Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Update: We have a location!
We finally have a location for our October 11th launch! We will be meeting at First United Methodist Church in Mishawaka every Sunday night from 6-7:15 PM. We went and toured the church a bit today and it will exceed our expectations! It is truly a blessing to know where we'll be at. We are all very excited and ready to go for this stage of our launch!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Outreach
So today was Epic Church's planned outreach for the month of September (I think we're planning on doing one every month, but don't quote me on that). We bought a bunch of groceries and went to one of the trailer parks in Mishawaka and gave them to those that needed food. In all, we were able to help 24 families have food for a while. Each family got 3 bags and a gallon of milk. In the bags were Meat, veggies, fruit, potatoes, mac n cheese and other food like that.
It was a really great opportunity to serve the community. I personally gave food to 4 families. I gave to Don and Anna (a disabled couple who weren't working and really needed some food), Caren and Tim (relatives of Don and Anna who were also very needy), Ellen Louis (an elderly woman who was living by herself with her 2 cats), and Amy (a woman who needed food to provide for her and her kids). It was just awesome seeing the gratitude of people when we just randomly came to their trailer and offered them food!
When we came back together as a group, there was a chance to tell stories about each individual group's experience. One group got the chance to give food to a woman who had been living off of crackers for the past week. She was down to her last $4 in food stamps, so the groceries came at an excellent time for her. She had also recently had a fire in her trailer because of someone she knew coming over and causing trouble with her. We were able as a group to go over to her trailer and help her move some things out of her house that were fire damaged (such as a stove). Some of the women also stayed and helped her clean up her fire damaged house. I think she was incredibly grateful, because when she asked her neighbors to help her with this stuff, they would only do it if they were paid. Its a little hard to pay people to do it if you don't have money. So it was great to go and provide for these folks for free! It was truly a great opportunity to go out and show Christ's love to the people in the area. I look forward to continuing to serve in the future!
Josh
It was a really great opportunity to serve the community. I personally gave food to 4 families. I gave to Don and Anna (a disabled couple who weren't working and really needed some food), Caren and Tim (relatives of Don and Anna who were also very needy), Ellen Louis (an elderly woman who was living by herself with her 2 cats), and Amy (a woman who needed food to provide for her and her kids). It was just awesome seeing the gratitude of people when we just randomly came to their trailer and offered them food!
When we came back together as a group, there was a chance to tell stories about each individual group's experience. One group got the chance to give food to a woman who had been living off of crackers for the past week. She was down to her last $4 in food stamps, so the groceries came at an excellent time for her. She had also recently had a fire in her trailer because of someone she knew coming over and causing trouble with her. We were able as a group to go over to her trailer and help her move some things out of her house that were fire damaged (such as a stove). Some of the women also stayed and helped her clean up her fire damaged house. I think she was incredibly grateful, because when she asked her neighbors to help her with this stuff, they would only do it if they were paid. Its a little hard to pay people to do it if you don't have money. So it was great to go and provide for these folks for free! It was truly a great opportunity to go out and show Christ's love to the people in the area. I look forward to continuing to serve in the future!
Josh
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Current Status of Epic
So for this post, I'd like to just give an update as to where Epic Church is at right now in our launch.
We have been continuing to grow our launch team, we now have I think 33 adults and a few less children. Our desire is that we will continue to grow with people who desire to be used to reach the people of Mishawaka.
We have decided against going with a full-out launch on October 11th. Instead, we will do a 2-Stage launch. On October 11th, we will begin our "Stage 1" services, where we will begin services on a Sunday night at a local church (location still to be found). During Stage 1, we will really try to grow our launch team and grow our finances so that once we officially launch, we can do it correctly and have the funds to have some great ministries. In March, we'll begin the Stage 2 launch, which is where we will announce it publicly and invite as many members of the community as we can to come. For this, we will be located in the Meadow's Edge Elementary School in South Mishawaka.
I would love for you to continue to be in prayer for our launch team. This process is very rewarding for all of us, knowing that people's lives will be changed dramatically by what we're doing now. It is also very taxing, though. Satan sees what we are doing and is using all he has to attack our team. A lot of our launch team has expressed that they are going through a lot of stress, doubt, depression, anger, sadness, and other emotions that they don't normally experience. Satan is trying to drag us down spiritually, so that we have nothing left to give when the time comes to launch. Thankfully, God has given us the vision and knowledge to recognize these thoughts and doubt for what they are, simply Satan planting doubts in our head because he knows what we are doing is... good. He knows that his reign in Mishawaka will be compromised by what we're doing, and is doing all he can to stop us. This is where we need prayer, just that we continue to recognize Satan's attacks and that we have the power to fight them and resist them!
As far as some prayer requests go, there are many, but a few main ones to be praying for are:
1.) Epic is in desperate need for a building to hold our services on October 11th. It is only a few weeks away, and a lot needs to be done in order for us to find a place. Just pray that God will open doors for us to explore and that we will find the place that He wants us to be in.
2.) Spiritual battles. Pray that our team will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will continue to be energized to make this church plant something that is completely radical and life changing. Pray that our hearts will be broken for the people of Mishawaka, and that our #1 focus will not be on petty squabbles, but on serving and loving the people of our community!
3.) Launch Team. Pray that as time goes on, more and more people will hear the call the join us in this church plant. As I said earlier, we have around 33 adults at this time, but are in need of more. Our children's ministry especially needs more people to step in and help. Our children's director, Erica Egolf, has an amazing heart and passion for God, but we only have 2 or 3 people that are also assigned to help in that aspect of ministry at the moment. We would love to have more people step in to passionately serve in this area!
4.) Jeremy and Ann LeVan. They are the pastor and his wife. Pray that God will continue to give them the vision and continue to instill in them a heart for this church and our community.
5.) Josh (me). I am nearing the end of my support raising, but I still have a bit to go. Pray that God will continue to provide for me this year financially. Pray that I will always keep my heart open to what God has in store for me. Pray that my heart will continue to be broken for the community. I just want to serve and be used for the kingdom in whatever way needed, and I pray that I can help restore this fallen world.
If you could keep us all in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about Epic or anything, post something in the comment box or contact me somehow, and I will respond as quickly as I can.
Thanks,
Josh
We have been continuing to grow our launch team, we now have I think 33 adults and a few less children. Our desire is that we will continue to grow with people who desire to be used to reach the people of Mishawaka.
We have decided against going with a full-out launch on October 11th. Instead, we will do a 2-Stage launch. On October 11th, we will begin our "Stage 1" services, where we will begin services on a Sunday night at a local church (location still to be found). During Stage 1, we will really try to grow our launch team and grow our finances so that once we officially launch, we can do it correctly and have the funds to have some great ministries. In March, we'll begin the Stage 2 launch, which is where we will announce it publicly and invite as many members of the community as we can to come. For this, we will be located in the Meadow's Edge Elementary School in South Mishawaka.
I would love for you to continue to be in prayer for our launch team. This process is very rewarding for all of us, knowing that people's lives will be changed dramatically by what we're doing now. It is also very taxing, though. Satan sees what we are doing and is using all he has to attack our team. A lot of our launch team has expressed that they are going through a lot of stress, doubt, depression, anger, sadness, and other emotions that they don't normally experience. Satan is trying to drag us down spiritually, so that we have nothing left to give when the time comes to launch. Thankfully, God has given us the vision and knowledge to recognize these thoughts and doubt for what they are, simply Satan planting doubts in our head because he knows what we are doing is... good. He knows that his reign in Mishawaka will be compromised by what we're doing, and is doing all he can to stop us. This is where we need prayer, just that we continue to recognize Satan's attacks and that we have the power to fight them and resist them!
As far as some prayer requests go, there are many, but a few main ones to be praying for are:
1.) Epic is in desperate need for a building to hold our services on October 11th. It is only a few weeks away, and a lot needs to be done in order for us to find a place. Just pray that God will open doors for us to explore and that we will find the place that He wants us to be in.
