Well its been one year today (I wrote this on the 21st) since I've posted. I'd like to thank Brigham, Eddie, and others for the motivation to post today. I hope in the Lord that you are all well.
Over the past three years the Lord has blessed me with opportunity to visit many places and spend time with Christians in various parts of the countries and I am so grateful. The past three summers I have spent most of my time (when not in camps) in the greater New York City area and virtually no time in Kentucky which has led many to question me why I should end up in Lexington and not come back to NYC. Well the simple answer is I'm headed to Graduate School. But it is not all quite that simple. For a while i have debated whether to pursue more schooling and prepare myself to become a high school teacher or whether to become a "preacher." I have been taught since I was young that all Christians ought to preach, yet if I could choose to spend my days teaching American History or teaching bible, the bible trumphs American History everytime. Still, I'm headed to Graduate School to study American History. Why not just drop everything and just start preaching? One reason why I am headed to Graduate School has to do with flexibility. I feel like preparing myself to teach will allow me the flexibility to go wherever I see a need without having to depend on others for support. Obviously there is some biblical examples of this such as Paul who often made tents. I fear that sometimes the places people go to preach are decided by money. Preachers sometimes move where there is a "position" available, my fear is, at times even without thought of where they are most needed. May it never be that where we preach is decided by money. It seems to me that where we preach ought to be decided by where we see a need and money or "support" ought not be the central issue. We ought to do what is pleasing to the Lord and trust that He will provide for us. So my exhortation to all is to preach the gospel where the gospel needs to be preached and prepare yourself to support you and your family through working in some other field if need be. I'm not sure how well i have expressed my thinking on this but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on all this as well (whether you agree or disagree). Though that is not always easiest, the Lord will bless us as we walk by faith and put our trust in Him. I'm excited for the doors He may open here in Lexington and pray that the Lord bless you all as you seek Him.

wait for it. i'm coming back to pleonast soon...all you haters....:)

So I guess this is my first post on pleonast. (Not really sure where the other two came from :) I never thought this day would come (Jady) but nevertheless so it has. I hope that I can use this as an opportunity to tell of some of the great blessings the LORD has poured into my life in the recent past and hopefully in my time to come.
This summer I had the great blessing of spending a month at four different camps (Indiana, Ohio, Northeast Florida College Camps as well as Young Men’s Leadership Camp run by Sewell Hall). All of which were an incredible experience filled with memories I will never forget. I developed relationships with so many amazing young men and women that I hope will last for a lifetime (not to mention some incredible counselors). I think that all who were apart of these will bear great fruit from that experience.
The other two months of my summer were spent in the New York City area and it is these that I wish to write about more in depth for surely the LORD has done great things through so many of the people in the Northeast and the time that I spent there was of great benefit to me as I hope it will be to you to hear of it.
Looking back it is really incredible to think of how I ever ended up in the city to begin with. Before last summer I never had been to New York in my life and certainly never had any desire to go. I was from a farm in Indiana and I had no desire for big city life. But my freshman year at Florida College I met a young man named Roger Polanco from the Bronx, NY. He was a new Christian at the time and I began to develop a relationship with him throughout the year. The LORD really transformed Roger’s life two years ago about this time and Roger made many radical changes throughout the year in his lifestyle. By the end of my freshman year, Roger was eager to return to the city where his father lived in order to preach the gospel to many of his friends. Roger and I both were weary of him returning to the city to preach alone and so somehow (providentially, I believe) Roger persuaded to go spend a month last summer in the Bronx with him. Upon arriving I developed an already kindled relationship with Gardner and Sewell Hall and with the young people in the city and the surrounding regions of New Jersey. There were many great things about that month, but possibly the greatest was the phone call that came from Sewell during my sophomore year asking me to return for this past summer and work with Gardner in the city. Roger and I both agreed to return and that is how we ended up there this summer.
It was our goal when we arrived in May to strengthen many of the relationships we had already begun the summer before. Many of the kids were still in school and that made things a little difficult, but after two weeks when we left for camps, it was clear that it would be difficult to leave. Our mission over the summer was not so much preaching from a pulpit in an assembly (though we did a little bit of that) but to teach and instruct some of the young people around the area. By the time we had returned from camps the kids were getting out of school and we really found ourselves staying busy. My plan is to write in the coming weeks about four areas of focus we had over the summer and the great things the LORD did in all of those places. Next week, I will write about the Spanish-speaking church of God that meets on Sherman Ave; the following week about the Spanish-speaking church in Fairlawn, NJ ; then about the camp, and finally the English speaking churches in Washington, Fairlawn, and East Orange, NJ. My purpose is not only to inform you of the great things the LORD is doing in the Northeast, but also to remind you of your obligation to the LORD. I hope that hearing of the great good being done in the Northeast will stir you up and remind you of your commitment that you have made to serve the LORD with your heart, mind, strength and soul. I love you all a lot. May God bless you to come to know Him better this week.

I am in Florida...

Hi