Each Skip Day the faculty and staff cancel classes and take the students out on some adventure. This year we’ll be at Oregon Trail Park, down the road from the college, for some fun and games, food and fellowship.

As such, my blog posting will take a holiday and be back tomorrow 10am (mountain).

See you then.

[1] And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. [2] So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. [3] And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Ezra read the law, to all the people who could understand, from early morning until midday.  Even taking into account some breaks for explanation, you have roughly 3 hours of Ezra reading the law.  How many hours do you sit in church before you get antsy?

The people of Israel sat through hours of reading, all the people who could understand, and listened to what God had for them.  It says, “the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.” This includes Leviticus… I have trouble listening to a sermon chock full of illustrations, jokes, and good application.

What application can we take out of this?

1) I’m terrible at paying attention.

2) If you’re listening with attentive ears, God will move as he needs to in your life, whether to convict or encourage.

In 2001, I went on a missions trip to Haiti.  I remember many things clearly from the trip, but one of the most vivid memories comes from the times we were able to spend in their churches.  Their services didn’t stop after an hour… it was just getting started.  These people who had nothing, in relation to my physical possessions, were singing and dancing and praising God with joy that I could barely even understand.

This was not a time where they criticized the song choices or the style… they sang and praised God with all they had and all they were.  After an hour of singing, the message began, which started with our pastor, so ended rather quickly, but continued with another man who then talked for another hour.  Yet there was little fidgeting, mostly by me, and everyone paid attention.

I look back and wonder what God could do with just one church in the US that worshipped that way…

Maybe we, honestly including myself, should learn to pay better attention to what God has for us… even when the sermon “goes long,” or we “just can’t get into the songs.”

How are you at paying attention to what God has for you?

in Christ,

Isaiah

Anyway, we’re all also on teams, which hopefully means healthy competition that leads to more weight loss. Merle and I are together on a team, so if you see either of us eating some of the candy at the college – call us on it. (slap Merle’s hand!)  However, if you see any of the other faculty or staff – you know what to do…

I look forward to seeing us all becoming healthier. May the best team win!

in Christ,

Isaiah

verb |ˌəpˈdāt; ˈəpˌdāt| [ trans. ]

give (someone) the latest information about something

Yeah, I’ve been gone a while, and the lack of posting is mostly due to the fact that I’ve been lazy.  So far this summer I’ve been to Western Wyoming Christian Youth Camp in Lander, WY, Camp Como in Como, CO, and Nebwyodak SR High near Deadwood, SD, then immediately to Hills Alive in Rapid City, SD.

It has been a crazy summer so far, and it seems that every time I come back from a trip there’s a desk full of paperwork to catch up on.  But I have to say that’s how I like it… I’d rather be busy than bored any day.

Now that I’ve returned, I’m thinking back over the summer thus far and it has been an amazing one.  Youth have been impacted for Christ through the three camps I’ve been to in ways that only God can.  What an awesome God we serve.

If you’ve been to any of the camps, you probably saw the “trading cards” we had of our camp teams, faculty and staff.  I just wanted to share with you the favorite verse that is on mine:

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways are not our ways… and I am so glad for that.

His thoughts and will are so much higher than ours, and I am glad for that as well.

As you go through the rest of your own summer… I have two questions:

How has God impacted you this summer?

How will you impact others for God?

in Christ,

Isaiah

p.s.  let me know if you think this “counts” as an update, haha

As we left Nebraska behind, we had no idea if we could even make it to Grand Junction.  I25 from Cheyenne, WY to Wellington, CO was still closed as we left, and several areas of I70 were “restricted” and requiring chains.  Despite this knowledge, we had to try, so we were off…

We arrived in Cheyenne, stopping at Burger King (of course), to find that I25 was now open.  So we headed off to Denver, wondering if we would be able to make it through I70.

It turned out, that the part of the road that was closed was actually the best… but Matt was more than up to the task.  He drove and before we knew it, we were into the Rocky Mountains and driving on clear roads.

As we arrived in Grand Junction, we stopped at Clifton to put up the display and change into more proper attire.  Then we were off to Northeast Christian Church for the banquet and first session.  Alex and Matt were part of a skit, and did rather well.  We ate mexican food, met many people and soon were of to housing.

We stayed with the Honnen’s, who have a beautiful 4 story stone house.  We stayed up in the attic, which was converted to accommodate two bedrooms and a bathroom.  Each room was the same, two beds and a reading nook area that was perfect for morning or afternoon reading.  Amazing.  I can’t say enough to thank them for their hospitality in sharing their beautiful house and feeding 4 hungry men.

After a restful night of sleep, we headed back to Clifton Christian Church to have breakfast.  We then taught two workshops, both the same, in which we shared about the college, along with Terry Stien, president of Boise Bible College, and Rocky from Intermountain Christian Scholarships.

We then had some free time, so we went to exploring Grand Junction.

Later that evening we had the second session of the World Mission Crusade, which was actually during the Clifton Christian Church’s Saturday evening service.  It was a great time of worship and David Butts had a good message.

In the morning we had a great breakfast and headed off to Parachute, Colorado where Merle was to preach and Matt was to do a special.  We met the congregation of the Grand Valley Christian Church and enjoyed a good time of fellowship and some great chili.

