Good Weekend

I must tell you about the amazing weekend I had! I know, I know you can't wait can you...well here it is!
It all started out Saturday morning. I had been invited to judge in a speech and debate tournament...a little intimidated i accepted the offer about two months ago. And now it has begun...I never knew NATO was so interesting!! Haha, it was a good time, though after a few hours of listening to different debaters I was becoming fairly tired and restless. Overall, it was a great experience. These kids were good, they were highschool age and i guess I was never one of the smart kids because i was blown away!! It was also pretty cool that now i had kids sucking up to me!! Good fun!
Then I decided that I would utilize the rest of my afternoon getting some work done at church. Whilst I was there I ran across one of the members of the church had we had a great conversation about everything from politics to motorcycles to God! Good stuff then I went home and made my wife dinner, and sat down for a good evening of NCAA basketball!!
I went to bed before the second game was done because i had to get up for worship practice at 6:30 in the morning. But i put it on the radio because i had to know what happened!
Worship in church that morning seemed much more lively than usual. And I had a very exciting time with God that morning which made my worship very exciting.
For lunch i went out with our youth pastor, to talk about our plans for the night of prayer we were putting on for the youth. We went to pizza hut where we terrorized the waitresses and waiters as well as an older man still dressed in his Walmat greeter getup. We had some fun with him. Jon, the youth pastor, reminds me so much like a certain cleft lip pastor of mine from sand lake MI...though Jon is quite a bit more organized!
Anyway, we spent the rest of the afternoon setting up prayer stations and different activities for the youth group to engage in that evening. All this while listening to the games on the radio!
That evening went very well. The students that we had planned on causing problems or at the very least not to be involved, really seemed to engage in the different aspects of prayer and meditation. It was very interesting, but also very encouraging to see the students "get it". That is what we have been praying for, for the students to really get and understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. Very encouraging.
After that I took Amy home early because she was having a very bad migraine...and by 9 she was out for the night. That was the only downer to my weekend.
Now...to top it off!!! After this weekend I had correctly picked the Final Four!! This is after I had correctly picked the elite eight!! So after a horrible start to my bracket I am now leading in the pursuit of a Playstation 3!!!! It is quite exciting....we will see what happens next weekend!
Now to top that off!!! My truck had died about two weeks ago, and it just is not worth it to put any more money into it. So when it has been nice I have been cruisin on my bike, but it was been quite rainy lately so Amy and i have been TRYING to share a vehicle. So...we had just looked into getting a loan to buy a car, and then at church some told us that their grandmother had died and they were looking to give away her car, it was a 97 Jimmy in near mint condition. So...i said, "LOOK NO MORE!!!!!!" Almost as loud as those caps and exclamation marks say! But I told her we had been looking for a car and her grandmother would have liked us and i promise to visit her gravesite everyday if we could have the car!!! Well, not quite like that but hey, we now have another vehicle! God is good!!
So overall, I am a pretty happy camper right now. Except I have a staff meeting early in the morning tommorow that I am not looking forward to, but hey it is all good!!!
Anyway, I have a class to go to, so have a good day all!!

Derrick

Hmmmm

Here I am posting for the second time in two days...weird huh. Anywho this is just a simple post...nothing too in-depth i guess. (I still plan on giving a post about tongues...I just do not have the time right now.)
Right now I am kind of looking around for a job. I still work part-time at my church and also teach music on the side but now that I am graduating I need to look for something a little more full-time. The church that I am at has speculated expanding my position to full-time with benefits but they are kind of dragging their feet on that and I do not think that it is going to happen. It is hard because Amy has another year of college after I am done so we cannot move anywhere yet. I have a few options but I would like to stay in a ministry position if that is what the Lord wills. I was offered a position by a guy who works in masonry in his company...but I hopefully an opportunity in a church will be availiable. But, hey whatever the Lord wants!

I have to say that I really love my wife!! It has been so great being married!! Better than I could ever have imagined! I say this because I was challeneged to really appreciate those I love this week when a friend of ours passed away leaving behind her husband of only 2 months. Very tragic, she was saved which allows us to rejoice in that, but still it is very hard on her husband and her family, and rightfully so. It is a reminder to me that life is precious and even though I can rest in my eternity I still need to remember to not take this life for granted as far as caring for the people that I love.

