Thursday, June 26, 2008

getting to the point.

in the end of galations, paul writes this awesome statement in his own hand, as kind of the "wrap it up, get serius" moment of the letter. he says this:

11 Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.
12 Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. 13 And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.

14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross,[c] my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.[d]

17 From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.

18 Dear brothers and sisters,[e] may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

paul is getting serius... hes saying that you can have all the outword things you want to... it doesnt make any difference... you can follow all the religious rules and doctrines you want too... but paul says this: "What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation." he believes this so strongly that he even blesses those who understand it: living the life means your life is changed from the inside out, and the outside will come. look at verse 17, probably one of my favorite verses in the entire bible: paul writes, in his own hand: "From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus."

what scars do i have? what have i done to show a changed life? do i have any scars to show that i belong to Jesus?

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

mmmory.

theres this awesome story about a bishop who is counceling a woman who claims she speaks to god and he talks back.

she tells him that she can remember eveything he says.

the bishop, a little curious about whats going on, tells her "ok... the next time you talk to him, tell him to tell you the sins that i confessed last night."

she says " are you sure?"

he says " yes, ask him to tell you all of the sins i confessed last night."

she leaves, and they go abou the ir busines.

a few days later, the bishop meets the girl again, and she comes running up to him and says "hey... i asked him!" and he said "you asked him what i confessed that night? what did he say?"

she got a glisten in her eye and said "you know what... he couldnt remember"


the awesome power of God is made possible in his ability to make us new, to make dead things alive.

God is great, all the time.


now im chillin with the kids in hume-n-beans.

life is good.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

heres the story of a girl...

for some reason, im really out of it right now.

just found out that the tech guys over at pondy got a giant tescela coil (spelling?)

a giant coild that shoots out bolts of electricity (commonly referred to as lightning)

i get to be the one who works it.

yay!



its a nice day here at hume, a little warm. i ust checked and my mac says its gonna be in the low 90'2 here this week.

HOT!!

no bueno... but hey, its all good.

its gonna be a great week., CCC is here for camp, a slew of new campers are here... hume SD is starting this week.

its gonna be GREAT!

"experiencing God's love in Jesus Christ means experiencing that one has been unreservedly accepted, approved and infinitely loved, that one can and should accept oneself and one's neighbor." -Walter Kaspar
[Taken from] The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, pg. 63

Friday, June 13, 2008

soo...

i have to be at work in 8 hours-ish.
YAY!

my laundry wasnt dry when i went back to get it, so im stuck in the staff lounge, BUUUUTTT....

its CHICK FLIC FRIDAY!!!

every friday the RD's of the staff put on a chick flick, and today its HOPE FLOATS!!

man... how much better can the night GET?!?!?!

oh... wait...

the people im sitting with just busted out CATCH PHRASE!!!

hope everything is going great,
life is good... eternal life is WAY better.

-Josh
"what can be said about a generation that says that jesus is dead and elvis is alive?"

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The glory of His Majesty is found
inside the sleeve of the man on the corner
who sits and wonders
why this world is

the grace of His Majesty is found in
the slobbering words of neil
who sits and stares
wanting just to say hello
and will repeate it until he is understood

the love of His Majesty is found
in jaimee, who is twenty-six
and lovs to wave herhands and
see your smile.

The power of His Majesty is found
in adam, taking a stand and looking down
at his friends around him, and wonders
why they are not stnading also

the Hope of His Majesty is found
in His Citezens crying out, not for
themselves but for the sake of those
who have heard of The Love in vain,
those who have never heard

the Majesty of His Majesty is seen
in anthony, HIV+, Homosexual,
with hep. C who comes to a
bible study to ask “Does God love me?”
and comes face to face with hope.

The Heart of His Majesty is found
in the people who serve him
by serving his people above
themselves, even if it means
that self never comes.

The Peace of His Majesty is found
in caleb, who's love for people and
for God exumes all of those around
him and shows them the Love.

The Joy of His Majesty is found
in the hand of his children
reaching out for Him and also
getting dirty for those around them
wanting to only see the face of his Son.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

biscuits.

im tired.

its been a wierd orning.

Caroline dropped the milk machine on her hands and she had to be taken down the hill to the hospital.

breakfast, us being down one hand and with no direction, took forever to get out... panning up egg patties and sausage patties and hashbrowns and biscuits.

it was a nightmare.

but...well... it could have been worse.

i wish i could go to disneyland right now.

really bad.

i dont know why.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

theres just something about seeing 60+ middle schoo students go foward, not to accept christ into their heart, but to declare that they believe the Jesus is Lord and the God has RAISED HIM from the dead... theres just something about that that makes you feel completely and totally insignificant.

and yet, in acknowledging Jesus and his Power and GRACE, you relaise that you are significantly insignificant.

