Skip to main content

Rejoice!

I've been taking more pictures lately. Jennifer instigated it when she suggested that One:Ten should start it's own 365 on Flickr as a way of sharing more of our life with those outside the office. So we now have a One:Ten pool on Flickr which anyone can subscribe to if they don't already subscribe to those of the individual members. I'm sure there will be vast dry spells, but anyone can help us by giving us ideas for what they'd like to see.

The photography continued into a road trip I took last weekend with a few from the local young adults group. We went to visit Dan who is an actor and was playing in A Christmal Carol with a few different parts. We managed to take quite a few pictures there. It was a huge blessing to get some much time with everyone who came.. so much time provides cement for relationships.

Earlier this week I drove down to Indy with a couple friends, Dan from my men's group and Michael. Wanting to fully experience it as much as possible, I set the camera aside. We had arranged to spend the night and the following day with the Indianapolis Missionaries. They have a video blog, extensive coverage in the recent November issue and earlier March/April and Feburary issues of Vine & Branches, and most recently, a cool new "music video" highlighting some of their work and a beautiful song, on YouTube called "Rejoice, Indianapolis South Side!":



It was just a great experience, for a number of reasons:

  • More cement (see above) for my friendships with Dan and Mike, as well as all the folks down there.

  • Got to experience a day in the life of the missionaries, which further bonds me to them as another part of the body of Christ. I feel a part of them, and feel that I can pray more personally for them.

  • Was re-awoken to the nature of ministering to strangers. Something I did a little bit in Chicago but far more casually.

  • Learned more about that same ministering, and then evangelization, and not only as an individual but as a group working together. Extended personal prayer immediately before going out. Sharing between the group before we go out. Sharing between the group when we return. Placing all joys and troubles in common.

  • Household life when so much more is placed in common. Something as simple as moving all the guys' personal effects from one house to another, and everyone packing each other's stuff, instead of each packing their own. As unique as each person is, people are far more interchangeable amidst serving the community when they have this much in common. They are constantly communicating the state of the various relationships with people they are serving.

  • Both the IUPUI and hospital visits were productive inthat we are now considering some form of both up here in the Bend. The hospital visit, and similar corporal works of mercy, are excellent things that our young adults group can do despite our many different positions and beliefs in life.



PS - Almost forgot to mention. There is some super exciting news regarding Dan Reinbold! Guess who just got a new roommate?

Popular posts from this blog

our Ford Explorer saga

Two weeks ago, Cathy & I drove up Greenlawn Ave heading toward my house, and when we took the left turn onto Cedar, I accelerated out of the turn in hope of fishtailing a little bit on the snow before straightening out, which I enjoy and feel like a race car driver when I do it. This time, instead of straightening out, my Explorer continued to rotate and turn on the ice, eventually sliding perpendicular to path of the road. We were slowing down, but not enough to avoid hopping the curb and giving a tree a little tap. It didn't sound too bad, but when I got out and looked, I saw a bumper bent in, headlights on one side cracked open, and the impact bending a side fender, contorting the wheel well. My heart dropped a little bit, I grimaced, and asked myself and Cathy why I had decided to do that. Approaching the holidays and the wedding, we did not need any new complications. We had a full day planned, so I put it out of my mind and decided I would get a quote on the repairs ...
Read more

Festival of Lessons and Carols

I had the chance to attend Muncie's Festival of Lessons and Carols along with Pete Gaffney. My mom, Beth, was one of the readers. Below is what she read and shared. I stole it, with her permission. From Isaiah Chapter 9 : "The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light. For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulders dominion rests. They name him wonder-counselor, mighty god, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." The words of Isaiah are powerful. When we read them, we feel his confidence and knowledge of God. Those words sound so direct. How can one not see that this promised messiah is fleshed out in the life of Jesus? Why cannot the whole world see it? Why cannot the Jews see it? Many of you here know that I grew up Jewish, in an observant Jewish home. To understand the Jewish viewpoint, you must remember that the Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a powerful, good king. They were expecting a person of God's choice to ri...
Read more

As-salámu ‘aláikum!

Today over my lunch hour I walked with Mehdi and Dan to a Mosque downtown near State and Adams. On the walk down, among other things, we discussed a bit about organized religion and how it compares to personal individual religion. The entrance was not very clearly labeled but Mehdi knew immediately where it was by all the Arabs coming in from the street. It was very close to the 1:10 start time so the small foyer was packed with men waiting for one of the two small elevators to take us up to the 5th floor. A few men waited in the foyer, making sure things were running smoothly, offering a "Salem Aleikum" to those they recognized. Once at the 5th floor, we squeezed into a packed gathering room where the preaching portion of the service had already begun. Shoes were taken off and placed in shelves on the back wall and in a side room. Some barefoot, some with socks. The front of the room was located in the northeast corner of the room, where a man was giving a moderately...
Read more