Gidday!
A few quick things: 1. My job as a warehouse worker with EcoMed begins on Monday, please pray for that. 2. God is still burning in me through this Summer and I still want to encourage you all. 3. I've received incredible feedback from people about what God has been doing in their lives recently. Thank you so much for that, I love it. Praise God.
This past week, everyone left. My house is now empty except for Anthony and I. The team out at Macquarie is at about half of its original roster and everyone is either home for the holidays or working. It is incredible how much of Hillsong Church is based around the college as a volunteer work force. Almost all youth services take a break over the Summer because there are not enough people to put one together. I'm definitely missing my family and friends around this time of year. I love you all and thank you so much for supporting and encouraging me to come to Australia.
Recently, I heard a message about the meaning of Faithfulness that really struck a chord in me and has changed a few things about the way I do life. The message stemmed directly from the parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 25:14-30, in which a man leaves and gives his servants an amount of gold to be faithful with. The first two servants both take their money and invest it to receive double the amount. The encouragement given to them is "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things." In stark contrast is the message given to the final servant who had buried his gold in the ground. Even though he ended up with exactly what had been given to him (No loss), the master says, "You wicked and lazy servant!". The point here being that faithfulness goes beyond maintenance. To be considered faithful in this case means to actually have a positive impact (bear good fruit) in the responsibilities that you've been given.
Applying this to my own life, I took a look at what God has given me and how I can be faithful in it. Do I take good care of my house and add value to it? Do I encourage my friends and add value to my relationships? Am I practicing my instruments, reading books, strengthening my body, writing music, giving generously, and asking God to show me how I can be even more faithful every day? Yes, it's difficult. However, the reward is to be commended by God with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things." Plus, God is with us to strengthen us and help us in every step. So please, go after everything that God has for you by being faithful in what you have already.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Hot
Hello!
A few quick updates: Day 38 of P90X, still going strong (haha...). I recently had a day at the beach where I learned how to surf! I'm officially a lighting operator for the Hub Auditorium at Hillsong and I am in the weekly rotation for Powerhouse! Now for the bigger stuff:
School is out! The official classes for the year are now over and Summer has begun. Monday is the official graduation date for everyone. However, some people have already left and it's really more of a formality anyway. On Thursday, instead of mashed potatoes, gravy, and turkey for dinner, I was treated to a nice Scotch Fillet and some strange beetroot salad for dinner at a really fancy pants place called Le Montage for the graduation ball. It was incredibly gorgeous and was a great opportunity to meet with some of the guys from the TV/Media stream and find out how God led them to study at Hillsong. The best part of the night was definitely the live music put on by members of college and our teachers. The amount of space that we had to dance to the music was too small though, so everyone ended up doing the penguin shuffle.
I got a job! For the past couple weeks, I've been praying for God to provide something for me to do in the Summer that will prepare me for the future and help me to pay my way through next semester. On Tuesday, I received an e-mail from my connect group leader that someone had phoned to her office about casual warehouse work over the Summer. I followed up, sent in my resume, and God provided favor and an interview for Friday. In the interview, God's grace came through again and I received the job. The job is to do packaging for a medical supply company called EcoMed. It's a 30 minute walk from my house and the hours are from 8-4:30 every day. God has definitely provided above and beyond all that I could hope or ask for. Praise the Lord.
A lot of people ask me what they can do for me to help me out here in Australia. Recently, through reading 3 John, I've realized how we can build and sharpen each other. John is writing to his dear friend Gaius and says in verses 3 and 4, "It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." I definitely don't feel like I have any children, but the greatest encouragement that I can hear from a friend or family member is how God is working in their world. As Christians, we need to be constantly fueled and built up by hearing how God is still working in circumstances today. John says that he has "no greater joy" than hearing this. Please continue to pray for me and help me however you can, but never withhold the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ from anyone. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. I hope that by writing down little snippets of God's faithfulness here in Australia and in my life, you are all encouraged in some way.
Gidday!
A few quick updates: Day 38 of P90X, still going strong (haha...). I recently had a day at the beach where I learned how to surf! I'm officially a lighting operator for the Hub Auditorium at Hillsong and I am in the weekly rotation for Powerhouse! Now for the bigger stuff:
School is out! The official classes for the year are now over and Summer has begun. Monday is the official graduation date for everyone. However, some people have already left and it's really more of a formality anyway. On Thursday, instead of mashed potatoes, gravy, and turkey for dinner, I was treated to a nice Scotch Fillet and some strange beetroot salad for dinner at a really fancy pants place called Le Montage for the graduation ball. It was incredibly gorgeous and was a great opportunity to meet with some of the guys from the TV/Media stream and find out how God led them to study at Hillsong. The best part of the night was definitely the live music put on by members of college and our teachers. The amount of space that we had to dance to the music was too small though, so everyone ended up doing the penguin shuffle.
I got a job! For the past couple weeks, I've been praying for God to provide something for me to do in the Summer that will prepare me for the future and help me to pay my way through next semester. On Tuesday, I received an e-mail from my connect group leader that someone had phoned to her office about casual warehouse work over the Summer. I followed up, sent in my resume, and God provided favor and an interview for Friday. In the interview, God's grace came through again and I received the job. The job is to do packaging for a medical supply company called EcoMed. It's a 30 minute walk from my house and the hours are from 8-4:30 every day. God has definitely provided above and beyond all that I could hope or ask for. Praise the Lord.
A lot of people ask me what they can do for me to help me out here in Australia. Recently, through reading 3 John, I've realized how we can build and sharpen each other. John is writing to his dear friend Gaius and says in verses 3 and 4, "It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." I definitely don't feel like I have any children, but the greatest encouragement that I can hear from a friend or family member is how God is working in their world. As Christians, we need to be constantly fueled and built up by hearing how God is still working in circumstances today. John says that he has "no greater joy" than hearing this. Please continue to pray for me and help me however you can, but never withhold the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ from anyone. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. I hope that by writing down little snippets of God's faithfulness here in Australia and in my life, you are all encouraged in some way.
Gidday!
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Busy
Hey people! It's day 13 of P90X and I've been faithful to my commitment every day. Thank you all for any prayers or thoughts that you've sent my way.
This past week has been an incredible whirlwind of activity at Hillsong Church. Because of that, I've been incredibly busy as well. On Thursday, a team of about 80 men were gathered to the Acer Arena to prepare for the album recording on Sunday night. We placed envelopes and cards in over 21,000 seats. It was definitely an incredible test of my patience and endurance to continue doing the most monotonous job ever for over 3 hours. I've found that most of my problems with patience come from my motives. If my motives in doing a job or putting forth an effort are not in line with the will of the one who can carry me through, then I'll get tired very easily. The only way to get through 21,000 seats is to realize who you're doing it for.
Friday and Saturday was Men's Conference. As with any good manly event, there were sports, music, and a lot of barbecuing. However, the most important sections were definitely the teaching and the worship. The theme for stage design this year was Top Gear. The best part was a section where the lead pastors from the Hillsong churches around the world came up and gave seven minute sermons. *Small sample of my notes: James 1: "each is tempted by his own evil desire...conceives...gives birth to death." Our desires determine the fruit that we produce in our lives. What do I desire and what fruit am I seeing from it? Am I eagerly desiring the spiritual gifts?* This incredible revelation came in a space of about three minutes and has completely changed my way of thinking about my desires and what I pray for in that area.
Sunday at Macquarie, we finally got our new digital soundboard. It is incredibly genius and simplifies almost everything about running sound out there and removes half of the cables that we were using. However, it also removes the position of a monitor engineer, so I won't be doing that anymore. On the other hand, I'll soon be hanging out with Jared at his house so that he can teach me how to run a fully digital soundboard. Tonight for powerhouse, I'll be doing my last assisting job as a lighting technician in the hub. If everything goes well, I'll be able to operate lights in the hub for anyone at any time.
Also on Sunday was the new Hillsong Live album recording. So far, this is definitely my favorite album that Hillsong Live has put out. There are so many songs that are beautifully written that allow you to simply belt out the praises of God. I heard that over 200 songs were submitted to be used on the album and those were narrowed down to about 15. For the recording, I was able to serve on the catering team. I served on a coffee cart with the staff at the arena until about the second song, and then I was able to praise for the entire rest of the night. I was right in the handicapped section, which gave me the opportunity to pray for a bunch of people in wheelchairs. The absolute best part of the night was during a song which has a chorus that goes, "We are running! Chasing after all that you are!". It was incredible to watch as a lot of people in wheelchairs fistpumped the air to the beat and praised God.
If you want to pray for me, please definitely pray for discipline. I'm really learning how to use my time well and keep a very tight schedule. I've been busy for the past couple weeks and I'd be falling apart if the Lord wasn't my strength. I need everything that God has for me every day, and I'm absolutely sure that prayer is going to help.
Sunday at Macquarie, we finally got our new digital soundboard. It is incredibly genius and simplifies almost everything about running sound out there and removes half of the cables that we were using. However, it also removes the position of a monitor engineer, so I won't be doing that anymore. On the other hand, I'll soon be hanging out with Jared at his house so that he can teach me how to run a fully digital soundboard. Tonight for powerhouse, I'll be doing my last assisting job as a lighting technician in the hub. If everything goes well, I'll be able to operate lights in the hub for anyone at any time.
Also on Sunday was the new Hillsong Live album recording. So far, this is definitely my favorite album that Hillsong Live has put out. There are so many songs that are beautifully written that allow you to simply belt out the praises of God. I heard that over 200 songs were submitted to be used on the album and those were narrowed down to about 15. For the recording, I was able to serve on the catering team. I served on a coffee cart with the staff at the arena until about the second song, and then I was able to praise for the entire rest of the night. I was right in the handicapped section, which gave me the opportunity to pray for a bunch of people in wheelchairs. The absolute best part of the night was during a song which has a chorus that goes, "We are running! Chasing after all that you are!". It was incredible to watch as a lot of people in wheelchairs fistpumped the air to the beat and praised God.
If you want to pray for me, please definitely pray for discipline. I'm really learning how to use my time well and keep a very tight schedule. I've been busy for the past couple weeks and I'd be falling apart if the Lord wasn't my strength. I need everything that God has for me every day, and I'm absolutely sure that prayer is going to help.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Glory
Hello friends! I am continuing to flourish over here in Australia, and I thank you all greatly for your prayers and encouragement.
