Pre-Bahamas

As I write this, I am a little over a day from leaving for the Link Year International trip. There are four different options for people to choose from as they decide what their month of February will look like. They are: Ireland, Fiji, Bahamas, or a K-Life internship in St. Pete, Florida. I am going to a part of the Bahamas trip. What is really neat about that trip is that my mentor, Brian Wang, is leading it. I am looking forward to spending a whole month with him. Also, our trip is more of a mission trip, which I am excited about.  We will be working with the Caribbean Ministry Association, which exists to provide Biblical training to serve the church. Their vision is, “to empower the churches of the Caribbean by providing an interdenominational Bible training ministry, establishing and equipping God’s people in God’s Word.” The Caribbean is full of lots of people who have heard the Gospel, but spiritual growth is minimal. There are many churches, however, the pastors and leaders have limited amounts training. Due to cost and the fact that their church would be pastor-less during their absence, attending seminary abroad is not an option. They need opportunities to grow and learn more while continuing their ministry in the Caribbean. That is where CMA steps in. We will be working with the Doster family, who run CMA on the island where we will be staying. Some of the specific things that we will be doing are hanging out with and ministering to kids on the island along with a couple building projects. When we are not working we will be able to enjoy the beach right in front of where we will be living and also visit some really cool attractions around the island. Over all I am pretty excited for the trip. However, in a small group of people being around each other for a month, conflict is bound to happen, so your prayers for unity would be greatly appreciated.

That’s all I have for today. I’m sure I will have some neat experiences to share once I get back!

Marriage and Family

On our second week back after Christmas break, we heard from a Branson local. Ted Cunningham is the pastor of Woodland Hills Family Church in Branson. This is also the church that I attend, so it was neat to hear from someone that I have been constantly gaining respect for throughout my time here in Branson. His focus for the week was marriage, relationships, and family. Ted is nationally known and speaks at marriage seminars all over the country, so he had a lot to say on this topic. Some of the things he spoke on more specifically were marriage and family trends our culture has accepted that are not centered on Biblical principles. Along with those, he spoke on how the church can combat them. Another big thing that he talked about was communication and its importance. I wont get too deep into everything he talked about, mainly because there was so much. However, I will share a few specific pieces of advice and wisdom he shared that really stuck out to me, the first of which is, “If you make a decision, you will find evidence to back it up.” For example, if you decide that you are married to a lazy husband, you will only see him taking naps. Likewise, if you decide that you have a nagging wife, you will only hear her complain. Therefore, we need to be careful of the decisions that we make, because they have power.

            Another piece of advice that stuck out to me is you cannot blame others for your mood or behavior. The words “you are making me mad” are a complete lack of responsibility. We are each 100% responsible for the state of our hearts. In a marriage, it is not the husband’s job to make the wife happy and it is not the wife’s job the make the husband happy. That is codependency and the truth is, your spouse can never fulfill you. If you expect them to, your marriage will suffer.

            The third and last piece of advice that I will share is you cannot close your heart to some people and open if to others. If you have unresolved anger with someone, it effects all your other relationships because your heart cannot go from closed to open depending on who you are with. A quote that Ted mentioned with this is, “you don’t bury anger dead, you bury it alive.” What I got from that quote was until you resolve your anger toward someone and forgive them, you will never be from its hold, which will effect your interactions with everyone you meet.

            Even though I am not married, it was really interesting to hear what Ted had to say on that subject. I believe that hearing this before I get married and therefore having a head start in a sense will benefit me greatly once I am. 

Business and Ministry

Today could easily go down as one of the most impactful days for me here at link year. I was challenged and encouraged in so many ways. We had the opportunity to hear Mark Harris (the father to Marcus Harris, who is in charge of the media for Link Year) speak to us about Biblical manhood. One of the reasons that Mark stood out from other speakers is how he ran a business that was not associated with ministry, but he was still able to incorporated ministry into it and reach/disciple those he worked with. Most of the speakers we have come are employed in fulltime ministry so it was in some ways hard for them to show what it would look like glorify Christ in their job because that is what their job requires of them. However, Mark is a very successful business man so it was interesting to hear how he was able to minister to others through his platform at work. It is so incredible because he not only does a great job being a father, husband, and employer; he is also currently discipling 38 guys weekly. And his passion for Christ and for the men in this country is so evident. If I end up working in a career field that is not directly related to ministry, I want to be as effective at reaching people through my job as Mark is.

            Mark’s main point was that Biblical manhood means understanding that the great commission is our first priority. Here is a question that Mark asked that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The set-up scene to the question is us in heaven when we die. When we get there, we go before God and He says, “After you became a Christian you still failed over and over again. You still gave into your flesh and sinned.” That is when Jesus steps in and says, “I covered all that when I went to the cross. It’s all on me.” Then God says, “How many people are here in heaven now or will be in heaven because of your life?” This time Jesus looks at us and says, “This one is on you.” That is the question Mark challenged us with. Who is going to heaven because of our lives? Because in the end, that is all that really matters. Once we become Christians, Satan knows he can’t keep us out of heaven, so his goal is to make us the most ineffective Christians possible and let us just wallow in our own sin. He does not want us to win others to heaven.

            After hearing Mark talk, I have a much greater understanding of what it looks like to passionately follow Jesus no matter what kind of career I have. I also have a better understanding of Biblical manhood and what it really looks like. I honestly believe that I will look back on this day years from now as a defining day in my life.