I'm Your Venus, Ok, Maybe Not

We came out of worship at camp tonight and one of the guys I'm working with pointed out Venus just below the moon. (I took this with my 7D handheld with a 24-105 on f4-love my gear) That song from the 80's popped into my head but I had the wisdom to leave it there. I did have a great day filled with love. Most of all I was challenged by a powerful message to demand more of myself because of who Jesus is. But second, and by a long-shot I must add, I had the chance to visit with some friends I'd made while living in Alaska. The Bingham family showed me so much love when I lived there as a single GI and as a college student and as a young youth director. We shared stories and talked about where people are now and just enjoyed the time. I slept on their couch one time after driving 27 hours straight. I stopped by to say I'd made it back up and fell asleep in their living room. I woke up the next day. They just lived their life around me! It was awesome. I may get to see a couple of them later this week but today my stars were definitely in alignment. No, God, in all His goodness, gave me a glimpse into His family. Thankfully I'm a part of it. I have a couch if any of you old friends is tired from a long trip.

Stuff Christians Like

Ok, so a friend recommended this book and a blog that Jonathan Acuff publishes. I've now read about 50 pages of this little satirical book and hate to admit that I kind of like it. I know. It makes fun of some pretty serious stuff, but I think perhaps it is ok, and perhaps we need to know just how insider we church folks tend to be. I saw the cover and laughed, and cried. The awkward side hug. Last year we had several foreign exchange students join our youth group. Two from Germany and one from Israel. After a month or so I felt comfortable enough to hug them, they being girls and all. I did the awkward side hug and the expressions on their faces spoke louder than anything. Our cultures just clashed and they didn't have a clue what I'd just done. I think someone explained it to them later because the got pretty adept at giving the side hug. They left last week and gave me a real German and Israeli hug. I hope I don't get fired. 

Super Summer and the Cowboys

We are here in Abilene at Hardin Simmons for
Super Summer and the camp pastor is former Dallas Cowboy Gordon Banks. He is currently pastoring in Washington State. He played for Tom Landry from 1985-1988. He has only spoken one time so far, just a preview really, but it was easy to see that he is passionate about Jesus. I spoke with him for a little while and cannot wait to hear more from him this week. He has sought to follow Jesus since he was a boy and continues to do so, putting much of the same energy into preaching and pastoring as he did playing football. I think the 2,000 students here this week are about to experience something great. I pray that I do as well! I'll be posting more this week on this blog and on our student web site, hbcstudent.org  Hope you benefit from the few things I'll have to say.