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| the weekly eWell | 6 february 2008 / issue 33 |
| REMINDER: Sunday Service now begins at 5:30 p.m. | |
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In this issue: • latest news • community groups • well said • more info • classifieds
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"No Regrets" Shane Knipple “No regrets!” Many people live by this motto. You’ll often hear free-spirited, young high school or college students, even older people as they reflect back on their lives say this familiar phrase. I have a regret. One that has stuck with me for nearly six years now. During my sophomore year in college I had been sitting in a medical ethics class. I was the dork that got to class ten minutes early and sat in my desk doing nothing, because I had a fear of being late to class or late to anything for that matter. One of my football teammates had the same class. His name was Shawn and he was a senior and I can’t say that I knew him very well. The guy was a physical specimen. He probably had two percent body fat and could bench press a semi-truck twenty-five times. He started on defense and I was a backup quarterback so I had the pleasure of facing him numerous times when our scout offense would go against our starting defense. He made my brain bounce off of my skull on quite a few occasions. While he was a physical beast, he had a very quiet demeanor to him and got along well with all of his fellow teammates. You would think there was not a violent bone in his body (unless you were on scout team offense!). On this particular day in medical ethics, he walked in and took a seat in the row next to mine and turned to me saying, “Hey Knip, do you have a Bible I can borrow?” The guys on the team knew I was a Christian, mostly because of my involvement as the president of our campus’ Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I had seen him at a couple of our meetings on random occasions. I told him I was sure I had a Bible he could have, not just borrow. After class, I went back to my apartment found a Bible and took it over to Shawn’s room. He opened the door and took the Bible, saying he’d return it and I told him just to keep it and not worry about it. Now comes my biggest regret….I left. A week or two later, I was standing outside in the courtyard between the apartments on campus just talking with friends on a Saturday night when one of my teammates came by looking flustered and asked if I had heard about what happened to Shawn. He told me what he knew and I was floored. Not long after, most of the team had some knowledge of the situation. Later that night our head coach called a team meeting and filled us in on what had happened. Shawn had had an emotional breakdown and went berserk. He had wrecked his car by the football stadium and when police came to the scene, Shawn acted aggressively towards them. He would not cooperate with them and had pulled a long knife and advanced toward them. The police sprayed him with pepper spray and when that didn’t work an officer opened fire, shooting Shawn, killing him. I’m not sure what caused Shawn to snap. Some of my teammates said that he was still dealing with the death of his brother that had happened some time before. Some suggested that drugs may have had something to do with it that night. The only thing I was sure of was that God had opened a door for me to share my faith with someone who was obviously looking for some answers in his life, and I walked away from that opportunity. I would love to think that maybe Shawn had read the Bible I gave him and asked Christ to come into his life, but we all know that probably isn’t what happened. I wish I would have walked through that open door that God had given me and shared Jesus Christ with Shawn. I wish I would have at least asked him if there was anything I could do for him. I don’t hold myself responsible for Shawn’s death, but I do hold myself responsible for not sharing the love of Jesus Christ with Shawn when he needed it the most. I hope that my one regret encourages you to seize the opportunities that God gives you to build relationships and share the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ that is in you. You might not know how bad they really need it. (In addition to leading The Well's College Guys' community group, Shane Knipple is husband to Lindsay, father to Riley, and teacher and coach extraordinaire at Fairview Middle School.) |
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College Students: Join us once a week for a home cooked meal. The next College Dinner is Monday, February 11th at 7:00 p.m. at The Naitove's. Upcoming College Dinners are being held at the Parsons', the Folsom's, Dr. Robinson's, and the Simmons'. For more info and to RSVP contact Kaitlyn Ary: kaitlyn@nomorethirst.org. EasterOnTheMoon.com The Well's Easter Sunday service will be held on The Moon at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 23rd. Make plans for you and all your friends to attend this very special event. For more information, keep checking EasterOnTheMoon.com
This Sunday, Dean continues the "Perceptions" series.
Dean's sermons are now available online at nomorethirst.org. Save them to your IPod, burn them on a cd, or listen to them over the internet. Sermons will be added each Sunday night following the service. eGIVING eGiving is here! Log on to egiving.nomorethirst.org to set up your eTithe. |
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Visit www.nomorethirst.org for more info! |
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| Dean Inserra, Pastor Scott Simmons, Worship Leader dean@nomorethirst.org scott@nomorethirst.org | |
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| Copyright 2008 © The Well Sunday Nights, 5:30 p.m. @ the Godby High School Auditorium | |