For the past week, God has continued to train me and has placed in me a strong desire for more of Him and more of his gifts. I've been talking to a lot of teachers and praying with my bandmates for the spiritual gifts that God has for us and asking Him to enable us to love people more and more. I am incredibly thankful that God has placed me in the band that I am with here at Hillsong for my classes. They are ridiculously encouraging and are completely following after God with all of their hearts. Every Wednesday, we have an hour long prayer meeting where we grab a guitar and sing our hearts out and then blanket one another in prayer. It is incredible.
I've been talking to a lot of my friends about employment and different places I could work. Yesterday, I talked with my friend Michael about where he works and what they do. He said that he works in a production company warehouse and that they need more people to take on a lot of casual labor and help out in the warehouse. He said that I would be great for the job, except that involves a lot of heavy lifting. Thus, last night I started P90X. I know that I've only got about 40 days until the beginning of Summer, but if I do as much as I can in the natural, I know that God will do the supernatural and strengthen me for whatever job that he has for me.
My favorite teacher at Hillsong so far is a man named Duncan Corby. He's my teacher for New Testament Introduction. His classes are always the most interesting classes that I've ever had and have completely changed my way of reading the bible. I used to read the bible to just find quotes that applied to my life and different verses to help me while I was struggling. While this is helpful, it isn't really that interesting. Duncan has helped me realize that each of the books of the bible was written for a specific purpose and that the writer was attempting to address an issue with their book. This is incredibly cool, because now I can go back and try to figure out the purpose of the book through the context, audience, and information that the author chose to include.
Duncan also encourages us to be really grounded in our words. Which is incredibly helpful to me, because it helps me to create really solid definitions of words that I usually only refer to in "church language" and define in a really ethereal way. For example, Glory. I've always thought of glory as one of those things that you really have to "feel" and can't really put a definition to, kind of like a feeling of warmth, or a feeling of affection. However, If I'm going to write songs that are really powerful in the church, I need to have a real idea of what I'm saying. So, through a word study, I started redefining Glory. Instead of some sort of undefinable thing, I've realized that glory is more along the lines of deserved, obvious, greatness. God is infinitely glorious, and for us to "glorify God" is to make his deserved, obvious, greatness more visible on the earth. That's an easy definition, but it really adds a lot more meaning when I sing or think about glory.
For the past week, God has continued to train me and has placed in me a strong desire for more of Him and more of his gifts. I've been talking to a lot of teachers and praying with my bandmates for the spiritual gifts that God has for us and asking Him to enable us to love people more and more. I am incredibly thankful that God has placed me in the band that I am with here at Hillsong for my classes. They are ridiculously encouraging and are completely following after God with all of their hearts. Every Wednesday, we have an hour long prayer meeting where we grab a guitar and sing our hearts out and then blanket one another in prayer. It is incredible.
I've been talking to a lot of my friends about employment and different places I could work. Yesterday, I talked with my friend Michael about where he works and what they do. He said that he works in a production company warehouse and that they need more people to take on a lot of casual labor and help out in the warehouse. He said that I would be great for the job, except that involves a lot of heavy lifting. Thus, last night I started P90X. I know that I've only got about 40 days until the beginning of Summer, but if I do as much as I can in the natural, I know that God will do the supernatural and strengthen me for whatever job that he has for me.
My favorite teacher at Hillsong so far is a man named Duncan Corby. He's my teacher for New Testament Introduction. His classes are always the most interesting classes that I've ever had and have completely changed my way of reading the bible. I used to read the bible to just find quotes that applied to my life and different verses to help me while I was struggling. While this is helpful, it isn't really that interesting. Duncan has helped me realize that each of the books of the bible was written for a specific purpose and that the writer was attempting to address an issue with their book. This is incredibly cool, because now I can go back and try to figure out the purpose of the book through the context, audience, and information that the author chose to include.
Duncan also encourages us to be really grounded in our words. Which is incredibly helpful to me, because it helps me to create really solid definitions of words that I usually only refer to in "church language" and define in a really ethereal way. For example, Glory. I've always thought of glory as one of those things that you really have to "feel" and can't really put a definition to, kind of like a feeling of warmth, or a feeling of affection. However, If I'm going to write songs that are really powerful in the church, I need to have a real idea of what I'm saying. So, through a word study, I started redefining Glory. Instead of some sort of undefinable thing, I've realized that glory is more along the lines of deserved, obvious, greatness. God is infinitely glorious, and for us to "glorify God" is to make his deserved, obvious, greatness more visible on the earth. That's an easy definition, but it really adds a lot more meaning when I sing or think about glory.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Rest
Hey gang! It's the end of spring break already and I've been resting pretty much the whole time. Hanging out with Will and Matt is quite a bit of fun, but I'm ready to get back into working all the time.
If there's one thing I've decided over this break, it would be that I MUST get a job during Summer. I definitely can not handle sitting around for 2 months watching movies and sitting around. Even if I'm just volunteering for church every day changing light bulbs and vacuuming floors, it's better than just sitting around. I've also learned that I'm really bad at resting. God has really been showing me how to relax with the guys and stay Christ centered with my hang out time.
If there's one thing I've decided over this break, it would be that I MUST get a job during Summer. I definitely can not handle sitting around for 2 months watching movies and sitting around. Even if I'm just volunteering for church every day changing light bulbs and vacuuming floors, it's better than just sitting around. I've also learned that I'm really bad at resting. God has really been showing me how to relax with the guys and stay Christ centered with my hang out time.
Tonight at team night, I got connected with Matt Sharpe, one of the lighting assistants for the Hillsong main campus. We started talking, and he wants me to start doing lighting for Sisterhood services every Sunday to get training on the main board that they are using there. He also said that I could come into the main sanctuary and start programming light shows whenever there isn't anyone using it. This is going to be really, really cool.
I started looking for jobs with Hillsong maintenance and production, but with no luck. Please keep praying that God provides for me to be effective wherever he wants me.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Break
Hello everyone! Yesterday was the beginning of spring break!
So far, I have still been incredibly busy and loving it. 2 weeks ago, I started praying that God would increase the discipline and self-control in my life. Ever since then, I've been completely booked with events, practices, and rehearsals. I have been learning everything from how to take care of blind children to setting up and programming light shows from start to finish. Along with these skills comes the frustration of not knowing exactly what they are for. Back home, I don't foresee any access to moving lights or working with special needs children. However, I know that God has moved me into these situations and is training me for specific purposes in my future. I am excited to see what God has in mind.
Sadly, I will no longer be attending Merrylands Youth service on Friday nights. Instead, I'll be playing bass guitar for the Macquarie Youth service which is having its grand opening in a high school tonight! Whoo! I'm excited to see what God is going to do in the youth at Macquarie and to be part of a brand new endeavor.
I think that the main thing God has been teaching me since I've been here is how to be an effective person all the time in every situation. The love of Christ should compel me into action to love others. I am definitely convicted every time I remember my testimony to want to share that love to others. With this mindset, God has encouraged me to be volunteer in whatever place that I can to do the labor that nobody else wants to do. Whether at home, at church, or in friendships, it should always be on me to love because I am loved.
As soon as I get to the place of helping others for no benefit to myself, I have always ended up getting selfish and expecting to be rewarded for my work. God has changed my mindset here by putting me into places of service where there is absolutely no recognition given to the most time-consuming and menial jobs. However, it always comes back to who I am doing it for, rather than what I am getting out of it. If you put the Kingdom first, God will give you whatever you need, but never serve the Kingdom for the purpose of getting whatever you need.
Alrighty! Thank you all so much for praying me into this place. I am exactly where I need to be to mature and live out day by day God's call in my life.
So far, I have still been incredibly busy and loving it. 2 weeks ago, I started praying that God would increase the discipline and self-control in my life. Ever since then, I've been completely booked with events, practices, and rehearsals. I have been learning everything from how to take care of blind children to setting up and programming light shows from start to finish. Along with these skills comes the frustration of not knowing exactly what they are for. Back home, I don't foresee any access to moving lights or working with special needs children. However, I know that God has moved me into these situations and is training me for specific purposes in my future. I am excited to see what God has in mind.
Sadly, I will no longer be attending Merrylands Youth service on Friday nights. Instead, I'll be playing bass guitar for the Macquarie Youth service which is having its grand opening in a high school tonight! Whoo! I'm excited to see what God is going to do in the youth at Macquarie and to be part of a brand new endeavor.
I think that the main thing God has been teaching me since I've been here is how to be an effective person all the time in every situation. The love of Christ should compel me into action to love others. I am definitely convicted every time I remember my testimony to want to share that love to others. With this mindset, God has encouraged me to be volunteer in whatever place that I can to do the labor that nobody else wants to do. Whether at home, at church, or in friendships, it should always be on me to love because I am loved.
As soon as I get to the place of helping others for no benefit to myself, I have always ended up getting selfish and expecting to be rewarded for my work. God has changed my mindset here by putting me into places of service where there is absolutely no recognition given to the most time-consuming and menial jobs. However, it always comes back to who I am doing it for, rather than what I am getting out of it. If you put the Kingdom first, God will give you whatever you need, but never serve the Kingdom for the purpose of getting whatever you need.
Alrighty! Thank you all so much for praying me into this place. I am exactly where I need to be to mature and live out day by day God's call in my life.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Encounter
Hey peeps. I'm still doing just fine and learning a LOT of things. I pray that you are as well.
Right now, Hillsong Church is on the last day of Encounter, which is the youth conference that they put on every. It starts on Thursday night and lasts until Saturday night (tonight). Which means that for the past 3 days, I have had 16 hour days of work. So far, I've moved lights all over the place, cleaned up stage, changed bulbs, wrapped cables, and ran the spotlight. Currently, I'm sitting in rehearsal by my trusty spotlight, waiting for the musicians to get done and the speaker can come on stage. I love production and everything involved so far.
Yesterday, I was blessed by Anthony with the knowledge of how to make a really good and cheap sandwich. There's a local butchery and bakery that sell rolls and roast beef so that I can make a really filling roast beef sandwich for under $2. Plus, I just love sandwiches, so this is incredibly exciting for me.
