Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
8000 Miles
And now, on the shores of the sea, comes the end of our fellowship. I will not say: do not do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.
It is time Frodo...
(Gandalf: LOTR-Return of the King)
As our awards ceremony came to an end Monday night, I kept thinking of the final scene at the end of Lord of the Rings. Frodo wanders through his empty house, after the long, harrowing journey, wondering: How do you pick up the threads of an old life, how do you go on, but in your heart begin to understand, there is no going back...
(LOTR-ROTK)
Honestly, I don't want to go back. Our play was about reaching the lost for Christ, and in as much as I have been given all the tools throughout my entire life, I have never felt the least bit confident when speaking with a non, or shallow believer about my faith. Within the space of about a week we had the opportunities to go to both a Juvenile Justice Center, and a home for troubled kids. I had three conversations from my time there, with teens who really needed something more. They believed in Christ, but had yet to make their faith a full commitment. I felt so helpless talking to them. It was not that I was unable to talk, but that I felt that what I had to say was giving no comfort at all.
The old me, before this summer would have just taken it all in stride. Seen the lesson, felt a moment of conviction, then moved on without any change. But now I want something more. I want to be able to follow 1 Peter 3:15, to - be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you...
For those of you who never saw our play, the last scene is the poem The Harvest and the Tempest. A girl is dreaming of a harvest that is lost while the laborers play games and ignore the approaching storm. I, as the unnamed man, show that the harvest is the lost souls on earth, and that the storm is Gods judgement day. Then I disappear, leaving the girl to wonder why she has waited so long to serve the Lord with her whole heart and spread the gospel to the lost. In our dramatic reading I, wearing all white, was suppose to be enveloped by the reapers, who wore all black. But be cause they were not as tall as me I had to go to my knees. About half way through the summer I realize this was an open opportunity to pray. We had lots of tech problems that needed prayer, and there was always the invitation that followed our presentation to pray for as well. But going into the last few weeks, I started listening to the words Grace, who played the girl was saying:
Then Calling on God in the heavens, with contrite spirit I prayed;
"Oh Lord, I will be a worker! Too long, too long have I played;
Because of the ripened harvest, I give you my heart and my arm;
I’ll spend my life in the valley to save the grain from the storm."
I don't exactly know what I should be doing from this point. I feel a great amount of conviction from this portion of the play. I feel a great amount of conviction from the entire summer, but I have no idea where that conviction is taking me. If you had asked my during my senior year and on if I was lead to the college I chose, and I would definitely say yes. There was a definite path that lead me there, even though I could not see it at the time. But now I am wondering, was the only reason I was lead there so that I could have a spring break that ended with me being invited to travel this summer? And now, is there another pathway God wants me to take?
You cannot always be torn in two. You must be one, and whole for many years. You have so much to enjoy, to and be, and to do. Your part in the story will go on....
(Frodo to Sam: LOTR-ROTK)
On the way home I finally reached a place of peace. That place was faith. Faith is always something I have struggled with. I like control when it concerns my own life. I have plenty of faith that God will keep the world spinning around me, but I always want to at least know, if not be in control of how my part is spinning. I got into the bad habit last semester about daydreaming life scenarios for myself with various paths I could take. I really became obsessive about it and finally had to give that time back to God. I don't really need to know everything that is going to take place in the future. Many people asked me if I would travel for another summer. I would obviously love to, it was a life changing experience and our team was able to reach so many with our message, but that to must wait. I am making the commitment to not think about anything but "this semester" this semester. Last semester I lost focus, and it hurt my grades and my walk with Christ. I wanted to tell you all this so that you will be able to hold my focus to this one goal. My future is in Gods hands, it always has been, but now I need to let him have the control...
I want you all to know how grateful I am to you for giving me this opportunity to serve and to learn. I apologize for not keeping in touch with you all better throughout the summer, but please know that I thought about you often, and definitely felt your prayers. God's hand of protection was definitely over us. It is a miracle that we only had one blown tire the entire summer. The East Team had a couple of breakdowns (one on there way back to the Academy Monday) and a blown tire, while Team South had five different tires blow (several on their trailer in one incident), and never had AC for the entire summer. The Devil did try to use our lights and tech to defeat us, but after many years of problems in Midwest churches, the Academy has learned to send the Midwest team with many backups, most of which we used at least once during the summer.
