thanking PR, da ben, and a litte walk in the park
Wednesday, September 10

PR, my college pastor, visited NY several times, and i had the opportunity to talk with him.

i don't know how to describe what this man means to me. sure, he was my college pastor. i got a lot of face time since the church was so small back then.

he discipled me.

he challenged me in so many ways. i thought i was a solid christian until he started questioning me. poked and prodded, and poked some more. i really started thinking about what i believed, and WHY i believed those things.

he made me challenge the way i've been brought up, and to search fresh, to really discover my faith.

but the real kicker, what really showed me how much he cared about me, was the week he took out of his life for me.

here he was, a young pastor busy with a church plant, wife, 2 young boys, meetings, meetings, and more meetings, and he drove nearly 1 hour each way, every day at 6am for 1 week.

we went through joshua and shadow of the almighty. to be sure, i was not bright-eyed and bushy tailed every day. i mean, i was in college, and 6am was not my idea of fun. but that was when i think i first learned to REALLY STUDY the bible. and to EXPECT God to speak to me through it.

i've gotten my share of beatdowns and run-ins with PR. but under his care, i went through my spritual growth spurt.

DA BEN

my appreciation for this guy rises more and more as our YG worship team is coming together. as ben said, he's put us (and ME) in "the wringer" quite a number of times. that being said, i owe him nearly everything for all and any thing i know about worship team.

he made me a roadie for a while. nearly a year of packing and unpacking worship equipment. then he taught me about the mixer, how the signals traveled and were amplified, etc, etc.

i didn't like it very much, at the time. i wanted to PLAY! i wanted to ROCK! (in the words of Jack Black) but i DID learn how everything worked. and by being an observer, i was able to see worship team dynamics better.

then he taught me bass. i played bass and a bit of guitar for year or so. and being in the worship team, i learned still more.

and after leading worship for bible studies, joint praise things, and YG, i've accumulated a little more experience. and hopefully a bit of wisdom. and now that this YG worship team is coming together, i'm starting to really, really appreciate the stuff ben taught me. thanks, ben.


*****

yesterday, movie screening of school of rock. man, SO FUNNY. i love jack black. the dude is WAY out of control.

afterwards, a walk thru central park in the evening. it was truly, a walk to remember. HAHAHA. ok, that was cheesy. but seriously, it was nice. the pond was jet black, the fountain bubbling cheerfully in the background, trees sheltering, and city lights in the distance. so pretty.

yakob at 12:13 AM

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