The Purpose Driven Life Book Review

This book was really good. I loved it because one of the first things it talked about was love never fail. One of my favorite quotes it says is "If you minister out of love you can never be considered a failure." This is one of the main things i look at in ministry that is the key important thing to focus on. If you can't go into ministry without love then there isn't a point to be in ministry at all. Loving others and ministering in love in every way you can is the most important thing about ministry and being a christian in general.

Another quote that i loved was "God always uses imperfect people in imperfect situations to accomplish his will." When he said this he started to tell a part of his story about how his church started and where God placed him. When he first moved the first realitors came and within 2 hours they had a condo and the man who helped him ended up being the first person in his church. Then he went on to explain how each week and month God provided so much for him and his family. They had someone come and pay for 2 months of their rent then they went out to get something for their baby on day spending 37.50 and they got home and a random woman had sent them a check for the exact amount. These people struggled just as much as anyone else, but God has provided for them every step of the way. I know I've personally seen God's hand work like this, but it's cool to see how other people have God encounters too. (: Like it says in this book, "Wherever God guides, he provides."

"God has not called us to be original at everything. He has called us to be effective." God didn't call us to this earth to have us blend in and be like everyone else, he called us to make a difference and change somethings of our lives and this world. Why would we want to just go with the flow of everyone else. Let's go through the world and show we have something to be proud about and show that we can be effective and show God's love everywhere we go.(:

I really enjoyed this book it was good to look at someones view on church planting and how things worked for him. I enjoyed reading the stories of all God's provision in his life and his families and churches. I want to go through and read the whole thing once I'm done with this semester.

I have read   30% of this book

Lee Rogers Class Response

I loved having Lee in class he was so inspirational. I love his passion for youth and for wanting to see youth make a difference in their schools. He was so great to hear his views on kids and how he looks at them at their schools.

One of the verses he talked about was, 2 Corinthians 5:20 We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. I loved this verse because of how much truth it has in it. If they would go into schools saying this that all God wanted to do was be your friend i believe is such an impact on kids lives.

I loved their plan of the G5 which was Pray, live, tell, serve and give. He had such a great way of showing that these are five things that kids can see themselves doing to help be better campus missionaries and grow closer to God. To show kids that these 5 things are things that could help them to live a better life.

One of the last things that really hit me was when he said, "You can get anyone to say, I don’t want to go to hell but it takes a real relationship to ask someone if they want to have a life of sacrifice." You have to be willing to have a relationship with the people you are reaching and the lives you are trying to touch. You can't just expect people to want to follow you just because you look like a nice person on the outside you have to build person relationship with each person you want to impact in your life.

Service Learning Component Post

a. Who did we serve? (Our target population)
         We were aiming towards children in the hospitals.


b. How did we serve them? 
(Was there a style of service or specific act of service that most effectively ministered to our target population?)
     We made them all a bunch of Christmas cards and we are going to deliver them to the kids who are in hospitals. We were also planning on getting some kind of candy to hand out with them as well.  


c. Where did you serve them? Was there a location or a specific event where our target population gathers that is more effective for us in serving them there than any other location?
          We haven't been able to serve them to the children yet. We are aiming for kids in the hospitals so we are planning on going out and doing it next week and dropping them off.
d. When did you serve them? Was there a particular day and/or time that was better than others?
        We made the cards this week together and we are planning on taking them out next week to hand them out. We couldn't get an answer from the hospitals in town so we are looking for a good place to serve them. 

500-700 word report on the outreach as well as a critique of our planning and execution that will include 3 things that were planned or executed well and three things that could be improved.

My Report:
         It was a lot of fun to make all the different cards and get everything together. I was really excited because i thought we would be handing them out, but it doesn't look like we will be able to. Either way I'm excited that these kids will have a little something to put a smile on their faces come Christmas time. I wish we could have gotten them to the hospital, hopefully it all works out that we can next week. I was very happy to see how they all turned out and everyone's different creativity in our own ways. Either way i think the kids will still be blessed with the cards and candy. :)

 
         Three things that were executed well:
             1, At first we had a hard time deciding what to do and then Bonnie offered to do the kids cards i think that's what we were all excited about, because we all love kids and love crafts. So i think this was one thing that worked out really well. 
             2. The cards all turned out so well. They were so much fun to make and so fun to hang out with the girls and blend all our different ways to make each card we made in our own personalities. 
             3. The time we spent being together while making these cards. It was good to just sit down and hang out the four of us and get these things done. It was really good to be with all of them for awhile.

