Content at Home

Southern Seminary is hosting the Adopting for Life Conference in February. We are really excited to hear teaching regarding adoption from speakers Dr. Russell Moore, David Platt, and Jedd Medefind. Kyle will be running sound/media for it but I'm hoping to go and be apart with him.

One note on David Platt, a couple semesters ago he preached in Chapel at Southern and held the audience in amazement as he quoted from memory the first 8 chapters from Romans while preaching on the Great Commission. Many were brought to tears. Check it out at the above link. You can't tell that he's quoting it on the recording, but I was there and saw it happen with my own eyes! Does the word of God bring us to our feet to shout "amen"?

Here's a video about the Adoption Conference that one of the guys Kyle works with put together:

Adopting For Life Conference- Friday & Saturday, February 26-27th 2010 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

I want to highlight what we were up to this weekend, so here's a quick overview for ya'll.

Friday night we went to Southern's Sesquicentennial Celebration. They had BMX bikers (stunt bikes), free food and drinks, a mechanical bull, fun rides for kids, face painting, fireworks, etc... It was so much fun! Southern has a wonderful 150 year legacy of boldly teaching truth and raising up leaders for the next generation. Kyle and I count it a privilege to be apart of such a wonderful, Christ-centered, school!

Saturday morning I worked, then came home, made my grocery list for the week, and went shopping. I made chili and cranberry-pecan corn muffins (recipe to come). It was very yummy! We sat and took time to relax and watch a movie during dinner. It was really nice because we hardly ever watch movies anymore!


Sunday we had a great morning at church, worshiping with fellow brothers and sisters. We love our Community Group and enjoy our rich discussions each week. Our community group is made up of a variety of ages and life stages, which we really like! After church we went out to eat with friends from our Group at Qudoba.

Sunday afternoon we went to my co-worker's son's memorial service. That was a very sad time. Jeremy was thirty when he died this past Friday. We still do not know the cause. He was found in bed. Please be praying for his parents, Bill and Cathy, as they are grieving his loss. Also, please pray that his passing will open the door for the Gospel to be proclaimed to unbelievers.

After leaving the funeral home, Kyle spent some time studying and I worked on our calendar for the upcoming few weeks, planning out when we have free time to show hospitality to people through our home. That was a lot of fun!

From there we went to our pastor's house for a Newcomer's Ice Cream Social. There were a good many people at their house and it was fun to get to know some of the elders and leaders better, as well as other new people who are attending Crossing. Here are some pics...

Some of the girls...

Jim and Kyle. Jim's wife, Robin, is so sweet! I have enjoyed getting to know her. They adopted a sweet little girl last year and have invited us to come to an event this Friday night about adoption where they are speaking. We are looking forward to joining them!

Dustin, our pastor, brought out his guitar and was playing with Kyle. I thought this moment was adorable! Here are two of Dustin's kiddos... they had hopped up into the guitar case and were listening to Kyle play. Too cute!!!

Dustin singing with his kids...

Dustin preached a great sermon about the role of elders in our churches yesterday. Listen to it here.

So, as you can see, we've had a packed weekend! It's been great though and we have loved the time spent with friends and "family."

Hey everyone!!! It's so exciting up here in Louisville because we finally HAVE POWER!!!! YEA!!!! Southern's Campus was without power from Sunday till Tuesday... so we are all rejoicing!!! However, not everyone off campus has power yet; a number of my friends' apartments are still without electricity.

Praise the Lord that the Seminary's campus remainded unharmed, with the exception of losing power and fallen tree limbs! We have much to be thankful for!

It was really fun though to be without power because it drew everyone out of their dorms and into the JBowl so people were outside throwing balls, eating together (the seminary grilled out for everyone) and just enjoying fellowship that we normally don't have. The most exciting part of the whole event was that classes were canceled for the Seminary and Boyce all week!!! Many people went home... but a number of us stayed around.

Yesterday as I was out running I saw a lot of the destruction that took place on Sunday. Here are some pictures of fallen trees along my running route... there was also a house that had a fallen tree on it, but I wasn't able to get a picture!

This tree fell over the running trail at Seneca Park. People were out there trying to dodge it!This tree fell onto the parking spots at Seneca.

I was talking with a friend last night about how it's amazing that man, in his strength, cannot touch these trees. He can push and pull with all his might yet never budge a tree. Yet God can blow a wind and bring break these trees in two! How mighty and powerful our God is!!!

Kristin's House Of Pancakes... Last night, Kristin Yeldell invited all the girls from Boyce College over to her house for a pancake night. We had 65 girls show up and the evening was a blast!!!

This is Eric and Kristin Yeldell. Kristin is my Women's Ministry Professor and our Student Life Director. She is an amazing woman and I've already learned so much from her in class, watching her serve, observing as she keeps things in line and going for student life, etc... she has such an amazing passion for ministry to girls also! God has really gifted her to communicate with them!


Eric was our amazing pancake chef for the night... We mixed them up and he flipped them. I hear they were great!!! (I brought my little gluten free waffles... they were good too... haha!)

L-R Me, Charlotte, Ginny Lou, and Tricia... Ginny Lou and Tricia were the minds behind this ladies event. They did a fabulous job pulling everything together. It ran so smoothly girls!!!

Here is Tricia spreading the nutella on pancakes... she was the official spreader of that wholesome goodness! It was so funny watching girls walk out with chocolate on their pancakes... I'd never really thought of that before... its sounds pretty good!
All the girls spread out over Kristin and Eric's backyard to eat and fellowship.

Girls having fun...

Say "cheese" girls!!! haha... In the middle is Sarah Temple. She is one of my "Howdy Group" leaders. At orientation they split all the incoming students into Howdy Groups so that we could get connected to each other. She and Nate did a great job leading ours!!!

This is my sweet friend and running buddy, Tricia. We have spent SO much time together in the last two weeks, primarily running together, but also just around school, at a coffee shop, and hanging out. I love her... she is so much fun!!! We've had so many good talks about life and the Lord... it's been awesome!

Here is Tricia giving out marching orders to the girls... she and Ginny Lou had created a really fun scavenger hunt for the girls to go on. They had to go all around Louisville and do the steps, taking pictures of each one, then come back and give a pictoral review... it was so much fun seeing each team's pictures!

A lot of the girls got really into the hunt. One girl from each team had to go inside and put their clothes on inside out and backwards... these are the girls... some had to wear bright pink lipstick on their lips and/or faces...

Here is Kristin watching and enjoying the girls as she works on organizing the table...

Here's Kristin again with her little girl Mary Grace... are they sweet together??? Kristin is also expecting another little baby... they just found out last week that it is a girl too.

Kristin and Ginny Lou tried on the paper bags that some of the girls would have to wear on the scavenger hunt... haha...

Here they are as Egyptian goddess'... haha... love it!!!

When the teams left for the scavenger hunt, Tracy and I stayed back to help Tricia, Ginny Lou, and Kristin get ready for the girl's return and to tidy up the kitchen. Here's Kristin and Tricia making yummy brownies for the girls...

Tricia... the wonder baker woman... haha...

Ginny Lou and I...

Eric gave Mary Grace a taste of the Nutella...

She wasn't quite sure what to think about it... haha... her puckered up face is SO cute!!!

When all the girls returned, they all gathered into the living room and kitchen to watch the pictures on their tv. The team that finished the most directions in time won a prize...

After reviewing the pictures... Kristin held a devotional time that was excellent. She spoke on obedience to God. She used the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. Abraham was willing to give full obedience to the Lord, not a partial and half-hearted kind. (Which, as she pointed out, partial or unhappy obedience is disobedience.) We need to obey the Lord in every area of our lives...

Here are a few girls after the devo time...

Kristin and I...

And here's the cutest picture of the whole night... sweet little Mary Grace...

Tonight the girls from my hall went out for ice cream. It was SO good and a really fun girly time!

My sweet friend Jenny and I...
Kasey and Steph...
Jenny and I lovin our ice cream...
hehe... fun friends...
L-R Lauren, Brenda, Anna, Bekah

Today I sat almost spell bound as I listened to Dr. Carlton teach in my missions class. I feel like a new world is being opened up to me... and along with that new world come new convictions and desires. I thought I'd summarize some of what he was talking about on here. A lot of it is basic stuff, but for me, it's a whole new way to look at overseas ministry!

Over and over again he told us, "Missions is rooted in the very nature of God." God is the source of missions. If it's not rooted in God, then it's humanistic.

Missions is theo-centric yet it is also ethno-centric. It is about God but it is for all people.

I was captivated by his point that missions is not a result of the fall. Missions is about God seeking after us. ( I LOVE that!!!)

To explain this point, he showed us a quick historical overview of how God seeks after us, not us after Him, in our sinful state. In Genesis 3:8, God came walking in the garden, after the fall, to find Adam and Eve. As humankind grows and disperses over the years, we see that they become increasingly corrupt. In Gen. 4 it talks about Cain and Abel. In Gen. 6 about the mass corruption of man... then the flood. However, in Gen. 9:16-17 we see God make a covenant between Himself and all mankind. We, the sinners, do not seek after God. He comes to us and provides an eternal covenant of hope for us. However, Israel still acted upon their sinful natures. In Gen. 11 we read the story of the Tower of Babel. But again, in chapter 12:1-3, God makes another covenant, this time with Abram and his decentants. "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Once again, God is coming to His people, they are not searching for Him.

One main point Dr. Carlton was asking of us, is: did Israel have a missionary calling? Were they called to just be set apart and to follow God? Or were they also to evangelize all nations? (I don't know that I'd ever thought about this before. I just assumed they were to worship God and leave the other nations alone, except the ones they were to kill. haha...) Well, he presented a very convincing case that Israel was indeed to call other nations to the worship of their God. Now, they did not have a formal missionary calling, as we know it today (obviously, Christ had yet to come), however, they did have the role of calling all nations to worship and glorify God.

Exodus 19:4-6 "You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

So Israel was a nation of priests, but who were they to be priests to? Obviously, to serve the Lord, but to what people? Dr. Carlton believes that Israel was to be a mediator between God and the peoples (other nations)... they were to proclaim the excellencies of God to the nations. They were called to be separate and holy among the nations. Just like we are called to be in the world but not of the world.

Isn't it interesting that we are prone to the same error as Israel was? How so? God chose Israel to be a holy nation... why should they proclaim God to unreached peoples? Likewise, we as christians are a called people, whom God has set apart. Why should we evangelize? Yet wait... God explicitly calls us to make His glory known to the nations.

Look at some of these Psalms that he pointed out. The wording richly portrays that Israel understood this calling to the nations:

Ps. 96:2-3 - "Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!"
Ps. 117:1 - "Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!"
Ps. 9:11 - "Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!"
Ps. 18:49 - "For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name."
Ps. 57:9 - "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations."
Ps. 96:10 - "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."

Think about this for a second. These are the words that Israel most likely sung as they gathered together for worship. They were most certainly aware of the need to share God's covenant faithfulness to the nations.

Even in the New Testament Paul quotes several Old Testament verses in Romans 15 that deal with telling the nations (Gentiles) of God:

"For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

'Therefore I wil praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.' and again it is said,

'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.' And again,

'Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.' And again Isaiah says,

'The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.'" (vs. 8-13)

God's desire is to call all nations back to Himself. It is evident from scripture that before we were even created, we were called to extol our Lord and shout forth glory that is due His name!

Israel was called to glorify God through proclaming His goodness to the nations... New Testament believers were called to glorify God through proclaiming His goodness to the nations... I am called to glorify God through proclaiming His goodness to the nations... YOU are called to glorify God through proclaiming His goodness to the nations.

Will we answer that call?

In order to complete Orientation for those of us living on campus, we are required to watch seven videos informing us of different things around campus. One of the videos is about the history of Southern Seminary and Boyce College. It's less than 10 minutes long and very interesting. I thought I'd post a link to the video on here for any of you who would like to view it. All seven videos are listed but the second one is about the school's history.

