My TuRn- TeXaS YoUtH

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sheaves For Christ Half-Marathon

Dear Friends and Family,

This is a resend/reminder of my previous email. I will be running tomorrow morning. Thank you so much to those who have already sponsored me! To date your generosity and sacrifice have helped me raise over $4,000 this year. There is still time to donate - up until Sunday, Sept 13th. You can donate online at www.runningformylife.org

Previous E-mail:

Thank you for a moment of your time...I need your help! The 2009 Sheaves For Christ Fundraising Campaign is coming to a close and once again I am running to raise funds for this great ministry. In the past three years I have run two Half-Marathons (13.1mi) and one 10k (6.1mi) to raise funds for SFC, and your generosity has helped me raise over $24,000. This year I am running a Half-Marathon on Monday, September 7, 2009 @ 6:30am. That's Labor Day. I will be running in the Rivershire neighborhood in Conroe, TX. If you are close by feel free to join me on my run. My contact info is below if you want more info.

My goal for this year is $10,000. I am going to need a whole lot of help if I am going to accomplish this. I believe that together we can make it happen!

The SFC theme for 2009 is Put the Mission in Motion, and I am inviting you to do just that. For more information concerning SFC and the ministries and programs it supports please visit the following websites:

http://www.sheavesforchrist.com/

http://texasyouth.net/page.php?pName=currentcampaign

I am running for a great cause! Visit my website for more information. You can keep up with my progress and make a tax-deductible donation online. Thank you so much for your support.

www.runningformylife.org

SFC Half-Marathon

            Date: Monday, September 7, 2009
            Time: 6:30 AM
            Distance: 13.1 miles
            Location: Rivershire Subdivision / Conroe, Texas
            Starting/Finish Line: 339 S. Rivershire Dr., Conroe, TX 77304
            Fundraising Goal: $10,000.00
            Donation Deadline: Sunday - September 13, 2009

Mission Motioning,
Rev. Michael Ensey
Assistant Pastor
Living Way Church
2080 Longmire Road
Conroe, TX 77304
Cell: 936-537-3705
Web: http://www.livingwaychurch.us/
Web: http://www.lcyconline.com/
Web: http://www.runningformylife.org/
E-mail: michaelensey@aol.com

Youth President
Texas District UPCI
4109 South 1st St.
Lufkin, TX 75901
Web: http://www.texasyouth.net/
Email: mensey@texasyouth.net

~ Running is optional. The race is not.

Monday, August 24, 2009

SFC 2009 / Half-Marathon

Dear Friends and Family and Others,

My goal for this year is $10,000. I am going to need a whole lot of help if I am going to accomplish this. I believe that together we can make it happen!

http://www.sheavesforchrist.com/

http://texasyouth.net/page.php?pName=currentcampaign

I am running for a great cause! Visit my website for more information. You can keep up with my progress and make a tax-deductible donation online. Thank you so much for your support.

www.runningformylife.org

SFC Half-Marathon

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Teen Spot Blog

So......here it is!! The full blog of Natasha Dubois, Olivia Navarro, and Margie Walker. These three have been hand picked by their Pastor and Youth Pastor as AMAZING, IRREPLACEABLE young people in their student ministries. Click on the profiles to make them larger! Look for 3 more outstanding students in the May/June edition of the Sentinel magazine under the Teen Message. So check out the new blogs at the texasyouth.net website!!!

Natasha Dubois

Select image to make larger!!!

Margie Walker

Select images to make larger!!

Olivia Navarro

Select image to make larger!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Warning Label