         Three Things that could be improved:
             1. Timing. We pushed a lot of this back way to far and we could have worked things out a lot differently. So next time i think we need to have a set time to do things and have it set up and not change it.
             2. Organization. We need to be able to divide jobs to each person before the day before and we need to keep things in a timely manner and keep everything on the right track. Make sure each of us has something we know we are in charge of.  
             3. Prepare ahead of time for what you're going to be doing. Prepare what it is we'll be doing and get the people who we need to talk to contacted ahead of time and everything and then i think it will all come together better.

Peter Almqvist Class Response

I loved Peter's passion about what he does. You could tell he was on fire for what God has called him into. He had incredible insight on what it is that God has put on his heart.

Something i loved that he said "being a unreached people group missionary is the best job anyone could ever have." That to me was so great, because it showed he was very passionate about what he was saying. I would agree with that, because i think that being called to reach unreached people is a huge calling and is amazing. It's a calling I believe God has selected great people for.

Something I found to be funny, but what i expected out of this class was how a large amount of the people who have spoken to us have all said that they struggle most with balancing ministry and family. They all see the importance to have a very steady balance in that, but they have a problem trying to figure it out. I love how Peter says to spend time with his family he will sometimes take his son on trips with him. It's amazing to bring a child with you into your calling and see the passion they have. He said that his kids love to sit close to the stage and listen to the healings and such during the service. I thought that was amazing to hear for them being so young. God is already working through them so young. Peter has a very blessed family and ministry and it was cool to hear how he works through both of them.

Jason Fitch Class Response

I really enjoyed talking with Jason and Josh in class. It was really cool to see them in their new building with the church. Something i love about Jason is that he had a passion to start that church out and Tulsa and he believed in his dream and went after it. He began to follow after his dream and tell people about it and he began telling people about it and they told him that they wanted to move out and help him. I believe that was God's blessing to him. If you go after what God wants you to do in life, God always provides what it is you need for your ministry to work the right way. When we went out there last fall it was so cool to see how the team of people there just worked together so well and you could see God working in some big ways in the people.

One of my favorite things that was said in that class I think was probably what Molly said, "If you aren't keeping your family first then you might as well forget everything, because your family IS your ministry." I am someone who puts family before everything else, so i agree with this completely. I think that your ministry can't function right if you aren't spending time with your family and keeping them as the main priority in your life. I believe that your first ministry has to be with your family not the church. You were placed with your family to love each other and serve one another and obviously I am not married yet, but my husband and future children are already something that is and always will be my first priority in my life. I cannot wait until i am married and can work beside my husband in the ministry and help him in anyway i can. I believe God is going to do some big things involving my family and i in the ministry. But, they will always come first to me.

The family thing is something that is very important to me so I think that was the most important thing that i got out of talking to them. They were all such great people to talk to and to hear all the different perspectives on ministry and how they run the church there. It was so nice to talk to them just because we already knew them and saw how they used to run in the movie theater. I'm glad God has blessed them so much while being out there and i pray he continues to. (:

Unchurched Friend Interview #2

Sex: Female 
Age: 20


1. What's the reason why you don't attend church regularly?

I used to attend church and ccd (sort of like sunday school) regularly as a kid but as we grew up we all got busier and after each of of got confirmed attending church just got lower and lower on our priority list. 

2. Have you ever been involved in any church or beliefs in the past? 
Yes, I am roman catholic. Although I don't go to church on a regular basis I'm still a part of my church and attend on holidays (which I know is not a great example of a catholic)

3. Do you notice anything different about Christians who go to church today? 


Why or why not?

I don't notice anything different about christians who go to church today as opposed to any other time in my life. 

4. Do you actually see going to church as something of value to you or other 


people? 

I see going to church as something of value for myself. I always feel closer to god afterwards as well as closer to my family. My grandpa especially who would love to see my family go to church on a regular basis

5. Why do you think so many people don't go to church?

I think so many people don't go to church now because as we get busier we get lazier. And church doesn't always feel like something you have to do so its the first thing you'll skip. 

