I just realized the spring semester is about to come to an end and I have not written much. I want you all to know that things in the Big D are going well. Classes are harder and my job is demanding more of me every day, but I'm growing in ways I never expected and I praise God for it. My mom and I have this running joke about football and when I first started here she called me and said, "It's the start of the 1st quarter and the ball has been kicked off to you." Well now that I am about to complete my first year of my two year program at Seminary, I would say I have almost made it to half-time and I'm not out of the game yet. ;) (We will just call that extra semester it is going to take me to finish overtime.)
As most of you know I have been actively involved in a homeless ministry since moving to Texas and I wanted to give you a couple of updates on that. First, I wrote an article on my experience with the ministry for my writing class and I have an online magazine that is interested in publishing it. Pray that God will allow that to happen so that people can learn about OurCalling.org and get involved with some of the amazing things they are doing with the homeless in Dallas. Secondly, I have been asked to speak and give my testimony at one of the meetings. Please pray for that as well. I will be giving a short testimony at our meeting this Friday, but I will be the main speaker at one of the meetings in the weeks to come. Our meetings on Fridays usually have between 50 and 100 homeless people and we serve them coffee and have what we call a "Life Skills" class. We have to call it that because the government will not allow us to call it a Bible study. However, everyone of these classes, regardless of the nights topic, ends up being about the Gospel and how these people can have a relationship with Jesus. It is pretty amazing. I will write more as the semester ends and keep everyone updated on the ministry. Also, if the article is not published I will post it here.
One last thing. Chuck Swindoll, the Chancellor of Dallas Seminary, spoke in chapel at the beginning of the semester and he warned all of us that the first year of seminary would be full of spiritual warfare. He was right! It has been hard and wonderful all at the same time, but the Lord is seeing me through. Please continue to keep me and my time here at seminary in your prayers.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
this world vs. God's world
It's so hard to be human sometimes. There are desires in your heart and things that you covet, yet you also want the Lord's perfect will for your life and you have no idea if they are one in the same. I want my life to glorify God, but I also want a career, a house, a HUSBAND and a family, and jeep, and a that cute pair of jeans, and those shoes, and etc., etc., etc. . . The things of this world are so tempting, UGGGG! I know this is something we all struggle with, but for some reason that struggle has been particularly hard for me the last couple of weeks. Maybe it has been the spring like weather we have here in Texas or maybe it has been my lack of motivation to study (which is especially not good in seminary), but in God's sovereignty He gave me a reminder in church this morning that I desperately needed to hear. The pastor spoke on Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." This was the reminder I needed that God's will is greater than anything this world has to offer and I will continue to seek His will with the strength He gives me, even when I don't feel like it. And finally, Thank you God for grace when I screw this up. I pray you will continue to align the desires of my heart with your will and help me to let go of my plans and follow your guidance, and again, thank you for your grace when I screw it up. So I guess it's time to study His word, since I do desire to follow His will. :)
Monday, January 11, 2010
more Grace
With fall semester over and spring semester about to start I thought I would reflect on what I have learned in my first semester at seminary; and while there is so much packed into my head now the greatest lesson I have learned (and am still learning) is GRACE. See knowledge leads to pride and I could tell in some of my reactions to people while I was home for the holidays that I was judgmental or prideful, and I didn't like the way that looked. Grace is a FREE gift given from our Creator that He did not have to give, and I am no more or less deserving than the murder sitting on death row or the pastor behind the pulpit. God has shown me this in numerous little ways and I am blown away by His love, His patience and His sovereignty. While I absolutely love the song, Amazing Grace doesn't begin to explain how wonderful and precious this gift is. Think about Paul. . . He deserved the severest of punishments for his mistreatment of people and yet by the Grace of God he was an apostle and a mouthpiece for Christ. We all have been given something so astounding and all we have to do is put our hands out and accept it. Can you believe that?! I'm ashamed that I have not always extending this same gift to those around me and I am thankful that I am not only forgiven, but continually given more grace. I just think that is something we should all take the time to ponder. How wonderful our world would be if we all showed the grace to others that has been shown to us. I am currently reading the book The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll for one of my classes and if you can I highly recommend reading it. I will share more as I read and learn more. Be thankful and praise God for His grace.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
"they need Jesus"
So I have been helping out with a homeless ministry on Friday nights at a place called The Bridge. It is a shelter and transitional housing facility here in Dalla. (It is about 3 minutes from where I live, less than 2 miles.) I have been a few times now and I really enjoy it, but I feel really overwhelmed also. The need they have is so great and I'm such a fixer. I just want to put my arms around them and tell them everything will be OK and then fix all their problems.
For example, I have befriended this one woman Elaine who is bipolar and either a current or former addict, I'm not sure yet. She asked me to pray for her jaw because someone beat her so bad on the street a couple of months ago they broke her jaw and the hospital put some sort of plate in it, but it has been giving her lots of pain. Another guy I met is Michael. Michael was military and got out and was a truck driver I believe. He lost everything because of prostitutes and strip clubs. He lost his wife, his job, his money, everything and now he is homeless. Michael now knows the Lord now and he knows he is where he is because of the choices he made, but the climb back up is hard, especially in our country's economic conditions. Then there is Jody. I love Jody. He looks just like Santa Claus. The kind of guy you just want to give a big hug. I won't go into it all because the list of Jody's problems is long, but Jody's mom was a prostitute and she didn't want him so she dropped him of with his grandparents. Shortly after that his grandfather died and his grandmother dropped him off at the local children's home because she didn't want him either. He did well at the children's home but they had to kick him out when he was 18. He has some sort of learning disability so he has the intelligence of about a 12 or 13 year old. He is obviously a former drunk. He just turned 50 and he looks like he is about 65 or 70. He has been looking for his sister for over 20 years. He goes back to the same house where she used to live every year and every year the family tells him they haven't seen her. He forgets that he went back the year before. I only know this because Wayne, the guys who started this ministry, told me. This is just a drop in the bucket of the people I serve and meet with on Friday nights. Just a drop! I could write pages on the stories I have heard of abuse, neglect, drugs, prostitution, rape, you name it, I have heard it now. My heart breaks for these people and I want to show them love, but it can be really overwhelming and I don't know what to say sometimes.
I was talking to Wayne about this one day and he made a very good point that I want to share with you. He said, "When people go on mission trips to let's say Africa and they go share the gospel with a local tribe that is living in huts, killing wild animals and eating them, practicing cannibalism, wearing nothing but some small cloths; they don't say oh these people need food and clothing. They say, these people need Jesus. It is the same with the homeless. They need Jesus." He is right. Jesus is the biggest need we all have whether we are homeless or rich. The gift of eternal life, the gift of a relationship with their Savior is something I can teach them about and share with them. Yes these people need lots of help, but ultimately they need Jesus and so I will continue to go and share with them. If you would like to check out this ministry or pray for them check out www.ourcalling.org. Wayne's wife posts the homeless prayer requests on there and you can read them and pray for them. I hope you will take the time to check it out. Our greatest need can only be filled by one thing, our Lord and Savior. Nothing else will fill it. Not money, food, a spouse, children, a boyfriend or girlfriend, clothes, drugs, a job, alcohol, sex. . . Nothing. Just Jesus.
For example, I have befriended this one woman Elaine who is bipolar and either a current or former addict, I'm not sure yet. She asked me to pray for her jaw because someone beat her so bad on the street a couple of months ago they broke her jaw and the hospital put some sort of plate in it, but it has been giving her lots of pain. Another guy I met is Michael. Michael was military and got out and was a truck driver I believe. He lost everything because of prostitutes and strip clubs. He lost his wife, his job, his money, everything and now he is homeless. Michael now knows the Lord now and he knows he is where he is because of the choices he made, but the climb back up is hard, especially in our country's economic conditions. Then there is Jody. I love Jody. He looks just like Santa Claus. The kind of guy you just want to give a big hug. I won't go into it all because the list of Jody's problems is long, but Jody's mom was a prostitute and she didn't want him so she dropped him of with his grandparents. Shortly after that his grandfather died and his grandmother dropped him off at the local children's home because she didn't want him either. He did well at the children's home but they had to kick him out when he was 18. He has some sort of learning disability so he has the intelligence of about a 12 or 13 year old. He is obviously a former drunk. He just turned 50 and he looks like he is about 65 or 70. He has been looking for his sister for over 20 years. He goes back to the same house where she used to live every year and every year the family tells him they haven't seen her. He forgets that he went back the year before. I only know this because Wayne, the guys who started this ministry, told me. This is just a drop in the bucket of the people I serve and meet with on Friday nights. Just a drop! I could write pages on the stories I have heard of abuse, neglect, drugs, prostitution, rape, you name it, I have heard it now. My heart breaks for these people and I want to show them love, but it can be really overwhelming and I don't know what to say sometimes.
I was talking to Wayne about this one day and he made a very good point that I want to share with you. He said, "When people go on mission trips to let's say Africa and they go share the gospel with a local tribe that is living in huts, killing wild animals and eating them, practicing cannibalism, wearing nothing but some small cloths; they don't say oh these people need food and clothing. They say, these people need Jesus. It is the same with the homeless. They need Jesus." He is right. Jesus is the biggest need we all have whether we are homeless or rich. The gift of eternal life, the gift of a relationship with their Savior is something I can teach them about and share with them. Yes these people need lots of help, but ultimately they need Jesus and so I will continue to go and share with them. If you would like to check out this ministry or pray for them check out www.ourcalling.org. Wayne's wife posts the homeless prayer requests on there and you can read them and pray for them. I hope you will take the time to check it out. Our greatest need can only be filled by one thing, our Lord and Savior. Nothing else will fill it. Not money, food, a spouse, children, a boyfriend or girlfriend, clothes, drugs, a job, alcohol, sex. . . Nothing. Just Jesus.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Go!
I just love it when God's perfect timing smacks me in the face. It just makes me smile at how good He is and how easily we can forget that sometimes.
We are now starting the last third of this semester and in my BE (bible exposition) 101 course the first third was on Observation, the second third was Interpretation and this last third is about Application. Our professor was talking to us today about applying what we read and study in scripture to our lives. He reminded us that we should be different from the people we are ministering to, we should stand apart. We are examples of change that Jesus can do. He also reminded us that sometimes people know what scripture says, but don't know how to apply it to their lives and we need to be examples of that for them and aware of areas of our lives that we are not applying it. He made a great comment, he said, "if you are wondering what area of your life you are not applying scripture, just look at the cleanest pages in your bible". He went on to say that sometimes things are not always black and white and we should always be prayerful that we are staying in the will of God. If God calls you do something or to go somewhere and you don't listen and follow you are out of the will of God. He went on to give an example about when he came to this seminary and they would not allow blacks in. The seminary was biblical but not in the will of God. This is something we all need to be aware of. He also gave the example of people leaving church and telling the pastor that the sermon was great and then never doing anything about it. He said he gave a sermon one time about sharing the gospel with your neighbors and people in your community and this young couple told him they were convicted by it. So they went home, prayed about it and immediately walked across the street and invited their neighbors to dinner. A couple of weeks later they lead the entire family to Christ. This family continued to invite people over and lead hands full of families to Christ. This is such a reminder that we have a responsibility to share the truth with those around us. They may never hear it if we don't.
Here is where God's timing comes in. . .
After class I went to chapel and a young man spoke about what it means to live missionally. He made a great point that you don't have to go over seas and yes there is a need in your back yard, but that need does not always include people just like you. He made a joke about himself saying he was just looking for white, middle class, republicans. Then he gave stats on the number of Muslims living in Dallas and the number Asians and Russians and so on and so on. He made the good point that we feel safe in the comfort zone that we have created for ourselves. He really challenged us to pray and not just pray for missionaries, but to pray that God will be glorified and worshiped in south Dallas, the poorest area, North Dallas, the rich area, the Muslim area of town, that God will be glorified in parts of Northern India where they have not heard the gospel and parts of Saudi Arabia where we are not legally allowed to go. You get the idea. He made fun of all the excuses we make to not go and evangelize and it they do seem silly, but they are excuses we have all used including me. Then he talked about how if God is calling you to go overseas then listen. If you say to God I think that maybe you are calling me to Muslim Iraq, God may say that is wonderful that you have a heart for Muslims, but I really want you to go teach to them in northern India. Either way God will honor that desire. Maybe you have seen Monty Python and maybe you haven't, but in that movie there a group of knights called the knights who say ni. If you say the word "it" in front of these knights they run away into the bushes, (you really need to see the movie). He made a joke that if God says "Go" in front of a group of Christians they all run into the bushes. Then he challenged us (without knowing what we talked about in class) that if God is calling us somewhere and we aren't listening or aren't going then we are out of the will of God. It was a very convicting morning, but I loved it. I know my words are not doing my professor and the chapel speaker justice, but hopefully you get the point. If you are interested you can download the chapels off of the school's website. www.dts.edu. I hope this post ministers to you today.
We are now starting the last third of this semester and in my BE (bible exposition) 101 course the first third was on Observation, the second third was Interpretation and this last third is about Application. Our professor was talking to us today about applying what we read and study in scripture to our lives. He reminded us that we should be different from the people we are ministering to, we should stand apart. We are examples of change that Jesus can do. He also reminded us that sometimes people know what scripture says, but don't know how to apply it to their lives and we need to be examples of that for them and aware of areas of our lives that we are not applying it. He made a great comment, he said, "if you are wondering what area of your life you are not applying scripture, just look at the cleanest pages in your bible". He went on to say that sometimes things are not always black and white and we should always be prayerful that we are staying in the will of God. If God calls you do something or to go somewhere and you don't listen and follow you are out of the will of God. He went on to give an example about when he came to this seminary and they would not allow blacks in. The seminary was biblical but not in the will of God. This is something we all need to be aware of. He also gave the example of people leaving church and telling the pastor that the sermon was great and then never doing anything about it. He said he gave a sermon one time about sharing the gospel with your neighbors and people in your community and this young couple told him they were convicted by it. So they went home, prayed about it and immediately walked across the street and invited their neighbors to dinner. A couple of weeks later they lead the entire family to Christ. This family continued to invite people over and lead hands full of families to Christ. This is such a reminder that we have a responsibility to share the truth with those around us. They may never hear it if we don't.
Here is where God's timing comes in. . .
After class I went to chapel and a young man spoke about what it means to live missionally. He made a great point that you don't have to go over seas and yes there is a need in your back yard, but that need does not always include people just like you. He made a joke about himself saying he was just looking for white, middle class, republicans. Then he gave stats on the number of Muslims living in Dallas and the number Asians and Russians and so on and so on. He made the good point that we feel safe in the comfort zone that we have created for ourselves. He really challenged us to pray and not just pray for missionaries, but to pray that God will be glorified and worshiped in south Dallas, the poorest area, North Dallas, the rich area, the Muslim area of town, that God will be glorified in parts of Northern India where they have not heard the gospel and parts of Saudi Arabia where we are not legally allowed to go. You get the idea. He made fun of all the excuses we make to not go and evangelize and it they do seem silly, but they are excuses we have all used including me. Then he talked about how if God is calling you to go overseas then listen. If you say to God I think that maybe you are calling me to Muslim Iraq, God may say that is wonderful that you have a heart for Muslims, but I really want you to go teach to them in northern India. Either way God will honor that desire. Maybe you have seen Monty Python and maybe you haven't, but in that movie there a group of knights called the knights who say ni. If you say the word "it" in front of these knights they run away into the bushes, (you really need to see the movie). He made a joke that if God says "Go" in front of a group of Christians they all run into the bushes. Then he challenged us (without knowing what we talked about in class) that if God is calling us somewhere and we aren't listening or aren't going then we are out of the will of God. It was a very convicting morning, but I loved it. I know my words are not doing my professor and the chapel speaker justice, but hopefully you get the point. If you are interested you can download the chapels off of the school's website. www.dts.edu. I hope this post ministers to you today.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Give Thanks!
I have been reminded a lot lately from different things going on around campus to give thanks in all things and I wanted to share that. We have a student led night of worship once a month and one student shared about being thankful for just the breaths that we breath. Genesis 2:7 says, "And the Lord God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person." God has breathed life into each of us and we can wake up each morning and breath in and out because it is His will. We are so quick to ask where God is when something bad happens, but yet we don't look for Him in everyday blessings. When something tragic happens like a plane crashing people always ask, "where is God". Well what about giving thanks to God for the hundreds of plans that land safely each and everyday. God is in that just as much as the tragedy, and while we can't always see what He is doing through tragedy, He is there; and we should look for him and praise Him just as much in those situations as we do in the good.
Another student spoke in chapel this morning and gave a brief testimony about his life. He is a quadriplegic now because of a bad decision he made and he just went on and on about all the blessings in life. How God has used him and blessed him. He was not at our night of worship, so without knowing what the other student spoke of, he challenged us to give thanks for every breath we have. He confessed that sometimes the day will almost end before he talks to God and yet God is the reason he was able to get up and live that day. In our flesh and in our selfishness we think our days belong to us, but they are really precious, precious gifts. The Bible says in all things give thanks and I'm just as guilty as anyone else for not doing that. I ask for blessings all the time, but then don't always say thank you for the ones I already have. I am so thankful that my Father has given me breath and allowed me to live another day on this planet and I hope you are too. Be blessed and feel blessed, because we all are!
Another student spoke in chapel this morning and gave a brief testimony about his life. He is a quadriplegic now because of a bad decision he made and he just went on and on about all the blessings in life. How God has used him and blessed him. He was not at our night of worship, so without knowing what the other student spoke of, he challenged us to give thanks for every breath we have. He confessed that sometimes the day will almost end before he talks to God and yet God is the reason he was able to get up and live that day. In our flesh and in our selfishness we think our days belong to us, but they are really precious, precious gifts. The Bible says in all things give thanks and I'm just as guilty as anyone else for not doing that. I ask for blessings all the time, but then don't always say thank you for the ones I already have. I am so thankful that my Father has given me breath and allowed me to live another day on this planet and I hope you are too. Be blessed and feel blessed, because we all are!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Baptism
Yesterday was such an amazing day. One of those times where I'm so thankful to be here even though I'm far from my family and loved ones. It was pretty much a typical day for a student, I took an exam, went to work and came home to do some laundry. The laundry room is on the second floor of our building, so while I was waiting for my clothes I was hanging out in the study area (we call it the living room) with some of my fellow Washington Hall residents; and after a few minutes two more of my friends, Mike and Dylan, two very sweet and amazingly Godly men, came by and they looked absolutely giddy, almost like school girls. They probably wouldn't like it if they knew I was explaining it that way, but I think it is the best description. Well, needless to say we asked them what was up and in turn they asked us if we wanted to go to a baptism. Of course I was like "heck yeah I do"! :) So we grabbed our cameras and headed down to the building pool for a baptism.
Earlier in the evening a group of the guys were sort of having a guys night. They had dinner together and some serious talks about the Lord and the church and life. Part of this deep conversation was about baptism and two of the guys in the group shared that they had never been baptized. They both grew up Catholic and so they had the water sprinkled on them as babies, but never submerged. After talking it through they prayed about it as a group and after the prayer they decided why not do it tonight, they had access to the pool and Dylan happened to be the baptism pastor at his old church. They felt led by the Holy Spirit and so they listened.
Down at the pool we all gathered in a circle and prayed over the guys and then they each shared a brief testimony. After that they got into the cold pool water (it has actually been cool here at night) and Dylan baptized them. After a round of hugs we sang praises to Jesus and then went inside for some celebratory snacks and fellowship.
I was so honored to be a part of that event in their lives. It was so cool to see them light up with the love of Jesus. I know my words are not expressing what an amazing evening it was, but hopefully it gives you a little taste of how great God is. Everyday I'm a little more thankful that I'm here and this definitely added to that feeling. I'm so grateful God has given me this time to process, learn and grow while surrounded by some amazing, amazing people. After Chris, one of the guys that got baptized, got out of the pool he said, "we are a family here and let us not just pass by each other with a hello in the elevator, but let us be real and hold each other accountable and share in each others trials and triumphs". He went on some more, but that is the kind of community that God has blessed me with for this time and I could not be more thankful. I am deeply humbled by how great He is.
Earlier in the evening a group of the guys were sort of having a guys night. They had dinner together and some serious talks about the Lord and the church and life. Part of this deep conversation was about baptism and two of the guys in the group shared that they had never been baptized. They both grew up Catholic and so they had the water sprinkled on them as babies, but never submerged. After talking it through they prayed about it as a group and after the prayer they decided why not do it tonight, they had access to the pool and Dylan happened to be the baptism pastor at his old church. They felt led by the Holy Spirit and so they listened.
Down at the pool we all gathered in a circle and prayed over the guys and then they each shared a brief testimony. After that they got into the cold pool water (it has actually been cool here at night) and Dylan baptized them. After a round of hugs we sang praises to Jesus and then went inside for some celebratory snacks and fellowship.
I was so honored to be a part of that event in their lives. It was so cool to see them light up with the love of Jesus. I know my words are not expressing what an amazing evening it was, but hopefully it gives you a little taste of how great God is. Everyday I'm a little more thankful that I'm here and this definitely added to that feeling. I'm so grateful God has given me this time to process, learn and grow while surrounded by some amazing, amazing people. After Chris, one of the guys that got baptized, got out of the pool he said, "we are a family here and let us not just pass by each other with a hello in the elevator, but let us be real and hold each other accountable and share in each others trials and triumphs". He went on some more, but that is the kind of community that God has blessed me with for this time and I could not be more thankful. I am deeply humbled by how great He is.
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