May 28, 2006

conGRADulations, colleen!

My sister Colleen graduated from high school yesterday! It's so cool (and unbelievable) to see her complete high school. She'll be up at WVU this fall, which I'm very pumped about, and she'll be helping with a lot of our tech stuff at h2o. She's very good with all things 'video,' from filming to editing to compiling and utilizing for different purposes, like a presentation of a mission trip to Haiti or moving background images for a worship set. She's super COOL!

Here she is with her siblings:


And here we are in our true form:

May 23, 2006

May.06 prayer letter

Hiya! Here's my prayer letter, dated May 19, for supporters of the ministry:

'Summer is here! Well, sort of. I guess it’s not ‘technically’ summer till mid-June, and anyway, the weather this week feels more like ‘April showers’ than ‘May flowers.’ I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to some warm weather!

However, as far as college students are concerned, summer has been here for almost two weeks. Many, including my wife, finished their last exams on Friday, May 5th. Sarah’s were her last of her undergraduate career! She won’t officially graduate till this December, but this fall she will begin work in her Master’s of Social Work. I’m very proud of her as she surpasses me in the world of academia. Pray for her as she fills her time with other endeavors, whether it’s reading some books she’s wanted to or discipling the high school girls she works with and getting them out to Young Life camp in June.

I wanted to let you know that all of our end-of-the-year stuff went real well. I also wanted to show you some pictures; here’s a shot of the candle arrangement from the Seder:

Here’s Sarah and me at the ‘Stache Bash:

And I don’t think I’ve ever shown you a picture from our canvas group, exsatio, that we started this semester. It’s been a great time of Bible study and friendship development. Here’s a bunch of the boys playing guitar:
All our canvas groups are meeting in one group for the summer since there are less people here; it will be called ‘The Well’ and it’s starting next Wednesday at the Waterhouse. I’d love to see the committed students and leaders still around stay involved with that, so please pray they come out. It will help us all stay connected. In the fall, we’ll branch back into the Monday renovaré, Tuesday veritas and Wednesday exsatio, and hopefully start one more canvas group, as is our goal each semester.
I have some news about LT (Leadership Training) that I’ve been able to share with some of you already. Sarah and I won’t be going for as long a period as we thought when I wrote you last. The LT program people had some housing fall through; they were able to make other arrangements, but it is more expensive. So, since they are well-staffed this summer, they offered for Sarah and me to only come for 4 weeks instead of 10. We happily agreed, because this will give us opportunity to both help the summer activities here in Morgantown get established as well as get a taste of LT and the work there. We will be in Wilmington for the four weeks of July. This also means that we have to raise less than we thought for the cost of LT! But we’re still in need of some, so thanks again to those who have already given extra to GCM for this cost and for those that are still considering doing so. Remember, always send extra gifts to GCM and not to Sarah and me personally. If you wish to give above and beyond your current or past giving, please just send it in to GCM either this month or next. Thank you!
On that note, I want to take a minute and attempt to encourage all of you for your generosity! I recently saw a letter from a friend who is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, and he talked about how we all, as Christians, are called to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28: ‘...go and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ He referenced Romans 10:15 as well, which says, ‘And how can they preach unless they are sent?’ speaking of those who proclaim the message so that others may hear and believe. It is God who sends all of us, but He also has enabled some of us, like you, to ‘send’ others, like me, to ‘go’ in specific ways. Both jobs are equally important, and I want you to know I truly believe that and hope you do too. Thank you for ‘going’ in your lives and also by your ‘sending’ of me!
You may wonder what exactly I do with my time now that a lot of students aren’t here and now that I won’t be at LT for as long. Well, a lot, surprisingly! I got to give my third message to date at h2o on May 7th. As I’ve said before, I don’t aspire to be a regular speaker in ministry, but I do enjoy filling in here and there when Billy is out of town, and it is always good for the mind, heart and soul to engage Scripture in serious study. Study in general is what I’m looking most forward to being able to commit more time to this summer. There are a lot of books I’ve been meaning to read, some of which I’ve already started, like The Provocative Church by Graham Tomlin and Simply Christian by N. T. Wright, which both speak of elemental themes of who we are as Christians and as the body of Christ and our role in His Kingdom and this world. I’m also going to read and complete the study materials for Living by the Book by Howard G. & William D. Hendricks; it’s been recommended in the highest degree by scholarly friends for revealing how we are to read the Bible to derive the most meaning from it for our lives. Pray for me: that I devote the personal time needed, that I open my heart and mind to what God is teaching me through these texts, and that I am willing to let Him shape me from His very heart and be sharpened by Billy and others by discussing what I’m learning with them.
And of course, as I’ve mentioned, we are continuing h2o every Sunday this summer, which I’m helping with as usual, and we will have our weekly Bible study, ‘the Well,’ every Wednesday, which I will help lead. Please pray for our increased efforts this summer to remain connected with students. And also pray for our place of meeting, the Waterhouse, that it may continue to serve our needs and that we can keep improving it for God’s purposes.
IN CHRIST,
Cameron'

