A Little Piece of Heaven....

I just got back from the Upstream retreat, and thought I'd share a little bit of what God showed me this weekend...it was pretty awesome. As Travis pointed out, the purpose of a retreat isn't to escape the real world....but I still think that taking the time to confront the issues facing us in the real world in a retreat setting is a bit of heaven...fellowship with other believers, praising the Lord, and learning more about Him....it's just sweet.

So, we listened to some Matt Chandler talks on the drive up, and one theme that came up that was repeated on the retreat was happiness. We chase after the things of this world, and when they don't satisfy, like the complete imbecils we really are, we seek more of what doesn't satisfy us, rather than seeking the only thing that can truly satisfy....Jesus! I see this in my own like quite a bit....retail therapy anyone? This problem can manifest itself in many ways....in relationships...we seek to have another person fill a void that only God can....quite frankly, I've gotten to the point where I am happy to not be in a relationship.....it's not a big priority for me...another person does not, and cannot, complete me...only God can...and I have some work to do in that department...growth needs to happen before God could even bless me with a partner to run with.

So, here is an analogy about filling ourselves with the things of this world that Matt Chandler used....
let's say that all you have to eat, all day long, for months and months, was crackers. And you said, "Man, these crackers are really just not satisfying me. What I reallly need is.....more crackers." Think about it.

Psalm 81 speaks of God's goodness and Israel's waywardness....I think it applies well in this situation, to how God feels about us....
"...open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people did not listen to My voice....oh that My people would listen to me...I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Neat Conviction Number Two
How did I get to this point of complacency when it comes to being a light to the world? Here is a Bible verse Travis read...
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
"...it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of the darkness", is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"
Light-bearer.....not student, not future international affairs expert, not trophy wife.....light-bearer. That is my primary purpose in being here on earth!

Some verses relating to that that I read this morning....
Ephesians 5:11
"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them...but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, (from Isaish 60), "Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

5:15-17
"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, for the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

I could go on and on....spiritual high...but I intend to make it more than a high....highs are inevitable, even good, so long as we apply the things we've learned to our lives...but I'll leave you with this thought from the weekend....the gospel never gets old.....think about it.

Who Am I? A Dr. Jekyll trying to keep Mr. Hyde in check perhaps...

So, as I stretched out on a couch on campus yesterday, I had some random thoughts...I started reminiscing about high school, not quite sure why, and then how much I've changed in the short period since then....it seems like just yesterday I was entering my freshman year of high school...

It occured to me that high school is a whole lot about figuring out who you're not, college is where you truly do discover who are are.
I always thought that sounded somewhat cheesy....as a senior in high school preparing to enter college, I would think that it sounded silly...I know who I am...duuuh. But since I've been here, I've discovered that it's true. I don't know myself as well as I once thought I might have. College has a way of bringing your weaknessed to the surface...as well as your strengths. I am growing in the knowledge of who I am in Christ, and a lot of that process involves the realization that I don't know myself as well as I thought I did...or as well as He knows me. What are my true priorities? What is true friendship? What truly gets me?

Who was I in high school even?
Self-absorbed...not that I'm not anymore....it's just that in high school I really did have that assumption that most students have that the world does revolve around me. Even though everything might have felt like it meant the world, I really didn't have much to stress about.

I also leaned on others for my faith...to some extent I still do that...but once you get to a secular university, you really do experience what it is to own your faith in an environment that is not necessarily completely on board with it, as opposed to high school where I was blessed with an environment that supported it completely.

Well, those are my thoughts for the day....brought about because recently, God has started showing me some things about my talents, interests, and passions that really suprised me....let's just say He has also been peaking my interest in ministry areas that I would never have considered myself interested in before...in fact, I might even be slightly obstinately opposed to doing some of the things He's been whispering to me about....what will end up happening? I'm waiting to see.....

Let's Applaud Some Common Sense.....

I would like to applaud the U.N. for actually doing what they were created to do and passing a resolution in less than fifty years to do something about North Korea...however, it presents an interesting question: why the quick action now, when doing something about Iraq took, oh, forever? It certainly wasn't a response to pressure from the United States, since when did Europe really care what the U.S. thinks....they should, but that is another post....

So the jist of it? We're going to wait until a threat has nuclear weapons being paraded in the streets rather than dare to be preemptive about anything. You know, typical liberal attitude, which can be summed up in the all-too perfect words of Barbra Streisand, who said this gem of a line back when we were first sending U.S. forces into Iraq..."we should leave that Iranian dictator alone".

And now we have a very serious situation.....are we suprised? We didn't deal with North Korea enough early on...but Bush isn't to be blamed for that...liberals would have pitched a fit if he's tried to "interfere" in any more international threats....grrrr....

One thing to disprove the theory of evolution? People seem to get progressively stupider...and somehow manage to function, against all common sense....remarkable..

Testing this bia out.....