Aaron's blog

Thoughts on our Current Situation

2009-02-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

I finally have a free evening at home which has been nice to relax and take it easy. With that being said, I thought I'd do another blog post. On this blog I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the current times in which we are living and would welcome any readers thoughts or feedback.

These are definitely very interesting times in which we are living. At the end of Friday February 19 the Dow Jones Industrial average was valued at the same value it was back in October of 2002. It has come a long way down in a matter of 6 months. As I read in an recent article in the Wall Street Journal analysts and experts don't really see a bottom right now. That is quite unsettling. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average is by no means the only indicator of what is going on in our economy I find that it gives one of the best and most easily accessible ways of tracking the overall confidence of Americans. Just as analysts and experts don't see a bottom in the Dow this seems to be the consensus for the overall economy as well. Right now, the prevailing discussion in the news and in politics is the economy and how we are going to fix it. There are all sorts of opinions and ideas out there right now whether it be from the left or the right. I find the discussions to be quite interesting which is why I am putting my opinion in this blog.

For starters, we are one month into the Obama Presidency and I am very thankful for a new President in office. The last eight years were quite incredible to say the least. We saw a President who led us into a war in Iraq that was deceptive, misleading, and cost of thousands of American lives and billions of taxpayer money. Along with the Iraq war we saw the Guantanamo prison that represents everything that America is not supposed to represent and we saw the creation of the Homeland Security Dept. and Patriot Act that severly repressed personal civil liberties. To top it all off we are in the current financial crisis. I will not be so ignorant or biased to lay all the blame for this current financial crisis on the Bush Administration but they can not be totally spared either. During the last few years we have seen very little regulation of Wall Street and we are now painfully seeing the results.

The Obama Administration comes in with a heap of problems that it is facing. Obama is tackling some very heavy issues right now. Of course we just saw the huge stimulus package passed and now there is heavy discussion in regards to the Auto Industry and the Housing crisis. There are many out there saying right now that the current stimulus is very flawed and the plans for housing rescue and auto bailout are flawed. Some will say that this whole mess should work itself out by letting the market do its thing on its own. My question is if we continue that train of thought with deregulation how far and deep can we go without any intervention. I think Obama said it well when he mentioned that all businesses are contracting, layoffs are being made, which in turn causes the consumer to hold back and start spending less. All of this leads to a viscous domino effect to where there is no stimulus coming from any sectors of the economy. To me it makes sense that when you have all of this contraction there has to be some positive jolt coming from somewhere and that would be the Federal Government. Also there has been heavy criticism of the recent plan for housing relief. The current plan would seek to lower interest and alter mortgage payments for current homeowners facing foreclosure. The Obama Administration would work with lenders on helping to share losses on these loans. Their is backlash as to why the taxpayer should be responsible for homeowners in this mess. Shouldn't they reap the consequences. This might be easy to say but when people say this how much do they realize that the more these foreclosures continue to happen and the more housing continues to drop this affects everyone. Failure to help stem this crisis will cause everyone's home and property values to decline. I'm not so sure that people will not want help then when they are telling the Government to not help those currently in crisis now.

I've only touched a little bit on the issues and kind of skimmed the surface on the current financial crisis. As I mentioned before if the experts an analysts are having a hard time figuring out this current situation then I would definitely fall into that category as well but I have tried to share a little bit about how I feel about the current situation. This past fall when Obama ran his campaign I really felt like it was a movement led to bring about change. I like many other young voters latched on to this enthusiasm and hope. It made you want to be a part of something that could make a difference. While I know that Obama and his Administration is not perfect and they are probably making errors and mistakes as we speak I have to give them the benefit of the doubt so far. They are trying to tackle these weighty issues and work for the people who elected him into office. It will definitely be interesting to see things continue to develop. I welcome your thoughts or feedback on this. Have a good upcoming week.

A new blog post!

2009-01-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a little while since my last post and I figured it was time to finally update this thing. Quite a bit has happened since June 11 but I won't bother you with all the details, I'll just put up a few highlights of what is going on in my life since my last post.

I already mentioned in an earlier post about going to California early in the year but I was able to go out two more times in 2008 which was pretty awesome. The second time I went out was in July to attend the wedding of Tim and Sunny Arakawa. It was a very short trip but it was worth it to see two really great people get married. My third and final trip was in September where I had meetings out in San Francisco for my job. Before the meetings started I was able to spend a week with my brother Norman and his wife Joelle. The highlight of that time was being able to attend a youth conference called Southwest Youth Conference that my brother was in charge of. I have been to the last two conferences and this one was another powerful blessing. Just a quick plug but you can still listen to sermons from that conference on http://www.audioverse.org/ While on the topic of travels the last trip I will mention is back in June I was able to go out to Arizona with two of my buddies for a few days. We spent the time enjoying the Scottsdale area by playing golf and we also went up to Flagstaff to see some of the sights up there. It's kind of funny because we picked the hottest time of the year to go out there and play golf. One day it got up to 115 degrees! Needless to say we were able to play on courses that were very cheap at that time of year.

Life here in Tennessee is going pretty well. I am always busy at my job. We are entering another hectic time where we have to close the books out for the year and meet all of the tax deadlines and so forth. I am sure all that are reading would love to hear all about the details of this but I will spare you for now. To summarize though, I am still enjoying my job and am very thankful for it. I have been working at the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference for 2 years now. Kind of hard to believe. Just one more point about my job, for those of you who don't know I work as the Assistant Treasurer at the Conference. In this position it is very interesting to see how the economic challenges that are facing our nation is affecting the work of the church. Thus far we are very thankful because we have not seen the giving fall off and we are still seeing a slight increase for which we are thankful. It will be interesting to see how the coming months develop in the economy.

I continue to remain active in my local church in Gallatin, TN. I serve as church treasurer, elder, sabbath school superintendent, and sabbath school teacher. It keeps me very busy but I really enjoy it and am thankful to be there. We have a somewhat small group averaging about 50 in attendance on Sabbath. We are looking forward to 2009 as we are hoping to hold 2 lay led evangelistic campaigns. We look to get some good work in the community and Bible studies going before the meetings as well. I also lead out in prayer meeting on Wednesday nights and we are finishing going through a book entitled "Preparation for the Final Crisis" by Fernando Chaij which is availabe at your local ABC. After we are finished we will begin studying the book of Revelation.

I look forward to the new year and to what will lie ahead. To all who are reading I hope you had a happy New Year and that you will have a good year ahead. I am posting a few pictures from my trips below. Enjoy.

The pictures from top to bottom are as follows:

1. We are posing before playing 36 holes of golf on Sunday.

2. I am about to tee off on one of the holes at the The players championship course in Scottsdale, AZ

3. With my brother Norman at the Southwest Youth Conference at Pine Springs Ranch in Southern California.

4. A group of us who attended the meetings in San Francisco by the beach.

5. An overlook of San Francisco

6. Preaching at my home church in Gallatin, TN

7. Me with my sister April and my brother Norman.

Golf Adventure

2008-06-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last week my good friend Adam Littell and I went out to Long Hollow Golf course in Gallatin, TN and played 18 holes. We had an interesting round to say the least. We both had our ups and downs on the course. After all, that is the way golf usually is. At one moment things are going great and then before you know it things have quickly fallen apart. I am posting some pictures below along with some videos that I hope will illustrate the ups and downs of the game. I am glad that I brought my new digital camera as we were able to capture some humorous parts of our golf round.

You will notice here that I am laughing because this is hole 11 and I just hit the ball not only over the water but into the bushes behind the hole.

This picture illustrates my dilemma. Here my ball is buried underneath the bush. Here is the video of my shot from underneath the bush.

As I mentioned what you just saw was hole #11 where we shot across the water and I was in the bush. As I mentioned before, golf is a game of ups and downs which is nicely illustrated by the next hole which we also videoed. This hole goes back in the direction we came from so we were shooting back across the water. It is hard to see in the video but if you notice carefully you will see that Adam's shot skips across the water and goes to the other side. In case you don't see it, our comments on the video will make you very aware of what happened. Enjoy this video.

