Crazy Day!!!!

So yesterday was Sunday, normally an average okay day that doesn't cause any stress or pressure. This wasn't any normal Sunday here in Marion. First it was Round Up Sunday here at Brookhaven where we all get the opportunity to dress up like cowboys/girls and hoot and holler and all that good stuff. Next was that I am teaching a Sunday School Class for this quarter on the Book of Exodus. The last thing that could have possibly been going on this Sunday was that I was on-call as the chaplain for the hospital.

With all that said and out of the way, the day flew by and was crazier than I could have thought it to possbily be. As I woke up and was getting ready to come to the church, I turned my phone on and found I had a message from the Hospital. The message plainly stated that they needed me to come in and sit with a family who lost their child just that morning. Almost instantly I called in to make sure they still needed me before I drove 25 minutes to the Hospital, and got the statement that the child was one of the twins this mother gave birth to, a month ago to the day, just died about an hour ago, and that I was still needed. So in my haste I continued to get ready, eat and brush my teeth all in about 5-6 minutes. As I was speeding on my way to the Hospital, after kissing my wife good-bye and asking her to take care of Sunday School which I would surely miss, I called two friends, my mom, and the Senior Pastor to ask for prayer and give a heads up. I truly did not know what I was doing, going to the hospital to comfort this family.

When I got to the ER I was shown to the family and introduced, the first thing I see is the mom sobbing and leaning and clutching what looked to be the blanket of her baby, but when I walked around to look at her face to face I saw the cold, pale white body of her baby in that blanket with her mom's tears dripping on her lifeless body. I was take back a little bit at first and realized all the people praying for me, and so I then prayed for this family and comforted them as I cried with them. These were the only words that I spoke, all in prayer. I left 25 minutes later.

After the fast start to my morning the day was hectic, I returned to the church to find my wife teaching my Sunday School class and doing a great job. From then on the Lord truly blessed me and watched after me keeping his hands on me ever through the rest of the day.

What I saw

When I see my great friend standing on the edge of that cliff, I see a beautiful creation right at our fingertips, something that only our human eyes can appreciate. I along with that see the freedom of summer, and times with friends that I will never forget, the smells, sights, talks at 3am driving 80 on the highway after 3 double shot espressos.

These are just some of the things that I see when I look at those pictures from my big summer trip. I realize that not everyone could see that in the picture, but the biggest thing I saw was the freedom of God's creation especially when we live within his will.

interesting link/blog

So I was doing my daily reading on Christianity Today's website and came across this blog. this made me raise an eyebrow and then clap for the reason of what this man had to say about our view of Holiness. Have an open mind as you read this and I will let you know what I saw in the picture tomorrow.

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/09/eat_drink_and_b.html

What do YOU see?

P6290033
Originally uploaded by philard.

Pastoring...as if I know what I'm doing

It has been a while like usual, my life has actually gotten busy and interesting all at the same time with my new job and the home that we have bought. I am truly enjoying this position here at Brookhaven, the people are so supportive and loving and have become like family already. The thought that I was hired to spread my passion and concern for people through outreach is definitely an exciting aspect of this job because that is right where my heart is with God.

On the other hand it is very intimidating and Satan is constantly at work in my life I feel him daily trying to discourage me and work his way in to my life and make me worthless like only he is. Prayers are in order for Stephanie and I as we endeavor to reach to people in our lives, family and neighbors. After being married for a short 8 months and looking back at everything I realize how much support my wife has given me and blessed me in her walk with Christ. I thank the Lord for placing her in my life, and bringing us together.

Although our lives are crazy at times and our schedules will fill up we have stayed strong and true to each other and the Lord has blessed us for our Faithfulness. In my life it is tough to see myself as a pastor so soon out of college because I am still a little immature (no comments from you mom) but maybe my immaturity is why I am a pastor and what God can use to change hearts and perceptions of Pastors. So what I am trying to say is my lack of maturity is good, Time to go blow something up.

