Hello blog followers, family and friends!
Today and tomorrow are going to be yet again long posts but then you will be all caught up! My hope and plan is once I catch you up to post twice a week. So let's get started!
Monday - Todd Wagner, Tuesday - Braun Brown, and Wednesday - Timothy Ateek.
Todd Wager came to speak on conflict resolution. Todd Wagner is the pastor Watermark church in Dallas Texas. He is a long time Kanakuk Guy. His daughter goes to OSU and we did K-Life together. However, I had never heard her dad speak. So it's awesome to finally hear him speak here at The Institute. His topic was a fun one for Dan and I to hear about. Conflict resolution actually was one thing over the summer that Dan and I worked on in our marriage. Hearing what he had to say, and the steps he has placed in his church to resolve conflict was so cool to hear about.
Our main focus for the class was to review over the verses Matthew 18:15–18. This is where in the Bible Jesus talks about how to resolve conflict. First go to your brother who is in sin in private. Second take a witness if your brother doesn't listen to you. Third if your brother still does not listen to you or the witness you take it to the church. Watermark church has a field guide on how to approach these three steps if need be. Todd Wagner gave us the field guide and we walked through it together. There was time to scripture and we dug deep into them. As well as the helpful hints the field guide provided. Todd Wagner and his church believe that the reason why we resolve conflict is to glorify God. Through that we must look at our own sin first before approaching our brother. And then we are to be reconciled with God and to others.
We are called to be peacemakers, Matthew 5:9. Because of this we should see conflict as an opportunity. An opportunity to glorify God and become more like Christ in being a peacemaker. To be a good peacemaker like I said the first thing in resolving conflict is to look at your own sin in your own life, Matthew 7:5. Todd then gave us the step-by-step process that he lays out for his church in confronting a brother. He calls it the 7As to become a peacemaker.
1. Ask the Lord and others for help in self awareness.
2. Address everyone involved as soon as possible
3. Avoid the words if, but, and maybe
4. Apologize
5. Ask for forgiveness
6. Accept the consequences
7. Alter your behavior
Todd then talked about how to avoid minor offenses and what was a minor offense. He gave us four questions to ask ourselves to see if it was a offense we needed to approach your brother on or one that needed to not bother us.
1. Is the offense seriously honoring God.
2. Has it permanently damage a relationship
3. Is it seriously hurting other people
4. Is it seriously hurting the defender himself
Todd concluded his talk with talking about reconciling. We are to be reconciled by God and then to others. This is what it takes to be a peacemaker.
Braun Brown came to talk to us about student ministry. He is the head of the full student ministry at Watermark church in Dallas Texas. Yes, that is correct if you've read the post from yesterday and the section right above this, we've had three speakers from Watermark church in Dallas Texas. The staff here at The Institute truly believe that it is a church following after Christ and has biblical teaching for its members. His talk consistent of telling us key things to know about being in ministry. Here are the high points.
-Ministry is a great privilege. God doesn't NEED you to do ministry He wants to use you to do His work.
-Be teachable and passionate. Make room for God to teach you through other people. Proverbs 27:9. Always assume the best when people are teaching you.
-Live in the light and Foster living in the light. John 3:19-21.
-Relational, spiritual, and professional trust are three keys to team leadership. Own your own stuff. Prayer, accountability, sharing what God is teaching you are ways to provide a team atmosphere. The ability to get stuff done, follow through on and projects, and being all in in all aspects shows you want to be apart of the team. Having short accounts, an open door policy for confrontation, and asking forgiveness with every team member allows it to be a smooth and productive team.
-Keep the Sabbath rhythm to your life. This means to have rest. Physical, spiritual, and emotional. These are all part of keeping your Sabbath restful. Know the signs of when you're in a stage unrest, and need to take some time for yourself.
-Trust God it's writing the story. Examples such as David and Joseph.
Braun Brown concluded his talk by talking through things that have changed in student ministry throughout the years. This was very enlightening and great to hear about. He talked about how parents are more involved today than ever before. And that small groups are the entry points to bringing new kids to join a small group, not the big events anymore.