6. Did you ever feel unwelcomed or like you didn't fit in when you walked into a


church? 

I've never felt unwelcomed walking into a church but when I've been to churches that aren't my own I do feel slightly uncomfortable, through no fault of the people there though.

7. If the church could do one thing for you, what would it be?

I don't think there's anything I'd like the church to do for me. I've never looked at it as a place I go to get things from so much as a place I go to give to. 

8.Would you ever consider trying to go to a different church than you were 


used to in the past? Why or why not?

I don't think I would ever go to a church that wasn't my own. I feel comfortable in my own church and its beliefs and I don't feel a need to go explore other options

9. If there was something you could change about a church today, what would 


it be?

If I could change one thing about a church today it would probably the strictness of some religions because sometimes feel like some people aren't welcomed because they don't agree with every single aspect of the religion.

10. If you could describe in your own words in a short sentence how would you 


describe God to me?

God is a loving, forgiving, non-judgemental care giver who will always be there in your darkest times even if you believe in him or not.

This girl is one of my closest friends and she is so special to me. I've known her for a few years now and when i was talking to her the other day about doing this interview she was so cool about it and was like of course i'll help you out. I've worked with her at the same job for over two years. She has never really questioned me about my faith in general, but has showed interest in some of the comments I've made about God when being at work. I knew when i first met her that she would be one of my close friends right away, well we have had a few talks at work at times talking about God and what he has for our lives and stuff. It's led to cool times, but at the same time as she has her Catholic background, obviously we have different views on things. When i was going through and reading her responses to these questions i was very impressed and honestly didn't expect a lot out of her. She is probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I have seen her on the verge of trying to search deeper for a connection with God, but in all honesty when reading her answer about how she feels closer to God when going to church was really cool to me because I just didn't see that as something she would say. Kind of like i never knew she knew what that felt like. I know everyone can feel God in different ways and i think it was cool to look at this interview with a different perspective and to see what it is her views of church is and God. I was very impressed with her answer for God. Like i said, we've talked a few times about church, but never really about God. She is such a sweet person and would never shoot anyone down who came to her and spoke to her about anything and i know God has placed her in my life for me to reach out to, because it's so easy because we are so close and she's right in front of me. I know God's given me a deeper passion just to continue to reach out to her and pray for her. I think she would go to another church if she was willing to try something out. She's someone who does like her comfort zone and doesn't like to step out of it. But, if someone came along and said just try this once and broke that comfort zone then she'd be fine. Who knows maybe God will have me be that person in her life someday. (: 

Cullen Allen Class Response

I really enjoyed listening to Cullen because he had such a great personality. For someone who runs so much in ministry and who seems like he should have five heads instead of one, he is so incredibly calm and relaxed. I was so interested with how he was running his ministry and how he was running everything within the church.

Something that I loved that he said was “When you get the point where you think you are at a good place don’t stay there, look for the  way you can make what you’re doing so much better.” I think that is something that is so great to try to grasp. If you get into a place where you believe your ministry is in the best place it’s ever been and it couldn’t get any better keep searching for ways that could make it better and better. I loved his passion on this and how he talked about it so strongly.

Another thing that I liked that he said that he talked about is that when you confront someone always look for the good in the person and always say positive things as you are in the process of helping them with the things they are dealing with. I loved that and I loved the fact that he said this, because it’s so good to say something so nice to people and speak positive influence into someone’s life.

I loved his success stories that he spoke about like the girl who used to be in prostitution and then how they went on the mission’s trip and she prayed for a little girl and she was healed. That was such a powerful story to hear because that girl went through a tough lifestyle and I was incredibly inspired, because she came out of some tough stuff and I love how that healing for that little girl strengthened her so much more.

I really enjoyed his class and one day I would love to visit his ministry and see how it’s run up close and personal. He seemed like a very good leader to be working with. His personality was something that would draw you into his ministry which is something that I think is very important when working with people. I want that when I am working in ministry one day, a personality that draws people to want to be around me. A personality that shines Christ’s love everywhere I go. I want to be someone who shows I have a passion for my ministry inside and out. You could see that in him which was so cool to watch. He was such a great influence and I really am glad I got to hear the way he runs his ministry it will be very helpful in the future.