Free Fridays

Almost every Friday, we have the awesome privilege of spending time with our mentor, discipler and friend, Pastor Chilly Chilton. We get to spend a few hours learning from, and prodding into, one of the most Christ-like men we have ever known. That type of discipleship is priceless, and when taken seriously has the potential to create an explosive move of God. We usually meet at a local StarBucks and do what he calls Free Friday. Basically, we have a few hours to talk. No topic list, no outline, and no adgenda other than one: Discipleship. We get to spend these moments learning from a man who is both wiser, and farther in his walk with God than ourselves.What usually desides the topic of the conversation is what God has been stirring in our hearts and lives. Other the last few months we have been able to make quite a compilation of amazing lessons, quotes, analogies and the like.

One of the major examples in leadership that Pastor Chilly has taught us over the past few months of Free Fridays is the value of discipleship. He values the purpose that God has for our lives and plays a major role in our growth and developement... and it shows. Through the time that he has poured into us, through the widsom, and passion we have gained an example, when it comes to mentorship, to follow in our own lives. We are so very thankful.

On a specific occasion, while talking about the fruits of the spirit, Pastor Chilly said: "We're not an apple tree, an orange tree, or a pear tree... we're a tuti-fruiti tree... we get all of them." Many times, we try to work on patience, or kindness, or faithfullness; when really it's the Holy Spirit that produces those fruits in our lives. Pastor Chilly explained to us how we don't need to pursue right behavior, or a good character; because, we can't do any of that suff on our own. "When we try to produce fruit, it's wax fruit – it looks the same, but when you bite in, there's frustration rather than nutrition" (Pastor Chilly). Instead of trying by our own means, we need to pursue Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will produce all that good stuff in us. We're also not limited to just one fruit of the spirit. I'm not a joyful person lacking self-control, and I'm not a loving person that can't wait for anything. I just need to be an obedient person, then I'll be all of those things.

There is also an analogy that Pastor Chilly gave us during another Free Friday. It was the story of an eagle, you see, eagles have the potential to live up to 75 years; but most die around 40. This is because when they reach that age something begins to happen, they get old. Their beaks become hooked, their talons become dull, and their feathers get musty. They lose the ability to hunt, to eat, and to fly. But, there is a process some choose to go through to extend their lives by another 30 years. First they break their beaks off, the bird will repeatedly smash it beak against a stone until it breaks off. Then they smash the claws against the stone breaking them off as well. Once this is done the bird cannot eat, it has to go a several weeks without food. Once the eagle's talons have regrown it is then able to pluck out its dead feathers and take flight again, good as new. Now, you may be asking what does any of this have to do with discipleship? Each of us here has the opportunity to totally skip this long process of pain later in life. Each one of us has access to a man that’s screaming to us, sharpen your claws, scrape your beak daily, and pluck your dead feathers it will prevent a world of suffering later. We have the ability to hear a wisdom that can only come from God and we need to make the most of it. If we do we have the potential to fly for a lifetime.

Without question, Free Friday has been one of the most significant times while being here in Xmin for all of us students. We have been able to personally connect with Pastor Chilly and individually grow in our walks with Christ. We are able to ask him any questions we want, or talk about whatever subject we have in mind. We have a great time just chillin' with our pastor, and when we go to leave our meeting spot, usually Starbucks, we are barely ourselves, because we've been so convicted by the Holy Spirit speaking through him.

Your favorite Xmin students,
April, Jay, Joe, and Zack



Also, for your enjoyment, here are some other good quotes:
"There's not resistance in grace, there's resistance in holiness. But, you've got to be holy to be like Jesus."
"I want to keep making testamonies, not telling them."
"Love figures out a way to love them better"
"Disciples never give up! They get knocked down, then they get up and punch the challenge in the face. NEVER stop serving courageously."

Opportunities

I have been studying the South Asian culture, and I just finished a research paper on it. For my paper I interviewed a few different people that either have lived in a south Asian country, or have family from there.

