The Skinny

So, I said yesterday that I would get my vacation all laid out for those few of you who might be curious! I left early early on Thursday (June 15th) morning, and drove through the day to get to Peachland that evening. I met Jordan in downtown Peachland, and after she tried (keyword: TRIED) to trip me, and then DID put me up to my knees in the lake, we went up to the falls. There is a great trail around Peachland that takes you to a waterfall back in the woods, so we went back there and climbed up around the falls and sat down beside them. Very, very cool view from up there.

Then we went back to her house for dinner, which is where it all went downhill. I immediately started to feel very gross, and as it turns out I must have had the 24 hour flu or something similar. I spent the rest of the night throwing up, and generally feeling really nasty. She said it was hilarious because I was just saying whatever because my cognitive processes weren't really up to speed.

Thankfully once I got to sleep and got up the next morning, I was feeling MUCH better. I was still a little weak and I didn't want to push myself too hard, but I was well enough that I could go camping that night. Jordan and I spent the day around the house packing and getting ready for the evening, as well as running down to the grocery store to pick up any missing supplies. That night, myself and the Walker family (minus Josh) went up to Hedley and camped the night with an INCREDIBLE view. My camera didn't really do it justice, because it was too dark, but picture standing on a mountain top looking down on a valley deep below you with a meandering river through it and another mountain on the other side. All of it was green! It was gorgeous.

Bo, Jordan's younger brother, and myself spent much of the evening hunting the rabid cows that lived in the pasture we'd invaded. At one point, a bull just about ran us over. It was good times. Bo had brought some fireworks with him, so we set them off later that night and put the cows on a stampede! Oops!

The next morning, we got up and went on a little 4x4ing adventure down the road to find some of the mining camps. We found an old cabin, and then a little way down the road a bonified log cabin who's roof was nearly caved in. Naturally, we explored! From there on, Jordan and I rode on the back of the Jeep (the bumper!) and her dad tried to throw us off in any way possible. No one died, whcih was almost a dissapointment.

Then, a group of us young people went into the Hedley Mines to explore through them. Jordan, Myself, Tara (Jordan's Friend), Bo, Josh (the older brother) and two other friend all went into the mines together. It was dark, dangerous and had lots of crazy holes and random paths. I had a lot of fun, and knowing me, I spent a lot of time observing the different people and the way they interacted under stress. Some just pushed ahead, some ignored the others, some took on a huge weight of responsiblity, some got stressed out, and some avoided the problems all together. It was very interesting!

That night, we got back safely, and everyone was super tired. Jordan and I went out and spent the evening looking at all the stars that were coming out. Peachland doesn't have a lot of lights, and so you get a really clear view of the heavens. It was so gorgeous!

The next morning, Sunday, I got a chance to go to church and not have a single responsibility! It was wonderful. Jordan hadn't been able to go to church because of her work, so we both just enjoyed the chance to be there. The people were very friendly, and I got a more than a few threats about treating Jordan well! I guess that means I'll actually have to do it, eh? *sarcastic* ;)

The rest of the week was pretty relaxing, and we didn't do too many crazy and wild things. We climbed a tree, went 4x4ing ourselves, and nearly got lost, saw X-Men 3, and met a few of her good friends. It was a blast, and I really enjoyed my times there.

From there, I went to Vancouver, and spent some time with Lorelei, Orlando, Paul and Carys! My little niece was of course as charming and wonderful as ever. I don't get how that little girl is so cute. I spent the first few days sleeping (seriously!), and just relaxing. We watched some movies, but for the most part just lounged around.

I spent some time with Lorelei's Sister-in-law out at their place and her four children. It was actually a lot of fun, because the kids were pinned up inside for being bad, and they were more than happy to see a new body. One, however, was quite scared of me. She cried, hid, and did everything... until later that day. Then I got the tour of the bedroom and was welcomed with open arms!

I saw a few movies with Paul and Orlando, Nacho Libre I can't suggest, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (once you get through the serious lack of clothing), is super good. Much better than I was expecting, that's for sure. And Paul and I had some good chats. It was a relaxing time, and exactly what I needed after Jordan wore me out!

On Wednesday night, I drove back to Peachland, so break up the trip. We went and saw Superman that evening (which is really good despite some of the reviews I'm reading, classic superman!). There was a large group of us, some of whom I'd met before, and a new person or two.

The next morning, I just lounged around the house, and about noonish, Jordan and I ate and then went down to the beach again. We rollerbladed... well, she rollerbladed and I managed to stay off my butt and then went swimming, which is much recommended on a 35+ day. Sadly, that ended my vacation and I left for Three Hills about 3:30. It took me 9 hours to get back home, and I pulled in around 12:30 at night.

It was an awesome vacation, and I feel much better! It was good to see Jordan and family again and just get away from the stresses of Three Hills for a few weeks. Now it's time to learn how to be a Children's Pastor!

Back from Vacation

Howdy all!

Well, I made it back safely this past Thursday Night (technically Friday morning) and I had a blast. I'll post a little more about it in the next few days (seriously!) but I wanted to say that I just got into the Picasa Beta, so that means that I now have a web album. So I have a few photo's on there, such as from my birthday party, of my niece, grad, etc. So if you want to check it out, it's at http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenphilps.

Vacation

I'm now a little over half finished my two week vacation, and it has been a blast! I spent the first week with Jordan, and we did all sorts of crazy things together. Camping, Mining, Hiking, Randomly jumping into the lake, Salsa (yes, the dance :S) lessons, going to a fancy restaurant, etc. It was a lot of fun, and a god time to get to know each other a little bit better and talk things through at the same time.

I came to Vancouver yesterday, and have been hanging out with the family ever since. It's a fair bit more low-key than hanging out with Jordan. Current my sister and Carys are both sleeping and I'm watching Argentina and Mexico battle it out in Golden Goal.

Vacation has been incredible. It reminds me how key it is that we take the down time to spend with friends and most importantly God. We so often get busy working ourselves to the bone that we forget to stop and breathe for a bit. This is my breather, and I'm loving every moment.

Youth Retreat and more!

So it's been far too long, but here is my report on the youth retreat! Things went really well, and while I walked into the weekend exhaughsted from preaching, and walked out the same, God worked! It's awesome to see how He'll take something that I just really feel won't work and makes a difference through it.

































The theme for the weekend was Spiritual Gifts, and God definetely used that. We did some teaching about all the different gifts, some challenges to the youth to find out what their's are, and to start using them. And the responce was powerful!

































On the last day, I had the pleasure to lead them in a discussion of just HOW they could start using their gifts... and they decided that a drop-in would be the best way to utilize them. So this coming year, Kevin will be working on forming a youth leadership team to start getting the drop-in off the ground and running. The key in that will be to make sure it is a youth-led initiative!

From here on in, I'm no long an intern. I'm leaving early early tomorrow morning to head out to BC for two weeks of vacation after 10 months in my internship... and when I come back Bethel has asked me to stay on as a full-time pastor until December, at least. So as of right now, I'll be working with the children's ministry come the fall, and I'll be just a regular sponsor with the youth!

It is both an exciting time, and a scary one, as I know that stepping into this role puts me into a position I never expected to find myself in, and have never prepared for. Yet I am also confident that this is exactly where God wants me. So I'll keep on moving forward knowing that God is faithful and will carry me through to the end.
































For now, I plan on relaxing VERY hard over these next two weeks, visiting Jordan and then Lorelei, Paul, Orlando and Carys. It's going to be awesome!

































I trust that God is blessing you also!

Youth Retreat #2!

T-Minus 2 hours to the 2nd youth retreat! We're once again heading out to River's Edge and we're taking 16 youth with us. It's going to be a blast, and I'm looking forward to it! I'll take lots of pictures, see you all when I get back.

Small Joys

It's been a good day. Last night we had our board meeting (DURING THE HOCKEY GAME !?!!), but it was valuable to be there. I got unanimous approval for the idea of a young adults/sr. high worship service (shh... don't call it a service) to be held here at Bethel. Now I just need to get around to organizing, and forming the group of pastors that will give it direction and leadership! It's an exciting time.

Today I met with Derek, as usual. It's fun to have a regular time to get together and talk about where we are both at. I continue to pray for him, and have been enjoying our regular chats.

And this afternoon I taught religious ed at the town school. I've really missed seeing those kids! It's awesome to have the opportunity to share the Bible with kids who may not have heard it before, and who are excited about the story. We talked about Jonah today, and they just constantly make me laugh! Whenever I walk in, there's a few that just come to give me hugs. Speaking of times of refreshing!

God rocks!

Tired

You know, I really enjoy preaching. It's fun to get a chance to just dig into the Word and discover what it is that God wants to say to the people around me, as well as into my own heart. He's always so faithful in challenging me with what is written in His word, and letting it sink into me.

