Let's play ketchup

Well, over the last few days , it seems as if I've been really busy...so let me break down the important stuff, as well as some thoughts I've had.

Tuesday: My day consisted of work :) Big surprise. However, something that was extremely fun at the end of it, as if the work wasn't, was a staff hayride. The GCM LT staff went on a hayride together to a wiener roast. We got to cook hotdogs and it was much fun. They had a 'cowboy' singer there that sang old Roy Rodgers (sp?) songs. I'm not even sure who that is, but it was cool.

Wednesday: Is my day off. It was very relaxing. I got up early and waxed philosophy with Jeff Spencer. We're both very excited for the fall semester at the U of I. It's going to be really neat. After running a few errands, Jennee and I went to Moraine Park and ate lunch. It was a fun short walk and it is always good to get off of the YMCA grounds. That afternoon, evening, and night Jennee and I went to Red Rocks, which is an incredible concert venue in the Denver area. Check out the link and look for the pictures of the place in the media section. It's one of a kind. There we saw the Goo Goo Dolls as well as Lifehouse and another girl who I didn't catch the name of. It was a lot of fun and Jennee enjoyed it :) The Goo Goo Dolls are one of her favorite bands. After getting back late that night, Thursday came!

Thursday: Project Day! We had a phenominal day. It was absolutely incredible. In the morning we had a discussion where I was really impressed with everybody. There was a lot of freedom to feel like they could share. I was super impressed with our group and I feel like God really blessed us! Then we ran (read: drove) off to Boulder, CO. There on Pearl Street (top picture), we evangelized! Wow, did he just say that? Yep! We stepped out and shared the Gospel with a bunch of people. We also made it a priority to show people that they truly had value and we just got to really love them. At one point, I was standing on a ledge for about 30 minutes and I was preaching a message that I truly hope was of love and forgiveness. I got a chance to talk to people afterwards and it was really cool. I talked to a guy by the name of Eric that was just starting to figure this whole "God" thing out. He wasn't even sure what the word god means. I was very excited to be there for square one. We then ate dinner and I got a chance to invite a couple guys. We talked over the course of the meal and it was a very excellent time! I was wiped out by the end of the day.

Friday: Yesterday! Basically worked most of the day, but the evening was awesome. I got a chance to get excited about the fall with Matt Barnes and then spend an night with Mike Michalski who came to visit! He, Calvin Braker, and myself went to Old Man Mountain (which is a cave in town) and crawled through it, which was a blast. Then, we went up on Trail Ridge Road, hung out, and saw the huge elk in the picture below. It was a lot of fun.

As for my thoughts > I have been thinking about truth and what it is as I went through contact evangelism on the streets of Boulder. I've come to the conclusion that truth is truth no matter what we want it to be. We a lot of times set up our belief systems to allow ourselves to do what we want to. However, we can't do that. No matter how much we want to fly, we can't. We can even create a scenario where we try. We'll jump off of a cliff, but the fact is that gravity will screw you over. You can't fly no matter how you try. There seems like there is no freedom in that. However, we must see how the world really works to gain freedom. The fact is that gravity, along with friction allow us to move. Without these two elements, I couldn't keep my foot planted to take a step. It would slip out from under me and I couldn't move at all. So, the system that was set up gives me freedom to move that I didn't think I had. But by seeing the truth, I can better harness how to live in it. Rather then waste my time trying to figure out how I can flap my arms and get into the air, I can instead perfect walking and running to be more effective at it and quicker. There is freedom in that.

Live in freedom...

Web Album

So, for those of you that really want to dive into Alan's summer, check out the pictures. WARNING...there are a few blister pictures from my sunburn, so be forewarned. Here be the link you be needin... Picasa Web Album

More of the Rock and thoughts on Christian life

To be honest with you, there isn't much to say about The Rock this week. It went pretty well. There were a few technical difficulties, but nothing too glaringly bad. I still wish I had more prep time because it feels like my time is rushed running through the service with people. Ed Courtney talked on Freedom/Obedience. Basically the talk focused on how in Christianity, we tend to take extremes on our lifestyle. Either we live in freedom and basically think "Let sin increase so grace may increase" or we live in obedience and we talk bad about people that are sinning. We need to balance these two mindsets.

