i think part of the problem is maybe we just need a leader. someone that will keep us accountable. someone to make the initiative so we can follow. my original thought was that we can all be leaders, all be equal and just lead each other. but i realized that was what we did in BASIC and though we had our ups, this year was kind of wasted because we didnt have a strong leader to, i guess, guide us and keep us on track. i know sometimes no one wants to step up because it feels that you are being too "in charge" and powerful. like you dont want feel that you are good enough to "lead" us. i know i definitely felt like that before. but being that leader actually be doing everyone a favor. every group needs a leader. and if somebody ever feels like they are capable, forget about the feeling of "over powering" and just step up. and we, being the non leaders, shouldnt feel shy or worried about correcting or commenting on what we like or dont like about what they are doing. we should speak up if we feel something is wrong and none of it should be held personal. because even leaders make mistakes and they can drive things the wrong way and its up to us to support him/her and let them know. its mutual contribution in order for it to work efficiently.

yeah..

I agree with Tim-- what are we doing now?

I had a dream last night that nobody showed up to the next planning meeting, so I just baked cookies instead...

(Correct me if I'm wrong but) I think I heard that no date was set for the next meeting? But is that the only reason why we haven't done anything for almost a month now? Because it seems like it would be really easy to just choose a date and a place. andddddd, in that case, is it too late to do anything? :( It's probably too late to plan an all-school rally during the school year. But are there things we can do? I'd hate to think that this whole thing just sort of dies just because we forgot to say when the next planning meeting would be. Maybe we can keep updating each other and sharing prayer requests through email? Or through BLOG?

just throwing some thoughts out there.

Sooo.... (& game day)

yeaaah, just like the title says xD... I personally got there late, but when I arrived everybody seemed pretty engaged in whatever they were doing--board games, video games, sitting and chatting...twas pretty awesome. The number of people attending was pretty small, but it was still really cool. Lots of people came who didn't go to the Pot-Luck (the tradeoff was that a lot of Pot-Luck people were missing >< !).

So peoples, where are going from here? Are we going to plan for something for the summer? What's our next step? Let's chat about it ;].

To God be all glory!

~ Tim

Re: "Success"

man...it was such a long reply i decided to make it a post.. x]..

tHANNK you for this reminder Ally (from previous post), that we should not find our "success" in the number of people who showed up.

actually, i would have to say that, if we ever wanted to call it a "success", it had already started WAAY before the potluck. when the leaders of the christian clubs got together for the sake of trying to fellowship and come together under our awesome God-- i mean, that in itself is pretty amazing and is evidence to the unity that He brings!

i believe the point is not so much if it was a success or not. like you said Ally, "success" in Gods definition is definitely NOT the same as our own. we like to think quantitatively, so the more people = the more successful. i think i would have also been more discouraged. but that verse i think, "where two or more gather, i am with them also" (i forget the verse) is a good reminder that it's really not about the numbers, but about the heart.

but it was SUCH a blessing that so many people could be involved in this. i AM joyful about the numbers and so happy that God did His thing. hopefully the desire to see God work would alone continue to drive us to keep finding ways the christians of SF could unite together.

you guys can comment on either post xD..take care!

Success

I totally agree with everything Jonathan said in the post down there. I think the potluck was really great. I think it was a success. I think God is starting something big. But there's something I can't really figure out.

Would the event have been just as successful if less people showed up?

What if we did the event the exact same way-- just as much (or as little?) planning, just the same advertising and praying, and everything else. If everything else went the exact same way but less people-- 40, or 20, or even 10? if only a couple people came, would we have felt really good about how everything went? Would we be motivated to keep doing things like this?

I look at people like Moses or John the Baptist-- people that never saw the fruit of their ministries, that put everything on the line for something they hoped for but couldn't be realllly sure of, you know? They continuted to be faithful and take risks, and never lived to see the promised land, or never saw Jesus crucified and resurrected.

So I'm trying to figure out how that worked, like how they could keep going without God providing some amazing potluck with a bunch of people and food and everything running smoothly. Cuz if this potluck didn't go as planned, if, say, 10 people showed up, I think I would get discouraged. I was already getting discouraged when people told me before the potluck that no one would come. I think my goals and the things I wanted to see God do would get pushed aside, and I would just begin to settle with whatever. 

Now I'm starting to think that Moses and John had a really different idea of what success is. Maybe for them, success wasn't in a good turn out or in everyone telling them what a great job they did. Instead, God was in charge of making things successful, and all they had to do was simply be obedient.

Since we had a big turnout for the potluck, we kind of got off easy. Like it's easy to go from here and wanna be faithful and ask God for more things. But it would've been a lot harder if nobody came. Or if only 10 people came. It would be hard to imagine success the way Moses and John did, and it would be hard to still want to be obedient when the fruit isn't right there for us. 2 Corinthians 4 comes to mind: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I'm still trying to figure out what to make of the potluck, and what made it so great, and if it still would have been great if anything was different. So PLEASE comment! Success? Failure? Could it ever be a failure? Anyone can comment--you don't even need an account. But I really would love to hear what you think.

GREAT NIGHT!

tonight was such a GREAT turn out!!! thats a under statement. thank you EVERYONE for coming and helping out and just supporting us. such a great success! tonight definitely showed this ONE BODY unification we were aiming for. it feels great to know there are fellow Brothers and Sisters out there all supporting us and one another. super excited for the coming events!! thanks guys!

