Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Australia!
Hey guys & gals!
I def. been super busy and have had little time to be online, which is probably a good thing. I can usually make it to the cafe we use the internet everyday, but I usually try to keep it to 20 minutes or less. But tonight (or this morning for you guys.... yeah the 14 hour time difference is pretty nuts) I got the chance to take my time and snag a laptop all to myself, without fellow teammates waiting to use it. :-)
God has been awesome while I've been out here... actually He's always awesome. So far, we've seen two girls come to Christ and had other people show a lot of interest. It's been awesome to watch God move in people's lives. I'm def. pumped to get back to Central and go sharing and hopefully disciple someone this fall! I'm so much more comfortable with putting myself out there and feeling awkward, but striking up conversations anyways. I've made two solid friends at the Uni (what they call college here), their names are Brodie & Nin. Both are not Christians so please keep them in your prayers. It's my heart's desire to have the privelage of leading them to Christ or at least a lot closer. The Australians tend to be extremely apathetic towards ANYTHING, so that's made sharing a challenge. I've been rejected twice as far as trying to do a survey or just trying to talk to people. Which isn't bad compared to some of my other teammates are rejected daily. I had the privalege talking to two Muslim girls on Friday who seemed VERY interested in the gospel, but they had class and took the KGP with them... so that was amazing and I hope to see them again.
Of course, I miss all of you terribly and I cannot wait to come home. Homsickness settles in when I have large amounts of downtime. I'm so glad they kept us really busy the first week because I had zero time to be homesick.
I spent two days in LA which was a blast. I feel like we all knew each other for forever. There were never really awkward moments. We got to go to the beach and to Santa Monica the night before we left for Australia. We flew to San Fran and then to Sydney... 13 hours and 45 minutes! My ankles were freaking HUGE... they swelled up like no other. But I slept probably 10 hours of the flight, so praise God for that!!! I'm praying I can do the same on the way home. :-) We got into Sydney at 6:30 am and went sight seeing ALL day. We walked the harbor bridge and we got to be right next to the opera house, which was a dream come true. The next day we went to the Zoo and got to ride a ferry across the harbor. It was super cool. Then we headed to Newcastle and that's where we've been settled for the past week and a half. We stay here until August 17th and then get to go to a nearby christian camp for debriefing. The beaches in Newcastle are amazing and beautiful and it's so cool to have seen both sides of the pacific in a short amount of time. The Uni is basically a jungle with buildings in it. I'm so glad it's winter here because apparently the snakes do come out on campus in the summer... and I hate snakes SO much. Picking up an Australian accent is REALLY hard... there advice is to get really lazy with your words. Most of them love OUR accents and how nicely we tend to say things and the big words we like to use. Most of them want our accent which is odd to me. They have the best accents EVER. The Australians are pretty amazing and very helpful.
I ate Kangaroo stir fry the other night... it was delicious but I felt sad that I was eating such a cute animal. :-(
This Saturday I get to go Sand Boarding (which is like sledding apparently) and I get to go to a petting zoo and play with Kangaroos and see Koalas! Hopefully I won't be sad about the whole eating a Kangaroo thing when I get to play with them....
Sunday a bunch of us are planning on going to the Hillsong church in Sydney...yup... the place all those awesome CDs come from. I'm SO excited! We had to leave at 5am... take the train 3 hours, catch a bus that's about an hour long and then we'll be spending most of the day in Sydney and then heading home rather late. So it'll be a long but awesome day!
SO I think that's about it for now. Not sure when I'll get the time to do this again.... hope all is with you...
<3
Sam
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Reader's Digest Version of my Testimony
So we're supposed memorize our 3-5 minute testimony for summer project... so I typed it out. I did a half-hour version at my church last November so this is my super-short version.
Enjoy!
I was saved when I was six. I went to a Baptist church for 18 years of my life. My church family was great but I didn’t feel like I really knew God or that He was even really “approachable”. From age 13-18 I went through cycles of being really excited about God and caring less about what He has to say about my life and where it was going. My family started going to a different church a few days before I started college. After attending this new church, for the first time I felt like I knew that I could have a PERSONAL relationship with God. I never got the concept of worshiping God before. I never felt like God was really there. Throughout my freshman year there were many trials, including two crazy roommates that made my life pretty miserable, many failed auditions, and feeling led by God to leave my boyfriend of two years. So for the first time I was radically living sold-out for Jesus! Last summer was a huge spiritual growth spurt for me. I went back to school in the fall and God led me to Campus Crusade for Christ. I made amazing friends that will last for a lifetime and found a place that I could continue to grow spiritual and have great fellowship. I also have a chance to really focus on pouring into other people and learning how to share my faith more effectively.
Enjoy!
I was saved when I was six. I went to a Baptist church for 18 years of my life. My church family was great but I didn’t feel like I really knew God or that He was even really “approachable”. From age 13-18 I went through cycles of being really excited about God and caring less about what He has to say about my life and where it was going. My family started going to a different church a few days before I started college. After attending this new church, for the first time I felt like I knew that I could have a PERSONAL relationship with God. I never got the concept of worshiping God before. I never felt like God was really there. Throughout my freshman year there were many trials, including two crazy roommates that made my life pretty miserable, many failed auditions, and feeling led by God to leave my boyfriend of two years. So for the first time I was radically living sold-out for Jesus! Last summer was a huge spiritual growth spurt for me. I went back to school in the fall and God led me to Campus Crusade for Christ. I made amazing friends that will last for a lifetime and found a place that I could continue to grow spiritual and have great fellowship. I also have a chance to really focus on pouring into other people and learning how to share my faith more effectively.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Rest Already!
Matthew 11:28-30
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Anywhos. That's all. Life is good. Rob and I have been together for 6 months and I love him more than ever. :-) Things are going good for us and God is working through us. It'll be cool to see what God does with us once I leave. I think it'll be all good.
That's all for now.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Attacks...
Being on the front lines of spiritual warfare sucks. I've felt that I have been on them a lot lately, because I have been rekindling the romance in my life with Jesus AND I'm going to do the Lord's work in a few weeks, so the enemy really has it out for me and is attacking the most sensitive areas of my life.