Anywho, have a good one all, catch ya later!

Derrick

Church...I guess

Here I go a new post...I know it is crazy right!?!?!?! So I just got back from spring break in MI. It was great, seeing the relatives seeing the old houses and neighborhoods. It was good. I enjoy reminiscing and my grandparents were all too willing to assist me in my ponderings. However, it was enjoyable. We went and saw 300 this past week. With the exception of a few scenes, it was a great movie. My wife did not appreciate it so much but hey I watch chick flicks all the time with her...right???
Anywho...in my last post I hinted at some of my disgust with the local church. For anyone who knows me knows my feelings on the church and where it is heading. But lately I have been getting a backlash of restrictions and general "rules" for worship that I am to follow in preparing a worship service. It has just been frustrating because, as I have said before, the church loves comfort. Whatever makes people feel comfortable and happy is a good thing. Whatever makes people feel uncomfortable and unhappy is a bad thing. I, on the other hand, believe that the church has reached such a point of comfort and contentment that we are not living the life of disciples for Christ, but rather we have begun to live for ourselves with church as a nice little place to make us feel good about ourselves. True, you will hear challenges and convictions preached with words from a pulpit, but when are those words backed up by true Christian living?? Where is the accountability and actions that the words of Scripture should generate?? I digress...back to my story, I was asked by some of the leaders of the church to be careful with what I say and what is sung because some of the things that I do make people uncomfortable. See, I believe that people should be challenged, and with the way that my church specifically is living...there need to be some drastic changes. But...noooo we need to keep people happy and content in order to have a happy church. I want people to be willing to step out of their comfort zone in little things such as style, with how we look at worship, and how we worship. People are so set in their ways that because we let them get away with staying comfortable in the little things, they have no desire to step out of that comfort in major things such as Christian living.

Anywho...I need to stop ranting. I do not want anyone to misinterpret what I am saying. I am not aiming to judge, and I am not trying to be self-righteous. I am just expressing my frustrations with the inability of the church to act on what it believes and to live out what it says it holds to. I believe that alot of the blame rests on the church because the church has not forced people to make a stand because faith without the proof is worthless. Churches have allowed people to come in and out of the doors without being forced to be accountable in their lives. This is why churches cannot accomplish things; it is because we allow leaders to come up whose priorities are not Christ-centered.
Again, there are some churches that are doing just that, they are ministires on fire for Christ and there is strong accountability and a firm desire to follow after the things of God. But many churches are being reduced to merely a social event once a week.

Ok enough with that. I do not want anyone to think I am bitter young man. I am not, I love the people in my church I love to minister and I love to worship; it is just my heart to see more people on fire for what they believe and not just be hearers only.

OK... this is getting long and people have probably stopped reading by now...oh also I have begun to rethink my position on the "sign gifts". You know; tongues, miracles, prophesy and the like. I am not so sure that I believe that they have ceased any more. I am beginning to think that perhaps they are still alive and able to be used but we have shut even that thought out of our minds because we see the fakeness of the charismatic movement and we do not even want to be associated with that. Anyway, that wilil have to be another post...ya next post I will try to show from Scripture combined with current events to show that perhaps we might be wrong about these gifts....I hope my school or church is not reading this!!! haha

Thats about it, oh my brackets have been quite off this year unfortunatley. I am in a pool to win a PS3...but I do not think that is going to happen...haha, oh well I will still watch because I just love college basketball!!!

Alrighty....I am out!
Derrick

I am Alive

Yes I am here...alive and well. And yes I am married!! Ha, life is good, school is good, my wife is good, God is good!! I am really just loving life right now!

Anywho...I am prolly going to need a new car. My truck broke down...again!, and Amy and I have had to drive each other everywhere! It is getting a little annoying. Not being with my wife...but not having my truck is annoying.

What else...it has been awhile since I have posted. We do not have internet right now at our apartment. So I have to be at school to do anything online. But soon we will have DSL, hopefully!

It finally got cold here... which I am loving, I hate all the warm weather, I love to be cold. idk I guess I am just cold hearted.

So I am fed up with the church...haha, what else is new, that is a different post all together I guess. I am being really random right now, but that's just me. I am random. I remember that stage of me growing up when I was a quiet, shy boy and sometimes wish that was still me, I have to much energy and say things too often when I do not mean them. Oh well, life is always fun with me i guess. Seriously...for those of you who didn't know me when I lived in Cedar Springs, MI might not recognize me. I could be really quiet and shy. Whatever happened to that kid??? Haha...Chris is reading this and he thinks I am making stuff up...oh well.

