Crossroads '15 Part 2

I think I really appreciated our speaker Daryl Smith because he was an earnestly passionate man looking to preach the truth while doing it with love and humor. A lot of what he said really resonated, because in truth, he asked a lot of tough questions or brought up some things that I don't often think about. Especially in the modern culture that we live in now. Here are a few of the stray thoughts I was left with:

Night 1

-The Will of God is not always comfortable or convenient, but it is correct. That's often a hard truth to accept but it suggests that there is a cost to discipleship. There is most definitely a sacrifice that we take on following Christ, but it is the correct one.
-Also, our modern world often believes in a cosmos that works without God, but we don't want to think like the world. They want to remove chaos but without God in the picture. Because the world says if it makes sense it must be God's will. It's almost like the world, by way of Satan, is trying to feed us this lie so that we make God into our own image. He does what we want. He never crosses our will, but then again if we look back, the will of God is not always comfortable or convenient. It's not always easy, and that's very counter-intuitive to the society we live in.
-We are called to serve the Lord out of brokenness. We are meant to hold onto the promise and not the plan, because that's all we need. The plans may change for our life, but certainly not the promise. That will never pass away. In trying to push towards that, faith causes us to move forward and fear paralyzes us.

Morning 1

-We have received a call from Christ and the truth is that Jesus would never call us anywhere that he hasn't already been. A Biblical call never calls us to a place or a position. Instead we are called to follow a person and that person is Jesus Christ. Our identity is meant to be in Him and Him alone.
That means if we are looking to get married someday our lives must be Christ-centered and not wife-centered or children-centered.
-There's a problem when we're not even going to entertain what Christ might be saying, and there are a lot of people do that including me. It seems like we must never completely write something off or disregard it completely, because God can lead us places or do things in our lives that we could have never imagined.Because, again, the will of God leads us to people.
-There was a cost but Christ has given us restoration and not condemnation.
-Beyond just being a believer we are then called to be followers of Christ as well. God calls you be Christian who is (enter vocation or major here). If we follow Christ the substance of the person we are reaching out to matters. Not their ethnicity. And we don't choose who we go to. He sends us.
-A net in our lives is anything that prohibits us from following Christ wholeheartedly.
-The question is: Are we willing to forsake profession, parents, and possessions?

Night 2

Luke 14.26

-We want to be a God pleaser rather than a people pleaser, and that means living with eternal perspective. Who are we going to follow? Are we going to take on the temporal or the eternal frame of mind? The latter means dying to ourselves each and everyday.
-It's when we are out of our comfort zone that God is then allowed space to work in our lives.
-The truth is souls are at stake right now. Christ didn't die so much to make me happy, but to transform me and make me whole. That's His vision for all of creation and that should be our's as well. If we look at our life, the dash (-) between the start date and the end date is important. Because that has major significance when our life actually begins. Life is not from birth to the grave, but from grave to eternity. That is true eternal perspective and this view is honestly mind-boggling to think about.

Morning 2

-We need to listen to only one voice and that's God's voice in our lives. We are bond servants of Christ called to be a blessing. We received grace so that we might be sent out. And we will never become a witness unless we first become a minister. God delivers His people and then sends them back out.
-Acts 26. 12-29
-An unregenerated person is a hopeless person and there are a lot of hopeless people who need the good news of the Gospel.
-He is God Almighty not God Somebody
-It's dangerous if we become so intellectual that we out think God and His word.If it's new revelation it ain't necessarily true revelation. The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ pure and simple.
-Lastly are we undercover Christians? Once again it should not be radical Christianity, but instead it should be normal. That's our vision for the world.

Big Idea: Pushing back against the American Dream, letting the Lord lead us, living with eternal perspective, and ministering to the lost people all around us. All of this is for His Glory!

Crossroads '15 Part 1

This was my second Crossroads Conference, but the surprising thing is I was not going in with any specific expectations. I just looking forward to a space for the Lord to speak to me, convict me, give me some inclination as to what my future looks like, and so on. See, not a whole lot of expectations.

I think the interesting thing is that I was not looking for some epiphany, but I was trying to be still and that trend actually began on Thurday night when we did a reflective scripture reading through Matthew 11: 28-30, and this helped me to get the right perspective for the weekend ahead. But of course such a time also is the perfect arena for fellowship, in groups, and one-on-one. We had a chaotic car ride full of delirium, and yet it was so much fun sitting through traffic with my roommates. There aren't any guys I'd rather go through torture with. It was great.

And at the actual conference I got to see family, friends, and family friends. Everything I could want. Last year there were only a few upperclassmen here: three guys and a few girls, but this year we had well over a dozen people from San Diego. It was certainly a different dynamic, but still a lot of fun.

I did some of the things we did last year like waking up early and walking to the coffee shop across the street to have some quiet time, and Psalm 77 really resonated, because once again it reminds me that in hindsight we can see how faithful our Lord has been in our lives. We were also able to grab late night gelato although we wound up at a different location than everyone else.

I heard from a few of my good buddies about their lives, met new friends, and got to reconnect with an old friend who I have not seen for two long years. It even included messages from a few of my friends abroad. Furthermore, there was time over lunch one day to share our collective vision to reach lost peoples, which in my case means the Japanese. I got to talk with folks who have a similar heart and to think through what God has planned for me. Does this mean going abroad in some facet or staying on the home front working with International Students like I'm doing now? I'm not sure. I did however get some practical advice on how to be a good steward of my money and finances as I navigate saving, investing, tithing, and offering.

Also, I do know that this weekend made me continually grateful for the community I have been blessed with the last for years -- the friends and influences that the Lord has raised up for me. In San Diego and all across San Diego. Although there was a lack of sleep, the food was great, and it was all I could asked for. In the interim before thanksgiving it gives me a lot to be thankful for.

My next post will be more specifically about what I learned...

All The Glory to Him,

Show Me Your Glory

Over the last couple weeks I've been reminded of God's glory and what that even means for us as believers. Recently I have been directed to Exodus 33 and specifically the parts where Moses is speaking directly with God. He comes before Him and asks for His presence or His face to go along withhim. Otherwise Moses and the Israelites have nothing to set them apart. Moses asks boldly of God: "Show me your glory!"

And the Lord agrees, although he qualifies it by saying he must cover his face, because no one can see His countenance and live. What are we to make of that? It's not so much that God is completely against all people, because in fact he was well pleased in Moses. But He is so wholly good that he cannot even be in the presence of any amount of evil or brokenness.He is so weighty that we cannot possibly look at him and live.  We don't mix. We can't mix. Unless something changes...

Like the hymn Rock of Ages says the Lord becomes a cleft for us, because just like God does here he protects us and covers us with His defenses. 

It's been a crazy thing to think about how God reveals himself to His people. In scripture it was in a burning bush or even in a whisper like with Elisha. Or even in the amazing creation that is around us each and everyday. But as humans do we even have even a small infinitesimal amount of understanding what the glory of God is? Can we even begin to understand this weight of glory? C.S. Lewis seems to suggest we do not in his essay "The Weight of Glory." What we experience and the things we idolize are "only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited." 

We just haven't quite gotten it and we probably never will, because based on the text it would probably kill us. Thanks be to God that we have Jesus Christ who through His death and resurrection tore the veil that separated us from God. Now we have access to the God of the universe in all his weighty, awesome, exorbitant amounts of splendor. 

Taking this into account, a prayer I have for myself is that God would "Show me His Glory." And in all honesty I don't really know what that will look like everyday, but my hope is that he might reveal Himself more fully to me each day. Maybe it's His creation. Maybe it's the things he's doing in me or the people around me. Maybe it's something completely different than I could never ever imagine in my wildest dreams. Who knows. That's my prayer. I want to know his Glory. 

It says in Exodus that when Moses left talking with the Lord his face was literally radiant. That is awesome. As I continue to ruminate on this topic this song by Third Day has really spoken to me.

All the glory to Him and Lord, Show me your Glory. 

"Show Me Your Glory"

I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I'll never be the same
Show me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can't go on without You, Lord
When I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again
Show me Your glory
Show me Your glory
I can't live without You

Ghost Machines

Recently I have been thinking a great deal about the technology that fills our lives or in many ways infects our existence. Even recently I have been noticeably annoyed because my four-year old laptop that I use daily for writing, homework, and entertainment has not been running very fast (although it's gotten better with Windows 10). I have been impatient with the wireless which seems to run at a snail's pace based on my modern expectations. Even my phone has caused me some annoyance, because when I'm away at campus all day sometimes the battery seems to run down to nothing for almost no reason at all. 

These are little daily things that go on and they seem hardly consequential, however when I step back that's when I realize how sad this is. I was made in the image of the living God, to be for his glory, blessed by Him, so that I in turn can be a blessing to the world. As a Christian, saved by grace, I have a far greater calling that He has given to me. And yet in my daily lives I grumble about my technology. It's not fast enough. It's not good enough, and I don't even consider myself technologically inclined. But in many ways it seems like if we're not careful, technology and other good things can become too important. We all probably have heard this before, the idea that we make them into idols; that they become our gods so to speak. 

But perhaps even more so I am reminded of a song by Jon Foreman called Ghost Machines. The first few times hearing it I didn't quite get it, but after hearing some commentary on the track it all fell into place. Our phones, our tablets, our computers, and whatever else we have often suck us dry. They have no soul, no life blood, no humanity inside of them, but we often allow our lives to revolve around them. 

And isn't it true we become more like those things that we follow and that are most important to us. We are called to be like Christ, but are there times when I'm emulating my technology? Perhaps it's a stretch, but is it true that at times I become almost robotic and mechanical in my daily rhythms? My relationships play out on Facebook, on Twitter, or through texts. My Bible is on my phone, and people spend more time online than off. Could it be we are becoming more like our ghost machines? We are becoming more like ghosts. I do not want to be a shell of a person. I want Christ to daily and continually revive my soul. Because, like the book of Jeremiah talks about, I think we are often going to broken cisterns like our Ghost Machines for sustenance. We need living water that will replenish our very beings and give us life. This is as much for me as it is anyone else. But let us be mindful of this. Do not allow our Ghost Machines to harden our hearts and suck away all our joy. We were made for so much more than birthday posts on Facebook and hashtags. 

Ghost Machine - By Jon Foreman

All hail the siren of our time
I'm possessed when she passes by
she drains the best years of my life
she makes promises
she could never keep
ain't it a ghost machine
making a ghost out of me
after all her lies I'm surprised that I still believe
She haunts me with her laughter in my dreams
my ghost machine
Father forgive me cause I know
exactly how I spread my soul
my idolatry is in the pocket of my coat
I make promises
I could never keep
ain't it a ghost machine
ain't she a ghost machine
I'm still haunted by the faces on her screen
I swear she's gonna make a dead man out of me
my ghost machine
do you know yourselves?
I heard a voice call out loud
you define yourselves
by the things you can't live without
I deny it
I could quit at any time
but the ghost is a drug
but the ghost is a drug
she's in our blood
and I can't give her up
the clock the alter of our time
the thought the temple of our mind
then I've been sprinkling the blood of most my life
on the alters of my ghost machine
ain't she my enemy
the ancient remedy
the gods of all the empty promises that I believed
She haunts me with her laughter in my dreams
I swear she's gonna make a dead man out of  me

my ghost machine