Letters

I just talked to RPD. It is indeed against the law for people to have sex in their car in our parking lot at 2:50 in the afternoon. Good to know. That's not the blog topic but a free bit of wisdom for you lurkers out there who read.

I'm continuing my education. I had to fill out an application for a school, send transcripts, & write a personal essay, answering 4 questions. The questions, my answers:

1. Describe my salvation experience.
I believe it was around 1984, which would put me at roughly 3 years old. My family lived in Reno, Nevada at the time. I remember sitting on my parents bed, which was conveniently located in their bedroom. I was having a conversation with my mom about Jesus and what it meant to have Him come and live in Your heart. I decided it was something that I wanted to do. We prayed together & I went out & told my brothers what I had done. I can remember growing up & not necessarily taking ownership of my relationship with God through Jesus, but there came a point when I did. I realized that my parents weren’t responsible for my relationship with God around 6th grade. That didn’t necessarily change anything that I was or wasn’t doing at the time. I had a few moments here & there that you could say were wake up calls, or at least good reminders that this God thing or this “enemy” group were indeed real. With that being said, I believe me taking God seriously was a process that began in1984 & is still being worked out today.

2. Describe my Christian service experience over the last 5 years.
Is it service if it’s your job? Let’s say…yes. Going back to 2004…I was serving in the role of youth pastor & oversaw worship at The Fountainhead Foursquare church in Carson City, Nevada. Over the 3.5 years that I was employed there, I “served” in my area of responsibilities & also with things like: VBS, mission trips, & community outreach.
The past 2 years I’ve served at Hillside Foursquare Church in an administrative role. 6 months ago I began overseeing the worship ministry.

3. Describe my present stage of spiritual maturity
This is a loaded question. It’s “funny” that I’m asked to evaluate my spiritual maturity. I think I may be biased in my answer. When I think of spiritual maturity, a list of what I do & what I don’t do, runs through my brain. Thank you growing up in the church. Instead, I’m learning to look at a few things:
1- Am I consistent in my relationships with both God & people? I believe yes.
2- Am I able to resolve conflict? Usually, but still working on it.
3- Do I believe that you have to think or be like me, or am I threatened by “other opinions?” No.
I’m not sure where that would put my on the scale, but my mom says I’m a 10.

4. My perceived direction in ministry
I’ll be ordained by the Foursquare denomination on April 26, 2009. I don’t know for how long or it what capacity I’ll do my current job, but the plan is to continue doing what I’m doing. My current direction is continuing my education, which is the purpose of this application.