Roger Webb, the revivalist/evangelist who came to our church a few weeks ago came back today for the Sunday service. He said when you're in the storm to keep your eyes on the Lord and not the enemy... maybe that's my problem. I'm so busy fighting under God's authority, but I'm not always focused on Him as much as I am the enemy and defeating him. Yes, the enemy is a target and must be defeated, but every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! I don't need to fight for Him, the battle's already won. I just need to know my place and keep my eyes fixed on Him... like a child learning how to walk, they keep their eyes on mommy or daddy and make their way straight to them. Sometimes they stumble a little, but they are determined to make it. When Jesus' calmed the storm in Mark 4 He asked the disciples if they had no faith. He didn't understand why they were afraid when God in the flesh was on the boat and just chillin. Nothing is different now. It seems like I've been trying to do to much, change to much and I just need to receive when the Lord wants to give me and just let Him do it already! Who knew it could be so hard to just receive... lol. I don't need to do anything but ask most of the time. If He needs me to do something, He'll tell me.
God been talking to me a lot lately and showing me things. He's been answering my prayers when I intercede for people, especially for my summer project group. It's just been awesome. God is so good and wonderful. There's no way that I'm going to give up and stop persevering. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. Nehemiah wouldn't have said that if we wouldn't need the joy of the Lord and if we didn't need strength, which means following God isn't easy and through the valleys we need to remember what the Lord has done and take great joy in that. We need to remember the deposits He has put in us in the past and draw on those. When He tells you something, gives you something, imparts something, He doesn't take that deposit away and He wants you to continue to withdraw from that in the future. We need to hold on because breakthrough could (and probably is) right around the corner.
As always please keep me in your prayers right now... God is good, but the fight is tough. I can't wait to get to Australia and be over the "getting there" hurdle and onto the fight for souls for God's kingdom! :-) Then my hands will get really dirty!!! haha.
Roger Webb, the revivalist/evangelist who came to our church a few weeks ago came back today for the Sunday service. He said when you're in the storm to keep your eyes on the Lord and not the enemy... maybe that's my problem. I'm so busy fighting under God's authority, but I'm not always focused on Him as much as I am the enemy and defeating him. Yes, the enemy is a target and must be defeated, but every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! I don't need to fight for Him, the battle's already won. I just need to know my place and keep my eyes fixed on Him... like a child learning how to walk, they keep their eyes on mommy or daddy and make their way straight to them. Sometimes they stumble a little, but they are determined to make it. When Jesus' calmed the storm in Mark 4 He asked the disciples if they had no faith. He didn't understand why they were afraid when God in the flesh was on the boat and just chillin. Nothing is different now. It seems like I've been trying to do to much, change to much and I just need to receive when the Lord wants to give me and just let Him do it already! Who knew it could be so hard to just receive... lol. I don't need to do anything but ask most of the time. If He needs me to do something, He'll tell me.
God been talking to me a lot lately and showing me things. He's been answering my prayers when I intercede for people, especially for my summer project group. It's just been awesome. God is so good and wonderful. There's no way that I'm going to give up and stop persevering. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. Nehemiah wouldn't have said that if we wouldn't need the joy of the Lord and if we didn't need strength, which means following God isn't easy and through the valleys we need to remember what the Lord has done and take great joy in that. We need to remember the deposits He has put in us in the past and draw on those. When He tells you something, gives you something, imparts something, He doesn't take that deposit away and He wants you to continue to withdraw from that in the future. We need to hold on because breakthrough could (and probably is) right around the corner.
As always please keep me in your prayers right now... God is good, but the fight is tough. I can't wait to get to Australia and be over the "getting there" hurdle and onto the fight for souls for God's kingdom! :-) Then my hands will get really dirty!!! haha.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Hannah's Barreness
I finished the 1st Chapter of "Prophetic Evangelism" last night and one (of the many) eye opening point really caught my attention. Desperation. We need to be desperate for Jesus. And I don't mean wishy-washy only sometimes need Him desperate, I'm talkin hardcore desperate! The example the author used was from First Samuel 1. Hannah's (mother of Samuel) womb had been closed up by the Lord. Hannah was the wife of Elkanah, but he had another wife, Peninah, who was a baby making machine. This provoke Hannah and made her want children even more. Elkanah increased the amount of blessing he gave Hannah and even said "Am I not worth more than ten sons?". This whole bargain deal didn't slow Hannah down. So she got desperate and prayed and fasted before the Lord. She then made a covenant with the Lord, that if He opened her womb, she would dedicate Samuel's life to Him. So the Lord opened her womb and she bore Samuel.
I agree when the author says that God more than likely used Peninah's over-active baby maker to draw something out of Hannah. The same could be said about our possible spiritual barrenness! I know when I see someone else who is spiritually fruitful, I wonder if I'm doing something wrong and I feed of off that sort of thing. I think God let's certain things provoke us so that we get desperate and run to Him with questions and for help. Hannah was so determined!
The author suggests that there are 4 stages of desperation.
Stage 1) Awareness: This is when you first realize something is missing, but at this stage, you more than likely have little to no motivation to figure it out, let alone fix it.
Stage 2) Embarrassment: This stage is when we feel a slight negative feeling about what we are lacking. We see what other people have and are self-conscious about what we are not doing.
Stage 3) Frustration: When that nagging feeling is consistently present. You start to get more distressed about your situation, but many people who get to this stage do not push through and never make any change.
Stage 4) Intolerability: This is when the above feelings release an "momentous change". You get to the point where you can no longer go against the feelings. Desperation like this releases fresh intimacy, inspiration and a much needed impact. Change will not occur without a high sense of urgency! This desperation can be looked at as a divine way that Christ is trying to make you go one step further.
All of that makes a lot of sense to me and has shed some light on why I feel the way I do sometimes. This was only the last 4 pages of the chapter. There were so many other awesome and encouraging things in the first chapter, but this is one I though I should share and dive into deeper. :-)
I agree when the author says that God more than likely used Peninah's over-active baby maker to draw something out of Hannah. The same could be said about our possible spiritual barrenness! I know when I see someone else who is spiritually fruitful, I wonder if I'm doing something wrong and I feed of off that sort of thing. I think God let's certain things provoke us so that we get desperate and run to Him with questions and for help. Hannah was so determined!
The author suggests that there are 4 stages of desperation.
Stage 1) Awareness: This is when you first realize something is missing, but at this stage, you more than likely have little to no motivation to figure it out, let alone fix it.
Stage 2) Embarrassment: This stage is when we feel a slight negative feeling about what we are lacking. We see what other people have and are self-conscious about what we are not doing.
Stage 3) Frustration: When that nagging feeling is consistently present. You start to get more distressed about your situation, but many people who get to this stage do not push through and never make any change.
