Back 2 Bloggin

That is right bloggers....Jim Landis is back in the game. I realize that my last blog post was almost a year ago, but no worries, I'M BACK! A LOT has happened to me since my last post. I cannot even begin to tell you about it, but I can try to give you a quick run down....
I finished my second year of college and am now half way done with my third. I played baseball last year and am still debating on if I want to do it again. I love the sport and everything, but it gets pretty tough taking 20 hours at school and playing 40 games across the mid-west....We'll see.

I suppose I'll spend the rest of this blog telling you about last summer, because to be honest, it blew my mind! I was on a camp team for the school in which I went around to junior high and high school camps promoting the school. My team (SHOUT OUT to Dexter, Tiphani and Erin...I LOVE YOU GUYS!)toured around Oklahoma and Texas for the first four weeks of the summer, then went to Indiana and Illinois for the last 4 weeks. To put it simply: LIFE CHANGING! I cannot even think about listing all the people I met this summer that just encouraged me to meet them and to hear their story. (I'll tell a few so that when I tell them I wrote about them in my blog they may start reading it....suckers!) Jake Raits, Emily Ritchie, Rebecca Peddicord, Beka Hull, Matt Alt, Rachel Posey and MUCH MORE. These people are college age Christians that are determined to do amazing things for the Kingdom. Some from other Christian colleges that are studying to do ministry in the church or the missions field and others doing ministry in their own secular colleges. I cannot tell you how blessed I felt to have the opportunity to meet such people and I couldn't help but think......"man, the great commission is going to be fulfilled before we know it." So for all those who I had the privilege of meeting this summer...thank you and PLEASE keep doing what you are doing.

I would have to say that the highlight of my summer would be meeting close to 1000 students at the church camps. I WISH I could name off each camp and just tell you some names and stories. Some will make you smile...some will make you laugh...and some will make you cry. Over the summer I realized that I love speaking a lot more then I thought. I was able to speak at 4 or 5 camp fires this summer and it truly was an amazing experience. I guess that will come in handy for my career....being a minister and all.

I want to tell you just one story about this freshman named Tez who I met this summer. I'll tell you right now, this dude is straight baller. Tez crossed me on the court more times then I can remember and never hesitated to hit a jumped in my face. Tez lived in the cabin that I was the "dorm daddy" in and that gave us a lot of time for 1 on 1 talking. Tez had questions about Christianity and who Jesus really is. He had questions about life and family. He had questions about girls, and his boys, and situations he runs into everyday. See, Tez isn't the average church camp going kid. He is from inner city Cincinnati.

He told me about struggles
with drugs,
with theft
with fighting
and with gangs.

He told me his family went to church every once in awhile, but he wouldn't really know what it took to be a real Christian. He has been interested in getting baptized so we talked about that a little. And on the fourth night of camp, I was able to baptize Tez in the pond at camp Whitewater in southeast Indiana. That night was all about God--

and the grace
and the love
and the passion

that he continually offers to all his children. Tez was born again that warm summer night in Indiana. He has broken the chains that help him down and I remember talking to him later that night, and behind all his smiles he used words like

freedom
over and over again.

Tez and I parted ways the next day. And to be honest, I haven't heard from him since. Growing up in the inner city, he didn't have a cell phone, or Internet access or a facebook. I have no idea where Tez is now. I don't know if he is a street evangelist somewhere in Cinci, or if maybe he went back to his old lifestyle, running around with the same guys he did before. I don't know if he is still living out his newly found faith, or if he got shot and died on a street corner.
That is the hard thing about camp team ministries, you have to let go and trust that they are in God's hands. And I trust God's hands a lot more then I trust my own. Tez, if you out there somewhere, much love brother, and I'll see you in heaven.

Being a Road Sign

soooo its been about two months since I have written in this beast...and for my 3 dedicated readers I apologize. Second semester is up and running and so is baseball. My classes are awesome. Baseball is going pretty good except I already hurt my arm....but im just a wimp.

Last semester I read this book called Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind by Tremper Longman. It is an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who wants a better idea of how to read the Bible the correct way.

Has I was reading I came to a section in the book where Longman breaks into how to read the Gospels. In this chapter, he breaks down each gospel and how they are presented. He calls Matthew the gospel of the Ox...Mark the Lion....Luke the man...and John the Eagle. When I was reading through this I kept thinking to myself....Which one am I? Will I be a preacher the best represents an Ox? being firm and strong for my faith....or would I be like a Lion? "Yeaaa a Lion would be tough and aggressive."I thought to myself. I decided that I wanted to be a minister that best represents a lion. People would look up to me and want to follow be because of how I was in my faith.

