Converge Students...Calling, Christ, Community, Culture

Pete's Paragraph 12.24

     Well it's Christmas Eve, Jaime and I are driving back from my sister's house in Fayetteville then we are heading to her dad's for a Christmas Eve dinner with her family. Being that its a holiday I am going to make this short and sweet. Since I wont see most of you until after the holidays and the new year I just want to tell you all how much of a blessing its been serving with you and getting to hang at Converge every Sunday. Its been a year packed of new for our youth ministry, with Matt and Mike leading us, Student Life Camp, Joel being hired as our new student pastor, the new student venue, and a lot of other great things that have been happening. I just want to let you know how blessed I feel to get to be part of this growth and what a great year its been. I totally look forward to the surprises that next year holds and getting to serve with you guys another year. Have a great Christmas and New Years. I'm Out!

Pete's Paragraph 12.17

   Sunday night was such a special night for me and Jaime. We have made hosting a family at the angel tree dinner a tradition for the last couple of years and look forward to the next. This year we had a family of 6, the mom and 5 children. The kids whose ages started at 2 and went up to 10 were awesome. It took them a little to warm up to us, but by the end of the night we had them talking and singing and definitely ready to rip open some presents. I took some time to sit back Sunday night and just look at what was going on around me. I was very proud and overjoyed with what you ( the servants of CBC ) gave to these families that might not have a Christmas this year or who might not even hear the Christmas story at all. Its so awesome to see people that we have never met, and within just a couple of minutes they are sitting there eating a great meal, sharing their stories, and just feeling like part of our family. I want to also let the Converge students know that you guys did an awesome job being servants Sunday night. When we were going through the line to get our meal everyone of you were wanting to help fix plates, get drinks, and carry meals back out to the tables and that makes me proud to be a leader and get to hang with you every Sunday night. Getting to visit with the mom of our host family I know that she and her children appreciated everything and would not have probably had a meal and entertainment like they were given Sunday night. Jim Kolp and volunteers do a great job every year and we are very blessed to have him and all that have taken their time to put this great night together. Just remember in the middle of this holiday season that although receiving gifts is nice, it means so much to others when we give willingly and make someone else's holiday just a little bit better, and that what you all did Sunday.

Here's a clip from " Christmas Vacation " about giving and receiving.

Pete's Paragraph for 12.10

     I have been thinking all week what to write about today. I've had a lot of ideas, but really couldn't put them together to write about. All week though one thing has been popping up in my mind, my cousin Joe. Joe is a pastor atRiver Valley Church in Faribault Mn. and has gone through many tough times to get to where he is today. Today I would like to tell you a little bit about his story and let you see how sometimes God lets you hit the bottom before he lifts you back up. Joe grew up in Savage, Mn., which is just a few minutes outside of Minneapolis. When Joe graduated from high school he decided to join the military and went to North Central Bible College where he met his wife Jen. Sounded like Joe had everything going for him, but he had a secret. Joe had started drinking a little with buddies during the game then maybe going to a couple of bars, but when he started drinking by himself and needed a drink just to make it through the day is when the problems began. He was lying to Jen and his family and was trying to carry on his duties as a chaplain and an intern at his church. The night of Joe and Jen's wedding a man broke into Jen's parents house and shot her dad in bed at close range with a shotgun and this just added to Joe's problems and created problems right off the bat with their marriage. After a few very tough months Joe and Jen seperated. Jen moved back home with her parents and Joe kept on with his downward spiral. Eventually Joe got some help in the form of rehab and he and Jen got back together. They are now the campus pastors and have three children (two adopted). Although Joe went through these horrible times in his life he never forgot God's grace and forgiveness. He hit rock bottom, but took God's hand and let the Lord pull him back up. I have told this story in a nutshell, but there is so much more to it and I would love to share it with you and I know he would love for you to hear it. He has put out a testimonial dvd called "Surrender, a Story of Victory" which I have a copy of and you can visit him at his blog at  http://www.pastorjoeanderson.com/  and at  http://www.mysurrender.org/  He would love to see hits on these sites from Arkansas. Just remember no matter how far off track you life gets and when you think you have hit the bottom God has never left you side and is right there to get you back on you feet and he is mighty to save.

                                                    

Pete's Paragraph for 12.3...

     Ok, so this is going to post on 12.4, just had a lot to do yesterday. Sorry for jumping in on your day Ling Ling. I just want to continue on with thanksgiving. No not the turkey and dressing or any of the desserts thanksgiving, but to continue to thank God for all he has done for me and my wife. He has blessed us with a house, cars, clothes, and many other things that a lot of us take for granted. He blessed me with a great job and has just recently blessed Jaime with a new job as a school teacher at Euper Lane Elementary. There are so many other things that we all have been blessed with, but the greatest one of all is our salvation. God gave his son to die on a cross for our sins that we would have a chance to live life with him eternally, WOW! No matter how big a meal you had on Thanksgiving or what you get under the tree for Christmas there is no gift that will top that. I ask that you guys take a second and think of the things you have been blessed with from God, and then take some time to praise God for the wonderful gift that he has given us through salvation and all that you have receive from him. Heres a song that we all sing on Sunday mornings and at Converge. I have had a great time the past couple of nights just sitting at the computer listening to this song and praising God.

Pete's Paragraph for 11.19...