One of the people I interviewed was really unexpected. When I spoke with her I didn’t even intend to use anything we talked about for my paper. I was walking down Joseph Campu to CVS to get some photos printed, this girl was standing by the bus stop, I felt inclined to speak to her, so I did.

She told me her name was Fatima Chowdhury. I know a few people with that same last name so I asked her where she was from. She told me Bangladesh. So then we talked about the research paper that I was doing on South Asia. One thing led to another and she told me all about her life; her dreams, family, values, beliefs, and what she does in her free time.

Towards the end of the conversation I was able to tell her about myself. I told her about where I used to live, my family, what I value, my beliefs, and who I live my life for, Jesus. That was one thing that she didn’t mention. She had no sense of purpose in her life. I am so thankful for that opportunity. I was able to ask her for things that I could be praying for her about, she was more than willing to tell me.
I hope that one day we will meet again.

East to West

I don’t normally listen to Casting Crowns, but tonight at prayer, I heard this song, and it totally made me think.

I had just gotten done with praying for this woman that I know of who is really suffering from withdraws. She is really battling her flesh! She is in a ton of pain, surrounded by problems that seem to be unmanageable in her family, suffocated by the influence of her addiction through so called friends, and crawling to Jesus.

She is determined to stay close to him, but she is listening to lies that the enemy is putting into her head. All I know is that the voice of truth will have the victory in her life. And that downward spiral of wickedness will have no authority in her life. Truth overcomes, and that is what she will follow.
Thank you Jesus.

EAST TO WEST Casting Crowns
Here I am Lord and I’m drowning
In your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don’t want to end up where you found me
And it echoes in my mind
Keeps me awake tonight
I know you’ve cast my sins as far
As the East is from the West
And I stand before you now
As though I’ve never sinned but today
I feel like I’m just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way
Jesus can you show me
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can’t bear to see the man I’ve been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scarred hand to the other
I start the day the war begins
And less reminding of my sin
Time and time again
Your truth Is drowned out by the storm I’m in
Today I feel like I’m just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way
I know you’ve washed me white
Turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through
To get me through this night
I can’t live by what I feel
But by the truth your word reveals
I’m not holding on to you
But you’re holding on to me
You’re holding on to me

just do it

God has really teaching me to do things that I don’t want to do. It’s not that I don’t want to do these certain things; it’s just that I am extremely uncomfortable doing them. Realizing this I was much more aware when these situations would come up; the situations that I would back myself back from, and be hesitant to take initiative in.

So God was really dealing with me, and several times this week I caught myself battling with my flesh. When I really didn’t want to do something, God made me aware that I needed to grow, and it was only happening so that I could do so.

When situations come up, situations meant to help others, etc., it is not just taking place to help that person, or to get something done, but to make you grow.

My mama

I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do for Mother’s Day. I was at the store yesterday trying to pick out a card. If you have never been in the card section at the groceries store, let me just tell you that it’s just as if you had walked into the card section, start looking at cards, not realizing the amount of time, just thinking it had been a few minutes, and then realizing that it had been almost an hour…That’s how it is (for girls at least).

If you haven’t got the idea yet, I spent a lot of time looking for a card to send to my mom. I didn’t find one. They were all really cheesy- “To the best mom ever!”, “To my best friend”… I figured that mother’s day is too important to pick up any card and send it to her as a symbol of my appreciation. She means more than that to me.

I’m so thankful for the relationship that has grown between my mother and I. I want to send her something that I know she will really love and enjoy.

Flowers, and a home made card.

Do something for you mom this Mother’s day!

More of God's presence

I’m so thankful that God uses us through our weaknesses, and I’m so thankful for what God is doing in my mom!

At the beginning of the year I was challenged by God. He brought up the way that I treated my mother while I lived at home (Champaign-Urbana IL). Let me just say that I was a jerk. I didn’t show her who Christ is for a second. I would always let my flesh get the best of me.

It made me wonder where my mom’s heart would be if I would have thought about the things I was saying. Anything that came to my mind would vomit out of my mouth (I didn’t have a thought filter at all…) . Not because she was necessarily doing anything wrong but because I had not let go of bitterness towards her from the past, and the things that I said were aimed towards the satisfaction of my flesh. I was pissed and I wanted to get back at her in a revengeful, deceitful manner.