I kept on reading Longman's book until I got a slap in the face.

He wasn't referring to the Gospel writers as he was labeling them as these tough animals. He was referring to how they portrayed JESUS! This completely took me by surprise. I shrunk down in my seat embarrassed even thought I was in my room all by myself. The whole time I was reading, I thought that it was talking about what kind of minister I was going to be...but the whole time it was all pointing straight towards JESUS. How often do I do this? How often do we do this? I couldn't think of a better opportunity for God to humble me then this time. Everything points to Him. In our ministries, everything points to Him. In our lives, everything points to Him.

Last week at Carterville we talked about worship. How our whole lives are about worship. I thought back to the time when I read this book and thought that it was pointing to me, when in reality it was pointing to Jesus. Same goes for worship. Everything in our lives should be considered an act of worship not to ourselves but towards the only one worthy of it. I remember sitting down and praying during the singing and asking God to humble me. I asked that He would make me like a road sign that pointed others in the direction of the true destination. Imagine what would happen in the Church is everything we did pointed to Jesus. What if all we did was minimize ourselves so that others can see the true meaning of our worship and true meaning of our lives? It is not about YOU, it is about HIM.


JIM'S BURN
Facebook is the best and worst invention of all time. I say this because it is quite handy with keeping in touch with people and see what has been going on in others lives. But I also call it the worst because I have wasted so much time on it. I waist time looking at people's recently added pictures or thinking of a catchy status. This burn is specifically going out to "those girls" who make whole albums of themselves making different faces. It isn't cool. It isn't fun. It isn't entertaining. It is just you making new faces every 60 pictures and then tagging yourself in facebook for the whole world to see how "fun" you are. I mean at least get a different background! Take some pictures with your friends...or family....Heck take a picture of the carpet!

F-A-N-A-T-I-C

I like rap music. Yes i said it, a 19 year old white guy from Topeka Kansas likes rap music. However I am not a big fan of just playing old school rap beats from old rap songs with no lyrics(volleyball/basketball games)!!!!

I get like listening to secular rap music, but their message is usually about having sex, drinking, getting high, or killing someone. It gets kinda old, but i still like them for some reason. Sometimes it gets hard to find good Christian rap music, but My good friend Tom Tatterfield pointed me to a good Christian rapper named Trip Lee. I started looking his songs up and it brought me to a group of christian rappers that like to mix their songs together. They are called 116 clique. One of my favorite songs of theirs is called Cash or Christ/Fanatic. It is a good song and the lyrics are amazing.

The song talks a lot about materilism. The lyrics are powerful and full of meaning that needs to be heard. "Intead of Ice, it be nice if we would try to invest in life"......"Got money, got quicks, got ice, still broke homeboy! No Christ!"......."The Dollar bill says in God we trust, its funny cuz money is the only god he trust"...."And when they die, not a dimes (is) gonna go. Now they phyiscally rich, but they spiritual poo(r)"..... "And they probably never heard of 1st corinthains chapta fou(r), cuz he said they can't imagine God's people being poo(r)."

The song goes on to say "I'm a F-A-N-A-T-I-C (fanatic) I rep Christ till I D-I-E (fanatic)" What does that really mean anyway? Fanatic for Christ? I rep Christ till I die? Do we treat God like God, or money like a god? What would happen if God's people truly did live a life that He calls us to live. Money may not be the wordly god in your life. There are plenty of other substitutes to fill in the blank. What are you a Fanatic for? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Money? Success? Sin? Or are you a F-A-N-A-T-I-C for the living God that was willing to die to give you eternal life? Will you rep Christ untill you are 50? Or will you start repping God when you are 30 and have a family and kids? Or are you Willing you rep Christ now and until till you D-I-E?


JIM'S BURN
I play a lot of ping pong during my free time. I'll get cocky on your for a second and tell you that im pretty good. I handle some of the best ping pong players (Charlie Landis, David Heffren, Ryan Hicks, Tyler Green and Monica Lanzone) on a daily basis. But there is this guy....His name is Chase Hill....Now Chase is a good ping pong player, but I don't think he has anything on me or any of the other people that I listed above. BUT for some odd reason that not even God can answer, I CAN NEVER BEAT THIS KID. He constantly makes me look like a 8 year old girl on the ping pong table. He does nothing special. He hits the ball back at me, and I just mess it up. What makes matters worse is that he is one of those trash talkers. I am constinly hearing, "Good try Jim....Maybe next time....or Hey do you think you will get double digits this game"? I know I am better than Chase, I just can't beat him! And I can never beat his ping pong disciple, Jackie Schargenaekgljaetkj either. And yes, I am better than you too Jackie.

