Courtney West HABITS Testimony

I thought Courtney West did a great job sharing her story about the development of a quiet time, so I thought I would share it with you...

Next month sermon series: Why not to roll houses...or cars

Despite the rain, I can see out of my front window that the toilet paper I could not reach at the tips of my tree are shriveling around the limbs.  My yard was rolled at DNOW last weekend.  A few years ago my 3 months-along-hormonal-pregnant wife went Rambo on a DNOW group for rolling our house.  I wasn't mad then.  I am not mad now.  However, I do find great pleasure in the 2 case studies currently in our Student Ministry for why you should not roll.

#1. Mallory Gray - currently has 2 casts on her 2 arms.  While rolling a house, Mallory & her friends got caught.  They ran, but she did not see the foot-high, brick wall surrounding the lawn she assaulted.  The wall faught back, and she fell head long, breaking both her arms.  My question is very practical.  How does she put on deodorant now?

#2. Tim Pearson - currently serving time in the Alabaster jail...j/k.  Tim decided to bring some vigilante justice to Don Collins, who just so happened to have been the responsible party behind my yard's desecration as well as many others that night.  Tim waited until LIFE Groups were happening at the Amstar Movie Theatre, and he started to roll Don's truck...in the Amstar parking lot.  Long story short, the cops caught him, beat him around a little bit, and threatened him with "Juvi."  You can catch Tim on an upcoming episode of "Cops."

I confess.  I did my share of rolling in...like...middle school.  The greatest feat being the rolling of my friend Odie's house in broad daylight on a busy street.  However, as a Student Pastor who has spent countless hours of my life picking up toilet paper in my front yard, I get a kick out of a small dose of kharma.

And, just to let eveyone know, my PARENTS caught the 10th grade boys rolling my house.

Sing Like the Saved

Here's a snippet(sp?) from worship last Wednesday.

H.A.B.I.T.S.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

If I tried to go out this afternoon and run a marathon... I would fail. I could not run 26 miles today even if I was ready to give 110% effort into trying. I know for sure that I would fail because I have not trained to run a marathon. I just physically could not do it.

Often times, in the pursuit of a Godly lifestyle, we set ourselves up for failure or disappointment. We determine that we can become more Godly all of a sudden by giving it all our effort. But most of the time trying is not enough. We need to train by reading God's word and letting Him strengthen us and work in us. It's like deciding one day that you want to be a marathon runner, and then trying to run all 26 miles on the first day. You couldn't do it because you haven't had the proper training. It's not that you CAN'T be a marathon runner, it's that you have to work at it and train diligently to become one. In the same way we need to actively seek out spiritual HABITS in our lives that provide the training we need to live out a life for Christ.

There's a difference between TRYING to live for God, and TRAINING to live for Him.

Join us on Wednesday nights over the next 6 weeks as we talk about spiritual HABITS that you can use in your daily life to grow closer to God.

High School D-Now

Dates: January 25-27

Featuring: Spur 58 and Jeremy Riddle

This year High School Disciple Now is based around Student Life Tour. It is going to be a great weekend to connect with God and grow with other believers.

Cost: $55

Deadline to sign up is THIS SUNDAY (January 20)

Project #2

For project # 2 of Project 51, Caitlyn Enloe, Courtney Jordan, Millie Opper, Jennifer Shaw, Dianna Tingle, Liz Hinrickson, Mark Hermecz, and Jeff McKenzie went downtown to Jimmy Hale Mission, a shelter for homeless men. They served lunch to the men at the shelter and helped them clean up the kitchen and dining room afterwards.

Dianna and Caitlyn nearly had to be rushed to the emergency room because their hands were melting as they dried the dishes. Just kidding...the plates were...like...slightly warm! And, Jeff wouldn't have taken them to the hospital anyway.

Project #1

As many of you know, the Student Ministry at Westwood is trying to do 51 service/mission projects in 2008. We are calling it Project 51, and we kicked it off by doing 3 projects on New Year's Day.

Project 1 was at the Alabaster YMCA in which Kenneth Shaw led a group of students which included Josh Pike, Justin Thigpen, Courtney West, Sarah Box, Ryan Horton, Whitney Wash, Jared Archer, and Carson Sumpter. They helped renovate a room by painting and sealing the floor. Here's a few pics:

Project #3

Today was a lot of fun and a great way to start out the new year. We went to Mrs. Mooreland's house, whose husband is a hospice patient, to rake her yard. It was a pretty big task and we had our work cut out for us. The five original crew members worked hard all morning. Alan even managed to rake up an entire plant- roots and all- and had to replant it. Meanwhile, I was busy standing in an ant bed. Savannah was really impressed with the big roots on the oak tree. Mr. Jeff tried hard to get his leaf sucker to work right and Karima just laughed at us the whole time. Needless to say we were all really glad to have the other two teams show up to help.

So they came and we all worked together to help accomplish the task. (except sarah) Overall it was a fun day and it was really cool to get to help out Mrs. Mooreland in a very practical way.

I am really excited to see what happens with the rest of Project 51 this year! (oh, p.s. Sarah...you know I'm just kiddin'... luv ya!)

Lacy