Stage 4) Intolerability: This is when the above feelings release an "momentous change". You get to the point where you can no longer go against the feelings. Desperation like this releases fresh intimacy, inspiration and a much needed impact. Change will not occur without a high sense of urgency! This desperation can be looked at as a divine way that Christ is trying to make you go one step further.
All of that makes a lot of sense to me and has shed some light on why I feel the way I do sometimes. This was only the last 4 pages of the chapter. There were so many other awesome and encouraging things in the first chapter, but this is one I though I should share and dive into deeper. :-)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Valley of Dry Bones
So I started to read the book I got yesterday called "Prophetic Evangelism: Empowering a Generation to Seize Their Day" by Sean Smith. I just finished the prologue... yeah, I know, exciting, right? haha. Well it had a good amount of info in it that I need to process so I'm going to do that here.
After reading the prologue once, I decided to read Ezekiel 37 in it entirety so I could really understand the full version. After doing so I re-read the prologue and grasped everything a lot better! God was showing Ezekiel the dry bones and asked "Son of man, can these bones live?" And Ezekiel's reply was like "Only you can pull off that one big guy!" So Ezekiel seemed to realize the impossibility of himself trying to make these bones live again. He knew no matter what he said or did as a man would do nothing to these bones. So God tells Him what to say and do under God's authority! So he tells the bones what God said and the bones came back to life. Ezekiel become an "divine agent for 'dead' humanity". God could have brought the bones back to life without using Ezekiel, but He DESIRED to use Ezekiel as a vessel for His grand plan! In John 5:19-20 Jesus says
"...I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these". God wants us to get with the program, jump on board, join in on what He's doing and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying and pointing out specifically! We can't do anything without our Heavenly Father, so why even try to? We should be abiding in Him and being more focused on growing His Kingdom!
I highly recommend that you read Ezekiel 37 if you haven't recently. It is a great example of Prophetic Evangelism and just all around inspiring!
After reading the prologue once, I decided to read Ezekiel 37 in it entirety so I could really understand the full version. After doing so I re-read the prologue and grasped everything a lot better! God was showing Ezekiel the dry bones and asked "Son of man, can these bones live?" And Ezekiel's reply was like "Only you can pull off that one big guy!" So Ezekiel seemed to realize the impossibility of himself trying to make these bones live again. He knew no matter what he said or did as a man would do nothing to these bones. So God tells Him what to say and do under God's authority! So he tells the bones what God said and the bones came back to life. Ezekiel become an "divine agent for 'dead' humanity". God could have brought the bones back to life without using Ezekiel, but He DESIRED to use Ezekiel as a vessel for His grand plan! In John 5:19-20 Jesus says
"...I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these". God wants us to get with the program, jump on board, join in on what He's doing and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying and pointing out specifically! We can't do anything without our Heavenly Father, so why even try to? We should be abiding in Him and being more focused on growing His Kingdom!
I highly recommend that you read Ezekiel 37 if you haven't recently. It is a great example of Prophetic Evangelism and just all around inspiring!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Final Round
Christ’s Power – Acts 1:8
Do you experience the power of the Spirit for witness?
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
I think I can tell when the Spirit urges me to talk to someone. And whenever the Spirit does this He gives me the right words. I know that He is in control and that He will tell me what to do. I went shopping today and picked up a book about prophetic evangelism which sounds pretty sweet and I'm excited to start reading a little bit. I hope it'll help me listen to God more when it comes to evangelism and to be able to identify divine appointments in advance. With the power of the Spirit, anything is possible! I have yet had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ and I really hope that God will use me that way in Australia. I know I'll be sharing there, I would just really love to lead people to Him and be able to keep in contact with a new brother or sister in Christ. I can't wait to experience the adventures for this summer...
Do you experience the power of the Spirit for witness?
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
I think I can tell when the Spirit urges me to talk to someone. And whenever the Spirit does this He gives me the right words. I know that He is in control and that He will tell me what to do. I went shopping today and picked up a book about prophetic evangelism which sounds pretty sweet and I'm excited to start reading a little bit. I hope it'll help me listen to God more when it comes to evangelism and to be able to identify divine appointments in advance. With the power of the Spirit, anything is possible! I have yet had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ and I really hope that God will use me that way in Australia. I know I'll be sharing there, I would just really love to lead people to Him and be able to keep in contact with a new brother or sister in Christ. I can't wait to experience the adventures for this summer...
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Round 3
Round 3
Christ’s Plan – Matthew 28:18-20
Do you embrace the Great Commission?
(18) Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
So the big question... do I embrace this passage? Kinda...? I mean I totally understand what it means... Jesus commanded us to go share the gospel with EVERYONE! Not just in foreign countries, but even in our hometowns. I think lately I've been stuck in the rut of, 'Well I'll do my part in Australia this summer' and just kind of ignoring my responsibility to this passage until then. It's not easy for me right now because I'm not working much at all... I just basically go to church and that's about as much excitement as I get. BUT I do have old high school friends that I could be inviting to church. And we had a revival meeting about a week ago and I invited people, but it was short notice which made things difficult. I should be praying for more opportunities... heck even just with my family. My dad's side is not as spiritual as my mom's side... but they are just so hard to talk to about anything at all! I am totally pumped and prepared to go share the gospel when I'm in Australia... I really should be praying more about RIGHT NOW! Practicing now would be amazing preparation for Australia. I need to pray for more wisdom and boldness I think. More zeal. It's been pretty easy to grow stagnit in some areas since I'm stuck at home, but at the same time this is the perfect opportunity to spend lots of alone time with God. For as many times as I've heard or read this passage, it amazes me how convicting and powerful it is!
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In other news...
Rob left for New Staff Training today. I didn't think I'd get to talk to him today, but I was pleasantly surprised to have my cell phone wake me up from my nap. I got to talk to him for a little over a half hour when he was on his way to pick up the guy he's carpooling with. I'm so excited for him! He's going to be playing drums for the worship team down there, which is really cool! I can't wait to see what God does with Him over the next month and a half! In just the past week I've seen strong, spiritual growth in him and in the relationship! God's def. doing something. :)
At midnight, I have only 25 days until I leave for Australia! It's so insane. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster... and the rollercoaster experience for me means that the slow, clicking to the top is nerve racking and all I want to do is get off the coaster, but I know that I can't turn back now... and at the same time I don't want to, I just want to get to the top already so that the anticipation goes away and I can experience the free fall and the awesome twists and turns. This rollercoaster is one the requires my legs to be dangling... which is a very terrifying but fun feeling for me! haha. It's more vulnerable. Also, on the way to the top, I don't look around (mostly because I'm terrified of heights)... this aspect can be positive, because it means I'm focusing on the goal and God, but at the same time, I'm not looking around at the other possibilities. That pretty much explains it. Don't get me wrong at all--I am so excited to go... I just want to get rid of this nervous energy and be there already! :)
Christ’s Plan – Matthew 28:18-20
Do you embrace the Great Commission?
(18) Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
So the big question... do I embrace this passage? Kinda...? I mean I totally understand what it means... Jesus commanded us to go share the gospel with EVERYONE! Not just in foreign countries, but even in our hometowns. I think lately I've been stuck in the rut of, 'Well I'll do my part in Australia this summer' and just kind of ignoring my responsibility to this passage until then. It's not easy for me right now because I'm not working much at all... I just basically go to church and that's about as much excitement as I get. BUT I do have old high school friends that I could be inviting to church. And we had a revival meeting about a week ago and I invited people, but it was short notice which made things difficult. I should be praying for more opportunities... heck even just with my family. My dad's side is not as spiritual as my mom's side... but they are just so hard to talk to about anything at all! I am totally pumped and prepared to go share the gospel when I'm in Australia... I really should be praying more about RIGHT NOW! Practicing now would be amazing preparation for Australia. I need to pray for more wisdom and boldness I think. More zeal. It's been pretty easy to grow stagnit in some areas since I'm stuck at home, but at the same time this is the perfect opportunity to spend lots of alone time with God. For as many times as I've heard or read this passage, it amazes me how convicting and powerful it is!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news...
Rob left for New Staff Training today. I didn't think I'd get to talk to him today, but I was pleasantly surprised to have my cell phone wake me up from my nap. I got to talk to him for a little over a half hour when he was on his way to pick up the guy he's carpooling with. I'm so excited for him! He's going to be playing drums for the worship team down there, which is really cool! I can't wait to see what God does with Him over the next month and a half! In just the past week I've seen strong, spiritual growth in him and in the relationship! God's def. doing something. :)
At midnight, I have only 25 days until I leave for Australia! It's so insane. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster... and the rollercoaster experience for me means that the slow, clicking to the top is nerve racking and all I want to do is get off the coaster, but I know that I can't turn back now... and at the same time I don't want to, I just want to get to the top already so that the anticipation goes away and I can experience the free fall and the awesome twists and turns. This rollercoaster is one the requires my legs to be dangling... which is a very terrifying but fun feeling for me! haha. It's more vulnerable. Also, on the way to the top, I don't look around (mostly because I'm terrified of heights)... this aspect can be positive, because it means I'm focusing on the goal and God, but at the same time, I'm not looking around at the other possibilities. That pretty much explains it. Don't get me wrong at all--I am so excited to go... I just want to get rid of this nervous energy and be there already! :)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Round 2
Christ’s Passion – Matthew 9:35-38
Do you have compassion for the lost?
(35) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (38) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
A little sidenote.
This is my address and the place I'm staying in Australia.
42 Denison St.
Newcastle NSW 2303
Our hostel: newcastlebackpackers.com
Seeing the hostel got me more excited about going. We're just a few blocks from the beach too, I'm really excited to spend time with God by the ocean... it was so much fun to do that during Spring Break, so I'm ready to do it again for sure!
:)
Do you have compassion for the lost?
(35) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (38) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
I think sometimes my compassion for the lost is only surface level. I don't think this attitude is intentional. It's like when you see those commercials for orphans that are always sad and depressing, but then you get distracted and kind of forget about them. I think I can be a little compassion ADD, if you will. My heart DOES break for the lost, but when it comes to doing something, I'm scared, too busy, or just plain lazy. I need to start working towards being one of the workers in this plentiful harvest. People ARE hungry. People ARE lost and they ARE looking for something to fill the void in their heart. So many times they turned to the wrong things, how many of those times was it possible for us, as the workers, to possibly prevent some of that? I know I need to make more of a conscious effort.
I'm so excited that this summer I'll be somewhat forced to learn to deal with my fear and laziness when it comes to talking to people. It's really hard for me to maintain friendships. I've been burned a lot in the past with friends who only want to talk and not listen. They ended up sucking the life out of me. It's a stronghold I need to get past because not everyone is going to do that to me and I need to give people a chance before I label them. I really hope that my friendship building skills grow a lot this summer and I'll kind of learn how to do that all over again. I know that I have friends now that would be here for me in a heartbeat. Sometimes I just have a hard time realizing it.
A little sidenote.
This is my address and the place I'm staying in Australia.
42 Denison St.
Newcastle NSW 2303
Our hostel: newcastlebackpackers.com
Seeing the hostel got me more excited about going. We're just a few blocks from the beach too, I'm really excited to spend time with God by the ocean... it was so much fun to do that during Spring Break, so I'm ready to do it again for sure!
:)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Prayer for Australia Summer Project
Along with the homework my project director sent, here are some things me and my team will be praying about this week. If you could, even right now, pray for some of these things, it would be greatly appreciated!
- Pray that my team would be followers of Christ and look more and more like him, that his purpose would be our purpose, his passion our passion, his plan our plan and his power our power.
- Pray for our financial needs. We’re at about 60% of what we need as a team. Let’s ask and trust the Lord to provide the remaining 40% before my team gets on the plane in July! God has called my team to physically go to Australia this summer, and he has called others to be involved through sacrificing financially to send us.
My project director gave us some homework. :)
So for the next four days I'll be going through a passage and writing thoughts here.
Round 1
Christ’s Purpose – John 17:1-5
Do you seek God’s glory first and foremost?
