JOHN TEN

Long time no blog

2007-11-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since i last gave you a little taste of what's going on. Since my last blog we have had a Toilet Bowl and a Lock-in as well as a game night in our new room with XBOX on the big screen. Also we have finished studying John and i think we got some good things from it. We are moving on to James in a few weeks so start reading now and you can look like a good Christian on Wednesday or Sunday nights. By far the greatest thing that has happened over the past few weeks is the discovery of our dear friend Coach Eric on youtube. Enjoy.

A River Runs Through It

2007-09-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

If you have never seen the movie or read the book by the title above I will give you a brief synopsis. Two brothers and there father living in early 1900’s Western Montana fly-fishing is the one thing that brings the three different men together throughout their lives. That is the gist of the story of course leaving out the major plot and climatic ending. It is one of my favorite books and one of the few movies I own.
Well last week I went to Montana to go fly-fishing with my father and two older brothers. It was not exactly like the movie but we did catch some fish, see some beautiful land, and get to know each other a little better that we did before. If you ever get the chance to go to Montana do pass it up. And the same goes for the opportunity to go fishing with you dad; whether it is in Montana or a sewage drain.

Breakfast Anyone?

2007-08-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

It is my favorite meal of the day and according to Jack in the Box the most important but the stinker is it comes so early in the day. There is nothing like warm fluffy pancakes smothered in Mrs. Buttersworth’s syrup with a side of crispy bacon and buttery cheese grits. Or maybe you like those fresh blueberry muffins with blue berries so big you would think they are oranges! (O.k. that is a bit of an over statement but you get the picture.) But don’t feel left out if you are not the breakfast type, from what I here the place we are going to meet at has some of the best water this side of the Mississippi. (Once again an over statement.) Are you hungry yet?
For those of you who don’t know (or forgot) we are doing breakfast every Tuesday (if you are a female) and Thursday (if you are a male). If you are curious where and at what time just give me a call or drop a comment. Till next time…

Back To School

2007-08-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

For the first time in over twenty years i am not attending class this fall. So to all of you guys who started today please allow me to say, hahahaha. Going to school always sounded so cool to me and i actually enjoyed preschool and kindergarden so much that i am still good friends with my the people i met back then. But first grade was a whole new story. It was my first day of school at my new elementary school and things were going great and time had come for the greatest part of any kid's day, recess. But unfortunately for me this was not going to be any fun. As the doors opened and we ran to the play ground i was flying high and spastically running looking for the best thing to do. I passed the teeter-tooters and headed toward the swings but saw my new friend Luke running toward the monkey bars and so i followed him and then suddenly i was on my back. In all of the excitement i had not seen a pull-up bar that was eye level right in front of me. I slowly got to my feet and stumbled to the teacher who took me to get some ice. I had just given myself my first black eye and had to miss my first recess. Maybe school wasn't going to be so cool after all...
All kidding aside, my prayer is that you guys (and gals, i use the one term for both genders) will have a great school year and that Jesus will use you on your campuses to spread his good news. This could be the beginning of one of the best years of you life, enjoy it.

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

2007-08-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

No, not real football, Fantasy Football. If you don’t know what it is you are in for a treat. It is not a video game and it is not a physical game but it is just a fun way to compete and make pro football worth watching. All are welcomed whether male or female, young or old, church member or church avoider. We will draft teams in a couple of weeks and the season will begin after that. If you are in just drop me a line and I will set you up with all you need to know.

Should it stay or Should it go now

2007-07-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

After two seperate weeks of camp i have returned home with a few different things.
1. I have a greater apprecition for my own bed
2. Thanks to the inflatables i have a sore neck, sholder, and head
3. I have a new desire to beat a certain church in sports next year
4. Finally i have two weeks of facial hair hanging on my chin
So my question to you is should the beard stay or go?

Somewhere in Between

2007-07-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Camp at Covenant College last week was great. We all had a blast and were greatly encouraged in our faith by a guy who talked a great deal about things that come out of our backsides. We had some beautiful vistas the whole time we were there. The picture is of the lookout area just in front of our dorms where we had a couple of morning worship services. I am off to Kulaqua on Monday with the other guys and gals and hope to get some sleep between now and then. Until then...

ROAD TRIP

2007-07-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

As we get ready to take off on a small road trip to Camp I am reminded of the best road trip that I ever took. It was the summer after my junior year of college and my brother and I flew to Sydney, Australia to spend a month with my best friend Shae. While there the 3 of us drove an RV almost halfway across the country and back. We would wake up in the morning and look at the map and look for a place to go that was in between where we were and our main destination, Ayers Rock. The only guidelines we had were that we make it to Ayers Rock and that we get back to Sydney in 10 days. We would stop and watch World Cup games in coffee houses and convenient stores and try to survive on Hungry Jacks (the Australian version of Burger King) and peanut butter (because Australian food stinks). The highlight of the trip was driving through the outback in the middle of the night with the lights off so that Shae could try to chase down a kangaroo. He never caught one but he screamed like a little girl when he stepped on a dead one. I have never laughed so hard in my life! I don’t think we will see any dead kangaroos at camp but I look forward to the trip. See you Thursday.

What is in a name?

2007-06-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

So the question was brought up by one of you as to the origin of the title of this blog and being the guy that i am i will return the question to you. Where did i get the name for this blog? The first person to answer correctly gets a cookie. (Man do i know how to motivate people.)
Also, last week i play golf with a couple of you guys and said i would give you mention in the sermon if you chip one in. Well you didn't so i gave you no mention in the sermon but since you both did make contact with the ball i figured you could at least get an anonymous mention on the internet.
later.

Red like books...

2007-06-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

I have just finished a book by Don Miller called Blue Like Jazz. I had put off reading this one for a while because it was the cool book to read a few years ago and I always try to not read to cool books until they are not cool anymore. It was quite good so I thought I would share one of the more enjoyable quotes from it.
“Andrew would say that dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something, Andrew would say, is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory or recognition. We live for what we believe…I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, fashion is not truth rather Jesus is the most important figure in history and the gospel is the most powerful force in the universe.”
So the question is; what are we living for? Is it fashion? Is it glory or popularity? Or are we living for the most powerful force in the universe?

*(I am sure all of these posts will not be this deep but it is what was on my mind.)

until next time…

2007-05-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

I thought this blog would be a good way for me to introduce myself electronically as well as another way to communicate what is going on for the youth of Good Shepherd. As for who I am, I am Michael Rauls. I grew up just a few hours north of here in Macon, GA. I met my beautiful wife Amy when we were both attending Samford University in Birmingham, AL. The two of us were married in January of 2004 and moved to St. Louis, MO where I have just graduated from seminary. Our sweet little baby girl is Amy Caroline and she joined the team back in March. We are all thrilled to be in Ocala and look forward to expanding the Kingdom with you at Good Shepherd and rubbing elbows with each one of you as we try to figure out what it all means.