Joe Nowowiejski

So I’ve never been that great at b-ball, but I just got done playing a little 3 on 3. I was walking the dog and I saw a bunch of young guys playing. Lilly of-course ran through the middle of them… more than once. I walked around the tennis court and Lilly licked this guys face that was lying down on the merry-go-round. He was a sophomore at auburn HS. I think his name was Jacob. He liked soccer and drama and apparently sleeping on merry-go-rounds. I also stopped back by with the guys playing b-ball and invited them up to the church to use the goals there anytime. Then I went back to the house.

On the way back I though, “I bet those guys are thirsty,” I know genius mind, eh! Anyway, I got back to the house, filled a jug full of ice and water, hopped in my truck and drove back to the courts. I backed up my truck, got out with the water, and put it down on the tailgate. I told them I had some ice water if any of them wanted some. They looked at me like… “What?!” They said ok, cool, and continued their game. I pulled out the old trusty red-plastic Wal-Mart cups and proceeded to fill them up. I sat there for about 25 minutes, watching, while they finished their game. Most of them walked off, but a couple of them came up a grabbed a drink… and then walked off. Then a minute later a few came back and got a drink and we chatted a bit.

A couple of them were in 8th grade and some were in HS and one or two were in college. We chatted a few more minutes while a couple others played some 2 on 2. When they were done with that game, one of them asked me to play, so I did.

We played a little 3 on 3 and I was dominating!!!!…. No not really, but I didn’t suck it up too bad! We ended up loosing 12 to 9, so it wasn’t a complete blowout. I invited a few of them to check out VWPC and 2Eleven. They said they probably would so that’s great. Then I picked up a few empty cups tossed them in the back of the truck and went home.

I’m glad that I listened to the voice of God, to serve and show kindness. I did my part and I know that he’ll do his. It was a small thing, but I know that God will use those seeds of kindness and hopefully cause them to grow.

I know that none of this would have happened if I wasn’t willing to step out and risk connecting with those students. All it took was a little ice, some water, and about an hour of my time. Plus, it’s been too long since I played 3 on 3. I want to challenge and encourage you to step out of your comfort zone for the Kingdom of God. Whether it’s someone you know or not, when we take the time and effort to connect we help to bridge the gap between people and their relationship with Jesus. Whether we’ve already got a relationship with Christ or not, we all need that “person” element to help us along on our journey.

My wonderful wife took me to a Braves-Dodgers game this past Saturday in ATL.  We had a great time!  She drove up there while i slept, it was great… we did get stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half, but when we got in the stadium it was great.  Got a large coke and some nachos… mmmm. 

So sad to say, LA blew it 4-1 - Atlanta :(  I’ve been a Dodgers fan since like 88′ - Oral Hershiser baby!

After the game we went to the Varsity and ate chili dogs and drank more coke. 

Life Group this weekend was awesome!  We played some wiffel ball and and had some really good discussion about music and also read Colossians 3:1-4, which talks about thinking about the things “above.” http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col%203:1-4&version=31 
check out the message too http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col%203:1-4;&version=65;

Thanks to all my awesome adult volunteers who are so consistent in serving and calling students every week!  I’m really looking forward to the Campus Missionary program that we’re kicking off.  It is going to be a great discipleship tool and i can’t wait to see the 2Eleven student growing deeper in the walks with God through:
pray - live - tell - serve - give

Go Dodgers and Tigers!

What’s your favorite Team?

This past weekend our youth ministry “2Eleven” took a group of 20 students to Birmingham, AL for a youth convention.  It was an awesome time!  Basically, it was a conventions about getting closer to God in experience and challenging the student to step out in faith and use their mouths as a weapon.  A weapon to conquer the world… for Jesus Kingdom, of course.  That was just one of the messages, but that was one that stuck out to me.  There was a challenge to use our mouths to tell others the Gospel.  That being a Christian isn’t just about “not sinning.”  It’s about being holy as He is holy, yes, but it’s about seeing people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus.  That is the only currency that matters in Heaven, lost souls being saved.  So not sinning is important of course and it’s one of our goals, but it’s not for the sake of being good.  We must live holy to 1. obey God and 2. it helps to confirm our witness.

Like i said, that was just one of the many things that was mentioned this weekend.

It was awesome seeing all of the students that went on this trip connect with God.  I really believe that God did some lasting things in their lives and i’m looking forward to seeing those students live their lives out in the open for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  He really helped the students to connect with each other too.  And of course, we as leaders, were able to connect with them.  A great weekend.

One thing that God spoke to me goes right along with “blessed are those who have not seen and still believe,” what Jesus said to Thomas after he raised from the dead.  It’s this, blessed are those who believe even when they don’t FEEL it.  This in my mind has more to do with emotion.  Sometimes i’m emotional and other times i’m not.  God showed me that He will honor our faith and trust even when it’s hard because we don’t “feel” it.  Of course i knew that, but it IS harder to believe when you don’t feel or your emotions aren’t worked up.  I believe that our emotions will follow our faith, we can’t let our faith follow our emotions… because God knows what our emotions are like at times.

I hope anyone who read this didn’t think it was too long and rambling!

Thanks to Jeremy, Melanie, Cody, Shellie, Ashlee, and of course Bethany for all your hard work and help this weekend.  It was awesome to see you all connecting with our students!