Fire...lots of fire...

Fall continues to make itself known here in East Tennessee. The trees are all starting to sport the same colors as the fans in Neyland Stadium. And the weather? Perfect.

Tonight we had our Freshmen Hayride & Bonfire. The Glafenheins, a family at Redeemer, hosted it at their farm about 30 minutes outside Knoxville. Since the event fell through last year, we also had a number of sophomores looking to join in the fun. It was a blast! Unfortunately, the only thing on fire wasn't the firewood. While the first group was out on the hayride, the tractor caught on fire. Like...legitimately on fire. Everybody was fine, but that was the end of the hayrides for the evening. Haha. But the bonfire was definitely still a hit and the freshmen all enjoyed hanging out and getting to know each other better (especially since we have separate Freshmen Guys and Freshmen Girls Bible studies...ha).

The Glafenheins carved some pretty awesome roasting sticks for us for the hot dogs and marshmellows.

Me with a couple of the sophomores that came along and Anne, my co-intern (on the right)

Some of the freshmen guys at the bonfire

Freshmen having a blast!

It's so encouraging to see the freshmen getting to know each other better, and we are blessed to have such a big, awesome group of them! I wish I had taken a headcount tonight, but it was an awesome turnout.

Please continue to pray for me as I meet 1-on-1 with students, mainly freshmen guys. I'm starting to get to know them better. Pray for God's wisdom as I seek to reflect the love of Christ and the power of His gospel in their lives. Pray also that I will know how to practically demonstrate His love to them as well.

I look forward to posting a more informative post soon, but in the busy-ness of the semester, it's been hard to sit down and write! I'm leaving here on Sunday for Fall Intern Training in Atlanta. It'll be a a great few days to spend with my fellow interns from around the country. Good time to relax and regroup, comparing notes, etc. It's a wonderful group of folks, and it's such a joy to spend time in fellowship with them.

Thank you all again for your prayers and support, and I will hopefully be updating again soon!

In Christ,

Stephen

Meet Me in St. Louis...

Fall Break has arrived, and I have just returned from a very fast trip to St. Louis with Jeff to visit Covenant Seminary. We left Knoxville on Wednesday around 7:00pm and arrived at Covenant around 2:30am on Thursday. Later that day (after a quick night's sleep in a very nice guest room on campus), we got to sit in on a couple of classes, take a tour of campus, eat with a student, and meet with an admissions counselor. That evening, we ate dinner with Michael Phillips, the former male RUF intern at Tennessee who I replaced this year. He's in his first year at Covenant, and it was great to chat with him about the seminary and also to pick his brain on the internship and get some advice.

This was my first seminary visit, and I have to say...I loved it. I obviously still have more than a year before I'll be making this decision, but it was exciting to go ahead and start looking at what might lie ahead and the direction God may have for me to go. I also plan to visit RTS (Reformed Theological Seminary) in both Orlando and Charlotte. At the urging of my good friend and roommate, I might also visit Trinity in Chicago. For the time being, though...I really liked Covenant. And St. Louis? Talk about a cool city...

I am so excited to be in Knoxville. I am loving the internship. I have already learned a lot, but I know I have so much more to learn. The first thing I've learned is how unqualified I really am. Obviously, no education will instantly make me "qualified." I think anyone who has any shred of honesty about themselves will agree that none of us are truly qualified for ministry, while some are certainly more gifted than others. However, I am really looking forward to being able to sit under the instruction of wise, godly professors (all of whom are also pastors) to be able to learn more about God's Word and how to better share the gospel and show love to God's people.

The more students I meet with, the more I realize how little I really know and how much I need to rely on God for any "difference" I might make. Again, no education will completely change this...much depends on the Holy Spirit continuing to work on my heart. However, I also trust that much of this work by the Holy Spirit will take place through a seminary education. I ask for your prayers in this regard. I also ask for your prayers as I continue to pray about where God would have me go after the internship.

I remember when Dr. Harry Reeder, pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian in Birmingham, used an illustration in a sermon about a man who was walking through a forest. He saw someone in the distance chopping down trees...or at least trying to. As he walked closer, he realized that the man's axe was extremely dull, and even though he was trying his hardest (to the point of exhaustion), he was barely putting a dent in the tree. The first man finally approached him and asked, "Don't you think you should sharpen your axe?" The woodcutter stopped, exasperated, and said, "Are you kidding? I don't have time to sharpen my axe! Look at all these trees that need to be cut down!"

I'm excited to continue learning through this experience as an RUF intern at Tennessee, but after visiting Covenant, I'm also very excited for the opportunity to "sharpen my axe" after the internship, and, by God's grace, be better equipped to do whatever work He has laid out for my life.

I am enjoying having my parents here in Knoxville this weekend. We'll be driving over to Pigeon Forge tomorrow to go to the Apple Barn! Two words: apple...fritters. yes.

Thank you again for your prayers, and I hope you are having a wonderful fall!

Resting in His promises,

Stephen

Fall and Football...

The windows are open...the air conditioner is off...Fall is here.

And let's go ahead and get this straight...I know that seasons aren't supposed to be capitalized. I have never understood this rule. It seems terribly arbitrary and illogical, and therefore, now that I am no longer a student, I will ignore it.

But yes, it is true. That rain I spoke of in my last post ushered in a week of cool, sunny days that signals the beginning of Fall in East Tennessee.

As I'm continuing to figure out my surrounding, UT's enormous campus (at least compared to Samford) is becoming less and less overwhelming. I've been spending more time on campus lately, even just to work on my intern study program. I found a comfy seat in one of the outdoor amphitheaters on Friday afternoon and got a lot of reading done in the wonderful weather.

Yesterday was especially wonderful, except for that tragic Tennessee loss after they had already "won."

The game itself was fun to watch, though, as I had 6 freshmen guys over to the apartment to cheer on the Vols against LSU. Add some homemade salsa and queso and some Little Debbies and it was a party. We even fired up the grill and put another (small) dent in the leftover burgers from the Freshmen Guys Cookout.

It was good chance to continue getting to know the guys better, and we had a great time. I also enjoyed going to watch the Alabama-Florida game with them back at their dorm. It even made me miss life in the dorms...just a little. Ha.

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue building relationships with the freshmen guys here at Tennessee. At times, it can seem painfully slow, but that's the way it goes, I'm told. ;-) It is wonderful to see the Lord at work in their lives, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get to know them better and, by God's grace, to hopefully reflect His love and His gospel in their lives.

Tennessee's Fall Break is Thursday and Friday, and I will be going with my roommate Jeff to visit Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. Please keep that in your prayers as well. That decision's still a little ways off, but yes, it's already on the horizon! My parents will be coming up for a visit after I get back from St. Louis, and I'm looking forward to showing them some more of Knoxville now that I've found some of the good spots in town.

Well, I'd better go haul the bag of trash from yesterday's football party out to the dumpster...while this task is normally dull, the cool fall air is making it seem much more exciting.

Feel free to keep in touch with me! My email is stephen.moss@ruf.org, and I'd love to hear from you! And if you're ever anywhere near Knoxville...you know the drill.

Resting in His Promises,

Stephen