I am going to start posting a mid week update every Thursday. I can’t currently think of a catchy title for it but hopefully it will come.
-Here is a picture of the kids that I work with. They bring great joy to my life
FBC at Bobcats Game
-I got to give out sweatshirts to our basketball teams on Monday night at our practice. It was simply amazing to see the smile on the kids faces when they received their presents from the coaches.
-My Wednesday was amazing! I went over to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and got to see how contract negotiations work as we try to work out a deal with the Bulls.
-Wednesday also was amazing because Duke beat BC, Clemson beat UNC, and I got to play team trivia with some great friends tonight.
-The situation in Haiti has been awful and I can’t imagine being in that situation. Reports are saying that over 100,000 people could be dead and it breaks my heart to hear about the destruction and death in Haiti right now. If you would like to donate to help in Haiti please visit Samaritan’s Purse.
-Lastly, this has been an amazing week so far because on Sunday I got to witness two of our basketball players get baptized and tonight at our Wednesday night service, 2 more students accepted Christ as their Savior (one was one of my basketball players). The Wired Student Ministry at FBC Cary has been doing some amazing things!
So far it has been an awesome week. Just 2 weeks ago I had a talk with another coach and we both shared that we were wondering if the kids paid attention and if we were really making a difference. This week I see that God has truly moved in the lives of some of these students because of the game of basketball. I am so glad to be a part of what is going on at the church through basketball and I am stoked about what God is doing in the lives of students and adults affiliated with the basketball ministry.
After a lengthy conversation today with a close friend I have decided to start blogging again. There is a ton going on in my life right now and I have been encouraged to share it with the people who actually read what I have to write.
In a book that I read recently, the author talked about how the happiest man he ever met was a man who writes down every memory that he has so that he never forgets them. He literally has books filled with memories good and/or bad so that he can look back over his life and see the big and little things that have happened.
In case you were wondering, no, i’m not going to use this blog to write down everything that happens but I do want to share with you the things that are important including my faith and the basketball league that I am coaching in.
God is doing some amazing things through basketball at the church that I attend. We went from bring a basketball team to a basketball ministry over the course of about 2 years. I will upload some thoughts, stories, pictures, and other information soon.
So it has been a long time since my last post and now I am at a point where I am excited about blogging again. It has been a crazy last 6 months but things are going great and I am loving every second of life.
This summer I spent a lot of time traveling and ended up making it to see all 10 minor league stadiums in NC. It was a great road trip and I encourage anyone who is a baseball fan to make the same trip.
I also had a chance to take a trip to Seattle in September. While there I got to check out the Yankees vs. Mariners series, visit the pacific ocean, watch USC get upset by the University of Washington, and oh yeah, get my picture made with the USC cheerleaders
I spent a long weekend in Baltimore watching more baseball and spending time with some great friends. We caught the Marlins vs. Nationals in Washington, DC and the Rangers vs. Orioles at Camden Yards.
Some people don’t like baseball because it is too slow but I think that baseball is the best sport for that reason. You can go to the game with friends, relax, catch up, and not miss a thing. It is also the only sport that is not on a time limit. Therefore as Yogi Berra said “it ain’t over ’till it’s over.”
The last trip that I took was to Charleston, SC. I think that Charleston may be my favorite city that I have been to. Myself and 18 close friends went there for a long weekend to celebrate a close friend getting married.
Since my last post I have also started a new job. I got on with a great marketing company here in the Raleigh area. Currently it is limited term but hopefully it can turn long term at the end of my time here.
I have also started coaching my basketball teams at the church and I am going to be talking about the ministry that I’m involved in quite a bit over the next few months.
Recently I have started to look into many of the different types of ministries out there to find out what is available and what types of different things are out there.
“To reach people that no one is reaching, you have to do things that no one is doing”
Three ministries that I have come across are listed below:
This is a ministry that was started by Donald Miller and it aims to mentor fatherless boys and give them someone in their life to look up to and to be a role model. A video that I saw on this ministry started that over 70% of prisoners in American grew up without a dad…let that sink in for a second…over 70% came from a home without a father. That blows me away. This ministry hopes to be able to close the gap of children without father figures as it utilizes the local church for mentors. Please check out their website and check out the story about why they use elephants as their logo. It’s crazy how similar we can be to elephants.
Slavery ended with the civil war right? Wrong! There are over 1.8 million girls being sold into slavery in Thailand alone. Girls that are being ripped away from their family and friends and thrown into a living hell to make money to live on. In Thailand you can “rent” a girl for $24 US Dollars a day. $1 an hour can buy someone in that country. That is sick. People don’t realize that these girls are someones sister, daughter, and grandchild. This ministry focuses on trying to give these girls hope. For $24 you can help to sponsor a child. Someone will go and buy her for the day and give her a place of refuge, take care of her, and show her the love of Christ and will be able to know that there is a better way and a love out there that they may not have known existed.