This is a pretty powerful passage. Because Jesus died for our sins so we could spend eternity with God, we are Jesus' brothers and sisters and heirs to the Kingdom of God. As Christians He commands us to spread the good news! How many times do we pass up this opportunity? How many times do we ignore the stir in our spirit to talk to someone about Christ? And why? Because we're scared? Because we may be persecuted? Jesus says that we must pick up our cross and follow Him. For those of you who have seen The Passion of the Christ, I'm sure you can recall the image of Christ lugging His cross up a hill -- it was not an easy task! It sure wasn't comfortable. And we do not have it nearly as tough as He did -- I don't think any of us are sweating blood, literally or figuratively over a situation! We should have God glorifying lives 24/7/365. Yes, we are human, we screw up, but if God sees us making the effort He WILL bless us for it. I encourage you, no matter how bad things are, to go to Christ and make things right with Him. He can pull you out of ANY pit. Living in Christ, receiving His joy even when things seem to be falling apart... it's one of the trippyest things ever! When you flesh is freaking out, screaming, but your spirit is still and joyful... you know you're doing something right then! Christ's purpose was to be sacrificed so that we could spend eternity with our heavenly Father. And we should be multiplying and building UP the Kingdom of God while we are hear. Easier said then done?... perhaps. But when you are operating in the Holy Spirit BAM! anything can happen. Bask in His presence people... HE IS HERE! Soak in the glory of God and spread it all around!!!!
I am sooooo pumped for Australia! :-D
Round 1
Christ’s Purpose – John 17:1-5
Do you seek God’s glory first and foremost?
Jesus Prays for Himself
(1)After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. (2)For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. (3)Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (4)I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (5)And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began".This is a pretty powerful passage. Because Jesus died for our sins so we could spend eternity with God, we are Jesus' brothers and sisters and heirs to the Kingdom of God. As Christians He commands us to spread the good news! How many times do we pass up this opportunity? How many times do we ignore the stir in our spirit to talk to someone about Christ? And why? Because we're scared? Because we may be persecuted? Jesus says that we must pick up our cross and follow Him. For those of you who have seen The Passion of the Christ, I'm sure you can recall the image of Christ lugging His cross up a hill -- it was not an easy task! It sure wasn't comfortable. And we do not have it nearly as tough as He did -- I don't think any of us are sweating blood, literally or figuratively over a situation! We should have God glorifying lives 24/7/365. Yes, we are human, we screw up, but if God sees us making the effort He WILL bless us for it. I encourage you, no matter how bad things are, to go to Christ and make things right with Him. He can pull you out of ANY pit. Living in Christ, receiving His joy even when things seem to be falling apart... it's one of the trippyest things ever! When you flesh is freaking out, screaming, but your spirit is still and joyful... you know you're doing something right then! Christ's purpose was to be sacrificed so that we could spend eternity with our heavenly Father. And we should be multiplying and building UP the Kingdom of God while we are hear. Easier said then done?... perhaps. But when you are operating in the Holy Spirit BAM! anything can happen. Bask in His presence people... HE IS HERE! Soak in the glory of God and spread it all around!!!!
I am sooooo pumped for Australia! :-D
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I'm such a slacker.
Sound I haven't blogged in a while... and I def. haven't been keeping up in Romans! AGH! I've been in the habit of starting a book and then starting another one... mostly Christian books. But now I'm reading a book called "A Sunburned Country"... it's about Australia and it's pretty funny.
But yeah... I need to get back into the word regularly! I don't think just looking at my facebook bible verse of the day is enough. Even though I haven't been in the word as much as I'd like, I have reconnected with God a lot in the past week. We had an evangelist that spent 35 day at the Lakeland Revival come to my church for two nights in a row (last Friday and Saturday) and it was amazing. People were healed of pain, hearing issues, etc. We also spent a large amount of time praising God and dancing and having fellowship. It was really amazing to feel a heavy presence of God and it was contagious. God really ministered to me the first night and I was "filled" with the spirit. (see Eph. 5:18). I let God take over again and He's been doing a huge work in me, which is good, but somewhat painful. So it's good to be at home and back at my church.
I saw Rob this past Sunday & Monday. It was fun, but now we have a little over 2 months until we see each other again. We both believe that God is separating us for a reason for this time period, but it's really hard. Rob leaves for New Staff Training on Monday and I'm really excited for him and a little jealous! He was talking about some of his texts books and it sounds like he's going to be learning a lot of cool stuff. I'm sure I'll be learning cool things too... which will be fun to talk about when we get back from our summer adventures!
I'm working on getting some sort of cell phone for when I'm in Australia, but it's such a pain. If I use nextel, it cost $1.29 a minute and if I go with a local Australian number I have to buy a phone & sim card... which will basically pay for itself in comparison to nextel. So I'm trying to figure that out (if anyone has any advice let me know...). It's frustrating and adding unneeded stress. I just really want to be able to talk to my family and Rob when I'm gone because I'll be lucky to get online once a week since we can't take laptops.
But other than that... things are good. A girl that I was training last week at my old workplace asked me how to know if she was saved... which she was and just needed to be pointed towards scripture. So that was cool... I didn't even bring it up. God is good. Things are a little rough but other people have it way worse than I do. I'm getting excited for Australia but I'm still nervous... like really nervous. But I know without a doubt that God wants me to go, so I will. :) I know this is a divine appointment in my life. I like to look at it like this: God is stealing me away from everyone I know, especially Rob, to take me to a country I've always wanted to go to, to use me to do His work AND to romance me at one of the most beautiful places I could imagine. So keep me in yours prayers friend... this blog was pretty random so I appreciate it if you made it all the way through. haha.
But yeah... I need to get back into the word regularly! I don't think just looking at my facebook bible verse of the day is enough. Even though I haven't been in the word as much as I'd like, I have reconnected with God a lot in the past week. We had an evangelist that spent 35 day at the Lakeland Revival come to my church for two nights in a row (last Friday and Saturday) and it was amazing. People were healed of pain, hearing issues, etc. We also spent a large amount of time praising God and dancing and having fellowship. It was really amazing to feel a heavy presence of God and it was contagious. God really ministered to me the first night and I was "filled" with the spirit. (see Eph. 5:18). I let God take over again and He's been doing a huge work in me, which is good, but somewhat painful. So it's good to be at home and back at my church.
I saw Rob this past Sunday & Monday. It was fun, but now we have a little over 2 months until we see each other again. We both believe that God is separating us for a reason for this time period, but it's really hard. Rob leaves for New Staff Training on Monday and I'm really excited for him and a little jealous! He was talking about some of his texts books and it sounds like he's going to be learning a lot of cool stuff. I'm sure I'll be learning cool things too... which will be fun to talk about when we get back from our summer adventures!
I'm working on getting some sort of cell phone for when I'm in Australia, but it's such a pain. If I use nextel, it cost $1.29 a minute and if I go with a local Australian number I have to buy a phone & sim card... which will basically pay for itself in comparison to nextel. So I'm trying to figure that out (if anyone has any advice let me know...). It's frustrating and adding unneeded stress. I just really want to be able to talk to my family and Rob when I'm gone because I'll be lucky to get online once a week since we can't take laptops.