But now the summer must end. No matter how often I think about our travels, or what little things I encounter throughout the day make think about of where I've come from, I have to move on. Three of our team will return to the Academy's college program in the fall, one has finished her time there and is going on to complete her education at home. Seven of our team will be returning to high school in the fall, many for their senior year. And for me, I will be returning to Waynesburg for my second year. We could all use your prayers as God guides us each on our journey.
Yes, for me, the summer is over, but now...
But now the summer must end. No matter how often I think about our travels, or what little things I encounter throughout the day make think about of where I've come from, I have to move on. Three of our team will return to the Academy's college program in the fall, one has finished her time there and is going on to complete her education at home. Seven of our team will be returning to high school in the fall, many for their senior year. And for me, I will be returning to Waynesburg for my second year. We could all use your prayers as God guides us each on our journey.
Yes, for me, the summer is over, but now...
I think I'm quite ready for another adventure.
(Bilbo LOTR-ROTK)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Heat Is On
Well, it has been a while since I have written and I think that my future opportunities to write may become even slimmer. We have two performances over the next two days (Thursday and Friday) and then Sunday starts our 14-performances-in-14-days run. We will have two performances one Sunday and a travel day the following Saturday, but every other day has a performance. We will cover Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio over that stretch.
For those of you not familiar with how the Academy works here is how our arrival at a church starts. Basically we arrive, meet the pastor, then unload all or props, tech, and set pieces, then set everything up. The South team has us beat currently with set up time, as they were forced to set up in 30 minutes due to a flat, but everything worked and they saw two people saved. Our team still has not seen any fruit like the South team has, but with 8 performances under our belts, I am certain we our getting the message out, and planting seed for others to water and develop.
Tear down is quicker, but often happens in parts as time allows. Sometimes we only get to partially tear down, before we are whisked away to hosts homes for the evening. When we return in the morning, we are able to finish tearing down before we head off to our next destination.
We have had a great deal of free time these last two weeks, but we have also gotten to serve in other ways, and even gave to mini performances at a retirement home, and an ARC center for those with disabilities. The ARC center was probably the most enthusiastic audience we have seen, and will definitely be remembered. We spent The Fourth here in Covington, KY and headed to the Creation Museum today (I guess its now yesterday :). It was a great experience and I wish I had gone while I was still in High School (hint, hint, to those back at Calvary :P ). It was defiantly worth the trip, and I hope I can return sometime when I can have more time to explore.
Please keep us in your prayers. Seth, our team leader, is loosing his voice and we are praying he regains some of it by tomorrows performance, but if not then we may have to step in and fill in his rolls, at least as far as the performance goes. Susan, one of our team members has been battling an infected wisdom tooth for the last two weeks and finally was able to have it removed during our free time this week. She is still in a lot of pain form the surgery though so pleas keep her in your prayers as well. Thankfully I have had no personal illnesses yet, but many of our team has coughs or sore throats which do not help with all the singing that our play includes.
But through it all please just pray that people will see the message of the great commission, and not us when they see us perform. We are merely being used by God, and we need to be certain that, as a team, that God and the message are our focus. As a praise, we have not had any car trouble yet, and so far we are the only team that has not fallen pray to a flat or lost AC.
Thank You all again for your support, and I know that your prayers are protecting us this summer.
John
For those of you not familiar with how the Academy works here is how our arrival at a church starts. Basically we arrive, meet the pastor, then unload all or props, tech, and set pieces, then set everything up. The South team has us beat currently with set up time, as they were forced to set up in 30 minutes due to a flat, but everything worked and they saw two people saved. Our team still has not seen any fruit like the South team has, but with 8 performances under our belts, I am certain we our getting the message out, and planting seed for others to water and develop.
Tear down is quicker, but often happens in parts as time allows. Sometimes we only get to partially tear down, before we are whisked away to hosts homes for the evening. When we return in the morning, we are able to finish tearing down before we head off to our next destination.
We have had a great deal of free time these last two weeks, but we have also gotten to serve in other ways, and even gave to mini performances at a retirement home, and an ARC center for those with disabilities. The ARC center was probably the most enthusiastic audience we have seen, and will definitely be remembered. We spent The Fourth here in Covington, KY and headed to the Creation Museum today (I guess its now yesterday :). It was a great experience and I wish I had gone while I was still in High School (hint, hint, to those back at Calvary :P ). It was defiantly worth the trip, and I hope I can return sometime when I can have more time to explore.
