alumnipresident's Xanga

new blog

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:27:20 GMT

http://ryanbeaty.blogspot.com

I like it better over there. Come see me!!!

Last Xanga

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:49:11 GMT

Well Friends its been a good run, but I think its time to retire the Xanga. I am on Facebook, and myspace, though I am seriously considering shutting down myspace as well, at least one of them anyways. God bless you all. talk to you soon.

on vacation...

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:38:41 GMT

i had forgotten what vacation was. it had been a long time since the two of us had spent time together, so we needed to get reacquainted. vacations now are not what they used to be for me however. vacation is as busy as real life. you are always checking your work email, writing work reports, reading stuff for work, not to mention if you go to your hometown like i have, you are constantly visiting someone. there is no rest on vacation. vacation is work cleverly disguised because it is not at the office. boo you vacation, you saucy temptress with your lies and allurement of frivolous mirth. foul i call you...not like your cousin HOLIDAY. there is social disembarkment which knows how to enjoy oneself. this escape from mecca is definitely lost with activities still yet planned, but one day i shall HOLIDAY, and oh what a grand HOLIDAY it will be...

(I know this was goofy, but hey, every once in a while you have to let it go)

Reflections of Oberlin 2007: NCC Faith and Order

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:22:28 GMT

I am sitting at a table in the 2nd floor lounge of Burton Dormitory in Oberlin, OH at Oberlin College. Since Thursday I have had the privelege and the honor of taking a part in the National Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order. This commission is the division within the NCC that works towards ecumenism.

I will have to admit to you all that this process has been rather overwhelming, and I realize that there is no way that I will ever be able to relate to you what I am feeling in my heart right now. In my present exhausted, mentally drained, and semiconscious state, my heart is both full with the new love that I have for my new Catholic, Episcopalian, Luteran, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, Church of God, and others, friends who have impacted my life in the last 4 days in ways I did not know possible, and heavy that I will not see many of them soon. These people, young scholars and theologians all in their own right, have reached out to me, befriended me, and listened to the questions, concerns, and passions of an admittedly often ignorant and nieve Pentecostal. I am endebted to their friendship, love, understanding, and openness. I will definitely be experiencing "withdraws" from being without them over the next few days. Their dialogue, filled with warmth and genuine concern, has been been so refreshing and eternally helpful to me as an idividual who needs intellectual conversation, a sense of greater purpose, and a desire to affect both my fellowship of tradition, as well as my religious tradition of Christianity.

I will also eternally be grateful to the professors and church leaders who prepared for and poured into my life this week. Though representing a number of Christian tradition, many of which I knew substantively little about, they showed me love, affection, and grace as though I had been with them on the journey all along. From dialogue within the small groups to nightly conversations at at local establishments, the connections were invaluable. I was particularly affected by tender dialogue with Rev. Dr. John Ford of the Catholic Institute of America. As our discussion group leader, he was very open and affirming to our different perspectives, and was thrilled to be able to walk and talk with us for extended periods of time from plenary session to group or group to meals. He is an example I will try to follow through the rest of my life.

I am especially grateful for the work of the forerunners of ecuminism in my fellowship of the Assemblies of God: Dr. Amos Yong of Regent University Divinity School, and Dr. Mel Roebeck of Fuller Theological Seminary. I am particulary taken back by the great sacrifice that Dr. Roebeck has made to ensure that Pentecostals, particularly the Assemblies of God, has remained at the table of Ecumenical dialogue. If I am to ever experience anytype or ecumenical achievement, it will be because of the path that he has beaten and becuase his sholders were strong enough for which me to stand.

Finally, I am in awe of the ecumenical task that God has laid before me. As many of you know I recently accepted a position with the General Council of the Assemblies of God. I have dreamed of having and desired this position since I was five-years-old. I have always assumed that it would be the culmination of my ministerial career. I am now realizing it is the beginning. In 2007 I have entered into Ecumenical dialogue by attending the Society for Pentecostal Studies annual meeting, visiting Nairobi, Kenya, and now being a part of the young scholars and theologian program at Faith and Order. The LORD is continuing to do in my life what he started when my family first began as foster parents, bringing in children of other races who were the poor and disenfranchised. The work that he continued through having classes and dialogue with very good friend Dr. Paul Alexander and my very good friend Dr. Johan Mostert. I now sit here today knowing that God has a plan for my life that is so much grander than I could have ever imagined. I sit here knowing that doctoral work is not an option but a requirement for His plans and realizing that if I am to work for Him the work will be hard. I also sit here knowing that I will not be alone, that He has placed help in my path, a community of friends, a body of believers to help me, and not forgetting the precious Holy Spirit.

Though the task be difficult, I will resonate with the words of my new friend Rachel who said tonight, "It is worth it, for such a time as this."

May the Grace and Peace of the LORD Jesus Christ be among us all.

I got a new job...

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:41:54 GMT

Yesterday, the General Council asked me to become the new Programs Specialist for Royal Rangers, the national boys ministries of the Assemblies of God. This means that I am now the director of curriculum and product development as well as the ministries liaison. So needless to say I am VERY excited. I will officially start on Aug. 13, though I have already begun somethings. Thanks to all those who have prayed for me over the last few months. The LORD is great and His plans for us are perfect.

Healthcare...

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:33:54 GMT

So I was kinda suprised at the lack of comments on my conversation about poverty...oh well lets give it another shot.

I have been thinking about government healthcare lately. Probably because I just got slapped with 500 buks in unexpected medical bills, but whatever. Anywho, I have been mulling over the idea of Government healthcare. I am really not sure where I stand. Because obviously all Americans need healthcare. And it is odd to me that its the middle class that really goes without on this one. The poor are covered under medicade and medicare, and of course the rich all work at jobs where it is either provided for them or they just have the money to pay for it. But its the middle class who are left out in the cold on this one. Many companies do the nice thing and offer some sort of healthcare to be paid for by the employee from their paychecks before taxes, and that is great. But not many of those companies have the best healthcare. Unless you are a giant like Chase, who has AMAZING health insurance options, you really can't afford to do anything great. So its ok to get sick, like the sniffles or even bronchitis, but please do not get cancer.

So then I thought, "Hey, why shouldn't the government use some of those trillions they are taking from us every year and pay for universal healthcare? Canada does it. Now of course Canada has the same number of people as California, so the scale is not quite the same, but still, it is national none the less. So yeah, why not? But then I was talking to my buddy Matt who says that goverment healthcare is the last thing he would ever want. His dad is a disabled military vet who became disabled while on duty. Today he is confined to a wheelchair and has a lot of medical problems. Matt says that if they had been able to use private doctors and healthcare, his dad would be able to walk today and be much healthier. It was the government, who because of all the red tape involved, have been negligent in his father's healthcare. So I sit here and say, "Whoa, if the government won't take good care of a military veteran, then they sure are not going to take care of me." So what is the answer?

I have no friggin' clue. Something has to be done, but what? And what can the church do to help?

I got so frustrated in sunday school this past week at the people who just didn't want to do things. They have this opinion that, "I am not the president, what can I do? I can only do little things, nothing big." HELLO!!! First of all, all it takes is to start with the small things. And secondly, who says we can't do something big. Habitate for Humanity was started by one couple in a local neighborhood. When a hurricane hit El Salvador in the fall of 1998, in four days one other friend and I organized a food and clothing drive that sent three 18-wheelers full of food and clothing down there, from a town of 10,000 people. Big things can be done too.

So what can we do? What kind of ideas are out there to help people in this way? I think we can make a difference and figure out some answers to healthcare. And if it means doing it without the politicians who are all paid off anyways, then so be it. Lets think... you all are a lot smarter than I am.

This I learned today...

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:33:21 GMT

He is God, I am not.

He knows what He is doing, I am along for the ride.

Re-Induction

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:28:11 GMT

Re-Induction: to set course back to the path previously set (beaty definition)

My friends, it is time for re-induction. Back to the cold-turkey, always grumpy, go to sleep early, tired frequently way of life. I had to eat because of malaria medication I was taking coming back from Africa, but when the meds were gone I kept eating. Its been two weeks. No More! Tomorrow starts hell all over again. Seven days of indescribable stomache pain. A month of you mind playing tricks on you, telling you to get food when you aren't even hungry. Time has come. Tomorrow is starts again.

Pray for me. My knee is busted, I am gonna be in a bad mood for the next two weeks (the final 2 of hebrew I might add), and I am about out of money. But its time. Re-Induction...gotta get healthy.

Program

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:54:43 GMT

Here is the link to all that I will be doing at the Faith and Order Commission:

http://www.ncccusa.org/faithandorder/oberlin2007/program.html

Can I just say that I am freaking our a little bit!

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:33:02 GMT

So back in February, after attending the Society of Pentecostal Studies yearly meeting, I was encouraged to apply for a summer program that I knew very littly about, but was an academic fellowship of sorts. So I did.

Well today, I found out that I was accepted: TO BE THE PENTECOSTAL SEMINARIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO THE FAITH AND ORDER COMMISSION FOR THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES!!!

I am freaking out! This is huge. I will be THE Pentecostal seminary student at this event. An event, by the way, the Assemblies of God does not participate in because of doctrinal differences with the WCC. This is a MAJOR thing. This is one of those things that you put on your curriculum vitae when you apply for a teaching position and get bumped to the top.

It will be next month in Oberlin, OH, running concurrently with the General Convention of the Church of Christ. They are paying for my airfare, lodging, food, etc. Can you tell I am excited???