But other than that... things are good. A girl that I was training last week at my old workplace asked me how to know if she was saved... which she was and just needed to be pointed towards scripture. So that was cool... I didn't even bring it up. God is good. Things are a little rough but other people have it way worse than I do. I'm getting excited for Australia but I'm still nervous... like really nervous. But I know without a doubt that God wants me to go, so I will. :) I know this is a divine appointment in my life. I like to look at it like this: God is stealing me away from everyone I know, especially Rob, to take me to a country I've always wanted to go to, to use me to do His work AND to romance me at one of the most beautiful places I could imagine. So keep me in yours prayers friend... this blog was pretty random so I appreciate it if you made it all the way through. haha.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
So...
I haven't blogged in a couple of days. Haven't read through Romans either. It's been a pretty busy week. I finished up my summer class (thank you Jesus!) and I've been in Rockford with Rob since Friday night. I'm still here. Rob ended up not having to work today so I got to stay an extra day. Friday we saw Prince Caspian and it was really freakin' cool!! I loved all the Christian connections and some of them were very powerful and sometimes tear jerking! I would totally recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. Saturday we went to Michigan's Adventures with Cru people and that was good and fun up until I feel down some slippery stairs in the water park, which gave me a headache, which made me naseuated (sp?) which put me out of commission the rest of the day -- but Rob and I rode Thunderhawk before we went to the waterpark so I was glad that I at least got to ride the new ride. We went to the beach after that and walked out to the pier and chilled and talked. Then we went to the Getty Drive-In and watched Iron Man. That was the first time I'd ever been to a drive in so it was good fun. Today we went canoing down the Rogue River for two hours -- that was a lot of fun. It was so pretty! Now we're just chillin... Rob's playing some video games and I'm catching up on other people's blogs.
Speaking of reading people's blogs... two of my fellow bloggers are aboard about their recent adventures is getting me excited and nervous about my own in a little over a month! I know God is going to take good care of me because He obviously wants me to go... support raising was almost too easy! lol. But I'm nervous about being away. It's only 6 weeks, but I know SO much is going to happen and that I'm going to grow and do things I've never done before and be places I've never dreamed of seeing before... it's going to be a great experience and I really wish I could shake this feeling of fear. Fear sucks... fear is from the Devil so that means he sucks too. As I'm typing this I'm looking at this eagle things on Rob's desk and it reminds me of Isaiah 40:27-31.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
So there is no doubt that God will sustain me on this trip. He's in control... He knows what's going to happen before, after and during this trip. He knows every single step that I am going to take... then why am I so worried? It's like I know this stuff in my mind but maybe my heart's not completely recieving it? I know it's normal to have some fear/anxiousness before something big like this, but He tells us not to have fear and not to be anxious... BAH! Haha... it's a little frustrating at times. Anywhos... I think I'm done verbally vomitting for today. :)
Speaking of reading people's blogs... two of my fellow bloggers are aboard about their recent adventures is getting me excited and nervous about my own in a little over a month! I know God is going to take good care of me because He obviously wants me to go... support raising was almost too easy! lol. But I'm nervous about being away. It's only 6 weeks, but I know SO much is going to happen and that I'm going to grow and do things I've never done before and be places I've never dreamed of seeing before... it's going to be a great experience and I really wish I could shake this feeling of fear. Fear sucks... fear is from the Devil so that means he sucks too. As I'm typing this I'm looking at this eagle things on Rob's desk and it reminds me of Isaiah 40:27-31.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
So there is no doubt that God will sustain me on this trip. He's in control... He knows what's going to happen before, after and during this trip. He knows every single step that I am going to take... then why am I so worried? It's like I know this stuff in my mind but maybe my heart's not completely recieving it? I know it's normal to have some fear/anxiousness before something big like this, but He tells us not to have fear and not to be anxious... BAH! Haha... it's a little frustrating at times. Anywhos... I think I'm done verbally vomitting for today. :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Starting to get a little stressed...
So it's really starting to hit me that I'll be in another country in a little over a month. It's scary for me. I've never been in another country before (unless you count Canada... and that was like for an hour) and I've never flown before. I'm really grateful that God isn't calling me to a country that speaks a completely different language... at least not this trip. I don't think the culture shock will be bad at all. The time difference will be tough, but I'll adjust. I'm praying that God will keep me strong through all of this. I've already been getting emotional about it for the past few weeks. Sometimes I'll be fine and then it'll hit me out of no where.
Rob leaves for New Staff Training around the 16th or 17th of June.... and that starts our two month separation, which SUCKS. I'm not looking forward to that at all. I know God is going to use it to help our personal relationships with Him and I really hope that getting closer to God will bring us closer together, regardless of the distance. God knows what He's doing but it's really hard when I can't see what my life will look like in 2.5 months. I know we are supposed to have faith in things that are not seen, but applying that is hard, especially when it comes to a boyfriend! But, I know it'll be ok and this experience will only make me stronger in the end, no matter what happens.
Anywhos... I feel a little better now that I got all that out. Keep me in your prayers, my avid readers. ;-)
Looooove.
Rob leaves for New Staff Training around the 16th or 17th of June.... and that starts our two month separation, which SUCKS. I'm not looking forward to that at all. I know God is going to use it to help our personal relationships with Him and I really hope that getting closer to God will bring us closer together, regardless of the distance. God knows what He's doing but it's really hard when I can't see what my life will look like in 2.5 months. I know we are supposed to have faith in things that are not seen, but applying that is hard, especially when it comes to a boyfriend! But, I know it'll be ok and this experience will only make me stronger in the end, no matter what happens.
Anywhos... I feel a little better now that I got all that out. Keep me in your prayers, my avid readers. ;-)
Looooove.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Romans 3 & 4
Romans 3
I didn't get a whole lot out of Romans 3. The main thing I got out of it was verse 3 & 4.
"What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
'So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge' ".
I guess verse 3 is comforting to me because no matter what, my lack of faith will never hurt God. My lack of faith can really only hurt me in the long run. God doesn't go anywhere, we're the ones that wonder off. He is always there.
Romans 4
Romans 4 goes on to talk about Abraham's faith. The end of the chapter is what caught me the most, mostly because it seemed straight to the point and went along with what I have been feeling lately.
Verse 18 - 25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief [he did not worry] regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
I really love Abraham's story. His faith is really inspiring. In the natural, he knew that it was impossible that he and Sarah could not have a baby, but nothing is impossible with God. God can do whatever He wants. He can give and He can take away. And through it all, Abraham did not worry, he did not sway in his faith when it came to what God promised him, he knew that God had the power! I wish my faith was that strong all the time. My faith tends to be like a leaf being blown by the wind instead of a strong tree. Some things are easier to have faith about. Some things are hard to let go and let God deal with. If God promises us something, He's going to do it! Isn't that exciting? It's not like human promises that people can break at any minute... God is faithful. We can always trust that He's got our best interest in mind and He'll take care of us even when He puts us through scary things. I'm almost afraid to ask God for faith like Abraham's because I know He'll test me. haha. But I really do want faith like that...
I didn't get a whole lot out of Romans 3. The main thing I got out of it was verse 3 & 4.
"What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
'So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge' ".
I guess verse 3 is comforting to me because no matter what, my lack of faith will never hurt God. My lack of faith can really only hurt me in the long run. God doesn't go anywhere, we're the ones that wonder off. He is always there.
Romans 4
Romans 4 goes on to talk about Abraham's faith. The end of the chapter is what caught me the most, mostly because it seemed straight to the point and went along with what I have been feeling lately.
Verse 18 - 25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief [he did not worry] regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
I really love Abraham's story. His faith is really inspiring. In the natural, he knew that it was impossible that he and Sarah could not have a baby, but nothing is impossible with God. God can do whatever He wants. He can give and He can take away. And through it all, Abraham did not worry, he did not sway in his faith when it came to what God promised him, he knew that God had the power! I wish my faith was that strong all the time. My faith tends to be like a leaf being blown by the wind instead of a strong tree. Some things are easier to have faith about. Some things are hard to let go and let God deal with. If God promises us something, He's going to do it! Isn't that exciting? It's not like human promises that people can break at any minute... God is faithful. We can always trust that He's got our best interest in mind and He'll take care of us even when He puts us through scary things. I'm almost afraid to ask God for faith like Abraham's because I know He'll test me. haha. But I really do want faith like that...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Romans 1 & 2
So I've wanted to go through Romans for about 6 months now, so I decided to buckle down and take on the book. I was planning on only doing one chapter a day but when I finished chapter one it left on a cliffhanger, so I went on to chapter two -- so who knows how the rest will work out.
First of all, I'd like to say... holy crap Paul makes me feel SO convicted! haha. I guess technically it's God that's making me convicting, but Paul meant business.
Chapter 1:
After Paul's greeting in the beginning the subtitle is "Paul's Longing to Visit Rome". In verse 11 & 12 he says "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith". This definitley reminded me that I need to encourage and be encouraged by other people's faith -- Paul longed to see these people so that they could feed off of each other. A lot of my friends that I've emailed or talked to since the end of the semester seem to be in spiritual ruts, mostly because the fellowship is gone that we all because so used to during the school year. I know it's been especially hard on me because I'm stuck in Mt. Pleasant, where there are not a whole lot of people I know around and even when I do go back to Mayville, I don't really have a lot of fellowship opportunities outside of the church because I'm basically the only college aged one there. I can't wait for Australia because it will be Jesus 24/7 and I'll be living with 17 other believers that seemed pretty fired up for Christ.
Moving on... the second thing that caught my eye in this sections was verse 17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." The last 6 words really hit me for some reason... the righteous live by faith. That little statement is loaded with all kind of ideas, the main one for me being that this walk on the straight and narrow is hard... so hard that we have to live/walk by faith. We aren't always going to see where we are going and we have to let God lead us at His pace otherwise we might get lost.
The next section is labeled God's Wrath Against Mankind. Going into this section I knew it was going to be intense. I was fairly familiar with it because I wrote a paper this past semester on homosexuality and verse 26 & 27 deal with that.
The first passage that jumped out at me was verses 20-21: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened". Holy crap is that convicting or what? We are without excuse... sometimes even though we know God will don't glorify him, we don't give thanks to Him for all that He has done (the cross is kinda a big deal and I think we all take that for granted more than we'd like to admit) and our thoughts are so bad at times I know I wouldn't want people being able to read mine. How scary is that? We have no excuse and we deliberately spit in God's face.
The context of this scripture was obviously to the Romans during a time of very illicit behaviors around 60 a.d. (or pretty close to that). I think this section still applies today even though this is address to people a little under 2,000 years ago. Verse 24 & 25 say: "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen". I read that last sentence and tears started to fall. We still see this happening and as Christians do this... we take the easier road at times and do things our way and when we do that we buy into a lie. We exchange the TRUTH OF GOD for a pitiful lie and worship things that do not even matter! Paul goes on to describe how God gave them over to these things... God gives us free will and can only control so much. We choose so many things that lead to unnecessary pain and set-backs. I am by no stretch of the imagination saying that the Christian walk is easy and painless, but God lets things happen for a reason. When we "take control" and run things into the ground, it makes everything worse. "(28)Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he [God] gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. (29)They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." I do not think we are better off than they were on this one. I know we have all done something that we knew God wasn't going to like but we did it anyways. And since all sin is equal, that doesn't make us much different than the people of 60 a.d.
Chapter 2
So after Paul unload all of this on us, he tells us that we have no excuse to judge people because when we judge them, we are condemning ourselves as well. It's that whole "when you point a finger at someone you have three pointing right back at you" idea. Basically to sum up what I got from Chapter two: Repent. Do not judge others. God knows you hearts, so you can't fool him. It's all about what is on the inside. I didn't get as much out of Chapter 2 as I did in chapter 1, but it was good basic stuff that was nice to review.
That is all. :-)
First of all, I'd like to say... holy crap Paul makes me feel SO convicted! haha. I guess technically it's God that's making me convicting, but Paul meant business.
Chapter 1:
After Paul's greeting in the beginning the subtitle is "Paul's Longing to Visit Rome". In verse 11 & 12 he says "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith". This definitley reminded me that I need to encourage and be encouraged by other people's faith -- Paul longed to see these people so that they could feed off of each other. A lot of my friends that I've emailed or talked to since the end of the semester seem to be in spiritual ruts, mostly because the fellowship is gone that we all because so used to during the school year. I know it's been especially hard on me because I'm stuck in Mt. Pleasant, where there are not a whole lot of people I know around and even when I do go back to Mayville, I don't really have a lot of fellowship opportunities outside of the church because I'm basically the only college aged one there. I can't wait for Australia because it will be Jesus 24/7 and I'll be living with 17 other believers that seemed pretty fired up for Christ.
