Internship happenings

Update

2009-05-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok so it has been almost a month since I have updated the Blog. I apologize for my slacking off in this area for anyone who is keeping up with me through this. The past month has been a bit crazy, busy, stressful, but I am still learning and growing so things are good. God is good! I have been looking for a job for a while now, which attributes to the stress. It is difficult for me to find anything in the current market when I have very little experience for almost anything I could do. However, I trust that God will provide something, I just need to keep praying for that. I am also still about 2000 dollars short on fundraising for the internship. If you (anyone who reads) could be in prayer about that, and consider giving, I would be very greatful. I do not have any more trips to Charlotte for seminary, however I still have a great deal of work to be done for my seminary coarse. I am doing my research paper on Seperation of Church and State in America. If anyone is interested in reading my final product let me know and I can provide that. I still have a lot of work to do though so it will be a couple of weeks. Despite some stress and busyness I still feel greatly blessed by God and greatful for all the ways He is teaching me.

Easter

2009-04-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Easter this year. I was able to spend it with Sarah and her family, so of course it was great. I got up really really REALLY early and went to a sunrise service at a baptist church here in Raleigh. It was very different then what I am accustomed to, but it was awesome to experience worship in a new and different way. Then we went to the church Sarah attends, which was a wonderful service. Fortunately we had a chance to rest a little bit after that. Then we went to spend time with Sarah's family and family friends for an Easter dinner. It was a great day to celebrate the Resurrection! And I am very thankful for Sarah and her family!

Visit to Montreat

2009-04-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to visit Montreat with Tyler this past weekend. This was the first time I have been back since I have been in Raleigh, other then a quick on day trip about a month ago. It was great to see some old friends and spend time with Ben and Tyler. It was also great to get an opportunity to worship at iSight on Sunday. I have greatly missed the community at iSight

Job Hunt

2009-03-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

So I am in the process of looking for a full time job. I have sent my resume to a couple Youth Ministry positions, one in Durham and the other in the Charlotte area. I am not only pursuing youth ministry, but am open to any kind of full time job that will be able to help me get though seminary. If any of you hear anything in this general area please let me know, I am very interested! My hope is to be able to work full time and take seminary courses from Gordon-Conwell part time. It will take me about six years to get through seminary this way, but I figure that it will be six years of learning and growing that will help me in my future ministry. I am just praying that God will open up a door and lead me in the right direction, please join me in this!

Internship Happenings

2009-03-22T19:17:00.001-07:00

Seminary Grade In

2009-03-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

I found out today that I got a B+ in my first seminary coarse at Gordan Conwell, Church History: Early Church to the Reformation. I am very happy with this because I knew that I did not do well on the exam, so I feared that would effect my overall grade. I must have done really well on everything else :). I am now enrolled in Church History: Reformation to the Present, hopefully I can get an even better grade this semester!

Fundraising

2009-03-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

The chart to the right is an updated status of the fund raising that I have been asked to do as a part of the fellows program. As you can see I still have a long ways to go in order to achieve the goal of $5,ooo, and now not a lot of time. It has been difficult for me to ask for money especially when I know money is tight for most everyone right now. However, this program has been a tremendous blessing to me. There are many at the Church of Apostles who have put in a great deal of hard work into providing this opportunity for me and the other fellows. That is why I continue to ask all those who are willing or able to contribute to my fund raising effort to please do so. Any amount whether it is big or small is a tremendous blessing to me. Therefore, please if you are reading this blog and you have not already contibuted, please consider helping me achieve my goal, even if you are only able to give a small amount. For those of you who may be hearing of this need to raise money for the first time, it is simply because I have struggled with the idea of asking for money, and not out of a lack of need. I also hope to send out another letter asking for support soon. If any of you know anyone whom, I may have neglected to ask please let me know, and I will be sure to send them a letter. I am not sure how many people actually read this blog, but I do hope that by posting my progress on here someone who may not know about this may read it.