Brookhaven

So I just got harassed by an old friend because I haven't blogged in a while. Well, I really don't have an excuse except for that I actually have a real job now not a job at Tree of Life, but at Brookhaven Wesleyan in Marion, IN. I hold the position of Minister of Outreach. It is a great position when I am able to concentrate on different ways to reach people and serve them all to show the love that Christ has shared with us.

I don't really know why I haven't blogged all that much lately maybe it is because I am kind of boring and don't have crazy things going on all of the time in my life. Although that isn't completely true, that is mainly why I haven't been posting religiously. Anyway the two real exciting things going on in my life are 1) Stephanie and I are buying a house in Gas City, IN...and 2) I am going on another trip to the Gulf Coast to help with Hurricane relief down there, this probably comes to no surprise to most of my friends, but I really believe that it is my calling to help others as much as possible at my own risk all to share Jesus with them. I appreciate your prayers. Take care everyone.

Brookhaven

So I just got harassed by an old friend because I haven't blogged in a while. Well, I really don't have an excuse except for that I actually have a real job now not a job at Tree of Life, but at Brookhaven Wesleyan in Marion, IN. I hold the position of Minister of Outreach. It is a great position when I am able to concentrate on different ways to reach people and serve them all to show the love that Christ has shared with us.

I don't really know why I haven't blogged all that much lately maybe it is because I am kind of boring and don't have crazy things going on all of the time in my life. Although that isn't completely true, that is mainly why I haven't been posting religiously. Anyway the two real exciting things going on in my life are 1) Stephanie and I are buying a house in Gas City, IN...and 2) I am going on another trip to the Gulf Coast to help with Hurricane relief down there, this probably comes to no surprise to most of my friends, but I really believe that it is my calling to help others as much as possible at my own risk all to share Jesus with them. I appreciate your prayers. Take care everyone.

busyness

So as of late our life as a married couple has been fun and tiring. Some of the greatest news that we have heard is both for us and our close friends. As you could gather from their website (web.mac.com/bowlins) our friends the bowlins have bought tickets to take a 2 week trip to New Zealand to make connections and find a home and prepare for the complete move which will take place shortly. That was a very exciting thing for us to hear about their life as missionaries and encourages Stephanie and I as we continue on our way toward the Mission field of Haiti.

The good news for us is one of more local importance. Stephanie and I have been asked to attend a meeting next monday with the Board of Directors at Brookhaven Wesleyan. This is a huge step for both of us with the possibility of it being my first church job and the same for Stephanie too. Your continued prayers are welcome as we try to follow God's will and his design for our ministry here in America. All of this has been keeping us very busy along with staying up late with friends playing board games and drinking way too much coffee. Along with that this Saturday Stephanie and I will have been married for 6 months, wow did that go by really quick, but boy oh boy is it great. Mainly because Stephanie is such a hot nurse.

Been a Long Time...

So I haven't posted in months...feels like forever. I figured I would start with some news that I just read about, through a very interesting article.

There is a new video game coming out in a very few days. The game is based off of the Left Behind series but the thing is that the game has one in particular person a little outraged about the premise of the game and how you win. I will leave you with a link to his article and tell you to continue to look for posts from me hopefully on a more frequent time frame.

Just copy and paste this into your browser and enjoy an over the top review of this game.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/06/07/notes060706.DTL

Freedom

tired?
Originally uploaded by philard.

I long to not be here. Rather to be among friends, those that I grew to love in just one years time. My friends whom I miss, the staff of THC. These people changed my life and impacted me in ways that I don't even know. Today I was looking through my pictures that I have from the summer. The most of which are all with Tim and Matt out west and in a tiny little car. That freedom of care while still being in the presence of God, away from the legalism of this world. The beauty of my friends is their Chrisitianity, it is such that I love to be with them and learn from them and talk with them of how they are learning about God and where they are growing. More importantly how they have been forced to have faith in God in the midst of all the craziness that is going on in our lives as we grow up and peers are forcing us to make decisions.

My friends are great. I miss them, I miss our weekly meetings with our boss who was more of a friend and just as cynical and crazy as we are. We are a brotherhood of friends that we will never lose that connection. Possibly it is the bond that we had in Christ and through the Holy Spirits power that will keep us closer than we will ever know. One of us may change but our connection is still there. We are one in the Spirit and we are stronger even more in Him when we are together and pulling for each other. I miss all those times and the crazy trips, jokes and stories.

