This last person i interviewed was my girlfriend from highschool. We had tried to keep in touch after graduation and we did for a while, but about a year or so ago, i lost contact with her and we didn't see each other while we were home on our breaks. Not long after starting this semester with this class i felt a big urge to connect with her again and rekindle our friendship. I had no way of getting in contact with her though. She somehow found me one day thought and imed me out of the blue to ask how i was doing. I was thrilled and over joyed. So i have been working on this friendship for pretty much the whole semester now. when i went home over break i got to go out with her one day and talk, and we had a lot of fun. it felt soo good to not be around a christian, is that a bad thing? well it did, not matter if it is good or not. So here are the questions i got to ask her and her answers.
what do you think the greatest need is in your area? She replied, "I think the greatest need in this area is more opportunity for kids to attend events and keep them off the streets. there needs to be places where they can go and hang out. a place that lets them try and relate to one another." After saying this, thoughts of youth group went through my mind, but i held back.
I asked her if she attended church regularly and she said no, only on special holidays like easter and christmas.
I asked her what were somethings that impacted her or interested her the most. She said abortion, drugs and recession were the three things that had her greatest interest. since she is a psychology major i can understand why these things have a big impact on her.
then i asked her why she thought most people don't attend church. Here's her answer, "I feel most people do not attend church because they can not find a religion that they truly believe in. that they may agree with some of the churches ideas but not all. they are looking for something they can relate to, or can believe in. also because we are ignorant to other religions that are out there.
if you were to look for a church to go to, what would you want it to be like? She said that she would look for a church that didn't judge people, to really not judge us for who we are or our lives outside of church. A place where anyone can go and feel like they belong.
The last question i asked was, what advice would you give a pastor who really wants to try to help people. She said,, " i think they should try and talk to a person and show that they are not there to judge only to help and be a friend."
my friend doesn't live the good christian life. I don't expect her to because she not a christian. She does things i haven't dreamed of doing, but yet i still sit and listen to her, i let her know that im not going to lecture her everytime she tells me she got drunk or drank. she knows where i stand, and me not swaying and not giving in, is my testimony to her. I hope and pray and some day, maybe months, maybe years from now she'll see something in me she really wants and maybe just maybe she'll decided to live for Jesus then!
Monday, March 31, 2008
David Kennard
David was our first guest we've had so far, that came up to me and talked to me before we started class. He was asking questions like, what year are you and what's your major. I really liked his outgoingness, i think i just made that word up, i think that shows alot about what kind of pastor he is.
David is the church's small groups pastor. He didnt graduate from an AG college, not even a christian college, he graduated from Missouri State Universtiy. After he graduated from Missouri he went to global for his credentials and AGTS for his seminary.
David has been at riverside for over ten years and he shared with us some series that the church had done recently, and i loved this one: Things i wish Jesus never said : follow me,lose your life, gauge out your eye, and love your enemy. I thought that was a great series for a church to have, gets people thinking.
David is passionate about small groups, but when he started to talk about his own small group you could tell where the fire came from. He said " we take the journey together so that kind of thing doesn't happen, don't do you thing in ministry alone." This just showed greatly his own need for small groups and in that showing that they do work. I just read a book for one of my classes here, and the author was totally against small groups and his only excuse was because churches weren't getting 100% of the church's involvement in them. This author frustrated me to no end, because there are people out there like Pastor David, who are working their small groups ministry, and it is helping people and helping them to grow!
I have to say all in all, i really enjoyed David and his small group friends that he brought with them. They all seemed to bring alot of wisdom to our classroom and that is something i like to drink in as much as i can!
David is the church's small groups pastor. He didnt graduate from an AG college, not even a christian college, he graduated from Missouri State Universtiy. After he graduated from Missouri he went to global for his credentials and AGTS for his seminary.
David has been at riverside for over ten years and he shared with us some series that the church had done recently, and i loved this one: Things i wish Jesus never said : follow me,lose your life, gauge out your eye, and love your enemy. I thought that was a great series for a church to have, gets people thinking.
David is passionate about small groups, but when he started to talk about his own small group you could tell where the fire came from. He said " we take the journey together so that kind of thing doesn't happen, don't do you thing in ministry alone." This just showed greatly his own need for small groups and in that showing that they do work. I just read a book for one of my classes here, and the author was totally against small groups and his only excuse was because churches weren't getting 100% of the church's involvement in them. This author frustrated me to no end, because there are people out there like Pastor David, who are working their small groups ministry, and it is helping people and helping them to grow!
I have to say all in all, i really enjoyed David and his small group friends that he brought with them. They all seemed to bring alot of wisdom to our classroom and that is something i like to drink in as much as i can!
