Cwillz Spills » Uncategorized

Boots for flip flops: Indiana, here I come.

Chris Williams — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:31:48 +0000

Today at 2:54 MST it became twitter and facebook official (and shortly before that real life official) that I am moving back to Indiana to serve the middle school and college ministries of the Community Church of Columbus, with which I lived and worked until moving out to Montana in April.

Montana has been a very interesting and overall very good experience for me. First of all, this place is gorgeous. I will miss the terrain of Big Sky Country. However, in the midst of living in one the prettiest places in the U.S., I lived with troubled teens from a very wide variety of backgrounds, supervising and counseling them. These young men (indeed that is the goal, and the majority of our students are almost adults) have been a handful. I hope that by the things I have taught them about Christ, forgiveness, being the first to make things right, and that by insisting steadily and gently on truth life is much better for them. I have shown them how to take a few steps, and when I leave Missoula on August 12 or 13th, will leave contact info but hand them over to the Lord to help them stay on “the path of the righteous [which] is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day”(Prov. 4:8).

I know that I am best suited for ministry within a church, and that is what I think about most often. Volunteering at Shec‘s youth ministry has been tons of fun, and it made me miss being in the student ministry game terribly. That combined with CCC having such great students, volunteers, parents, supportive members, and fellow staff members(this is such a quality team!) made the choice to go back pretty easy. I am extremely grateful for Shec and the good people I have met there. They have welcomed the strangest stranger

I will be leaving Missoula early on the 13th of August for the beginning of my seminary studies at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, OR and my cousin’s wedding. From there, I am embarking on a road trip (yes, another cross country drive in a VW!) and visiting friends along the way. I will post a predicted itinerary soon.

Montana, farewell.

Indiana, get ready.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

Tagged: CCC, church, college, Community Church of Columbus, facebook, middle school, moving, road trip, student ministry, twitter, Uncategorized, vanagon, vanagon syncro, vw

Woman Re-Cycles History

Chris Williams — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:04:59 +0000

A few weeks ago I took a bike trip out form the ranch here. Just me and the road bike and western Montana. It was sunny and warm, but still bearable. I decided to ride to the Montana Valley bookstore in Alberton because I had seen a sign for it on the interstate. I am happy to report that this bookstore is a goldmine. I spent $40 dollars in used books!

So before I left I met the owner, Keren Wales. She related her affinity for biking as well and told me about a trip that she was going to take. She told me that she is going to Europe to tour the continent and buy books while retracing some of the steps her father took when he made they same endeavor and also to retrace some of the military history her father was involved in. Sounded pretty cool to me.

She refilled my water bottle graciously and even provided me with a snack bar for my energy on the way back. That is customer service! The energy was much needed because to a nasty headwind and the weight of the $40 of used books.

I checked out the stores website today (www.montanavalleybookstore.com) and found that Keren has already started the trip and I have been missing out on the blog posts. Either way, you can follow the store too at Keren Wales is Re-Cycling History(kerenwales.blogpot.com).

If you are into books and live in or are travelling through Western Montana, be sure to stop in Alberton and check out this family business. Great treasures in the books and people alike!

May the Lord’s Will be Done,

CWillZ

Tagged: Arts, books, bookstores, business, cycling, family, history, Keren Wales, Missoula, Montana, recycling, summer, travel, Uncategorized

Test Run: ScribeFire

Chris Williams — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:04:00 +0000

Testing Mozilla’s ScribeFire.

Quick Thought

Chris Williams — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Haven’t writen much recently due to my senior paper and the return of my beautiful fiance, Carol, from a semester abroad. We are in love.

One quick thought:

Wednesday’s chapel speaker asked us when the last time we had our hearts broken for the world.

For me it was when I wrote “Bed Sheets“.

Leave yours.

Eschatology and Missing Carol

Chris Williams — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:53:00 +0000

It is lent again, which means that my mind should be focused on the life and passion of Jesus.

But, I miss Carol.

Rob Bell in “Sex God” talks about how the cup of the New Covenant that Jesus offers in the Upper Room could possibly be interpreted as having very strong ties to language used in traditional Jewish wedding proposals. I could look it up, but I like this thought.

Jesus and Paul both refer to bride / groom imagery. Jesus even says that there are many mansions (again, Bell says, a marriage reference).

So Jesus offers himself and his Father to the world, and then he has to leave, with a promise to return and meet his bride, the Church.

Carol is my fiance, and she is studying in Costa Rica this semester. We have had several periods during our relationship when we have lived in different places (Kentucky /Indiana, Mexico/Indiana) with varying amounts of communication. This has been the hardest time so far.

Christ must miss the Church, want to see her do well, and cannot wait until the time may come when they may be one.

Miss you, Babe.

Learning to Dance

Chris Williams — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:13:00 +0000

A Selection of Dr. King’s words from “I Have a Dream” August 28, 1963:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

WE ARE not free. Yet. Last week my class stayed at the International Teams guest house in inner-city Lawndale, Chicago. Our host Mark Soderquist and his friend and fellow churchman Derrick joined us for a discussion about their story. I cannot tell it well, but basically these two men of faith in our Lord have learned to trust each other and love each other although they did not when they started their relationship nearly twenty years ago. They have now realized fuller that they are both created in the image of the Holy God, although their skin had different tones of beauty.

