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.

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!

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.