God brought me to a place of repentance. He was leading me to call my mom and apologize to her. Not in a cheesy, weird sort of way, but really, from the bottom of my heart to say sorry. So I did.

Right now God is doing amazing things in my mom’s heart! I have been praying for her non-stop. She doesn’t know Jesus personally but I know that she will.
One of the reasons that I want to go back to Champaign-Urbana for the summer is because I know God wants me to make some relationships right (first my mother!).

James 4:7-10 (New Living Translation)

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

-We can be thankful for what God does, even in our mistakes.

Before I go back to Champaign-Urbana I need to make a statement of standards! Verse 7 says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
I know if I don’t make standards I will just stand still in what God is doing, totally miss out on what he wants to do in me and through me. If I’m totally consumed in what I want, my desires, instead of the standards that God wants me to have I’ll miss out, and I am not okay with that.

Verse 8 says, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” How can I love people (like my mom) in the way that I should if I don’t love God to the extent that I should or desire to. It also says, “Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for the loyalty is divided God and the world.” I cannot be close to God and the world at the same time! So I needed (need) to stay focused on God-his purity, and stay undivided to the world. God has my attention! We are as close to him as we want to be!

Verse 9 says, “Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.” Wow, let me tell you. I was crushed. I had no idea what to do with myself when God convicted me of the hurt that I caused my mom. The fact that I thought I was living a Godly life, and not treating my mom like it was a horrible thought for me. It meant that the “mom issue” was only the start of the change that God was going to have to do. But, when we go to God (our daddy) sincere, softened in our tears, he gives us the joy again. My mom is my joy. There will be a greater amount of joy when she comes to the Lord!

Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”
It all starts with honesty. You will never become humble in the lord if you don’t become honest with yourself. Let God point it out- he can (will) either fix it, get rid of it, or birth it or all of it.

Abrubt

Fridays are so awesome! They go by so fast. As the boys and I are cleaning the church, getting ready to go to Riley’s softball game, I was thinking about a few things:


*Only through the power of God, that I am able to attempt to live the message of the cross to it’s fullness.

*I am not so concerned with what I am going to do…Im more interesting in who Im becoming. I want to be a lover of God and people. What we do is not as important as who we are.

Repenting

As I was reading the Bible reading for today Acts 15:8-11 stopped me. Peter says, “God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by given them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts thought faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

This question has been on my heart for a while, “Do I see people in categories?” What I mean is this, do I see anyone as someone who has a lot of problems, but will find Jesus someday, or somebody who is in over their head in sin, but will still find Jesus, or even just pain unreachable? Do I categorize them in my mind on a priority list of salvation?! Or even issues that I decided, in my mind, that Jesus was too busy for. These were all the issues running through my mind…Homosexuality, gay marriage, pornography, sexual promiscuity, alcohol/ drug use, abortion, divorce, different religious or social views such as, Islam, Evolution, and global warming even.
How do I, currently, view the lost? If I look at these people believing that Jesus cannot bring them to a point of salvation, what am I living my life for?! I came to a point of repentance. If I looked down on them, this is a sense of moral superiority. It was hypocritical and wrong. I am not any better.

Perceptions of Christians/Christ’s Attributes
Anti-homosexual........ Loving to all
Judgmental..............Forgiving
Hypocritical............Genuine
Old-Fashioned...........Revolutionary
Insensitive to others...Loving
Confusing...............Simple in presenting the truth
Not accepting of other faiths.....Inviting members of all faiths
Boring..................Radical

“Jesus healed the sick, loved the poor, touched the leper, stood up for the down and out, forgave the sinner, condemned the religious hypocrites, dined with prostitutes and corrupted tax collectors, challenged the wealthy, and powerful, fought for justice for the oppressed, renounced materialism, demonstrated greatness is found in serving-and died that others might live.” –Richard Stearns
He saved the world. He saved us, all of us!
Thank you, Jesus for what you are teaching me.

