DAA # 7

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APeXMinistries.com

Number 7
August 2nd, 2000

Greetings once again from the world headquarters of the international conglomeration known as APeX Ministries. We pray that you are enjoying the carefree summer afternoons of youth. (If you are not then you should be.) Here at the international conglomeration we have had a very busy July and are still recovering. We have spent time with family, friends, and still found time to travel a little.

You will notice the publication date on this issue is August 2nd and today is not the second. Gene's modem dies and has just been replaced. Sorry this is late.

Make sure you check out the web page. We have done an overhaul. Our hope is that it is now much more user friendly and that it loads quicker into your web browser. (Let us know what you think.) More changes are coming in September (including many more pictures). Make sure you check out below to see the things that have been added to the page.

We were overwhelmed with the thoughtful ness of the responses we have received from the questions question we asked last time ("Who is your role model?") Make sure you check out the answers we received.

The next APeX Attacks is coming out in early-September. If you would like to submit art work please send it soon.

Your brothers in Christ
Gene and Brad

PS: Don't forget to forward this on to your friends who would appreciate it.

A Question For You
Just a Thought
Prayer time with Brad
Up coming shows
Web Page Updates

A Question For You

Check this webpage to see the answers from last time.

Do you want free stuff? (Of course you do!) Well here is your chance to get some APeX Points (see new free points scoring system). Extra points are given for creativity. We know this question was asked in the last issue, but we are still looking for more creative answers.
If you could interview any one person living or dead who would it be and what three questions would you ask him or her?

Send all responses to Question@APeXMinistries.com Please include your name and home town.

While brooding at a coffee shop I had just a thought
by Gene David Monterastelli III

There are have been a number (read uncountable) of times in my life in which I feel have I have been spoken to by God. Now, it has never been trumpeting angels or burning bushes, but God has spoken to me none the less. It has come in songs on the radio, in words others have said, and sometimes in a voice that I can only hear with the deepest part of my soul. These messages from God have been answers I needed to hear, questions I needed to ask, and directions I should consider going. Many times when I am struggling with direction in my life I try and find these messages, other times they just sneak up on me. I will be quite content in my life and out of nowhere something will pop up.
Being involved in challenges is one of my favorite things in the world. For exercise I rock climb, which is nothing more than trying to solve how to get up a wall using the resources of strength, endurance and knowledge. When we travel many times I travel with a MESA puzzle book, which is nothing more than really hard story problems (yes I do story problems for fun). One of the greatest joys of working with APeX for me has been trying to find a way to make it all work. How do we take this idea of a vaudevillian ministry and make it happen? How do we create a ministry that works and still feed ourselves? I love to create. In four years, by the grace of God, it has been created in to something beyond my wildest dreams, but many of the challenges of creating it are now gone because it is mostly created. There are still a number of things we could do better, but we are now tweaking the ministry to make it more efficient and effective (what ever that means in ministry), we are not creating. So for the last six-months or so I have felt very unsettled. I am trying to figure out what is going to be the next thing I am going to create. It is not as if I am at a loss for ideas. I could write a book, write a comic book, try and start a radio show, help start another ministry, do more training with adults. I am just not real sure where to go next. (Yes, please pity me. I have all of these wonderfully fun things I could do and I just can't pick. It is such a hard life.) In all of this I have been looking for guidance. Now, I have found in my own life that when God is speaking to me, it starts out very subtle, and if I don't get the hint then the messages get more and more obvious. After the last few weeks it is obvious that I have not been paying attention. The signals are getting very blatant (and what is worse is that I am still not getting the message). A little more than a week ago, after a prayer service, I had a friend walk up to me and say, "I am not sure what you were thinking about while praying, but in my prayer I heard that I need to tell you something. It might be vague. It might be cryptic, but this is what I am supposed to say. "You are marked for a very special ministry." Then, this week, I went to the movies. After buying a ticket I went to a newsstand to buy a candy bar before going in. As I was approaching the newsstand a professionally dressed woman came up to me and started saying very forcefully, "You need to be more radical. Jesus was a radical and he can use radicals." Now my first thought in my arrogance was, "Lady if you only knew." But then I thought, "maybe she is trying to tell me something." So for the next 10 minutes I followed her around the mall at a distance. She was not yelling at anyone else.
So at this point I was starting to think God is really trying to tell me something and I am just not getting it. So is started listening to everything. Every song on the radio. Every word people say to me. Every person I pass while walking. Just listening for some message. As I was walking home from a coffee shop a man approached me. He was obviously drunk. Now I have encountered many people on the streets of DC before. I used to run a homeless ministry and have lived in neighborhoods with high homeless populations (which in my mind is a population of one, but that is another story). Sometimes I stop and talk, sometimes I just hand them some change they are asking for and move one. There are some times where I just say "sorry" and move on. As I approached this man he stuck out his hand to shake hands. My first thought was, "Maybe this guy is an angle. Maybe he has a message for me." So I stopped and shook his hand. I just listened openly, as openly as I have ever listened in my life. His name was Lee. He asked for some help. I gave him two bucks. We talked about my blue hair. He said he was off to buy a beer. He gave me a hug and that was it. No earth shattering message for my life. I did not walk away depressed, but instead my first thought was, "I just approached this man as if he was an angle. I gave him my undivided attention because I thought he was a messenger from God." When we are traveling and on stage, I always say that we are all loved children of God and that we are the Body of Christ. For one of the first times in my life I truly understood what that meant. Lee was an angle. He was a messenger from God, in the same way every one of us is as well. I can't even imagine what life would be like if I approached everyone as the messenger of God they are

It is time to pray
By Brad Farmer

Alleluia! Praise the Lord! It's time again for prayer!
Isn't it amazing that we have a direct line to the Creator of the universe? When I stop and think about the fact that I can communicate with (and even more have a very real relationship with) my creator and my savior, it absolutely blows me away! But then again, what could be more natural? We were created for that very experience! It is written in our very nature to desire Him, to seek Him, and to come to know Him. Why do you suppose God invites us into communion with Him? It's for the very reason that Jesus and the apostles instructed their followers to pray. Does God have anything to benefit from our prayers? Does He gain more power or anything that He really needs from it? Of course not! He has everything and is everything already. It's for the good and health and peace of our own souls. He gave us that invitation to be in communion with Him because He knows it is the very thing we need and the thing we were created for. So take a moment to be natural and healthy. I invite you to take some time RIGHT NOW to stop and talk (or listen) to God. Just be with Him for a moment and quiet your soul. Let Him work on you for a time, stop trying to prevent Him from taking control. How refreshing and life-giving!

Up coming shows

Please pray for us and for those we are blessed to serve on these dates

August 3rd - 5th Good Shepherd Parish Tallahassee, FL
August 25th - 27th Diocese of Fairbanks Jubilee Fairbanks, AK
September 24th Lights of the World Buffalo, NY

For a complete list of APeX's Schedule please visit:
http://apexministries.com/FutureShows.html
For booking information you can contact APeX at 888/522-2739

Web Page updates

The web page has been made more user friendly (we think). Let us know what you think of the new design.

APeX Attacks #6 (Spring/Summer 2000) is now on line. If you did not receive it in the mail you should check it out. You will laugh. You will cry. If not we will give you your money back. The issue contains articles by Gene's sister and Brad's wife Joia. All the articles can be found at:
http://apexministries.com/APeXAttacks.html

Important note: If you received this e-mail as a forward from someone else and would like to receive Digital APeX Attacks every time it is published, or if for some reason you have received this e-mail in error from APeX please follow this link to add or remove (though we couldn't imagine why you'd want to remove) yourself from the mailing list:

http://apexministries.com/MailingList.html

© 2000 APeX Youth Ministries, Inc.

--"Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."

St. Francis of Assisi

http://APeXMinistries.com

APeXMinistries.com	Number 7 August 2nd, 2000
Greetings once again from the world headquarters of the international conglomeration known as APeX Ministries. We pray that you are enjoying the carefree summer afternoons of youth. (If you are not then you should be.) Here at the international conglomeration we have had a very busy July and are still recovering. We have spent time with family, friends, and still found time to travel a little. You will notice the publication date on this issue is August 2nd and today is not the second. Gene's modem dies and has just been replaced. Sorry this is late. Make sure you check out the web page. We have done an overhaul. Our hope is that it is now much more user friendly and that it loads quicker into your web browser. (Let us know what you think.) More changes are coming in September (including many more pictures). Make sure you check out below to see the things that have been added to the page. We were overwhelmed with the thoughtful ness of the responses we have received from the questions question we asked last time ("Who is your role model?") Make sure you check out the answers we received. The next APeX Attacks is coming out in early-September. If you would like to submit art work please send it soon. Your brothers in Christ Gene and Brad PS: Don't forget to forward this on to your friends who would appreciate it.
A Question For You Just a Thought Prayer time with Brad Up coming shows Web Page Updates
A Question For You Check this webpage to see the answers from last time. Do you want free stuff? (Of course you do!) Well here is your chance to get some APeX Points (see new free points scoring system). Extra points are given for creativity. We know this question was asked in the last issue, but we are still looking for more creative answers. If you could interview any one person living or dead who would it be and what three questions would you ask him or her? Send all responses to Question@APeXMinistries.com Please include your name and home town.
While brooding at a coffee shop I had just a thought by Gene David Monterastelli III There are have been a number (read uncountable) of times in my life in which I feel have I have been spoken to by God. Now, it has never been trumpeting angels or burning bushes, but God has spoken to me none the less. It has come in songs on the radio, in words others have said, and sometimes in a voice that I can only hear with the deepest part of my soul. These messages from God have been answers I needed to hear, questions I needed to ask, and directions I should consider going. Many times when I am struggling with direction in my life I try and find these messages, other times they just sneak up on me. I will be quite content in my life and out of nowhere something will pop up. Being involved in challenges is one of my favorite things in the world. For exercise I rock climb, which is nothing more than trying to solve how to get up a wall using the resources of strength, endurance and knowledge. When we travel many times I travel with a MESA puzzle book, which is nothing more than really hard story problems (yes I do story problems for fun). One of the greatest joys of working with APeX for me has been trying to find a way to make it all work. How do we take this idea of a vaudevillian ministry and make it happen? How do we create a ministry that works and still feed ourselves? I love to create. In four years, by the grace of God, it has been created in to something beyond my wildest dreams, but many of the challenges of creating it are now gone because it is mostly created. There are still a number of things we could do better, but we are now tweaking the ministry to make it more efficient and effective (what ever that means in ministry), we are not creating. So for the last six-months or so I have felt very unsettled. I am trying to figure out what is going to be the next thing I am going to create. It is not as if I am at a loss for ideas. I could write a book, write a comic book, try and start a radio show, help start another ministry, do more training with adults. I am just not real sure where to go next. (Yes, please pity me. I have all of these wonderfully fun things I could do and I just can't pick. It is such a hard life.) In all of this I have been looking for guidance. Now, I have found in my own life that when God is speaking to me, it starts out very subtle, and if I don't get the hint then the messages get more and more obvious. After the last few weeks it is obvious that I have not been paying attention. The signals are getting very blatant (and what is worse is that I am still not getting the message). A little more than a week ago, after a prayer service, I had a friend walk up to me and say, "I am not sure what you were thinking about while praying, but in my prayer I heard that I need to tell you something. It might be vague. It might be cryptic, but this is what I am supposed to say. "You are marked for a very special ministry." Then, this week, I went to the movies. After buying a ticket I went to a newsstand to buy a candy bar before going in. As I was approaching the newsstand a professionally dressed woman came up to me and started saying very forcefully, "You need to be more radical. Jesus was a radical and he can use radicals." Now my first thought in my arrogance was, "Lady if you only knew." But then I thought, "maybe she is trying to tell me something." So for the next 10 minutes I followed her around the mall at a distance. She was not yelling at anyone else. So at this point I was starting to think God is really trying to tell me something and I am just not getting it. So is started listening to everything. Every song on the radio. Every word people say to me. Every person I pass while walking. Just listening for some message. As I was walking home from a coffee shop a man approached me. He was obviously drunk. Now I have encountered many people on the streets of DC before. I used to run a homeless ministry and have lived in neighborhoods with high homeless populations (which in my mind is a population of one, but that is another story). Sometimes I stop and talk, sometimes I just hand them some change they are asking for and move one. There are some times where I just say "sorry" and move on. As I approached this man he stuck out his hand to shake hands. My first thought was, "Maybe this guy is an angle. Maybe he has a message for me." So I stopped and shook his hand. I just listened openly, as openly as I have ever listened in my life. His name was Lee. He asked for some help. I gave him two bucks. We talked about my blue hair. He said he was off to buy a beer. He gave me a hug and that was it. No earth shattering message for my life. I did not walk away depressed, but instead my first thought was, "I just approached this man as if he was an angle. I gave him my undivided attention because I thought he was a messenger from God." When we are traveling and on stage, I always say that we are all loved children of God and that we are the Body of Christ. For one of the first times in my life I truly understood what that meant. Lee was an angle. He was a messenger from God, in the same way every one of us is as well. I can't even imagine what life would be like if I approached everyone as the messenger of God they are
It is time to pray By Brad Farmer Alleluia! Praise the Lord! It's time again for prayer! Isn't it amazing that we have a direct line to the Creator of the universe? When I stop and think about the fact that I can communicate with (and even more have a very real relationship with) my creator and my savior, it absolutely blows me away! But then again, what could be more natural? We were created for that very experience! It is written in our very nature to desire Him, to seek Him, and to come to know Him. Why do you suppose God invites us into communion with Him? It's for the very reason that Jesus and the apostles instructed their followers to pray. Does God have anything to benefit from our prayers? Does He gain more power or anything that He really needs from it? Of course not! He has everything and is everything already. It's for the good and health and peace of our own souls. He gave us that invitation to be in communion with Him because He knows it is the very thing we need and the thing we were created for. So take a moment to be natural and healthy. I invite you to take some time RIGHT NOW to stop and talk (or listen) to God. Just be with Him for a moment and quiet your soul. Let Him work on you for a time, stop trying to prevent Him from taking control. How refreshing and life-giving!
Up coming shows Please pray for us and for those we are blessed to serve on these dates August 3rd - 5th Good Shepherd Parish Tallahassee, FL August 25th - 27th Diocese of Fairbanks Jubilee Fairbanks, AK September 24th Lights of the World Buffalo, NY For a complete list of APeX's Schedule please visit: http://apexministries.com/FutureShows.html For booking information you can contact APeX at 888/522-2739
Web Page updates The web page has been made more user friendly (we think). Let us know what you think of the new design. APeX Attacks #6 (Spring/Summer 2000) is now on line. If you did not receive it in the mail you should check it out. You will laugh. You will cry. If not we will give you your money back. The issue contains articles by Gene's sister and Brad's wife Joia. All the articles can be found at: http://apexministries.com/APeXAttacks.html
Important note: If you received this e-mail as a forward from someone else and would like to receive Digital APeX Attacks every time it is published, or if for some reason you have received this e-mail in error from APeX please follow this link to add or remove (though we couldn't imagine why you'd want to remove) yourself from the mailing list: http://apexministries.com/MailingList.html © 2000 APeX Youth Ministries, Inc. --"Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." St. Francis of Assisi http://APeXMinistries.com