High Altitude

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I thoroughly blistered my hands while chopping surfaced tree roots out of my yard. Less than a week later, my hands were perfectly fine. Too amazing to be true?  I’m sure you’re interested in my secret miracle cure, and I’m willing to share it with you.

I believe in it as much as Toula’s dad believed in the curative properties of Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I use this product on cuts, scrapes, blisters, sunburns…any skin issue is quickly cured by this amazing product. I once read that it helps the digestive system, and I actually drank a few ounces of it chilled.  It might not be tasty, but it works when applied.  So what is this magic elixir?

I’ve recently declared war on some large, surface level roots coming from an oak tree in my front yard. I won the first skirmish using a shovel and a handsaw, but I had a feeling that I’d lose the war with only those weapons at my disposal. A quick call to my father provided a solution. “Boy, why are you using a handsaw for that job? Why didn’t you use an ax?” I didn’t tell him this, but the reason I didn’t use an ax is that I didn’t own an ax. But I do now. Yesterday afternoon I took that ax, and I destroyed some roots. In 15 minutes, it was clear that the ax was the right tool for the job. There were chopped up roots everywhere. I was happy, sweaty, and victorious. I headed for the shower, but as soon as I touched the soap, I felt like my right hand was on fire. It really hurt. I looked for blisters, but they weren’t there. No, I’d burned through the blisters exposing raw skin in several places.

We opened our new two month study on service and missions by taking a look at our divine call to serve God for His purposes, not ours.  How did the lesson impact you, and what kind of service commitment has God called you to do?  Respond by commenting to this blog post, and prepare to be greatly encouraged!


Also, if you missed the lesson or want to chew on it more, the PowerPoint, handout/worksheet, and Francis Chan balance beam video are all posted below after the jump:

Hey Class!  This Op-Ed by David Brooks (link) was published yesterday and it focuses on one of the authors I recommended in class this past Sunday, David Platt.  Check it out!  ~Travis

Maybe the first decade of the 21st century will come to be known as the great age of headroom. During those years, new houses had great rooms with 20-foot ceilings and entire new art forms had to be invented to fill the acres of empty overhead wall space.

People bought bulbous vehicles like Hummers and Suburbans. The rule was, The Smaller the Woman, the Bigger the Car — so you would see a 90-pound lady in tennis whites driving a 4-ton truck with enough headroom to allow her to drive with her doubles partner perched atop her shoulders.

When future archeologists dig up the remains of that epoch, they will likely conclude that sometime around 1996, the U.S. was afflicted by a plague of claustrophobia and drove itself bankrupt in search of relief.
But that economy went poof, and social norms have since changed. The oversized now looks slightly ridiculous. Values have changed as well.

Today, savings rates are climbing and smart advertisers emphasize small-town restraint and respectability. The Tea Party movement is militantly bourgeois. It uses Abbie Hoffman means to get back to Norman Rockwell ends.

In the coming years of slow growth, people are bound to establish new norms and seek noneconomic ways to find meaning. One of the interesting figures in this recalibration effort is David Platt.

Hi class! Aimee and I (Troy) would like to take a minute to introduce ourselves and then give you some information about the High Altitude Prayer Team and the Monthly Prayer Meeting.

Aimee and I have lived in Houston for the past 5 years. Aimee works as a clinical pharmacist at a local hospital and I am in graduate school studying Microbiology. A few years ago, God directed us to be the class’ prayer team coordinators. We have been thoroughly blessed by High Altitude, so we love being able to serve the class in a small, but powerful way.

Allow me to explain the High Altitude Prayer Team. First of all, everyone in the class is responsible to pray! Jesus tells us “when you pray” (see the 1^st 4 words of Matthew 6:5, 6, & 7) implying that as Christians we will pray and Paul adds that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Also, as a member of the class, it is assumed that you have the desire to follow Jesus Christ in a community of believers. Part of being a community is to pray for one another. All you need to do is to read over the weekly prayer e-mail and pray for your classmates according to their praises and requests. The weekly prayer e-mail is made of the list taken on the clipboard during class, but you can also e-mail Aimee and me before noon on Monday. In addition, you can e-mail us during the week, and we will send out the prayer request as you desire (to the whole class, to the prayer team, or just for Aimee and me).

Next, there is a group of class members (the HA Prayer Team) who have volunteered to pray specifically and intentionally for a few members of the class. Each week the prayer list is divided amongst a few prayer team members, and those people pray over the requests and contact the person as the Spirit leads. Each member on the prayer team serves about once per month.

Lastly, there is Aimee and me. We are the coordinators, so that just means that we do all the administrative jobs for the prayer team. We type up the prayer requests and praise reports each week, e-mail the Prayer Team, and prepare the lists for the monthly prayer meetings.

The next Monthly Prayer Meeting is next Sunday (Sept. 13^th). The purpose of the Monthly Prayer Meeting is to seek God collectively for the needs, concerns, and joys of class members and our church. At the end of class, everyone will get into their Shepherd groups. Once you are in your groups, please take a minute to share any recent praises or prayer requests that you have. Aimee and I will pass out lists of requests from other class members. These requests were compiled from the past month’s weekly prayer e-mails. (As a side note, we want to make it clear that the requests are prayed over each week and the monthly prayer meeting is an additional time to pray over the requests.) Next, please pray over the requests. One person from the group can pray for all the requests, or the list can be divided as you want. After you are done praying, please quietly exit the room so that the other groups can finish their prayer time.

Thanks for taking the time to learn about the HA Prayer Team and Monthly Prayer Meeting. Feel free to leave us any comments. As always, you can e-mail our account (see the end of the weekly prayer e-mail) or ha.ministries@gmail.com if you have a prayer or praise request. Also, if you would like to join the prayer team, let us know!

You are in our prayers,

Troy & Aimee

I had lunch with a buddy this week, and he told me about one of the bravest things I’ve heard from any man. He has struggled with pornography in the recent past, and I check in with him to see how he’s doing. Over lunch he told me that he’s talked to his wife about his struggles and she holds him accountable. They’re not out of the woods, but they’re doing much better. I sat there thinking, "this guy is like a real life William Wallace."

Have you ever wondered what on EARTH it is you're doing here?  You're not alone.  The exciting truth is that God chose you to serve on His behalf.

This Sunday we kick off our two month study on service by taking an honest look at what the Bible says we should be doing with our time here on Earth, and we'll see how it stacks up against the way we actually live our lives.  Bring your Bible, a teachable heart, and a pen to take notes!  Even though it's a holiday weekend, we hope to see you on Sunday!

Also, take a moment to watch Pastor Gregg's Vision Video 2010 and really digest it.  It'll only take 5 minutes out of your day.

In the 6th chapter of the gospel of Mark, Jesus performs two of his more spectacular miracles.  First he feeds the 5,000 and immediately follows that feat up with his stroll across a storm-ravaged sea.  Apparently that was a lot for Jesus' disciples to take in, and once again we can learn from their responses.

http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/pubID.1323/pub_detail.asp

For those of you with 45 minutes to kill and a flair for the constitutional.

The audio quality is sometimes poor - but Mr. Shafer makes some fantastic arguments for the neccesity of God in our society and our laws.

What Place Does Religion Have in the Public Square? - Event Audio


George Mason School of Law
Student Chapter of the Federalist Society
Arlington, VA
March 18, 2009

Speakers:
•Dr. Jeremy Gunn, American Civil Liberties Union
•Mr. Jeff Shafer, Alliance Defense Fund

Ryan V