God is GREAT.

sing a song of hope, sing it out.
God of Heaven, come down.

love you all,
be the change you want to see in the world.
-Josh

Monday, June 09, 2008

so... first day of actual work and i had an interesting wake up call.

apparently, taking stuff to help you sleep when you have to get up in 6 1/2 hours produces the undeniable act of sleeping through the alarm.

my wake up call was brett (my boss, and a great friend now) standing over me saying

"Josh.... josh.... wake up... JOSH!"

it was 5:45...


i was late to work on my first day on the "JOB"

luckily, within the land of mediocrity comes the concept of grace.

or, as Relient K likes to say,
"The beauty of Grace is that it makes life not fair"

hope this find all well...

Walk worthy of Grace
-J

p.s. there is really nothing quite like middle school ministry
p.s.s. I hate refried beans. (18 cans, to be precise)

the glory of double x's

theres this really cool part of camp up here... probably the most incredible non-soul changing part of hume there is...

it is commonly called the Bike Jump.

in said event, campers from each team ride their bike down the dock of the lake and ride right off the jump at the end, usually performing any combonation of tricks and/or stunts to earn points for their team.

most of them, however, overwhelmed by the combined feelings of fear, excitement and the chemical addition of adrenaline, end up letting go of the bike as soon as they go off the jump and, flailing their arms, smack flly-embarassed into the water while the MC's try to say something witty and humerous in an attempt to save these poor guys (and girls) faces.

it is a glorius thing to watch a young man hurl himself off of a jump and do an amazing trick of physics and aerodynamics, thus generating thunderous applause from the audience.

it is even better when a girl beets everyone and wins the competition.

aint life grand?

Sunday, June 08, 2008

...

it was 45 degrees in the bathroom at 8:15 in the morning.

yay.

Friday, June 06, 2008

huh...

i ma so blessed and honored to be a part of this place.

i have heard some amazing stories of How GOD has worked and has hed his hand over this place for a long time. it amazes me to think that i am a part of God's story, just cooking pancakes... a lot of pancakes.

fun story:
in 1980 a man from el salvador, Jorge, decided to take his family on vacation to the US, and they really wanted to see the Giant sequoias, so they came up to kings canyon to see them. well, there was no room at the campsite up on the ridge, but the rangers told him to try this little campground down the hill by hume lake, so he came and set up camp at the campground on the side ofHume. well... this man was n alchaholic, always carried around a iceshest of beer... and he ran out up here, so he went over to the general store on Hume's Property... well, as he went in, he walked up and down the aisles trying to find the beer... not knowing the we keep it in the back for staff, he got really upset and walked outside and started to pace up and down getting more and more upset by the minute... his hands shaking from lack of alchohol.

just then two guys on there way to the general store were walking across the parking lot, Jeff and Graham. As the walked up the the g-store they saw Jorge really upset. well, these guys were on staff for Hume so the asked him what was wrong... and he told them... and ove the next few mintues they told him what the camp was about and shared the gospel with him. right then and there he accpeted Christ . they went the gift shop, baught him a bible, signed it and he left and went back to his campsite.

and the two guys went back to the g-store.

ast year, 2007, Jeff is driving up in idaho and he gts a call on his cell phone.

the man says "is this jeff bell?'

"yes"

"you dont know me, but i have a story to tell you. in 1980 you talked to a man outside of the Hume Lake General Store and lead him teh Christ."

"i did...?"

" now, you don't know it... but that man went back to el salvador and converted his whole family to the Lord, tehn he built a christian school for children to learn about JEsus... then realised that the only kids that were coming were the rich kids ho could afford it so he built another school for the poor and made it free. he then turned those schools over the churches that he had planted and built many many more schools and churches in elsalvador.

that man was my father.my name is Jorge Mallina, and My father shared the gospel with my entire family.

im Calling from Florida. I am the pastor of a church of 10,000 people here, reaching the lost for the Kingdom,
and i just wanted to call and say thank you.

thank you".

the conversation went on long into the night and the morning... but istn it awesome how those two guys who had no idea they were going to meet anyone, who were probably going to the general store for a coke or some ice cream, met a man from el Salvador and started this chain reaction that has saved THOUSANDS of people...


all because of Hume LAke.

i am so excited to be here.

God is SO GOOD!!!

love you guys,
update later.
-j

Thursday, June 05, 2008

huh

so... im gettting kicked out of staff lounge.

yay.

have a great one.

update tomorrow.

-j

huh

theres this crazy thing about the Gospel of Jesus... it works through everything...

i once heard a dumb chuck norris joke that said "Jesus Walks on water, chuck norris swims through land"... and the crazy thing that hits me as i think of Gods grace and the Hope of what we go throguh: it moves through land, and water. meaning it goes through the think and thin and keeps hitting and hitting and gets down deep until it hits the very core of us and changes us from the indie out.

i think we, as people, need to be changed from the inside out, to fall in love with jesus and in suit follow his commands.