     I just want to take this time to give my acceptance speech for my Donnie Award. I would like to thank my beautiful wife Jaime for accepting this award for me in my absence. I would also like to thank all the people who have helped me to this point in my life. My wife, my mom, my dad, both of my sisters, my brother-in-laws, my niece and nephews, the guys I work with at the fire dept, Ed, KT, Matt, Mark, Joel, Crain, Will, the man the award is named after, the guys in my small group, my dogs, the teachers I substitute with, and the many other people in my life that have made this possible. I work hard to miss every third Sunday and I promise I won't let any of you down by showing up when I'm not supposed to be there. I wish I could have accepted this award by satellite on location, but it was just impossible. In conclusion I would like to thank Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior for all he has done for me in the past, present, and what he will do in the future. I would like to thank him for giving me life and all the people that surround me. For making the sun, the moon, and the stars. For saving my soul and giving me salvation through grace. For dying on the cross for my sins and loving me unconditionally. I am very proud of my award and will display along side the other one I have....wait this is the only one I have, but I will still display it proudly.

Pete's Paragraph for 11.12...

     I had a great time with the guys this weekend on our camping trip to "The Farm". Thanks to Jamie Patterson for letting us use his land for camping trips and church family nights. I did realize that no matter how much I love camping and being outdoors, there comes a time when you just have to realize that the hard ground and the frigid nights are just too much. It started out with the perfect temprature and sunny skies, but as the sun went down and the stars started to show a cold breeze began to blow through the country. We started a fire for fun and cooking, but as the night went on the fire became a place for warmth. As I was sitting there trying to avoid bottle rockets and listening to Cole play his guitar I started to think about how the warmth of the fire could be related to our spiritual lives. When beginning your spiritual walk with God it's like being away from the fire. Your cold and looking for something to warm you up. You start reading your Bible and praying and theres a fire that starts burning in your soul. Then you start getting involved with activities and people from your christian community and you start to feel that warmth all around, but like the camp fire, as you walk away that cold starts to take over and you start looking something to warm you up again. You might try on that coat of hanging out with your friends at parties or you might try on that sweater of being with your girlfriend or boyfriend, but you still feel that cold breeze. Then you start to think back about how that warmth from God never faded and while you were walking with him you never needed anything else to shield you from the cold. This is why our churches have home groups, youth groups and Sunday services. These are all ways to helping you stay close to that fire, its a fire that will never burn you or ever go out. That fire is always there for your warmth when you start to feel that cold chill.

Pete's Paragraph for 11.5...

     So I was wanting to write my weekly paragraph this morning, but I really couldn't put the words that I was wanting to say in print. After a few more hours of thought and talking to my wife, I think I have it. This is my reflection on the presidential election and what it means to me and hopefully something that you can apply to your lives. Even though the election didn't quite turn out the way I wanted I know that God is in control. There are people that have gotten bent out of shape over Obama winning the election and talks of having to pay higher taxes. I don't want to pay more taxes or have more money come out of my paycheck, but its the nature of the beast. I do know that I am going to do what needs to be done to make more money whether it be take another job or work more overtime at the fire station, but I am going to work hard to take care of my family. That can be said for those of you in school. These are days that just getting by won't cut it. You need to apply yourselves and work as hard as you can to achieve the best you can do, and when you think you have worked hard enough look for some way to work harder and do more. 2nd Timothy 2:15 says "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." This is a scripture that my mom wrote to me in the front of my first Bible and one that I have tried to live by, although its hard sometimes. Work hard, do your best, and keep God in the center of it all. Times are going to get tougher, but don't get mad about it, do something about it. Our new president might not have the same morals or values as I do, but he is our new leader. I know that I need to pray for him and our country, and trust he will do whats right for our country. If you haven't already or don't know it please read Romans 13: 1-8, I have had to a couple of times in the last few days. This paragraph might not be put together just right and seem like I am jumping around, so I will apologize for that, but hopefully it has some meaning to you. Give glory to God for all he has done and all he is to do!

This is one of my favorite songs.

Pete's Paragraph...

     Tuesday I was up at the church visiting with Mr. Reynolds, youth minister, laborer, and servant at our beloved church. I started noticing that he was very tired and just thought it was because he has 3 children and a job the keeps him very busy. That was until he took me into the sanctuary and showed off the hard work that several members of our pastoral staff had been working on all day. He explained how they were removing the back wall and extending the stage for our worship team and our pastors to have more room to move around and get jiggy with it. That evening I was thinking about the rennovations that were being made to our church, and it made me very proud. Proud because of what our church is doing in this community. As we all have heard "Its not the building that makes the church its the people" and its because of the people that we are needing to expand and make improvments. First came the move from the mall into our new building, then the expansion of our childrens worship and youth ministry,then adding more campuses to our surrounding communities, and now making the stage bigger. All this comes from the faithfullness of our pastoral staff, interns, servants, and congregation and that makes me proud. To be at a church that is moving forward and making a difference in the lives of people in this community. Its thrills me to see the excitement all of you have to be involved in the growth of CBC and that makes me as well as other people want to get more involved in our ministry. Then I started thinking of several member of our pastoral staff doing demoliton and construction at the church and I got a little scared, but that makes me appreciate Will a lot more. Here are some vidoes of what might have been going on in the sanctuary on Tuesday.

Pete's Paragraph...

     O.K., since Sunday night I can't get the phrases Skankasaurus or Hookerzilla out of my head and of course the little dance that goes with them and I have been using both of those all week, for some odd reason. I'm not even going to attempt trying to find pictures of either of these to post on the sight. Just to add on what Joel was trying to get across, remember this is a Converge Youth party, so PLEASE NO SKANKASAURUS OR HOOKERZILLA COSTUMES. I even feel wierd writing the words skank and hooker on our blog. With that in mind here's a groovy little tune from on of the greatest funk bands ever George Clinton and the Goombas! ( George Clinton and Parliment)