So today I made the decision to skip physics class in order to go to my Math Professor's office hours. Great decision since I didn't have tons of help I needed, but I kinda enjoy my math professor more than my physics class. He's kinda a quieter guy, but it's kinda funny to watch him do math and make jokes about how much we enjoy doing some of the stuff we have to do (which is crazy, I might add). But regardless I also got the opportunity to pull out my laptop and check the answers to the math problems I had, well I got them right(YAY!), and now I have a few minutes to post before my math class starts.
This morning I was reading from A Call to Die by David Nasser. The book talks about fasting from the world and realizing our own spiritual depravity and a call for us to die to ourselves and feast on God. Hit me up if you want to take a look at it. Its really good, but this morning, I was reading it and it was telling this story about a man named Chris Heurtz. THIS guy gave up everything to go and work with Mother Theresea in Calcutta. The largest city in the world and also the poorest. Thousands die daily, but what Chris did was he went out and would find those close to death and bring them in, give them a warm meal, fresh clothes, and a haircut so that they could die with some form of dignity. There were lepers, people with tuberculosis, all kinds of sores and nastiness, that would drive me wild. Regardless, he continued and he began to see them in a different light. Instead of seeing them as people who were sick and disgusting, he saw people who needed some love and attention. His first image of them was of the need of their souls before the needs of their flesh. He also described an instance where he had to take the trash out. Back behind the place where it just smelled of rotted flesh and dirty diseases. Whenever some fresh trash came out, kids would come running to scavenge through the trash to find something to eat, DESPITE BEING WARNED OF ITS FILTH. They were so hungry that they feasted on the filth and the grime of the world and ignored any opportunity to take on something better. Don't we kinda do the same thing?
Don't we often feast on sinful things that cause spiritual death despite the warnings from God and those around us? We spend so much time eating up those things that when the time comes, and we realize that we need to be feasting on God, we're too full. We've filled up with the things of this world and we no longer have room for God in our stomachs. How can we fix this? How can we cure ourselves of these diseases? We must feast on God. Not only is He going to make us full, He is going to heal us in the process. We can trust in Him to fulfill our needs and fight the disease in our lives. Sometimes it will hurt.
In C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce there's a man who wants to become real. He wants to make the journey up the mountain to heaven, but this little lizard on his arm is convincing him not to. The spirit trying to lead him to heaven (sent from God) is trying to convince him to allow the spirit to remove the lizard and kill it. But the man is convinced that the pain will be too great and the lizard isn't all that bad. Finally, the man allows for the lizard to be removed and he feels the pain. But also he is made full. His body is complete and he is ready for the journey up to heaven. Granted its not always like this, but we do experience pain as the lizards are removed from our lives, and through this we are made complete. As it says in James 1:2 "Consider it a great joy my brethren whenver you experience various trials and tribulations for the testing of your faith produces endurance." Enjoy love you guys!
---- The Running Man
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Well Shoot.
Its been about 10 days since I last posted. That's a long while. I was sitting studying and reading when a blog was suggested to me by a friend. Well.... There goes study time. It wasn't important anyways. I also want to update you on my life and what God has been teaching me lately. So let's get into it.
Alright. SO lifewise, I had two tests this morning. We had one in Digital Logic and one in CS201. WOW! Digital Logic felt like such a breeze while CS201 felt like I just lost a life or something. Can you say rough morning? Either way, they are over and tomorrow I have no classes, so, I can return to being non-productive for the night. Studying is just a fun excuse to not slack off am I right? Regardless, there's that and then there's rush. I was talking with my fellow rush chair Josh Jeans, and last week alone I accumulated roughly 26 hours of commitments to either BYX or Navs for Rush or Bible Study leader training. WOOF! Tack on 18 hours (14 + 2 labs) and 28 hours of hw a week, and you've got a whopping 72 hours spent on BYX, Navs, and School. Then there's the great sleep generous estimate of 7 hours a night. 49 total makes 121 hours out of the 168 in the week. 47/7 = roughly 7 hours a day for free time! But wait! Quiet times and meals! thats like 4-5 hours a day total! Now that's a WOOF. (Sorry I'm a math major had to do it.)
But really as daunting as that seems, I'm getting plenty of sleep and having so much fun doing Navs and Rush ( I ALSO GOT A PET FISH :D LOOK AT FACEBOOK!!!!). BYX and Navs have meant so much to me that it's just awesome being able to pour back into them. That also makes me think about what I'm doing this summer as the possibilities come from the three realms of school, byx and, navs, but another day. So its transition time. From the My Life to the His Life. Something really awesome that I saw this week.
Well there's just so much that I just can't share it all with you guys in this post and as much as I claim I will, I probably will never get back to doing the rest of those things! But right now we can focus on the cool stuff that God taught me this week. On Sunday, Matt (my roommate) and I decided to start listening to the John Piper series on Romans. Something I recommend to all of you so far. I'm about to go and listen to the second one and I'm so excited. But, guys, John Piper spent 30 whole minutes going into the first verse alone of Romans 1. I sometimes spend an hour going through a CHAPTER! That's so crazy! It says:
---- The Running Man
Alright. SO lifewise, I had two tests this morning. We had one in Digital Logic and one in CS201. WOW! Digital Logic felt like such a breeze while CS201 felt like I just lost a life or something. Can you say rough morning? Either way, they are over and tomorrow I have no classes, so, I can return to being non-productive for the night. Studying is just a fun excuse to not slack off am I right? Regardless, there's that and then there's rush. I was talking with my fellow rush chair Josh Jeans, and last week alone I accumulated roughly 26 hours of commitments to either BYX or Navs for Rush or Bible Study leader training. WOOF! Tack on 18 hours (14 + 2 labs) and 28 hours of hw a week, and you've got a whopping 72 hours spent on BYX, Navs, and School. Then there's the great sleep generous estimate of 7 hours a night. 49 total makes 121 hours out of the 168 in the week. 47/7 = roughly 7 hours a day for free time! But wait! Quiet times and meals! thats like 4-5 hours a day total! Now that's a WOOF. (Sorry I'm a math major had to do it.)