Moving on... the second thing that caught my eye in this sections was verse 17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." The last 6 words really hit me for some reason... the righteous live by faith. That little statement is loaded with all kind of ideas, the main one for me being that this walk on the straight and narrow is hard... so hard that we have to live/walk by faith. We aren't always going to see where we are going and we have to let God lead us at His pace otherwise we might get lost.
The next section is labeled God's Wrath Against Mankind. Going into this section I knew it was going to be intense. I was fairly familiar with it because I wrote a paper this past semester on homosexuality and verse 26 & 27 deal with that.
The first passage that jumped out at me was verses 20-21: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened". Holy crap is that convicting or what? We are without excuse... sometimes even though we know God will don't glorify him, we don't give thanks to Him for all that He has done (the cross is kinda a big deal and I think we all take that for granted more than we'd like to admit) and our thoughts are so bad at times I know I wouldn't want people being able to read mine. How scary is that? We have no excuse and we deliberately spit in God's face.
The context of this scripture was obviously to the Romans during a time of very illicit behaviors around 60 a.d. (or pretty close to that). I think this section still applies today even though this is address to people a little under 2,000 years ago. Verse 24 & 25 say: "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen". I read that last sentence and tears started to fall. We still see this happening and as Christians do this... we take the easier road at times and do things our way and when we do that we buy into a lie. We exchange the TRUTH OF GOD for a pitiful lie and worship things that do not even matter! Paul goes on to describe how God gave them over to these things... God gives us free will and can only control so much. We choose so many things that lead to unnecessary pain and set-backs. I am by no stretch of the imagination saying that the Christian walk is easy and painless, but God lets things happen for a reason. When we "take control" and run things into the ground, it makes everything worse. "(28)Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he [God] gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. (29)They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." I do not think we are better off than they were on this one. I know we have all done something that we knew God wasn't going to like but we did it anyways. And since all sin is equal, that doesn't make us much different than the people of 60 a.d.
Chapter 2
So after Paul unload all of this on us, he tells us that we have no excuse to judge people because when we judge them, we are condemning ourselves as well. It's that whole "when you point a finger at someone you have three pointing right back at you" idea. Basically to sum up what I got from Chapter two: Repent. Do not judge others. God knows you hearts, so you can't fool him. It's all about what is on the inside. I didn't get as much out of Chapter 2 as I did in chapter 1, but it was good basic stuff that was nice to review.
That is all. :-)
Bloggidy, blog, blog, blog...
So I have a blog on Myspace, but I wanted a new one that people could access easier. That and I just wanted a fresh start. :-) I also wanted to start recording my quiet time thoughts somewhere... I hate hand-writing a journal, so at least until I go to Australia, I will be writing my thought down on whatever I am studying... I think this will kind of keep me accountable too, because if I skip a few days, it's right in front of my face when I log in. Haha.
Before I start my quiet time stuff (which will be a separate post, just to keep things a little organized) I wanna talk (type?) about a few other things. First of all, I have all the support raised for me trip not including the $500.00 for my domestic flight! My project director messed with the budget and knocked off $500.00, which I thought was pretty awesome of him! I sent out a few more letters about a week ago and I really hope I over raise so I can 1) pay back my parents for the flight and 2) hopefully help someone else on my team! I would really love to bless someone else! It's really hard for me to watch some of my friends go on summer projects too and not be able to help them because I do not have a job, so hopefully God helps me over raise and I can bless maybe a couple people on my team. The support raising process has gone so fast for me, it's like it didn't happen... I don't know if that makes sense, but God just completely took care of it and it's amazing. I had so many doubts and fears about it before I started raising, but He definitley showed off!
Second, I'm 2/3 the way done with my summer class. I took my mid-term today and got a 66%... yeah, not good. I really hate when there are only a mid-term and a final because I have no idea how the test is going to look or what to study. The study guide did not help at all, because almost 80% of the stuff on the study guide was not on the test... and the prof had so many questions about random facts that nobody really cares about that I just did not know. Hopefully I can redeem myself on the final now that I know what his testing style is like... it's just really disappointing.
Third, Rob is now officially out of Mt. Pleasant, which is rather depressing for me, but something I'll need to get used too. For at least the next two years (if things keep going :-P) it's going to be a long-distance relationship. I've done this before but it really does not make things much easier the second time around. We'll be separated for two months because his staff training and my trip to Australia overlaps, so that'll definitely be a challenge. I'm trying my best to completely trust God with our relationship and keeps us together and closer than ever if it's His will. Things are pretty good with Rob overall. :-)
I don't think there is really much else right now... soooo yeah.
Laterz.
Before I start my quiet time stuff (which will be a separate post, just to keep things a little organized) I wanna talk (type?) about a few other things. First of all, I have all the support raised for me trip not including the $500.00 for my domestic flight! My project director messed with the budget and knocked off $500.00, which I thought was pretty awesome of him! I sent out a few more letters about a week ago and I really hope I over raise so I can 1) pay back my parents for the flight and 2) hopefully help someone else on my team! I would really love to bless someone else! It's really hard for me to watch some of my friends go on summer projects too and not be able to help them because I do not have a job, so hopefully God helps me over raise and I can bless maybe a couple people on my team. The support raising process has gone so fast for me, it's like it didn't happen... I don't know if that makes sense, but God just completely took care of it and it's amazing. I had so many doubts and fears about it before I started raising, but He definitley showed off!
Second, I'm 2/3 the way done with my summer class. I took my mid-term today and got a 66%... yeah, not good. I really hate when there are only a mid-term and a final because I have no idea how the test is going to look or what to study. The study guide did not help at all, because almost 80% of the stuff on the study guide was not on the test... and the prof had so many questions about random facts that nobody really cares about that I just did not know. Hopefully I can redeem myself on the final now that I know what his testing style is like... it's just really disappointing.
Third, Rob is now officially out of Mt. Pleasant, which is rather depressing for me, but something I'll need to get used too. For at least the next two years (if things keep going :-P) it's going to be a long-distance relationship. I've done this before but it really does not make things much easier the second time around. We'll be separated for two months because his staff training and my trip to Australia overlaps, so that'll definitely be a challenge. I'm trying my best to completely trust God with our relationship and keeps us together and closer than ever if it's His will. Things are pretty good with Rob overall. :-)
I don't think there is really much else right now... soooo yeah.
Laterz.
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