Monday, September 21, 2009

Life - The Crazy Side!

Howdy Y'all! (That's my southern comin' out in me)

I do hope all is well with you! A lot has happened since my last update. I'm becoming more involved with things at the school. I suppose that busyness is good to keep the mind off the things that it shouldn't be on ...

I've been having meetings left and right it seems. When I'm not working on extra-curricular things, I'm doing school, reading for tests and trying to keep up with what people are doing (Facebook is handy for that).

Take 6 isn't too much work for me at the moment, since I don't have to do much as the sound guy while they are practicing. We are starting early, however. November is our first outing. I'm kinda excited that we are starting this early. It should be fun.

Our first Pulse meeting is two Sundays from now. Our topic is on the Bible. One of the main visual aids that we are going to be using is the fact that God's word is sweet as honey. So we have a lot of games that we will be doing and using props. Pray that the kids will have open minds and hearts.

Our next prayer band is this Wednesday. We are focusing on America this time around and also doing a missionary highlight. In fact, we are having 5 missionary highlights. We'll also discuss the population of the USA along with different religions and such. It will be exciting.

New Ministry!
A new ministry opportunity has risen as of yesterday, Sunday, Sept 20th. For background, the church that
three other students from Frontier and I attend is Bayard Community Bible Church, located in Bayard NE about an hour from school. The pastor has been there about 2 years. His name is Bradley Kihlthua (pronounced Kill - Thow). He is an awesome man of God. Anyway, the high school youth program is pretty much non-existent. He can't run the program on his own because there isn't enough time. He asked me and the other 3 to take over and run it...so we are!

The other leaders:
  • Bethany Viekman (She was also on the camping team with me for the first two weeks)
  • Jenn Martin (Was at Pioneer Bible camp, the second camp I visited)
  • Justin Gienger (Leader/staff at Pioneer Bible camp over the summer)
I've kinda been set as "leader" though I certainly don't feel like one. Pastor Bradley asked us to go over Christian Evidences. Basically, we will be proving why the Bible is trustworthy through the MANY fulfilled prophecies and historical and scientific facts. I'm very excited about the program, though a bit nervous because I (along with the help of the other leaders) will be coming up with the curriculum every week.

We will have about 10 kids starting off (if they all come). I'm excited to see what God does and how He will work through us. We can't do this on our own. Through God's help and your prayers, this will become a great ministry!

I feel quite overwhelmed right now, but I have learned how to keep myself disciplined and time oriented. If I weren't, I'd probably go crazy! (Wouldn't you? :-P). I have been able to keep my spirits up though. Today I managed to trip over my back pack in chapel and land face first into my roommate thigh. It was very humorous. The people around me started laughing, and I started laughing, and it was hard to get focused again ... but we did.

Anyway, some quick praises and prayer requests!

Praises:
  • That God has kept me joyful in everything I am doing and given me strength!
  • The unity here at school has been very good!
  • That God provides, physically, spiritually and emotionally!
  • For friends!
  • For the small blessings that God gives us!
  • That God is good, and His thoughts are higher than mine!
Prayer:
  • Continued strength in the coming weeks and months
  • Purity (Thoughts, actions, motives, etc)
  • Wisdom in decision making
  • Wisdom in working with the youth group
  • Wisdom in time management
  • The kids at youth group: Open hearts, enthusiasm, and willingness to serve. Also some are probably not saved.
  • Unity with the youth group leaders. (At this point I'm not worried about it all, but Satan is crafty and can easily make things hard if we are not on alert and keeping focused.)
Again, I thank you all for your prayers! As a closing prayer request, it's very hard for me not to want to do it all. My heart is to work with all these kids and different programs. I struggle with saying "no" when something comes up sometimes. Pray that I would have discernment. Next semester I'll be dropping a few things to free up time to focus more on one or two things.

God is MY "I AM", and he loves me. He is YOUR "I AM", and he loves you. Praise Him for His WONDROUS glory!

In Him!
Adam Lancaster

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Frontier Begins!

Frontier School of the Bible has begun on a very good, but very busy note. It was awesome to see people from years past and to meet the new freshman. The classes are amazing. As of right now, I'm taking 15 credit hours a week (8 classes). The classes I'm currently taking are:
  • Galations
  • Theology 3 (Study on Eschatology)
  • Christian Evidences
  • Cults and World Religions
  • Romans
  • Pastoral Theology 1
  • Homiletic 2
  • Senior Project (We quote verses from past classes, build a resume, doctrinal statement, and testimony and take tests)
I'm also taking an extra-curricular class called, "Measure of a Man" with Mr. Husbey (The Dean of Students). It's on better pre-paring yourself for life.

The first two weeks were very hectic. I was in charge of training all the freshman how to do dishes properly (since there are a few critical things to know). I was also trying to keep up with all my school and prepare for a few other things.

The semester will become a bit more busy once more things are implemented and get under way. I'm apart of the Traveling Drama Team again (Take6) and Pulse (which is a once a month program that combines the youth groups from around LaGrange). I am also a prayer band leader, which is where we pray for missionaries in a certain part of the country. I am the leader (along with Rebecca Kirkland who was on the camping team with me) for North America. We'll be heading up different activities and such. The last thing I'm apart of is AMOOK (Advancing Missions On Our Knees), which is a program where we pray for alumni from the school who are out of the mission field. I run the website for them and also help out where else they need me. I also help out in the kitchen whenever they need me. I cook one meal, but I'm also lined up to sub when people can't make it.

So, my hands are quite full, but I have confidence that everything will get done that should get done. I do feel a bit worn out, but stuff gets done, and I'm having a great time!

Prayer is always appreciated!

Prayer Requests:
  • Energy, enthusiasm and excitement as I help lead different programs and chat with people
  • Wisdom for managing my time properly
  • An optimistic attitude
  • Purity (in thought and action and motive)
  • A willingness to serve, even when I feel like not doing it
  • Boldness to stand for my convictions
Praises:
  • School is still here and strong
  • God is good and sovereign
  • That I have an accountability partner (Stefan)
  • I am busy and hardly ever idle (it seems that's when it's most easy to fall into bad thoughts)
  • The class this year is overall, fairly optimistic and ready to go!
Thank you all for your prayer and support. It's been a blessing. I hope all is well and that ya'll have been serving God with your hearts. Take care!

In Christ,
Adam Lancaster