Snowboarding

2009-02-23T07:59:00.001-08:00

Seminary Class

2009-02-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the fellows and I traveled to Charlotte for a first class of our seminary course. We are taking Church History 502 which is a study of the Church from the Reformation to the present. Our professor is Dr. Garth Rosell, who I already like a lot after our first class. It seems that Dr. Rosell is really going to challenge us to think critically about how what we are going to learn can be beneficial to our ministry, and what it means for the church today. I always strive to be able to apply which I learn in classes, but I feel as if this class will be extremely applicable to my future ministry. My hope is that I will be able to retain it and use it for the benefit of others.

Ski Trip

2009-02-23T06:27:00.001-08:00

Apostles Youth Ski Trip

2009-02-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

The Ski Trip was a BLAST! You can see some of the pictures above. We traveled to Snowshoe WV, which ended up being about an 8 hour drive. Arrived at about 3 in the morning on Saturday. Got up at 7:30 and hit the slopes till about 4:30. All that to say I was a little tired afterwords but it was very much worth it. I had to privileged of riding in the MAN van, which was awesome! We spent most of the trip comparing some of our favorite movie or tv characters, discussing who would win if they happened to get in a fight. For example: Chuck Norris or Jack Bauer(I think good ole Chuck won) OR Gandolf from Lord of the Rings or Yoda(Yoda proved to be superior in the minds of high schoolers) The conditions on the slopes were pretty good, a little icy in some spots, and somewhat slushy at the end of the day. I was able to prevent any injuries, although I must admit I did wipe of a few times, the worst being the one right infront of a lodge at the bottom of a black dimond(that just hurts your ego even if it doesnt hurt your body.) All in all the trip was a great success everyone had a great time, and the Apostles youth group maitained its long standing tradition of having someone throw up durring the van right.

Comments

2009-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

I figured out how to change the setting on my blog. Now anyone can leave a comment even if you do not have an account. I hope that this will encourage more people to leave comments. I would love any and all feedback on what people would like to see or hear about.

Tubing at Winterplace

2009-02-07T10:25:00.001-08:00

Chicago+

2009-02-07T07:58:00.001-08:00

Living with a Host Family

2009-01-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

This year I have had the opportunity to live with the Whyte family here in Raleigh. The Whyte's are members of the Church of Apostles. They have a daughter, Chelsey, who is a junior at App State University, and a son, Coleman, who is a sophomore at Broughton high school, and Marsha and Harry are the mommy and daddy. It has been a blessing for me to live with and get to know them. I have really enjoyed hanging out with Coleman, and beating him at Ping Pong from time to time. This aspect of the internship has really been one of the best. The Whyte's have made me feel very much at home here, and has it been a great learning experience. There has been much to learn about the differences between living in a dorm full of guys and living with a family. Since I want to have a family of my own soon, it has been great to get a taste of what that would be like.

Christmas Break

2009-01-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

For Christmas break I had the opportunity to take a train to Chicago to visit with my girlfriend Sarah and her family. It was the first time I have ridden a train. It was an adventure; a little long, but not too bad. I really enjoyed getting to meet and spend time with Sarah's extended family. I also loved being able to see all the sights in Chicago, especially Wrigley Field. While in Chicago I had a chance to go to the Science and Industry Museum, see Chicago from the top of the John Hancock Building, and see a play called Grey Gardens. I am looking forward to the next time I will be able to go to Chicago; hopefully in the summer so I can see the Cubs play. It was good to be able to get a little rest and relaxation, which has not been very prevalent during this internship.

Sorry for the lack of updates

2009-01-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

I know that I have not posted anything in quite a while. My power cord to my computer no longer works so I have been without a computer other then what I use at work for a while. I do hope on getting the power cord replaced soon, and I will post some updates soon as well!

Please leave comments!