2.) Spiritual battles. Pray that our team will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will continue to be energized to make this church plant something that is completely radical and life changing. Pray that our hearts will be broken for the people of Mishawaka, and that our #1 focus will not be on petty squabbles, but on serving and loving the people of our community!
3.) Launch Team. Pray that as time goes on, more and more people will hear the call the join us in this church plant. As I said earlier, we have around 33 adults at this time, but are in need of more. Our children's ministry especially needs more people to step in and help. Our children's director, Erica Egolf, has an amazing heart and passion for God, but we only have 2 or 3 people that are also assigned to help in that aspect of ministry at the moment. We would love to have more people step in to passionately serve in this area!
4.) Jeremy and Ann LeVan. They are the pastor and his wife. Pray that God will continue to give them the vision and continue to instill in them a heart for this church and our community.
5.) Josh (me). I am nearing the end of my support raising, but I still have a bit to go. Pray that God will continue to provide for me this year financially. Pray that I will always keep my heart open to what God has in store for me. Pray that my heart will continue to be broken for the community. I just want to serve and be used for the kingdom in whatever way needed, and I pray that I can help restore this fallen world.
If you could keep us all in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about Epic or anything, post something in the comment box or contact me somehow, and I will respond as quickly as I can.
Thanks,
Josh
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Adam and Eve
So I'm currently on a Donald Miller binge. I finished his book Blue Like Jazz last week, and I'm now onto his book Searching for God Knows What. This book has a chapter titled "Naked," and it is Donald Miller's take on Adam and Eve. His view on the creation story is one that is more beautiful than I have ever heard.
He points out that too often we read through Genesis without looking deeply or thinking about it. We've heard the story over and over since childhood, so we don't think twice when we read it. He points out that if you truly read the story of Adam and Eve, you find a truly amazing love story (both between Adam and God, and Adam and Eve).
First of all, God's first order of business for Adam was to name every animal and creature on the earth. If you just read that and move on, you might think, "Oh, no big deal, he probably did that in a few hours while waiting for God to create Eve." Well, if you really think about it, how many species are there in the earth? Lots, likely many many millions of species. And Adam was put in charge of naming each and every species? This would probably take decades to do, because not only did he have to name the incredible amount of animals on the land, but he also needed to make a trip to the water to name all of the fish in the ocean as well. So after all this time, I had been under the impression that Adam only spent a few hours on earth alone, before Eve was made. In reality, he was the only person on earth for possibly up to 100 years (Just a rough estimate, he had his 3rd son, Seth when he was 130. There is no way to truly know how old Adam was when God created Eve.). Yes, it says man and woman were both made on the 6th day, but how long is a day when referring to God? I find it unlikely that Adam would be able to name every creature on earth in what we know as a day.
This means that Adam had the most intricate relationship with God that anyone has ever known. It was just him, the animals, and God. Could you imagine how deep someone could get to know God when it is just the two of you for that amount of time? It was likely that Adam knew more about God than any human being ever will (other than Jesus of course). That's pretty incredible to think about.
It also means that Adam was possibly the loneliest guy the world has ever known. Sure, he had God and the animals, but he still didn't have a suitable companion in life (See Gen 2:20). So, after all those years, after Adam names all the creatures of the earth, God blesses Adam with a woman. For Adam, this must have been incredible. After spending that amount of time without anyone else on earth, he must have thought she was the most beautiful creation he had ever seen! Adam is filled with so much love and emotion that he can describe Eve in just a couple of words: "Bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh." (Gen 2:23 NKJV) Donald Miller describes it in the most beautiful of ways:
"And then I thought how very beautiful it was that God made Adam work for so long because there is no way, after a hundred years of being alone, looking for somebody whom you could connect with in your soul, that you would take advantage of a woman once you met one. She would be the most precious creation in all the world, and you would probably wake up every morning and look at her and wonder at her beauty, or the gentle, silent way she sleeps."