Timothy Ateek is from Waco Texas. He has a ministry called and it focuses on college ministry. On our schedule it said he was coming to talk to us about how to make amends with a friend. However, when he came up on stage to talk with us he told us this, "I know your schedule says I'll be talking about making them into different. However, on Sunday I really felt like I needed to talk about something else. So on Monday I called Chad Hampsch and asked if I could switch what I was talking about. We decided to pray about it till Tuesday. And now I'm here on Wednesday and our talk is going to be different. Today I'll be walking us through verse by verse of one book of the Bible and that book is Song of Solomon."
The whole class giggled and got a little scared. Let me just say this, there are two married couples out of the 76 people here. There are six engaged people. Four of them are couples and are both here attending the Institute together, two their future spouse is not here. Hence, there are a lot of single people in the classroom. I can say now I was very glad we had this talk. I was a little apprehensive at first with how our class was responding to what he was saying. The atmosphere got better as they realized this was a book for everyone no matter the status of our relationships. Timothy was quite funny with this intense subject we were talking about. If you don't know Song of Solomon is all about LOVE. The love that God gave us here on earth to enjoy as a married couple, one man and one woman. I am not joking when I say that we went verse by verse through this book. However, we did not make it through the full book, because of time. We only got to chapter 4. Even though we only got through half of the book it was so enlightening and so cool to see how God has given us a full book on relationships. Tim titled his talk Finding, Making, and Maintaining love.
These are the highlights of what I got out of Tim's talk about Song of Solomon.
Chapter 1 verses 1–7, is section 1. It is titled, who you're looking for and who you want to be.
1. Verse 3, is the girl talking about Solomon. His oils and fragrance, and how she compares that to his character and reputation. Tim challenged the guys and asked, what do you smell like? Is your character something to be proud of, smell good or not.
2. Verse 7, is the girl talking about how she wants to meet Solomon, but that she won't go out wondering like the other girls for men. She will wait for him to pursue. She will stand firm and her beliefs. Tim challenged the girls and asked, are you wondering for you waiting for God's man in your life?
Chapter 1 – Chapter 3:5, is section 2. It is titled, how to date well.
1. Verse 11, is the girls friends talking about helping the girl get ready for a date. I loved this verse because that is still true today. Whenever a girl gets out on a date the first thing she does is call her friends and they ask her what she is gonna wear and then they help her get ready.
2. Chapter 2:2, is Solomon affirming the girls beauty after she states she is just common. I loved this verse and how Tim put it. Guys are here to affirm and push us to believe that we as girls are beautiful. No not for us to find our security in them but just like friends to speak truth when we listen to lies. Tim put it like this, "guys if you let a girl wander in her beauty then she will wander in her security."
Chapter 3 - Chapter 5:1, is section 3. It is titled marriage and sex.
We did talk through this section, however I am not going to write about it on the Internet.
I loved hear Tim talk over this book of the Bible. I love how it is still relevant today, such like the rest of the Bible.
The speakers were the main activities that happened in those three days. There were a couple other things I would like to share about which happened during that time though.
While we are here at The Institute we will serve in an internship here in Branson. On Monday, we got the chance to talk with different ministry opportunities to intern with face to face. Just yesterday we were given our internship placement so I would like to share about mine now. Mine is not with a church, or K-Life, instead I will be working with Kanakuk Kamps in their kamp kitchen and food department. I will be working along side Gina Hinch in developing a new way to keep track of every food item served at kamp and its ingredients. There will be a version online for parents to see as well as a hard copy in every kitchen so the cooks have the knowledge as well. I am SUPER PUMPED about this project and can't wait to start and tell all of you how it is going. I really believe this will benefit kamp and help with the process of offering different foods and having allergy food kids be able to enjoy the amazing place of Kanakuk Kamps.
The last thing we did in these three days was go to chapel on Wednesday. Shay Robbins, one of the men directors for The Kanakuk Kamp K-2 spoke. He spoke about Justification. This means to be set free from sin. His focus was on how we are in bondage because of our sin and that the belief in Christ is the only way to get out. He finished with talking about a heart change to follow Christ. No this isn't mandatory, however if you believe In Jesus Christ then you should be compelled to change. How a heart change comes from repentance. How repentance is to agree with God about my sin. And how our reaction to this repentance it heart change,
I hope yet again you have been encouraged in some way from reading my blog. I do take this seriously. My faith, my walk with Christ and how I portray it to others. I pray The Lord brings you to repentance because we all need it daily, and through that we decide to make a heart change. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day or night (to cover whatever time you are reading it at!)
Our main focus for the class was to review over the verses Matthew 18:15–18. This is where in the Bible Jesus talks about how to resolve conflict. First go to your brother who is in sin in private. Second take a witness if your brother doesn't listen to you. Third if your brother still does not listen to you or the witness you take it to the church. Watermark church has a field guide on how to approach these three steps if need be. Todd Wagner gave us the field guide and we walked through it together. There was time to scripture and we dug deep into them. As well as the helpful hints the field guide provided. Todd Wagner and his church believe that the reason why we resolve conflict is to glorify God. Through that we must look at our own sin first before approaching our brother. And then we are to be reconciled with God and to others.
We are called to be peacemakers, Matthew 5:9. Because of this we should see conflict as an opportunity. An opportunity to glorify God and become more like Christ in being a peacemaker. To be a good peacemaker like I said the first thing in resolving conflict is to look at your own sin in your own life, Matthew 7:5. Todd then gave us the step-by-step process that he lays out for his church in confronting a brother. He calls it the 7As to become a peacemaker.
1. Ask the Lord and others for help in self awareness.
2. Address everyone involved as soon as possible
3. Avoid the words if, but, and maybe
4. Apologize
5. Ask for forgiveness
6. Accept the consequences
7. Alter your behavior
Todd then talked about how to avoid minor offenses and what was a minor offense. He gave us four questions to ask ourselves to see if it was a offense we needed to approach your brother on or one that needed to not bother us.
1. Is the offense seriously honoring God.
2. Has it permanently damage a relationship
3. Is it seriously hurting other people
4. Is it seriously hurting the defender himself
Todd concluded his talk with talking about reconciling. We are to be reconciled by God and then to others. This is what it takes to be a peacemaker.
Braun Brown came to talk to us about student ministry. He is the head of the full student ministry at Watermark church in Dallas Texas. Yes, that is correct if you've read the post from yesterday and the section right above this, we've had three speakers from Watermark church in Dallas Texas. The staff here at The Institute truly believe that it is a church following after Christ and has biblical teaching for its members. His talk consistent of telling us key things to know about being in ministry. Here are the high points.
-Ministry is a great privilege. God doesn't NEED you to do ministry He wants to use you to do His work.
-Be teachable and passionate. Make room for God to teach you through other people. Proverbs 27:9. Always assume the best when people are teaching you.
-Live in the light and Foster living in the light. John 3:19-21.
-Relational, spiritual, and professional trust are three keys to team leadership. Own your own stuff. Prayer, accountability, sharing what God is teaching you are ways to provide a team atmosphere. The ability to get stuff done, follow through on and projects, and being all in in all aspects shows you want to be apart of the team. Having short accounts, an open door policy for confrontation, and asking forgiveness with every team member allows it to be a smooth and productive team.
-Keep the Sabbath rhythm to your life. This means to have rest. Physical, spiritual, and emotional. These are all part of keeping your Sabbath restful. Know the signs of when you're in a stage unrest, and need to take some time for yourself.
-Trust God it's writing the story. Examples such as David and Joseph.
Braun Brown concluded his talk by talking through things that have changed in student ministry throughout the years. This was very enlightening and great to hear about. He talked about how parents are more involved today than ever before. And that small groups are the entry points to bringing new kids to join a small group, not the big events anymore.
Timothy Ateek is from Waco Texas. He has a ministry called and it focuses on college ministry. On our schedule it said he was coming to talk to us about how to make amends with a friend. However, when he came up on stage to talk with us he told us this, "I know your schedule says I'll be talking about making them into different. However, on Sunday I really felt like I needed to talk about something else. So on Monday I called Chad Hampsch and asked if I could switch what I was talking about. We decided to pray about it till Tuesday. And now I'm here on Wednesday and our talk is going to be different. Today I'll be walking us through verse by verse of one book of the Bible and that book is Song of Solomon."