I have always enjoyed golf because it is just you and the golf course. Golf is really the most individual sport out there that I can think of unless you make it competitive with other people which I try not to do. As I mentioned there are lots of high and low points when playing but it is those moments like on the video of our teeshots across the water that keep you coming back. Hope you enjoyed the post.

Still, Still with Thee

2008-05-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

This past week I came across a cd by the King's Heralds quartet and on that cd is a song that I now consider to one of the prettiest songs I have ever heard. The song is entitled "Still, Still with Thee" by Harriet B. Stowe written in 1855. What is interesting is that the author of this hymn is the same lady that wrote the book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin". A book that made a huge impact at the time in regards to the whole issue of slavery. She authored over 30 books. She wrote this hymn after meditating over the passage in Psalms 139: 17-18 which states, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with thee." The hymn is hymn#498 in the Adventist Hymnal. I am posting a video below which has a different melodic arrangement than the traditional hymn. The arrangement on the video below is also the arrangement that the Heralds sing and is absolutely beautiful along with of course the lyrics. Enjoy.

Travels & Updates

2008-04-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

It is time to do an update on the blog. This past week I have been in Grand Rapids, MI, Atlanta, GA, and Montgomery, AL. To say that I was exhausted last night would be an understatement. I have actually travelled quite a bit in this past month. It started by going out to Loma Linda, CA to do some certification training for my job. I had a really good time out there. I was able to stay with Norman and Joelle who were very good hosts. We went down to Los Angeles one day and went Griffith Observatory along with seeing some other things in LA. We also celebrated Joelle's birthday and we also heard some very good musical performances throughout the week as well. It is always good to be out in Loma Linda as I feel at times that it is like a second home. I have been there many times now since Norman has been out there. It is hard to believe that Norman has been there for around 8 years now.

As I mentioned above I have been in some other places as well besides CA. Last weekend we were in Grand Rapids, MI. We were there because I sing in a quartet composed of members from the Nashville area. Our leader, Marc Walwyn is a cousin of the person who was in charge of this Youth Conference in Grand Rapds. I think that our songs went well. Our favorite song to sing is "O When Shall I see Jesus" It is our favorite because it portrays the urgency of seeing Jesus come back again and the melody and harmonies portray that sense that urgency along with of course the words. The speakers at the Youth Conference were Keith Gray, (Youth Director for the Southwest Region Conference) Alden Ho, Dane Griffin, and some other presenters who I was not familiar with. Alden Ho had some pretty good presentations. His topic was on the nearness of the coming of Christ. I think that some of the things he presents and sources that he has need to be studied a little further by those who are listening but his overriding presentation is very good. If anything he is getting people to be serious about the times that we are living in.

We finished the weekend by going to my sister in law's parents house for breakfast in Berrien Springs. We spent a good amount of time observing a project that Dr. Damsteegt and Laurel Damsteegt are working on. This project is based on the Great Controversy theme on DVD format. It starts with the prophecies predicting Christ's coming to the Earth the first time and goes all through the Christian church all the way down to eventually the current times we are living in. It is very well done with lots and lots of research that has been done. I was very impressed. A new release is being made but once it hits the Adventist Book Center's I would strongly encourage you to buy it.

As I mentioned I was also in Atlanta, GA and Montgomery, AL this week. I went to Montgomery to finish up my certification training because I did not get all my hours in CA. I was only down there for Friday morning but it was interesting to revisit the place where I started my working career. I only lived down there for 5 months but I have alot of memories there. In Atlanta, we had Southern Union Treasurers meetings. I have to say that there are many challenges that face our church financially but we are not even seeing the tip of the iceberg of the challenges that we will face in the future. One thing we discussed though is the rising cost of fuel and the reimbursements we are paying our workers and how we are keeping up with the rising costs. Economic issues will obviously affect finances in the church and it will no doubt be interesting to see what happens in the future as we face more and more challenges.

To finish things up I thought I would share a few things in relation to our family and things happening here in Tennessee. Our family is very excited for April who will be graduating from Highland Academy in 3 weeks. This will be a very special event for her and we are very proud of her. In regards to Highland that is an item that I would solicit those who are reading your prayers. We are facing a change for a new Principal and also there are some fairly large financial challenges facing the school. On another note, I have been attending the Gallatin SDA church since December when their church Treasurer passed away unexpectedly and I took over duties as Treasurer. The church is small but friendly with a few young people. Recently the church had a nominating committee and I was humbled to accept a position as an Elder in the church. As I said I am humbled by this position because I know that there are tremendous responsibilities in being an Elder in the church. I have no experience but I am excited about the things God can do at Gallatin. There are 3 elders and we are all in our 20's. I am excited about that because I have a lot of respect for the 2 other elders and I think we are on the same page on alot of issues and I believe that God can do some great things if we will just let Him lead. I realize this has been a long post but there is alot to update after 2 months. I will try to not wait so long for the next post.

Quite A Week

2008-02-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

This past week has definitely been a week of ups and downs. Tuesday, February 5 was a day filled with excitement. After all, it was Super Tuesday where people across the nation would be voting in the Primary elections including the state of Tennessee. I was looking forward to watching the returns that night after I had voted. As I was watching the returns the night quickly took a change of pace from election coverage to warnings about storms that were ripping through Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. There seemed to be bad storms in Kentucky and there was already reported damage in West Tennessee. Around 10:00 there were storms that were coming through Sumner County. This storm ripped through Castalian Springs, TN just east of Gallatin and eventually made its way up to Lafayette, TN in Macon County which is about 30 to 40 minutes east of us in Portland. As I was watching the news that night I knew that it was bad and there were already reports of devastation but who could've imagined waking up the next day to the absolute carnage that was in Macon County. The whole event was very unsettling as all of this destruction was quite near to where we live and it just goes to show that none of us are safe. One can never tell where a tornado's path will take. I preached yesterday at my home church in Portland. I couldn't help but mention of how easy it is to feel very secure and take life for granted when we don't have tommorrow guaranteed. After all, things were just fine for the people just one county east of us before the destruction hit. The fragility of life is quite a concept to ponder. With all this being said, I am thankful that our community was spared the destruction of this storm but our hearts go out to the people affected by this storm. I am posting a link of a video that I believe sums it up quite well.
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=special0304

Updates

2008-01-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

I have not posted a blog in over two months so I will try to update as best I can. I have just finished another exhausting week at the office, the last two weeks have been around 60 hour workweeks and it doesn't seem to be getting any better in sight. The reason being is that we face deadlines for employee's taxes, tax deadlines for trusts, closing out the year, preparing for an audit, pretty much everything hits at once at this time of year. It often seems that my whole life is work, as at times I will get home around 10 p.m. and then just turn around and do it again the next day. It is not always this bad but I would solicit your prayers as it has been intense lately. I hope I am not sounding as though I am complaining though because it must be said that I do enjoy my job especially when it is not this hectic but part of the reason is not only all the year end and tax deadlines but I had missed a fair amount of work in the previous weeks.

In December I was able to go to my 5th GYC in Minneapolis, MN. The meetings were very good although I wish I could have heard more of the seminars. I am listening to some on audioverse and I would like to get an IPOD so I can listen to them on my commute to and from work. Christmas was great because Norman and Joelle were here for Christmas. We had a very good time and there is a short video clip on www.normanandjoelle.blogspot.com that shows some of our experiences over Christmas. At the beginning of January I was able to attend the Southern Union Ministerial Meetings. These meetings were also very good. I went to as many preaching seminars as I could attend because I do that every now and then in the conference here. Mark Finley, Derek Morris, and others had very good seminars on preaching. I also went to an excellent seminar on revitalizing small churches by Shawn Shives who is a pastor in Georgia. (Father of Jason Shives.) Last weekend my sister April and I attended SEYC. It was a jammed packed weekend but it was very good. Jeffrey Rosario and Matt Parra were the main speakers. Both gave excellent messages which will be on www.audioverse.org I was very happy to see Tim, Sunny, and Adrian who were doing recording for audioverse. It was almost like GYC as I saw other good friends such as Justin McNeilus, and other good friends from Southern. I was happy to see how the spirit of SEYC is still very strong and has grown to be much bigger than we started with a simple idea after the GYC in Ann Arbor, MI. I was also happy that April could get a glimpse of some very positive things that are happening there at Southern Adventist University. So with all of these meetings it has put me behind at the office but it was all very much worth it.

