Power Outages...

So the past few days we have not had internet because of some wicked storms that blew the power out. Here is an update that I made two days prior.

Today was an interesting day. The day started off normal with breakfast and then a message morning session. The conference of pastors and elders from all around Poland is being held here at camp and Bob Russell is the main speaker for most sessions. This morning's session was good from what I can remember (preaching the Word boldly...based on a verse in Ephesians) though I do not remember the main points that were mentioned. Part of the reason why is because I had to leave early and go to Tomaszów to help film the rules video.

This consisted of most of my day. There was a lot of acting, costume changes and a lot of re-takes. By the end though, all clips had been filmed and we were all tired of the process. Once back to camp I had enough time to eat and read a little bit in time to catch the last session of Bob's. The session, although all of them have been geared towards leaders and preaching, this one was very rewarding to hear. I do not know why it has been rewarding considering that it just got out, but it made me think of a few things.

First thing that made me think was a saying that Bob said. It was "If you act the way you wish you felt, you will eventually feel the way you act." I think about this and see so many times in my life when I do not act energetically or with enthusiasm, although I want to feel that and act that way. But if I were to act the way I wish I felt, I would eventually act that way. Sometimes you have to put on the happy face, or act differently than the way you feel because you know that if you don't, it will effect your ministry.

Another thing that stood out was the saying that the minister/pastor sets the mood. But this can be taken to many more aspects of life. The teacher, the missionary, the volunteer or who ever it may be, sets the mood and effects the way the experience will really be felt. If you want to make an experience memorable, or enjoyable it can all be effected by the mood you present it with.

I think the point that stood out to me the most is that the message that we preach is the same. Always the same, but the way of presenting it has to change. Bob gave the illustration of a Wheaties box and how he used to eat it with his hero Mickey Mantel on the cover. Now it's Tiger Woods. Wheaties still tastes the same but the box looks different. Why? Because you have to adapt with the changes of this world. Satan is constantly changing his methods of attacking, why should we as Christians stay stagnant and not adapt to Satan's methods, with methods of our own? Bob gave some examples and the saying that stood out above all that he said was that, "It is easier to recover from trying something new than trying to recover from staying stagnant." How true this is. Staying stagnant, you have no way of knowing what the problem is. But if you take a risk then you can always fall back on the way you used to do things. That is, if it doesn't work.

It was good to see a familiar face. It brought a little bit of Louisville back to Poland and made Poland feel more like home. The longer I stay here, the more people I meet and the more conversations I have, the more I do not want to leave. Camps start this Sunday. Dane and I are excited to get this started to see more sides of the ministry that Proem does.