Time flies

Whew, It seems as if time had flown by so incredibly fast. The last 4 weeks have been incredible jam-packed days where the grace of God has been so evidently seen. I arrived the 25th of May in Red Cloud, NE. This is a community of about 1,000 people. My dad is the high school principal and math teacher up at the school, that coupled with spending last summer here working a couple of jobs and being apart of the Congregational Church has been an inroads to a lot of ministry. This year I am with the Congregational "Bible" church (same church, newly acquired name, to reflect what we are centered upon) to fulfill my graduation requirements for Moody. I am full time with the church this summer and am actually getting paid to do this work! Which keeps me much more sane than trying to work two jobs and tackle responsibility with the church. As much as I enjoyed working at the drive in and the Cafe last summer, it is nice to be able to concentrate on the body of believers here. In all reality I can't believe I am getting paid to study and teach the Bible, much less going out and being a part of the community as I visit with the people and respond to their needs. It is such a privilege, though difficult at times, to bring the people here the gospel and watch it intersect with their lives. God is doing great things through the message of the cross of Christ. It's almost surreal to be doing this and brings me more and more to the point where I realize my own need to order my life around what my Savior has done. This is a powerful message, and I need it just as much as they do!
I have started taking the Wednesday night Bible study through a study of Colossians. It has been a great chance to put together all of what I have learned in the last three years. The people here are the best and are so patient and willing to listen to what this "young kiddo" has to say about the word of God. In fact they "hijacked" the Bible Study one night to give me two huge boxes of non-perishable food to use for the summer, and then later presented me with a $100 gift certificate to the local grocery store for the perishable things. I was (and still am) overwhelmed by their generosity and trust in me. I don't get it, but they have such a love for me and willingness to let me try my hand at ministry. Colossians has been a great study for us, and is pretty weighty theologically so far but I am trying my best to help them see where it intersects with their lives. I am also leading the worship music on guitar and am the director for the community wide VBS in July. Busy Busy.

After only a week Pastor Jon, Debbie, Hannah (their daughter) and I went off to Bethel Bible Camp. Hannah and I first for staff training, and Jon and Debbie later with another teen from church. Camp was a blast! I was a leader in the boys dorm with and awesome guy named Riley, a guy about my age who actually goes to school really close to where I live. We enjoyed so much getting to build into the lives of the boys in our dorm. The guys were a lively bunch and I haven't laughed that much in a long time. I also was able to team teach with pastor Jon, I was his "contemporary example" for each night of teaching. I took the topic that he was teachuing on and took about 5-10 minutes to help them all see how it works itself in my life. THe topics included: Salvation/Godliness, Saturated by the Word/ Spirit filled, Sanctification/Purity, Submission and Suffering/Friendship, and Worship/Thankfulness. I really felt like these things hit the hearts of the kids in new and powerful ways as Jon taught from the Word, I know they did for me. Debbie taught the Bible class on our the future hope of the believer. It was so good to hear her reorient our minds and hearts to our heavenly home as she spoke about the things to come. What grace there is to hold on to, just as Jeremy Camp's song cries out:

"But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

(Chorus)
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more
fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,
we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always"

You wouldn't think that end times and prophecy would be the most edifying thing, but I'll tell you, that's dead wrong and not the response that we got from these kids at all. Debbie did a great job about bringing it right to where the kids live and breath. Hannah, Debbie and I did the music on piano and guitar with songs like Speak O Lord, Draw Me Close, Grace Like Rain, Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer, Amazing Love (You Are My King), Mighty to Save, and The Power of the Cross. We had a great time playing and singing. If I were to list all the rest of the stuff we did, I would be here for days. We tried to live as close to my camp rules as we could (including myself)

1. No Dying
2. No Bleeding
3. No Whining (especially about rules #1 and #2
4. If I catch you violating rule # 2 or 3, I get to make you violate rule #1.

All this to say we had a lot of fun. I did almost violate all of the rules at once one day. Stupid rope. Ask me about it sometime. Anyway we ended the week and "raced" back home, Jon and Debbie ended up winning, while I took and unexpected detour. It was back to work the next week, a VBS Meeting Tuesday, Bible study (morning and evening) Wednesday, Bible Study Thrusday, and a sermon on Acts 2 on Sunday. On Sunday (though surpirsed to still be breathing) I went up to see Dad and Pat who had just gotten back from their vacation out west, and then came back this last Monday to start the whole process over again.

It has been strethching and encouraging all at once. Though I don't quite feel into the "groove" yet, I'm sure it will come. I sit here in my study (office sounds so formal), thankful that God has allowed me this awesome opportunity to do this for His renown and glory. Continue to pray that I would continue to draw closer to the Lord through all He has called me to this summer, and out of the overflow of what He is doing in my life I might be able to pour into the lives of the people in this body and community. There will be more to come later, and feel free to post and I will try to respond as much as I can.

Love you all,
In Christ by Christ and through Christ
Steven