The History of Southern & Boyce

You may need to pause the video and allow it time to "buffer" if it begins to get choppy on you. I had to do that... it usually works best if the little gray line goes about halfway... then you can restart it.

Enjoy!

Hey everyone!

Here is a link to my facebook page where I have more pictures up from Orientation weekend, in case you are interested. :-)

Facebook Pictures

If you are not familiar with Facebook, then when the pictures come up you can click on each one to read the captions underneath. :-)

Have a wonderful evening!

I took this picture this morning about 6:30... it's so pretty here at night and in the early morning hours! All the buildings are lit up around the JBowl (seminary lawn).

*ok... and if you're wondering why the lawn is called the "JBowl"... here's a little fun background of the school... legend has it that there was a class once that was studying Josephus and it was so difficult that after the class was over, all the students went to the seminary lawn and buried their textbooks. Hence... "JBowl"* :-)

I have now been at Boyce for one week and I'm still loving it! I have been so blessed by my classes and professors already. There are so many stories I could tell.

However, one of the main things that has encouraged me this week happened in my very first counseling class. It was something small, but something that really stood out to me. My professor, Heath Lambert, began our first class with the presentation of the gospel. He told us that it was his conviction to do that and that there was no reason for him to believe that everyone sitting in our classroom was saved. Just because we are attending a seminary does not mean that we are a christian. Now, some people may be offended by that. But I was intrigued and encouraged by it. It's true!!! You always hear testimonies of people who thought they were saved all growing up, yet the Lord did not reveal their lostness to them until adulthood.

How Prof. Lambert went about presenting the gospel was fascinating! Ya'll may have already seen this presentation used... but it was new for me. He used the acronym GRACE.

God
Rebellion
Atonement
Conversion
Eternal Life

There is also a mini acronym under C which is:

Content
Agree
Trust

So he began his presentation with God, who God is, the fact that He is holy, and that we are separated from Him because of our sins. Then he explained that each one of us has rebellion to God within our hearts. None of us can bring any righteousness to the table of salvation! We are "dead in our trespasses and sins." However, there was an atonement made, once for all, by Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross. He then elaborated on Christ's work on our behalf. Next comes conversion. However, in order to have conversion, there are three elementary aspects that need to take place. The person hearing the gospel must know the Content of the gospel, meaning, he must know that he is separated from a holy God due to his sin and that only by receiving the atoning work of Christ, he can be saved. He must then agree with that knowledge. However, finally, he must trust in Christ. Once a person is regenerated by the saving work of Christ, he then has the promise of Eternal life... the joy of living with a risen Savior and worshiping at His feet for eternity! Hallelujah!!! :-)

Simple... yet beautiful!

Well, I'm off to class... I've got to go learn how to relate to the staff at a church... haha! :-)

I've been so excited because I've found a couple girls who enjoy running. Last night a girl on my hall went running with me. I had the great intention of running from the school all the way to a city park, around the park, and then back. However, it's amazing how much farther it is when you run instead of when you are driving a route!!! haha... needless to say, it was farther than I thought! So we cut the run shorter and skipped the park. My lungs hurt for most of the run and so I think we must be at a higher altitude up here!!!

Last night, while I was grocery shopping after my run, another new friend here called me and asked if I wanted to go running at the park this morning with her. I did, so she picked me up this morning and we DROVE to the park... a much wiser idea! The park is great because there are lots of people out and there is a track that is 1.2 miles around the field. So you can run the cement track or run on the dirt track next to it.

Tonight we have our first dorm meeting, which I hear is a time when all the students come together and the Dean (Dr. Denny Burk!!!) preaches to us. Also there is a time of worship by singing. I'm excited to attend tonight! I think it will be a great time. Dr. Burk preached to us twice over the orientation weekend and it was excellent! The first night he preached from Romans 8 and the second night was from 1 Corinthians. How much better could it be?