This Thursday at Sisterhood, all campuses combined and so did the kids as well. In the homeschool age where I volunteer, I had the opportunity to lead a blind kid around for awhile, keep him company during a movie, and help him play Wii. He is very interested in drumming and was showing me his skills on the college drum set. I'm really happy that his parents are allowing him to have this really creative outlet and I'm excited for what he's going to do in the future. This coming Friday is a one-day event called Kidsfest. Going against my normal self, I decided to be a group leader for Kidsfest. This means that I'll be hanging out with a lot of kids all day and just having fun and running around. I'm really excited to see how God will work through me into the lives of these kids.
Also coming up is college break, which is a week long and is very similar to spring break back home. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do for it yet, but I'll probably go to the City and the beaches and the zoo with anthony and Matt. I'm looking forward to having a week off, but I'll probably be doing a crazy amount of things every day, just like normal.
I expect that I'll be updating more regularly as God continues to work on my diligence and work ethic as I continue in production. Please continue to pray for me to be a good impact on these kids and to learn things efficiently and allow God to teach me what he wants me to learn. I pray for y'all back home and I'd love to know how you're all going.
Right now, Hillsong Church is on the last day of Encounter, which is the youth conference that they put on every. It starts on Thursday night and lasts until Saturday night (tonight). Which means that for the past 3 days, I have had 16 hour days of work. So far, I've moved lights all over the place, cleaned up stage, changed bulbs, wrapped cables, and ran the spotlight. Currently, I'm sitting in rehearsal by my trusty spotlight, waiting for the musicians to get done and the speaker can come on stage. I love production and everything involved so far.
Yesterday, I was blessed by Anthony with the knowledge of how to make a really good and cheap sandwich. There's a local butchery and bakery that sell rolls and roast beef so that I can make a really filling roast beef sandwich for under $2. Plus, I just love sandwiches, so this is incredibly exciting for me.
This Thursday at Sisterhood, all campuses combined and so did the kids as well. In the homeschool age where I volunteer, I had the opportunity to lead a blind kid around for awhile, keep him company during a movie, and help him play Wii. He is very interested in drumming and was showing me his skills on the college drum set. I'm really happy that his parents are allowing him to have this really creative outlet and I'm excited for what he's going to do in the future. This coming Friday is a one-day event called Kidsfest. Going against my normal self, I decided to be a group leader for Kidsfest. This means that I'll be hanging out with a lot of kids all day and just having fun and running around. I'm really excited to see how God will work through me into the lives of these kids.
Also coming up is college break, which is a week long and is very similar to spring break back home. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do for it yet, but I'll probably go to the City and the beaches and the zoo with anthony and Matt. I'm looking forward to having a week off, but I'll probably be doing a crazy amount of things every day, just like normal.
I expect that I'll be updating more regularly as God continues to work on my diligence and work ethic as I continue in production. Please continue to pray for me to be a good impact on these kids and to learn things efficiently and allow God to teach me what he wants me to learn. I pray for y'all back home and I'd love to know how you're all going.
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Lately
Hello everyone! Sorry that I've taken so long to update. I have a really hard time sitting down and recounting the adventures of the day. However, the Lord has been working on my diligence so here we go!
Dave has officially moved out. He flew to San Diego to stay with Junior for a week and then is headed back to Dallas to work and hang out with his parents. He is currently unsure of whether he will be returning, so we had a farewell party for him. We are currently down to 3 guys living in a house meant for 5. Junior just received his work visa, so he should be here in a few weeks. Dave has been incredibly helpful for the past 2 months and has provided much needed knowledge in just about everything. I am sad that he left, but wish him the best. Since Dave left the country, he blessed me with a really great deal on his phone and also hooked us up with a really cheap television. We moved all of the couches from Dave's room into the living room, set up the TV and set up stage blacks over the windows and watched the Lions play the Chiefs on Monday with 8 guys from my worship Band. So far, it's the most American I've felt since I've been here.
The new song list for the next performance is also out. We perform on the 31st of October and have 8 songs, which are:
Pick Up the Phone - Dragonette
Driftwood - Travis
Dave has officially moved out. He flew to San Diego to stay with Junior for a week and then is headed back to Dallas to work and hang out with his parents. He is currently unsure of whether he will be returning, so we had a farewell party for him. We are currently down to 3 guys living in a house meant for 5. Junior just received his work visa, so he should be here in a few weeks. Dave has been incredibly helpful for the past 2 months and has provided much needed knowledge in just about everything. I am sad that he left, but wish him the best. Since Dave left the country, he blessed me with a really great deal on his phone and also hooked us up with a really cheap television. We moved all of the couches from Dave's room into the living room, set up the TV and set up stage blacks over the windows and watched the Lions play the Chiefs on Monday with 8 guys from my worship Band. So far, it's the most American I've felt since I've been here.
The new song list for the next performance is also out. We perform on the 31st of October and have 8 songs, which are:
Pick Up the Phone - Dragonette
Driftwood - Travis
Distant Sun - Brook Fraser
These Walls - Teddy Geiger
You Found Me - The Fray
I'm Singing - Kari Jobe
That's What You Get - Paramore
Extraordinary - Mandy Moore
The hardest part about the next performance is that we only have 3 classes before rehearsal, which means that most of the rehearsals will be totally student led and planned. I think that our band is up to the challenge though.
For the past two weeks, I've been attending lighting production team nights. Under the tutelage of the main lighting guys for Hillsong/Hillsong United, I've been learning how to set up, program, and perform light shows. It has been an incredible experience so far and is definitely something that I am looking forward to serving in wherever I can. Tomorrow, I'm assisting in doing lighting for the Powerhouse service. I'm very excited to start programming shows and really serving in whatever God has for me as far as lighting goes.
On a more serious note, a friend of Matt's died recently in a motorcycle accident. Please pray for Matt and the other people who were close to his friend.
Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for me and push me along God's path. I am learning a LOT over here and can't wait to bring back the skills and knowledge that I've gained here and put them into immediate use back home.
The hardest part about the next performance is that we only have 3 classes before rehearsal, which means that most of the rehearsals will be totally student led and planned. I think that our band is up to the challenge though.
For the past two weeks, I've been attending lighting production team nights. Under the tutelage of the main lighting guys for Hillsong/Hillsong United, I've been learning how to set up, program, and perform light shows. It has been an incredible experience so far and is definitely something that I am looking forward to serving in wherever I can. Tomorrow, I'm assisting in doing lighting for the Powerhouse service. I'm very excited to start programming shows and really serving in whatever God has for me as far as lighting goes.
On a more serious note, a friend of Matt's died recently in a motorcycle accident. Please pray for Matt and the other people who were close to his friend.
Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for me and push me along God's path. I am learning a LOT over here and can't wait to bring back the skills and knowledge that I've gained here and put them into immediate use back home.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Name
"God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.'" -Genesis 35:10
Hey friends! I sorry that I haven't posted anything in awhile. Most of my time has been spent taking care of housemate Dave and taking naps to recover from whatever sickness that I caught.
For the past week, Dave has been bedridden with a double ear infection which prompts him to throw up with any sort of motion. Within the past two days, Dave has made remarkable recovery and has been able to prepare things for his flight back home. However, because of the recent infection, his doctor has ordered his flight to be delayed for at least a week. Which means that I'll be able to hang out with him for another week yet!
When I woke up on Sunday morning to go to Macquarie, I felt awful. I had a fever, the chills, aches and pains, as well as a cough. Thanks to your prayer, when I woke up Monday morning, almost everything was gone. I still have a weird cough which makes my voice do some funny things, but I'm far on the road to recovery.
Since coming to Australia, I have been given many names. The reasoning for this is probably because Australians like to shorten just about everything, so having to remember two names is really an inconvenience. When I first arrived, Junior decided to name me "Moose", since I'm from some place near Canada. Matt insists on calling me John, just because he knows that it bugs me. Dave has decided to call me "The Epistle". This came about after he couldn't remember my exact name, but knew that I was named after 2 of the 4 gospels. Rather than try and guess which ones, he settled with Epistle. At Merrylands, I received the name, "Stick". I'm not entirely sure why I was labeled this, but it probably has something to do with my natural tendency to "stick" with a job until the end. Dave has also decided to start calling me Marcus. No explanation there at all. Gotta love Dave.
Around campus, I'm mostly known as "That guy that plays piano" or "that one guy that asks good questions in New Testament Introduction". However, today I was renamed by the guys who run the sisterhood primary class. Apparently, they thought that John Mark takes too long to say, so they introduced me to everyone as "John Mark Junior Senior Ben Ben.....Luke....Ben." I have to say, it's pretty catchy. However, if I ever wanted to have business cards made, I'd probably run into a few issues.
Thank you all for praying for me to be healed. I am very far on the road to recovery and wouldn't be here without you. Things coming up: Building a Youth Center this Saturday, Macquarie Sunday, Rebecca's basketball game Sunday, First band performance Monday (please pray for that).
Hey friends! I sorry that I haven't posted anything in awhile. Most of my time has been spent taking care of housemate Dave and taking naps to recover from whatever sickness that I caught.
For the past week, Dave has been bedridden with a double ear infection which prompts him to throw up with any sort of motion. Within the past two days, Dave has made remarkable recovery and has been able to prepare things for his flight back home. However, because of the recent infection, his doctor has ordered his flight to be delayed for at least a week. Which means that I'll be able to hang out with him for another week yet!
When I woke up on Sunday morning to go to Macquarie, I felt awful. I had a fever, the chills, aches and pains, as well as a cough. Thanks to your prayer, when I woke up Monday morning, almost everything was gone. I still have a weird cough which makes my voice do some funny things, but I'm far on the road to recovery.
Since coming to Australia, I have been given many names. The reasoning for this is probably because Australians like to shorten just about everything, so having to remember two names is really an inconvenience. When I first arrived, Junior decided to name me "Moose", since I'm from some place near Canada. Matt insists on calling me John, just because he knows that it bugs me. Dave has decided to call me "The Epistle". This came about after he couldn't remember my exact name, but knew that I was named after 2 of the 4 gospels. Rather than try and guess which ones, he settled with Epistle. At Merrylands, I received the name, "Stick". I'm not entirely sure why I was labeled this, but it probably has something to do with my natural tendency to "stick" with a job until the end. Dave has also decided to start calling me Marcus. No explanation there at all. Gotta love Dave.