I find myself leaning towards the obedience, but more and more I desire the freedom mindset. I hope that I can continually balance them.

Something else God is whacking me over the head with is how messed up I really am. We atalk about the refining fire and the Biblical analogies of God putting us through a refining fire to be able to be purified like a precious metal. On top of that Paul writes that we must build a solid foundation of stone and precious metals rather than one of hay and wood. The metals and the stones do not burn in the refining fire and the pass the test. The wood and hay burn up and the foundation is lost. In the same way the fire refines the metal and the stone. It makes them more pure. It however gets really HOT! We don't talk about that part. A refining fire burns...so much so that we get burn scars that remind us of it. But it refines us, makes us more pure and I think more Christ like. Let's take the analogy one step further. Fire is used to cauterize wounds. So the wounds that we currently have that are bleeding (read: hurts that we can't seem to get past) can be cauterized when God throws us into the fire. We are going to hurt, and there will be scars, but God can help to slow or even stop the bleeding.

That strikes me as pretty awesome...

Project #4 and the Fiath of a Child

Project Day #4 occured yesterday. We did a bunch of little things. We had...
Breakfast
Spiritual Gifts Test
Spiritual Gifts Discussion
Hike to Moraine Park
Lunch
Worship Time
Alone Time
Hike Back to the Y
Lifegroups
Dinner
Evangelism Discussion
Share and Prayer
That, along with the adventure of Aaron calling 911 for a woman who fell off of a horse, made for a very interesting day. If you can pray for the woman, we're not sure how she's doing. It was a great day and I'm truly excited about building upon it next week. It should be really exciting, at least that's my hope.

As for the faith of a child thing (the kid in the pic is named Isaiah), I was thinking today seeing little kids and thinking about the thought process that comes with the "faith of a child." What does it mean? Does it mean to believe blindly? Does it mean to believe joyfully? Does it mean to have mood swings like a kid? Or does it mean to believe, but ask lots of questions? To cling to your daddy and love him and go to him to cry? To trust that God exists even though you can't understand it all? I don't think it means follow blindly and ignorantly, but to believe! That struck me as very important today. I'm not sure why, but it did.

FHO yo!

Wednesday was a phenominal day! We (me, Jennee, and three other peeps [Devin, Luke, and Amy]) hiked three peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. These peaks are Flattop, Halletts, and Otis (FHO). We left the trailhead at 6 and didn't get back until 4. We took a pretty steady pace and had a lot of fun with it. It was so enjoyable to be in the mountains. This time I didn't burn either!!! We spent most of the day above treeline and it was just spectacular. We got up Flattop pretty quickly and then shortly after jaunted up Halletts. The view from Halletts was just incredible. You can see the west part of the park as well as the east. The east side of the mountains is a lot more jagged and the west side is a lot more sloping. It was fun to see that difference all at the same time. After Halletts (where we stayed for like an hour) we hiked across to Otis. That was an intense peak to get up to. Once we got down though, we didn't have to climb as far...because we slid down a glacier!!! Andrews Glacier was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed sliding down and doing a long sledding hill like that in June. Once we got back, I wasn't sunburned (halleluiah!) and we were pooped. It was an awesome day though and we hiked probably around 12 miles. Not intensely long, but a good start. My only regret is that we didn't get to do Taylor. We were crunched for time...But there will always be the rest of my life :)

Until later...

Eagle Cliff

I was on Eagle Cliff on Sunday for four hours. It was great to be up there and read, pray, and study. I tried to listen to God and it was a blast. Tough, but good. I tell you this with the greatest soberness....I could've sworn I saw a finger in the clouds and it was pointing to a slightly different summit than the one I was on. So I went up there, and there in spray paint on the rocks was my name. Weird! I get the feeling that it was very much so this God telling me he was there. Go explore, and you'll find me Alan. It felt very good. He also showed me some other stuff, and if I take the effort, I'll probably tell you :)

Until then...