Long time coming

So it's been over three months and a whole lot has gon by in my life, I have a new roomie, a new call on life, nearly 25 grand to pay back in loans in the next 8 months and a brand new Apple ibook. Where to start?

The wedding everything was amazing, I could have cared less of course what people thought because well I was getting married and their opinion most definitely didn't matter in this subject at all. It all took place without any problems and was great fun for my youth pastor to make fun of me while he was supposed to helping me get married, but oh well.

this new call I speak of will be leading both my wife and I into the heart of missions as we know it. Our call is to Haiti, where if you watch the news (sorry Kara) there are lots of issues that are all taking place at one time in that country. We are currently going through the application process through Global Partners a Wesleyan missions org. they have a hospital down there which will be great or my wife considering she is the hottest nurse around. I will e taking on some form of church ministry while I'm down there and it will not be easy but i would rather be there than in any class I'm currently taking.

Well the loans that is just college at IWU for ya.

Ah, my new computer is glorious, it is about half the size and weight of my previous brick I used to lug around campus and every other place I would go, and i tell you what I love it. much nicer than my Dell.

At this point and time this is all of the major new stuff going on and i tell you what it can be overwhelming, but one thing i do ask is for prayers for us during lent and also our future ministry. Write that on your cards Tim!!

My Precious

So here is my ring the ring I recently got yelled at about sneaking off with to show my friends, and in particular one friend I haven't seen in about 3 months, enough with that here ya go.

Lost (not the show)

Sorry I haven't posted forever, for those of you who care.

Lately I have felt lost, not just in school work or work at Tree of Life. This is a deeper thing right now that I can't really explain. A feeling that as I am going through each day that I am missing something about that day, or about how my life was supposed to go that day. My soul is tired from this, I don't understand what this is or what to do with it. It goes deeper than my relationship with Stephanie and other people, even deeper than how I spend my time. Through the past two week all of these things have changed and the ones that are worthless in the future have lost priority in my schedule. Yet, my life still feels Lost. I am ready for the continuation of my life the future wedding that is to take place in 32 days, and the graduation that will be following that. I don't want to be here anymore I want to be with Christ in Glory and be able to ask what ever I want of Him and at the same time not have to worry about whether i can ask that or not. I feel Lost in the midst of the church, a church of fellow believers that seem so wise and knowledgable of things that I could only wish to have a speck of that knowledge. Does all of our motions really matter? My life is lost in my education with the onslaught of knowledge and information about life and history mixed with Theology, it can only lead to a decrease in Faith/Hope, all because with that little stupid degree that I will get in five months I will have been taught to use theology to answer questions or to use the history of the church to explain God. I don't like this and this is where I am Lost, in the midst of skeptics and cynics trying to keep their Faith in Christ.

Glory

Today I had the amazing chance to see the Sunrise as I do every Tuesday & Thursday even most Saturdays. This morning in particular it dawned on me (no pun intended) that every time I get a chance to see the sun rise in the cool of the morning I get to see a glimpse of Glory, in every sense of the word. It isn't just the beauty of all the colors in the sky but rather the fresh light and smell of the moment when that great orange ball passes the horizon to warm my day. The Glory I speak of is more than all that it is a Glory straight from God, straight from His fingertips that blesses me each and every morning I fall out of bed. The sun/Son is the revealer and I gladly allow myself to be emblazened in His Glory.

I got to preach!!!!

Just today not even two hours ago I had a chance to preach at my practicum church in downtown Marion, IN. This is only the 3rd time that I have had the chance to actually preach the word of God, and be asked to do it even. Anyway it was a great blessing to share my heart in this area of my life and share it through the Word. I spoke on John 15 and felt really good about the things that were coming out of my mouth and then after I got done my body just proceeded to shut down and get extremely tired, it feels good and it sucks because I need to study...so goodbye.

This is my senior year. I am ultimately called to be a career missionary, along with my beautiful wife. I have one problem with this. Along with my Intercultural Studies degree I am getting a degree in Christian Ministries. For this particular degree I am required to take a course in Church Leadership, given by a professor from the graduate program.