Around campus, I'm mostly known as "That guy that plays piano" or "that one guy that asks good questions in New Testament Introduction". However, today I was renamed by the guys who run the sisterhood primary class. Apparently, they thought that John Mark takes too long to say, so they introduced me to everyone as "John Mark Junior Senior Ben Ben.....Luke....Ben." I have to say, it's pretty catchy. However, if I ever wanted to have business cards made, I'd probably run into a few issues.
Thank you all for praying for me to be healed. I am very far on the road to recovery and wouldn't be here without you. Things coming up: Building a Youth Center this Saturday, Macquarie Sunday, Rebecca's basketball game Sunday, First band performance Monday (please pray for that).
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Love
"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." - 2 Corinthians 5:14
Hello friends and relatives! As it turns to spring over here in Australia, my thoughts are being brought back to my friends starting college in the United States. I've been praying for each one of you to be surrounded by mentors and friends who will bring you up rather than pull you down. College has been incredible for me so far and I can only hope the same for you.
This week, I've been learning about sacrificial love. Christ devoted his life to serving us and accepting the punishment meant for our sins. The commandments that he gives to us are to first love the Lord God with all heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
On Saturday, I volunteered once again with Hillsong Maintenance to paint lines in the car park. The place where I was painting is affectionately referred to as "Siberia" because of it is incredibly far from absolutely anything. During which I received many lessons from Ariah and Clayton as we talked about everything from theology to chemistry and everything in between. It is a huge blessing and answer to prayer to have such strong christian mentors to help prepare me for the next stages in my life.
This week, after serving at Macquarie running the monitor board and setting up stage, I was given the opportunity to help a woman move from her house to another. The woman is in the middle of going through a divorce and her husband has decided to suddenly move away and leave her with a house which she can not pay for. So, Sunday afternoon, I spent 8 hours loading boxes and carrying furniture into a moving van. It was seriously the most rewarding experience that I have had in Australia. Not only was I able to connect with the music director for Macquarie, Derek, I was also able to connect with Simon from Switzerland and Tim from (Idaho?). The labor was entirely worth it just to hear the miracle story of the new house and God's provision.
During this past week, this woman has needed to sell her old house and completely move into a new one with her 3 children. She also has had other family stuff to do in Brisbane. So, for the past week, the church family here has been gathering around her in love. A contractor named Al has been working for the past week to completely renovate her new house for free. An all-volunteer crew has gathered around him to rework the plumbing, electrical, and outdoor area. When Al has been shopping for materials, he has had most things simply given to him for free. A brand new display kitchen was given for an incredibly low cost. Basically, this project has been a miracle work from the very beginning. I thank God for allowing me to take part in being a miracle for someone else.
Thank you all for praying for me and blessing me so that I can be a blessing to others. I hope that you can all be compelled by Christ this week to love as you have been loved.
Hello friends and relatives! As it turns to spring over here in Australia, my thoughts are being brought back to my friends starting college in the United States. I've been praying for each one of you to be surrounded by mentors and friends who will bring you up rather than pull you down. College has been incredible for me so far and I can only hope the same for you.
This week, I've been learning about sacrificial love. Christ devoted his life to serving us and accepting the punishment meant for our sins. The commandments that he gives to us are to first love the Lord God with all heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
On Saturday, I volunteered once again with Hillsong Maintenance to paint lines in the car park. The place where I was painting is affectionately referred to as "Siberia" because of it is incredibly far from absolutely anything. During which I received many lessons from Ariah and Clayton as we talked about everything from theology to chemistry and everything in between. It is a huge blessing and answer to prayer to have such strong christian mentors to help prepare me for the next stages in my life.
This week, after serving at Macquarie running the monitor board and setting up stage, I was given the opportunity to help a woman move from her house to another. The woman is in the middle of going through a divorce and her husband has decided to suddenly move away and leave her with a house which she can not pay for. So, Sunday afternoon, I spent 8 hours loading boxes and carrying furniture into a moving van. It was seriously the most rewarding experience that I have had in Australia. Not only was I able to connect with the music director for Macquarie, Derek, I was also able to connect with Simon from Switzerland and Tim from (Idaho?). The labor was entirely worth it just to hear the miracle story of the new house and God's provision.
During this past week, this woman has needed to sell her old house and completely move into a new one with her 3 children. She also has had other family stuff to do in Brisbane. So, for the past week, the church family here has been gathering around her in love. A contractor named Al has been working for the past week to completely renovate her new house for free. An all-volunteer crew has gathered around him to rework the plumbing, electrical, and outdoor area. When Al has been shopping for materials, he has had most things simply given to him for free. A brand new display kitchen was given for an incredibly low cost. Basically, this project has been a miracle work from the very beginning. I thank God for allowing me to take part in being a miracle for someone else.
Thank you all for praying for me and blessing me so that I can be a blessing to others. I hope that you can all be compelled by Christ this week to love as you have been loved.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Beautiful Things
Fun fact: Australia is roughly the size of the contiguous United States and has less than one tenth the population. I now have a strong urge to visit the vastly unpopulated outback region.
This week has really started off in God's direction. The worship band that I'm in has continued to impress me with their growth and response to challenges. It is an incredible feeling to see people making leaps and bounds on their instruments and voices with the extra work required. More importantly though, I can also see that my bandmates are growing in their relationship with Christ. As we sit in classes and participate in tutorials together, I have felt the atmosphere definitely change as we share our testimonies and pray for one another. As a band, we've come together to pray for healing and to encourage each other with the word of God. Memorizing scripture with other people is incredibly rewarding as well.
Due to a series of unfortunate events, housemate Dave must leave the country for the rest of the semester. He will be visiting with Junior for a short time in California before heading to his hometown of Dallas to work in production and hang out with his family for awhile. He is planning to come back in January, however, he is unsure whether he will be coming back to this house or not. According to him, it actually is a blessing to be able to go back to his family for awhile. He said that his job at Hillsong Music had actually caused him to stop singing for awhile to focus more on the production part of his job and that this break will allow him to once again sing his heart out for the Lord. Although I am sad to see him go, I'm excited to see what God has for him. In about a month, Junior should be returning from California.
For our chapel service today, the team put together a series of hymns and other old songs to sing. From time to time, they like to worship in this way to prove that Who we worship is much more important than How we worship. I'm not sure if there was a message planned or not, but after 15 minutes of "I Surrender All" at the top of our lungs, it was pretty clear that God wanted the praise and worship to continue. It was also the first chance that I've had to see the Dance stream participate in the chapel service. Until the service, I had never understood how motions of the body could communicate a message of praise. Now, I have seen and I understand.
Yesterday, I was able to see my Aunt Renee and Uncle Ken who are pastors from New Zealand. It was awesome to be able to pray and meet with family once again. I also had the privilege of participating in a time of prophecy in the church where they were speaking in Sydney. My uncle Ken, the same man who baptized me in crystal lake, was now being led by the spirit to speak encouragement into my life about my future and the plans that God has for me. How awesome is that? They also invited me to come and stay with them in New Zealand for a week over Christmas break to have a great time of fellowship and growth. I'll definitely be praying for God's will there. I also was able to meet Jason and Amy, the pastors of the Every Nation Church in Sydney. I am very thankful that God has moved me into great friendships here and I am hoping for even more to come.
This week has really started off in God's direction. The worship band that I'm in has continued to impress me with their growth and response to challenges. It is an incredible feeling to see people making leaps and bounds on their instruments and voices with the extra work required. More importantly though, I can also see that my bandmates are growing in their relationship with Christ. As we sit in classes and participate in tutorials together, I have felt the atmosphere definitely change as we share our testimonies and pray for one another. As a band, we've come together to pray for healing and to encourage each other with the word of God. Memorizing scripture with other people is incredibly rewarding as well.
Due to a series of unfortunate events, housemate Dave must leave the country for the rest of the semester. He will be visiting with Junior for a short time in California before heading to his hometown of Dallas to work in production and hang out with his family for awhile. He is planning to come back in January, however, he is unsure whether he will be coming back to this house or not. According to him, it actually is a blessing to be able to go back to his family for awhile. He said that his job at Hillsong Music had actually caused him to stop singing for awhile to focus more on the production part of his job and that this break will allow him to once again sing his heart out for the Lord. Although I am sad to see him go, I'm excited to see what God has for him. In about a month, Junior should be returning from California.
For our chapel service today, the team put together a series of hymns and other old songs to sing. From time to time, they like to worship in this way to prove that Who we worship is much more important than How we worship. I'm not sure if there was a message planned or not, but after 15 minutes of "I Surrender All" at the top of our lungs, it was pretty clear that God wanted the praise and worship to continue. It was also the first chance that I've had to see the Dance stream participate in the chapel service. Until the service, I had never understood how motions of the body could communicate a message of praise. Now, I have seen and I understand.
Yesterday, I was able to see my Aunt Renee and Uncle Ken who are pastors from New Zealand. It was awesome to be able to pray and meet with family once again. I also had the privilege of participating in a time of prophecy in the church where they were speaking in Sydney. My uncle Ken, the same man who baptized me in crystal lake, was now being led by the spirit to speak encouragement into my life about my future and the plans that God has for me. How awesome is that? They also invited me to come and stay with them in New Zealand for a week over Christmas break to have a great time of fellowship and growth. I'll definitely be praying for God's will there. I also was able to meet Jason and Amy, the pastors of the Every Nation Church in Sydney. I am very thankful that God has moved me into great friendships here and I am hoping for even more to come.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Author and Authority
"If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." -John 14:14
Hello kingdom and nations! God continues to provide in exciting ways. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last month.
Monday was the first time for our band to play actual songs together. We practiced through Fix You, Hello Goodbye, and I Shot the Sheriff. It started out a bit rough, but as soon as a good communication was established to the band, we were jamming out. The best blessing that God has given me through the band is a drive to be excellent. I can tell that each member of the band is focused on giving the best performance possible and is putting in the amount of practice time required to do so.
Today, I will have a meeting with Hillsong Maintenance about a volunteer position for the weekends and possible job opportunities in the future. I'm looking forward to learning whatever they have to teach me every weekend and working to take care of the house of God. Please pray for favor in this area. Also pray that I can be diligent in my assignments.