It's so simple

It’s so simple, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven (James 5:12-14).”

This is today’s Bible reading in our Bible read through. It’s so good. It doesn’t say, “Maybe you could pray”, but it says, “You should pray!” And pray for others! All of the time, suffering, happy, sick, or in the cycle of sin-you should pray, sing praises! I am so excited for what God is doing in all of us students. He is really bringing all of us back to the simplicity of his love and the understanding of who he is.

The simplicity of his love, the past few days, has been all I can think about! Realizing that it’s not the work we do, because work runs out, and no one remembers the work, but the love that is shown while doing it. Not our love, but the love of Christ in us!

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
1 John 4:12

1st John 4:11-12

"Dear friends, since God loved is that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us." -1st John 4:11-12

We have no excuse! We should love each other. Though the love that we show each other God will be seen in us. Not only seen but brought to its FULL expression in us, and through us. The love that Christ shows us is not meant for us to keep to ourselves, but to share with the world, so they may know of true love.

Mercy of Christ

Today I have been thinking about the crook who asked Jesus to remember him in Luke 23:35-43, not just thinking about what happened, but what in that mans life made him feel forgotten. I was thinking about what kind life he must have been living. He was probably broken, bitter, disconnected, and in need of someone to put him back together.

Jesus showed him mercy. So I must show the mercy of Christ as well.

Galatians 2:20

The past six weeks has been incredible. God has stretched me in ways that I cannot explain to the fullest extent. I just finished the book The Hole in Our Gospel, and it shifted my view on several things.

God has been taking me on this tour of questions:

What does God expect of me?

How can I love Gods people if I don’t really LOVE God with all of my heart, mind, and soul?

Am I serious about the call of God in my life?

Am I open and willing for God to have his way in me?

Do I really live out Galatians 2:20?

All of these questions really come down to one thought for me. If I am serious about the call of God on my life, and open and willing for him to have his way in me then I cannot question whether or not I am living Galatians 2:20.

I am not entitled to this life (my way) but I am entrusted with it. God expects us to use the life that he has given us in the interest of his kingdom.

This “life” doesn’t just mean our everyday decisions but this goes right along with how we spend our money, how we use our talents or giftings, what we do with our thoughts, attitudes, whether or not we are prideful, or generous…it all comes down to the knowledge that we are not our own. We belong to God.

“We don’t have a soul, we are a soul and have a body.” –C.S. Lewis

SERVOLUTION 2010

This whole week has been amazing, busy, but amazing. I absolutely loved serving the community. We served at the Rescue Mission, painting rooms and serving meals. We had the privilege of receiving donated Avalon bread, we handed it out at Wayne state, and the Mid-Town area. It was so awesome to see the faces of people when we told them that the bread was free, and that there was no catch to receiving the bread. On Saturday we had a chance to serving the community in a few local parks. Today was super fun. We were volunteering at the park for their annual Easter weekend celebration. I ran a couple games, and had the best conversations with a ton of kids.

I have learned a lot this week. One thing that I have noticed myself doing is not looking happy while serving. So it was a stretch to keep that in mind, and to constantly remember to look happy. It’s not that I don’t love serving but sometimes I zone out, or the opposite, concentrate too hard on what I’m doing and not the people that I’m ministering to. That was huge for me. I think because of it I had way more fun, and was able to keep in mind what we were really serving for. It was all for his glory, and to show the love of Christ.

Hope is needed to thrive

There are times in our life where we learn certain things that really mean a lot to us in that moment. I read a lot, and I can think of some books that shook me spiritually a few years ago, but don’t anymore. God teaches us for a purpose, whether it be the moment or to instill something for a lifetime.

God has been teaching me so much as I have been reading The Hole in Our Gospel. Everyday I find myself meditating on something that has really stuck out to me, but the past couple days have been a little different.