Friday, March 14, 2008
New Believer # 2
There was a young girl i met about 6 or so months ago that started coming to our youth group back home. I just loved her, she was happy, hyper and loving! Although im not home enough to really build a good solid relationship with her, i still got to know her more and more through the months. This past break though i had found that this girl, Alexis grew up hardcore catholic. Then one day her friend emily invited her to our church and Alexis was like this is totally different from what i've been raised in, but she loved it. So she started coming all the time, but she did it just to learn more about our church and the AG. Then at some point she realized that she wasn't really living a "christian lifestyle" and so she decided to commit herself to God in a new and real way, to have a relationship with Him. So when i found all this out i was dying to interview her.
Alexis said that even though she's grown up in church her whole life she did not know Him, like she does now. She said she didn't really like the routines of the catholic church, but went because she was forced to until her parents got divorced then she stopped going, and only went once in a while. She said when she starting coming to our church something just "clicked" and made sense to her and she really liked what we were doing in our services, because they were so different from what she had always known.
Then i asked her what helped her the most to cross over that line and make a commitment to Christ. Alexis in such a joyfully and excited way said, "Once i saw and realized the difference God made when i made him appart of my life," was what helped her the most. When God wasn't just some far away "thing" we did every sunday, when she realized He could live in us and be apart of our lives daily. I just loved her answer to this question, i actually cried, as in a tears streaming down my face when i interviewed her. It was soo amazingly beautiful to see a young girl who was passionately searching for more of God and loving every minute of it!
I asked her what has been the beset part about coming to know Christ. This has to be said in her own words, "The way i feel! I am naturally a crazy hyper person, but i just feel a constant happiness and i have optimism, i mean i still have bad days, but who doesn't? This joy helps me to reflect that happiness to other!" That's where it's at right there. That this joy that God has filled her with is being used to help others! Yes! Amen! That's exactly what i hope all new believers and "old" believers should fill. Sometimes even after reading this, i thought well i should be way more happy to share joy with others now that i've been on this journey so long, but we usually only see such excitement in new believers..why is that? Do we lose something along the way? I am not quite sure.
Next i asked her what was one of the most challenging things she has had to face since becoming a Christian. Since her parents are divorced, her mom doesn't go to church all that often, but her dad is still a hardcore catholic. She said that her dad always sayd "born a catholic, always a catholic." to her and things of that nature. They think that anything outside of being catholic is a cult and they don't like it. So she's struggling with trying to share with them what God has really done in her life. Alexia said that she would continue to follow Christ regardless of what anybody might say.
I also asked Alexis what are the things that help her to grow. She said that the things God shows her everyday, the way that He helps her. she said "Everything about Him is great and I'm just so amazed by him everyday!" Not only can you hear her love for God, but when you see it in her face, it just makes me so happy!
The last question i asked her was for advice she would give to me or others on try to help them grow in their faith. At first she only said one word, ENCOURAGEMENT! She said she was blessed to come to such a good church family that loved and accepted her. She also said though to have a more open mind and eyes.
This whole interview was just like a breath of fresh air to my lungs. I think i feel like this because this is how we were made, to see people grow in Christ, to help people draw nearer to their savior, it's supposed to be a beautiful and touching thing, but now it's just a raise of a hand and who knows if any thing follows after that, i want to see kids not just make commitments, but to see growth in them, but i guess that's what everyone wants to try to do, we just haven't figured the perfect formula for that yet, and will we ever?
Alexis said that even though she's grown up in church her whole life she did not know Him, like she does now. She said she didn't really like the routines of the catholic church, but went because she was forced to until her parents got divorced then she stopped going, and only went once in a while. She said when she starting coming to our church something just "clicked" and made sense to her and she really liked what we were doing in our services, because they were so different from what she had always known.
Then i asked her what helped her the most to cross over that line and make a commitment to Christ. Alexis in such a joyfully and excited way said, "Once i saw and realized the difference God made when i made him appart of my life," was what helped her the most. When God wasn't just some far away "thing" we did every sunday, when she realized He could live in us and be apart of our lives daily. I just loved her answer to this question, i actually cried, as in a tears streaming down my face when i interviewed her. It was soo amazingly beautiful to see a young girl who was passionately searching for more of God and loving every minute of it!
I asked her what has been the beset part about coming to know Christ. This has to be said in her own words, "The way i feel! I am naturally a crazy hyper person, but i just feel a constant happiness and i have optimism, i mean i still have bad days, but who doesn't? This joy helps me to reflect that happiness to other!" That's where it's at right there. That this joy that God has filled her with is being used to help others! Yes! Amen! That's exactly what i hope all new believers and "old" believers should fill. Sometimes even after reading this, i thought well i should be way more happy to share joy with others now that i've been on this journey so long, but we usually only see such excitement in new believers..why is that? Do we lose something along the way? I am not quite sure.