This week in my argument class we discussed the factuality of the Bible and the creation story specifically. Did God really create the heavens, earth and everything in-between in 7 days? This question really got me to focus on my faith and what I really believe about the bible. I realized that I had reasoned my way out of the creation story. For me, it isn't about how God created the earth, it's about the fact that He told us that He did it in 7 days and I tried to rationalize my way around it. I didn't really believe that God actually could create the earth in 7 days. Now I believe that he could and it encourages me to know that the Bible tells me he did.
I've also been challenged in my New Testament Tutorial class to purposefully read the book of Matthew and memorize scripture. In the first ten chapters of Matthew, I have recognized the major theme of God's authority. Jesus seems to always be healing sicknesses and raising dead people while asking if people have faith in Jesus authority. The verses that stuck me the most were Matthew 9:28-29, When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to the, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened...
Once again, the challenge came to me, Do I really believe that God is able to do these things? Do I turn to Jesus with my problems with full faith that he can solve anything? This is definitely something that I've been thinking and praying about.
Thank you all for allowing me to come here and be challenged in all aspects of my faith. I pray that you are all being taught, encouraged, and challenged as well.
Hello kingdom and nations! God continues to provide in exciting ways. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last month.
Monday was the first time for our band to play actual songs together. We practiced through Fix You, Hello Goodbye, and I Shot the Sheriff. It started out a bit rough, but as soon as a good communication was established to the band, we were jamming out. The best blessing that God has given me through the band is a drive to be excellent. I can tell that each member of the band is focused on giving the best performance possible and is putting in the amount of practice time required to do so.
Today, I will have a meeting with Hillsong Maintenance about a volunteer position for the weekends and possible job opportunities in the future. I'm looking forward to learning whatever they have to teach me every weekend and working to take care of the house of God. Please pray for favor in this area. Also pray that I can be diligent in my assignments.
This week in my argument class we discussed the factuality of the Bible and the creation story specifically. Did God really create the heavens, earth and everything in-between in 7 days? This question really got me to focus on my faith and what I really believe about the bible. I realized that I had reasoned my way out of the creation story. For me, it isn't about how God created the earth, it's about the fact that He told us that He did it in 7 days and I tried to rationalize my way around it. I didn't really believe that God actually could create the earth in 7 days. Now I believe that he could and it encourages me to know that the Bible tells me he did.
I've also been challenged in my New Testament Tutorial class to purposefully read the book of Matthew and memorize scripture. In the first ten chapters of Matthew, I have recognized the major theme of God's authority. Jesus seems to always be healing sicknesses and raising dead people while asking if people have faith in Jesus authority. The verses that stuck me the most were Matthew 9:28-29, When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to the, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened...
Once again, the challenge came to me, Do I really believe that God is able to do these things? Do I turn to Jesus with my problems with full faith that he can solve anything? This is definitely something that I've been thinking and praying about.
Thank you all for allowing me to come here and be challenged in all aspects of my faith. I pray that you are all being taught, encouraged, and challenged as well.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Family
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."
Hey family and friends! God is good over here and is continuing to show me things that I can share with you all. So, here we go.
First off, this weekend I witnessed an undeniable miracle. The Lions beat the Bengals 34-3 and Matthew Stafford wasn't injured. Hallelujah! The greatest part is that my housemates and I went in together to buy the NFL Gamepass for a total of $130. The gamepass records every single game this season, including preseason and playoffs, as well as all the games from the past two seasons. This means that for one payment of $30, I can be uplifted every weekend.
On a more serious note, I had a class this week called New Testament Tutorial. For an hour straight, we went around the room and read our favorite verses or chapters from the Bible with nil commentary. It was one of the most powerful classes that I've had here so far. It also prompted me to read the Book of Zephaniah, which contains a lot of imagery of the Lord's wrath. Whenever I read about God's wrath, I am always reminded that this awesome and terrible punishment for my sins was poured out on Jesus Christ so that I could be in relationship with Him. He not only suffered the physical pain of being crucified, but also suffered the wrath of God stored up because of my sins. Hallelujah, what a savior!
This week, I was also able to serve in my first service at the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater and requires about 2 hours worth of set-up time just to start practicing. After running an endless amount of cable, I started to learn how to run a light board. I've never really worked with lighting before, so it was difficult to really know what I was looking for with colors and everything. Next week I'll learn how to set up and connect the lights. This is a skill that I'm definitely looking forward to learning. God has also blessed me at Macquarie with a genius named Jared. Jared is the head sound guy at Macquarie and is a professional sound technician during the week. I've already learned an incredible amount about mixing and using a computer for effects. I can't wait to learn and practice from Jared in the next few months.
Tonight at Sunday Night Live, a message was preached about family and genealogy. The preacher took a look back through history for a couple hundred years and examined how the choices made by previous generations really affected the influences he had as a child. It really hit me how blessed I've been by previous generations of my family and the conscious decisions that my ancestors have made to live in God's will and be a blessing to their children. I was really convicted to realize that I don't know many of the stories and testimonies of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and various cousins. So thank you mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on for being an incredible blessing to me over the years. I love you all and hope that I can be as great of a blessing to my children and grand children as my family has been to me.
Hey family and friends! God is good over here and is continuing to show me things that I can share with you all. So, here we go.
First off, this weekend I witnessed an undeniable miracle. The Lions beat the Bengals 34-3 and Matthew Stafford wasn't injured. Hallelujah! The greatest part is that my housemates and I went in together to buy the NFL Gamepass for a total of $130. The gamepass records every single game this season, including preseason and playoffs, as well as all the games from the past two seasons. This means that for one payment of $30, I can be uplifted every weekend.
On a more serious note, I had a class this week called New Testament Tutorial. For an hour straight, we went around the room and read our favorite verses or chapters from the Bible with nil commentary. It was one of the most powerful classes that I've had here so far. It also prompted me to read the Book of Zephaniah, which contains a lot of imagery of the Lord's wrath. Whenever I read about God's wrath, I am always reminded that this awesome and terrible punishment for my sins was poured out on Jesus Christ so that I could be in relationship with Him. He not only suffered the physical pain of being crucified, but also suffered the wrath of God stored up because of my sins. Hallelujah, what a savior!
This week, I was also able to serve in my first service at the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater and requires about 2 hours worth of set-up time just to start practicing. After running an endless amount of cable, I started to learn how to run a light board. I've never really worked with lighting before, so it was difficult to really know what I was looking for with colors and everything. Next week I'll learn how to set up and connect the lights. This is a skill that I'm definitely looking forward to learning. God has also blessed me at Macquarie with a genius named Jared. Jared is the head sound guy at Macquarie and is a professional sound technician during the week. I've already learned an incredible amount about mixing and using a computer for effects. I can't wait to learn and practice from Jared in the next few months.
Tonight at Sunday Night Live, a message was preached about family and genealogy. The preacher took a look back through history for a couple hundred years and examined how the choices made by previous generations really affected the influences he had as a child. It really hit me how blessed I've been by previous generations of my family and the conscious decisions that my ancestors have made to live in God's will and be a blessing to their children. I was really convicted to realize that I don't know many of the stories and testimonies of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and various cousins. So thank you mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on for being an incredible blessing to me over the years. I love you all and hope that I can be as great of a blessing to my children and grand children as my family has been to me.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
The Childrens
"Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger" -Psalm 8:2
Hello America! I've been praying for a couple weeks now for God to assign me to wherever I would glorify him the most. Let me tell you, that's a very dangerous prayer to pray. God has definitely shown himself to be faithful to answer my prayers.
Ever since Monday, I've been learning from different sources about what the actual role of an MD is. It turns out that I'll have to pretty much memorize every song in detail and be able to remember all the orders for performance. Also, I'll have to organize most of the practice sessions and learn all the bass parts. Not only will I have to play bass, but I'll also have to talk to the band during our performance through the in-ear microphones and remind everyone about everything coming up in the songs. Challenging? Yes. Did I pray for more responsibility and a challenge? Yes.
Almost every day that I walk to school, I take a shortcut through the park. I've noticed that there is a man with a turban there every day watching the sun rise. On Tuesday during chapel worship, God impressed on my heart to just go watch the sun rise some morning and talk to him. Challenging? Yes. Have I been praying for God to help me preach the gospel? Ugh, yes.
Recently, I also found out that I'm serving in Hillsong Kids for Sisterhood. I have to admit, I wasn't excited for the concept of working with children, but God has assigned and will provide. This morning was my first time on the job, and I can already see how God is moving in these kid's lives. After an awesome message from one of the leaders about how much God loves us and wants to help us, these kids in 1st to 5th grade started asking questions about God and sharing stories of ministry. I absolutely blown away to hear a kid in probably 2nd grade talking about how he had talked to a cousin of his about Jesus and was used for their salvation. His cousin is soon going to come to college here! Also, the leader of the kids group wants to start a small worship service for the kids and wondered if I could play guitar and sing. Challenging? Yes. Incredibly opportunity for me to grow and preach the gospel to kids through music? Absolutely.
Thank you all for praying for me and I pray that you are being used by Christ to lead others to their salvation. I am very blessed to be living and learning here and can't wait for God's plan to continue every day.
Hello America! I've been praying for a couple weeks now for God to assign me to wherever I would glorify him the most. Let me tell you, that's a very dangerous prayer to pray. God has definitely shown himself to be faithful to answer my prayers.
Ever since Monday, I've been learning from different sources about what the actual role of an MD is. It turns out that I'll have to pretty much memorize every song in detail and be able to remember all the orders for performance. Also, I'll have to organize most of the practice sessions and learn all the bass parts. Not only will I have to play bass, but I'll also have to talk to the band during our performance through the in-ear microphones and remind everyone about everything coming up in the songs. Challenging? Yes. Did I pray for more responsibility and a challenge? Yes.
Almost every day that I walk to school, I take a shortcut through the park. I've noticed that there is a man with a turban there every day watching the sun rise. On Tuesday during chapel worship, God impressed on my heart to just go watch the sun rise some morning and talk to him. Challenging? Yes. Have I been praying for God to help me preach the gospel? Ugh, yes.