In prayer I had been wrestling with this, “God, there are so many hurting people. There are so many people who lack the resources that they need to thrive, and to live- those who are living in poverty. Why do you allow it? You’re God! You could take it away if you wanted, you could do something!” Then, the defining moment that I had feared, and was waiting for: God answered, He asked me the same question, “That’s a great question. Yes, why do you allow it?” I stopped- and since then I have not been able to get my mind off of it. I know that I am not God, but I do know that no matter what your calling is, God has called us all (and chosen us all) to serve and to love our neighbors. If you didn’t know it, maybe the ones suffering the most are our neighbors, and they are probably our neighbors for a reason. I know that there is a great deal of suffering in the world, that’s the very issue that overwhelms me, but God has been teaching me. I don’t want to fail to do something just because I know I cannot do everything. I will not have the ‘cop-out’ answer when God calls me. I don’t want to say that I cannot afford it without trying to raise support; and I don’t want to say that I don’t know how to do something, when I have all the resources to learn how. Let’s figure it out. Let’s share the same joy that has been given to us. Hope is needed to thrive.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
–Helen Keller.

This is something that God is teaching me, not just for the moment, but also for a lifetime. I’m so thankful.

THE HOLE IN ME

I felt like God wants me to share this with you guys. About two days ago, I was reading the book The Hole in our Gospel and I came across a point that made me stop. It was seriously like hitting a brick wall - It made me think.

When we read the news and hear about the starving children in Africa, we pause in sadness maybe for a second. But at one point we move on, turn the channel or flip the news page and go about our daily routine.

I challenge you to think about this. We have all, at some point in time, lost someone close to us, right? And for the most part it tares us apart (Instead: ‘Such an experience can be devastating – affecting us for years, and some their entire lives.’). Especially if that close loved one was your own child. Seriously think about this for a second. You would not only respond in remorse, and devastation, but you would respond with urgency, right? Well, what if one of those starving children from the news was on your front door step? What if that child was ringing your door bell, would you not stop everything, pick up the child and rush the child to the emergency room offering to pay it might cost to save their life in urgency as one human to another? The news bulletin that you might have looked over, and paused in sadness would become very personal wouldn’t it?

The problem that God laid on my heart so intensely was that I have to admit that I simply have less empathy for people of other cultures living in faraway countries than I do for Americans. My empathy is revolving around my social, my emotional, my cultural, my economical and my geographical way of thinking. Why do I distinguish the value of one human life over another, selfishness maybe?

I know that God doesn’t view people in that mind set. Richard Sterans said, “God doesn’t look at the suffering of a child in Cambodia or Malawi with a certain sense of emotional distance. God doesn’t have different levels of compassion based on a child’s geographical location, or their nationality, or their race, or parents, or income level. Each human being is precious to him.”

I know that I can be selfish, and the details of my own life can easily distract me. I also know that it I truly want to see into their eyes, into their souls, into their hearts, pain, loss or gains, of these children the way that God does, and if I want to know their names, I can’t just sit here and be angry with myself. It must be personal for me. How do I respond with urgency?

These are not just things that God is doing in me for the next big part of my life, but it’s for now. I know that when I let myself get in the way of ministry I will become selfish and even the kids that I see a few times a week will feel so distant from my heart, if I do not react-if I do not pray for a constant renewing of my heart- I will become hardened for God’s people.

I truly want my heart to be broken for what breaks God’s.

“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.” –George Bernard Shaw

Bamo.

As you know I have been reading Uprising by Erwin McManus. It’s awesome. I’m towards the end of the book now, but one of the major things that have stuck out to me was his view on faithfulness. He said, “There are moments when our greatest act of faith is to remain faithful. There will be times where no lever of faith will change our circumstance. Faith is not always a way out of crisis. I am convinced it rarely is.” Then he goes on to say, “Faith gives us the strength and confidence to see every challenge and crisis through to the end.”

I love this! Wow. Seriously though, faith is just a confidence in God that results in faithfulness. It is simple. It doesn’t solve our problems but it gives us the perseverance to keep walking though to the end-and then gain wisdom. When Jesus calls us to be faithful-and to even do great things-we are blessed when we don’t fall away from him- but continue to follow closely at His side.

end to week one.