But really as daunting as that seems, I'm getting plenty of sleep and having so much fun doing Navs and Rush ( I ALSO GOT A PET FISH :D LOOK AT FACEBOOK!!!!). BYX and Navs have meant so much to me that it's just awesome being able to pour back into them. That also makes me think about what I'm doing this summer as the possibilities come from the three realms of school, byx and, navs, but another day. So its transition time. From the My Life to the His Life. Something really awesome that I saw this week.
Well there's just so much that I just can't share it all with you guys in this post and as much as I claim I will, I probably will never get back to doing the rest of those things! But right now we can focus on the cool stuff that God taught me this week. On Sunday, Matt (my roommate) and I decided to start listening to the John Piper series on Romans. Something I recommend to all of you so far. I'm about to go and listen to the second one and I'm so excited. But, guys, John Piper spent 30 whole minutes going into the first verse alone of Romans 1. I sometimes spend an hour going through a CHAPTER! That's so crazy! It says:
"Paul, a bondservant of Christ, called as an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God."
Romans 1:1
Thirty minutes on THAT! And it wasn't just gibberish it was so awesome and powerful. He cross referenced passage after passage and revealed a deep meaning in the passage using Scripture. WOW! Two verses he referenced were 1 Corinthians 7:23 and Galatians 1:10. These were so cool because they referred to how Paul was a bondservant and what that meant. And it meant that he was owned, bought, and ruled by Christ. We are ruled by Christ. Something else we've been learning this week in our Jesus Study with Navs is how alot of us don't see the man side of Jesus that is portrayed in Luke. We mostly think of Jesus as a deity. I constantly feel like I don't think enough of Jesus as a deity and more of as a man. I see that He had actions and miracles that He performed as a man through God, not as God. But what we see is that He is both. He rules us and He owns us because He bought us. So I kinda took the letters IOBR (I am Owned Bought and Ruled) and turned them into IRBO. Because I was Ransomed. I was held up and Bought by Jesus. He paid for me and gave His life for me and so, I am Owned by His. I devote my life to Him. I give Him my all and He loves me like no other. And that's what I tack on at the end of that. He Loves me. That's why He did this. That's why I am who I am and why I stand where I stand. Take a minute each day and think about that. That He RBOLed you. I love you guys and I can't wait to see you guys again!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Hey peeps, so I just wanted to check in with all you cats. Its been a while since I've been able to post due to computer issues as well as homework on homework on homework. I also wanted to let you guys know I miss you guys and love you all dearly.
That being said, how's everyone's year been going? I've been off to a busy start doing work and rush events as well as stuff with my Bible study. So many challenges in so little time its almost overwhelming. But be strong and courageous says the Lord. Today in Ethos (the church I am currently attending) Pastor Dave talked a good bit about the idea of suffering. How infrequently we call suffering upon ourselves, yet in Galatians 2:20 it says, "For I have been crucified in Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in Christ Jesus." Guys how powerful is that? We've been crucified with Christ.
But how many of you would actually show up to church next Sunday if it became illegal. If you knew you would lose everything, who would go? Who would want to willingly lose everything? But at the same time for those of you who would still read your Bible, why would you do it? Just to rebel? Do you actually do it when you have the free right to?
I'm not here to cast judgement upon any of you all. I just think its important to question ourselves and our motives from time to time. I can tell you there have definitely been times in my life when I would have skipped church. And this summer, I would have been violating no laws if they had come up telling me not to read my Bible.
Like I said food for thought. Gotta say I've really enjoyed being back, we've already had one date party, where I was dressed up as Danny from Grease haha. And we have a date party where we will be going to the State Fair this friday. So I'm pretty excited. Like I said I cannot wait to hear from you guys about life! I love you!
---- The Running Man
That being said, how's everyone's year been going? I've been off to a busy start doing work and rush events as well as stuff with my Bible study. So many challenges in so little time its almost overwhelming. But be strong and courageous says the Lord. Today in Ethos (the church I am currently attending) Pastor Dave talked a good bit about the idea of suffering. How infrequently we call suffering upon ourselves, yet in Galatians 2:20 it says, "For I have been crucified in Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in Christ Jesus." Guys how powerful is that? We've been crucified with Christ.
But how many of you would actually show up to church next Sunday if it became illegal. If you knew you would lose everything, who would go? Who would want to willingly lose everything? But at the same time for those of you who would still read your Bible, why would you do it? Just to rebel? Do you actually do it when you have the free right to?
I'm not here to cast judgement upon any of you all. I just think its important to question ourselves and our motives from time to time. I can tell you there have definitely been times in my life when I would have skipped church. And this summer, I would have been violating no laws if they had come up telling me not to read my Bible.
Like I said food for thought. Gotta say I've really enjoyed being back, we've already had one date party, where I was dressed up as Danny from Grease haha. And we have a date party where we will be going to the State Fair this friday. So I'm pretty excited. Like I said I cannot wait to hear from you guys about life! I love you!
---- The Running Man
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