Assignment #5

How do I know I’m being called by God?

Is it a pinch, a whisper, a vision, a door opening, a dream, or just a feeling?  For me it’s a few of these subtle hints.  In the last year I have fully given myself to the Lord.  I have stumbled and came close to giving up on many occasions but with the right friends there to catch me I got back up and dusted myself off.  That to me was a sign from God not to give up. 

Being a “new” Christian it’s hard to know if you feel a call from the Lord or if it is your own desire.  I have struggled with this concept greatly in the last year and have found myself second guessing every decision I have made.  However, as my relationship with the Lord has grown so has my ability to pray for my eyes to be open and my ears to be listening.  I know that the Lord is calling me when the right door opens at the every last second.  It makes me think that God has a sense of humor.  Looking back on the last year it is just crazy to me how much the Lord has done for me. 

For instance, when I was living in Arizona I had a great pull in my heart to do a mission trip.  I had never wanted to leave the country for a mission trip prior to these feelings.  But the crazy part was that this happened in February and the end of June I was on a plane to the Dominican.  The way that this trip happened was a calling in itself.  I moved back to Iowa moved in with my best friend in Ames and began my passport process and was searching the internet day in and day out for a mission group I could go with over the summer but I was having little luck finding something for me.  Until I went to Waterloo to an old job of mine and my old co-worker told me about her sister who had just married a Dominican man and who had a mission down in Monte Cristi.  So I facebooked her sister and from there we sent emails and two months later I was traveling down to Monte Cristi.  We stayed for 17days and it was incredible.  I was never a kid person but being forced to be with their four kids for that period of time made me open my heart to children.  Before I had left for my trip my sister in Christ told me of a camp that had a leadership program.  I looked into it but was very unsure of what to do.  So while I was in the Dominican I prayed about my next step whether the Lord wanted me to go to this camp or to do something else.  Two days before we left to come home I got a feeling to check the camps website.  I ran upstairs and got on the website and read through the program and just knew I had to fill out the application and give it a shot.  The first Monday home I called the camp to see if there were any spots left and was told that there were and I told Ryan I was sending my application in the mail the next day.  He called me back two days later and we set up an interview.  That was my first time coming to the camp and I was shocked at the size.   It went really well and Ryan told me the ball was in my court and he told me to think about it for a few days and get back to him.  Well if I remember correctly I called him about four hours later and said that I was in.  This all happened less than 2 weeks before the program started.  See God has a sense of humor just when I think I’m out of options he rescues me. 

So you may be thinking sure God worked in your life but is that really a calling?  Well when I returned from the Dominican I felt that the Lord wanted me to do more mission trips and bring his word to people all over the world.  But I was not ready then or now mentally or spiritually to do so yet but time at this camp will help me grow and learn. 

This is my answer to the question.  I hope you enjoyed my thoughts. 

Assignment #4

What is the relationship between a church and a parachurch ministry?   

We will start with what is a parachurch?  A parachurch is an organization that is faith-based that work outside of and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism, usually independent of church over sight. 

How do these work together?  My favorite analogy is the church is a rhino and the parachurch is the birds who sit on the back of the rhino and eat off the bugs.  Parachurches don’t hurt the church but if there was no church the parachurch would suffer greatly. 

The parachurch was mans creation because churches wanted something more long side of the church.  Many churches want their members to have friendships with each other and to grow these bonds it is very helpful to get them out of the “church” setting and put them somewhere they can relax.   Parachurches make a great setting for people to come together and culturally bond. 

There are some churches that fund a parachurch whether that is a camp or missionaries.   I hope this answered the question.  I hope you enjoyed my thoughts. 

Assignment #3

Explain the pros and cons of being a denominational camping organization.

This question is hard to answer because what I think of as a con someone else may see it as a pro.  So I will be answering this question as if someone was to ask me.  Some of the pros for me would be the fact that I know and understand the statement of faith that the E-Free Churches have set up for Hidden Acres and I feel very comfortable coming to this camp.  Having a camp with backing from not only one church but a group of churches is also a great thing because I know that these churches truly believe in this camp and what it is set up for.  When the day comes that I am married and have children I would be more likely to send my kids to Hidden Acres over just a summer camp because I know my children would be looked after and held accountable for their actions.  This camp also has Bible study in the summer that kids usually don’t get much of during the school year.  I would also want my children to meet other Christian kids because they are good influences (well I hope they are). 