On another note... my class schedule has changed up a little. I've had to add a couple classes and let go of one class. I found out that some of the classes I would need before I graduate are only offered every couple of years, so you have to take them whenever they are offered... so I added in a class called Church Staff Relations. It is a senior level class so I'm a bit nervous of the coursework... but it'll all work out great, I'm sure. I know I will definitely be drowning in papers this semester! It's a good thing I like to write, I guess! haha... :-)

Here's my new class schedule:

Tuesday
11:30 - 12:45 - Introduction to Christian Missions
1:00 - 2:15 - Introduction to Biblical Counseling

Wednesday
9:00 - 9:50 - Applied Ministry - Outreach
11:30 - 12:45 - Introduction to Christian Missions
1:00 - 2:15 - Introduction to Biblical Counseling

Thursday
9:00 - 9:50 - Applied Ministry - Small Groups
11:30 - 2:15 - The Role of Women in Ministry

Friday
8:30 - 11:15 - Church Staff Relations

Well, that's about it for now. I'm gonna go walk around the campus a little before Dorm Meeting starts. I'll try to get some pictures of the campus over the next few days to start posting.

I am now officially on campus at Boyce College and living in a dorm room (after five years of college, there's a first for everything!!!). It really is amazing here!!! Everything from the wonderful and friendly people and the excellent faculty of Boyce, to the cool mornings when I wished I had a jacket, to the beautiful scenery on campus, to the great running places, to the late night talks in the dorms, etc... it's just been great so far!!!

Well guys... this is it.

I'm heading to Louisville, Kentucky!!!

Please join us in praying for safety for us and our cars. We are so excited to be on our way! This is the first vacation my parents have had in 4 years... so they are very excited to be able to join me on my way to Boyce College.

Well, next time, I'll be writing to you from Kentucky. Laters!

Well everyone... it's almost here... the time for me to move to Kentucky!!! I've been packing and spending the last week saying "goodbye." Tomorrow I will pack up my car (and my parent's car) and at 5am Wednesday morning, we will be heading out to Kentucky. Our plan is to spend the night in Tennessee and then finish off the last three hours on Thursday morning.


I AM SO EXCITED!!!


I'm so ready to just be on the road and to get up to Boyce College. My classes will start next week on Tuesday, August 12th. I'll be blogging more when I get up there (Lord willing), if I can get good internet access. I'll be excited to share life experiences and pictures on here. So keep a watch cause you never know when I'll be updating (sorry!!!). :-)


Here's a few pics from my week:

My friend Melanie and I after running (after cleaning up) on Wednesday morning! We had so much fun hanging out together. We went to the Rowlett Creek Preserve and went trail running. Woot woot!!!

Tuesday evening I met up with my friend Vonni from Grace Church in Frisco and we went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Dallas, Fadi's Mediterranean Cuisine, then we went to Paciugo's for ice cream. After our night on the town, I went back to her apartment and spent the night with her. I so enjoyed our time together!!!

On Wednesday, after running with Mel and shopping for the afternoon, I met up with several good friends from Criswell for dinner. This is Joelle Allen and her sweet baby Judah. Isn't he so cute???

My good friends Nicole Popejoy and her twin sister Renee Streett met up with us also. I'm so grateful that I got to see them before I move to KY! I know I'll be back, but life changes so much in such a short period of time!

On Saturday night I got to see a bunch of my friends from here in Ft. Worth...

My sister-in-law, Lisa, and I.

My best friend, Jessica, and I.

haha... I love this picture!!!

My very, very dear friend, Camile and I!

Two of my good friends from Criswell, Josh Boulter and Nicole Popejoy.

Morgan Bedford and I... we graduated high school together and still keep up... wow... six years ago seems like forever, yet also seems like yesterday!

Mark and Jessica Driggers... and me...

Brent and Keri Osterberg with their sweet little son, Peter.

There are many more pictures that I could post from my week... this is only the tip of the ice berg, however, sleep awaits me and I need to continue working towards packing up. I'll try to write one last time before hopping in the car... one last post from Texas for a while!!! :-)