First Fridays at Epiphany
When I woke up today I knew it was going to be a long day, not because of work but what I will be doing after work. With it being the first Friday of the month there will be First Fridays at Epiphany Fellowship. I also have to do (still haven’t done yet) is edit the quarterly newsletter for our youth at my church, Nazarene Baptist Church. I know you’re thinking if the newsletter comes out 4 times a year why are you waiting till the last minute? Its not me, the contributors of the newsletter wait till the last minute. I know it doesn’t make much sense but oh well. While at work I notice that I got my Apple Care agreement for my MacBook Pro verified with Apple. I waited so long to get it activated but with my battery doing a mini explosion I had no choice. I immediately went to set up an appointment to get a new battery but realized Saturdays are the worse time to go into an Apple store. I thought for a quick second that going after work today would be the best but that means I would miss First Fridays. I clearly didn’t want to do that so I scheduled it for Saturday. I know it will be rough in the King of Prussia Apple store but I had to do it. I said to myself I will get my sleep tomorrow when I come home from Apple and before the Villanova game.
After work I immediately went to the bank, stopped home to freshen up and met up with the fellas at Qdoba on Temple’s campus. It was the first time I’ve eaten there and it wasn’t that bad. The burritos were huge and I had to be schooled on how to eat them. When I sat down I tore off the aluminum foil but was told you needed to keep it on while eating. I had the stripped beef burrito with rice, black beans the Roja salsa (don’t remember the actual name but it was classified as HOT) less cheese and sour cream. I almost got it for free but one of fellas Qdboba card was ONE burrito away from a free one, so close! As me and the fellas were eating (John, Connor and Dan-O) I found out that Connor is a professional football player! Before the AFL cancelled its season he was the kicker for the Philadelphia Soul! That got me excited. Not only was he just a player with the Soul but he played in NFL Europe and was in several training camps with Saints and Steelers. As we walked back to the car to go to Epiphany I asked if he had a Wikipedia page and John was like, yup! I popped out the iPhone and hit up Wikipedia and pulled up Connor's page. I think its safe to say that Connor is the first person I know personally that has their own Wikipedia entry. I told him we need to take a picture and post on Wikipedia. Sorry Connor but that cat is out the bag now! After fine dining at Qdoba we headed over to Epiphany but was early which means we had time to let the food digest. We chilled in the basement of the building (just like we did at Tea Time). While waiting we met a lot of friendly people who introduced themselves and actually got into a nice conversation with a young lady who moved from New York City to Philly. Her daughter was too cute, walking up to everybody and saying hi.We went upstairs to the sanctuary and the speaker of the night was Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Dallas. Before tonight I never heard of him before but he gave us a great sermon about how he used to see the church and how it changed over time. His flow and delivery was different, something I haven’t seen before. John mentioned to me that I should check out his podcasts (I’m subscribed). The night was based on legalism in the church. Honestly I never heard that term before but knew and understood its definition by the end of the night. Legalism is something that we have to make sure that’s not in the church because we can give off the wrong impression of the church. I have seen it in my church where people get wrapped up in doing what we are supposed to do but not doing it for the Lord. They are doing it just because its the right thing to do. I am not well versed in this area and will not attempt to sound like I am but after hearing Matt Chandler my eyes have been opened.
What always keeps me from taking the next step in my faith is stepping out of my comfort zone. I know for a fact I will have to change some areas in my life if I really want to say I am living for the Lord. When I get a room full of people who striving to be closer with the Lord like what happened at Epiphany tonight and hanging out with the fellas, it stimulates me so much. I know it can be done and its only myself to blame on why I am not doing anything about it. The Lord is awesome and all we have to do is live by his word. Its easier said than done but I’m not going to let that stop me. The attached song is by Derek Webb – A New Law. They played this tonight at Epiphany and I was immediately drawn to the lyrics. It has been playing on repeat as I wrote this blog post. Its almost 2 in the morning and I still have to edit the newsletter. Goodnight to my east coast peeps!