It is good to be busy and have lots of things going on but at the same time it cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to be able to get away from the pressures of every day life. May it be that we all take the time to have time to ourselves and to have meaningful time with the Lord. On that note, I hope that this weekend will be restful and relaxing for all and that you have a wonderful Sabbath. God bless.

Aaron

Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

I write to you on this Thanksgiving Evening finishing a full day. I have much to be thankful for and today only helps solidify that in my mind. We have had a really good day today as I was pleasantly surprised to be visited by one of my good friends who I went to school with out at Amazing Facts who was on his way down to Chattanooga. The rest of the crowd came over for lunch which included Stephen, Uncle Dave, Grandma, Jonathon Cherne who I have grown up with at Highland and of course me, Mom, and April. Mom and April prepared a tremendous meal which was no surprise. Later in the day my cousin JD came over to visit which it was great to see him as well. Today I am reminded of such a wonderful network of family and friends that I have. I am truly greatful for these people in my life. Though many of us face challenges each and every day in this world that never seems to slow down it is nice to take a day to pause to enjoy good food, fellowship, and most importantly to enjoy the people you are with. I hope all who are reading have had a wonderful Thanksgiving today.

Another sermon in KY

2007-11-03T21:45:00.001-07:00

I just finished preaching my 2nd sermon in the last 3 weeks both having been in small churches in Kentucky. Two weeks ago I preached in Ashland, KY where there were maybe 30 people there. Today I preached in Leitchfield, KY which is just north of Mammoth Cave National Park about 2 hours away from where I live. This was another small church with about 20 people there. I would have to say this is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job as I get to go out to some of these rural churches and visit with the members and also give a sermon as well. I give all the glory to God for Him using me to be part of His work. Today I preached on Dan. 5 and paralled the experience of Daniel and Babylon to the end time Babylon and God's people at the end of time. The Lord laid on my heart to share the contrast between the life of Daniel compared to that of literal Babylon and how that parallels to God's people compared to spiritual Babylon. The book Sanctified Life by Ellen White spends alot of time dwelling on the character of Daniel and how his experience and faith is to be ours as well. I have to give thanks to my brother Norman for sharing a message on this topic on Audioverse.org. The title of that sermon is "The Candlestick, The Prophet, and the Fall of Babylon." I used alot of information off of that sermon for my sermon. So Norm, if you are reading this thanks for the help. Ultimately though God deserves all the credit for giving us the words and impressing us with the thoughts to put them forth in words. As I mentioned this has been one of my favorite parts of my job is to get out to the churches and visit with the membership although I never know what to expect when I am going to preach at a church. I have only preached in 4 churches here in KY-TN and 2 churches in the Gulf States Conference but it seems as though every time I go there is always at least one person who not to be demeaning but after a conversation with them just seems a little bit out there. Today I was talking with a man who has put out a whole booklet on the tribulation and believes strange things on the seals and the trumpets. I can remember in Hopkinsville, KY a man cornered me and started talking about time machines and time travel. In Tuscaloosa, AL a woman during prayer request time proceeded to share how she was being attacked by vines and a presence of evil in her dreams at night it was very strange. As I mentioned these are just one time meetings from appearance so I don't know everything in these peoples experience but even from that first encounter you can gather alot of information from a person. The reason I share this with you is that I have found that wherever I go there are people of all sorts of differing personalities. With this being said all of the churches I have visited there are always the solid committed leaders in the church who you can tell hold the ship together. I again come back to the question of unity in the church. It seems hard for me to comprehend how it is possible when there are people of all different kinds in our church. But I suppose this is the beauty of it all. How we as a church can still be united under one banner and one cause is a wonderful thought. How we can all be drawn to the same Saviour who gave His life for us. How we can all be drawn to more fully represent His character in our experience on this earth. All these things bringing people together of differing viewpoints and personalities united under one cause is a mystery but can only be explained by the power of the Holy Spirit. May God continue to guide and lead us individually so that we may be united with others in that unity of purpose of fulfilling His mission.

Kentucky

2007-10-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went up to Ashland, KY and preached. This church is about 5 hours away from home and is nestled right up on the Ohio River bordering Ohio and West Virginia. The church is fairly small, there were probably 30 in attendance for my sermon which is ok because I am still getting accustomed to preaching. I thought I had been to the Ashland Church before on a music tour with Highland but I had obviously not been there because I got lost getting to the church on Sabbath morning and I barely made it in time for the service which was first and then Sabbath school was second. As I drove to Ashland on Friday and then returned Sabbath afternoon I was struck by the beauty of Eastern and Central Kentucky. I had not been to many of those parts since I was a student at Highland when we would go on music tours. Of course fall is around the corner so the leaves are starting to turn and this is brought out in its full beauty as you can see this in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. As I went through Lexington yesterday I realized that this is a town I could live in. The rolling hills, the white fences, the horses, all of this made me nostalgic to actually live there. Although I am not sure how I would deal with all of the University of Kentucky fervor. At any rate, if you live around here maybe take a day trip or go camping in to some of these parts as I believe this is some of the most beautiful country in the U.S. If you don't live here and are reading this maybe you should consider moving to Kentucky or Tennessee, it doesn't get a lot better than here:) No bias from my perspective of course. Hope all are doing well that are reading this.

The Church and its Challenges

2007-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

It is Friday, October 12 and I am thankful to have arrived at the end of another long and hard week. The responsibilities and the amount of things that need to be done for my work at the Conference office has not let up and does not seem to be letting up as I am routinely working between 50 to 60 hours a week. We are short staffed in the Treasury Dept. and we are hoping to turn the corner and get caught up but it has been an uphill battle ever since I started this past December as I am still undergoing training and the learning curve. So hopefully in the future when I am more comfortable with my responsibilites the hours will not have to be so long. Although I am spending many hours I still count it a priviledge and a tremendous blessing to be working for the church and ever so grateful to God for His leading. With all this being said it is remarkable to me at how much is going on in the church and the problems that it is facing. I just came from a Bible study tonight at the Highland church, the second largest church in our conference. The study has been going through Dan. 11 the past few weeks and it has been very interesting and insightful but tonight was spent just discussing the problems and challenges that the Highland church is facing. There has been a severe division in the church in regards to worship style and the direction that the church should go. This is not the only church that is having these problems. As I listened to the challenges and trials and the absolute turmoil that this church has been through it becomes very hard and somewhat discouraging to listen to and to contemplate. How as an overall church are we to move forward when there is so much division and disunity. It pains me greatly to see our members struggling with issues of belief. standards, styles of worship, and a host of other things. Again, I must say this is not just at Highland but at other churches as well. I was talking to our Conference Ministerial Director about these issues in our churches. He said something quite meaningful in my estimation which was that the problems that we as a church our facing is not just the surface issues that our glaring such as worship style, standards, etc. The root is the understanding of the salvation process. Are lifestyle issues, reform, standards, victorious living is this all essential in the process of salvation or is it not? This is the crux of the issue. As a result it is seen where sides are being drawn and how divisions are taking place. There are so many issues in the church that it is way beyond the scope of this blog to address them. Which is my point, why do we have to face so many problems when if we as a people could take seriously our message, study it, and live it then I believe so many of these problems would dissappear. I do realize that this is wishful thinking though. So again I must say i write tonight having a feeling of somewhat discouragement to see what is happening amongst our people. I firmly believe though that God is behind this church and is still leading its path. I know not whether the shaking is taking place or not but I do know that we should be living our lives in preperation as if the shaking is occuring and all we can do is earnestly plead for the Spirit in our lives to remove any obstacle in our lives from being like Jesus and being able to receive the outpouting of the latter rain. I am preaching in Ashland, KY next Sabbath and I am not sure if I will use a sermon I have preached before or if I will try to develop more some of the things I have posted tonight. As you can see my thoughts have not been organized as well I would like them to be but I am trying to put into words the feelings of frustration I am experiencing. I will close with a quote from Ellen White from the book Maranatha Chapter 195. Although I know we have not reached the magnitude yet of the seriousness of this quote I look at it with great faith as to how God will still work and lead His church. " Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths.... The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. "

