Delineated

Pictures from Youth Sunday

2008-05-27T15:09:00.001-07:00

As promised, here are the picture from last week's Teen Sunday at my ACM church.

This was the lady that asked if we could take our drama and do it in other churches. I said it was a great idea and she volunteered to help with it.

Youth Sunday and The Wedding

2008-05-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

I don't need to tell you that it's been a while... but I am anyway.

We had National Staff Conference a few weeks ago and it was fantastic but very draining. There were great seminars and it is so awesome to interact with men and women of God who are where I want to be in a few years.

Teen Sunday at ACM

We also had our youth service at my ACM church. In a word, it was tremendous. I am working on getting some pictures and even some video and audio of the service to post, but I'm not sure when all of that will be available (I'm waiting on some from my team to upload them and give me a disc).

We did a drama that my friend Ray Deck wrote called "Set me free." The teens did a fantastic job even though it was the first drama most of them have been involved in. The church loved it. It was the first time that they had ever seen the youth group of their church much less seen them involved in doing something for God.

We had some of the leaders and the students give testimonies about what the club has meant to them and how they've been able to minister and be ministered to. I did an ice-breaker to give them an idea of how club works and I had one of my leaders share some of our concerns and goals. This service was really the first time the church had gotten a sense of what could happen in and through the youth program.

To end the service, I had the fantastic opportunity to preach. I challenged the congregation to ask the question: "Am I being faithful to God?" I asked them to assess whether or not they were giving everything they had to God and using their time, talents, and treasure for Him.

After everything was over, all the feedback was positive. One lady who had not been involved in the club before came up to me and said, "Couldn't we do this drama in other churches? I'd love to see these teens stay together and keep on ministering." I said I thought it was a great idea (something we had talked about but couldn't get off the ground before) and asked if she would help make it happen. She said she'd be more than happy to connect with other churches and do all the leg-work if I would keep things organized and help the students practice and such.

Overall, God was glorified and I believe everyone in the church was blessed in a way that they hadn't been before.

The Wedding

I just dropped Megan off at the airport. She is flying home to finish getting everything ready for our wedding in two weeks (definitely pumped about that). Pray that all will go well and that everything that happens that day (June 7th) would honor God.

After the wedding, I will be moving this site to a new address, so stay tuned. I've already begun working on it and I think it will be a big upgrade.

Head over to MinistryLIVE.org for ministry ideas, articles, and tools.

April and Snow

2008-04-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you can tell by the title that I'm not very happy about the snow that's on the ground here. Oh well. I am VERY happy about the ministry opportunities that God has given me recently.

Check out MinistryLIVE.org a new ministry that I'm involved in. It has resources for all kinds of ministries.

FASCAR Rally

I just got back from an awesome time at Faith Bible Church in Chestertown. I had the chance to speak at their FASCAR event today. The event went very well and there were about 15-20 kids in attendance. Many more parents came (I love seeing kids bringing their parents) and it was an awesome time. While no decisions were made, I am confident that God used His Word to touch hearts, plant seeds, and encourage.

It's really a stretch speaking to kids and I'm glad that God is using this time of training in my life to allow me to practice and learn how to do it better.

Youth Service Coming

Megan and I have been ministering every Sunday in a local church (Westport Bible Church) and running their youth group. We have been looking for ways to get the youth (many of them young physically and spiritually) involved in church. We decided to do a Youth Sunday and have the students run most of a morning service.

We'll be doing a drama, a group song, and I will have the opportunity to preach at the end. Please pray that we will be able to learn the drama and the song and that the students will see how exciting serving God really is.

Also, pray that adults in the church will see how much ministry we have to the students and will want to help with the youth program. We are really working hard to get 4 new couples involved in the club this year. Our service is scheduled for May 18th.

How's the Car?

Megan and I are still searching for a car. We have looked at a few but haven't found something in our price-range with less than 100,000 miles on it. While we haven't found a car yet, we are confident that God will provide. Please keep this matter in your prayers as we will need to purchase a car sometime in the next 30-40 days.

I can't say thank you enough for your prayers. God is showing me how weak I really am and how much of a blessing it is to serve Him.

2008-03-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

Up and Coming

2008-03-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Snow Camp season has come to a close and I am getting ready for a new sub-term of classes. The last few weeks have been stretching and rewarding and I am eager for new ministry opportunities.

New?

God has given me the opportunity to disciple a BI student this year. He and I will be meeting once a week. Please pray that I will have wisdom as I meet with Justin and that I will be a good example for him.

Coming?

Megan and I are getting ready to head to my house for a week. While we are looking forward to the "time off", there is a lot to get done on the wedding and we'll probably spend most of our time ironing out the details.

Pray:

As I said, pray for Justin and myself as we continue meeting this week. Also, pray that God would provide a quality car for an awesome price. This is a huge need for use as we look ahead to the coming months.

Snow Camp and Florida

2008-02-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

I'm in the midst of the Snow Camp season right now and it's pretty exciting. My main responsibility is with the Snow Camp Drama. I started out as an assistant director and now I have to fill in for one of the actors who is leaving. God has really been stretching me through this tough transition. We have two more showings (one on each of the next two Saturdays). Here is a picture of all of us involved in directing:

A few weeks ago, I went down to the Florida Bible Institute campus to recruit for IDP (the program I'm currently enrolled in at the BI). I really believe that IDP will play a crucial role in providing the next wave of missionaries for Word of Life.