Later that week our class had the privilege of invading a sacred gathering of men that have become the Chicago Urban Reconciliation Enterprise (CURE). They showed us about how being dedicated to spending time with people who are different than you can help you to love and understand them. They even showed us how that can help to understand Scripture in new ways, bringing a more full understanding of how the Word is alive.

Surely this group is one that believes that the “banks of justice” and “vaults of opportunity” are not empty.

The Lord is saying “Love one another,” as He always has. Dr. King is right when he says that our freedoms are inextricably bound. ”We cannot walk alone”

Mr. Mandela reminds us that freedom requires steady and unrelenting passion, and Dr. King reminds us that we must do it together. For everyone who is sick of the talk, hates it when they hear a man say “they have gotten what they wanted”, and who has yet to feel like they can trust and be trusted by their character alone….keep going.

”Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” To the Glory of God.

Merry Christmas New Year buy my van

Chris Williams — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:50:00 +0000

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/car/524080585.html

Thank You Señor, May I Have Another?

Chris Williams — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:50:00 +0000

It is time to report the Lord’s goodness from the past year: I am thankful that / for:

Carol became my girlfriend. The Lord blessed us as we prayed for each other while we were in separate countries for the summer. She also said YES and is wearing my ring!

I learned what it meant to be a victim of racial profiling.
The Mexican policeman didn’t arrest me for my attitude when I refused to “pay the ticket then”.
Not all Mexican police are corrupt- in fact most were helpful and spoke blessings to us.

I was fed a steak dinner by a family who didn’t have the means to feed themselves consistently.

My semester was hard because I as broken for the world.
I still am.

My education and its benefits despite my attitude.
I will be done in May.

My family and the continued work the God is doing in it.

The men I live with. They are inspiring.

That discipline produces restoration.

I have people in my life who pray for me.

God understands what I mean even when I do not.

I got a free MacBookPro.

Sevier doing so well on the MCAT and that he took 4 hours out of his year to enjoy life.
I am not pre-med.

Ryan finally got to go to PBA although I didn’t go with him.

The Office had some decent episodes before the strike.

Scott and Allie got an apartment.

Justin and Hannah, and Pete and Krista are having sons soon.
I am not.

I can only hope for next year to be as blessed as this. Gracias por todo mi buen Jesus.

Airports Serving Technicolor Dreams

Chris Williams — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:03:00 +0000

I finally had the chance to dig into Long Walk to Freedom over Fall Break when I forgot all of my academic work in Indiana. I was about a hundred pages in when I arrived in Atlanta, which was just far enough to be against the Crown’s shenanigans. The feeling was similar to what I felt during the first part of Michael Collins.

As I felt animosity towards racist motives of apartheid, I noticed that all of the ground crew in Atlanta was black unlike it was in Indy. As I entered the terminal the large black population caught my attention. The people I was seeing had the same citizenship I did, yet it took me a while to understand what they were saying when I eavesdropped in conversations.

I got in line at Pachabell’s Carrousel, which is I thought looked like my best bet to get some good sweet tea- a precious commodity in Yankeeville. The line was long and the restaurant busier. Then the woman behind me asked if I would share a table with her and I agreed.

She was peculiar to me because she wore a purple dress with matching hat and complementing scarf. She had sizable ring on both hands that went well with her tennis bracelet and pearls. We both had the chicken, although I had dark meat. I’m sure that our flavor preferences had nothing to do with our ethnicities, but it was ironic nonetheless.

We learned that we are both in ministry. She also congratulated me on my recent engagement. I asked her about traveling and the list of places she had been took about a minute to get through. Given the book of choice, I asked her about her about South Africa. The man beside us chimed in. I became a spell-bound spectator and the two seemed to forget I was there.

My new found and never-seen again pastor friend paid for boths meals on the basis that he Lord had blessed her and now she was blessing me. That was fine by me – rings are exactly inexpensive. The person wearing mine is worth it.

That airport terminal provided a perfect setting for what some in this world cannot think of– a pleasant meal between strangers who belong to different ethnicities and SESs. I hope that this kind of freedom only continues to grow.

Empires Fall

Chris Williams — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:25:00 +0000

Two weeks ago a chapel speaker from the UK reminded us of how empires have fallen in history. It seems almost inevitable that the United States will one day either deflate or collapse.

What is it about politics that interests me? C-SPAN is often more thrilling than ESPN. I don’t even know that much, but somehow my attention is grasped by the jockeying for attention hidden in the intensity that is hidden agendas and misnomers.

Is there one upright person in office? What keeps Americans from integrity, truth, and justice? Is it fear, ennui, boredom? Fat, Dumb, Happy, Asleep, Insomniacs? The issues seem to complex for any common people to know enough about the details to care.

Why do I care about politics at all? I am of a Kingdom that will exist even after the Earth is made new. Should not my primary concern be to get the Church ready for those days?

Even so, I can’t decide what to make of Sicko. I don’t care about parties. I just want to do what is right.