I love Funnelcake!!!

Hello, friends!

Here is a great story from BCM land!  Enjoy!!! 

The Joy of Funnelcake...

~Adam

Hooray for Fall Conference!!!

Hello, friends! 

My apologies for not posting about Fall Conference sooner.  Things have been non-stop ever since I got back and I am just now able to sit down and write about the weekend.  In fact, I am in Seattle rioght now as I do it, showing you just how crazy things have been for me lately.  =0).

What can I say about Fall Conference?  It was an amazing time where the Spirit moved in a number of different ways both expected and unexpected.  In an effort to keep things succinct, I'll highlight three of the areas where I felt like Jesus really broke through.

#1: Major decisions for Jesus!  This starts off our list because it is the most important!  Fall Conference is usually a time where many students make decisions to follow Jesus, either for the first time or as a recommitment.  This year was no different.  8 ACF students made recommitments to following Jesus.  Our one BCM student commited to being a part of the planting movement for BCM.  One student said that he heard from Jesus for the first time, and ONE STUDENT ENTERED THE KINGDOM!!!  Praise Jesus for new life! 

#2: Community established!  We broke up our group of 25 into 4 smaller groups so that people would have the chance to process.  I couldn't have asked for things to work out better than they did.  Our leaders did such an excellent job building community and leading the groups.  THere was actually a tangible change in the groups as the weekend went on.  I saw the Freshmen bonding together as well as our international students.  I saw leaders step up and ask tough questions while sharing their own stories.  I saw real community being established. 

#3: Personal Growth!  One of the things that I have been learning as a staff worker is that it is dangersous to think that God is only going to speak to the students at a conference like this.  There is a temptation to get into a "martha" kind of mode and only be thinking about work, thus missing out on what God has in store for me personally.  Thankfully, God spoke to me a ton during FC11.  I heard words about teamwork, about repentance, about forgiveness, and about submission.  I still haven't processed through everything yet, but I'd like to think that FC11 was as transformative for me as it was for the students.

A few ways you can be praying:
- Praise God for new life in the kingdom!  Please pray for W, our new believer as well as Rachel, Jordan, Grace, Paula, Tracie, Julie, Amy, and S, who made recommitments.  Pray that God will continue to grow in them and will protect them from the tricks of the evil one as they retun to campus. 
- Please pray for a continued sense of community.  Pray that the community established at FC11 will lead to more community in ACF as a whole.  Also, pray for Shawn as we work together to establish a BCM community. 
- Praise Jesus, we are 2 weeks into October and I am migraine free!  Pray that God will continue to protect my head. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Go Bears!!!

Hello, friends!

Last Friday I had the opportunity to speak at my alma mater, WashU ACF.  I figure, instead of just telling you about how things went, why not let you see for yourselves!  =0).  Apologies that the last minute or so is cut off.  My camera only allows me to record 29 minutes at a time.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Mizzou BCM: The simple joy of frozen yogurt...

Hello, friends! 

Here's a quick post about a great night I had with the folk from the LBC Gospel Choir at Mizzou.  Click here to read more. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Oh Mama, why?!?!

Hello, friends! 

If you know me, you know that I love my Mama.  In fact, I am proud to call myself a Mama's boy in the best sense of the word.  I owe Mama everything and would do anything for her short of killing a man (and even that I'd have to think hard about). 

But, there is one thing that I wish Mama didn't do growing up, and that's give me so much medicine.  If I had a sniffle, a cough, or anything higher than a 98.6, I was getting drugged up and drugged up good.  This was great when I was growing up because I was able to gather my fair share of sick days, but now I can see that the short term gains were not worth the long term losses.  For you see, my friends, I have no immune system. 

I'm sitting her in the Student Center right now, fighting off a flu with everything I have.  I can feel the body aches.  My thyroids are a little sore and I'll bet if you took my temperature right now it would be just a touch high.  All signs point to me being bedridden tomorrow. 

Of course, I'm only joking about blaming Mama for this (mostly).  But, I am someone who gets sick fairly often.  I have a history of migraines and am good for at least 1-2 sick days a season.  I have two theories as to why this happens.  The first is that Mama gave me to many meds as a kid.  There could be a little bit of truth to this, but T, Phuzz, and the Kid don't get too sick too often, so that may not hold as much water as I would like. 

My second theory is that God likes to remind me of who is in charge of His ministry at Mizzou.  When I have a migraine or the flu I'm not much good on campus.  In fact, I'm pretty worthless.  I can get a little bit of work done on the computer, but most of the time I'm spending is sleeping.  One nice thing about these days is that I get to spend some good time in prayer too.  This is when God reminds me that prayer is super crucial to ministry and that even though I'm not on campus, He still is. 

Typically, October and March are my worst months for migraines, usually averaging a little over 2 per week.  Please pray this month that God will be show me mercy and that I won't have to deal with these bad boys this month.  Also pray that in the midst of the pain, I will be seeking Jesus and be reminded of who is in charge. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Sweetness of Sabbath

Hello, friends! 

My freshman year I was at a Fall Conference and the speaker talked to us about Sabbath.  I don't remember everything that he said about it, but I remember being convicted and deciding at that point that I would regularly take Sabbath seriously.  Since then, I have seen my Sabbaths go through a number of different phases but I have done what I could to keep Sabbath being a part of my life. 

This year I have found myself looking forward to my Sabbath in a way that I haven't in quite some time.  I think that with the added responsibilities that I have undertaken this year, including trying to plant in a cross cultural situation, getting regular rest is now more important than ever. 

I have often had conversations with different folk about the need for Sabbath and whether or not we as Christians are commanded by God to take them.  I won't go into too much detail, but I absolutely believe that God commands the Sabbath in the Old Testament (in fact, it's one of the 10 Commandments), and Jesus and Paul both affirm the need for a Sabbath rest for God's people.  I have seen firsthand the beautiful benefits of taking a regular day of rest and I encourage my students to do the same.  We live in a society that asks us to constantly be working.  I do not believe that God asks us to do that.  I believe that God knows what is good for us and wants us to spend a day in sweet fellowship with Him. 

Saturday is my normal Sabbath this semester but it occasionally I switch it up.  Different folk will argue about whether or not Sabbath needs to be on Saturday or Sunday.  My personal thought is that more important than which day you are resting is that you are doing it.  Rest is a good thing.  Get it when you can.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Mizzou ACF: Serendipity and Second Chances...

Hello, friends! 

Here's a new post about a great ACF encounter I had today.  It's called: Serendipity and Second Chances. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam