the adventures of B and K

Our blog is not intended to dip into the realm of politics. That said, former President Bill Clinton visited IU today. Kandice and I decided to go with a group of students. We thought about leaving when he was running about 2 hours late but in the end it was worth the wait. After his speech we briskly approached the barricade to shake hands with the former president. He is just a man but it is not every day you get to see the former president, shake his hand, ask him a question (that was Kandice) and watch the secret service in action (that was me). Here are a few pictures.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday.  We are especially thankful this year for our new house that finally feels like home.  We wanted to send a special Christmas Greeting and couldn’t think of a better way then a little digital song and dance.  Click the link below for a Merry Christmas wish from the Redmans.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9608631546

Today we had another encouraging and challenging time at the National Conference.  Bill Tell, the US assistant director spoke about grace as the basis for our moving toward spiritual maturity.  Once passage that Bill shared from was Titus 2:11-12:

11 ”For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…”

Often we confuse grace by suggesting to ourselves and others that grace and truth are in conflict.  That we will either experience grace or truth.  Bill shared from this passage that our spiritual transformation is dependant not on our self discipline but on our understanding and experience of God’s grace.  To believe anything but grace provides past, present, or future salvation from sin will hinder our quest for spiritual maturity.  This and many other things we have heard this week are motivating us in our personal growth and our work on the campus.  We are truly blessed to be here with so many people who are seeking Jesus.

More pictures from the National Conference are on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/navtrav07

We wanted to give an update on the Fall Conference and our Navigators National Conference in St. Louis.

The Journey ‘07 fall conference was a blast! Thank you for your prayers. A number of students expressed to us that they heard from God over the weekend and were challenged in their relationship with God. Throughout the weekend it was exciting to see new students get connected with upperclassmen and students from other campuses. We hope that these relationships will continue on the campus as students sharpen and encourage one another (prov 27:17).

After the fall conference, Kandice and I took a day off then packed and headed to St. Louis for our national staff conference. This conference includes all Navigators Staff from the US and only happens every 4 years. So far it has been incredibly encouraging to talk about life and ministry with others who work on campuses and cities around the country. We are excited to put some new ideas into practice when we get back to Bloomington. Please pray that God would continue to give us meaningful interactions with Senior Staff who have a wealth of ministry experience.

Here are a few pictures from the fall and national conferences:

Its that time of year again. Students from around the region are coming to Seymour IN for the fall conference this weekend. We are excited to see what God has in store for the conference!

Please keep the conference in your prayers this weekend:

- For students to hear from God

- For the weather to be good for sports/games

- For the speaker and workshop leaders to be sensative to the Spirit

- For safety in traveling 1-5 hours from various campuses

- For new students to feel welcomed and cared for by upperclassmen

The fall conference has been a time that God uses in many students lives, including Kandice and I. We hope that it will be a time that challenges everyone to seek Christ wholeheartedly on the campus and for life!

Long time, no post! If anyone is reading this, you have been waiting a long time for a new post! Sorry. Live has a way of keeping me from the blog. If you didn’t already know, we have moved from Purdue to Indiana University, still working with the Navigators. We bought a house in Bloomington and are enjoying the beautiful country. Getting to know new students this fall has been a blast and we are finally feeling like we are learning the landscape and the lingo.

We hope to keep the blog more up-to-date from now on. You can also check out the IU Navs website at www.indiana.edu/~navs

Here are a few pictures from our summer and fall:

Isaiah’s 3rd Birthday
Mali Team
Kandice Mashing Yams
Street Kids in Mali
Glacier National Park - sweet views!
GNP - Summit of Mt Pinchot
The New house
IU Student Leaders

Incase you didn’t know, Third Day released a Christmas album this year called Christas Offerings. We bought it yesterday on iTunes and have been enjoying it all day!

Track list:

• O Come All Ye Faithful
• Do You Hear What I Hear?
• Born In Bethlehem
• O Holy Night
• Angels We Have Heard On High
• Silent Night
• Jesus Light Of The World
• Joy To The World
• What Child Is This?
• The First Noel
• Christmas Like A Child
• Away In A Manger
• Merry Christmas

All with a classic Third Day sound.

B&K

“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Isaiah 26:19 (ESV)

“…But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:13-14 (ESV)

Each night we go to sleep, submitting ourselves to the will of God, not knowing how, when, or how we will ever awake. The last two mornings God has fascinated me with this repeating symbol of his waking my soul to the light of Christ. Every morning he calls to us with new mercies saying “child arise” (Luke 8:54) and we wake from our slumber, reminded that he HAS awaken us from the sleep of sin and death, and has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:5 ESV). What a refreshing two mornings they have been, stumbling into the light, hungry to discover what adventure he has designed for today.

In the song “Come Awake” David Crowder puts it like this: (and now I listen to it as I listen to The Word in the morning)

“Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life”

Now I am going to sleep, eager to awake tomorrow, reminded that I have life in his name. (John 20:31)

Kandice and I have braved up and decided to give this blogging thing a try. We will be posting updates, ideas, prayer requests, and thoughts on this blog to help you, family-friends-and the world stay in touch, communicate, and share life with us. Please feel free to post comments.

See you on the Blog.

Bryan and Kandice (and ofcoarse, isaiah)