Blog - Page 111 of 139 - BenandJacq in the Browser

January 7, 2009July 19, 2010

Skis, Boots, Poles, and Funny.

I’ve written before about sleep-redecorating and my plea to recognize it as a sport. Today I upped the ante a bit. But it’s not the first time. Let me take you back.

In college a friend and I were zealous to really walk with the Lord, and so for a semester my sophomore year we would wake up at 7 AM to pray together. We’d pray for personal needs as well as for things going on around the world. In fact, we prayed the entire semester for him and a girl he was interested in who continually gave him the cold shoulder. Now, 9 years later, they are married and just had their second child. Prayer works.

But back to the story. One morning as we were praying, it was my turn. We had some friends who were missionaries in East Asia, and I was praying for them, out loud. Then, I began to pray for their skis, boots, and poles, and that God would bless them….

…wait, what?

It sounded just as absurd then as it does now. I had fallen asleep literally mid-sentence and in my dream I had seen skis, boots and poles leaned up against a wall. So logically that’s what I talked about, to God.

Some people talk in their sleep. I talk to God into my sleep.

This morning as I was slowly waking up and preparing to get out of bed, Jacqueline came in the room and I began telling her about my dream last night, and it happened again. I fell asleep mid-sentence, and began rambling on about something totally off topic.

I’m working on taking this skill to the next level and to fall asleep while praying in front of large groups of people. I just hope I’m not standing up.

January 5, 2009January 22, 2010

Found this at Ragamuffin Soul. Wow. just wow.

January 5, 2009January 22, 2010

Two Hundred Situps

Link: Two Hundred Situps

Either I’m just a glutton for punishment, or… I’ll let you know how it goes.

December 30, 2008July 19, 2010

What we celebrated a few days ago at Christmas was that the second Person of the Trinity was pushed through the birth canal of a teenaged girl.

Carrie Walker, speaking at our winter conference.

December 29, 2008July 19, 2010

Why I do what I do.

I’m sitting in the Global Village here at the Winter Conference (my job is, in part, to man the sound booth and make sure nobody walks away with the equipment), and each year two things seem to happen. First, I always seem to come down with some sort of bug during conference. That tradition continues this year with a nice head cold. Secondly, I am reminded each year during this conference why I do what I do. I love seeing college students show up to this conference. There is something kinetic that takes place when you get this many students together with a common vision and purpose. In a real way, it turns a bunch of individual ministries into a big movement.

I can’t help but remember the first time I showed up at a winter conference. Back then we called them Christmas conferences, and it was at the Adams Mark Hotel in Charlotte. I was an overly confident, extroverted freshman who had almost no self-awareness (i.e. I had no idea I was overly confident). I rolled into the ballroom at the hotel thinking I knew what to expect. I had been to big Christian gatherings before. We’d do some singing about how good God was, there would be a speaker who told us that we should love God, and we’d go home feeling good about ourselves.

I had no idea what was about to happen.

I don’t remember who spoke, I don’t remember much about the conference, to be honest. I just remember leaving as a different person than when I showed up. God had given me a glimpse of what it looked like to live for him in college. I saw 1500 other college students who cared about growing to be more like Christ, who loved people enough to be willing to step out in faith and share the gospel with people who didn’t know it.

It was a process, don’t get me wrong. One conference didn’t turn me into some kind of perfect Christian. In fact, I’m still well short of anything like that. What it did was totally change the trajectory of my life. Like the difference between getting on I-95 North and traveling 2000 miles and getting on I-40 West and doing the same thing, one small decision in the beginning totally changes where you end up. The road I took on December 27th, 1998 has led me on an amazing adventure that has literally taken me around the world to share the good news that Jesus died for jacked up people like me. 11 conferences later, I sit here watching hundreds of students get on the same road.

Pray with me that God would continue to use these conferences to change all of our trajectories! Also, while you’re praying… ask Him to make this head cold go away.