Please keep us in your prayers. Seth, our team leader, is loosing his voice and we are praying he regains some of it by tomorrows performance, but if not then we may have to step in and fill in his rolls, at least as far as the performance goes. Susan, one of our team members has been battling an infected wisdom tooth for the last two weeks and finally was able to have it removed during our free time this week. She is still in a lot of pain form the surgery though so pleas keep her in your prayers as well. Thankfully I have had no personal illnesses yet, but many of our team has coughs or sore throats which do not help with all the singing that our play includes.
But through it all please just pray that people will see the message of the great commission, and not us when they see us perform. We are merely being used by God, and we need to be certain that, as a team, that God and the message are our focus. As a praise, we have not had any car trouble yet, and so far we are the only team that has not fallen pray to a flat or lost AC.
Thank You all again for your support, and I know that your prayers are protecting us this summer.
John
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Second Road Trip
Dear Supporters,
We're back at the Academy this morning and we are about to head off to Chattanooga, TN. We returned to home base to perform at the the Academy's Logos Theater. The performance was full of technical glitches, but again we had no forgotten lines, and even performed the first ten minutes without any sound cues! The Academy's director had us practicing up until the last 20 minutes, and then she told us to apply what she had just crammed in our heads! I can only say that it was a miracle that the program when t as well as it did, and many people genuinely were pleased with the performance and were accepting of the message. I even had to play another person's part for him while he was down fixing our tech. Thank goodness there were no lines, but I had never performed the part before and the character is very important to the story.
So now we have two real performances under our belts (the one here at the Academy, and one Sunday in Indiana) as well as our dress rehearsal that we performed in front of our peers. We have had the sound not work for one performance, the lights fail to start for another, but through it all the message has still be shared.
Today we will also be our last time seeing the South team, which had been using the Academy as s home base while they performed in the local area, until the end of the summer. We had a heartfelt goodbye last Saturday, but I am certain that it will be much more deep today. It is hard to explain the bond that we have attained from practicing, singing, learning, eating, and having fun whit each other over the past three weeks, but it is extremely strong. It took me so long to make friends when I go into College, but here, with common goals, interests, and faith I have formed friendships that will definitely stand the test of time.
Please pray for us as we head out today, and return tomorrow for one last performance here at the theater. Please also pray for the South team as they head out Thursday, and the East team as well, who are already traveling.
Thank You once again for your support, John Flanigan
We're back at the Academy this morning and we are about to head off to Chattanooga, TN. We returned to home base to perform at the the Academy's Logos Theater. The performance was full of technical glitches, but again we had no forgotten lines, and even performed the first ten minutes without any sound cues! The Academy's director had us practicing up until the last 20 minutes, and then she told us to apply what she had just crammed in our heads! I can only say that it was a miracle that the program when t as well as it did, and many people genuinely were pleased with the performance and were accepting of the message. I even had to play another person's part for him while he was down fixing our tech. Thank goodness there were no lines, but I had never performed the part before and the character is very important to the story.
So now we have two real performances under our belts (the one here at the Academy, and one Sunday in Indiana) as well as our dress rehearsal that we performed in front of our peers. We have had the sound not work for one performance, the lights fail to start for another, but through it all the message has still be shared.
Today we will also be our last time seeing the South team, which had been using the Academy as s home base while they performed in the local area, until the end of the summer. We had a heartfelt goodbye last Saturday, but I am certain that it will be much more deep today. It is hard to explain the bond that we have attained from practicing, singing, learning, eating, and having fun whit each other over the past three weeks, but it is extremely strong. It took me so long to make friends when I go into College, but here, with common goals, interests, and faith I have formed friendships that will definitely stand the test of time.
Please pray for us as we head out today, and return tomorrow for one last performance here at the theater. Please also pray for the South team as they head out Thursday, and the East team as well, who are already traveling.
Thank You once again for your support, John Flanigan
Saturday, June 18, 2011
End of Training Camp
Dear Supporters,
I have to say with all sincerity that it has been a awesome two weeks of training camp. I apologize that i have not been able to keep in better contact with you before now, but we have been extrememly busy. Our days have consisted of: breakfast @ 8, followed by devotional time, singing lessons :P , a little practice, lunch, a traveling tips session, more practice, dinner, more practice, chapel, then bed time.
I was assigned to the Midwest team on my second day here and I think we have one o f the best teams here. We have a great bond and work quite well together. As it turns out, there is only one play that we are all performing. I know in my letter I stated there were two, but from the information I had before, we were supposedly doing two different plays. That aside, our play has a very deep message that is based around the great commission. Our play even includes a bible story that I honestly believe I had never read before: The destruction of Sennacherib. I wish you all could have the chance to see it, but if you are planning on being anywhere in the Midwest this summer perhaps you could stop by. Just check the schedule at the Academy's Website.