The verbal abuse of 95 lb 4th graders

Well when I first started this blog, i thought I would write in it at least once every other week.....maybe even weekly. But it has been a month since my last post, so why not just commit to writing in it at least monthly?

Some things i have been up to:
I got back into playing a little bit of Halo every once awhile with Chuck and Jake...brings back good times, but a little rusty.....I am on the 6th season of Smallville, and I seem to be watching close to 4 episodes a day (yeaaaa Jim = loser).....School has been going pretty good, except the whole school part, but i guess thats normal for any college kid to say. I went to a Chinese restaurant after church last week and it rekindled my love for the Chinese. AND my fantasy football teams kicked butt this past week..YES GO SWEATHOGZ! (name of my teams)

So now that i got that off my chest....

I have been reading the book of Exodus. It is interesting to read and study how God worked 4000+ years ago. How awesome his presence was in Moses and the Israelite nation. God did some amazing things back then, and he continues to work in our lives today.
Moses was a stud, but kind of a wimp when you think about it. After he killed that Egyptian he took off and left the country. You all know the story, how God called to him to save his people. One thing that I guess I never really noticed was how many times Moses really did question his ability to save the whole nation of Israel. I remember learning about how he couldn't talk very well, and how he didn't think he could do it. But while I was reading it just kept coming up and coming up...Moses complaining to God and saying "I CANT DO THIS!!! GET SOMEONE ELSE!" Did I already say how amazing God was/is? God used Moses to save Israel while at the same time showing his power throughout the whole country.

I am a stud, but when i think about it, man I am a wimp. I don't know how many times i have thought about how I couldn't handle being a minister. When i see the "spiritual powerhouses" that surround me in the dorms and class room I can't help but think I am unqualified . I am not that smart, not the best speaker, and everyone knows I don't have the best blog posts. How is a person like me going to win students to Christ?

When I was reading how Moses kept complaining and doubting himself even with God at his side, i couldn't help but see myself in him (and not for the good). I am encouraged to become a youth minister. And if i don't live a life in ministry, I feel like I would be failing to answer the call that God has placed on my heart. I know that I am surrounded by amazing people and professors that daily help shape my live and spirituality. And God is with me just like he was with Moses..
Now if only he can teach me all those tricks with the staff. My prayer would be that we can be pushed aside and let God work through us. God will overpower any doubt that we have because it is his spirit working through us. He did it yesterday. Today. And Gosh darn it he will still be there tomorrow....

JIM'S BURN
I had so many burns lined up two weeks ago that I didn't know what would I would do with all of them...But they all seemed to have left me lately......BUT remember when I said that I was playing Halo a lot lately? It turns out that those annoying 4th graders that talk trash still play.......One of the most frustrating things in the world is when this 95 lbs 4th grader that has yet to hit puberty is calling out your manhood over a video game. Although I bet i could dominate these kids in all aspects in life, he absolutely punishes me in Halo. Its terribly frustrating, but if any of you 4th graders that smash me in halo are reading this..IM COMING AFTER YOU

Cheese Fryer

Random beginning comments:--I accidentally slept through church today.....woops--Kansas Jayhawks football are 2-0 (But i do have concerns w the running game and our alumni players who smoke weed).--My roommate (Brant Smith) always falls asleep with a book in his face--I twist my ankle just about everytime I play basketball--And my brother Sam got 25+ tackles his first game last Friday--My other brother Charlie hogs video games--I started reading the book of Genesis and am going straight though to Revelation so keep me accountable........

Whew, so now that thats over here we go....

Small groups are grand.......I have always loved the idea of small groups in the youth/church setting. I can't think of a better way to grow closer in community and closer to Christ. I had a small group seminar this past weekend with Jim Johnson and that heightened my excitement for small/D-Groups. Although the seminar took out a chunk of my weekend, it was a good time and really got me thinking about it. I loved it. What made the seminar more enjoyable was that Jim (a Canuck) made fun of David every 5 minutes about girls.....or lack there of....He also pointed out that I was the only one in the class that didn't have my books for class...that wasn't has funny.

We have our own D/small groups here at school. I am in one with Dr. Gary Zustiak and 5 other men from Ozark. We meet and talk about whats going on in our lives along with other important topics...like the emerging church.......postmoderism......and favorite college teams. Zus asked us a question and it really took some thought. He asked what scripture verse has impacked our lives the most. Seems simple enough right? Tons and tons of Bible verse flew through my head until I landed on my exagetical passage from Romans 12. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship....." This stuck out to me because of the importance of living your life as a living sacrifice or God. Gary hit me hard when he said " You know whats wrong with a living sacrfice? It always tries to crawl off the altar."

Needless to say, that hit me pretty hard. Jesus was more than willing to be that sacrifice for all of humankind.....and i just struggle on being a living sacrifice for God and to die to myself. I get in the way of what God wants to do through my life and thats going to be a lifelong struggle.....Enough talking about my myself....its time for Jim's burn...

JIM'S BURN
Camp teams sound like a lot of fun. You get a good sum of money straight to your schooling while you go around during the summer to Christian camps promoting Ozark Christian College. A lot of my friends participated in this past summer and i found out that relationships are effected in a major way. When people come back from camp teams are just the ABSOLUTE BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD...hear me out..its not like i dont expect people to become better friends through out the summer...but when they come back to school its like seeing 2nd grade girls meet up for the first time after a long summer on the playground.... cool, you guys are good friends. But you already told me about the time Phil fell off the roof, or the time you camp counselers clogged all the toliets. (although getting sent to a Pentecostal camp is pretty funny). Every story starts with..."This one time on camp teams..." or someone is always claiming that you wouldnt understand because you wernt on camp teams....or you can't hang with us, because you wern't on our camp team..... I love you guys....but sometimes you can really fry my cheese.

FREE SOAP!

Blogging is for nerds.......but here I find myself starting one up. So I guess you can add nerdy to the list discriptions for Jim Landis.--along with studly, handsome, and looks older than Charlie.

I am back at school for my sophomore year at Ozark Christian College and things have been going great. I am enoying my classes(until the homework starts) and love catching up with friends. My favorite class has been Youth Ministry at 8:00 with Kevin Greer--just the way the class is taught is encouraging and makes you want to get out of your chair and start a ministry with today's youth. My other classes have been awesome as well. Pastoral counseling with Peter Buckland--Foundations for Missons with Christ Dewelt-- and Principals of Interpretation with Doug Aldridge.

I also have World Geography with Dad Bear......which is NOT in my list of favorite class for two reasons ----1) It is my 7:00 AM class and 2) I have to sit by Jake Wiemelt.

I love fellowship with my brothers and sisters here at school. Doesn't matter if I am sitting in the dorms talking with my boys or driving to Mountain Grove to listen to my good friend Jeremy Hyde throw down. I love everyone here and hope I can have lifelong relationships with each and everyone of them.

One of the funnest things that has happened so far was that KG(Kevin Greer often confused with Kevin Garnett) asked me to play in a scrimage against the girls soccer team. If anyone knows me at all, they know I don't know a lick about soccer. I can eat more than just about anyone i know(irrelevant ), but I can't play soccer. Turns out I can't run ten yards without putting my hands over my head and asking for a timeout, but regardless it was a blast. Somehow I managed to get on a break away and score a goal--I think the defender broke her leg or something on the play because there was no way I could have gotten on a break away by myself. You know your a bad soccer player when the dead crowd comes to life after you score a goal when your already up 5-0(sorry girls)

This year promises to be busy and exciting. My mornings are jammed full with classes while afternoons are spent doing homework, getting the high score on Ground Defense, or catching up on Smallville. I help out with Carterville youth on Wednesdays and go to Missouri Southern's christian group, Koinonia, on Tuesdays. Thursday nights might be my favorite night because we have floor/dorm devos, which are awesome (shout out to my Willy Boys)! I am also going to try and go home more often on the weekends this year to see family and a good looking girl named Meghann Greene (and no I didn't spell her name wrong).

I hope to stick with this blogging thing and hopefully write something more spiritual/exciting in near the future. Love you all.

JIM'S BURN(For those who don't know this segment is where I kinda get to rant a little bit on things that get on my nerves. NOTICE that it is all fun and games and not meant to offend anyone.)
--Living in the dorms is great. I love it. But there is always those people on the floor that feel like the rest of floor is there personal closet space. This burn notice is going out to those people who leave their underwear in the bathrooms or leave there skinky sweaty clothes outside in the hallway for everyone else to smell. It also used to get on my nerves when people would leave their shampoo and/or liquid soap in the shower stalls until i realize...HEY FREE SOAP! Thanks guys