It's even more fun when I see how God takes my words and my work and molds it into something beautiful and effective to the people in front of me. It certainly has nothing to do with my own skill, but the way it morphs and changes when I'm up there is really a unique way to look at it. Then when you can see people mulling over your words, there is just this huge sense of fulfillment.

But there's a flip side to that coin as well. With every minute that I put into a sermon, it takes a little something out of me. I'm pouring my heart and soul into the words and the teaching that God has given me to prepare, and when it's over and finished on Sunday Morning, I feel like I've run a marathon. Rewarding, yes, but very much in need of a rest. That's how I feel right now. I've still got energy, but spiritually, I just feel worn. It's unique, because it's alive, but just needing some water and a bit of rest!

Good thing God provides those times! Bring on the times of refreshing!

How to focus oneself

So I'm learning one thing... in order to really get down and do work, I need to be out of the ordinary. I drove a close friend of mine to a town around Calgary for a meeting he had (he doesn't have a car!), and then went to DQ for the morning to work on my sermon. I turned my iPod on, so I couldn't hear much of what was going on around me, and started to read and research.

3 and a half hours later, I had 11 1/2 pages of notes, for my sermon on Sunday! I think this teaches me a lesson. A) I need to be out of the ordinary. B) I shouldn't have the internet when I want to really do work!

It's going to be a gooder, Matthew 5:23-28!

Nearly There...

I'm 3 weeks finished a 4 week stint of preaching. That will be an awesome load off of my shoulders, and I'm looking forward to being able to spend some of my week thinking about something other than Sunday morning's service! It's been fun, but I'm ready for a break too. Between grad, life, and other ministry, it's been a wearing process over the past few weeks, but God is faithful.

I'm going to be staying at Bethel for another 6 months, right up until December, and it's looking like I'll take over Sr. High and Children's ministry, so that should be neat! A challenge for sure.

So here's what my next 2 weeks look like. Preach this coming Sunday, following weekend is the youth retreat. Then I go hardcore on my Distance Education courses, and hopefully take a good chunk out of them.

I leave you with this... God is faithful, no matter the circumstance.

Oh My Word

I think the title says it all. I'm not really sure how to describe myself right now. I'm a mix of all sorts of things. I can't seem to put a finger on what it is that I'm feeling, but I know that I'm very much in a state of flux. All the students left approximately 2 weeks ago, and most of those that will be staying here for the summer are gone on one tour or another right now, which leaves nearly no one my age in town! Yee haa!

Beyond that, I'm just about half-way through my 4 week sermon series, and I'm suffering from some serious 'writer's block,' and a lack of motivation to actually sit down and write out the thoughts that are floating through my head. I just want to veg, but I can't afford to. Quite the interesting dichotomy that is me!

Lonely, frustrated with myself, and hoping that I get another breath of fresh air! Peace... peace that God overcomes all. That's what I'm preaching on. Appropriate, eh?

Sermonating

Just an update as per what I'm doing right now. I've been busy writing my sermon for this Sunday. I start a 4 week series covering what it means to be a passionate believer. We start with Joy. It's going to be an interesting weekend.

Children's ministry is all ready to go, Saturday I'm heading to Edmonton for a youth event at West Edmonton. We've got something insane like 35 kids coming with us, so it's sure to be a good time. It also means that I need to get my sermon done either tonight or early tomorrow, because I still have work to do. Oh the life of an intern.

Sheesh

Well... it has been quite awhile, hasn't it? Sad that I've been saying that more and more as of late. I guess part of that is that I've been learning to spend less time in the office, and more time with actual people. Needless to say, however, there has been a colossal amount of things going on in my life!

Children's ministry has been going AWESOME. The kids have been really really enjoying it, and the volunteers have been having a lot of fun as well. It's awesome, because we just had our first turnover of volunteers, so I'm getting some great feedback. As Paul and I talked about this past weekend, negative feedback can be one of the best things, so that it points out where you need to improve.

I've also been thinking ahead to some programs that would really scratch the itch of what is going on here in Three Hills. A lot of the problem that I've run into in working with youth has not been in educating them in knowledge about God, but in educating them to know God. Head knowledge vs. Heart knowledge. There is no fire, no desire to know Him more. Ultimately that is each our own responsibility. However, all that being said, I think providing a platform for people to feel free to worship can go a long way.

