Have you experienced the one love? Here's what it is: God is totally perfect; we are not perfect. Yet, God is amazingly generous and has provided Jesus as the perfect Savior.
"We are more wicked than we ever feared yet more loved than we ever hoped" (Mark Driscoll, Doctrine, 172).
Right now, I'm at my brother Jeff's house in NC, and we're both working on our laptops listening to a John Piper sermon he started playing. Piper just said: "The wisdom of God has devised and decreed a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God all the while not compromising the righteousness of God." ONE LOVE!!! God's love constantly amazes me because He is totally Holy and perfect and still merciful!
Everyone, understand this please: One Love Skate Outreach exists to help people meet Jesus Christ and experience God's one love. That's the only reason. Skating, gospel interviews, service projects, events, and anything we do is only a tool to encourage people to have joy in Jesus. The world's definitions of One Love and the world's cheap thrills do not compare to the truth of God's Word and the joy and pleasure of worshiping the LORD (Matthew 13:44-46). OLSO exists to help people know ONE LOVE!
That said, here's what's been going on with One Love Skate Outreach during the past few weeks: Service Project at Keopuolani Park, Broken Foot-ETR, OLSO Interviews in Ohio.
Service Project at Keopuolani Park
Thursday, June 17, I received a phone call from a guy named Jordan who is in charge of the ramps at Keo Park. This phone call was unexpected and was in response to a phone call I had made months before to the city about helping to fix some of the ramps on Maui. Divine Timing-It was the day before Nic and I were leaving for NC, and I was not at Children's Camp in Keanae as originally planned because I had been super sick. God's timing is impeccable. Furthermore, my friend Jon--who also designed the OLSO logo at the top of the page--from South Carolina was on Maui, and he was happy to help out. Plus, Josh Knipple, our OLSO skateboard deck designer, and some girls (Courtney, Bethany, and Michelle) from Pennsylvania were on Maui to serve Doris Todd School and were happy to come take a morning and help serve the county of Maui by working at the skatepark. We all worked hard and had a great morning. We grinded down some of the dangerous cracks in the cement and we painted the deck, stairs, and rails of the vert ramp.
Here are a few pics:
Keo Park
Jordon showing us how to grind some of the cracks and bumps that were forming in the cement
Josh Knipple after first drop-in attempt
Michelle's first attempt of four dropping in
Some of the kids that were skating that morning really enjoyed trying to teach Michelle to drop in. They all gave her instructions and cringed as she fell, but she earned their respect. It was a fun way to end the morning, and there were no serious injuries=)
Check out the group pic:
OLSO Service Project Day at Keopuolani Park-6/17/10
I was excited to see God give us an opportunity to bless the county of Maui, and we pray God will continue to give us favor in the community. In the near future, we hope to team up with Love Project and help put some new Skatelite on the 12 foot vert ramp.
Broken Foot-ETR
Two days after I arrived in NC for vacation with my family, I was wakeboarding on Moss Lake w/my friend Cline. I'm not super into wakeboarding... I like surfing, skating, and snowboarding way better, but I still like going out with my friends when they invite me. It's fun to be able to get big air and do big backflips every once in a while.
Cline about to land a big backflip
My NC friends kill it now and wakeboard 80 feet behind the boat rather than 65 feet like they used to before I moved to Maui two years ago. After a fun wakeskate session, I strapped into my friend Cline's wakeboard and started riding hard. My third attempt to clear the wake succeeded, however, I fell and snapped three metatarsals, fractured my big toe, and messed up some tendons as well. Here's a pic of my foot:
Josh's Right Foot X-Ray-6/21/10
Although being on crutches and unable to put any weight on my right foot gets really old, I've been blessed to really soak up a lot of quality time with my family over the past two weeks. Also, the Dr. told me to move my flight back until July 12 because of the swelling that could occur in the cast, and the airline changed our tickets for free. Pastor Paul, my mentor and boss, was very supportive of us spending more time in NC, and it's such a blessing to get more time with my family as we are planning to go to the Philippine's during Christmas instead of NC. My wife's been incredible through all of this, and she hooks me up with sponge baths... che-YEAH!!! =)
I look at this as God reminding me and Nicole to continue living Philippians 4:4-7 and Enjoy the Ride. This is another opportunity to practice what I just preached at Pukalani Baptist on June 6. Now that my foot is broke, even in a cast, this next two months I'm called to ETR-Enjoy the Ride (Even when the vicodin is gone).
OLSO Interviews in Ohio
Wednesday, June 23, my mom, dad, Nicole, and I rode to Ohio to see my grandma and show Nicole around the place where I grew up. While we were in Ohio, two days after I broke my foot, Nicole and I went to the mall and got to ask some people the five OLSO questions.
After the interviews, we got to share the Gospel with a few of these people, and I'm excited that God can do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Christians, rep the King in your words and actions (2 Corinthians 5:20). Whether you skate or not, use any passions that God has given you to build bridges and share the Gospel with people (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)
God bless you guys. Thanks for taking the time to read the OLSO Blog. I encourage you to follow us on blogger and keep checking out OneLoveSkateOutreach.com. There are a new tracts on the site now that we want you to print out and share. Feel free to contact us and please keep us accountable to make sure that everything One Love Skate Outreach does is: to help people meet Jesus Christ and experience God's one love.
One Love (1 John 4:9),
Josh
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