As I come close to finishing the first week of The Hole in our Gospel, I can say that I have been uprooted from my former way of thinking. Not only my paradigm; but also, my faith has been shifted. I have come to a point of realizing that my belief is not enough, my worship is not enough, and my personal morality is not enough. I know that God is asking more of me (he wants all of me).

My commitment to Jesus is sharing the good news; his character of love, justice, and mercy-all through our words and actions is a commitment to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:20 kept getting to me as it was repeatedly popping up in Richard Stearns book, and small group study. It says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Because of this study, I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions, but here are a few:

What exactly does “ambassador of Christ mean?!”

Is this something I do or something I am, or become?

All I know right now is that Jesus chooses us to represent him, to proclaim the GOOD NEWS, and to change the world or just one person (read quote below). “Living out our faith privately was never meant to be an option.”

“If you can’t feed 100 people, then just feed one.”
-Mother Teresa

The ambassadors commitment

As I come close to finishing the first week of The Hole in our Gospel, I can say that I have been uprooted from my former way of thinking. Not only my paradigm; but also, my faith has been shifted. I have come to a point of realizing that my belief is not enough, my worship is not enough, and my personal morality is not enough. I know that God is asking more of me (he wants all of me).

My commitment to Jesus is sharing the good news; his character of love, justice, and mercy-all through our words and actions is a commitment to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:20 kept getting to me as it was repeatedly popping up in Richard Stearns book, and small group study. It says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Because of this study, I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions, but here are a few:
What exactly does “ambassador of Christ mean?!”
Is this something I do or something I am, or become?

All I know right now is that Jesus chooses us to represent him, to proclaim the GOOD NEWS, and to change the world or just one person (read quote below). “Living out our faith privately was never meant to be an option.”

“If you can’t feed 100 people, then just feed one.”
-Mother Teresa

Ethics

I just finished reading T Burton Pierce’s, Ministerial Ethics: A Guide for Spiritual-Filled Leaders. It was really good! It challenged me on a few different levels. My favorite chapter dealt with being authentic in your ministry. He talked about how our love for the people that we are leading to be evident. It has to be evident for assurance, but mainly because you love them just as Christ loves them. I love that. That is something that God has been teaching me the last few days.

I had to take a few minutes to think about this: I know his love and I know his power to do miracles, but do I show it the way God intended for me to show it?

I wasn’t positive of the answer and I’m still not at all. I have a lot of work to do.

Over the past 24 hours my heart has been on a roller coaster. I just started the six-week quest, The Hole in our Gospel (small group study). Going in to it I was unsure what God wanted to do in me. I was also unsure what he was going to do in my heart, but I knew it would be big. I thought it was going to take time. But once again I was wrong. My heart was broken immediately.

Some of you are probably wondering what the “hole in our gospel” could be. Don’t worry I was thinking the same thing.

Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, first provoked my mind and then shortly after my heart followed, but in my heart it was a deeper provoking. In the first chapter of his book, The Hole in Our Gospel, he shared a story about his friend, Jim Wallis, who, at this time, was a seminary student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. He and some of his classmates had an idea. They went through the entire Bible and underlined every single verse that dealt with poverty, wealth, justice, and oppression. Then they took scissors and cut every one of those verses out of the Bible. After that the Bible barely held together. The remaining Bible was in shambles. Then his friend said, “Brothers and sisters, this is our American Bible; it is full of holes. Each one of us might as well take our Bibles, a pair of scissors, and begin cutting out all the scriptures we pay no attention to, all the biblical text that we just ignore.” The bible was literally full of holes. The word hole is defined: A hollowed place in something solid.

Questions that I had to ask myself:

Is there a hole in my “gospel/good news”?

Is my understanding of the nature of God’s call misunderstood?

I realized that I have chosen to pay little to no attention to holes in my Bible. I need to pay attention to the whole Bible. Every single word of God matters, not just the ones that apply to my life at this moment in time (it is all applicable).
The challenge for me, and possibly you as well: Getting what I know in my head into my heart and then out to my hands and feet - showing the love of Christ in a tangible way.