What does that all mean? It means I'm thinking of a Saturday night service. Something you'd expect to see in a huge city, but rather placed right here in Three Hills. With the college, and the high schools, I think there could be a huge 'market' for it. A service where the lights are mostly out, creating a more intimate environment. Something far more upbeat than most youth in Three Hills are accustomed to out of a worship service, and getting the College and Youth to interact on a regular basis. The goal is to put a lot of prayer into the whole thing and see if the Holy Spirit can't break down some of the HUGE barriers that exist in the town between the youth and God, the youth and the college, and the town and churches. With God... I think it might just be possible.

In more personal news... Jordan just left for Mexico today. It wasn't all that long ago that we started our relationship, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind trip. However, as of right now, she's gone to Mexico until the 5th of May. I saw the Redeemer play at a church in town yesterday, and I think they will have a powerful ministry down there. I'm looking forward to hearing how it all went! For now... I'll just be biding my time until the next time I can see her, and throwing all my focus into my 4 week sermon series starting this next Sunday.

There's the abridged version of my life for today. Hopefully I can update you on more information tomorrow.

The River

Well, I know that a few of you at least are excited to hear about how the ministry went this past Sunday. We got everything off the ground, and I'm super excited about where we are going! We had more than enough volunteers (the youth showed up in force), and everyone (kids and adults) had a blast!

There are some kinks to be worked out in the system, but overall everything went off without a hitch and looked more or less exactly as I had envisioned.... God's great, eh? He really carried me through the whole thing. And it's Him that really pulled it all together, with the volunteers and people to help out. What a blessing!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the event!

The Grit

My impatient cousins! Sheesh, don't even let a guy have a day off before they are wondering what happened and what all the juicy details are! As I said, this past weekend was nuts, and not getting as much sleep as I wanted didn't really help matters along either!

Friday went about as well as expected! I had one other youth sponsor come out to help for about an hour or so, which was invaluable. Myself and 10 junior high's going bowling. We had a ton of fun, and despite my AWFUL bowling, I'm pretty sure I came out on top with the highest score somewhere around 170ish. Needless to say... come the end of the night, I was totally exhausted... so I helped Jordan with her Psychology project.

I know... go to bed. I completely agree. Hindsight is worth a million words, right? I was actually planning to be in bed at about midnight, but conversation seemed to be the word of the weekend.

I was up at 8:30 the next morning, for the half-day of prayer at Bethel, and was there until about noonish. After which I tracked down some friends of mine that came in from Saskatchewan for the weekend. We went and saw V for Vendetta in Red Deer. AWESOME movie!

The rest of Saturday was pretty uneventful. I had someone phone me late at night that really needed to chat, so we talked for about an hour and half (again... less sleep than I wanted) before I finally got to bed. So come Sunday, I was tired and VERY worn out.

The announcement went well, and now I'm working on groundwork to get everything going and phoning around to people who would be interested in possibly volunteering. It's going to be a long week. But I hope the fruit of it will show in the end!

The River - Part 2

So as promised... there is the logo that I designed. No particular significance, all I was really going for was something cute and colourbookish. Tell me what you think!

It's going to be a very busy weekend, as usual! Tonight we have a bowling event, and I've been phoning the Jr. High's to see if they are going to be out... a few are even bringing friends! Then I'll be helping Jordan with her Psych project.

Tomorrow morning I'll be at the 1/2 day of Prayer here at Bethel, and leading the Canada and the World section of it. After that, I'm hoping to go see V for Vendetta, as everyone EXCEPT for me has seen it... grrr! Then back to Three Hills to either just chill or go to another church's worship service. I think I'm going to start making Saturday Night Services a regular part of my routine, so that I can get fed, as well as feed others!

Sunday morning is going to be a little nuts, as I'm teaching Sunday School, announcing The River, and then teaching the 3-5 year olds! It'll be a good morning, definetely busy! That evening we have Fusion as normal, and I have yet to get the curriculumn ready for that.

It's going to be a CRAZY weekend!

The River

While I don't have the logo finished quite yet, I thought I mine as well post what I've been working on over the past week. Bethel has not had a Children's Church over the past two months, and it is starting to grate on the nerves of parents to have their Elementary aged kids. So I was asked to put together the Children's Church program, which I've decided to name, The River. That's based off of Revelation 22:1-2.

It's a pretty simple concept, they spend the first 15 minutes in the main service, and then come to the gym, and we do this...

15 minutes - Games
20 minutes - Worship
10 minutes - Speaker
15 minutes - Small Groups
5 minutes - Final Song

Total time - 65 minutes

That's enough time for the service to finish out, and time for us to build into the kinds life in a meaningful way. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm excited! Some goal to work towards!