Full and ready to be home, we headed back to Nebraska.  The ride back was uneventful, but enjoyable, and we had many laughs.  That’s all I’m saying .

We had a wonderful time at the World Mission Crusade and with the church in Parachute, and thanks to everyone who made it possible.

in Christ,

Isaiah

Dave Robinson, Kenny Pester and I drive down the interstate on our way to Lewistown Montana, telling stories, but mostly Kenny and I listen to Dave tell stories about his driving escapades.

We arrive in Lewistown to find out we’ll be doing a 15 minute talk on the college and Dave and I each are going to be doing a Workshop – sweet!

Sharla Steele met us at Lewistown and the 4 of us began the weekend, meeting many youth from all over Montana.

Arron Chambers was the main speaker.  He spoke on Remember Who You Are, which, incidentally, is also the title of his book “Remember Who You Are.”  Crazy, huh?  Arron’s messages were direct, targeted and powerful.

My workshop was on Evangelism and Youth.  Wooh.  I showed a video of Penn, from Penn and Teller, talking about a man who gave him a Bible.  If you haven’t seen the video, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

Representatives from Boise Bible College and Ozark Christian College were also there for the rally.  All of the reps were nice and we got a long well.  There seemed to be an understanding that though we may appear to be “competing” schools, we aren’t really… each school has a different focus and each is expanding the Kingdom of God.

All in all the rally was a success (I think), and I enjoyed the trip.  I even learned about the intricacies of Walleyball…

in Christ,

Isaiah

Sunday morning, I was able to teach a lesson titled, “Who is God?” that dealt with how we view God, and comparing Him to ourselves.  Each student wrote down aspects of themselves and then compared them to the description of God in Isaiah 40.

God won.

I then was able to share a bit about the college, then went straight to helping with the Children’s Church there.  After Church, we went to the “Rock” youth center in Norton for pizza and college discussion with high school students, which went well.

Then we were off to Concordia, Kansas…

Along the way we went through several towns with odd names… the oddest we found on the map was Men, Kansas.  Nice.

Upon arriving at Concordia, we went to the First Christian Church to help set up for the VBS we were to help with.

After a good night’s rest, we started VBS.  The program we went through was called Studio Go Game Show, which talked about how God called people to Go and do something, such as Go Lead, Go Tell, etc.

I was the “game show host” named Wade Winalot, and had a terribly ridiculous wig… the kids loved telling me how bad my hair was and that I should take off the wig.  That last sentence sounds like they were mean… but they weren’t… sniff.

Basically we would have an introduction time, with songs and a few game show games, then head off to 4 different stations to learn about the Bible story of the morning, then a closing show with Wade Winalot, Coach Armstrong (Kyle) and Professor Wordsmart (Julie).  Then we’d have lunch and start all over again in the afternoon.

It was a great program, and we had a lot of fun.

On Wednesday, we had the final session and then headed back to Scottsbluff.  We arrived Wednesday evening, and I began to prepare my next trip, which was to Lewistown, Montana… which will be the next post.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped us along the way, with food, shelter and both of the Church’s – Norton Christian Church and First Christian Church in Concordia.  Special thanks to Mike Sander and Crystal Paredes for working with us to come down and for allowing us to serve beside them.

in Christ,

Isaiah

The best part about visiting Bayard was sharing stories from our time at SCC.  Chris, the Youth Minister, was my roommate in college.  I was able to share my story, of how Chris helped me get out of my shell, and some funny stories about waking up.  One involved a metal hanger, yelling Chris’ name and well… I think you can figure out what happened.

After the lesson and story, we played various games of tag.  I love tag – it requires no extra supplies… just youth and room to run.  We played varitions of Everyone’s IT, one of which was called Ninja Tag (my favorite).  In Ninja tag, you are allowed to be tagged three times, but each time you are tagged, you have to cover the wound with one of your hands.  Thus, after 2 times, you’re relegated to a purely defensive stance, but it is fun.

We also played a version called Rooster tag, in which you are allowed to only stand on one leg, and are only tagged out when the leg you are holding up touches the ground.  This version ended rather quickly, mostly because of a painful incident involving Garrett’s knee and Chris’ back.  I tried not to laugh.  Really!

Anyway, it was a fun trip to Bayard and I enjoyed visiting with the students.  So, now I pose a question:

What’s your funniest youth group story?

in Christ,

Isaiah

Once I arrived and Gabe introduced me, we began a lesson on Doubt… discussing our own doubts and how God can use the doubts in our lives to draw us closer to him.  I then was able to share about Summit Christian College, and a little of my story.

The lesson finished, we played a game that you may or may not be familiar with.  Though known by a few names, tonight it was called, “Honey if you love me, would you please please smile”.  One person, stuck in the middle of a circle, must say the previous phrase, “Honey, if you love me, would you please please smile?” to one certain person in the circle.  That person must then respond, “Honey I love you, but I just can’t smile” without smiling, of course.  The game with the Alliance youth was quite fun, and we all shared some hearty laughter.

While I was driving home, I realized that I had been re-energized.  I have had several weeks since I visited youth, and have been mostly in a planning/paperwork/phone call stage of my job.  It was invigorating to get back to doing what I love, sharing God’s love and promoting a college that I think is making a difference for the Kingdom.

What energizes you?

in Christ,

Isaiah