Not about me

So often we are tempted to believe that it's what we do, or how we act that determines our standing with God. When in reality it is all about Him and His glory.

I've been so blessed by Laura who has taught me from early on in my walk with God that we exist for the purpose of bringing God glory. 

Over at her blog Beholding Glory, Laura issued a challenge. For the month of November, leading up to Thanksgiving to blog about why it's not about us. 

I am eager and excited about preparing my heart for thanksgiving by focusing my eyes on the Lord, the author and perfecter of my faith. 

And God showed me a neat place where I realized I wanted it to be about me, but it's really about HIM. I'm so excited to share it with you!

So what do you say? Will you take the challenge with me? You can find out more about it here on Laura's blog. Don't forget to grab the button and tweet about it with #notaboutmenovember!

Can't wait to hear what God does!!

Relevant in College?

Hanging out with college students all the time I see all the latest trends. I can define hipster and scene without flinching. I know about all the latest iPhone and could probably tell you why some people say android is better.

Staying relevant to college students seems like a good idea when you're doing college ministry. Changing and adapting to fit their lifestyle. More technology less 'old-fashioned'. Striving to be relevant in a college culture that is always seeking out the new thing.

But when taken too far, the truth leaves. When trying to hard to 'stay relevant' with Christianity, you push the truth right out the window.

God's word is always relevant. The truth of salvation is always relevant. The need for salvation is always relevant.

I've had the pleasure of sharing the gospel with all kinds of people on our VERY VERY liberal campus. And I can tell you, that I can only recall a couple times when people were offended or put off by what I said.

I remember having a conversation with a girl, who by all outside looks would not be interested in the gospel. I might have passed right by her, but the student I was with stopped to talk. She was a philosophy student and was so eager to hear about Christianity from real Christians because she hadn't met any before. There in the lawn of our crazy campus we shared the gospel. It was relevant to her life even though we would have thought other wise.

Linking up here:

Compassionate Savior (I love technology!!)

College ministry thrives in technology. Facebook, twitter, blogs, text messages, tumblr, etc. For me this is a blessing! I love facebook! Obviously, I love blogging. I would much rather send a text then talk on the phone. I like that we thrive in a technologically savvy world.

I get to have conversations with people I wouldn't normally talk to. I get to keep in touch with students I've only met a handful of times. But one of my favorite parts is the conversations that come out of technology. 

People are often more bold over the internet than they would dare to be in person. This allows for true opinions and hard questions to come out. If you're friends with me on facebook then you'll probably get to see this debates happen first hand over my statuses (although not as often as they used to!). 

Today, I ran across a blog of a student from another campus. A friend of a friend. And he is searching for truth. Asking how can a loving God allow evil? Why does God save some and not others? Questions that we all have entertained at one point in our walk with Christ. 

And by the blessing of the internet, I got to share truth. It excites me so very much when I get to share the love and truth of the Bible. And were it not for blogs and facebook, it wouldn't have happened. I want to share with you my answer, not for my own glory but for God's. 

Because I so deeply believe in His compassionate heart for the lost, I want you to see what God has taught me.  Enjoy!

Hi, 

This is one question that constantly baffles people and I think for good reason. It's hard to understand why a seemingly good God would allow some to suffer while saving others.

I don't claim to know the mind of God or to know His motives. But fortunately I do know His word which reveals His character. Our whole purpose in life is to know God, to know His character and then to proclaim that to the world around us. The more we know the character of God the more we display it.

So the question becomes, how do we see the character of God in hard situations? God intends for people to suffer sometimes. He intended for His own Son to suffer on the cross. Why? Because it brings Him glory. So when people suffer God allows or intends it to bring Himself glory. This is different in many scenarios, in terms of the how. But always it is for God's glory. A truth to stand on is Romans 8:28 that "all things happen for good". This isn't our definition of good but rather God's- to bring him glory.

We also know that by allowing suffering to go on that God is showing the world compassion, another aspect of His character. Rom 8:18 says that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed, that is Heaven. Second Peter 3:9 says the Lord is patient because He doesn't want any to perish but all to know Him.

Jesus is patiently (by the way, the word in Greek means a willingness to endure long-suffering) waiting to return because He knows when He returns, there aren't anymore chances to know God. That's the end.

The longer that God allows the pain and suffering of this world (including death, destruction, etc) the more time people will have to know God, to fulfill the purpose they're created for. To understand this is to see a compassionate side of God and His heart to know the world.

But the reality is that at some point all of us will have to face death. Whether, like in your example, it is in a tragedy, or if we're spared from that tragedy and it's when we're old. all of us will die. We will all have to face God at one point and stand before Him. We will be forced to look at our lives to say if we were innocent or guilty and all of us will have to say guilty. We've all fallen short of the standard of perfection that God demands.

However if we've chosen to take the perfection that Jesus offers on our behalf, then despite our guilt God will see the innocence and perfection of Jesus Christ cast onto us. Completely forgiven and justified.

God's desire is that all would be like that. God's desire is for all mankind to be saved. And because His love for us is that great, He gives us more time in this broken and suffering world so that more people will come to that knowledge.

Ryan, I admire your search for Truth and I believe the longer you look with an open mind the more you will find. I encourage you to ask hard questions and to demand answers. God encourages it too. He says in Jeremiah 33:3 "Ask unto me and I will tell you great and unsearchable things you did not know". He wants to show you answers and wants you to ask Him things. Keep looking, it's out there :)

All my best,
Angi

Linking up with:

Life giving

Being in the midst of raising support and being away from campus it's easy for me to forget how much I love ministry. When I do get the opportunity to invest in students I am so revived. Ministry is so life-giving to me and  encourages me so much.

I often times feel isolated in support raising and Satan uses it to discourage and distract me from the mission that God has put forth. It's a vicious cycle, I lose sight of the mission of making disciples which causes my walk with God to falter; the less time I spend with God the more isolated I feel; the more isolated I feel the temptation of distraction and sin grow; the more I am distracted and sin the more I lose sight of what God has called me to do.

But through God's abounding grace he continually reminds me of the cycle. He gives me small glimpses into ministry. I get small opportunities and see God come through and am reminded of His call on my life.

I'm reminded and convicted of trying to do it alone. I see how God has created us to live dependent. On my own I am weak, but in His power I am strong.

Oh Lord your grace is so overwhelming. When I need you most you are there to rescue me. Thank you for the blessing of doing ministry. Thank you for girls who ask hard questions and who are seeking after Your will for their lives. I pray you would guide them. Thank you Lord for showing me my dependence on you and on others. Lord please enable me to walk in your Spirit to raise support and do ministry. Thank you for calling me to college students and giving me such a joy to see them seek you. God you are so good to us. You bless us beyond words. I love you so very much. 

Soul Reviver

God's word is so good. Just when I thought I was down for the count His word lifted me up. His word is grace. The privilege we have to read it, to know it, to learn from it, and ultimately and most importantly to see and behold the character of God through it.

I pray sweet friends that you will indulge in God's word today. That you will drink deeply from the life-giving power and more clearly see our Creator. May your souls be revived by our Great God.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trust worthy, making wise the simple

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The ffear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:7-11 

Sharing with my dear friend Laura today,

A bunch of silver in Satan's palm

Ezra is maybe one of the craziest people in the whole Bible. Okay maybe not, (Jeremiah was legit crazy, I think he was bi-polar! lol) but he has a crazy amount of faith in what God can do.

In my amazing small group Bible study, we were talking about how faith is essentially the same as our confidence. Dave, one of our incredibly wise leaders put it like this:

For me, faith is in many ways synonymous with confidence. When I say that my faith is weak, I might as well say that I am lacking confidence in Christ. So we ask, how confident am I in the claims of Christ? Do I have enough confidence to associate my name with his family? Am I confident enough to trust my eternal destiny to him alone? Furthermore, am I confident enough in Christ to tell my children, my siblings, my parents, my cousins, my friends, my coworkers to replace whatever they currently place their confidence in with the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Ezra was certainly not lacking confidence in God. Confidence that God would protect him and the people that were entrusted to him. He put all of his faith and confidence into the character of God and His word when He said "The gracious hand of God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is on all who forsake him" (Ez 8:22)

Let me back up a little and give you the introduction :) Ezra was a scholar and a teacher. We know that he devoted himself wholly to the study and practice of God's laws and also to teaching them to others (Ez 7:10). This is pretty impressive considering he grew up in Babylonian captivity and didn't have as much access to God's word as priests before him did.

Ezra also had a boldness I admire. Ezra 7:6 tells us that he received everything he asked King Artaxerxes for. What did he ask for? To be allowed to return to Jerusalem, and to bring the remnant of Israel with him. Which in itself is so crazy!! God moved the heart of two Babylonian Kings to accomplish his will. That's crazy. Artaxerxes not only allowed Ezra to do as he asked but he financially provides for the trip!

This is where the crazy title comes in... :)

So here we find Ezra, a nerdy scholar (this is a term of endearment! promise!) in charge of leading over 1500 men plus all their wives and children and a whole bunch of money. On their journey they had about 29 TONS of silver, 4 TONS of gold, 20 bowls of gold weighing about 19 pounds each, and some polished bronze. Today would be worth approximately $196,401,600.

ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX MILLION DOLLARS. That is a ridiculous amount of money.

Okay, but here's the crazy part (seriously, it gets crazier!)....

they didn't have any protection!

Can you believe that? All those people and all that money being led by Ezra, who had no experience, on a four month journey through land filled with their enemies and bandits.

That is how crazy Ezra's faith is. He said in that he wouldn't ask the king for protection because he knew the hand of God was on his side (Ez 8:22). He was so confident in the character of God that he risked everything to trust Him. He had faith in God's promise to "have his gracious hand on all who look to him" that he would walk right through enemy territory trusting God the whole way.

The verse that describes their journey says that "God delivered us from the hand of the enemy" Literally from the palm of the enemy. Satan had Ezra, all those people and all that money in the palm of his hand, but God protected them just as he said he would!

Oh Lord, you truly are mighty to save! Thank you for showing us that you are a God who protects, that you are faithful to keep your word, and that you deliver us from the hand of the evil one. Lord give us faith like Ezra. Let us put all of our confidence in you. Allow us to trust you with big things. We long to tell others of how you came through for us! Let us glorify you.

Sharing with these great ladies: Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, We are THAT Family, Word Filled Wednesdays

Hope in the Faithfulness of God

You guys already know that I LOVE reading the Old Testament, but let me tell you I am having so much fun right now! I've been reading Ezra/Haggai/Zechariah because they're all written in the same time and place. It is so neat seeing the same thing happening from different perspectives. All of the books tell of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.

Each book is so unique in the perspective that it takes. Ezra is the historian, Haggai the prophet who exhorts the remnant of Israel, and Zechariah who tells of the Glory to come. All working together to provide a complete picture of what is happening.

In the first 3 chapters of Ezra, we learn that Cyrus, a Persian king, issues a decree that allows the remnant of Israel to return to Jerusalem. After 70 years of captivity, the Israelites are returned to their home land to rebuild what has been destroyed.

Can you imagine the elation? Finally, home again. The unity of the body is in full swing. Everyone is glad to be home and they all "joined together in supervising those working on the house of God" (Ezra 3:9)

And then "With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:

"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever"

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid." (Ezra 3:11)

 Yet in the very next verse we learn that many of the older men (priests and Levites) who had seen the former temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation being laid. They had seen the beauty and grandeur of the temple that Solomon built. In their eyes, there was no way this measly (in comparison) temple could stand up to what they thought God deserved.

The prophet Haggai understands where they're coming from:

"Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you know? Does it not seem to you like nothing?" (Haggai 2:3)

And offers hope through the Word of God. He tells them to "Fear not" and to "Be strong and work, For the Lord is with you"

Haggai tells them of God's promises and his faithfulness.

"I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty... 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house"

How gracious of God?! To remind them in their time of sorrow of the hope that is to come! And how true is it? The temple was filled with the glory of the Lord when Jesus came! He proves faithful again and again.

And even though the old men were weeping, they were later comforted by God's word and his promises. God continually reminds me that His word alone is where we find hope. In times of suffering and heartache we can trust in the promises He gives.

Just as he promised to Israel that through the trial of rebuilding the temple His glory would be revealed, He promises that we too will see Glory revealed.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18)

Oh Jesus, faithful Jesus, thank you for the promises you give us in your word. Help us to hold firm to you the hope-giver.