Far too busy!

It's been quite awhile... and just a quick update before I run out the door to go set up for the board meeting tonight. I'm busy working on our Children's Ministry program that will launch on April 9th. It's much needed at this point, as parents are getting frustrated at having their kids in the service with them.

Over the next few days I'm going to be phoning possible volunteers, finishing the logo, and planning out the curriculum. It's going to be a good week! More tomorrow!

Passion

It's been quite the interesting last few days, I've learned a lot about myself, and a lot about where God is starting to take me. That's a cryptic sentence, eh? I've been constantly seeking out what God is going to be doing in my life, and that starts here, now. Passion has been a constant theme that has been coming up over and over again. People that I talk to, things that I read, experience that I go through. Passion is key.

One of the main things that I've learned is that pastoral ministry can quickly drain a person of their passion, and a lot of other things besides. I've been thoroughly enjoying my time here at Bethel, and I've been learning more than I can ever truly express. And one of the main goals of a 10 month internship is to really get a true experience of ministry, and I've definetely got that.

How do you maintain a passion when you are involved in such indepth ministry? When you are the one who is supposed to be feeding others, how do you feed yourself? I've spent a lot of time in personal devotions, and I have some really good friends that definetely help, but it's become clear that the hunger, the fire is not nearly as bright as it used to be.

While I may be an introvert (surprise!), I know with my spiritual life, community is VERY important to my health. So that's where I've been at, learning once again what it's like to be passionate, and putting my life on the alter for reworking. Refiner's fire. Here we go again.

Quickly...

Just quickly before I head off to teach religious ed. to the grade 5ers. It's been a tough past couple of days, kind of teetering on the edge of my rope. But I've learned that God is faithful. Just when I feel like I'm really out for the count, God brings people around me to lift me up, gives me time to relax, and friends to laugh with.

I'm in the process of figuring out what I'm going to be doing for the next few years. And I've got two 'sheepskins' I've put down for God. I need a decent paying job, where I can save money and also have enough to not worry about my living, and a good place to live, whether with a family or roomates.

As it stands right now, it looks like I may be in Three Hills for a few more years, and work in Enrollment. Depending on the pay, it might offer a decent compromise, with being able to travel all over NA and not do it on my bill! It would also allow me to save up to travel the world in a few years. I have a few options for the housing, so we'll see what comes of that.

It's an interesting time, but I'm really getting the sense that God is telling me to just chill out for a few years, and enjoy life a little before I throw myself into ministry and the rest of my life. Have an adventure and do some travelling. I'm young, so now is the time to do those things. God is faithful.

The Future

Wow, it's been almost a week since I've updated. My apologies for that. My life over the past week has been absolutely insane, as I've been juggling a whole lot of different batons, and trying my best not to drop them all at the same time. Between Futsal, Youth, Church, Pastoral Responsibilities, Personal life, etc. it's been a hectic week.

Let's start with Futsal. It was playoff time, and I played my heart out. Friday night, the guys just didn't play all that well, and we ended up losing the game 4-3. This is when we only really 'played' 5 minutes of the game and scored all 3 goals in that time. Makes you wonder what would have happened if we'd played the whole game, eh?

Saturday was a different can of worms. While we didn't play the best that I've seen, the guys showed up, and played really well. It started of, believe it or not, with me scoring.... from my own crease! INSANE! First play of the game, and I score! It was a great feeling. We hung on for the rest of the game to win it 6-5 over RMC. It was a good game, and we ended up with a Bronze.

So that ends my current Futsal career, and may be the last time I play it in a league setting, and it was a good way to go out. I was satisfied with both of my games, and thought that I played well, so it was good to walk out with some medal. Apparently the coaches recognized that too, as I got voted onto one of the two all conference teams as a goalie. Quite the honour!

Church on Sunday went well. I didn't have a lot of responsibilities, other than serving communion, so that was an interesting experience! I didn't screw it up too bad! ;)

Other than that... lots of personal stuff going on. God is my anchor, and I think I'm learning more and more about what God's mercy is about.

Thy mercy, my God is the theme of my song
The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue
Thy free grace alone from the first to the last
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here
Sin would reduce me to utter despair
But through Thy free goodness my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive
Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart
Dissolved by Thy goodness I fall to the ground
And weep to the praise of the mercy Ive found

Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Great father of mercies Thy goodness I own
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son
All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine

All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine