CIY Believe Day 1

Alright the first day has been great. We had a safe trip and got front row seats for our first few sessions. We met up the Ben Orcutt at one of the local parks before Believe today too. It was a lot of fun. Some of us even walked to the IHOP by our hotel tonight mmmmmm pancakes at 12am. Thanks for all of your prayers for us here. Keep it up! Here are some pictures enjoy!

Update from Brittany Orcutt in the Dominican Republic

Brittany emailed us an update on how things are going and how we can be praying for her. She is doing some pretty exciting stuff. Whenever you can take a second to pray for her, and the people that she is serving.

Well today I stuck my finger in a hernia! It was great! There is a medical team here from Louisville that is doing 27 surgeries over the next couple of days. They came Sunday and it is been busy ever since. I was able to scrub in to one of the surgeries, which means that I was completely sterile so I could touch the patient and everything. I was able to see the hernia and put my finger in it. I also got to hold things and cut things. It was so exciting and has made me more confident about choosing nursing. Tomorrow I think I will scrub in for a hernia of a 5 month old, and a gull bladder removal! We are working at the medical clinic next to the church, where I started working. The staff is letting us use some of the recovery rooms and the surgical room. Some of the patients have been from the church and the surrounding community and a few from Santo Domingo. But for those who live close we have been able to give them information about the church and start planting seeds. So it feels wonderful to be fulfilling physical along with spiritual needs.

Before the American team came I was working at a rehabilitation clinic and a hospital. I loved working at the rehab center, all the employees are so great and really love their jobs. They do physical therapy for children and adults. Some come in with birth defects and some have had accidents. There are a wide range of people so it is really fun to work with them. I have learned a lot of stretches and ways to work the muscles. In the hospital I have been observing some of the same things as in the clinic. But after my experience with the American team I will hopefully be able to do more. I am learning more about IVs and may put one in tomorrow. It is a lot easier to learn how to do things in English then it is in Spanish. So this group came just in time! It has been great working along side of them.

I have also continued helping with the English lessons and have stayed busy with different church activities. Next week is holy week so I am not sure how much work I will be doing. And on Thursday the teens of the church are going to camp for the Easter weekend. I am looking forward to that a lot. It will be a great time to get to know the church youth better, and a good spiritual growth time for everyone.

If you could pray for the patients that we have worked on, that they will all recover quickly. And that the seeds we have planted will grow and flourish, and that God will begin to work in their lives. Also if you could begin praying for the camp. That it will challenge the youth and that God will grow in them. That they will have complete faith and trust in Him and that God will restore their lives.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement and enjoy the snow!!!

Brittany

Vintage Jesus

I was thinking this morning while I sipped my coffee and munched on my Honey Bunches of Oats (Mmm those Honey Bunches). Don't be surprised, I do try to think every now and then. Here is what I was thinking about: Jesus is, without question is THE defining person in the history of the world, and he accomplished that feat before electricity was even discovered.

I know, you are probably saying to yourself, " Matt, you are a genius! How long did it take you to realize that Jesus didn't have an outlet to plug his blender into?" Give me a second though because that is not exactly what I am saying.

Imagine a man who never went to far from his home (Give or take a hundred miles), never wrote a book (Others wrote about him though), never held public office, and his only actual paying job was as a handyman. If you had to guess from my description, you would think that I was describing the guy who works in appliances at Home Depot. That, however is not the guy I am talking about.

Jesus changed the world with nothing else besides His actions, and His dedication to His Father God. Jesus did not need a video podcast to get his message out, he didn't even need a microphone so he could be heard. Jesus did big things in little everyday ways. Without electricity, internet, cell phones, satellite TV, Jesus changed the world. He didn't even have a campaign manager or a speech writer either.

Engaging Our Community

Throughout my life I have had a lot of different neighbors. When I was 8, my family's neighbors had a cat. We would watch the cat while they were away. One time we thought it had been run over by a car so we buried it in their back yard. Shortly after burying it we discovered their cat was still alive and we had just buried a stray in their yard. I'm sure that was an interesting conversation for my dad.
When I was 12 or 13 I would play sports and get into fights with the other boys in my neighborhood. We didn't fight because we were upset. We were just boys who like breaking things. I remember another neighbor I had at that age. I would go over and feed her dogs sometimes. In the winter we would go over to her house to make sure she was alright. My parents told me that it was the right thing to do, and that she appreciated the company. I thought that her house smelt weird.
Neighborhoods are an interesting aspect of society though. You move to an area and after that, you really can't choose your neighbors. Still if the neighbor comes over and asks for a cup of sugar or a couple eggs, you will generally share what you have. In most neighborhoods you also have cookouts or barbecues where everybody gets together for a warm summer evening. It is a community that develops based on location. Some people might stray away from that, but most tend to be pretty good neighbors.
As we spend time about engaging our community around us, it is fun to think back about my old neighbors. You get to be a part of something and enjoy getting to know others too. We get so busy now though, that it might be hard to catch your neighbor at home to ask for a cup of sugar.

