Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Oviedo Christian Service
Next Saturday two other leaders and myself are taking all the boys from our youth group out to perform some Christian Service in out community. We are going out and cleaning up Lake Picket out in Oviedo, Florida. It is cool because we let all the youth choose what we are going to do. We let them decide and really choose a project that they feel that really needs to be done. The kids are all really excited to go out and do this and really are excited. They are trying to figure out exactly how much we can really do with the resources we have. They even are talking about going out and doing this for a few weeks so that we can clean as much as possible. It makes me feel so god that the youth in my church are really getting into performing Christian Service and know that they are not just going out there to do good work. They know that they need to really feel about what their doing and that they are doing it for God.
Is Service Always Service?
I was wondering what to write on my blog this time because I felt like I had written about almost all there was to write about on the line of Christian service. I thought about highlighting the difference between service in the community and service out on the mission field but I feel like that has been stressed, and I considered just looking up a picture on Google that reflected Christian service but that did not seem right either. Then I saw everyone else's blogs and how they were all about our fifteen hours of service that we have to finish for this semester, and I thought about how my service hours are covered for because I work for the school and travel on Voices of Praise, which counts for service hours. However, this got me thinking about the stress and amount of work it takes to travel all the time and 'do good service' full time, and I began to notice how when you are working for God's kingdom and being involved in His work all the time, you sometimes might lose track of how much of God you're putting in as your'e giving out.
You see, what I mean is that sometimes when you are so consumed with doing God's work all the time, especially service in the church, you can become over-booked with spilling out Christ's love to everyone that you never have time to fill back up. There must be a moment in your life when you are able to stop and replenish yourself with the Word of God or else you will fall short and grow weary.
It sort of reminds me of a Brita water filter. If no one knows what that is, it is a pitcher with a filter connected to the top; what you do is you pour regular, unfiltered tap water into the top half of the pitcher and the water trickles down into the bottom where it then sits clean, fresh, and ready to use. This Brita water container reminds me a lot of how our lives in full time Christian service can be. We strive to pour out good clean living water from Christ onto the people we are trying to witness to and reach, and the only way we can do that is by having Christ filter our lives through Him and the Holy Spirit that enables us. However, the more we pour out, the less we will have to give, and if we do not continue to keep filling up the top, or our hearts, with God's Word then eventually we will run out of fresh water to give. Then all we will be giving is tired and worthless nothingness. I don't know about you but the last time I checked, it is really difficult to fill up on nothing. Therefore, as we are living our lives and serving for God's kingdom, let us remember to still take time out of our busy lives to renew our minds and bodies and replenish the Word that should be rooted deeply in our hearts, so that we may not grow weary of doing good.
-Alicia Hoffman
Chritian Service Attitude
So many times when I hear about people doing Christian service, or similar activities, I often hear a lot of whining take place. This whining urges me to ask them why they are doing their christian service act if they don't mean it. A section in Same Kind of Different as me pops into my head as i think of serving with the right attitude, Denver tells Ron that miss Debbie saved his life and she freed a prisoner from the bondage of sin as she led Denver to Christ. Debbie never grumbled or groaned as she was serving the homeless in the shelter. Debbie instead got to know the homeless and saved a life because of it.
Christ showed us a similar act of service with great humility in John 13. In this account Jesus washes the feet of his Disciples. The son of Man washed his Disciple's feet. God washed his Disciple's feet. This blows my mind, here we have Jesus Christ, the son of God, washing his follower's feet right before he is going to be crucified for their sins and the sins of the world.
Verse 3 tells us "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God" pay close attention to the first part "put all things under his power" Jesus has all things under his power, and knows that his death is near, yet he chooses to spend time washing his disciples feet. Christ did this in great humility.
Christ shows us the way we should be doing Christian service. We should be doing christian service with our hear and minds in the right mindset, We should do christian service for the right motives, and we should do christian service with great humility.
Christian service will help us to humble ourselves, help others, and evangelize to people.
Christ showed us a similar act of service with great humility in John 13. In this account Jesus washes the feet of his Disciples. The son of Man washed his Disciple's feet. God washed his Disciple's feet. This blows my mind, here we have Jesus Christ, the son of God, washing his follower's feet right before he is going to be crucified for their sins and the sins of the world.
Verse 3 tells us "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God" pay close attention to the first part "put all things under his power" Jesus has all things under his power, and knows that his death is near, yet he chooses to spend time washing his disciples feet. Christ did this in great humility.
Christ shows us the way we should be doing Christian service. We should be doing christian service with our hear and minds in the right mindset, We should do christian service for the right motives, and we should do christian service with great humility.
Christian service will help us to humble ourselves, help others, and evangelize to people.
Christian Service
Before writing this blog I was reading previous blogs that mainly was about our 15 christian service hours. I can say truly that I am one of those students here in FCC that is really struggling. Its not like I don't want to do it its just that it is very difficult to find the time. I am one of those students who has to work a lot in order to pay for my education. When I am off I'm doing homework for class and when I don't have class I have to work. But however I cant make that as an excuse because god is the one that gives me strength to find time to do christian service. In my opinion I think it was gods purpose to establish the christian service because it gives us the motive to do God's will on or off the campus. Therefore everyone of you who says that they don't have time its an excuse. The bible clearly states that there is always a time for everything. Paraphrasing it it states that there is a time to laugh a time to cry there is a time for everything. I work, go to church, and go to school and it is because of God's grace that I am here with strength. I also need to catch up on my christian service because I am a huge procrastinator but I will because I will find the time to do God's will. And to all of my FCC classmates do not worry about your christian service hours, for God has them all in his hands and he will give you the strength to get them all done before this semester is done.
-Jennifer
-Jennifer
A Procrastinator's Guide to 15 Christian Service Hours
So a lot of people I have talked to seemed to have put off their requirement to complete 15 Christian service hours, including yours truly. So I thought I would do a service for my fellow Christians (although this post will unlikely count as a Christian service) and compose a blog of an easy speedy act of Christian service that people can do who need to rack up some hours fast.
I call it $pread the Go$pel. This idea came from riding in a car with a friend of mine. As we started driving I started looking around all the trash he had in his car, but among it all on the ground he had a billion dollar bill on the floor of his pt cruiser. Upon closer examination the bill actually had text which described accepting Jesus as a billion dollar decision. When I asked him about it he said that it was something his youth group would use to spread the gospel. They would go around to random stores shops and restaurants, dropping these bills for the observant eye to pick up and read about the importance of accepting Jesus in their lives. And that is how the idea spread the word was born. By printing off some of these bills (im sure you can find some on google), and taking a drive anywhere, you can throw these bills on the ground all along the way and rack up a Christian Service hour anytime you go into town. It is also efficient because it is a clever and eye-catching way to share your faith with others. Usually talking to strangers ends in getting the cold shoulder, but this allows and encourages other people to read about Jesus by their own free will. Even an unsuspecting atheist who would hear the gospel no other way will be just as likely as anyone else to pick one of these up.
So for those of you who are in a hurry to get more Christian service hours, feel free to use this or your own adaptation of it. Even if you are not in a hurry and did not procrastinate, feel free to use it. I find it to be a rather clever and efficient way to $pread the Go$pel
I call it $pread the Go$pel. This idea came from riding in a car with a friend of mine. As we started driving I started looking around all the trash he had in his car, but among it all on the ground he had a billion dollar bill on the floor of his pt cruiser. Upon closer examination the bill actually had text which described accepting Jesus as a billion dollar decision. When I asked him about it he said that it was something his youth group would use to spread the gospel. They would go around to random stores shops and restaurants, dropping these bills for the observant eye to pick up and read about the importance of accepting Jesus in their lives. And that is how the idea spread the word was born. By printing off some of these bills (im sure you can find some on google), and taking a drive anywhere, you can throw these bills on the ground all along the way and rack up a Christian Service hour anytime you go into town. It is also efficient because it is a clever and eye-catching way to share your faith with others. Usually talking to strangers ends in getting the cold shoulder, but this allows and encourages other people to read about Jesus by their own free will. Even an unsuspecting atheist who would hear the gospel no other way will be just as likely as anyone else to pick one of these up.
So for those of you who are in a hurry to get more Christian service hours, feel free to use this or your own adaptation of it. Even if you are not in a hurry and did not procrastinate, feel free to use it. I find it to be a rather clever and efficient way to $pread the Go$pel
Selflessness
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. James 4:17
Since I have become a student here I have tried to keep up with my studies while still taking part of all of the things that take place here. Today I realize that even though I thought I was doing a good job the semester is almost over and I have failed to keep up with my community service requirements. Things like this just remind me how easy it is for us to get so caught up in the everyday craziness of life that we forget about God’s commandments. We know that we should help others because it’s the right thing to do but our excuse is usually that we are too busy to do so. My excuse was that I would eventually get to attend more christian service events but that it would have to wait until next week because I had too many things I needed to study for. I sinned because I knew what I had to do and failed to do it. I realize that I was wrong that I need to organize my time so I can help others and keep God’s commandment.
At the same time it’s amazing how much I have learned from this one simple mistake. The fact that I didn’t sign up for Christian service events because it was messing up my time makes me realize that I was just being selfish. I was putting my time and schedule before God’s. By doing that I also neglected to keep my promise to the school when I agreed to keep up with the Christian service events when I got here. Now that I see this I will take action to make sure I don’t put my own schedule before God’s. Christian service is important because it not only allows us to help others but because we can grow from it. No matter how pressed I am for time I will always continue to keep this in mind. This has been a lesson in selflessness and submission to God’s will.