Recently, I also found out that I'm serving in Hillsong Kids for Sisterhood. I have to admit, I wasn't excited for the concept of working with children, but God has assigned and will provide. This morning was my first time on the job, and I can already see how God is moving in these kid's lives. After an awesome message from one of the leaders about how much God loves us and wants to help us, these kids in 1st to 5th grade started asking questions about God and sharing stories of ministry. I absolutely blown away to hear a kid in probably 2nd grade talking about how he had talked to a cousin of his about Jesus and was used for their salvation. His cousin is soon going to come to college here! Also, the leader of the kids group wants to start a small worship service for the kids and wondered if I could play guitar and sing. Challenging? Yes. Incredibly opportunity for me to grow and preach the gospel to kids through music? Absolutely.
Thank you all for praying for me and I pray that you are being used by Christ to lead others to their salvation. I am very blessed to be living and learning here and can't wait for God's plan to continue every day.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Class
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13:14-15
Hello friends! God is really doing great things here in me. The semester is just commencing and I already feel as though I've learned a LOT. I'm really excited to see what is to come.
On Sunday, I began my study of the book of Revelation. I realized that of Faith, Hope and Love, I know the least about Hope. I figured that the best way to learn about Hope is to read a book filled with prophecies of things to come and to hope for. I'm not currently reading any commentary on it and just really trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal the lessons that God has for me. So far, I've learned about Jesus being the first and the LAST. It gives me hope to know that anything may happen but Jesus is the last. I like that thought. I'll keep you guys updated on whatever else I learn.
Also on Sunday was the first of the August series of Sunday Night Live's at Hillsong Church. Basically, Hillsong just gets super creative in preaching the message and even more awesome than normal at worship. This Sunday, we did a new song in worship and it blew the house down. I'm very excited for whenever they record the next album here.
Today was the first day of regular classes for 1st year students. I was able to meet my core tutorial class and leader (similar to a homeroom teacher), and also my worship band and music excellence leaders. My worship band leaders are Bob and Sheila Mpofu. Bob is the main bass player for Hillsong music and Sheila is one of the vocal trainers and worship leaders for Hillsong also. I am very blessed to have them as my leaders and teachers. Bob decided to make me one of two Music Directors for our band and since I'm the only bassist for our class, I get to play on all of the songs. Music directors speak to the musicians during a performance and clearly communicate the direction that the worship leader is heading to every band member. I'm blessed to have the responsibility.
The songs I have to play are:
Beautiful Things -Gungor
Betty -Brooke Fraser
Fix You -Coldplay
Hello Goodbye -Glee
Darkest Side -The Middle East
I Shot the Sheriff -Eric Clapton
Please keep praying for Junior as his family is going through the process of mourning. Also please keep praying for my maturity and servanthood. Thank you for blessing me and my housemates with you prayers and I pray that you are blessed as well.
Hello friends! God is really doing great things here in me. The semester is just commencing and I already feel as though I've learned a LOT. I'm really excited to see what is to come.
On Sunday, I began my study of the book of Revelation. I realized that of Faith, Hope and Love, I know the least about Hope. I figured that the best way to learn about Hope is to read a book filled with prophecies of things to come and to hope for. I'm not currently reading any commentary on it and just really trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal the lessons that God has for me. So far, I've learned about Jesus being the first and the LAST. It gives me hope to know that anything may happen but Jesus is the last. I like that thought. I'll keep you guys updated on whatever else I learn.
Also on Sunday was the first of the August series of Sunday Night Live's at Hillsong Church. Basically, Hillsong just gets super creative in preaching the message and even more awesome than normal at worship. This Sunday, we did a new song in worship and it blew the house down. I'm very excited for whenever they record the next album here.
Today was the first day of regular classes for 1st year students. I was able to meet my core tutorial class and leader (similar to a homeroom teacher), and also my worship band and music excellence leaders. My worship band leaders are Bob and Sheila Mpofu. Bob is the main bass player for Hillsong music and Sheila is one of the vocal trainers and worship leaders for Hillsong also. I am very blessed to have them as my leaders and teachers. Bob decided to make me one of two Music Directors for our band and since I'm the only bassist for our class, I get to play on all of the songs. Music directors speak to the musicians during a performance and clearly communicate the direction that the worship leader is heading to every band member. I'm blessed to have the responsibility.
The songs I have to play are:
Beautiful Things -Gungor
Betty -Brooke Fraser
Fix You -Coldplay
Hello Goodbye -Glee
Darkest Side -The Middle East
I Shot the Sheriff -Eric Clapton
Please keep praying for Junior as his family is going through the process of mourning. Also please keep praying for my maturity and servanthood. Thank you for blessing me and my housemates with you prayers and I pray that you are blessed as well.
Friday, 5 August 2011
Longboarding
Hello American people!
I've been here for a few weeks now and I've started to notice a few things. First of all, any American student that I've met always talks about food. In fact, most of the conversations I have with my housemates are about Taco Bell, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, and McDonalds. I now realize how cheap food is in America and I've had a craving for a McNasty for weeks now.
I also tried skateboarding and longboarding today with Will and Matt. They said that I was doing pretty good, but I just felt really nervous and never felt that I really had the hang of it. I also found out by trying to "drop in" on the skateboard that it's very hard to convince myself to do new things and overcome my lack of balance. I had a lot of fun though. However, I am now hard pressed to resist the urge to go out and buy a skateboard or a longboard.
My assignments for church life and fieldwork have come in the e-mail, and I'm being assigned to the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater that they rent out every Sunday. I'm not sure what my role will be yet in either the youth or the main service, but I'm sure God will bless whatever assignment he has given to me. I'm going to meet with my specialist at some point this week to find out more details about my placement and assignment.
Tonight, I was asked to run sound for Merryland's Youth, since their sound man was unable to make it. Matt wanted to come along as well, so together we were picked up by a leader from Merryland's and taken to the library that they convert every week into a church. It turns out that we not only had to run sound, but also set up the sound board, the snake, amps, and run leads everywhere. Thank you Steve, Clayton, and Pop for teaching me just about everything I needed to know to be able to do that. Matt and I were able to correctly connect everything and then run sound that night with 0 glitches. We performed our work with excellence and God rewarded us by seeing 8 kids respond to the altar call and begin their journey with Christ. Sadly, I am probably not going to be able to serve with Merryland's Youth any longer since I am rostered into the Macquarie Youth service. However, I am thankful for the time God has allowed me to spend there and for the ability to serve.
I've been here for a few weeks now and I've started to notice a few things. First of all, any American student that I've met always talks about food. In fact, most of the conversations I have with my housemates are about Taco Bell, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, and McDonalds. I now realize how cheap food is in America and I've had a craving for a McNasty for weeks now.
I also tried skateboarding and longboarding today with Will and Matt. They said that I was doing pretty good, but I just felt really nervous and never felt that I really had the hang of it. I also found out by trying to "drop in" on the skateboard that it's very hard to convince myself to do new things and overcome my lack of balance. I had a lot of fun though. However, I am now hard pressed to resist the urge to go out and buy a skateboard or a longboard.
My assignments for church life and fieldwork have come in the e-mail, and I'm being assigned to the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater that they rent out every Sunday. I'm not sure what my role will be yet in either the youth or the main service, but I'm sure God will bless whatever assignment he has given to me. I'm going to meet with my specialist at some point this week to find out more details about my placement and assignment.
Tonight, I was asked to run sound for Merryland's Youth, since their sound man was unable to make it. Matt wanted to come along as well, so together we were picked up by a leader from Merryland's and taken to the library that they convert every week into a church. It turns out that we not only had to run sound, but also set up the sound board, the snake, amps, and run leads everywhere. Thank you Steve, Clayton, and Pop for teaching me just about everything I needed to know to be able to do that. Matt and I were able to correctly connect everything and then run sound that night with 0 glitches. We performed our work with excellence and God rewarded us by seeing 8 kids respond to the altar call and begin their journey with Christ. Sadly, I am probably not going to be able to serve with Merryland's Youth any longer since I am rostered into the Macquarie Youth service. However, I am thankful for the time God has allowed me to spend there and for the ability to serve.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Sydney
Hello! Thank you for reading this and I hope that you are blessed from some part of it.
First of all, I have to thank my parents for raising me and providing for me for the first 18 years of my life. I have come to a quick realization of their provision for me in all ways and I love them for it. Thanks mom and pop for being God's provision in my life for so long and for pushing me along into God's plan and blessing me with your support and encouragement. Also, I am incredibly grateful for my church and the influence it has had on me. Thank you all for creating an environment that encourages young men and women to lay down their life, take up their cross, and run the race marked out before.
This Saturday, I finally became a tourist and traveled to downtown Sydney and Manly Beach. The group consisted of Me, Matt, Anthony, a bass player named Will, vocalist Tess, and dancer/keyboard player Jimena. I learned that Will had received an e-mail earlier that day informing him that he would be playing in the extension service at the Northern Beaches. I'm slightly confused by God's planning here, but I'm glad for him and for the Northern Beaches as well. I had the opportunity to hear him audition and he is incredibly talented. Also, to get a ride for the Northern Beaches, you get picked up at 5 AM. Ouch.
First of all, I have to thank my parents for raising me and providing for me for the first 18 years of my life. I have come to a quick realization of their provision for me in all ways and I love them for it. Thanks mom and pop for being God's provision in my life for so long and for pushing me along into God's plan and blessing me with your support and encouragement. Also, I am incredibly grateful for my church and the influence it has had on me. Thank you all for creating an environment that encourages young men and women to lay down their life, take up their cross, and run the race marked out before.
This Saturday, I finally became a tourist and traveled to downtown Sydney and Manly Beach. The group consisted of Me, Matt, Anthony, a bass player named Will, vocalist Tess, and dancer/keyboard player Jimena. I learned that Will had received an e-mail earlier that day informing him that he would be playing in the extension service at the Northern Beaches. I'm slightly confused by God's planning here, but I'm glad for him and for the Northern Beaches as well. I had the opportunity to hear him audition and he is incredibly talented. Also, to get a ride for the Northern Beaches, you get picked up at 5 AM. Ouch.
We took the train into Sydney and arrived at Town Hall. The city itself is incredible. I was very overwhelmed by the art and just started taking random pictures of architecture. I highly suggest a trip to Sydney if you enjoy beautiful places. We then took a ferry to Manly Beach and just walked around for awhile. Neither my words or pictures can really do the place justice though. It is really the most beautiful city that I have ever seen with a wide variety of art and culture. I also now have the desire to buy a longboard to cruise around school with. However, my logical Dutch side went through a quick cost/benefit analysis and I'm thinking that I'll stick with walking.