May 16, 2006

Spiritual Formation

How about that: two posts in two days! I think this is a first. Just wanted to share some thoughts about something I just read.

Today I kind of organized my and Sarah's bookshelf. We've got classics, both old and contemporary, in the upper left. My extensive fantasy/sci-fi collection fills the rest of the top shelf. The middle shelf is Christian reading and study, and pretty much the right half is all Bibles of various translation and focus. Sarah's collected quite a few over the years! And the bottom shelf has duplicate copies we've acquired, blank and filled notebooks of Sarah's, and devotional-type reading.

One of the Bibles we have is the NIV 'Spiritual Formation' Bible in which I just read part of the intro. Even in this moment as I look over the words and the Scripture it points to, I can feel the work God is doing in me. Which essentially is what spiritual formation is. Billy (of the 'billy williams' link to the right) first really introduced spiritual formation to me. The idea and the language used to describe it really speaks deeply to me, as do any commentaries or books about the epic scope of God's story and our part in it.

Here's an extensive quote from the introduction: 'What is Spiritual Formation? Human beings are creatures of the future. Unlike other inhabitants of creation whose lives are fixed within the boundaries of genetics and instinct, human existence is open-ended, laced with mystery, like moist clay in a potter's hand. We are works in progress, shaped by the constant rhythms of nature and the unexpected turns of history. Sometimes elated and sometimes burdened by our unfinished condition, we live our days conscious that "what we will be has not yet been made known" (1 John 3:2). A sense of our true identity is always just beyond our grasp, always awaiting us, it seems, just around the next bend in the road.

'As nature and history interact with a human existence that is incomplete, pliable and rich with significant potential, personal formation occurs. Human beings are formed by the sculpting of will, intellect and emotion into a distinct way of being in the world. Such formation of personal character will assume a wide range of expression depending on our location geographically, socially, economically and culturally. Family values, social conventions, culturual assumptions, the great turning points of an epoch, the painful secrets of a heart -- these and many other factors combine to form or deform the direction, depth and boundaries of our lives. Formation is therefore a fundamental characteristic of human life. It is happening whether or not we are aware of it, and its effect may as often inhibit as promote the development of healthy, fulfilled humanity.

'For people of Biblical faith, nautre and history of themselves are not the final sources of personal formation. Rather, they are means through which the God who formed all things molds human beings into the contours of their truest destiny, the unfettered praise of God (see Isaiah 43:21). To be shaped by God's gracious design is a particular expression of personal formation -- spiritual formation.'

And I could go on. I'll probably share more in later posts. It's an excellent essay. And I haven't even gotten to Jesus Christ, the 'human being fully alive, fully open to God's work in the world.' Until next time...

May 15, 2006

hello there...

Hi everyone. I received a comment from my friend Adam that said, 'update update update,' so here I am updating. Again, I'm sorry that I can't seem to break my average of three posts a month. And this one's short; I want to gather my thoughts and write some more in the near future.

Upcoming this week: May prayer letter! And I'll also try to put some recent pictures of me and Sarah and some of the things we've been doing. Until then...