Internet Resources

Greetings everyone!

There are so many internet resources out there. There are a ton of churches, groups, businesses, and individuals who have developed their own websites, blogs, and so forth. I have a blog that my brother in law Jake helped me sign up for and also helped me move it to wordpress.

There is also facebook and twitter. Both of these are relatively new to me. I have know about facebook for a couple of years, but had not joined it until a year or two ago. A huge THANK YOU to my brother Colby and brother in law Jake for helping me get on facebook! It is a lot of fun! I’m not too familiar with twitter. I had never heard of twitter until earlier this year when I was watching my favorite sports talk show and heard of an NBA basketball player who wrote on his twitter during half time of a game. This guy got in big trouble for doing it too. I immediately thought, “twitter! what in the world is twitter?”. Since then I’ve seen twitter all over the place.

Each of these internet resources are sweeping the nation. A lot of people of all ages have at least one of these internet resources. There are those who multiple sights. It is very interesting to me how many people access the world wide web.

People of all ages have these sights. Probably the age groups who use them the most are young adults, college aged, and teens. If we as Christians want to effectively reach out to younger generations, we ought to be making good use of internet resources. For me, I like reading about different things churches and Christians are doing on their personal websites and church sites. It’s all very cool and interesting!

Personally, I have this blog and am on facebook. If anyone reading this blog has a facebook, please look me up. If you have a twitter page, please send me your twitter site on the comments page. Thank you all!

Thanks for reading today! God bless you all. Grace and Peace.

Who Do You Play For?

Greetings everyone! What you are about to read is something I have been thinking a lot about. I invite any and all comments and critiques any might have.

One of my favorite movies is Miracle. It is about the US Olympic Hockey team that played in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. The team of college all-stars was hand picked by the head coach Herb Brooks. While the team was practicing Brooks took each player aside for a one on one interview. Brooks asked them three questions: What’s your name; where are you from; and (most importantly) who do you play for. As I recall they each said their college team. When the team was playing an exhibition game they were playing very poorly. It seemed like their heads were elsewhere. The game ended and the team was getting ready to go to the locker room. Brooks said, “What do you guys think your doing?”. They all said they were going to the locker room. Brooks said, no your not! We’re staying right here. We’re going to practice. And he had them going over practice drills again and again and again. Until one guy stood up and said his name and where he was from. Brooks looked up at him and said, “Who do you play for?”. And this player said, “I play for the United States of America”. The coach looked around and told them they could leave now and practice was over. That was the turning point for the team. They would go on to defeat the team no one could seem to win against: Russia. And they won the Gold Medal also.

Look at 1st Kings 13 and read verses one through thirty two. Read the verses thinking of the theme: Who Do You Play For? Please allow me to summarize them. A man simply called a man of God from Judah denounces the king Jeroboam. The king threatens this man of God and orders him to be captured. The kings man shrivels up and he crys out to the man of God to pray for him to be healed. The man of God does, and the king’s hand is restored. The king invites him to stay and eat with the king. But the man of God stays he can not because God commanded him not to eat nor drink there and not to go home the same way he came. So he goes off.

Another man, also referred to as a man of God, finds out about this from his sons. He goes out to look for this man and finds him. They talk, and the second man invites the first over to his house. He says no because God commanded him not to. But the second man said he also is a man of God and He told him to have this man of God come over to eat. But the scripture said he was lying to him. But he believed this man and they went. But God told the second man the first one had disobeyed him and he wouldn’t be buried his ancesters’ tomb. He left on his donkey to go home and was met and killed by a lion. But the lion didn’t eat the dead body nor harmed the donkey in any way. The second man heard about it, went and got the body, and buried him.
I personally believe this man is in heaven today. But, sincerely or not, he disobeyed God and he was disciplined for it. These two men forgot who they played for. When we teach people about how to come to salvation, we better be teaching them what the Bible says. Not what we think nor what anyone else thinks. We better preach the Word!

Next, let’s look at 2nd Timothy 4:1-5. Again, read the verses with the theme of Who Do You Play For in mind.
In verse one Paul reminds Timothy he had been commisstioned by Jesus Christ. In verse two Paul reminds him to preach the Word no matter what happens.

In verses three and four Paul reminds him there are those who have forgotten who they played for. They turned their attention from what God wants to what man wants, and from what man needs to hear to what they wanted to hear.

Verse five reminds me of what a great coach would tell his team right before they went out to play the biggest game of their careers. Paul first tells him to remember who you are and who’s you are. Secondly, hang in there when the going gets tough. Third, remember what you have been taught. And forth, do everything you have been commisstioned to do.

