My wife showed me this video the other night and I was a wreck after. The power of Christ never ceases to amaze me...
Last night, our church was blessed with a tremendous gift. Someone offered to rent out Splashdown Waterpark for our church for "BridgeWay Night." So last night was that official BridgeWay night. We printed and handed out 1000 free tickets for the event. We had about 525 show up. That's pretty cool.
What's even cooler is the way that God transforms a waterpark into a spiritual venue. We were hoping to make a splash (pun intended) with some folks, just to help them change their perception of church. I believe we succeeded. We also had encounters with people that were genuinely hungry for the truth i.e. Jesus. Two guys in particular that were starving to hear from God. They each talked to at least two staff people and said that they wanted to belong to a church like this. More than that, they needed to be somewhere where they could experience the risen Christ. What's cool is, they experienced it right there in the waterpark. They both said they'd be there Sunday.
What can I say? God's incredible!
What's even cooler is the way that God transforms a waterpark into a spiritual venue. We were hoping to make a splash (pun intended) with some folks, just to help them change their perception of church. I believe we succeeded. We also had encounters with people that were genuinely hungry for the truth i.e. Jesus. Two guys in particular that were starving to hear from God. They each talked to at least two staff people and said that they wanted to belong to a church like this. More than that, they needed to be somewhere where they could experience the risen Christ. What's cool is, they experienced it right there in the waterpark. They both said they'd be there Sunday.
What can I say? God's incredible!
This weekend wraps up a whirlwind summer for my wife and I. I have been gone more than home leaving my pregnant wife at home by herself. For those of you who can't figure out the obvious, that's not a good thing. However, God's been faithful and allowed me some incredible opportunities to talk about Him. This weekend I get to hang out with all of my Seton Hall friends in one of the most intensive overall weekends of my life in terms of pressure and constant examination, but it's going to be fun too.
I've been getting the 'God wake up call' the past few days - waking up early inexplicably and seemingly starving for scripture and prayer. It's been pretty cool. Right now, I'm reading in the New Testament, but I'm also trying to read about 1o Psalms a day. It has made such an impact on my daily mindset and helped me to process all things through the lens of praising God. Good times.
I've been getting the 'God wake up call' the past few days - waking up early inexplicably and seemingly starving for scripture and prayer. It's been pretty cool. Right now, I'm reading in the New Testament, but I'm also trying to read about 1o Psalms a day. It has made such an impact on my daily mindset and helped me to process all things through the lens of praising God. Good times.
The following are some highlights from Teen Camp 2008:
- 54 Volunteers
- 158 Students
- Chef Tom - awesome food including pulled pork with homemade bbq sauce (shut my mouth it was good)
- Ryan as Camp Administrator - great job!
- Todd Holman as speaker A - had to leave early because he had a baby being born or something...kind of a lame excuse if you ask me.
- Jim Chapman as speaker B - driving up from St. Louis on about an hour's notice to finish out the week speaking. What can I say - he's the man!
- Roger Davis as Super Supreme Commander of Manville Teen Camp
- Jake Smith's Harry Caray Impression - hilarious!
- 7 adult volunteers from BridgeWay - REPRESENT!
- NWL Transformer shirts (it's supposed to be NWIL) - $500 off though, so not all bad
- The Deluxe Nacho Plate at about 11:00 at night.
- Before Tomorrow eating cereal out of each other's mouths. It is as disgusting as it sounds.
- Rain, rain, rain
- Hot days and cool nights
The most important highlights:
- 8 students coming to salvation
- 70 students recommiting their walk with the Lord
- 58 students giving it all to God
- 6 students feeling a call into full-time ministry.
All in all, a pretty incredible week.