I'm also deep in ministry at a local church. I lead a group of BI students and church leaders in ministry at their Word of Life club. It's also been very challenging as there have been many challenges, but God has been showing me that I can't build any ministry on my own strength or leadership ability. I must build it on His Word.

Check out Psalm 105. What has the Lord done for you?

New Blog

2008-02-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

I've started a blog for my personal writings not related to my ministry. Feel free to stop over:

Imaginary Critic

Security

2008-01-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

What are we willing to die for?

When we consider a few common answers, families, religion, and material gain, it’s not hard to see that they all provide one real benefit: security.

Material things make us feel stable. We feel ready for tough times and it seems like nothing could overthrow the resources we have amassed. Familial security is a huge motivation in today’s society. Having someone next to you who you will die for and who will die for you takes away loneliness and adds to the team mentality (“With more people on my team, I am more secure.”).

The biggest point is the last one though. Religion is the one thing in the world that was meant to give us security. To know that our lives are placed securely in the hands of an almighty, loving creator is the most comforting feeling a human can know.

It is sad to see someone look to their family for security and sadder still when they turn to money and gain. But who is more pitiable than the man who lives and gives his life for a god who can neither protect nor save him?

2008-01-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

The Strangest Secret

Earl Nightingale

George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Now, it stands to reason that a person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. And we become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear and worry – his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing...he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I’ll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it’s good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision.

We’re comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant.

Now, let’s say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand – one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds – one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

Remember, the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants – one corn, one poison. The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great, unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Prayer Letter

2008-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

And here is my most recent prayer letter which I haven't actually sent out yet, but it will go out soon.

Dear Friend,

It is exciting for me to write, for the first time, with the future so clearly in mind.
You may already know that I spent 10 weeks in Ohio traveling with and learning from the Word of Life Area Missionaries there. Through all of these experiences, I have become convinced that it is in this ministry that God wants me to invest my life. Foreign missionary Jim Elliot used to speak of living one’s life with “reckless abandon” for the cause of Christ. Now that God has provided clear direction for me, I am eager to continue to pursue His will with everything I have.

Your Role

Many of you have already been a part of that pursuit. The investments you have made enabled me to travel to Ohio and gain invaluable ministry experience. While I was there, it became apparent that many were upholding me in prayer as I was far from home and trying to keep my balance while encountering so many new things. Looking back on those weeks, I can say with certainty that they were some of the most impacting of my life.
Thank you for making my internship possible!

Up and Coming…

As I look ahead, there are many more exciting times on the horizon. One of the biggest is a chance to minister at the Word of Life camp in California. I will be able to minister to children, teens, and leaders for two weeks in July. A little closer to today is a trip to Florida to talk to students about coming on staff with Word of Life.

Please continue praying for me throughout this upcoming year. Also, please prayerfully consider investing in my ministry through financial support as God uses these next months to broaden my experience and teach me how to serve Him more effectively.

Updates?

If you would like to receive a monthly email update on my ministry, please send an email request to brandoncollins@wol.org.

If you have already emailed, please do so again as I have experienced some data loss.

You can also visit my blog at: http: //brandonscollins.blogspot.com

Serving the Most High,

Brandon Collins

In case you missed it...

2008-01-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a prayer letter that I sent out last year that talks about what I'll be doing. If you're curious, feel free to check it out realizing that it is a few months old.

Growing up, one of the biggest questions I grappled with had to do with knowing God’s will for my life. How could I ever know what He wanted for me? I began praying that He would make His desires for my life clear to me.

The past two years have been incredible as God answered my prayer. Through missions trips, classes at the Bible Institute, and many other experiences, God has lead me to start the process of becoming a Word of Life Local Church Missionary. As I look back, I am amazed at the way that God has not only changed my perspective on ministry, but also given me a passion to reach the youth of America.

Starting in September, I will be a part of the Intern Discipleship Program (IDP) at Word of Life. It is designed to allow young men to finish their degrees while being discipled and trained in ministry. Classes are taken through Liberty’s Distance Learning Program and each member of IDP will minister in a local church during the two years.

A new aspect of the program is a two-month-long internship. For me, this will start in September and finish toward the end of November. I will stay with different area missionaries for a few weeks at a time and minister with them and their families. This will be a tremendous time not only to learn about the ministry of Word of Life, but also growing in my personal walk with God as I learn from those I am with.

Another opportunity that I will have through IDP is working at the Word of Life camp in northern California. I will play a part in recruiting staff for the two weeks of camp as well as heading out to the west coast myself to help. Growing up, some of the best times were those summers that I spend at West Coast Camp and I am thrilled to be able to minister their again.

Even as God provides all of these opportunities, I realize that I cannot be successful on my own. Only through the prayer and support of others will these ministries be possible. I would ask that you consider what role God might have for you in making these exciting plans a reality.

While the total cost will be about 4,000 dollars, I must raise at least a quarter of that amount by the middle of August in order to begin my internship. Above all, I would ask that you begin praying for me as I am learning and ministering over the next two years. Only by His grace can I accomplish anything for His glory.