It is important to share the awesome love of Jesus with those around us. We are supposed to share it through compassion and service. Maybe that means scheduling time to get to know our neighbors better. It definitely means connecting with them and investing in them. How we are going to do that is left up to us.

Life Changing Transformation

A guy smokes a pack of cigarettes a day for 60 years. One day he goes to the doctor to get a routine physical. The doctor tells him that there is a 99% chance that he will die in a month if he doesn't stop smoking that very day. Unless the guy has a death wish he goes home and immediately throws all of his cigarettes away. Same thing if the doctor had told him that he had high cholesterol he would have gone home and thrown away all of the Crispy Creme Donuts. Those are both pretty big lifestyle changes.

Everyday when you drive to school you go like 25mph over the limit because you are late. Then you get pulled over and get a warning. For the rest of the day you actually drive under the speed limit. At school 5 people told you that they liked the shirt that you wore. The funny thing is that you found the shirt in your basement and only wore it because all of your other close were in the washing machine. After the compliments though it just became your favorite shirt. Lifestyles and fashion tastes can change pretty fast under the right circumstances.

For the month of January we are going to be talking about our personality and lifestyle as a church. We are going to be discussing our Identity as Christ-Followers. This Sunday the focus is Lifechange. Basically, If we believe that Jesus did what he said he could in our lives, then there should be some noticeable changes. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Basically, God is making us into new creations. The transformation should be noticeable too. No one would mistake an axe murderer for a Christian. How do we look different though? What change happened inside of us that is evident to people we come in contact with?

Last night, my wife Alicia and I were talking about this. We talked about how interesting it was that we have committed our lives to Christ, but our lives don't always reflect that committment. Sometimes life change is really noticeable and at other points its not really. That led me to think of another questions as I write my message for this Sunday. What does lifechange look like when its exhibited in all aspects of your life? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts...

And The Winner Is...

I could say a lot of cliche things right now. My pick could be the city of Cincinnati for having such competitive rivalries. Or I could say the Forrest Hills School District because either way their district will produce a state semifinalist. I could even say football itself is the winner. What other rivalry could produce back to back days featuring a huge High School Rivalry and then the next day the biggest College Football Rivalry (Go Bucks)? Yet I said I would pick a team and I will pick a team.

I think that the game will be close. Without a doubt each team will come out trying their hardest and leaving nothing in their tanks. There will either be a ton of touchdowns or a lot of turnovers, because neither team will be consertaive and both teams will go for broke. When it comes down to it though Turpin will win. I just have to say that I think this is their year. Anderson has played bigger teams, but I think destiny is on Turpin's side. Anderson fans please don't hate me, because I might have just done the best thing possible for you. I'm not known for picking winners. In fact every year in Fantasy Football I start out in first, but by week 16 I am in the middle of the pack. Maybe I jinxed 'em by picking 'em. I picked the Rockies and look what happened. Either way this week has been an absolute blast talking some great football. We should make this an every year game.

The Game: Anderson vs. Turpin

The impossible has happened and the very fabric of Anderson Township is being torn apart. Family is turning against family and brother is fighting against brother. Anderson and Turpin are going to battle for bragging rights this Friday night. Facebook already has over 1000 confirmed people going to this game from the schools. Rumor has it their are expecting 10,000 total at the game.

I am not making my prediction until Thursday, but I thought we should have something to talk about in the meantime. So here are both sides of the arguement. Both of these guys are seniors who have gone to Parkside Christian Church and been part of our Student Ministry for a long time. For both of them this is the first Anderson vs. Turpin football game they have experienced. Here are their thoughts. Disagree with them? Post a response and let them now.