Pictures

2007-09-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have posted pictures to my blog. Here are a few pictures from weddings I was in this past summer. I was in 4 weddings this summer. The first two pictures are from Jesse Proctor's wedding out in Loveland, CO. The three of us have been best friends since second grade and continue that today. The rest of my pictures are of course from Norm's wedding.

Jesse Proctor, Me, and Adam Littell

Family Picture

Groomsmen

The Wedding Party

Tim and I

Weddings

2007-08-24T18:49:00.001-07:00

Well, I am home in Portland, TN on this Friday night enjoying a restful evening. This is my first weekend home in a month. I have been in 4 weddings this summer as a groomsmen, two of them as best man. The last three weekends were Jesse Proctors's wedding in Loveland, CO, my brother Norman's in Berrien Springs, MI, and a friend of mine from Highland Jason Davis in Chatttanooga, TN. A friend of mine Adam Littell and I did a 4,000 mile road trip between the first two weddings. You could say that I am getting the whole process of a wedding pretty good now. You've got rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, batchelor party, pictures, decorating, take down, etc. I feel like I should be at a wedding this weekend I am almost having withdrawals. But anyways, all of them were great weddings. I especially enjoyed Jesse's and my brother's. Jesse and I had gone to school together since 2nd grade and have been best friends ever since. Norman's wedding was an awesome weekend that culminated in one of the best weddings I have ever been to even though I may be a little bit biased. As I mentioned before we did a 4,000 mile road trip due to the weddings and we were able to see some interesting things. Some of the highlight were stopping in the Black Hills seeing Mount Rushmore. Also stopped in Minneapolis, MN and saw the aftermath of the I-35W bridge collapse. I wouldn't say that was necessarily a highlight but it was pretty incredible to see. I almost feel a stranger to home because the travels continue. I had meetings last week in Atlanta at the Southern Union and in two weeks I have meetings in Corpus Christ, TX. Also, next weekend I am going to see my brother and his new wife Joelle in CA for the Memorial day weekend and will be attending the Southwest Youth Conference which I am looking forward to very much. Anyways, that is a glimpse as to what has been happening. I would like to put some pictures up of some of the weddings. Stay tuned for that.

Operation Global Rain

2007-06-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would give a reminder to some or maybe this is new to others. Operation Global rain is starting this week. I am pretty excited about this and I am really enthused that many of our churches in our conference are participating in this. For those of you who don't know, Operation Global rain is a 10 day period where churches throughout the world are invited to all pray for the same thing which is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the Latter rain experience. I believe this could be very powerful. I just preached on the Holy Spirit this past weekend in Hopkinsville, KY and as I was preprarng for this sermon I realized there is so much that the Spirit wants to reveal and do through us in our lives. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 2:10-16. Seeing the deep things of God is what the Spirit wants to do through us. I pray that we will be experiencing the power of the Spirit daily in order that we would be ready for that latter rain experience. For more information about Operation Global Rain go to operationglobalrain.com Have a good week.

Campmeeting

2007-05-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

I write you all this evening coming back from a powerful night of campmeeting here in the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference. Pastor David Asscherick is here throughout the week giving the main messages throughout the evening. Tonight's message was one of those messages where the heart is pounding and you can really sense that the Holy Spirit is directly speaking to you. For those of you who are reading I am hopeful that you have had that experience, there is nothing comparable to this. I could never do justice to the way the message was presented but I will try to put down some of the main thoughts just because it was so powerful. Alot of what was said is probably not anything new to you who are reading but sometimes the simple message of the gospel presented in a certain way strikes a certain chord. The message dwelt heavily upon the Christian walk otherwise known as sanctification. It was brought out strongly that the walk is not a leap or bound but a process. Prov. 24:16 states that a righteous man falleth 7 times but rises up but a wicked man falls into calamity. The point being that when we sin we contineue to rise up and not give up. Clinging to 1 John 1:9 and confessing our sins. The semon was based upon Luke 5:39. The parable describing how a man when drinking old wine does not immediately want to drink the new wine. The parable illustrates the process of our sanctification. Gradually leaving the old wine behind and partaking of the new wine. The appeal was made to leave the old wine behind whatever that sin might be. He talked about certain sins being committed over and over again and the devil discouragaing us to think that we are not good enough, but we were reminded to keep coming back for the forgiveness of sin. At the end of the message the appeal was also made to believe in the power of Christ. The illustration was made that do we believe that Christ can keep us from sinning for one second, two seconds, a minute, an hour, an eternity. The belief in victory over sin was strongly put forth at the end with the reasoning that Christ came to this earth and showed how to live a sinless life and we are to partake of that power which is Christ in you the hope of glory. An appeal was made for those to come forward who wanted to leave that certain sin that old wine behind. Believing in the forgivess and the blood of Christ and the resources of heaven He is willing to give us to empower us. I really felt the Holy Spirit's presence there tonight. It was such a powerful message. If you get a chance go to our website at www.kytn.net and all of the campmeeting meetings are being streamed live over the internet. The evening meetings with Pastor Asscherick start at 7 p.m. Central Time. I will wrap it up on that note but I just felt I needed to put in words what was mentioned tonight. It is so easy to become discouraged in the Christian walk especially with the devil bombarding you with attacks that you are a failure beccause of sins you commit. But the promises are there that Christ is waiting to offer His forgiveness and His blood to cover our sins but also promises to give the power to attain victory through our Christian walk. May God strengthen you in your walk as you renew your heart to Him daily and die daily to self.

Florida

2007-04-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am in Orlando, FL for 3 weeks attending training meetings for Trust Services and Estate Planning certification. I am learning quite a bit for sure, alot of things that I never knew was so extensive in this kind of work. It is nice to get away from the usual routine and be in a place where the weather is so nice. I have been able to connect with a good friend of mine from Southern, Ronald Odiyar who was President of Southeast Youth Conference last year. He is now working at Florida Hospital. I am struck by how large things are here. For instance, the main Florida Hospital is massive and they are constructing another tower that will be used as an addition to the hospital. In addition, they have 6 other hospitals or campuses in the central Florida area. Ronald and I went to church today at the Forest Lake Seventh-day Adventist church. Derek Morris is the Senior Pastor at this church and to put this into perspective they have 5 services. Granted two of them are for young adults that are not held in the main church but they have a service in the main sanctuary at 8:30, 10 and 11:30. I remember thinking that two services was a big deal at Collegedale when I went to Southern. I am not used to such a large church.
Also, since I have been down here I have had a fair amount of time in my hotel due to the fact that I have to study in order to obtain my certification. In my room as I have paid attention to the news and have been on the internet I have noticed that it has been a rather eventful and yet somber week. Obviously the horrifying experience at Virginia Tech is still somewhat hard to believe. It makes you think that regardless of the measures we take to bolster our security and prevent terrorist activities there is only so much you can do. How can you prepare for a random shooting like this in a classroom? I think of those young people whose lives were taken and it makes me think that many of them were my age. They had a life full of hopes and dreams and a future ahead of them and now it is all gone. How certain are we of tomorrow? The fragility of life is a concept that we should take into consideration as we make our decisions and plans in our lives. I also found it interesting that the day after this experience a professor at our Seminary; Russil Burrill was physically attacked and assaulted at Andrews University, you wonder how bad that could have been.
Finally, I find out yesterday that Amazing Facts and 3ABN are merging into one organization. I feel this could be a powerful union for the spreading of the message and I am very interested in this. Also questions do come to my mind though as to how this all came to be and what transpired to make this arrangement. It seems that 3ABN has faced challenges ever since the crisis with the seperation of Danny and Linda Shelton. I guess I am not going to try and figure out to much about what has happened at 3ABN but I hope this arrangement is effective in further proclaiming the Three Angels Message. So to conclude, alot has been going on in the world and it is always interesting to see what happens. I suppose that my overall conclusion would be is to consider the gift of life and to treasure the opportunities, decisions, and the future with all seriousness because unfortunately the students at Virginia Tech do not have that opportunity anymore.