We ended up going around the opera house, eating at Darling Harbor, getting lost downtown 3 or 4 times, and having a ton of fun. On the train ride into Sydney, I was also able to meet a couple from Jenison who were in town because of the wife's job. She just helped to open up the Costco in the area and her husband came on vacation. Small world.
At Sunday Night Live tonight, we sang a brand new song. I have no idea what it is called or when it'll come out, but it was really fun to do.
This Saturday, Junior's dad went to heaven. If you pray at all, please pray for Junior and his family as they go through this really difficult time. Junior has been an incredible blessing to Me, Anthony, and Matt as new students here and we have been praying all the time for him and his family. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers so far. I hope that we can get in contact soon.
We ended up going around the opera house, eating at Darling Harbor, getting lost downtown 3 or 4 times, and having a ton of fun. On the train ride into Sydney, I was also able to meet a couple from Jenison who were in town because of the wife's job. She just helped to open up the Costco in the area and her husband came on vacation. Small world.
At Sunday Night Live tonight, we sang a brand new song. I have no idea what it is called or when it'll come out, but it was really fun to do.
This Saturday, Junior's dad went to heaven. If you pray at all, please pray for Junior and his family as they go through this really difficult time. Junior has been an incredible blessing to Me, Anthony, and Matt as new students here and we have been praying all the time for him and his family. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers so far. I hope that we can get in contact soon.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Fastlane
Hello friends and relatives! I hope that you're having a fantastic life and stuff! Thank you for coming to check up on mine.
Things have been happening very fast here in Australia. I'm not even really sure where to begin. Around the house, Matt has taken to calling me Moose because of my northern heritage. Dave calls me "The Epistle", because he is never able to remember which two of the four that my name is. We've been eating very well, and I have discovered the magical concoction of Nutella and Peanut Butter. If you have never been blessed with this combination, I highly suggest it.
On Wednesday at dinner, Anthony started talking about his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the F-4 tornado that rolled through it in April. Seeing pictures of a disaster is different than hearing someone explain all of the landmarks and stories in what you're seeing. I was shocked to see and hear of the magnitude of devastation and also thankful to hear that God's protection was still active. If you pray at all, please pray for the city leaders and churches of Tuscaloosa. The rubble has finally been cleared from the streets, but the leadership is at a complete loss for where to go next. How do you rebuild an entire city?
This week has really put aside any fears that I may have had about the real heart and center of Hillsong Church. For awhile back home, I was slightly worried that because their music is so successful, Hillsong might be more about music, lights, and performances than about Jesus, hearts, and people. After three full days of lectures from the Hillsong Music leadership all about Jesus, the heart, and serving people, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am being taught by the right people.
The culture of Hillsong Music has really made an impact on me as well. Although the musicians and pastors are honored and respected, they are still all about being teachers and disciple makers rather than rockstars. They'll sit down and have a conversation with you or pray with you because they're genuinely interested. These are people that go out on tour to thousands of screaming people and come back to worship God in the congregation and build relationships with the people around them because that's what God has called us to do. They even treat their tours purely as ministry opportunities and hopefully you'll see that when they come to Michigan in August.
I have found a grand piano to play in the church and have practiced for hours already. God has also already used the piano playing to get me connected with the people around me as well. I met Sarah, who plays piano at an extension service on the northern beaches in Sydney. She informed me of the Yamaha store in Sydney where I can get the music that I want to learn this year and also of the fact that they need a bass player for the northern beach extension service on Sundays. I'm praying that God uses me wherever he wants me and that I can glorify him wherever (however, playing bass on the beach in Sydney would be awesome).
I haven't heard from Junior recently about how his dad is doing, but I'm still praying for a miracle in that situation. Also pray for me to continue walking in the spirit and focusing my life on God. Thanks for checking up on me, and I pray that your day would be blessed.
Things have been happening very fast here in Australia. I'm not even really sure where to begin. Around the house, Matt has taken to calling me Moose because of my northern heritage. Dave calls me "The Epistle", because he is never able to remember which two of the four that my name is. We've been eating very well, and I have discovered the magical concoction of Nutella and Peanut Butter. If you have never been blessed with this combination, I highly suggest it.
On Wednesday at dinner, Anthony started talking about his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the F-4 tornado that rolled through it in April. Seeing pictures of a disaster is different than hearing someone explain all of the landmarks and stories in what you're seeing. I was shocked to see and hear of the magnitude of devastation and also thankful to hear that God's protection was still active. If you pray at all, please pray for the city leaders and churches of Tuscaloosa. The rubble has finally been cleared from the streets, but the leadership is at a complete loss for where to go next. How do you rebuild an entire city?
This week has really put aside any fears that I may have had about the real heart and center of Hillsong Church. For awhile back home, I was slightly worried that because their music is so successful, Hillsong might be more about music, lights, and performances than about Jesus, hearts, and people. After three full days of lectures from the Hillsong Music leadership all about Jesus, the heart, and serving people, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am being taught by the right people.
The culture of Hillsong Music has really made an impact on me as well. Although the musicians and pastors are honored and respected, they are still all about being teachers and disciple makers rather than rockstars. They'll sit down and have a conversation with you or pray with you because they're genuinely interested. These are people that go out on tour to thousands of screaming people and come back to worship God in the congregation and build relationships with the people around them because that's what God has called us to do. They even treat their tours purely as ministry opportunities and hopefully you'll see that when they come to Michigan in August.
I have found a grand piano to play in the church and have practiced for hours already. God has also already used the piano playing to get me connected with the people around me as well. I met Sarah, who plays piano at an extension service on the northern beaches in Sydney. She informed me of the Yamaha store in Sydney where I can get the music that I want to learn this year and also of the fact that they need a bass player for the northern beach extension service on Sundays. I'm praying that God uses me wherever he wants me and that I can glorify him wherever (however, playing bass on the beach in Sydney would be awesome).
I haven't heard from Junior recently about how his dad is doing, but I'm still praying for a miracle in that situation. Also pray for me to continue walking in the spirit and focusing my life on God. Thanks for checking up on me, and I pray that your day would be blessed.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
College
Today was the first official day of my college career. I'm excited.
"Intensives" began this morning at 8:30 in the Hub auditorium. I had no idea to expect or what intensives even are, but I soon found out. The first two weeks of school are called "intensives" because the days of school are longer and are filled with more lecture than anything else. However, I feel that I don't do the truth and teachings that are being poured out here enough justice when I call them lectures.
The first lesson was taught by a pastor of the adult connect groups that are here at Hillsong. He spoke about Identity (which, of course, God led me to study the night before.) and what it is that makes us who we are. It was powerful to hear the truth that our worth is not in the talents we have, the gifts we've been given, or in what we have done already. Our worth is found in Christ alone. With that knowledge in hand, we're supposed to serve God in whatever function possible, not just our "calling". Our service to God should be at all times, not just when we're comfortable to fill our church roles.
The next lesson was all about unity within the church and between churches (This is a subject which God had really placed on my heart back in Michigan). I was incredibly blessed to hear my vision for Grand Rapids spoken by the Hillsong Leadership and I am now completely confident that this is where I need to be for the education and training to live in God's plan.
This entire day of learning has been incredible for me and I can't wait to put the knowledge into practice in Hillsong Church and back home with all you guys. Thank you all for praying for me and supporting me into this place where I can grow and be built up by Godly mentors and leaders. I am confident in the Lord to bring me through this year victorious because "He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion".
Please continue to pray for Junior as he's hanging out with his dad in the hospital right now. His dad is currently at a point where only a miracle could save him now. I know this is very hard for Junior and that with God nothing is impossible.
Also, I'm looking for jobs, trying to get a piano to practice at college, trying hard to keep my personal devotions going, and I've still been having some sickness lately. All of those are things you can pray for.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Put another shrimp on the barbie.
Hello sunny, warm America from cold, wet Australia! It's been quite a rainy week here and the walk to and from school has seemed longer than ever. Praise God for cheap umbrellas and lovely bus rides.
Auditions went very well! Thank you for praying me through that experience and into God's favor. I am unsure of where I am placed or what my auditions really even determine, but I was satisfied with the performance and was able to praise God while playing. I know that whatever happens, I am guaranteed to be used in a lot of places because of the lack of bass players here. In an intake of probably 100 worship students, 3 are bassists.
At enrollment the next day, I had a few issues with the tuition payment stuff going on. However, God's favor found me there as well, and I am now fully paid through next July for tuition. As far as housing and other living expenses go, this year will definitely be a huge chance for God to be my provider. I am excited to see His provision and hope to remain in His plan.
Every Thursday night here, Hillsong has a service called Creative night, which is where all of Hillsong Creative is invited to worship and learn from the leaders of the Hillsong Creative team. The night was incredible and contained a sermon by J.D. (the lead singer of the main service) and a brand new song by Brooke Fraser (which was incredibly powerful). The whole night was covered in prayer and song. It was incredibly powerful for me to see the mind and direction of Hillsong Creative, which is completely after Jesus.
Friday, I was able to go to Marrylands with Junior again and worship and minister to the kids there. During the service, God completely took over and changed the message and led the worship. The band was once again, fantastic, and I was almost constantly in a state of worship or prayer. Afterward, Junior invited the entire leadership of Marrylands youth to our house for a barbecue. The chicken was absolutely fantastic, and being able to hang out with a lot of the leadership was very good too. The party also acted as a going away party for Junior. He is going to stay with his family in America for up to 3 months, starting this Sunday. He will be very greatly missed.
Starting on Tuesday are something called "Intensives". I'm not really sure what that even means, but it sounds.....intense.
Please pray for continued blessings on this household, as each of us newcomers are in constant need of God's provision. Thank you for your prayers and I pray that as you have blessed me, you will be blessed.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Mmmerica.
Hello friends! It's hard for me to believe that I've already been living here for an entire week now. It has been pretty amazing to see God's provision working through this past week to keep me healthy and in good company. Thanks for all your prayers to make that happen!
