a consequence that is imminent, Amos says "God, please spare them." And God does...But he doesn't continue to spare them...The Israelites went into captivity. They experienced the earthquake. God wasn't blowing smoke.

What do I do with my complacency? Amos 6:1- "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come..." Woe to you who are complacent...

Are we a complacent people? What if we got outside of the normalcy of life and developed the heart of Jesus that is radically in love with broken people...? Would our churches look different? You bet. They might be messy. (They are messy right now...We just choose to frequently wear masks.) But what would happen if God's people stopped their complacency and woke up from their stupor and began to live the gospel in a radical way?

What if I stopped my complacency and woke up from my stupor and began to live the gospel in a radical way? That's what God asked Israel to do...That's what Jesus asks me to do.

By the way, I don't know that I've enjoyed Isaiah, but God is messing with my heart which is exciting!

Father, give me the strength, your strength in this issue of complacency...Show me your heart...let me follow you completely!

-PC

Another Randomness video...

Here is another random video from Wednesday for you!

Enjoy!

We are connecting deeply with God and connecting with others on the trip...God is good.

Kazoo Band Makes Guinness book of world records...

So...we made the guinness book or world records! Check out the video. An awesome rendition of "Amazing Grace!"

Enjoy...With Kazoos...

By the way, who ever thought that it was a brilliant idea to give 6,000 students kazoos on Wednesday of Challenge?