I see a few flaws with being a denominational camp.  The big one would be if a E-Free church somewhere in the U.S. were to do something very wrong and unethical that got a lot of news coverage people could look at Hidden Acres in a whole new light and think that the decisions that church somewhere made is what we believe when that could be far from the truth.   It is also important to hire the right people for the camp because if we were to have someone here caught drinking on property or off that could cause a group to never return and word of mouth could spread quickly and ultimately cause the churches that back us to rethink everyone on staff.  This could be very detrimental to any camp that is associated with a denomination. 

I’m sure that there are many different opinions on this question but this is what I think.  I hope you enjoyed my thoughts.

Letting Go

Today I was asked to let go and not harbor bad feelings towards another person.  Sounds easy right?  Not for me.  I don't know what it is but I have a difficult time letting go of things that make me upset.  While I was mowing this afternoon I realized that I don't know how to let things go.  I literally don't know how to just say ok and move on.  I have always just stayed pissed until so much time has gone by that I don't even remember why I was mad or I realize that it was over something really stupid but I still can't bring myself to let it go completely. 
I don't know any different.  While I love my father to death he is a very angry person who to this day still goes on rampages about his ex wife. (They have been divorced for over 19 years)  I know I have picked this habit of his up and I don't want to harbor things like this.  I have actually cut people out of my life because I can't let go.  A few of my best friends gone, my "mom" gone, others who I have cut out but they are back in.  I just don't know why I can't function mentally and just let it go.  I can feel the anger in my body and I don't like it there. 
Over this last year as I have found the Lord it has really been weighing on my heart.  I know that this anger I hold on to is not what the Lord wants me to do.  I feel that I can't be a true servant of the Lord until I get over this bridge.  In my eyes this bridge is old and falling apart I feel that even taking one step will bring the entire structure down.  Where do I begin? How do I begin? May the Lord help me and I know I will get more opportunities to work on this in the next eight months.
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts.

Assignment #2

How does understanding the worldview of other religions help you minister to others needs, even if you never meet someone from those particular faiths?
If you are talking to someone who is confused and don't know where they fit in a religion you could be very helpful in opening the door of communication.  By you understanding other religions they will get a good look at the possibilities.  You will be able to approach the conversation in a nonthreatening way and allow the person to be comfortable.  
Religion can be a very touchy subject to discuss but if you are properly full of knowledge this can be more helpful than hurtful. By giving correct information to a person about a religion they know nothing or little about could open their eyes to the world and spark interest or stop hatred.  There are people in this world who hate others just because of their religion and the facts that the person received could be completely wrong.  Therefore, by talking about other religions could totally change the way a person looks and treats others.
On the other hand by discussing other religions could make a young adult want to become a missionary and travel around the world.  In some cases in other countries people are in remote areas and don't know of the world only of their own village or town.  If you were to become a missionary you will absolutely want to know of the areas religion so you can respect them and they know you are not ignorant to their beliefs.  If they know you understand them and respect them they will be more open to listening to you and what you have to say.
So that is why I think that it is important to know about other religions.
I hope you enjoy my thoughts.

Assignment #1

Why should everyone understand a ministries statement of faith? I think we should start off by asking what is a statement of faith.  A statement of faith is a statement that a ministry will put together that tells people what their beliefs are.  It can be in depth or in plain English for everyone to easily understand.    From my experience in the last 2 hours the Launch program went through two different types of statements of faith.  The first one was the Hidden Acres statement of faith and the second one was a online program CCI statement of faith.  For the Hidden Acres statement of faith it is easy to understand front and back of a piece of paper.  For the online program CCI their statement of faith was very in depth and left a lot of things open so other religions would not be offended.  Their statement of faith was five pages front and back.  Honestly who would be willing to sit there and read through all of that mumbo jumbo that doesn't make any sense and in the end not remember anything from it.   

I think that if an organization truly wants people to read and understand a statement of faith they need to keep it short and to the point otherwise people can interpreter it however they want.  I'm not saying that the CCI statement is bad I personally can't grasp what they really believe and to me that is kind of frustrating. 

Why should people understand a ministries statement of faith?  Well if you are looking for a place to bring your family or send your children you should look into their statement because you can get a feel for the type of organization the camp is.  You can see if you believe the same things the camp does and if you don't you can look elsewhere.   I hope that covered the question.  Enjoy my thoughts.