Rock out

The third Rock of the summer is already behind us.  What a fast time LT has been so far.  I can't believe it sometimes!!!  I hope to continue to grow here.  The Rock was great by the way..  John Drage spoke a talk called Transformed.  Good stuff.  OK, time for me to go do some hiking.  Remember, let me know how you guys are doing too!

Pirates of the Poudre and Project #3

Wednesday...oh Wednesday.  It seems like only a couple of days ago.  Wait, it was....

It was a blast.  I went white water rafting with 6 other people.  Sadly, it was quite impossible to take pictures of it becuase we were wet during the process.  Lest be assured, it was a blast.  I wish we could've gone longer however and gone on tougher rapids.  But this was a good start.  Afterwards, I played ultimate frisbee and then hung with Jennee.  It was a really enjoyable day and fit in great for my day of rest.

Thursday was our third project day.  We got an opportunity to do a service project this week and it was much exciting.  The picture of the people you see is my entire project group laying on the grass outside of a church before we started to work.  We cleaned up the majority of their facilities after their vacation bible school ended and then we did some painting in their gym.  It was pretty flippin' awesome to be honest.  Plus I got to paint something about 25 feet in the air so they let us get on a lift and paint.  So cool!  We also had a really awesome discussion in the morning.  However, the evening was somewhat of a struggle as we ran into communication problems and ran out of time.  I feel if we had an extra hour in our days, we could do a lot more.  It was still good though and I look forward to keeping up our growth as a group.

Something else that's been going on has been a new speaker coming to town.  A guy from New Life Christian Fellowship at Virginia Tech came and spoke to LT on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday he talked about setting goals, and on Thursday he talked about dealing with suffering.  This was very appropriate as he had just a few months ago started to deal with the death of 33 people at the VaTech campus.  It was pretty incredible hearing him talk.  He was a stark contrast to the speaker we had last week.  Far more even keeled and less intense, he struck me a lot more.  Very genuine and humble, he was a guy I truly respect.

This is definitely a long post, but shwatever.  

One more thing...I should have a more extensive photo album up soon, so I'll let you know about that when it happens. We've got The Rock again tomorrow night.  John Drage is speaking on "Transformed" which is gonna be pretty sweet.  We got a chance to talk and it's gonna be fun to be programming some of the rest of the summer.  John is the Colorado LT director and he is a pretty awesome guy.

anywho....until later!

The Evangelical Catholic

I stumbled upon this website.  I haven't read it all the way through, so I can't vouch for all it says, but I am seeing some serious reflection of my heart within it so far.  Check it out.  Maybe it will help you to see some off the stuff that goes on in my daily mind...

The Evangelical Catholic

Wrestling

So appropriate that a wrestling camp comes here to the YMCA and I am wrestling here myself.  I wrestle with where God wants me.  Let me use an analogy.

I am a potted plant.  I have been grown in this pot for a long time.  At some point, God is going to transplant me to a final destination.  I'm not sure where that is.  But it really weighs heavy on me a lot.  Then a thought process came to me...not that it makes things easier...

A potted plant is still 

a) alive

b) growing

c) beautiful

So that's what I must be in this stage.  However, it also occurs to me, to carry this analogy further, that a potted plant can only grow so much in the pot.  It can't completely reach it's full potential without a large ground to grow in.  So I pray that I maybe planted effectively and timely...

until later

Today I find myself...

writing to you from my volunteer job at the Y. As a GCM employee, I have to work 8 hours a week to pay for my food in the cafeteria. So I work 1 day a week at the information desk. I answer questions and bring smiles to people's faces, but mostly I delegate. It turns out to be an important skill to be able to tell people who really knows the answer. I find the delegating important in my work with the Rock (the seeker friendly LT service sponsored by the YMCA on Saturday nights). I don't know how to do lights, sound, or multimedia, but I delegate it to capable people and they help me run an awesome service.

I also currently find myself reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church. I have a lot of prejudices against mega churches, so it can be hard for me to read this book, but he has some pretty good stuff to say, so I find it pretty fascinating. I'm actually really impressed. This is the fourth book I'll be reading this summer with more to come. I haven't read that many books throughout college, let alone in a month.