Louie Giglio

you guys should ALL watch this. 5 parts.

notes from the mtg

k i didn't take notes. but here is what i remember, so we can get on the same page.
btw yay @ tim and tucson for updating!

POTLUCK on FEBRUARY 28th (not 21st); 5-9
- still at sunset, but need a chaperone!!!
- plan for around 40-50 people, as opposed to 70.
- lowell and wash: ask around, see if one person from your school is willing to share their testimony at the rally. email us when you get one person confirmed.
- leaders, show up 3:30-4 for set up!
- remind people from your school to figure out their rides home beforehand!
- daniela is in charge of name tags (should have raffle # and colors to split up groups)
- schedule: intro by MC, dinner/raffle, games, worship, testimonies, worship, end

PLANNING on MARCH 28th
- we need to meet somewhere. email when you know that we can use your house!
- we'll plan for the rally and work on getting a speaker.

GAME DAY on APRIL 18th
- looking into getting ernest's (sfcbc) building in the richmond
- swat + games + hang out and fellowship

God Of This City

Hey Guys and Gals!

So I was listening to God Of This City by Chris Tomlin (from his new album Hello Love) and it is an amazing song. The first verse and the chorus really got me thinking:

V1: You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

C: For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

Regardless of what happens in San Francisco, God is the God of our city, the King of these People and the LORD of this nation. He is still our Great I Am, our Heavenly Father, and best of all, our loving Friend! He has put many great things in this city for us and he has greater things in store for us beyond what we can imagine.

I think this Inter-School group is one of the many great things to be done in this City and I have faith that together, we can be a part of the greater things yet to come. San Francisco is a sinful city and we are called to work for God to spread his love and his life saving message. Romans 5:20 says "God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant." and I think that is just where we are today.

God's increasingly abundant grace will work through us to make great changes and I hope everyone will think about what they can do and what they are needed to do in their local community, whether it be the school community, residential community, or church community, take the time to pray and listen to what part God wants you to play in the greater things yet to be done. My study bible has a very interesting comment on this passage from Romans: "... You know that if you stumble, you will not fall to the ground. Instead, you will be caught and held in Christ's loving arms." When we realize what God wants us to do, we may feel that it is an impossible task but rest assured that if we stumble, we will be caught and held by Christ and put back onto our feet.

May God bless you, work with you, and catch you!
His humble servant,
Tucson

another Balboa update

hi siblings from other schools!!

blogging for the sake of keeping ya'll informed about what's going on at Balboa's christian club. so, what's been up? something i felt was pretty nice and organized was one of our meetings two weeks ago. two of the members led an exercise where we drew a picture about what we felt it means to be a Christian at Balboa, or in the world. we then grouped up and shared our illustrations and our thoughts. my group had a really interesting discussion about how we can live out our faith in the midst of a school where the majority does not believe. yeah, i thought it was nice

i spoke to two members passing by in the middle of the hallway during lunch time, and we all agreed that we want the club to get stronger, for relationships to build, and God to be glorified in what we do. it's good to know that what goes on in my head is a shared sentiment by other club members :].

thank you so much all for your prayers for this Balboa Christian club! we humbly ask for you to continue praying for us, especially in the areas of direction and organization of the club. let us know how your club is doing! take care!

Announcing... The POTLUCK!

@ Sunset Church (43rd&Lawton)
Saturday, February 21st, 2009
5-9 PM
Bring food!

• Lincoln: Appetizers/Snacks for 70 people
  
• Balboa: Fruits/Veggies for 70 people
• Wallenberg: Drinks/Utensils/Plates/Cups/Napkins for 70 people
• Washington: Main Entrees for 40 people
• Lowell: Main Entrees for 40 people
• Galileo: Dessert for 70 people

tell people at your school!

UPDATE!

POTLUCK on Saturday, February 21st; 5pm-9pm
place tba (most likely sunset church on 43rd & Lawton)

MC- Lorriane
Game Masters- Jonathan/Matt Dong? (you weren't here, but do you want to do this?)
Music Worship- Tim/Ally
Agenda:

• Welcome
• Dinner/Raffle
• Newspaper Fashion Show
• Mr Chan Game/Song Game
• Music Worship
• Wrap up

It's a potluck, which means that everybody must bring food. Leaders-- make sure that, as a school, you have your area of food covered for the amount of people specified below:

• Lincoln: Appetizers/Snacks for 70 people
  
• Balboa: Fruits/Veggies for 70 people
• Wallenberg: Drinks/Utensils/Plates/Cups/Napkins for 70 people
• Washington: Main Entrees for 40 people
• Lowell: Main Entrees for 40 people
• Galileo: Dessert for 70 people

Just to finalize everything, we'll meet again on February 7th; 2pm. place tba

The scavenger hunt has been moved down to April 18th (game-a-thon cancelled.) Instead, we'll have some sort of lunch together on March 21st.

i love blogs.

this is a really good description of the things that have been going through my head when i think about agape this semester.

http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/2008/09/missional-reformation-messing-with-dna.html

p.s. don't forget-- meeting on the 10th! 3pm! my house!