Yesterday, the fifth and final member of our house arrived. His name is Anthony, he is from Alabama, and he is another God-send. Anthony is here for the worship music stream at Hillsong and is going to play the Acoustic guitar. That means that in this house we have a singer, electric guitarist, acoustic guitarist, bassist, and a drummer. On top of that, Anthony is an artist in his spare time and sells his paintings for money (They are really incredible. I'll find out if he has a website or something and post that link). That means that in this house we also have an artist, an editor (Matt does that for his church), and a publisher (Dave does that for Hillsong). This also means that our house is completely American (Michigan, Idaho?, Alabama, Missouri, Texas).
Anthony also loves to cook, which was incredibly helpful as we made spaghetti and kangaroo sausages together tonight. He made the mushrooms, which went great in the spaghetti sauce. By the way, kangaroo does tastes a lot like venison sausage, except much worse and with an aftertaste that Matt describes as "Death". I can definitely feel my stomach agreeing with Matt's opinion.
I have to audition tomorrow for my placement in a worship team. During the audition process, I'll have to play the song "You Deserve" with the house band they have, play a song of my choice (I picked "Again I Say Rejoice" - Israel Houghton), take a quick music theory test, improvise over a simple chord progression, and play a couple scales. Please pray that God's will is accomplished in this audition process and that whatever happens, I'll still choose to glorify Him.
Thank you for all your prayers and for keeping me in your thoughts n' stuff. I miss everyone and hope to hear from you soon.
Yesterday, the fifth and final member of our house arrived. His name is Anthony, he is from Alabama, and he is another God-send. Anthony is here for the worship music stream at Hillsong and is going to play the Acoustic guitar. That means that in this house we have a singer, electric guitarist, acoustic guitarist, bassist, and a drummer. On top of that, Anthony is an artist in his spare time and sells his paintings for money (They are really incredible. I'll find out if he has a website or something and post that link). That means that in this house we also have an artist, an editor (Matt does that for his church), and a publisher (Dave does that for Hillsong). This also means that our house is completely American (Michigan, Idaho?, Alabama, Missouri, Texas).
Anthony also loves to cook, which was incredibly helpful as we made spaghetti and kangaroo sausages together tonight. He made the mushrooms, which went great in the spaghetti sauce. By the way, kangaroo does tastes a lot like venison sausage, except much worse and with an aftertaste that Matt describes as "Death". I can definitely feel my stomach agreeing with Matt's opinion.
I have to audition tomorrow for my placement in a worship team. During the audition process, I'll have to play the song "You Deserve" with the house band they have, play a song of my choice (I picked "Again I Say Rejoice" - Israel Houghton), take a quick music theory test, improvise over a simple chord progression, and play a couple scales. Please pray that God's will is accomplished in this audition process and that whatever happens, I'll still choose to glorify Him.
Thank you for all your prayers and for keeping me in your thoughts n' stuff. I miss everyone and hope to hear from you soon.
Monday, 18 July 2011
Good Eats
Hello once again America! As I write this, my thoughts are constantly being drawn back toward the youth group at home and the fantastic things that are happening in the lives of my brothers in Christ. I've been praying for y'all for awhile now and it is great to hear that God has laid hold of your lives. Blessings also to Josh and Ashley as they move into what God has planned for them at Living Hope.
This Sunday I finally met my third roommate, Dave. He's from Dallas and has been here for three years doing the worship stream here at Hillsong. Currently, he works for Hillsong Creative and is gone for days at a time. God has definitely blessed me with him in this house because of his very thorough knowledge of the phones, internet, automotive, electronics, computing, and political areas of Australia and has offered to help me in any of those areas during my stay here.
I was also able to attend my first service at Hillsong Church. The music was, of course, phenomenal. Pastor Brian spoke a powerful message about the Holy Spirit giving the gift of wisdom. Most importantly though, I was able to see the heart of the organization that will be teaching me for the next year. What lies at the heart of Hillsong is preaching the gospel through music, ministering to the poor, and planting churches in areas where there are none.
When I came to Australia, one of my goals was to use my Dutch heritage as much as possible to keep expenses down. After the first day of eating only Ramen noodles and microwaved frozen pizza (I hadn't figured out how to use the oven yet), I knew that something had to change. Matt agreed, and since then we've been cooking. So far, all of our meals have been under $10 total ($5 each) and have been infinitely more delicious and nutritious than Ramen (praise God). We've made Chicken n' Onions, Spaghetti and Pork Meatballs with ghetto garlic bread, and BLT's. We're thinking about making some steak fajitas soon or maybe even baked goods.
We're still one housemate short of a full house here, so please keep on praying for the right person to be placed here with us. Also, I'm beginning to feel under the weather with headaches and congestion, so please pray for my health. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and I pray that God would bless you as you have blessed me.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Junior
I didn't think I was going to be able to write another post this quickly, but it seems that God has greater plans for me than I can imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9). Yesterday, God revealed to me how much He has blessed me with fantastic housemates.
At about noon yesterday, Junior came in to my room and invited me to come with him to a Hillsong Youth extension service out in Marrylands. He plays guitar for the worship team there and thought that I would like to see what it was all about. We then started talking and he proceeded to teach me about everything from guitar chord inversions to the role of each member in a worship ensemble. He even used metaphors that I completely understood. (For instance, he compared a 4 part choral piece with a guitar to explain the different voicing of each string in the chord.) He then went on to share his entire story of God's provision for him in Australia and how he has grown since living here. Basically, God blessed me with the perfect teacher and encourager to be my housemate.
We went to the service later that day and set up all of the sound equipment and furniture at the local community center in Marrylands for the youth service and the regular Sunday church service. Matt and I were picked to go make a pizza run with some Pacific Islanders who were there for the service. On the way, I got to talk with one of the Pacific Island girls about Hillsong Conference, which just completed this past Sunday. Apparently, Israel Houghton was one of the worship leaders for Conference, and I also learned that most Pacific Islanders are completely obsessed with him. Seriously, I mentioned that my parents had seen him in the airport once and she was incredibly jealous. Anyway, it turned out that the sound crew for the service was gone on vacation that week, so I was put on the team as a sound guy for this worship service. So, 3 days into my stay here and I'm already putting my talents into serving God. Awesome.
Thank you all for continuing to bless me with your prayer and please add Junior's dad to your prayers as well. He is currently having kidney and liver problems and needs a transplant very badly. I'm still praying for everyone back home and hope to hear from you soon.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Survival
After 20 hours of flying time and a quick sweep through customs, I have finally made it to Australia! Thank you all for supporting and praying for me to be here because I definitely would not be here without you.
God's provision has definitely been present through the entire journey here. On the first flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, I sat two seats away from a lady named Kate who is also coming to Hillsong International Leadership College for Worship Music. She spent three years at Colombia College for vocal jazz performance, but now wants to create music to glorify God rather than herself.
As soon as I arrived at college, I met Matthew, my 20 year old roommate from Kansas City, MO. He is also at Hillsong for worship music and plays the drums. He was the interim youth ministry leader at his church and decided that he wants to be equipped to glorify God in incredible ways and felt that Hillsong was the way to do it. Since we met, we have been unpacking, discovering strange oddities around our house (such as the orange tree, the motorcycle in the garage, as espresso maker, etc.), trying to figure out how to cook Kangaroo meat, and finding incredibly cheap ways to eat.
Due to jet lag, I'm currently writing this post at 4 in the morning, after falling asleep at 7 last night. The first night was a bit better, but this is still pretty obnoxious. The first night was also very strange because Matt and I moved into the house without meeting any of our 3 other roommates, so it kind of felt like intruding.
However, the next morning I met Junior. He's been here for 4 and a half years, completing 3 years of worship music training on guitar and now is working through a degree program that Hillsong has rented from some other college. God has definitely blessed me by allowing me to live in this house. Junior has guitars, pedals, an amplifier (hallelujah!), and all of the knowledge of the area that I will ever need. Also, he let me know the internet password (which has no cap), taught me how to use the oven (because microwaved frozen pizza just tastes terrible), and let me know a shortcut to the church that cuts 10 minutes off of the walking time. (However, it is highly suggested that I don't take the shortcut during the night because I could be attacked by snakes or spiders. Not kidding.)
Thank you all for praying for me and please continue to do so. I have seen the benefits of your prayers and am excited for what unimaginable things that God has prepared for me. I would also like to stay informed of things back home and what God is doing in your lives so that I can pray and praise with you. Send me an e-mail at Pike67@hotmail.com or on my facebook page.
God bless you.
God's provision has definitely been present through the entire journey here. On the first flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, I sat two seats away from a lady named Kate who is also coming to Hillsong International Leadership College for Worship Music. She spent three years at Colombia College for vocal jazz performance, but now wants to create music to glorify God rather than herself.
As soon as I arrived at college, I met Matthew, my 20 year old roommate from Kansas City, MO. He is also at Hillsong for worship music and plays the drums. He was the interim youth ministry leader at his church and decided that he wants to be equipped to glorify God in incredible ways and felt that Hillsong was the way to do it. Since we met, we have been unpacking, discovering strange oddities around our house (such as the orange tree, the motorcycle in the garage, as espresso maker, etc.), trying to figure out how to cook Kangaroo meat, and finding incredibly cheap ways to eat.
Due to jet lag, I'm currently writing this post at 4 in the morning, after falling asleep at 7 last night. The first night was a bit better, but this is still pretty obnoxious. The first night was also very strange because Matt and I moved into the house without meeting any of our 3 other roommates, so it kind of felt like intruding.
However, the next morning I met Junior. He's been here for 4 and a half years, completing 3 years of worship music training on guitar and now is working through a degree program that Hillsong has rented from some other college. God has definitely blessed me by allowing me to live in this house. Junior has guitars, pedals, an amplifier (hallelujah!), and all of the knowledge of the area that I will ever need. Also, he let me know the internet password (which has no cap), taught me how to use the oven (because microwaved frozen pizza just tastes terrible), and let me know a shortcut to the church that cuts 10 minutes off of the walking time. (However, it is highly suggested that I don't take the shortcut during the night because I could be attacked by snakes or spiders. Not kidding.)
Thank you all for praying for me and please continue to do so. I have seen the benefits of your prayers and am excited for what unimaginable things that God has prepared for me. I would also like to stay informed of things back home and what God is doing in your lives so that I can pray and praise with you. Send me an e-mail at Pike67@hotmail.com or on my facebook page.
God bless you.
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