Next i asked her what was one of the most challenging things she has had to face since becoming a Christian. Since her parents are divorced, her mom doesn't go to church all that often, but her dad is still a hardcore catholic. She said that her dad always sayd "born a catholic, always a catholic." to her and things of that nature. They think that anything outside of being catholic is a cult and they don't like it. So she's struggling with trying to share with them what God has really done in her life. Alexia said that she would continue to follow Christ regardless of what anybody might say.
I also asked Alexis what are the things that help her to grow. She said that the things God shows her everyday, the way that He helps her. she said "Everything about Him is great and I'm just so amazed by him everyday!" Not only can you hear her love for God, but when you see it in her face, it just makes me so happy!
The last question i asked her was for advice she would give to me or others on try to help them grow in their faith. At first she only said one word, ENCOURAGEMENT! She said she was blessed to come to such a good church family that loved and accepted her. She also said though to have a more open mind and eyes.
This whole interview was just like a breath of fresh air to my lungs. I think i feel like this because this is how we were made, to see people grow in Christ, to help people draw nearer to their savior, it's supposed to be a beautiful and touching thing, but now it's just a raise of a hand and who knows if any thing follows after that, i want to see kids not just make commitments, but to see growth in them, but i guess that's what everyone wants to try to do, we just haven't figured the perfect formula for that yet, and will we ever?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
courtney brancroft
When i first saw courtney, i thought she was a student here to visit for the night. I also when she got up in front of us thought she looked like a girl who graduated from here that i liked so i automatically liked her! I was shocked by the fact that she is now a full time pastor as a woman but graduated with a secular college with a degree in communications and history ... i think! Somewhere along the way God had tugged on her heart to continue in this chi alpha ministry she was doing which lead her to DC. She called it "where the party's at" because of all the chi alpha people who were working in that area with. It seemed like a comfort zone for her, but very much needed at first so learn under people who had been doing chi alpha longer. I admire her for taking this step in the first place. I know it would probably be so hard to move away from home, espically your home state and go to DC a crazy busy place. even though she knew she would have others supporting her there it still took courage.
then i dont remember the details of how, but God called her to PA! She at first wanted to start a chi alpha at Villanova University. She had to start raising support just like a missionary that would go over seas, except she was a missionary to a college. Well since Villanova is such a prestigious college she had a hard time raising support from churches. I think it's soo horrible that churches wouldn't give her support, i mean i know that you can't support every missionary alive, but for those that told her that she wasn't going into the deepest darkest side of Philly that this must not be from God! well that just makes me very angry. Well after a while she got enough of her support, but ended up at Temple for some reasons that i dont remember because i forgot to write them down, but i think it had something to do with the fact that the college didnt want her on the campus.
So courtney started this amazing journey of faith, believe God was calling her to Temple to minister to these college students. I can only imagine how she felt, excited and probably at the same time scared to death. And her parents, i know when i get out of college and i take my first job that calls me states away from home, to a place i've never been, where i dont know anyone, my parents would have such a hard time letting me go. Ha, they have a hard time letting me go as it is just to college...haha. courtney is now ministering, discipling and buiding relationships with 8 college students so far, 4 who are saved and 4 who are unsaved. I think that God will continue to bless her and this ministry because she has a heart for this, and not many people seem to, at least in this area. She is hopefully not letting the number game get her down, i've learned so much in this class so far and one of the most important things i think im learning is that relationship take time to build. So real deep strong relationships that she's trying to build to bring these people to Christ it'll happen through time, i believe God in that He will do so. Thank God for women like courtney who will stick out the rough times and not give in, but stand firm in God, in His strength!
then i dont remember the details of how, but God called her to PA! She at first wanted to start a chi alpha at Villanova University. She had to start raising support just like a missionary that would go over seas, except she was a missionary to a college. Well since Villanova is such a prestigious college she had a hard time raising support from churches. I think it's soo horrible that churches wouldn't give her support, i mean i know that you can't support every missionary alive, but for those that told her that she wasn't going into the deepest darkest side of Philly that this must not be from God! well that just makes me very angry. Well after a while she got enough of her support, but ended up at Temple for some reasons that i dont remember because i forgot to write them down, but i think it had something to do with the fact that the college didnt want her on the campus.
So courtney started this amazing journey of faith, believe God was calling her to Temple to minister to these college students. I can only imagine how she felt, excited and probably at the same time scared to death. And her parents, i know when i get out of college and i take my first job that calls me states away from home, to a place i've never been, where i dont know anyone, my parents would have such a hard time letting me go. Ha, they have a hard time letting me go as it is just to college...haha. courtney is now ministering, discipling and buiding relationships with 8 college students so far, 4 who are saved and 4 who are unsaved. I think that God will continue to bless her and this ministry because she has a heart for this, and not many people seem to, at least in this area. She is hopefully not letting the number game get her down, i've learned so much in this class so far and one of the most important things i think im learning is that relationship take time to build. So real deep strong relationships that she's trying to build to bring these people to Christ it'll happen through time, i believe God in that He will do so. Thank God for women like courtney who will stick out the rough times and not give in, but stand firm in God, in His strength!
