STIX 'N STONES

Teenagers Involved With Ministry

I love to see teenagers involved with ministry.  I have used the following Scripture as theme for many years.  1 Timothy 4:12, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."  I think many people often set limits as to what young people can do, but God has a completely different perspective.  In the Scripture I just quoted, Paul was challenging Timothy (very possibly a teenager at the time) to set an example for others to follow.  Since God doesn't put limits on young people, why should we?

In the world of sports, teenagers are often recruited for their superstar potential and raw talent.  In the same way, it's my vision to unleash the God-given abilities of teenagers and to use them to make a difference in our world today.  I believe this makes God's heart smile. 

One of the ways we do this is through our youth worship bands.  I LOVE the fact that all of our youth worship bands are made up entirely of teenagers.  They do an amazing job.  You should see how talented they are!  (I can say this because there is no credit that goes to me).  Joy Robinson is our adult director and coordinator who has been working with our youth worship bands for the past couple of years.  I'm so grateful for her investment into the lives of the students.  Joy has a gift for maximizing their musical talents and gifts and turning them into something very special.

Last night was one of the those nights when I reflected on how proud I am of our teenagers.  Jessica S. led worship at our Sr. High 2Twenty service for the first time.  She did an outstanding job.  What's the best part about this?  It's Jessica's age.  She just started 9th grade about a week ago.  Who says you're too young to be used by God?! 

What Could Happen When Your GPS Is Wrong - Ouch!

Click here to see how a house was demolished because of wrong coordinates given by a GPS system.  Ouch!

 

Unlikely Basketball Hero

Someone sent me this link. I LOVE stories like this!

Feeding An Elephant

One of the unique experiences I had in Thailand was coming face to face with an elephant.  While I was having a meal in downtown Khon Kaen with a great missionary couple, Oskar and Rebecca, they noticed an elephant walking down the street.  (Some people walk their dogs and some people walk their elephants).  Since this isn't something that you see everyday in America, I decided to go take some pictures.  However, not only was I able to get some pics, but I was also able to feed the elephant.  I purchased some vegetables (cucumbers I think) and fed him right on the street. 

 

Behind The Scenes In Thailand

Although we're home from Thailand, there are still more stories to tell!  Over the next several days I'll highlight some things in my blog that I didn't get a chance to share. 

One of the things I'm very grateful for happens to be bathrooms in the U.S.!  You can see a picture of one of the bathrooms that we utilized in Thailand near the church that we were working with, Khon Kaen International Church.  It's a covered hole in the ground with no where to sit.  Your "balance" must be up to par when using this style of toilet, otherwise you could really face some challenges!  The "pool" of water beside the toilet is NOT for taking a bath. It's used for dipping water into the whole after business has been taken care of.  That's the way it's "flushed."

And finally, the toilet paper cannot be put in the hole.  The plumbing system cannot handle that.  You must place the toilet paper in a bucket located in the corner of the room.  As you can imagine, this allows for many strange smells to linger in the room. . .    

Eating Bugs In Thailand

I'm told that eating fried bugs is a popular snack in Thailand.  Different vendors actually sell them and you also purchase them at the local market.  I promised the MCM Ministry School team that I would eat a fried bug while I was in Thailand.  Well, tonight was my night I guess you could say.  Not only did I eat one, but I actually ate 4 different kinds!  The one that I'm holding in my hand in is a larva or grub worm of some kind.  Whatever it was, it had one of the worst "after-tastes" that I've ever experienced.  Then there were a couple different kinds of crickets as well as a grasshopper.  The best tasting one (or the least offensive tasting one) was actually the grasshopper (I can't believe I just said that).  

Several others on our team also ate some bugs.  Scroll down to see some up-close pics of these Thailand "snacks."  The large water bugs or cockroaches (I don't remember what kind they were) were huge - at least several inches in length.  I didn't eat one of those.  Gilbert did, however, and it took him about 15 minutes to finally get it all down.  I enjoyed watching him almost "lose his lunch" in the process.  It was priceless.  The pics below are worth a view.  Enjoy. . .

 

Great Stories From the 2nd Night of the Festival

Last night was another great night at the Festival!  It was especially fun because I was the MC for the night.  I had a great time connecting with the Thai people in that large gathering.  God continued to work and I was amazed to see that a very large percentage of those who attend are giving their lives to Jesus.  That is so exciting!  Many people responded to the opportunity to receive Jesus into their hearts once again.  It never gets old to see people coming down front, hungry to meet Jesus Christ for the VERY FIRST TIME! 

More miracles also continued to take place.   Those who receive a miracle will often go on the stage at the festival and share about what God has done.  In the picture you can see a lady explaining the problem she had and how Jesus healed her.  She had a tumor in her leg and walked with a limp as a result.  It was, of course, very painful for her.  As she shared about how God had instantly healed her last night, she started dancing around on stage!  When she did, everyone rejoiced with her at the miracle she received.  The whole place erupted in praise for God's miracle working power!  She told us how excited she was about letting her friends know about what God had done in her life.  She plans on bringing some friends with her tonight.  I can't wait to see them!

Another young boy had an eye injury and could barely see out of his left eye.  God healed him instantaneously and opened his sight so that he could see!  He got on stage and shared about his miracle, then proved that he was healed.  He covered up his right eye and began to imitate the exact motions from a leader on stage that was standing at a distance.  The young boy even mirrored the slight hand movements of the leader to prove that God had done a complete work in this life! 

Here you see a picture of Paul Pindroh (one of our Ministry School students) praying for a man's leg to be healed.  God instantly touched him and made his leg as good as new.  The man started jumping up and down on the stage showing how he was healed.  I love miracle stories like this!  We have 3 more nights of Festival meetings.  Keep the prayers coming! 

The Most Unique iPod Ever!

Here's a picture that a friend of mine sent me.  This guy has some serious talent to be able to balance that on his head as well as ingenuity to create this unique "ipod?" 

A Lot Of Changed Lives

Last night in at one of our weekly 2Twenty services, I was reflecting on the great things that God did in the year 2008.  One of the things that stands out to me the most is the month of October.  In that month alone we had 160 teenagers give their lives to Jesus!  I'm so proud of all the volunteers, leaders and students who worked so hard to see so many lives changed.  As I think back on the changed lives from that particular month, there are a couple of stories that come to my mind.

#1 - There was a young middle school girl who attends 2Twenty and wanted to do something in the month of October to impact other students at her school.  But she was very intimidated because she felt inadequate, shy and self-conscious.  She really questioned whether or not she could make a difference.  Nevertheless, she pushed through her fears and took up the challenge to invite several people who didn't know Jesus to the outreach services we were conducting.  3 of her friends gave their life to Jesus as a result!  Now, all of them are completely changed! 

#2 - There was also a 10th grader who came for the first time in October as well.  She was invited by another student who just recently got saved several months ago.  After one of the 2Twenty services that month, this new 10th grader came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, "I never knew Jesus loved me like that.  I always had a different perspective of who God was.  Now I know that he cares.  In fact, I gave my life to Jesus tonight!"  But the story doesn't end there.  The very next week she came back and approached me as soon as she walked in the doors.  With great excitement in her eyes she said, "Guess what?  I read the entire book of John this week!"  She then went on to introduce me to 5 or 6 of her friends that she brought with her for the first time.  By the end of the night, every single one of those friends had given their lives to Jesus too!   

These are just a couple of the great things that are happening in the lives of students.  The Gospel is having a multiplication effect on teenagers in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. I believe we have just begun! 

An Act Of Grace On The Football Field

This is a story of one of the most bizarre high school football games ever.  The home team was actually cheering for the visiting team, and half of their fans even sat on the opposing team's side.  The subtitle of the article boasts, "There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning."  Why?  It was an unselfish act of grace.  Click Here to read about it. . .