Aaron Adams, Senior-Anderson High School

Ok first of all this is what I have to say about the Anderson football game Friday. For about the past 5 years we have't played because well basically Turpin sucked. Now they have had a decent team for the past 2 years and they think they are all that. All I've been hearing are Andy Cruse and Ryan Martin are they next best thing to sliced bread. Now we get to play in the third round of the playoffs! This is why Anderson is going to run all over Turpin. Well we have Elijah Storey he has rushed for over 1300 yards this season! plus he is Shawn Alexander's cousin that counts for something right? Turpin has a 5-7 skinny kid named Wayne Dunam granted he is quick, he is just to scared to run in the middle and take a hit. Im tired of hearing about Andy Cruse. Have any of you heard about Nick Truesdell he is 6-7 and will catch anything. Turpin doesn't have a defensive back to match up with him. plus I just have a feeling the Lord is on our side cause face we have three of our offensive players attending Parkside. our fullback/tight end Josh Jeffrey is first team all conference, Bryan Sallee one of our offensive lineman will block you all day and Tyler White will just beat you up if you get in his way. I also feel that when Andy Sims walked into church wearing his Turpin hat that he actually thought Turpin was going to win! What a joke! Plus Turpin has that annoying little mascot, why not get something more realistic. Im going to end on this note just remember it's Anderson Township not Turpin Township, thats why we are going to win!!!! GO SKINS

Clay Seal, Senior-Turpin High School

Hey this is Clay Seal, and I'm a senior at Turpin High School. At first I was planning on having a little fun with this blog. At Turpin we rip on Anderson a lot, I assume that they probably do the same to us, especially this week. I think, though, I'm going to keep it somewhat serious.
Frankly, I was looking forward to a Turpin-Anderson Regional Final matchup, but wasn't expecting it. Good thing for Anderson, they had a freshly paved road to the storied matchup, while we had some terrain to scale. Even though I wasn't expecting it to happen, I'm glad it did. The rivalry in this sport is long overdue, and everyone and their grandparents are looking forward to it.
So why is Turpin going to win? Quite simply, the class of 2008.
When this class has control over a team, they have a winning record. 2004 (freshman schedule) 10-0. After that, every good player moved to the varsity team and inherited a struggling program which was on the rise due to Coach Rob Stoll. Not that the past few years mattered really: the reign would begin no matter what. 2005: 7-3, 2006: 12-2, 2007: 12-0. That comes to a record of 41-5, so far. It's not just for football. Freshman year this same class comes in and goes 19-1 in basketball. I could go on and on and on about numbers, and how the largest defeat these guys have suffered in high school was a 19-0 loss to a tight Kings team in 2005, but I won't.
I’m the mascot at all of the football games. Sparty. To be honest, I haven’t been in the stands once this season to watch them play. I’ve got a big mask on, and my sight in that thing is kind of like when your friends pull your hoodie over your face and tie the strings together. If I can overcome that, I’ve got 40 something bubble butts of opposing teams’ players (usually) to try to look through for a glimpse of the game. All I’ve seen of game play is the occasional out of bounds collision, or one of Ryan Martin’s signature hail marys to Andy Cruse.
I don’t need any of this, though. All I usually see during a game is about 20 kids painted up with recycling bins around their necks, and a few hundred more students with them, in 40 degree weather. 4 years ago, these kids were there, but by the end of the first quarter, they were already hanging out behind the bleachers. We’re a tight knit group at Turpin, but we can also be brats. We’re not going to watch a game to make you feel better. You have to play good football, and that’s all I’ve heard about this season. I hear the dads after the game. The guys who you wonder if they even have jobs because they know so much about the team, and their kids have already graduated from college.
Aside from their game play, these guys have the single most important ingredient to success: confidence. It’s easy to spot a Turpin football player at school, because they’ve usually got a t-shirt on that says so, a locker sign, or something like that. But minus all these things, you can sense it from a mile away. You know there is something more to these guys than meets the eye. They’re winners. Are they cocky? Sometimes. Does it make me extremely jealous that they made it to the 3rd round of their tournament and my Turpin Soccer team got knocked out first round? Yeah. But they’ve still got me.
The past few weeks, kids have been talking about the football team non stop. “Dude I’m nervous about the Trotwood game, those kids are pretty tight,” one student will say to another. A football player will listen in a few rows over, but won’t say anything. It won’t be too long before another student chimes in and says, “Don’t worry. Come on, think about it!” After a few seconds, the kid will say, “Yeah you’re right. They’ll win.” These guys not only have put it together on the field, but off as well. They got the school behind them. With the athletic ability of these guys, their attitude, and all the X-factor you could ask for, I don’t see Turpin losing.