IV Scavenger Hunt

Last Friday was my first time to a intervarsity event, and after the message and worship, we did this amazing scavenger hunt all across campus. These guys are awesome. Great time.


They got these weird Hokie bird "art" things all over


We held up a bus.


Yes, that's a 10 man human pyramid.


That's a real cop.


(Grease)


The Hokie Pokie in Lane Stadium. Look at them shoes. Bang.

Amen

So yea Tech is pretty cool. This one goes out to the Rev BK for calling out my spiritual future in college so far by saying, "you'll find a bunch of weird Engineering Christian fiends at college and it'll be a blast". That's exactly what's happening. As far as I can tell, of the kids involved in the 40 Christian organizations here at Tech, most of them are engineers. Not only are they "Christian", but many have extremely deep relationships with Christ. Interesting huh? Something I noticed is that there are ministries here where kids are all Godly one day, then out drinking the next. One leader even offered to buy me beer during a small group. What the Heck! I found two other ministries that I think are going to be freaking awesome. Intervarsity is one. Unlike other ministries around here that meet during the week, IV has their main meeting on Friday nights, which, in a college town, means that these kids are the ones truly trying to live as God is calling them on nights when all hell breaks loose. As far as can tell, these folks have deep spiritual relationships, and though the worship band isn't the best around, the worship that goes on at IV is GENUINE. Another awesome ministry here is New Life Campus Fellowship. Wow. Blows my mind away. Unlike other ministries here, it is a real church that meets Sunday mornings. With pastors and everything. Except its all college kids. Sweet. The pastor seems like a Rob Bell. People wear T-shirts and jeans, they give you the lesson notes as you walk in, they have 5, yes 5, bands that have amazing talent, people sing their hearts out, and there are always more kids than seats in the room. Can you imagine so many people at MLUPC that folks would voluntarily sit in the aisles just to be there? God is at work at V-Tech and its freaking sweet.

Welcome to Tech

So I'm getting ready to go to class for the first time today and a guy stops me at the door to tell me there's a murderer on the loose. Wow. First day on campus, and we're locked down. This dude is nuts. He escaped from a hospital 2 days ago after shooting 2, killing a security guard. He also shot and killed a cop on campus at 7 this morning. They cought him around 4. Pray for Blacksburg.
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2006&itemno=434

Welcome to my Crib

Well the first couple days of college have been pretty cool. My roommate has a bunch of hilarious friends. We have a good bit in common. Walked around campus today trying to learn our way around & stumbled across a few interesting places. We jumped around to different dorms tonight- poker, HALO, and strange hilarious movie clips- it was interesting how much clean fun (and clean folks) there are down here. Meeting lots of cool people- and a bunch of Christians supriseingly. Going to Blacksburg Pres. tomorrow. Hope its cool. Anyway here's some shots of the day.

EO- out.

Well the time is nearing folks. 18 years and 53 days after I was born into this fine city I will pack my bags and head south to begin a new chapter at Virginia Tech. Scary isn't it? For one thing- I've never moved in my life. This is a new place, new people, new challenges- laundry, dorm life, CHEM 1035. Of course there are some perks- VT Football. But it'll defiantly be a critical point in my life. I can probably say that the next 4 or so years (not to mention the next 4 months) will shape who I'll be, how I'll live, and what I'll do. And for the first time ever- I'll be on my own. More or less. It's exciting. There is really only one constant through the whole process. God's gonna be there. Isn't that nuts? Think on this for a minute- God is real big- bigger than you, bigger than your house, bigger than Pittsburgh, bigger than the distance between Pittsburgh and V-Tech, or Florida, or Egypt, or Pluto. He's real big. That blows my mind. But anyway- so I've lived here and gone to MLUPC for the last 18 years and 53 days, and I've seen alot of cool stuff happen- and at the same time I feel that my time here has gotten cut short. Like I said in my testimony, for 2 years in 9th and 10th grade I was in a state of spiritual hibernation and it feels like I've only had 2 of the four years I should have had with you all. What I got instead was 2 years of transition. I was one of the interim youth. So I've been asking God what the heck he left me out to dry for 2 years for. And he replied (through my Mom) that though I may have been here in a time of transition- he was still at work both inside me and around me- I just couldn't see it coming together at the time. During my first 2 years of high school- there was a constant yearning for something- something I could never find. That spiritual yearning turned into an endless hunger to seek an ever more intimate relationship with God- through reading on my own, and heck- actually listening to sermons & talks. That hunger grows every time God reveals something new to me. And so without those two years of spiritual "drought" I would have never been at the point in my faith that I am today. That deep spiritual yearning would have never developed. Who knows where I'd be now? Who knows where I'd be in college? Wow- those two years of "drought" in High School where God "left me out to dry" actually strengthened my faith! Isn't God amazing?
God worked around me in the last two years in the Youth Group too. You all have seen it (especially in the past couple weeks). God has built this group up from the transition crew I was a part of to one of the strongest youth programs in the area. Beyond what I could have ever imagined. If you don't believe me, look through the blogs to the right and read what God did with our kids in Florida. Wow. God is Good.
So here I am. On my way out. And I'm asking God, no no screaming "What the heck! the Youth Group is finally awesome and your plucking me out now! Why now! Its so awesome now! Why couldn't I leave when it sucked! You're not hanging me out to dry again are you?!". And he answered (again, through my Mom- Mom's are awesome) that he'll be just as much at work down in Virginia as he is, and was, and will be, here in Pittsburgh. And just like he grew this youth group into something beyond imagination, he'll do something equally, if not more, amazing down at Tech. And for some unknown reason- he wants me there to see it.
So I'll miss you all, but at the same time I feel that instead of God ripping me away from everything I've ever known, he's calling me forward.
Go Hokies.