I have one major problem with this course. Especially knowing that I am going to be a missionary. Throughout this class we learn what we should watch for as a church is growing and the people are becoming more knowledgable and trying ot make ministries in the church stronger, while watching we have to keep people in line. Then we are required to look at all of these models of church minstry and even take a field trip to a church in Indy to observe the ministry and gather ideas about church leadership from this. The problem is all of this concentration on Church Leadership deals with America and American culture. I can't go to a different country throwing out ideas that work over here when I won't be over here.

The interesting part was when I brought this up with the professor in class. The answer that I received was "Sift Culture." No explanation at all from him, but that one phrase. If I knew what he meant it might help but once again I also realize that I can't always do as an instructor says especially if he doesn't understand that other cultures don't run like ours so we might not be able to "Sift" another culture. So I have to deal with this class and try to find something out of everything that is getting thrown at us, and figure out how I can take a principle from that to possibly use it elsewhere, outside the U.S.

Life as we know it.

Recently I was watching the news because this is my daily habit out of wanting to know what is happening across the globe. This time I was watching the local news out of Indy, on my glorious bunny ears. The last story of the show was sombering and raised a few questions in my mind that really caused me to things about my values. The only other time that I have thought so much about this was on the way back from the Grand Canyon with my great friend Tim Founds.

here is the story. There is a man on death row and now has been executed and pronounced dead. On the eve and the whole day leading up to his death there were multiple religious groups protesting the sentencing against this man. (In my mind his crime is irrelevant because he is still human.) This execution now that it went through was the 5th just this year. That is the most in the state of Indiana since 1938, WOW.

I don't think that the world is a worse place now than it was back then rather it is very similar, people are just more keen on everything that is going on and the bad is exemplified more than the good. As of yet I haven't found an answer to the way that I felt when I heard this or what I am to do with it. I am not one to support the death sentence or to openly speak against it, but this really bothered me. Take this and mull it over in your mind, find out how you should answer this, it is an issue and to not try to answer current issues of the world as Christians is hardly holding up to being a World Christian.

Grand Canyon pictures

Well I finally got all of the pictures onto my flickr account, at least all of the pictures that I wanted to put on there. so here is the link to go and have a gander at the amazing pictures that Tim and Matt took and the ones that I tried to take. http://www.flickr.com/photos/philard/sets/954175/

enjoy!

America's Tsunami

Just a few days ago I heard an interview with a survivor of the Hurricane from Mississippi. The only thing that I absolutely remember from that interview was the words of that survivor saying that this was America's Tsunami. One reason that has stuck with me so much is because I was part of the relief as were many people that will read this, granted we were all involved in one way or another and we were changed all of us.

Now this.

What to do? Our lives have changed because of this faster than they did when the Tsunami happened in December. We all felt that and we all feel this more than we ever would have wanted too. Now with stories of looting, riots, and general mayhem down in Louisiana and the surrounding areas we are called to help, in any way that we can no matter what we fear or anything, we MUST suck it up and help the people in our own nation just like we tried to of the many nations devastated by the Tsunami. All of those pictures that you see on the TV of the destruction that took place, that is exactly what I saw on my trip to Sri Lanka in March, take that to heart and remember how those countries are still being effected by that.

I have just today recieved an email from the World Impact office here on IWU's campus, asking that I would pray about leading a trip and would greatly consider it. The thought had already crossed my mind that a trip or two must go from this school to that area down there. Please pray for the guidance that I will need to make this decision and if necessary that skill to lead a trip to that area. This greatly excites me because I love to help people as much as possible and in any way, no matter the danger that could possibly come to me it is worth my blood and harm to take a chance and show a person the love of Christ and let them know that there is a Hope that is out there to lead them through the hardest time they may ever have in their life.

I want to move to Japan!!

Yes I really do. Not for any spiritual reasons or anything really like that, which there most definitely should be. But rather I would love to move there so that I could buy my own Robot that knows 10,000 words and can house-sit. How sweet is that.




look at this thing.