God is Good, and so is His Grace!


love you all... im going back to learn about food safety!!

YAY!

-J

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

man oh man

whata day

this morning got up and went to breakfast, took a ride around the lake (hich was awesome! i havent done that before!)

then i found out i was able to help out up at the Warehouse to help build the chapel sets for Hume San Diego's set... that was a lot of fun and a lot of work... chalking lines, painting, tracing stuff off of a projector, building and puting up sets... it was a good days work. at least it was productive, unlike the past 2 days :)

today all the rest of the hume staff got here, so there are a LOT of people running around this place. we had our first session of welcome as a staff, and it was great. I now understand the meaning of hume's mission and desire for students. it is awesome to see the drive that people have and to hear the stories of God's hand over hume the past years.... it has been aweosme!

i get to be a part of the opener! thats gonna be a fun experience! i am going to be backstage. they offered to let me try out but i kinda want to be backstage, not where people can see me... i dont know why... just want this summer to be me in the background. i like it, i've decided.

im listenning to the cd by the worship team up here last summer, and the line of one of there songs says "Lord, i tremble now for i'm on Holy ground" and thats how i feel.

to be in a place where so many people EVERY YEAR accept Christ, and hear about what He has done for them and to respond to that... it is just aweosome!

i am going to let this be the desire of my heart this summer, taken from the cd of the guysfrom last summer:

"And my heart sings the song that cannot be sung unless ou are near.
to know you, Lord, is the cry of my heart, ir the all of my life.
let all else fade away until all i persue is you."

peace,
-Josh

"boredom" is spelled N-O-W-O-R-K

DAY THREE OF NOT HAVING TO DO ANYTHING... I JUST GOT DONE WITH A RIDE AROUND THE LAKE.

I THINK IM GOING TO GO UP TO THE PROGRAM WAREHOUSE AND HELP BUILD SETS FOR THE HUME SAN DIEGO CAMP, OR SEE IF THEY NEED HELP IN PNDEROSA OR MEADOW.

YAY!

HOPE TODAY IS GOING GREAT!
-JOSH

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I GOT A BIKE!!!!

yay!!! i just went down the hill with Kyei to Target and got a bike!


YAY!!

IM NO LONGER BI-PEDAL!!!!

(that was not a sexual inuendo)

:)

hope everything is going great!
Be Love!
-Josh

yay BREAKFAST!

i got up early enough for breakfast today!

yay!

i love the feeling of a full tummy in the morning lol.


so... Kyei got here last night, that was good... and i think that life is going to be great from now on!

i cant wait for the rest of the staff to get here and for the camps to start rollin in!

i have thought alot about descipleship and salvation the past few days... if you havent read BRennan MAnnings book "the Ragamuffin Gospel" yet, you definately should! its a great read, it'll get at you down deep and make you want to cry at times, but it really shows you the powerful message of Jesus of Nazereth, the God who ate with sinners.

anyway... ill update a little late.r

i need to see if i can go down the hill today and maybe buy some more pants :)

God is Love,
be His love today!
-Josh

Monday, June 02, 2008

a great day for nothing!

so im off for 2 WHOLE DAYS!!!  

this will be the longest time i get off for the rest of the summer, save for july when ill be going home for a week to be a counselot for our kids camp.

yay!

just did my first load of laundry, im almost done with a giant bottle of water, and im finishing Brennan Mannings Book: The Ragamuffin gospel.

hope everyone is doing great!

-Josh

Nothing you could ever do could make God love you any less.

nothing.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

WIZ (or, the science of cleaning 6 ovens)

man oh man oh man... today wa a long long day! 

i cant tell you how much i love being up here! the people are great, the weather is great, and the kids are coming up here in a few days and i CAN'T WAIT!!! 

yesterday i cooked over 1000 hamburgers... my gosch... it was insane! and today i made about 200 grilled cheese sandwiches and shredded 6 potroasts... man! what a day! (not to mention i degreased 6 ovens, scraped them clean... whew!)

its  been a long day... but i feel great. its wierd how hard work can make you happy! 

:)

right now im sitting the the ever-popular Hume Staff Lounge, chillen with some peeps named natalie and asher (how cool of a name is that?) and wishing i got more food from the G-Store before they closed... im HUNGRY!! remind me to stock up on stuff tomorrow.

so i have the next 2 days off before i go crazy! i just got my schedual, i wokr monday-saturday 5:30-2:30... im so excited!

yay!

so... i think i might go hit the sack, or hunt down some food. 

God is good, all the time!

-josh