So I think that I might go to class today...so I think I should go...man i love senioritis...I mean I have had it for a few years but this year I am really trying to fight it. So off to anothor boring class I go.

Catch ya later!!

Derrick

Pictures that I have

Here are some pics of myself and my lady friend!!!

Finals...and such

So I halfway through my finals and so far so good. This last final I took pretty much will decide if I pass the class or not. I am a little worried. I think I did alright, but i do not know if i did well enough to bring into a passing grade. If not then I will not be graduating in the spring. Uh oh...I love college. I am experiencing a real feeling of not exactly caring about school anymore. I am tired of classes, of wasting time around here in Bible classes that I do not learn anything in. Two of my youth ministry classes this past semester have been great. All we really did was pray for each other and watch clips of other pastors and youth leaders that had amazing vision. But we did not really learn anything practical that I could apply. So basically even though this semester has really helped me to grow in my spiritual walk, I have really not learned much else. So I am spending ubelievable amounts of money and time doing something that I already do on my own or with my small groups. I feel like I have enough Bible background to get me going and I would like to learn something that will be helpful to my ministry. I feel like I am stuck in the growth stage of a Christian and am almost being overloaded with information that is just coming through me unto that tests I take. After that, I do not remember anything. I retain Bible info that I get at church or through my devo's or in my small groups, because I study and learn because I want to, and I desire to. I jsut cannot seem to translate that into a school setting because so much emphasis is on being able to take a stupid test. I want to learn something in the way of counseling, or acheology, areas that will benefit my ministry. It is not that I am tired of learning, but rather that I am not learning from the classes at LBC and therefore am paying all this money for nothing.
Right now my walk with Christ is awesome. He is showing me new things everyday, and i am learning and growing all the time. But then I come to school and it is just discouraging. So here I am with about a semester left and I want to change my major or even transfer to another school. I do not know. I know that it would not be "wise" to transfer. But I want to be able to grow in my walk with Christ and learn something at the same time. Or even just get out and do ministry full time. That would be the ultimate. I am limited in what I can do in my ministries because my focus is my classes. I gues this is just a frustation post. I guess I should just finish strong. But the more I grow in my relationship with Christ the less and less I feel like this is where I should be. Christians place to much emphasis on what you have accomplished and not enough emphasis on character and your personal walk with Christ. The whole philosphy just makes me so discouraged. I have been communicating lately with some popular Christian worship leaders. I have been setting up different woprship seminars for the upcoming year and have trying to fill some gaps. This has frustrated me even more with Christianity today. Many of them, I will not name names, had unbelievably outrageous demands for them to come and worship. I know that this is how they make a living, and thats fine, but when you demand a certain type of hotel, meals, ride from the airport, temperature in that vehicle, and many other things then you are not in it for the right reasons. When you refuse to give a testimony because you are only coming to play music, you are not in it for the right reasons. The Christian music industry has become the poster boy of all that is wrong with Christians today. We are so consumed with our needs and or success and or fame, that we forget that we are here for the Success of God, to bring fame to Jesus Christ!
I am rambling again, and I am sorry, I am just tired of being bogged down with "christianity" as we know it. I want to be known as a Jesus Follower, completely sold out and commited. I am tired of sitting on my hands and I am ready to act. I am ready to stand for Jesus no matter what the cost. I am ready to go out and radically make disciples. I am done talking and I am ready to start acting.
At this point I am sure people have stopped reading a long time ago. And that is ok, for those who are still reading this is just me getting thoughts out before God. God has something planned for the life of every believer. I am striving to reach that Lord, please direct me and make me your servant, willing to follow you whever you lead me. Thank You Lord.

Bike

If anyone is interested in buying my bike I would love to talk with you. I know it is not hte prime season to sell. But if I get a good deal I can't really pass it up. If I get a good deal on it I'll take it...if not then I am not going to worry about it. It is a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. It is a 1986 with about 15,000 miles on it. Great bike, runs great, but I am jsut not a fan of the insurance costs. But hey I rode all summer without insurance!! Like my wife will let me do that....anywho..ok!