This is a ministry that hits close to home. It is something that every guy deals with at some point and it is something that i had to deal with in my own life not too long ago. Pornography is one of the most disgusting and addictive sins out there and it is also one of the one that ensnares many boys and men alike because it can and is a secret sin in most cases. The porn industry is growing everyday and this ministry aims to do two things. 1) Take Jesus as he is, to people as they are by showing porn stars and addicts that there is a God who loves them and that there is a better life waiting for them. They attend pornography conferences and awards shows and spend a lot of time working with different people in Las Vegas because as their slogan says “Jesus Loves Porn Stars.” 2) Serves to provide accountability for people who have been porn addicts (like myself). I wasn’t the type of person who needed it to make it through each day but it was something that I looked at way more than I should have. XXXChurch provides software for your computer that will send alerts to people you choose when you look at something you shouldn’t online. It is a great program and I have been using it for close to 4 months now and have had a huge change in my life. Addictions to pornography are a very tough thing to deal with and it can be almost as bad if not worse than alcoholism or drug addiction and I am so thankful for this ministry because it has allowed me to have accountability and has allowed me to get back to where I need to be.
These are just a few ministries that are out there. There are so many people doing great things and thinking outside of the box to find ways to serve people and minister to people that haven’t been ministered to. I feel like that is exactly what Jesus would want. Jesus didn’t call us to spend all of our time with the doctors, lawyers, famous, rich people. Jesus was a friend to sinners and he spent his time around the dirtiest people when he walked the earth.
What are you doing to help? Any ministries or opportunities out there that you want to talk about? Please let me know.
Wow it has been a long time since I last blogged. Life has been extremely busy over the last few weeks.
Since my last update I have been to several concerts and baseball games and have had the chance to enjoy summer with the people that make life worth living. Recently I have also experienced the joys and pains of life through the lives of my friends. One friend and his wife just had their first child and another friend lost his mother to cancer. Life is so amazing yet so fragile. These two instances have allowed me to realize that life is about the present, it’s not about worrying whether or not something might happen and it’s not about being boring and settling for routine. The world is so much bigger than your current location and experiences.
So the reason I have not been blogging is because I have been enjoying my time with the people that I love. Because at the end of it all I want to be able to say that I lived life.
On Sunday night some friends and I went to Amos Southend in Charlotte to see Mat Kearney. It was an amazing show and I have so much respect or him because his music is real and their is truth in the lyrics. He takes the message of Jesus to people as they are, where they are and that is amazing to me.
I leave you with this video I found yesterday about one of his songs. This song goes out to the many teenage and college girls out there that feel the pressures and pains of being young. There is so much more out there. And there is a God that loves you no matter what you’ve been through. The music is real and so is the truth that is in the music.
I found this Francis Chan video the other day. I feel that it really sums up the “Christian” life for some people, including myself at times. So many times we get comfortable where we are and don’t want to add anything else to our plates or take the next step for Christ.
My prayer for today is that I am never laying down or getting too comfortable with my faith.
What do you think of the video? How do you prevent yourself from getting to that point?
So lately I have been reading this book and it has been very eye opening as it talks about the way that younger demographics view the Christian faith. As I read through this my eyes have been opened to some of the thoughts and opinions of these generations.
Not everything in this book is new to me as I would be included in the generations mentioned. Many of the views mentioned have been brought up to me through conversations in the past but some of the topics covered have shed some light on new things to address in my own life and with the perceptions of the Christian church and faith.
This book addresses six issues that younger non-Christians and Christians have with the current Christian faith. The first three mentioned were that Christians were hypocritical, that they force people to “Get Saved” and that Christians are anti-homosexual. These two chapters have allowed me to gain a better understanding of these issues and what I can do to try to not portray these images.
Now I won’t spoil the book for you (partly because I haven’t finished it) as there are a ton of statistics about younger generations. But I will leave two quotes that I found interesting.
“Every human being struggles with immorality, because at our core is our heart’s rebellion against God.” ~David Kinnaman
“We need to be more concerned about reaching those who need Jesus than ‘proving’ our faith to those who already know him.” ~David Kinnaman
My prayer is that I can portray a genuine Christian faith and love people the way Christ does.
Has anyone read this book? What perceptions have you come across about the church?
So today I was sitting at work when the campus police called. “Excuse me Mr. Hall, did you know that your car has been broken into?”. I mean I appreciate the call but don’t you think I would have called you if I knew instead of you calling me. In the words of Bill Engvail, “here’s your sign!”
Anyway, back to the story. Someone broke into my car and stole my iPod, the fm transmitter, and my iPhone car charger. At first I was rather ticked off but then I decided that I wasn’t going to let some punk whom I doubt I have ever met ruin my day. After all there are bigger problems in our world today.
After I changed my perspective I started thinking about how the person who took it may need it more than me. Now I doubt they really need an iPod that bad but who knows they may need money or even better they may need the music or messages stored on the ipod.
If I don’t take anything else from this situation I think that it is important to make sure that our perspective is always right. If we want to let someone or something ruin our day then it will happen but it is ultimately up to us. Don’t let anyone steal your joy!
Throughout this situation I have been reminded of the song “Mighty to save”. I think it is applicable to this situation because I don’t know who did this or why they did it but I do know that my God loves them even through their shortcomings. The Bible calls us to love everyone with the love of God. “Be merciful just as your father is merciful” Luke 6:36.