Grandpa Dittes

2007-03-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

My Grandfather passed away today and I just wanted to put a few words in writing about my Grandpa known to many as Dr. Dittes. There is no way I can possibly come close to do justice in describing the life that my Grandfather lived. There are a few things I am certain of though. Grandpa was the rock and foundation of the family and was always steadfast in support of his overall family. He believed in and supported education and I can say that I am ever grateful for his support of me in my education. Grandpa worked in Portland, TN as a physician for 53 years from 1946 to 1998. He was 86 when he retired. In this period of time one cannot begin to describe the countless people that he helped and cared for in this rural community that was in the beginning stages of developing when he began to practice medicine here. Time and time again people would come up to my Grandfather and ask him if he remembered them because he had delivered their baby or he had cared for them in the hospital, office, etc. You can only imagine how many people would come after doing this in a community for 53 years! Today as I pause to think about who my Grandpa really was I cannot help but dwell on how his life was one of caring and helping those around him in his community. Grandpa enjoyed this and loved his work. Although he was at times probably to busy there is no doubt that he loved his work and most importantly enjoyed being there to care for others needs. One must ask the question when their course in this life is finished can they look back and say that their life was one of tireless hours spent helping other people. I realize this is somewhat short but I think that the point is pretty clear. Can we say that we made a difference in the world we now live in, and can we look back and see measurable results. I am thankful that I have seen my Grandfathers life and the mark that he has left. Now it is time to continue that which was done in the past.

Brief Update

2007-01-26T17:31:00.000-08:00

The last time I updated this I was living in Montgomey, AL and now I have been working at my new job for a little over a month. The days go by quick. I am an Assistant Treasurer at the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference. In another month the other Assistant Treasurer will be leaving to become the Treasurer of the Washington Conference. So that will leave just me and the Treasurer. You could say I am a tad bit overwhelmed by this prospect but it is one day at a time. It has been interesting to be back in the area where I have lived my whole life other than college and my short stints in California and Alabama. Things have changed but yet there are still alot of similarities. I am happy to be living at home but yet I am in the process of finding the right church to go to. My home church has suffered a major crisis that has left it not in the greatest of shape. Well that is about all, I realize this is short but I figured I should chime in with my monthly update. Until next time.

The Move

2006-12-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I am sitting in my apartment in Montgomery for one of the final nights. After being here for 5 months my time in Alabama has come to an end. I still wonder what exactly my purpose was in being here but I believe it will be clearer as time goes on. I know one thing for sure; and that is that God brought me here if for the mere reason of getting my feet wet in full time work for the church. In my five months here there have been numerous challenges; primarily the lack of interaction with others my age and just shear loneliness. The work has kept me busy and I have enjoyed the ministry of the ABC. I still consider the opportunities I had to preach in Tuscaloosa, AL and Bonifay, FL as one of the better experiences I had here. I like Montgomery as a city as it is a very liveable city with a nice southern feel to it. A better social network here would have been helpful though.
With all that being said, I am pretty happy about the move back to Tennessee. I am expectant of really good things to happen. I am anticipating my new job as an Assistant Treasurer and I am looking forward to the challenge. I am also happy that I will be close to all of my family. Tennessee is home to me and it is pretty much all I have known my whole life other than 4 months living in Lincoln, CA and 5 months living in Montgomery, AL. So the familiarity will be nice but I don't want it to be so familiar that I lose a sense of drive for purpose, challenge, and change for the better in my life. I pray that God will continue to walk by my side each and every day and that will be your prayer as a reader as well. Happy Holidays to you all.

Born Again

2006-12-03T16:24:00.001-08:00

In this past week I read a book entitled, "Learning to walk with God" by Dwight Hall. I was struck by how many times in his book he talked about being faithful in the little things in life. The driving point that was the basis for this was the emphasis he placed on the importance of being born again. He mentioned how he read the chapter on Nicodemus in the Desire of Ages and how it was life changing for him. This all seemed to make sense to me but things really came together in a powerful way yesterday in my studies. The whole concept of being born again is not foreign to many of you who are reading this but it is crucial to make it applicable daily in our lives. I was listening to a presentation by Peter Gregory in talking about how our hearts must be prepared in our study of the word. Our key text was Ezra 7:10 which states, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of he Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statues and judgments." So in order to be seeking, doing, and teaching the law of the Lord there is a very real process that must occur in our lives. Romans 6:6 and 8:6 talks about how our old man should be crucified and as a result we should die to sin. It also says how being carnally minded is death and spiritually minded is life because the carnal mind is enmity against God. Continuing in Romans 12:1,2 this is what makes it most practical in dying to the flesh and the carnal nature. I am paraphrasing it but the two main points are that we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord and we must not be conformed to this world. Otherwise spiritual things are not spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14 This all sounds good and as said before many of you have heard this before but it makes it more powerful when we think of the text in John 3:3 which says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." When this is taking place all of the carnal flesh, the things of this world are taken away and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is all that is present. The illustration of the wind on how the Spirit works in our lives is powerfully illustrated "While the wind is itself invisible, it produces effects that are seen and felt. So the work of the Spirit upon the soul will reveal itself in every act of him who has felt its saving power. When the Spirit of God takes possesion of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the contenance reflects the light of heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden, or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God." Desire of Ages p. 173
I have also been reading a book called "Hindsight" by Dave Fiedler this is an SDA history book and as I was reading this yesterday some very interesting comments were made by Ellen White at the 1901 G.C. Session. The latter 1890's had been tough times at Battle Creek while Ellen White had been away at Australia. When she comes to these meetings she is clear that there is need for change among the leadership in our church. Here are a few excerpts in speaking to the leaders and delegates at the 1901 GC session. "The men who have woven their own human passions into life and character, who have nurtured self all the way along, are not to think that they are qualified to deal with human minds. God wants every person to begin at home, and there live the Christ-life. In the church and in every business transaction, a man will be just what he is in his home." GC Bulletin 1901 p. 23-27 Again being faithful in the little things in life. It gets more powerful when she says, "The time has come when this people are to be born again. Those that have never been born again, and those that have forgoten that they were purged from their old sins, and cannot see afar of, and have practiced their old habits of talking, prejudicing others, hindering the work, and being generally in the way of its advancement, would better be converted. God wants you to be converted, and may He help, that this work may go forward. He is a power for His people when they come into order. There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power and strength must be brought into the committees that are necessary." Ibid.
Conversion and being born again is what we must be asking and obtaining each and every day. Putting the things of this world and being filled with the indwelling Spirit. John 3:16 became very powerful for me yesterday when it says, "and whomsoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." That is our hope of salvation, the free riches of grace once we have forsaken the world and repented and confessed our sins and experience the indwelling of the Spirit that leads us to the foot of the cross. It may well be summed up in scripture when it says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezekiel 36:26,27

Election

2006-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

This has to be a record. I can't remember putting up two blogs within such a short period of time but for once I am not going to write about whats happening in my life but rather focus on some broader issues. I have to be honest I am pretty happy about the results from last night. It has been pretty discouraging in the last 6 years to see the dominance that has been displayed by the Republicans. I can remember that dissapointment starting when my cousin JD and I were very hopeful when Gore made a comeback and we were at his headquarters until 3 in the morning on election night. But who can forget the infamous recount of 2000 and it seems that not much has gone right for Democrats since then. That was all until last night. I am encouraged because finally the people have spoken against President Bush and notified him that the way he has "spent his political capital" has been unacceptable. I can still remember how upset I was when we went in to Iraq and it seemed as though I was in a minority then but now the whole country is screaming for change in Iraq. I have championed the Democratic party because I have felt that the right of Americans in regards to Religous Liberty and seperation of church and state are safer within this party. There are some scary forces within the Republican party particularly the religous right that would legislate any kind of morality and bring government and church into everything. I realize I have kind of gone off on a tangent but this is another point that underlines my happiness on the results of last night. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the up coming months. Maybe for once President Bush will not only have to start listening to people in Congress but more importantly the American people.

