News, Updates, Callings and Stuff…

October 31, 2004 | 3:55 AM

So I should apologize for my lack of updating. Here’s what’s gone down recently.

Fall Break- October 15-25th. I was in Mobile. I got my business cards ordered. That’s about it.

This past week, I had a Confession of Faith, Book Review, Baptist Heritage test, and a Biblical Hermeneutics (Interpretation) test. I was just a LITTLE bit busy.

If you want to read my Confession of Faith, I’ll email it to ya, but it’s 14 pages (single spaced). It tells you most everything I believe (or at least the most important issues to me).

Tomorrow (or today) I become a member of Edgewater, at least to the people there- they announce me as a member, as opposed to me having just filled out a card saying I was. Technincally I’ve been one for a couple months. That has very little impact on much of anything, except maybe I can become more accountable and I might be able to talk to Dr. Shaddix about the next bit of news.

So during Fall Break I really started to get down about NOBTS and working in the city. I really wanted to feel like I was here to DO something. I mean, forget the fact that I KNEW when I got here what I was here to do. Over time things just wore me down. Ya know? The way I just kinda lost focus on the ultimate goal. Look, I’m here to glorify God. I’m here to get other people to glorify God. God gave us gifts so that we would be able to bring Him glory. Anyhoo, I got frustrated. Things felt like they were building up and I was thinking of not coming back in January (second time this semester I’ve contemplated that). What happened? Tune in a couple lines down to find out…

So yeah, I was frustrated. Needed reminding of my calling, needed to refocus. Needed some guidance. Needed a pimp-slap from the Almighty God if you will. That or some kind of “Dude, come on, how many times do we have go through this.” One came Tuesday night. Christian, Matt, and I were at Taco Bell on Veterans talking about some sin issues and I mentioned my thoughts on leaving. Immediately I was accused of never finishing anything I started by Christian. Yeah it was a pimp-slap from Christian, sure. But it wasn’t something I hadn’t thought about before. Did I finish undergrad? Yes. I was called to UM and I finished that task. That’s one major thing I did. And I did it with determination. Past that? Man I don’t know. And I’ve contemplated this issue so much more than Christian could have known. He barely knows me anyway, but at least he voiced something I wasn’t sure if anybody else noticed. Meanwhile, ironically, it was Christian who last summer gave me the counsel that you can’t run a marathon if you can’t run a mile. That led to me backing off my desire to be the guy who taught the college at FBTC full-time. That plus I wasn’t ready. I mean, I knew that. I didn’t have the knowledge. Anyway, bang, the rabbit’s dead. Moving on. Got some wise counsel about sin and about pressing on-perseverance from Matt and then spent the night thinking about all that. I don’t want to talk about what Matt and I talked about, but I think his advice was more important. It dealt with the underlying issue behind my desire to leave- my sin issue. To find out what happens next, scroll down. To not find out, click the X in the top corner or if you have a Mac, dude you’re on your own.

Thursday morning, having pulled all-nighters Monday night and Tuesday night (sleeping during the day after class Tuesday and Wednesday), I awoke refreshed after a good night’s sleep. I went to Church Planting and Revitalization with Dr. Allen and voiced my prayer during prayer time- that New Orleans is my Nineveh. Except I don’t want to be Jonah. I want to be Joe. I want to do God’s work here and enjoy it, not be the moral of the story- the guy who never got it. After our prayer time, Dr. Allen began telling us about his Fall Break- meeting with association members from the Boston and New York City area. The guy from NYC started a church in the Theater district.

“DUHHHH.” Yeah hello. The whole reason I came here was to make a difference in people’s lives so they’d glorify God. I always felt some emphasis on the creative arts community. In big cities they almost always become their own little village anyway. I love it too. I mean, I could dig working in an art museum. Or a theater (not the movies guys). I want to work on short films. I mean, these people are always REAL, even if sometimes they over-emphasize reality. (Yeah they can be melodramatic sometimes.) I dig it. I mean I loved doing shows in High School. I loved going to shows when I could- Baltimore, London, Broadway, even New Orleans and Mobile. Dang, even the Shakespeare Festival was cool. In the past I’ve been in Ensembles. I’ve sung in the National Cathedral in DC and in Carnegie Hall (not by myself thank God). So hearing about this guy who started a church in the theater district in New York got me going again, refocused- and it was an immediate answered prayer. Why are you here Joe? To minister to the arts community in any way possible.

I got a few tips from Dr. Allen. I’m gonna go talk to the people at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) and see if I can volunteer somehow with them. Meantime I’m gonna try to go to a few shows down there- it’s high school students learning to excel at their perspective arts. I’m interested in seeing the stuff anyway. Sounds cool to me.

That’s about all I think for now. I’m hoping that FBTC will give me a call asking me to preach sometime in November on a Wednesday night. I put my name in the hat anyway. I’ve got a message to bring- had it for a while- just refined it this week talking to Jimmy and Mark (two brilliant guys in Lipsey). I’m excited. Will I get down? Sure. No doubt. But for now, I’m excited for the possibilities.

Meantime, check out the following verses:

Matthew 25:14-30
1 Corinthians 10:31
Ephesians 5:8-14

I’m out. Peace.

Oh yeah. A little more from a different side of me.

Auburn Tigers Football Update

La-Monroe 0, Auburn 31 (1-0, 0-0)
Auburn 43, Mississippi State 14 (2-0, 1-0)
LSU 9, Auburn 10 (3-0, 2-0)
The Citadel 3, Auburn 33 (4-0, 2-0)
Auburn 34, Tennessee 10 (5-0, 3-0)
La Tech 7, Auburn 52 (6-0, 3-0)
Arkansas 20, Auburn 38 (7-0, 4-0)
Kentucky 10, Auburn 42 (8-0, 5-0)
Auburn 35, Ole Miss 14 (9-0, 6-0)

Upcoming Games:

Georgia at Auburn
Auburn at Alabama

SEC Championship Game, Atlanta
Auburn v. Georgia/Tennessee

Posted in Life, NOBTS