Since I have become a student here I have tried to keep up with my studies while still taking part of all of the things that take place here. Today I realize that even though I thought I was doing a good job the semester is almost over and I have failed to keep up with my community service requirements. Things like this just remind me how easy it is for us to get so caught up in the everyday craziness of life that we forget about God’s commandments. We know that we should help others because it’s the right thing to do but our excuse is usually that we are too busy to do so. My excuse was that I would eventually get to attend more christian service events but that it would have to wait until next week because I had too many things I needed to study for. I sinned because I knew what I had to do and failed to do it. I realize that I was wrong that I need to organize my time so I can help others and keep God’s commandment.
At the same time it’s amazing how much I have learned from this one simple mistake. The fact that I didn’t sign up for Christian service events because it was messing up my time makes me realize that I was just being selfish. I was putting my time and schedule before God’s. By doing that I also neglected to keep my promise to the school when I agreed to keep up with the Christian service events when I got here. Now that I see this I will take action to make sure I don’t put my own schedule before God’s. Christian service is important because it not only allows us to help others but because we can grow from it. No matter how pressed I am for time I will always continue to keep this in mind. This has been a lesson in selflessness and submission to God’s will.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Horses and service part 2
Heavenly Hoofs part two.
On Friday, October 22nd, l went to Heavenly Hoofs to give assistance where they needed any help. I started off by helping a young boy named Owen get out an older horse named Chanter. Chanter is a 20 year old male horse that likes to eat, but is stubborn and does not like to be saddle up or brushed. Now even though he does not like to be brushed, l still had to take on that task and brush him anyway. I showed Owen how to properly use all the brushes and the right direction to brush Chanters fur. Owen was scared at first, but slowly began to warm up to Chanter; he started petting him. I also showed Owen how to clean out Chanter’s hoofs, but because he was too nervous to pick up Chanter’s hoofs himself he just watched me do it. Once we brushed Chanter down and cleaned out his hoofs it was time to tack up, so Owen helped me grab the saddle and bridle. Although Owen was supposed to help me tack up Chanter, he preferred to talk about his “zoo zoo” pets and tell me about his week. As soon as we were ready to go, Owen walked Chanter out to the arena. With help from the instructor and I, we got Owen saddled up on Chanter and were set to go. Today was the first day they got to canter; Owen as well as the rest of the children were super scared and all excited at the same time. Since they could not canter by themselves, they first tried to on a lunge line. Sadly this was not successful because the horses were too used to walking and trotting here and there; so to get to a canter the instructor got on the horse with them. As soon as she got on, the horses were in a full canter. It was so special to see the look on the children’s faces; for example, some of them did not know what to do so they just held on for dear life. Owen was giggling and screaming all at the same time. After their lesson, Owen helped me untack Chanter and wash him down, and when l say “wash Chanter”, l am inferring that got washed too. Owen found it funny to keep on splashing me with the hose. Owen and l had so much fun and l am excited to work with him this week as well.
On Friday, October 22nd, l went to Heavenly Hoofs to give assistance where they needed any help. I started off by helping a young boy named Owen get out an older horse named Chanter. Chanter is a 20 year old male horse that likes to eat, but is stubborn and does not like to be saddle up or brushed. Now even though he does not like to be brushed, l still had to take on that task and brush him anyway. I showed Owen how to properly use all the brushes and the right direction to brush Chanters fur. Owen was scared at first, but slowly began to warm up to Chanter; he started petting him. I also showed Owen how to clean out Chanter’s hoofs, but because he was too nervous to pick up Chanter’s hoofs himself he just watched me do it. Once we brushed Chanter down and cleaned out his hoofs it was time to tack up, so Owen helped me grab the saddle and bridle. Although Owen was supposed to help me tack up Chanter, he preferred to talk about his “zoo zoo” pets and tell me about his week. As soon as we were ready to go, Owen walked Chanter out to the arena. With help from the instructor and I, we got Owen saddled up on Chanter and were set to go. Today was the first day they got to canter; Owen as well as the rest of the children were super scared and all excited at the same time. Since they could not canter by themselves, they first tried to on a lunge line. Sadly this was not successful because the horses were too used to walking and trotting here and there; so to get to a canter the instructor got on the horse with them. As soon as she got on, the horses were in a full canter. It was so special to see the look on the children’s faces; for example, some of them did not know what to do so they just held on for dear life. Owen was giggling and screaming all at the same time. After their lesson, Owen helped me untack Chanter and wash him down, and when l say “wash Chanter”, l am inferring that got washed too. Owen found it funny to keep on splashing me with the hose. Owen and l had so much fun and l am excited to work with him this week as well.
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