Have you ever noticed the warning at the bottom of your Starbucks cup? I did this morning. It was sitting on top of my car as I shoved my bag and books inside and I couldn’t help but frown at it. The coffee was amazing, but that little warning on the bottom always perturbs me: “Caution: the beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot.” Usually I ignore it, but today I frowned at the reminder of how today’s society is especially litigious and lacking in responsibility.
I’m an avid Starbucks coffee drinker and to me the warning is unnecessary. I even order my drink extra hot on occasion, just to be sure the heat remains to the very last drop. My little sister worked for a coffee house that sold Seattle’s Best so she is a Starbucks critic, which wounds me. In my humble opinion they have every aspect of coffee down to an art – even the temperature! And if I order it extra hot, they know exactly how many degrees to bump it up. And while I frown at the warning label, there is a small part of me that thrills at its language because of its definite positive spin and dual message with the use of the word “enjoy.” It kind of has some attitude toward all those lawsuit happy people, with its confidence in the quality of the coffee and the customer’s experience.
Not all of that went through my head this morning. But I did think about how the same warning is applicable to the Christian walk.
It is the dual message of the warning. If following after Jesus came in a Starbucks cup, an appropriate warning would be: “Caution: the incredible journey you are about to enjoy is going to have its hard and difficult times.” It has that same sort of message – an upbeat assurance combined with a frank awareness of how things are going to be.
Now here, following after Jesus means more than obeying His commands and principles, and attending church on Sunday (although that is important and necessary). In this case, it means dedicating yourself to His plan for your life and beginning that journey towards everything that He wants you to be spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s saying, “Okay, Lord, this is Your perfect will for my life. I’m giving it my all.”
The warning has been applicable to my pursuit of Christ and His perfect will. And I am pretty sure it will be the same for you. Life is hard – it takes a lot out of you with just its small everyday demands. A life dedicated to following Christ requires astronomically more – it takes denying your self and your desire for a life that assures you are having a good time, that things are fun and going your way. It takes you out of your comfort zone, away from a life focused on your wishes. As a matter of fact, it takes getting rid of what you want, and figuring out what God wants in every aspect of…well, everything. But it is so enjoyable.
It is a little terrifying to take that first step, to make that big commitment to following Christ’s will. It is a risk to take your life and dedicate it to the Lord’s work. But in return you receive the sweet guidance of a Savior who once bound Himself within the weakness and limits of humanity so He could give you this opportunity. Jesus graciously offers you a job to do, and He works on you at the same time, allowing you to overcome your own shortcomings. Your pride and self-interest develop into a more meaningful desire to pursue only Christ and His kingdom. The tough times break you, and you feel the broken hands of the Crucified pick you up off the floor and cradle you. Close beside the sinless Savior, and soon your character flaws are unacceptable. It is then you discover Him to be the gentle Teacher, who prods and pushes you to be more like Him. It is the sweetest thing you’ll ever experience.
If you want a Biblical example, take a peek at Jeremiah. Now there is a man that was doing the Lord’s work. He was called to declare the coming destruction of Israel. Of course, nobody wanted to listen. God definitely asked for a lot: there was a pit, prison stays, exile, and rejection from virtually everyone. Jeremiah even served as a visual example for the Israelites by wearing a yoke around his neck. Pull out your Bible and read Lamentations 3. There are phrases like, “I am a man who has seen affliction,” and “I have become a ridicule of all my people” throughout the entire beginning of this chapter.
Then, halfway through, Jeremiah writes, “It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.” This from a man who had actually worn a yoke! And he called it good! In other words, Jeremiah was saying, “Everything I mentioned previously was worth it. It was good.” It was good because Jeremiah discovered that the Lord was his portion, that he had hope in Him. He found the Lord to be merciful, compassionate, and faithful, in a very real and personable way (Lam 3:21-27). In all those hard times, rejected, and doing a tough job for the Lord, Jeremiah discovered more of the Lord. That was enough to make everything good.
The Lord talked about a yoke as well. He promised us an easy yoke (Matt 11:30). Contradictory? I don’t think so, because like Jeremiah, the yoke is easy to bear when your shoulders are strengthened by shoulders that had your best interest in mind when they bore a cross. To borrow the words of Bible scholar Matthew Henry, “The yoke of Christ’s commands is not only easy, but gracious; it is sweet and pleasant; there is nothing to hurt us, on the contrary, it refreshes us. It is a yoke that is lined with love. So powerful are the assistances, so suitable the encouragements, and so strong the consolations, that are to be found in the way of duty, that we may truly say, it is a yoke of pleasantness.”
To put it plainly, Christ’s yoke is pleasant because it brings us into closer contact and communication with Him and there is nothing sweeter. Not even a hot cup of Starbucks coffee.
So what are you facing? Four years in a tough university program, or the gentle calling of the Lord into a church ministry position? Maybe He is pointing out a foreign country for you to missionary. Or perhaps He is asking you to give up a few hours of your week to teach a Sunday School class, or serve in a soup kitchen. Is it Bible College and a life in pastoral ministry? A future as a businessperson who actively proclaims the hope of Christ’s love? You know. It is there in your heart, in His whispers to your soul, or the roadblock in your path.
Do it. Please do it. And I pray that it will be hard, that it will stretch you thin enough that you see the face of Christ and experience His closeness as He carries you through. You will never regret it. I didn’t let the warning on my cup keep me from enjoying my hot coffee this morning. Don’t let the warning on a life dedicated to Jesus stop you either, because every single difficulty is worthwhile. Jump in, go all the way, take a deep drink. It is going to be enjoyable.