Changes

2006-11-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

I am writing you from my very modest apartment in Montgomery, AL. I have been in this apartment for three full months which at times seems as though it has been alot longer than that. There have been definite challenges here in Montgomery since I have arrived. The biggest challenge has been the social experience. There are not many young people my age that attend the local church and as a result there has been a lot of alone time while not at work. The church has been pretty nice but it has been hard to connect with the members seeing that there are not many my age. I have definitely been very lonely here but I have tried to focus on positive things. My job has been pretty good and I have even had the opportunity to do a little bit of preaching since I have been down here. With all this being said I have just been trying to put my trust in the Lord and trust He has brought me here for a reason. This past week started as any other week has, off to a very normal start. I got a call Tuesday from the Assistant Treasurer of the Kentucky-Tennesssee Conference inquiring if I would be interested in a possible opening at my old school Highland Academy. I told him I was interested but was kind of unsure of the whole situation. I spent Wednesday fasting but never feeling completely confident of that situation. Thursday was when the bombshell hit. It started by me receiving a call from the Gulf States Conference President notifying me that I would be receiving a call from the KY-TN Conf. asking me to be an Associate Treasurer there in the Conference. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing and I was so excited I was ready to jump throught the ceiling. Sure enough that afternoon I received a call from the Treasurer of the Conference, I told him that I was interested in the position and no less than 30 minutes later I was officially offered the position. I am very excited about how the Lord has opened this opportunity for me. This is the work that I have been wanting to get in to; combining my degree from Southern along with ministry. Also, the thought of being near my family in TN is very exciting as well. I can only give thanks and praise to God in heaven for opening this door and I feel very humbled to be starting this position. One final note; Although I will be in Treasury and will be dealing lots with policies, rules, regulations, and Accounting it is important to remember that although these things are important I pray that I or you who are reading will never forget that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not just an organization or church but it is a movement. May we be preparing our hearts to be used to proclaim God's final warning to this earth in preparing a people to meet Jesus Christ.

September Update

2006-09-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would do a monthly update. Things are rolling along here in Montgomery. I have been here for two months now. I am keeping busy at the ABC still. Unfortunately our walk in traffic is quite sparse so the bulk of my work is filling orders over the phone or on the internet. We have done some food deliviries as well; two runs up to Birmingham and one route that took us down to Mobile, along the Gulf coast where we saw the damage from Katrina and then up to Bass Memorial Academy. On this note it is interesting because the Academy has undergone extensive repairs and is looking in great condition. Down in Waveland and Bay St. Louis it has been a year since the hurricane but it seems that the rebuilding process has just begun. We will be going over to Jackson, MS this week along with some other stops in MS. I am hoping that we will get the Bookmobile going soon because as good as some of those Worthington food products are I feel that our literature is more important to get out than our food. Speaking of books and literature, one advantage of working in the ABC is there is a large quanitity of books to choose from to read. I have started to read a book called "Effective Lay Preaching" by Floyd Bresee. I have just started it but it seems to be very helpful and practical for anyone that does not have experience in preaching. One quick plug in for the ABC you can check out many of the latest books and all of our products at www.adventistbookcenter.com Well, I didnt realize this blog was going to turn into a sales pitch but anyways I hope that all who are reading this have some good reading material and good books to read.

Montgomery

2006-08-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here and thought I would give a brief update. I have been in Montgomery, AL now for 1 month. I am pretty happy at my job, it definitely has its rewarding aspects to it. I especially enjoy seeing good books that we have get out. For those who don't know I am doing a Business internship at the Adventist Book Center. I am keeping busy at it, working from 8 to 6. The first few weeks were very busy but thankfully this past week was kind of slow. I have adjusted to the area pretty well. Montgomery is a good size town but yet not to big. I am living in an apartment and I am furnishing it as best i can, it is still a work in progress though. I don't have a whole lot more to share but I hope all who are reading this are doing well.

Back to the Blog

2006-07-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to admit that I was not sure I would continue posting to this blog since it has almost been two months since my last post. Alot has happened between now and then. Currently, I am in a hotel room in Montgomery, AL. I am going to be starting my new job at the Adventist Book Center this week. Even though it is a little strange being in a new place I am excited about what is in store for the future. Since my last post I went on a trip that was one of the best experiences I have ever been a part of. I was able to go on a trip to the country of Nigeria and preach an evangelistic series for two weeks. It was an intense two weeks because we preached every night and on Sabbath we would preach twice. The opportunity to get up and preach was an awesome experience though. 21 people were baptized at the site I preached at. Seeing each and every one of those people give their lives to Jesus and make a commitment to be baptized was one of the best things I have ever seen. There are many things that I could say about this trip to Africa but it is easier to talk about it than to write about it. I hope that all who are reading this are doing well. May God continue to strenghten our faith. Take care.

Wrapping up

2006-05-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I want to wish all who are reading a Happy Sabbath on this Friday May 26. We are coming towards the end of our AFCOE session. A week from tonight will be our graduation at the Sacramento Central church. Tomorrow we have about 7 baptisms at the West Sac church and then there will be a few more baptisms the following week. It will be great to see people come into the church tomorrow after all of the decisions they have made the last few weeks. I believe that one of the main things I am taking away from AFCOE is seeing the process of starting a Bible study weeks in advance and then see how that can grow into a baptism into such a short period of time. The combination of the Holy Spirit and the truth in the Word that is presented is an unstoppable combination. There are many who we studied with that did not come through but they will have to be continued to be worked with and not given up on. I think back on the past four months and I am definitely grateful for the opportunity to have been here. I do feel more grounded in the fundamentals of our beliefs and I also feel more empowered to go out and give Bible studies which is exciting. All this being said the last couple of weeks have been intense because not only have I been focusing on AFCOE but on a big decision on going to Africa which will be a week from this coming Tuesday. Also in the past week I have been down to Loma Linda and out to Spartanburg, SC both for job interviews. So alot has been going on. I still do not know for sure where I will be after Africa and that has caused me to be somewhat apprehensive at times but I am thankful for the Lord's guiding hand and things are coming together after all of these interviews. I will try to let you all know once I know for sure where I will be going. Hopefully that will be within the next week. Do keep this in your prayers, I really appreciate it. God bless you all

2006-05-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have never posted any photos to this blog so I thought I would do that for the first time. Here are some pictures of some of my adventures in Northern California. The second weekend we were here 3 friends and I went to the Redwood National Park and we were also able to make it to the beaches there which are beautiful because there is no one there. The last weekend of March our AFCOE class went to Yosemite and this is a picture with my a couple of my buddies. Things are going well here. We are about 10 nights into our evangelistic series. We just finished the Sabbath presentation which was a critical point in the meetings. It is exciting to see people continuing to come and making decisions for the truth in God's word. The contact I have been studying with has been coming and he was convinced on the Sabbath message but actually following through on its requirements could be a difficult step for him so I will be continuing to pray for him and working with him. We have about a month left here. Then I will be heading off to Nigeria for three weeks with part of the class to preach an evangelistic series. Right now I feel far from being prepared but I am very excited about the opportunity. I will continue to keep you all updated on the meetings here and hopefully soon I will know where I will be going after I return from Africa. I hope all who are reading this are doing well. Wishing you all the best.

First night of the meetings

2006-04-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am writing after the first night of our evangelistic series conducted by Tyler Long in West Sacramento. Alot of work has been done leading up to this night and I am very happy that the meetings have begun. The past 8 weeks we have been going out twice a week trying to conduct Bible studies to lead in to these meetings. This past week we went out every day and knocked on doors inviting people to the meetings. I have to say that I am very happy tonight because one of my contacts who I have been studying with came tonight. I picked him up and took him home which gave us a good chance to talk as well. I am very happy because he has been the only consistent Bible study that I have had. We have had studies the past three weeks together. I am asking you all to pray for this man, his name is George Ransom. He says that he wants to come back tomorow night which I am very happy about but he said some of the other topics he's not sure he's really interested but I am praying he will continue to come. I can't think of any other thing more important to me right now than seeing someone come to Christ and accepting Him leading to baptism. That is my prayer right now. Things will be busy now with the meetings taking up most of our time. In other areas I am looking at future options after AFCOE. We were recently given a list of full time Bible work opportunities and I am also investigating employment opportunities in Accounting while being active in ministry. I am scheduled to have an interview in Riverside, CA at an Accounting firm coming up soon. My main focus is on AFCOE and the meetings right now though. I hope all is going well for those who are reading this. I'll continue to keep you updated.

2006-04-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Things are moving right along here at AFCOE as we are about to finish our 10th week. We are approaching our evangelistic meetings which will start on April 21. I am praying that some of the people I have met will be attending these meetings and the ultimate goal is giving their life to Christ and being baptized. I am praying earnestly for this. I just had a Bible study this past Sunday and it was the first one that I had in awhile because alot of the contacts are not consistent and do not keep their appointments. Please keep the meetings and the Bible study contacts in your prayers. Classes are going pretty good. My favorite teacher by far is Alan Parker. He is teaching a solid class on the book of Romans, a class on preperation for ministry, and then teaching our preaching class. My other teachers are good but sometimes questions have been coming up like in our Revelation class. Some of the information presented you have to go back and search for yourself in the Scriptures. I consider this good because we should not be spoon fed and we should come to conclusions ourselves from what the Bible says. Since we are half way through the program the time has come to start seriously considering what I will be doing when the program is finished. It is easy for me to want to try and figure this out on my own but I must yield everything to the Lord. I have some tentative options that all revolve around positions in Accounting but I want to make sure that these options have solid options available for ministry as well. I am still leaving the door open to full time ministry or full time Bible work for a period of time. I know the Lord has led me to this place and that He will continue to lead.

Southeast Youth Conference

2006-03-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

For all those interested. The Southeast Youth Conference is happening this weekend at Southern Adventist University. I am very excited and anxious about this weekend. I have been part of the leadership team ever since the idea was started after the General Youth Conference in Ann Arbor, MI. This is our second conference and it should be very powerful. The three main sessions with Pastor Finley will be on 3ABN on Friday night, Sabbath morning, and Sabbath evening. I would ask you to keep it in your prayers as we continue to pray for the revival and reformation among the young people in this church. Things are going well at AFCOE. Learning lots of good things and I gave my second Bible study this past Sunday. Hope all is well with everyone and take care.

6 weeks in

2006-03-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to write a more extensive post of what is going on here at AFCOE and I will try to fill you in on some of the information. To start with, I fully believe that the Lord has placed me here and I am tremendously blessed to be here. I will give you some details of the general schedule. A week at AFCOE is pretty much as follows; Sunday is our first day and we have a short class and preperation from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. then we go on outreach and knock on doors giving surveys hoping to generate Bible study interests. We are in the field until about 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday we are in class from 8:45 to 5 p.m. with an hour and half lunch break. On Thursday we are in class all morning and then we do outreach again in the afternoon. Friday we have off and Sabbath we attend the West Sacramento SDA church 3 weeks out of the month because that is where our evangelistic meetings will be held starting on April 21. The outreach portion has probably been the most challenging for me thus far. You knock on doors giving surveys and there is a lot of rejection. Although it is challenging it can be very rewarding. I have given one Bible study and I have a couple of more lined up. There needs to be alot of prayer involved and the Lord is willing to pour out his blessings while you are out there. It has been very exciting to see people who actually are interested in studying the Bible. I am anxious to see what is ahead for Bible studies because as of right now I have only given one. The classroom setting has been very good here at AFCOE. We are getting so many tools to equip us for building our relationship with the Lord and then being able to share this with others. The first couple of weeks was all about personal preperation and making sure your heart is right with the Lord and also for people you are giving Bible studies to get to their heart and find out their needs. This was done by Annie Morgan (used to be Kjaer) and it was powerful to see the needs that everyone has. She was our first guest speaker, we have also had James Rafferty come in discussing on how to study the Bible. We have had Shelly Quinn and talk about prayer and we have had Herbert Douglass come in who has given a presentation on Ellen White. Then we have our main classes taught by the main teachers. We have a studies in Revelation class with Jean Ross which has been very good. We are also taking Romans with Allen Parker and he is also teaching a class called Mission and Message and preperation for the ministry. We have a Bible doctrines class with Richard Calderon and then we have outreach classes with Ethelene Brady. We also have a preaching class and then emphasis tracks which include Lay Pastoral, Bible worker, Public Evangelism, and Youth Evangelism. I am in the Youth evangelism track which meets every Tuesday afternoon. I know this has been long but this is kind of the format of what is happpening here. It is truly a special place to be and I am thankful that the Lord has brought me here. For all those who are reading, I hope all is well with you and I hope I did not bore you with too much information. I promise that my later posts will be shorter.

AFCOE

2006-02-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

I talked to my Mom last night and she told me that my cousin had said that I hadn't posted to this in awhile. I do not have internet access at my apartment but hopefully will be getting access soon. I am on a break right now but just wanted to let you know that things are going well. We are already in our fourth week at AFCOE. I would ask for your continued prayers as we are just beginning our outreach program and we will be starting our Bible studies pretty soon. I hope all is well with those who are reading this. I will post more when I have the internet at home.

Loma Linda

2006-01-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

My posts are often infrequent but I have been enjoying reading other people's blogs. I find that I am reading them instead of letting people know what is going on in my blog as well. I guess it's a little to much taking and not enough giving. Anyways, since my last post a fair amount has happened. One of the major events was last Wednesday when I left Tennessee to head across the country. I drove from 11 A.M. on Wednesday to Dallas, TX and then another 12 hours on Thursday to Wilcox, AZ and then about 7 hours on Friday finally reaching Loma Linda about 3:30 Pacific Time. It was a very long trip but it was enjoyable for the most part. Thursday was probably the worst day as far as scenery goes because West Texas is long and there is not a lot to look at. I have been having a very good and productive time out in Loma Linda since arriving. It is very encouraging and inspiring to see how the Lord is working at Advent Hope here in Loma Linda, CA. Sabbath was a day that very important for me, helping me to get refocused spiritually. Peter Gregory presented a powerful message on Sabbath that addressed the doctrine of the Nicolaitenes . He addressed the dangers of New Theology and the importance of sanctification, obedience and victory in our lives. It was a thought provoking and challenging message. The people from Advent Hope also had a day of prayer and fasting which was very humbling spending all of that time in prayer. The last few days have been very relaxing. I was able to shadow Norman in the hospital and watched him give a neurological examination to a patient which was very interesting. Norm, Tim Arakawa and I have been together alot the last few days and we have had a good time. We went down the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (Which included a personal tour of Air Force One that Reagan rode)yesterday and then went into Pasadena and walked around awhile there. It is great to see what is going on in Loma Linda. Soon I will be arriving at Amazing Facts which starts on Thursday. Right now I am just very excited to be starting. I have been waiting for a long time and the time has about to come to get some important training. I hope all is well and that your week continues to go well.

The New Year

2006-01-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well it is already 8 days into the New Year and things are going well. I continue to praise the Lord for the blessings that He poured out at the General Youth Conference this year. I was especially blessed by the outreach project. Seeing over 850 Bible study interests made all the stresses of 3 months of planning for this event well worth it. The Lord truly took the project under His wing and put the finishing touches on it. This past week has been good because my brother Norman and his girlfriend Joelle were at home with us. It has been very enjoyable to have them around. It is always interesting when Norm is around and one of his more memorable moments of the week was composing a song based on Romans 8:3,4. The text is powerful and so hearing the words throughout the week helped reinforce the text into my mind which was good. The problem is that the tune he came up with was absolutely awful and so it was a mixed blessing to say the least. That is just one of many laughs we had this past week. The time is coming soon for when I will be attending the Amazing Facts College of Evangelism which begins on January 26. I am excited and looking forward to the experience that will be gleaned there. I solicit those that are reading to keep this in your prayers because there is still a lot of growth that is needed in my walk with the Lord and I am anxious for this time with Him. Well, that is about the latest from Portland, TN. I wish all who are reading this all the best and the Lord's blessings.

Ending the Year

2005-12-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is almost here but it hardly feels like the Christmas season to me this year. This month has been very hectic and I have two dates on my mind; December 14 and December 31. I am happy to say that graduation did happen on the 14th and now the big item is the outreach project for GYC on December 31. It is always nice to be home and I have been enjoying being with Mom and April the last few days. I have also been doing work at the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference office working for the Treasury department. There are some very dedicated Seventh-day Adventist Christians at the office and I consider it an honor to be working there. I will be heading down to Chattanooga on Monday morning to finalize the preperations for the outreach project. Justin McNeilus and I will have a lot to do but the good thing is that although not complete, things are coming together. We have had a difficult time this past week establishing that the maps are completed and the lady coordinating the buses is on board and making sure that we are still on the same track. Thankfully the Lord is leading and an important meeting happened today between the bus and map coordinator. We hope to have a completed contract by Monday. This outreach project has been on my mind every day for the last few months and I will be very relieved when it is complete. At the same time though it is a tremendous thought that over a 1,000 people will be hitting the streets of Chattanooga knocking on doors for Bible study interests. I do not want to be in the way of the Lord's plans for this project and I just want to help things run smoothly and let the Lord do the main work of working on people's hearts at doors. I hope that all that are reading will have a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best and God's blessings.

Aaron

Last Week

2005-12-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

As I am in my last full week here at Southern I am very excited about my upcoming graduation. There has been alot of hard work leading up to this point. I received an email late last week from the registrar at the Amazing Facts College of Evangelism. The email stated that there was an opportunity to go on a mission trip after the training course to Congo in East Africa to conduct an evangelistic series. The email immediately sparked my interest because this is a very tangible way to put my training into work and for a long time I have wanted to be part of an evangelistic series or a project overseas. Ultimately I want to be part of God's work and this sounded very exciting. I thought about it off and on throughout the weekend but I didn't begin to spend serious prayer and study until yesterday. The earthquake that just occured in Congo definitely got my attention and I felt impressed to do some study. While doing this I came across the text from 2 Timothy 4:5 which says, "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry" This really hit home because I had seen a fair amount of good texts but this text seemed to speak directly to me. So as of now I am planning to go to Congo when my AFCOE training is over. I believe that Jesus is coming very soon and I believe it is very important to be preparing our lives and the lives of others to meet Him.

Wrapping up at SAU

2005-12-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

I only have two weeks left here at Southern Adventist University. I am fairly busy but the majority of my classwork has been completed. My main focus right now is the success of the GYC outreach project on Dec. 31 I am helping Justin McNeilus with this project and there is alot that needs to happen in order for it to be ready. The past couple of weeks have been interesting for the overall school environment here at Southern revolving around a couple of issues. The first issue involved the issue of the dress code here. There have been students that have taken a stand and have shown concern about the abuses of the dress code such as wearing jewelry or inmodest clothing. I applaud the courage of these students to take a stand on this issue because this campus should be upholding good Christian standards and students that come here should know this when they come. The large controversy that is going on right now at Southern especially in the last few days is an uproar over an article in the Southern Accent that discussed the priviledges of a "benefriends" relationship. The article discussed this as a physical relationship that could be attained as a middle ground while not having the burden of emotional commitment in a relationship but not going to the extreme of sexual relations with multiple partners at the same time. This past week the second part of the article came out saying on how this type of relationship is harmful and does not have beneficial results. The damage was already done though and there has been an outlash against the first article. In this week's Southern Accent there was a Presidential statement saying how the University does not support this behavior and how there is a need for both sides to be presented at once not in multiple weeks. The Student Association Senate met for an extended period of time last night with rumors being that the Senate is looking at the removal of the editor or the faculty sponsor. At Convocation today, our President Gordon Bietz addressed the issue saying he believes that those who are in disagreement should take their wrongs to each other personally first as is the counsel in Matt. 18. and he does not agree with the immediate cry for removal of the editor. Anyways, this has been what is going on and it is very interesting. I am encouraged by people who are willing to take stands and stand for higher standards. At the same time I am concerned that there could be a severe backlash from many students on campus because of the attack on these issues. Southern is in need of spiritual revival that will help these issues be less controversial. Things like our Southeastern Youth Conference, the beginning of a student led church last year, increased visibility and action of outreach groups like the Bible workers club are what will help the overall student body realize the need for a closer relationship with Christ and an improved Christian walk. I will be praying and I solicit your prayers for this campus as these issues are being brought to light. I pray that our actions will be Christ like in all that we do. Hope all is well for those that are reading, and I enjoy reading your comments.

The Beginning

2005-11-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

In the last few months I have browsed through the news and have found that there is a constant reference to blogging. I have noticed it a little and even clicked on a few links to check out people's opinions. It has been interesting but hasn't meant much until I have recently seen my brother and some of his friends blogs. It has been very interesting to see what is going on in their lives and for thoughts to be freely published on the internet. So I figured I might as well join.
This first post is courtesy of the comforts of my own home on a Friday night. I am enjoying the peacefulness of the Sabbath hours. I am down to my last two full weeks of college and it is sometimes hard to believe. I have had an interesting experience at Southern Adventist University which for the most part has been positive. I have always been extremely busy with my classwork and finishing in 3 and a half years has taken its toll at times. I have also been very busy with music since I have been in the band and the orchestra as well. If that wasn't busy enough I have also been active in intramurals at Southern playing softball, basketball, hockey, and football as well. All these things have been a big positive experience while at Southern but the most positive experience for me in College has been the last year and a half with my relationship with the Lord. I have been priviledged to be surrounded by some very good people at the University and have been involved with events such as planning a revival type youth conference last year at Southern. I also was involved in teaching Sabbath school at a student led church and this year I am participating in a Bible workers club. All of these are a result of a conversion experience last year when Doug Batchelor held meetings downtown for his "Oh for Revival" series. I am by no means attained a "holy" life but I praise God the was He has led thus far and I continue to press on through faith that He will continue to work in me.
I know this has been a long post but this is where I am at right now in my life. Shortly I will be attending Amazing Facts College of Evangelism in Sacramento, Californina. This program will start January 26 through June 3. I am unsure as to where I will be after this program but I am excited about tools that I will be learning to help spread the gospel and to share my faith which is extremely important concerning the important of the message that we have in these last days. Look forward to dialoging with friends and family on this blog. May you have a pleasant weekend.