Unchurched Friend #2
This person i interviewed is actually my brother. So i have to say i know him very well. My brother grew up in church just like i did, always there for everything. He is 2 years older than me though, so we never had the same youth pastors as i did. In fact Rnady didn't like his youth pastor which is one of the reasons he stopped going to church after he graduated highschool. So while i was home over spring break i decided to interview him.
First i asked him what do you think the greatest need in our area is, and i think i should have explained it to him better, although i know he knew what i meant, but his first answer was to fill the pot holes! ha! Then he got alittle more serious and said that we needed lower gas prices and more job opportunities in our area.
I asked him if he was actively attending church even though i already knew the answer to that one, no. He doesn't even go on holidays. I asked him why he wouldn't go and he said because he didn't have the time and didn't want to be judged. Then i asked him what if there were church services not held on sunday mornings because he always works weekends. I said what about a friday night or a saturday night service. He said he still wouldn't go because those are either relax at home nights or go out and party nights. Then i asked him well what about a wednesday night and he still said no. so i told him that the issue wasn't that he didn't have time, but that he just didn't wnat to go and his excuse to everyone was time.
then i asked him what were a few topics that interested him. He said sports, i assumed he would have said that, but churches can use sports as an outreach in some way. He said that politics were very important to him. One topic that greatly impacted him he said though was the inhumanity people show towards each other. He hates it that people treat other humans like dirt or animals.
I asked him why he thought most people didn't attend church and this is where he game me alot of answers. He said that in some way or form that they've been pushed away from the church. He said that it's not that most people haven't gone to church, but they don't go on a regular basis because they feel like churches are just bi cliques trying to push out the people who really need church. He said it's not that people don't want to know God, they do, but it's that people don't want to be judged and not loved or not feel welcomed in a church.
Next i asked him what he would look for in a church if he did want to go. At first he gave me a sarcastic remark of it needs to look like a football stadium. Then he got serious and said that he would go to a church that wasn't hypocritical, that had a sincere concern for other people.
The last question i asked him was what advice would he give to pastors to be helpful to people. He said don't come across as a distant person, be more than the guy that stand in front of a crowd of people and talks, be interactive.
Then after all this i just asked him what else he wanted to say on the subject and he said this. "The people in the church are exactly what i don't want to be, they say one thing and live another."
So all in all it went really well. We actually talked for quite a while about alot of things. I just feel so sad, like we "the church" have failed people like my bother in some way or another, like we have not been doing our part as a church to make more people feel loved and welcome.
First i asked him what do you think the greatest need in our area is, and i think i should have explained it to him better, although i know he knew what i meant, but his first answer was to fill the pot holes! ha! Then he got alittle more serious and said that we needed lower gas prices and more job opportunities in our area.
I asked him if he was actively attending church even though i already knew the answer to that one, no. He doesn't even go on holidays. I asked him why he wouldn't go and he said because he didn't have the time and didn't want to be judged. Then i asked him what if there were church services not held on sunday mornings because he always works weekends. I said what about a friday night or a saturday night service. He said he still wouldn't go because those are either relax at home nights or go out and party nights. Then i asked him well what about a wednesday night and he still said no. so i told him that the issue wasn't that he didn't have time, but that he just didn't wnat to go and his excuse to everyone was time.
then i asked him what were a few topics that interested him. He said sports, i assumed he would have said that, but churches can use sports as an outreach in some way. He said that politics were very important to him. One topic that greatly impacted him he said though was the inhumanity people show towards each other. He hates it that people treat other humans like dirt or animals.
I asked him why he thought most people didn't attend church and this is where he game me alot of answers. He said that in some way or form that they've been pushed away from the church. He said that it's not that most people haven't gone to church, but they don't go on a regular basis because they feel like churches are just bi cliques trying to push out the people who really need church. He said it's not that people don't want to know God, they do, but it's that people don't want to be judged and not loved or not feel welcomed in a church.
Next i asked him what he would look for in a church if he did want to go. At first he gave me a sarcastic remark of it needs to look like a football stadium. Then he got serious and said that he would go to a church that wasn't hypocritical, that had a sincere concern for other people.
The last question i asked him was what advice would he give to pastors to be helpful to people. He said don't come across as a distant person, be more than the guy that stand in front of a crowd of people and talks, be interactive.
Then after all this i just asked him what else he wanted to say on the subject and he said this. "The people in the church are exactly what i don't want to be, they say one thing and live another."
So all in all it went really well. We actually talked for quite a while about alot of things. I just feel so sad, like we "the church" have failed people like my bother in some way or another, like we have not been doing our part as a church to make more people feel loved and welcome.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)