And I often find myself, at age 24, getting worried because I haven't found that "special someone". Perhaps I should be feeling the exact opposite. Maybe God hasn't intended for me to meet my soul-mate yet because perhaps when I finally do find her, after so many years, she will mean that much more to me. I should be using this time not to find that special someone, because I'm convinced that God will introduce the two of us in time. But rather, I should be more focused on becoming that special someone to the woman God has in store for me. I should use this time to get to know my Creator, the way that Adam got to know his in his time alone on earth. Only then will I be ready to meet that special someone He has in mind.
I hope you were moved by this story as much as I was. This is just one interpretation of the creation story, don't be offended if you have a different view. This entire idea is based off of the possibility that one day for God could be equal to thousands of earth days, or vice versa. I'm still not entirely sure that I believe it, I just thought it was a unique take on it that I had never heard before. I, like Donald Miller, am not an expert on this, just someone interested in contributing to the discussion. Tell me what you think, thanks for reading!
He points out that too often we read through Genesis without looking deeply or thinking about it. We've heard the story over and over since childhood, so we don't think twice when we read it. He points out that if you truly read the story of Adam and Eve, you find a truly amazing love story (both between Adam and God, and Adam and Eve).
First of all, God's first order of business for Adam was to name every animal and creature on the earth. If you just read that and move on, you might think, "Oh, no big deal, he probably did that in a few hours while waiting for God to create Eve." Well, if you really think about it, how many species are there in the earth? Lots, likely many many millions of species. And Adam was put in charge of naming each and every species? This would probably take decades to do, because not only did he have to name the incredible amount of animals on the land, but he also needed to make a trip to the water to name all of the fish in the ocean as well. So after all this time, I had been under the impression that Adam only spent a few hours on earth alone, before Eve was made. In reality, he was the only person on earth for possibly up to 100 years (Just a rough estimate, he had his 3rd son, Seth when he was 130. There is no way to truly know how old Adam was when God created Eve.). Yes, it says man and woman were both made on the 6th day, but how long is a day when referring to God? I find it unlikely that Adam would be able to name every creature on earth in what we know as a day.
This means that Adam had the most intricate relationship with God that anyone has ever known. It was just him, the animals, and God. Could you imagine how deep someone could get to know God when it is just the two of you for that amount of time? It was likely that Adam knew more about God than any human being ever will (other than Jesus of course). That's pretty incredible to think about.
It also means that Adam was possibly the loneliest guy the world has ever known. Sure, he had God and the animals, but he still didn't have a suitable companion in life (See Gen 2:20). So, after all those years, after Adam names all the creatures of the earth, God blesses Adam with a woman. For Adam, this must have been incredible. After spending that amount of time without anyone else on earth, he must have thought she was the most beautiful creation he had ever seen! Adam is filled with so much love and emotion that he can describe Eve in just a couple of words: "Bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh." (Gen 2:23 NKJV) Donald Miller describes it in the most beautiful of ways:
"And then I thought how very beautiful it was that God made Adam work for so long because there is no way, after a hundred years of being alone, looking for somebody whom you could connect with in your soul, that you would take advantage of a woman once you met one. She would be the most precious creation in all the world, and you would probably wake up every morning and look at her and wonder at her beauty, or the gentle, silent way she sleeps."
And I often find myself, at age 24, getting worried because I haven't found that "special someone". Perhaps I should be feeling the exact opposite. Maybe God hasn't intended for me to meet my soul-mate yet because perhaps when I finally do find her, after so many years, she will mean that much more to me. I should be using this time not to find that special someone, because I'm convinced that God will introduce the two of us in time. But rather, I should be more focused on becoming that special someone to the woman God has in store for me. I should use this time to get to know my Creator, the way that Adam got to know his in his time alone on earth. Only then will I be ready to meet that special someone He has in mind.
I hope you were moved by this story as much as I was. This is just one interpretation of the creation story, don't be offended if you have a different view. This entire idea is based off of the possibility that one day for God could be equal to thousands of earth days, or vice versa. I'm still not entirely sure that I believe it, I just thought it was a unique take on it that I had never heard before. I, like Donald Miller, am not an expert on this, just someone interested in contributing to the discussion. Tell me what you think, thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
