Blog Post #4

Hello Friends and Family,

Another week has gone by in Australia, so enjoy...

Didn't do much during the week, basically spent the week working out and getting ready for the weekend, having games on both Friday and Saturday...

Highlights from the week consist of: Monday morning- met up with a couple AIA teammates and we did a Bible study, prayed for one another and shared some things that have been going on... Really thankful for the opportunity to share with those guys and know it will be beneficial for all of us to have some accountability and support while being down here, away from family and into a lot of temptation often times...
As a group we are going through the book of 1 Timothy, and putting it in view that Paul is sharing with us the things written in there... Find it really helpful to view it in relational way, that we are Paul's disciples and he loves and cares for us and wants us to share the Gospel and grow into men of God...

Also this week I spent a lot of time working on my classes... the class I am taking right now is Jewish Culture 1, the last few classes have been discussing the early church and it's origins... the greatest difference between the early church and the church today is the role of pastor... the pastor in our day has often times taken what a large number of people have done in the early church and combined them all into a job that is nearly impossible for one man to do... the early church had many people and positions, that were not necessarily their job but did it for the community as a whole... Ephesians 4, contains a list of functions that many people had and now a days we have basically put it into one or two people to run when in that day it was many up to 20 or so...
for me it was eye opening to see that and how much I just go to church and use it, not intentionally but because that's part of our culture... wanting to get away from that and back to making it more of a community effort... God has given us all special abilities for us to serve in our local church and community, some of those abilities are unique and needed for equipping the church and the body of Christ so people will be served, loved, and cared for...

Basketball...
On Friday we played the Rockingham Flames... we started out the game pretty well and got right after them from the get go, leading 33-25 at the end of the first quarter... the second quarter we really took over and lead 60-38 at half time and didn't look back... ended up winning 109-77... I didn't play the 4th quarter and only played half of the 3rd or so... during the 3rd quarter I landed on a defenders foot while landing after a shot and hurt my ankle... so since we had the game in hand coach decided not to play me after that and just rest and get ready for the next nights game... I ended up with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists...

I was a little/lot nervous about my ankle, but it didn't swell up really at all, plus the next day I went to our personal Dr./massage guy and they worked on my ankle, got the little swelling out that was there and loosened it up for the game that night...

On Saturday's game, it was pretty much the same story as the night before, we started the game out well with a 28-21 lead at the end of the first and then added to that lead by halftime, 57-42... and didn't let them have a sniff in the 2nd half... we ended up winning 101-75... my ankle felt great during the game, part of that had to do with it being a game and you just go out and play, plus I taped it and the added support helped... on Friday night, that was the first time I had hurt my ankle in nearly 3 years, I am thankful for that, also am thankful that it wasn't very bad, because today i worked out and it was just like normal...
I ended the game on Saturday with 24 pts, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists...

Stats and articles from the game are on www.sbl.asn.au

Our next game is on Saturday, March 27 at Geraldton Buccs... I guess that is a 5-6 hr drive away so we are leaving on Friday afternoon, getting there the night before and playing Saturday night and leaving after the game... gonna be a long trip but a little excited because it's gonna be a great chance to see some of the Australia countryside...

Speaking on countryside, that's my goal for this week, is to take a drive out of the city and see the land away from the city and maybe just drive up to a farm and see what they have and just talk to a farmer... could be interesting, haha...

I leave you with this, I have been reading thru the book of John and today in John 13:1, Jesus just before He was to be taken as a prisoner, to be beaten to a bloody pulp, and eventually die on the cross for not reason, but because He loves us... on the feast of Passover, said to His disciples I am going to wash your feet... and at the end of 13:1 the Bible states, HE loved them to the end... just found that amazing today, how after all the bad I have done, not just to myself, and to others and most of all to God, that He would love me to the end, fulfilling it all, dieing the death I should have died, by living the life I could not and can not live... going to death as the sacrificial Lamb of God as what He will be celebrating with His disciples after He washes their feet... in that moment Jesus, who is God in the Flesh, shows humility, but the ultimate humility is Him coming as a man to the earth for us dieing for us...
Praise be to God, who loves us to the end...

love you all
Ben