2008-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

I think I am beginning to become bored with my own blog. I also have no way of telling if people are actually visiting and reading any of this or not. Therefore, I am asking anyone and every to please leave comments. It is simple really, all you need to do is click the comment link under each section and type in anything you would like to say. It would help me to know if people are paying attention to things I have posted, and please also ask me any questions you may have so I can know what kind of things to post in the future. Or if you do not really have anything you want to say you can just leave me your favorite joke, that way not only to I know you have visited but I also get to laugh some. Thanks everyone!

Tuesday Night Dinners

2008-12-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday night we will go to a member to the church's house to eat dinner. This has been a great opportunity to get to know people who we would probably never meet. It has also been a great opportunity to eat some scrumtrulecent food, not withouth its side effects though because I am getting fat. Most of the time we dont just get a meal, we get a feast! and there is always dessert, oh the wonderful dessert. I mean you would have seconds if it was offered to you too! No, but really I am really glad this is a part of the program because it has gone a long way to making us feel apart of the community at the Church of Apostles.

Small Group

2008-12-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

I am co-leading a small group of high school guys on Sunday nights. I have really enjoyed this aspect of the internship. I feel like it have given me the opportunity to really get to know a few guys, and hopefully have a greater influence on their lives. I have also really enjoyed hearing them discuss different matters of faith with us and each other. It has reminded me a little bit about what it was like to be a teenager. One thing I have learned is that teenagers are often much smarter then we want to give them credit for.

The Deal

2008-12-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

The Deal is the youth worship service at Church of the Apostles. On the first three Sundays of every month the youth have a worship service of their own. I have mostly been helping out with the 10 to 11 time right before worship. I help come up with different group games to play with the youth. This has been a great opportunity to get to know the kids. I also attend the youth service and help out whenever needed.

Fellows

2008-11-22T07:08:00.003-08:00

Youth Beach Retreat

2008-11-21T16:15:00.001-08:00

Church of the Apostles

2008-11-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

Church of the Apostles: I am very blessed to be a part of the community at the Church of the Apostles. I have not been here long but so far I have been very impressed with the leadership and community within the church. It is quite obvious that the desire of this church body is to live and spread the Gospel throughout Raleigh, NC, and beyond. I have felt very welcomed, cared for, and encouraged by this community, and I am very thankful to be a part of it. If you would like to know more about the church please check out their website at www.apostles-raleigh.org

Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary

2008-11-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

Seminary Course at Gordon Conwell: Once a month I go down to Charlotte, NC to take a Church History course at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. This is giving me a great opportunity to get a taste of what Seminary will be like. Gordon Conwell is also one of the seminaries that I am considering for next year. The class is 6:30 to 9:30 Friday night and then 8:30 to 4:30 on Saturday. This makes for quite a long weekend, but it has not been to bad because we have a great professor and there are many breaks provided so that we can walk around and keep from falling asleep. I will post more about what I am learning in my class later on.

Neighbor to Neighbor

2008-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Neighbor to Neighbor: This is an inner city mentoring program. Throughout the year I will be working one on one with a kid from one of the local schools who is struggling with reading. If you would like to know more about this program please visit their website at www.n2noutreach.org I will also post more specifics about who I am working with and what we are doing at a later date, so check back in for more info.

North Carolina Family Policy Council

2008-11-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Market Place Internship: I have been given the opportunity to work with a great organization called the North Carolina Family Policy Council. They are a non-partisan research group, that researches government policies of North Carolina and how they affect families. So far I have been making around a hundred phone calls a day contacting people and churches to ask if they would like to receive voter guides the Policy Council has produced. Now that the election is over I will be contacting youth pastors in North Carolina trying to reach out to the younger generation and get them interested in how government policies affect the family. I have really enjoyed working at the Policy Council so far and have learned a great deal. I will post more about what I am doing and learning through this at a later date, so check back in if you would like to know more. You can also visit their website at www.ncfpc.org