My Epic Journey

It has been a while since I have posted anything new concerning what is going on in my life.  I hope to do so here.

1.  My goal for this year is to live 1John 2.6, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”  I want to walk just as Jesus walked.

2.  I am transferring degrees from Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology to a Master of Arts in Management and Leadership.  Just sense that the counseling path is the path God has for me right now.

3.  I have read two fiction/non-spiritual books in the past month (that is a record for me, since I prefer non-fiction spiritually related books).  I read, The End Is Now, by Rob Stennett.  Though it is a spiritually focused book it is fiction book.  The other book I just finished up is, Tiger Force, by Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss.  The book is the account of a renegade group of U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War.  This book was way out of my normal reading habits but Anna got it for me and I really enjoyed reading it.  I read it all in about 3 nights.  It taught me a lot about human nature especially in moments of extreme crisis and conflict.

4.  I am currently reading, In Common:  Catalyst Groupzine.  It is a compilation of authors discussing the importance of community among Christians. 

5.  EPIC is going well.  I really like our FUSE Nights in which parents are encouraged to attend.  Our current programming breakdown is:

1. First week of the month—FUSE Night (Dinner with families and then parents have separate discussion while students do their regular programming).
2. 2nd and 3rd week of the month—regular EPIC format
3. 4th week of the month—rotate between an outreach activity and service projects.

6.  I am excited that the Colts are in the Super Bowl!!!!

7.  I am focused heavily on The CHILL which is our High School winter retreat.  You can read about it here.

8.  My personal spiritual development has been taking me through the book of Acts.  Though I haven’t been as consistent as I should, I have been impacted about the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the early church.  The result of His empowering of Christ-followers was incredible boldness and compassion which led to incredible growth and ministry opportunities.

9.  The fam is doing well.  Isaac and Noah continually do well at school.  Isaac has been quite the Jesus-witness at school (we are waiting te get calls from the school and/or parents).  Emma is Emma—really enough said!  She is getting sweeter by the day.  I live for our nightly snuggle moments.

10.  Anna and I have been working out.  Though it has been painful,  I have really enjoyed the experience.  I have lost about 10 pounds in the past 15 days.  My favorite snack is Steamed Sugar Snap Peas—and no I am not kidding!

So what is your Top Ten so far this year?

Last Sunday night we tackled the 2012 prophecy.  Students are hearing it at school, media has quickly picked up on the topic.  Being a student ministry that is not afraid to tackle difficult topics, we, at EPIC, thought it important to address the prophecy and all the talk that is out there.  We were reminded that much of Scripture deals with prophecy concerning the end times and if God can talk about, we should be afraid to talk about it either.

One of our church (Grace Point) elders, Tommy Settipani, joined me on the platform that evening.  Tommy has an incredible knowledge of what God says concerning the end times and an incredible gift of explaining it in simple terms so I can understand it. 

We pointed out that likelihood of Jesus coming back in 2012 is no more alarming than the fact that He could come back RIGHT NOW.  After that, we took some great questions from the floor.  Thanks to Tommy for his quick thinking brain and his preparedness to handle the questions in a professional and calming way.

I just wanted to say Thanks!! to Tommy for being available, prepared and understanding on Sunday!!!

As promised, if you have any questions, you can post them here by commenting at the bottom.  I will then pass of those questions to Tommy and reply by commenting back on this post.

Thanks

A recent CNN.com report states:

Just as “Y2K” and its batch of predictions about the year 2000 have become a distant memory, here comes “Twenty-twelve.”

Fueled by a crop of books, Web sites with countdown clocks, and claims about ancient timekeepers, interest is growing in what some see as the dawn of a new era, and others as an expiration date for Earth: December 21, 2012.

The date marks the end of a 5,126-year cycle on the Long Count calendar developed by the Maya, the ancient civilization known for its advanced understanding of astronomy and for the great cities it left behind in Mexico and Central America.

Students are talking about because their schools are talking about. 

So what does God say?

Is the world going to end in 2012?

Could it happen right now?  Before I even finish this sente . . . . . . .

Just kidding-still here.

EPIC Student Ministries is going to explore the prophecy behind the Mayan calendar and compare it to what God says in His Word.

• WHEN:  February 22, 2009
• TIME:  5:00-7:00 pm
• WHERE:  Grace Point Community Church (2393 Peachblow Road, Lewis Center, OH 43035)
• WHO:  All middle and high school students AND their parents.

Don’t miss out on this exciting evening!!!!