Sonshine State Retreat + Quick Update
12 Mar
I’m hopping on a plane next Thursday to speak at the Sonshine State Retreat in Gainesville, FL.
College students representing ministries from all over Florida will be there (I hear a couple from out of state are coming too), and I get to teach alongside Buddy Bell – the preaching minister for the Landmark Church of Christ in Montgomery, AL.
In addition to speaking to fired up college students just being plain fun, Buddy is one of my favorite preachers, so this retreat is going to be awesome! I’m really looking forward to it and I’ll see about posting the audio for you when I get home.
—-
Ministry life in San Francisco is continuing to go well. My wife and I have been spending a lot of time with the college students, and there are positives and negatives to having a group that’s 99% made up of new Christians.
It’s negative in that there’s simply so much for them to learn and still so much for them to overcome, but positive in that it’s inspiring and exciting to see them grow when they finally start to “get it.”
Airiel and I just got home from our friend Marc’s birthday party. Marc was baptized just a few months ago (see this post), and is one of the most encouraging guys I know.
His birthday party was held at a local Filipino restaurant we rented off Mission Street in San Francisco, and about 40 of his friends showed up to celebrate (I’ll see about posting pictures later).
About half way through the party when everyone was finishing up their food, Marc grabbed the mic from the gypsy band that was playing there (lol gypsies – they were good btw) and took the opportunity to 1) express his love and appreciation for all who showed up, 2) read Scripture and talk about what it meant to him, and 3) share his faith in Christ with everyone there (even the gypsies – lol).
Talk about witnessing! Many if not most of the people that were in that room tonight are not Christians. They love Marc and Marc loves them, but Marc also loves Jesus very, very much, and he’s not ashamed to tell people about it – even a room full of peers many of whom don’t. How’s that for a mark of maturity?
In addition to that, Marc put fliers on each table that contained info about the party for guests, but also info about our upcoming college ministry events which he encouraged everyone to come to (with no prompting from me at all). Great stuff!
We have a bunch of people coming over to our house tomorrow night to watch the Pacquiao vs. Clottey boxing pay-per-view (that was one of the events listed on the flier). We’re expecting that to be great too. Social gatherings like these give us opportunities to build relationships with people God wants us to get to know.
I’m a huge believer in divine appointments, and we’re praying for God to send us more people interested in learning about Him. It’s amazing how He’s faithful in answering that prayer if you’ll just pray it.
Anyway, thank you to all our friends and supporters who read this blog and think about us.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we do God’s work here in San Francisco!
Tags: jesus, Lake Merced Church of Christ, san francisco church, witnessing
Glad you are watching the fight tonight. I will be also. Coodoos to Marc for this expression of faith. I know that had to encourage you. You just got a prayer sent up from Searcy. As you know it is just a short distance from Searcy to heaven so prayers go up quicker!
It was both a surprise and an encouragement. Thanks for praying for me in close proximity to heaven. Hopefully the velocity won’t knock Jesus down.
The fight tonight ought to be good, but I really want to see Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. Apparently Pacquiao is refusing to take a blood test (for steroids) as part of the fight contract. That’s pretty fishy to me.
That is wonderful news…keep it coming.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Thanks Rex – God bless you brother
p.s. – will you be at Pepperdine again this year? I smell another run to Jack in the Box.
I am not sure yet because of the cost but I will know for sure in about a month whether I can swing it. I know I sure would love to be there and if I am…yes, I smell another Jack-in-the-Box run.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Outstanding. Praise God.