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out on to the earth. Yours are the feet by which he is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which he is to bless us now.”
-St. Teresa of Avila

Serve

With Servolution coming up I have been thinking a lot about serving, and the different ways to serve. Now I’m finally starting to come to terms with the calling of service. Serving should be my mindset all of the time. Not just the few times a year that I get to be a part of a group of people who are making a point to serve others in need, but everyday, 24-7.

If I want to be great I must serve. Serving must be my life. Sold out to Christ, who calls me to put others before myself completely. Jesus says, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to be first must be our slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life random for many” (Matthew 20:26-27).

This is crazy for me to think about. Earlier in this passage, the mother of Zebedee was faced with a decision, and Jesus asked, “Is this what you want?” In order to be completely sold out to Jesus, we have to decide that we are going to be great in the Lords presence we have to simply serve.

Learning to fail

I recently read an article called Failing Forward, by Mark Batterson. It really challenged me. Right off the bat he says, “If we allow our failures to define us, they can ruin us. But failure handled properly is the best thing that can happen.” Anytime that I have “failed” at something I have always gotten really discouraged. But it wasn’t until I read this article that I asked myself a series of questions: Did God plan on my failure? Or did my inexperience cause me to fail? What was the purpose of this failure and what do I need to do to avoid the same outcome?

I want to make the most of every situation, and lesson. So in order to make the most of every situation, I have to ask myself these questions and constantly evaluate my life. I also have to get to the point of my life where I am more afraid of missing opportunities of “teachable moments” than making mistakes.

Mardi Gras '10

The other students and I just returned from a missions outreach in New Orleans, LA. This is my second year, and their first. Let me just say that I went in to this with no expectation except that God was going to totally shift my mind completely, and move in radical ways.

The amount of people that attended from other churches and schools was pretty intense. All together there were about 340 people telling people about Christ on the streets of Mardi Gras. It was amazing. Before we headed to the streets the leadership of the outreach prepared us. They sent us out two by two (guy and girl) just like Jesus sent out the Seventy-two. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves (Luke 10:1-4).

They were sending us out to win people to Christ by his love. One major thing that I learned from this trip is that we should leave our house every morning with the same purpose, just as we left the place that we were staying to go minister to people on the streets. It became so real to me. Jesus is who I live my whole life for, so why was it so hard to bring him up in conversations with people? Not just the people that I will never see again at Mardi Gras, but people that I see everyday- my family, or the people that I have a relationship with and surrounded by.

Jesus moved in and through us as we ministered to people. His glory was shown through the abundance of our weakness, and people were saved. Their lives are being transformed. There is no reason that the people of my everyday life cannot share in the same joy.

dsputes

Matthew 18:15-17 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ever matter will be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, treat him as your would a pagan or tax collector.”

Yes, Jesus is talking about solving disputes. This is how disputes of any kind should be approached. We have recently learned what the apostles did when it came to division in the church. The first step that they took was recognizing the problem. One thing that happens when we ignore problems is that they only get worse. A step that they took that goes along with recognizing the problem is making sure that it is a legitimate problem. You just have to have wisdom when it comes to this.

One major thing, the apostles did not blame anyone or take any sides. They were able to take the fingers that were pointing and place them on finding a solution. When we are placed in the middle of a dispute we have to keep things fare.
Another way that they were able to see disputes through was through the understanding and willingness of change. Adjustment is needed to happen to fix any problem, or grow in any way.

The last thing that the apostles did was delegate authority. You would hand this job over to those who are available, capable, and qualified. Once you turn it over, give them your focus in prayer.

A Disciple

A Disciple

All week I have been thinking about the different disciples, and which one I was going to choose. I was reading my Bible and I realized that Matthew was the last person that I thought about. It was so interesting to me at that moment. Matthew reminded me of myself in the way that his life totally changed when he started following Jesus (9:9-13).

As I sent more time trying to find out more about him, I asked myself the question, “How can a person with a bad reputation really change?” Basically being a tax collector for the Romans like Matthew was made him earn a bad reputation. Jesus knew without a doubt Matthew’s reputation; yet called him anyway.