Ok...laters

The Rock #2

So another Rock is under the belt here at LT. It went well, other than a plethora of technical difficulties. We had the music show up late, the sound for the laptop wasn't working, the drinks for after weren't ready when I went to pick them up, they forgot to bring cups when they brought the drinks, the projector then shut down during the service, and we went a bit late, but otherwise it went very well. We tried something different with spontaneous out loud prayer during the worship set, and it was pretty sweet. Mike Klunke talked about Being Reconciled to God and our brothers and sisters. It was very good and I think it was well recieved. I truly don't mean to complain about the difficulties either. I think God really got a chance to show his grace through all of this.

PS, now that I have prayer letters sent out, I know some of you might be new to reading this...at least I hope there are some hits from my supporters and friends. Feel free to comment on any post. Ask questions, suggest things...whatever you like. I will try to answer those questions and meet those suggestions.

Hike and Project #2

So on Wednesday, we tried to hike to Black Lake. As you can see, there was a lot of snow, and it was snowing a ton on top of us. We had to turn back at what I understand to be 800 feet short of the lake. It was really cold, and my boots are still soaked. Then I watched Lucky # Slevin with Jennee. It was pretty good, not the best, but pretty good. Then we had project yesterday, and it was good. I thought it went really rough, but people loved it. We had a phenominal prayer time at the end. Next week, we are to be helping with a Vacation Bible School and it's gonna be a lot of fun. The picture is a few of my project peeps. From left ro right it is Wyatt, Amanda, Beth, Aaron, and Gina.

Until Latas...

Thoughts and such

Where does authority come from? I know certain churches say one thing and others say another. But where does authority truly come from? I really want to pour myself into studying scripture to find the truth. An unbiased truth. I really want God to guide me in a way that is pleasing to him and reveals his desires for me.

The snow is starting to melt from the mountains, and that means more and more hikes are opening up. I'm really excited about hitting the trails. It feels like I've been really busy and been unable to hike for a while. Today I got my prayer letters put together so you should be getting those in the mail soon, those of you that support me. As for those that don't, here is a link to my prayer letter in digital form. Box.net. Just click on and download the word document...prayer letter 1.

Also, check out the sweet picture of that man. He was at Mass on Sunday and his facial hair beyond impressed me.

Until later...

The Rock

Well, the first The Rock was last night. Oh glory! It was so much fun to produce it. It went pretty well. There were only a few hitches that got in the way. Afterwards, there were cookies, drinks, and a sweet game of four square. I hope the four square game can happen again and again each week. Ed Courtney talked about Romance Overload and how chick flicks and boy band music can give us inrealistic expectations about relationships. Not that they in themselves are bad, but an overload of them can mess with you.

I also finished a book recently called Rome Sweet Home. It is a fascinating book about a couple's journey to the Catholic Church. It was really helpful for me to understand Catholic doctrine and learn more about my background. I'm really enjoying this summer because I've already done more reading than all school year. I've finished three books and I'm on my fourth. Hopefully this is a trend that can continue through the school year.

A couple of days

Well, it's now Friday, and the first Rock of the summer is tomorrow. Today I find myself preparing for that. Yesterday was my project day, and the day before I went on a hike with some people from Illinois.

It's been a fun and challenging couple of days. We hiked up from the Cub Lake Trailhead to Bear Lake. It was a shortish hike, but it was a lot of fun. I truly enjoyed it. It was snowing as we hiked. Worse, when we got to Bear Lake, we realized that the shuttle bus didn't run and we had no way to get back to our car. Luckily a friend from the Y was up at Bear Lake at the same time and was able to give us a ride back to the car. The rest of the day involved some good old chilling and then dinner in Estes park with Jennee. (sorry about the sideways pic. You get the gist)
Yesterday was our first project group. It was a lot of fun and incredibly challenging. In the morning we had something called SonLife, which is an evangelism training. I really unintentionally spilled my guts. There was a lot of stuff being hit on that I really don't want to mention here, but it was really intense for me. As for the rest of the day, it carried the tone of the morning for me. We did do some fun stuff like play board games and just get to know each other, but I still felt emotionally drained. I however can't wait for the next project day. These are people I'm truly excited about!

Until next time...