In short, Remember Who You Play For!

What do all of you think? Comments, please. God bless you all. Grace and Peace.

Blogs To Read

Greetings everyone! I read two blogs yesterday and this morning that were very good and thought provoking.

Two friends of mine have been writing a blog now and they are both really good. Check out: chickypez.wordpress.com and: viewfromthemberwood.blogspot.com. There words are very good, funny, and thought-provoking.

Check out Tim Spivey’s blog timspivey.com. He eluded to a blog by another who wrote the top ten ways to discourage young ministers. The words shared there are very good and made me think really hard about myself.

And a friend who I just met on the blog world. He is a campus minister in MO where he, his family, and his parents were instrumental in planting a church. Check his blog out at universityministry.wordpress.com. This blog is really good and great for all ministries and churches to think about.

Please check out these blogs for great thought-provoking reading. God bless. Grace and Peace.

Camp Hunt/ Central New York

Greetings everyone! I had a lovely two weeks in New York. I arrived at DFW Airport a little bit after 9 PM Central Time last night. Let me tell you all about it.

I got to be part of Senior Week at Camp Hunt and work with teenagers. I was able to work in the kitchen serving food several times and helped teach a couple of classes. There are two Bible class sessions during the day. One class in the morning and one class in the afternoon. I helped our great friend Steve Singleton (deeperstudy.com) teach a class on biblical archeology Monday through Thursday. On Friday I got the opportunity to teach a class for Rob (the gentleman I stayed with in Utica the second week I was in New York). His class was on being a counter- cultural in our Christian lives. He showed me his material he wanted to cover in the morning class and I went to his morning session to get a good feel for what he was covering. Then I was more confident in covering his material for him in the afternoon session. Rob had gone to Syracuse for a rehersal for a wedding he was going to officiate the following day. I think all of Steve’s and Rob’s classes went well. Camp Hunt is a wonderful camp! I could see why so many people there love it so much!

The next week I went back to Utica (in Central New York) with Rob and Cassie Shaver. Rob and I got the chance to talk a lot about life and church. We had several great conversations. We got to visit with two church leaders. Wednesday we had a great visit with a church leader in Rome, NY and another great visit with the preacher in Cooperstown, NY on Friday. On Tuesday we went to a nearby city to visit with an elderly man who needed to sell his house to move to an apartment. He wanted to go through his possessions to see what he wanted to keep and take with him in his apartment and what he wanted to sell. He had several books he let me look through and let me have any I wanted. Rob plans to go back to this man’s house with someone who will look through his stuff and his house and tell them how much his house is all worth.

After our visit with the minister in Cooperstown, Rob and I went to tour the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wow! I felt like a little kid in a candy store. It was a great time! I have been a HUGE baseball fan for a long time and was very blessed to get to visit the Hall of Fame!
We met up with this couple at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rob knows them from his days as a college student at a church of Christ college called Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia. This couple’s names are Matt and Richel. They and their three children currently live in Altoona, PA where Matt is one of the ministers of Pleasent Valley Church of Christ. He and Richel started doing parenting workshops. Rob met up with them at the recent Ohio Valley Lectureship and they told Rob of their plans to do these workshops. So Rob asked them to come to Utica to hold a workshop for the Utica church. They met us at the Hall of Fame and we went back to Utica and we got everything ready for the workshop. Rob and I had spent two days in the early part of the week passing out fliers throughout the community about the seminar. I was disappointed no one we talked to in the community went to the seminar. Several church members attended.

The seminar is called Fullcontact Parenting. Check it out on the web at fullcontactparenting.org. The seminar started on Friday night and went through Sunday morning. I felt the seminar was outstanding! It was very biblical and very lovingly yet firmly presented. It is for every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, and anyone else who is around children on a regular basis and cares about them. I think this seminar should be presented to and heard by every church throughout the US. Matt and Richel both did a fantastic job!

Matt and Richel also do campus ministry at the Penn State University campus in Altoona. Check out this ministry at lionsforthelord.org.

I had a great time in New York and am definitely praying and thinking about moving to the Northeast after finishing Sunset in May 2010.

Thank you to all of family and friends who made it possible for me to go to Camp Hunt and to Utica to check out the possibilities of moving to in living in the Northeast.

Thank you again! I love, cherish, and miss you all! God bless. Grace and Peace.

New York And Some Random Thoughts

Greetings one and all. On July 4th, Lord willing, a family from church and I will fly to Syracuse, NY to work with Camp Hunt (www.camp-hunt.org) for one week. The next week after camp I plan to go around visiting a few churches that are looking for a minister or an extra minister. My plan after Sunset is not (repeat: is NOT) to be a preacher or youth minister. My deepest and greatest desires are in college campus and/or singles ministries, and/or community outreach ministry, and/or member involvement ministry. If any one out there reading this is part of a church (or know any one who is) looking for an extra minister focusing on any of those areas, please have someone on search committee look at this and to email me at blaisdellzack14@gmail.com. I have a resume and philosophy of ministry statement prepared to send out to any churches who would like to see them. I am loving my school time at Sunset International Bible Institute! If all goes well my class and I will graduate in May 2010.
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Now some totally random thoughts.

As everyone out there reading this knows, I LOVE sports and have to admit that I am a flip-flopper. Meaning I am an occasional fair-weather fan.
For example: I have been cheering for the Buffalo Bills since 1991 when they played in their first of four Super Bowls that they lost. That is, until they signed Terrel Owens (aka TO). He’s the best wide receiver in the NFL in my opinion, but I DON’T want him on my team. I promised my self a long time ago I wouldn’t ever cheer for him nor any team that has him. Sadly, that includes the Buffalo Bills. I have been cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers for a few years now, and will devote my full fan attention to the Steel curtain for the forseeable future.
Another example: In college football, I have loved the Nebraska Cornhuskers for a while now. But I also root for the Oklahoma Sooners as well. Those are my favorite and most dominate teams. I also root for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Colorado Buffaloes, Florida Gators, and Auburn Tigers a lot too.
In college basketball I cheer for the Duke Blue Devils, Kansas Jayhawks, and North Carolina Tar Heels.

In the NBA, my fan attention is only on the Dallas Mavericks.

In Major League Baseball, I cheer the Texas Rangers. If my Rangers aren’t in the playoffs, I cheer for the Boston Red Sox.

In hockey, I only root for the Dallas Stars.

I get way in to sports way too much and can get pretty boisterous. I’m currently trying to ton it down a little bit.

This has been way longer then I thought it would be. My apologies.

I hope and pray each of you has a great day today. God bless you all. Grace and Peace.

A Review of God Work: Confessions Of A Stand Up Theologian

While at Cameroon I read “God Work: Confessions Of A Stand Up Theologian” by Randy Harris. It was published in 2009 by Leafwood Press in Abilene, TX. Randy Harris is a Bible Professor at Abilene Christian University also in Abilene. The book has a total of 163 pages and 12 chapters. If I understand right this book is a collection of lessons Randy has presented over the years.
The first chapter is on doctrinal disagreement: must it be war (?). Of course it doesn’t, but way too many times it does.
The remainder of the book is broken down into four sections. The first section is Looking For God. In these three chapters Randy talks about God being in all things, that He works in all things. That we have the right to chose and God works in and through our choices that honor Him. We chose to have God part of our choices and decision making.
The second section talks about three theological explosions. These are the explosions of grace, experience, and presence. We all need God’s grace. When we get His grace, we experience Him, and His presence in our lives.
The third section is Navigating the Brave New World. This section addresses life after the death of humanity and the gospel after the death of truth. Life after the death of humanity talks about how society dehumanizes people. Even when we are trying to help people we end up putting them down and making them feel bad about themselves. In gospel after the death of truth, Mr Harris talks about the gospel in a world that says anything and everything goes. That there is absolute truth. And that truth is in the gospel.
And the forth section is The Kingdoms of Earth and the Kingdom of God. In this section Randy talks about God’s Kingdom trumps over all allegiances: to family, to country, to friends, and everything else. Randy talks about the power and powerlessness of all in society in general and those in political power. And lastly he talks about being an American or Christianity. There is a lot of good in the United States of America, but there is a lot about our country that goes against Christianity also. Our first and primary allegiance is to God and not to our country.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to any one. I fully endorse this excellent work by Professor Randy Harris.

Cameroon Trip

Greetings everyone! I returned from the trip to Cameroon, Central Africa. I went with four other men. Their names are Jim Corner, Kurt Simmons (both of these are from my home church), Michael Baker(from Laural, MD), and Josh Hardy(from Altoona, PA).
My group and I left June 9th and traveled to Paris, France on June 10th. We spent that day touring Paris. That was my first time to be there. Got to see Norte Dame and the Eiffle Tower. The Effle Tower was HUGE! I traveled to Paris, TX while going through AIM. Paris, TX has a much shorter Effle Tower that has a cowboy boot on top of it. The real Effle Tower was much bigger and was very impressive.
On June 11th we flew from Paris to Douala, Cameroon. We met with three Cameroonian preachers who we have known since 1996. There names are Jean (John) Claude, Louis, and Vincent. We spent a day in Douala through the 12th and went to our first ministry site in Ekondo Ti Ti. We stayed in a hotel there June 13th through the 16th. We traveled to different villages in and around Ekondo Ti Ti the 14th through the 16th. Jean Claude and I personally taught ten people with one person deciding to become a Christian. We were blessed to teach a Bible class and preach each day as well.
On June 17th we traveled from Ekondo Ti Ti to Kumba were we stayed through the 21st. We were going to split our time between two different villages. On Thursday the first place we were going to go apparently didn’t even know we were going to be there. We went out there and discovered the church there wasn’t prepared at all. So Jean Claude and I went to other villages were our teammates were working. In one place we studied with four precious souls and three responded to the gospel for baptism. The next day (Friday) we went to a different village. We studied with one precious soul and that one decided to become a Christian.
The next two days (Saturday and Sunday) Jean Claude and I got to spend time in one place. This village was called Three Corners Fiango. On Saturday Jean Claude and I taught a Bible class and taught one soul who decided to be baptized on Sunday morning before Bible class. On Sunday we taught a Bible class and Jean Claude preached. We taught another precious soul who decided to be a Christian. We preached one more time and the work portion of the trip was completed.
Monday we left Kumba and went down to Douala. Tuesday night we flew from Douala to Paris. We had a layover of four or five hours and flew from Paris to Dallas.
We arrived in Dallas a little bit before 3 PM Wednesday afternoon.
The trip was absolutely awesome! I loved making new friends and renewing the friendships we made the first time I went there.
Thank you all for thinking about me and praying for me.
I read a book while we were out there and will make a blog review of that tomorrow or the next day.
God bless you all. Grace and Peace.

Cameroon

Greetings one and all. Today is the day. Today four other guys and I will fly to Paris, France. We should arrive there tomorrow morning there time (June 10th). We’ll spend the day there and fly to Cameroon on the 11th.
I’m really excited about this trip! We’ll be working side by side with the Cameroonian brethren. We’ll be preaching and teaching, and the Cameroonian brethren will be translating for us. I’m really looking forward to this!
I will not take my computer or cell phone with me on this trip. I promise to report on what happened during the trip when I get home on the 24th (Lord willing).
Please keep us in your prayers. I get really worried while flying. We’ll be fine. This is going to be a great trip!
I’ll write about the trip as soon as possible after returning home. Thank you all for the prayers. God bless. Grace and Peace.

Weekly Update

Greetings one and all! My classmates and I finished our first year of the two year program at Sunset International Bible Institute at the end of May. My parents got into Lubbock Friday night to see Katie, Jacob, Allie, I. We packed my car and my parents’ van. On Saturday at noon we left Lubbock and drove back home. And it is so good to be home! Loving every second of it!
At this moment I don’t know how I did in my classes for school this last term. I am fairly confident about most of them, and extremely nervous about one of them. Just hoping and praying I past all of them!
On Tuesday, I leave for Cameroon. Really excited about this trip! I am part of a group of five guys. Three of us, including myself, are from my home congregation. The other two are from Maryland. We’ll be teaching the gospel using World Bible School materials. We’ll be working side by side with our Cameroonian brethren. These brothers will be translating for us. It’s going to be pretty cool!
Since being at home I have met my new baby nephew, Conner Blaze Chism. Super cute baby boy! Can’t wait to get to know him! I love being Uncle Zeebo to my two nieces: Mady and Allie and to my baby nephew Conner!
School starts back up on August 10th. I plan to take the Congregational Ministry courses, to hopefully develop my speaking skills (or lack there of), leadership skills (or lack there of), and church planting.
My personal hopes and goals in ministry are in church planting, leadership development, and campus ministry.
I don’t know where God would send me, but I want to be adequately trained to go wherever God sends me to and to do whatever God wants me to do. God bless us all as we go about these things!
I will post again on Monday. God bless you all! Grace and Peace.

Patrick Mead’s Blog

Greetings everyone! I read Patrick Mead’s blog for the first time yesterday. He wrote a GREAT post on the season of prayer he and his wife are currently in for themselves, their family, and the church they serve in the Detroit, MI area. I am absolutely going to pray for them, my family, church, and my self. As many of you know I have been attending Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, TX. I have some ideas of what the Lord can use me to do, and places He would have me to go. But ultimately, I want to be adequately trained and be open to what the Lord would have me to do and where He would have me to go.
I highly recommend Patrick Mead’s blog. Check it out at www.patrickmead.net.
God bless! Grace and Peace.