Matthew’s life did a 360˚ shift. His life totally changed when he started to follow Jesus. First he not only belonged to a new group (Jesus’ disciples); he found a new home in God. As soon as I gave my life to Jesus everything in my life began to change, but the first was my friends, the people I associated with. This was the beginning of Matthew as well. That blows me away. I can only imagine how awesome it must have been from being a hated tax collector to one of Jesus’ disciples. Second, Jesus gave Matthew a new purpose for his skills. When he followed Jesus the only tool that he carried with him from his past was something to write with. From the very beginning God had made him a record keeper. This really stuck out to me because in every skill that we have God uses it, but in his own time. Jesus’ call eventually allowed him to put his skills to their greatest work, recording the steps of Jesus. It’s so awesome for me to think about how observant you must have been. Matthew probably had to mentally take note of some things, and then goes back and writes them down. As a result there is a Gospel that bears his name.

Matthew’s life reminds me that I am a work in progress, always growing. God trusted me with skills before I even knew what to do with them, but he called me to him anyway. He made me capable of being his servant, and everything else is just falling into place. There is no way that Matthew could have known beforehand that God would use the very skills he had sharpened as a tax collector to record the greatest story ever lived. It’s humbling that God has no less meaningful purpose for each of us.

Dupes of Sin

Titus 3:3-8 hit me hard this week. The Message says, “It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing we gad nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our savior Jesus pored out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come- eternity of life! You can count on this!”

It made me think. At one point I was that person who was a dupe of sin. Someone had to bring me to Jesus. Then I thought, who am I to decide whom I talk to? That is up to God, not me. If that person who showed me God’s love decided that what they were doing was more important than witnessing to me, I most likely wouldn’t be where I am with God right now. It’s crazy for me to think about all of the people that I pass everyday without responding to God’s urgent pushing. I wonder how many people passed me when I wasn’t living right.

I have realized that I have been selfish. We know how it feels to live that life. A life that is lost and numb to sin. It should hurt when we pass people on the streets that don’t know Jesus yet. Yet is the key word. Salvation is ready and available for everyone!

Right before Titus 3:3-8 it says, “God’s readiness to five and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone. We are being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into his good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.”

It also says, “When the time is right, go public with his truth!” I’m not going to stand on street corners, screaming at people, unless God says to. Only when he leads me to speak to someone, is when I’m going to speak. But I (we) have to be sensitive, alert and ready to go after God’s people.

Self-improvement

One thing that I have always struggled with, but not so much now, was authority. Whenever I had to do something or go somewhere I wouldn’t ask my mom if I could go. I would just let her know where I was going, or that I would be back later. So now that I have three house mates, that I get permission from, and let know where Im going, I would have to say that I double check myself most times and make sure that Im not telling them instead of asking.

I’m improving.

The Holiday

From the moment that I got into Champaign-Urbana, I did nothing but spend time with great friends and family. I stayed at the Boyers house for most of my break and then made the journey through the snow to my mother’s house.

At the Boyers I was able to take part in a ton of laughter, great food and family. At my mothers house I was able to cook. Eating good food and cooking good food are both on the list of adored activities. I also made the trip to Kenosha, WI to see my oldest brother. There I was able to pick on my youngest brother, who I have not seen in a few months, and hang out with the oldest one. I would have to say that all was accomplished.

Being in Champaign-Urbana, a world record of board game playing was set. I feel like if we were not eating, we were playing a game or watching a movie. It was so much fun.

Lehman House

The moment that I arrived in Hamtramck I knew that I was in for something that I was not expecting. The moment that I walked into my dorm I knew that the thing that I wasn’t expecting would be all right because of my three awesome roommates.

I live in the ‘Lehman House’ with Andrea, Kari, and Erika. Over the past few months I have began to have a closer relationship with each of them. It’s really neat to think about the way they all contribute differently to my life. The time that I have been in X-Min has really been awesome, but I don’t know if I would feel the same about what God is doing in my life without them. They teach me so much. I can honestly say that they are Godly women who are full of advice.

The advice is needed.