Last night we had our first nonstop performance in front of our peers, and I must say, with all our little cue glitches, we were blessed with everyone knowing there lines, and no technical difficulties. I am grateful that we have that one under our belts so that we can continue to perform better in the practices today.
Tomorrow we head to Ohio, and the following day we have a short drive to our first performance Sunday night in Indiana. If you will, please be in prayer for our safe travel, and that we might see our schedule filled up more for the month of June.
For myself, I would as that you pray for that I might be able to convey the proper emotion necessary to convey the message of the lost souls around us to the audience.
Thank You again for all your support, John Flanigan
I have to say with all sincerity that it has been a awesome two weeks of training camp. I apologize that i have not been able to keep in better contact with you before now, but we have been extrememly busy. Our days have consisted of: breakfast @ 8, followed by devotional time, singing lessons :P , a little practice, lunch, a traveling tips session, more practice, dinner, more practice, chapel, then bed time.
I was assigned to the Midwest team on my second day here and I think we have one o f the best teams here. We have a great bond and work quite well together. As it turns out, there is only one play that we are all performing. I know in my letter I stated there were two, but from the information I had before, we were supposedly doing two different plays. That aside, our play has a very deep message that is based around the great commission. Our play even includes a bible story that I honestly believe I had never read before: The destruction of Sennacherib. I wish you all could have the chance to see it, but if you are planning on being anywhere in the Midwest this summer perhaps you could stop by. Just check the schedule at the Academy's Website.
Last night we had our first nonstop performance in front of our peers, and I must say, with all our little cue glitches, we were blessed with everyone knowing there lines, and no technical difficulties. I am grateful that we have that one under our belts so that we can continue to perform better in the practices today.
Tomorrow we head to Ohio, and the following day we have a short drive to our first performance Sunday night in Indiana. If you will, please be in prayer for our safe travel, and that we might see our schedule filled up more for the month of June.
For myself, I would as that you pray for that I might be able to convey the proper emotion necessary to convey the message of the lost souls around us to the audience.
Thank You again for all your support, John Flanigan
Saturday, May 7, 2011
First Letters
For those of you who have received my letters I want to again thank you for taking the time to read and consider them. I am glad that I was finally able to get the letters out, as I was unable to do so last week because of my hectic finals week at college. Thankfully all my tests and projects are out of the way now, and I can focus on raising support for my trip.
I would also like to apologize to those whom I kept this decision from initially, and I hope that you are not offended that you had to find out in a letter. I simply had to be certain that this was the correct direction that God was taking me for my summer. I also did not want to speak about it too much until I had confirmation of my acceptance.
For those of you who go to Calvary/CBC, I will be there tomorrow (5/8) to answer any questions you may have about my trip. I also hope to stop by CCA, sometime early this week, so that I can speak to a few friends about the trip.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Playing the Secret Chord
So what’s in a name?
I heard there was a secret chord,
That David played, and it pleased the Lord,
But you don't really care for music, do you?
I was just sitting here, working on a name for the blog that I hope will keep me in touch with all my supporters throughout my summer travels, when Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah began playing on Pandora (if you don't know what Pandora is then I will just let you find out for yourself, its Awesome!) I often look for a deeper meaning in songs and when I heard these lines I Googled them to see that others thought Cohen was writing about. One writer thought it referred to Psalm 56-60, where King David is singing, praying, or crying out to God in his mikams. Apparently, it is believed by some that these mikams were meant as secret songs from David to God, that were meant to be a pouring out of David’s spirit before the Lord.
Perhaps the the only reason why these lines struck me was from being overwhelmed with college finals and really not thinking very clearly, but I do confess that personal contact with God is one of my many failings in life. Yet David had it all together and still fell from grace very hard....
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
Even David, who had a connection with God that I believe any Christian today would envy, fell from his walk into sin. If a man as spiritually strong as David can fall into sin so easily, how can we, with our busy lives on our Facebooks and cell phones, ever hope to stay in tune enough with God to fully realize his blessing or experience his power in our lives.
I honestly did not expect to get all this writing inspiration when I picked this name up from the song. I hope that whenever I am writing in this blog or just reading an old post that I will remember to keep my walk and talk with God as personal as I can….
Then “Defying Gravity” from Wicked came on Pandora…..Maybe I’ll discuss that one in a later post :)
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