The whole class giggled and got a little scared. Let me just say this, there are two married couples out of the 76 people here. There are six engaged people. Four of them are couples and are both here attending the Institute together, two their future spouse is not here. Hence, there are a lot of single people in the classroom. I can say now I was very glad we had this talk. I was a little apprehensive at first with how our class was responding to what he was saying. The atmosphere got better as they realized this was a book for everyone no matter the status of our relationships. Timothy was quite funny with this intense subject we were talking about. If you don't know Song of Solomon is all about LOVE. The love that God gave us here on earth to enjoy as a married couple, one man and one woman. I am not joking when I say that we went verse by verse through this book. However, we did not make it through the full book, because of time. We only got to chapter 4. Even though we only got through half of the book it was so enlightening and so cool to see how God has given us a full book on relationships. Tim titled his talk Finding, Making, and Maintaining love.
These are the highlights of what I got out of Tim's talk about Song of Solomon.
Chapter 1 verses 1–7, is section 1. It is titled, who you're looking for and who you want to be.
1. Verse 3, is the girl talking about Solomon. His oils and fragrance, and how she compares that to his character and reputation. Tim challenged the guys and asked, what do you smell like? Is your character something to be proud of, smell good or not.
2. Verse 7, is the girl talking about how she wants to meet Solomon, but that she won't go out wondering like the other girls for men. She will wait for him to pursue. She will stand firm and her beliefs. Tim challenged the girls and asked, are you wondering for you waiting for God's man in your life?
Chapter 1 – Chapter 3:5, is section 2. It is titled, how to date well.
1. Verse 11, is the girls friends talking about helping the girl get ready for a date. I loved this verse because that is still true today. Whenever a girl gets out on a date the first thing she does is call her friends and they ask her what she is gonna wear and then they help her get ready.
2. Chapter 2:2, is Solomon affirming the girls beauty after she states she is just common. I loved this verse and how Tim put it. Guys are here to affirm and push us to believe that we as girls are beautiful. No not for us to find our security in them but just like friends to speak truth when we listen to lies. Tim put it like this, "guys if you let a girl wander in her beauty then she will wander in her security."
Chapter 3 - Chapter 5:1, is section 3. It is titled marriage and sex.
We did talk through this section, however I am not going to write about it on the Internet.
I loved hear Tim talk over this book of the Bible. I love how it is still relevant today, such like the rest of the Bible.
The speakers were the main activities that happened in those three days. There were a couple other things I would like to share about which happened during that time though.
While we are here at The Institute we will serve in an internship here in Branson. On Monday, we got the chance to talk with different ministry opportunities to intern with face to face. Just yesterday we were given our internship placement so I would like to share about mine now. Mine is not with a church, or K-Life, instead I will be working with Kanakuk Kamps in their kamp kitchen and food department. I will be working along side Gina Hinch in developing a new way to keep track of every food item served at kamp and its ingredients. There will be a version online for parents to see as well as a hard copy in every kitchen so the cooks have the knowledge as well. I am SUPER PUMPED about this project and can't wait to start and tell all of you how it is going. I really believe this will benefit kamp and help with the process of offering different foods and having allergy food kids be able to enjoy the amazing place of Kanakuk Kamps.
The last thing we did in these three days was go to chapel on Wednesday. Shay Robbins, one of the men directors for The Kanakuk Kamp K-2 spoke. He spoke about Justification. This means to be set free from sin. His focus was on how we are in bondage because of our sin and that the belief in Christ is the only way to get out. He finished with talking about a heart change to follow Christ. No this isn't mandatory, however if you believe In Jesus Christ then you should be compelled to change. How a heart change comes from repentance. How repentance is to agree with God about my sin. And how our reaction to this repentance it heart change,
I hope yet again you have been encouraged in some way from reading my blog. I do take this seriously. My faith, my walk with Christ and how I portray it to others. I pray The Lord brings you to repentance because we all need it daily, and through that we decide to make a heart change. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day or night (to cover whatever time you are reading it at!)
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