Feel the need...

Lately, it seems that God is bringing to my attention two things, prayer and Scripture intake.

In fact, it seems that my soul is yearning for more time in prayer and in God's word than ever before.

I don't know why this is... but if I had to guess, I would say that God is trying to prepare me for something... or maybe I just need to spend more time with Him!

Either way, I am certain about what I need to do.

Will you join me? Will you spend at least 24 minutes every day in God's Word listening for His voice. And then spend at least 10 minutes three times a day in prayer.

This is my minimum. What will you do?

I'm Nate and this is what I think is essential.

I'm trying to understand...

I spent some time this morning reading from the book of Nahum. From this Old Testament minor prophet, I am learning about God's jealous avenging wrath, slowness to anger, great power, vengeance and goodness toward Nineveh, Israel, and the nations.

As I read this book, I see how the author goes back and forth between (1) telling of God's great anger and vengeance toward his enemies and (2) God's goodness and love for those who take refuge in Him.

There is a great truth to be seen here.

God is right in being jealous, angry, and avenging with a people that are full of evil. God extended mercy to Nineveh by allowing them to repent from their evil ways and turn to Him -- as seen in the book of Jonah, which was written some time between 783 B.C. to 772 B.C -- before turning away from him again and going back to their evil ways -- taking the ten northern tribes, Israel, captive in 722 B.C. Yet God was still slow to anger.

But Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire after 702 B.C., continued to do wicked and horrible things. Nahum 1:11 says, "From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD," giving depth to the idea that Nineveh was evil. No only did they act wickedly toward people and nations, they actually thought up new ways to be evil toward the One who had given them mercy and love.

The Lord is just in acting as he did toward Nineveh. In fact, if he did not act in this manner towards them, then he would be unjust. He could not allow such evil to continue, especially after being so patient and showing so much mercy towards them. He would be going against who He is if he allowed it to go on too long.

So, what is my point with all of this...am I talking about the world today?...am I talking about America?... am I talking about the church?...where am I going with this?

God is just. He will not allow injustice to go on for long. And just like in the case of Nineveh, He will pour out his wrath to put a stop to injustice. God will not apologize for ending injustice. In fact, Nahum shows us that he will go to great lengths to make a spectacle of those responsible for injustice. God poured out his wrath on Nineveh through the Babylonians. Nineveh was decimated in 612 B.C. by the armies of the Babylonians and Medes.

God's wrath will come against all injustice at some point. And God is just in bringing his wrath. He is perfect yet allows injustice and wrong doing to go unpunished for a time so that man might repent of evil and live for God.

I'm trying to understand what I need to do to stop injustice. Obviously, God cares about justice. He has taken action against it over and over again, and --each time -- he uses humans to carry out His plan. So, where do I start?

I am Nate and this is what I think is essential.

Summer is almost over...

In the student minstry we have experienced an amazing summer!


Mission Trips...amazing!

Camp...God moved in our students (here is a picture of us at the Bock family farm)!


Lately, God has continued to move and we are looking forward to a busy and hopefully fruitful start to school!


Small Groups...we are jumping into new teacher training and connecting students with new teachers for the upcoming school year!


Off Campus "Home Groups"...I am praying for God to raise up 10 students who would agree to start an off campus Bible study group and boldly tell others about Christ!


Fall Calendar...our publicity piece for all events in the fall of '09! It will be out in a couple weeks!

fALL nighter...our Fall Retreat! It will be unreal!


This is only a small portion of what is happening right now with rbcstudents. We also have a new weekly schedule starting in September! We will have student worship services on Sunday nights and discipleship and serving on Wednesday nights.


Anyway, this is what is on my mind! All of these changes and what God is going to do in us during the fall of 2009! Pray for God sized things!



I'm Nate and this is what I think is essential.

The Summer Rush

The past month has been full of ministry, missions and fun! At the end of May, I had the honor of baptizing Jesus (on my right) and Cristian (on my left), brothers who came to know Christ at our DNOW back in February! They look like they could be my sons...

Then, I started the summer missions rush with Hammer, Nails & More in Park Hills, MO. I took a group of 40 students and sponsors on a 4 day journey of work projects and Vacation Bible School (VBS).

Next, I joined with 18 students and adults to spend a week doing missions in a 1 Mile radius around our church, Ridgecrest Baptist Church. Every evening the students worked with VBS & VBX alongside the rest of Ridgecrest, while working in the community each morning and afternoon. It was a very worthwhile trip!

Another group of 15 went to Camp Barnabas to provide support during Term 3 of the summer camp schedule. These students and adults walked through life with 7-15 year-old campers with special needs. I'm certian that everyone on that trip was dramatically changed by the end of their 8 days.

Since then, I've officiated a wedding in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; played guitar in a wedding in Kansas City, Missouri; and been crazy busy preparing for rbcstudents CAMP Missions as well as trying to get the MCU (Mobile Church Unit, see previous post) ready to go by August 15th (my self imposed deadline).

Summer has been busy so far, but the next two months look even busier! I can't wait to see what God does!

I'm Nate and this is what I think is essential.

My Time with Amarillo

From May 31-June 5, I had the privilege of being the speaker for First Baptist Church of Amarillo's student ministry. We had an incredible week while at Sky Ranch at Cave Springs in Quapaw, OK.

During the week I taught over two different topics. In the four morning sessions, we discussed the beliefs of Christianity compared to four other religions (Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, & Islam). In the evening sessions, we discussed the Omniscience of God (in Christ's Supremacy, in His Blessing, in His Love, in the Future). The students did an outstanding job of asking questions, taking instruction, and following the Lord's direction as they responded to His word.

I was blessed (and amazed) by the students, sponsors and staff from FBC Amarillo. I have been to a lot of camps in my lifetime with many different groups of students, but I've never seen a group of students (rbcstudents excluded) have so much fun together while being so attentive to what God was teaching them!

I learned a lot from watching my friend Bradley lead his team of staff and sponsors through the week. I also learned a lot about leading students! Thanks, Bradley (and FBC Amarillo), for letting me be part of your CAMP!

After such a great week, I started thinking about our upcoming CAMP for rbcstudents! I am so excited about our time coming up (July 16-20) at Hannibal-LaGrange College! We are going to have an amazing time!

I am Nate, and this is what I think is essential.