3 Days til Bedlam

As you read this, it is three days until Bedlam. But I'm not really in a Bedlam kind of mood right now. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch 50/50. It's about a guy who has cancer and it chronicles the pain both physically and emotionally that people go through during this situation. It makes you cry, it makes you think, it makes nothing else really seem important.

This week is supposed to be all about football. How this game is the biggest in OSU history. If OSU wins, it earn its first Big 12 Championship, it's first BCS Bowl, and maybe, with a little luck, a National Championship opportunity. But none of that seems to matter right now after watching 50/50. The only things that continue to pop up are God, Family, and Friends.

The possibility and actuality of death makes you think. Earlier today a student on our campus was killed while riding his motorcycle. A couple weeks ago four more members of our OSU Family died in a plane crash. My Grandad died from Pancreatic Cancer. Death makes us think, makes us realize what's really important in life. And it's not football. It's not earning prestige in Call of Duty or being the most popular person on campus.

Don't forget what's really important in life.

Faith in God and living for Him, Your Family, and Your Friends are more important than Bedlam.

I Needed This Reminder

Ray Jones' son was playing baseball, and his team had batted around, but when it came to his son's at bat, he struck out. In fact, every time he came to the plate that night he struck out, never once hitting the ball.  After the game, his father came up to him and he said, "Son, I'm so glad you struck out every time you came to bat tonight." Confused, his son did a double-take wondering what in the world his dad was thinking.  But Ray said, "This way I can tell you that I am so proud of you, and you can know that it has absolutely nothing to do with what happened on the field."

Just think about that for a second, God is proud of you.  This is Love with a capital L that He shows us.  That even in our failures, our mistakes, and our sin, He still loves us.  I often lose sight of that and its easy to do so. 

And it doesn't mean we stop trying or keep living in our sin.  It means that God has and will always be there for us and is still working even when we feel like He isn't, or even when we fail.  It means we put more effort into pursuing Christ and Christ's goals.  Because:

He is working.

He is moving.

We are not yet complete and won't be til the day we die.

Let's get uncomfortable, take risks, love and serve others, take the Church to the people, live the Gospel, make Jesus Famous.

Living as if God Isn't Around

Did God leave me? Why can't I hear him? He must've left because I would've heard him? It couldn't be that I'm not listening, that I've wandered off, that's crazy talk.

Say something, anything, I'm listening now. Talk to me now. You must not be there. I'll try to contact you again when I feel this way again. I guess I'll go back to how I was living, distant from you, not trying to further your Kingdom. Trying to pursue my own interests, my goals, my dreams, it's all mine.

What have you done for me lately? You took away dad's job months after getting it.  You took away my scholarship to the place I wanted to be more than anywhere this summer, making me wonder if I'd make it back here.  I told you I would praise you no matter what happened, I wasn't lying, but I haven't done much praising have I? 

It gets harder to praise you when my plans aren't going my way. Me me me, thats all I care about isn't it? Not what you have done for me throughout all of this, your plans for me, your goals for me, the people you want me to be with and love on, to serve. I've truly been a shitty servant to you because I haven't been trusting you.  Maybe if I ever get a tattoo I can print that on my back "Failure of a servant."

Not once have I thought about how you are using each of these situations in my life? Making me more dependent on you instead of thinking I can do everything. Knowing you are really there, even thought I can't hear you, when we both know the truth is I'm not listening to you speak.  You are always talking, but I'm not listening, I've been too busy playing nhl, doing homework, watching tv, on the computer, and everything else in between, except doing the things you want me to do. 

And all of this falls into place in this thing we call life. Except, You gave me life, not the games or the music I play. You created me for a purpose, and its not to spend every moment of spare time watching tv.  You made me in Your image, and I'm destroying that temple with my thoughts and behaviors.

I say you are my all, my life, but actions don't back up my words.  For too long I've been ignoring you, but no longer.  For too long, I've decided not to act when I do listen, no longer.  You are here, with me forever and always.  And forever and always, I will be with you.  On earth, in Heaven; my focus, priority, and mission will be to make You Famous.  The good kind of Famous.  Famous with a capital F.  Loving You and Others as a servant.  A servant-leader at some point, but first and always first, a servant. 

You are here with me.  Through the tough times, the good times, the mourning, the rejoicing, the pain, the joy, the despair, the peace, the happiness.  You are here with me, and I'm going to listen better.

I surrender the control I've been holding onto.  I surrender the worries I have about being a servant-leader for RUF and our campus.  I surrender the dreams I have for myself, personal, relational, occupational, spiritual.  I surrender my life to You.  And from now on, I'm going to live that way.

Serve/Convert

As Christians, we serve not to convert, but because we have been converted.

When you read this, what thoughts run through your mind?

Motivational/Demotivational Friday Part 2

What is something you are being tempted with right now?

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life wondering..." This is just one of the many thoughts that creep up when we are being tempted to do things. This whole summer it's felt like I've been tempted to just coast through everything. School. Work. God stuff. Knowing that if I did not make certain grades during this summer would result in me not returning to OSU gave me the motivation to fight through that, along with God's endless help. At work, I wanted to work as hard as I could to honor God with every day I was there. But actually spending time with God? In His Word? Prayer? Community? Those areas I truly stunk up. I let the exhaustion from work and busyness of school tempt me into going through the motions in this area. Now that is all over, waiting for my last grade to come in, the temptation continues...but in a whole new way.

So what are you being tempted with right now?

Motivational/Demotivational Friday's!

I've decided that every Friday will be Motivational/Demotivational Friday where I will post a motivational poster for your/my entertainment.

This one has special meaning because I just finished summer classwork that was due at 10pm tonight and was started at 5pm today.

This poster is kind of like life though. We often try to shortcut things in our lives. School, work, family, friends, even God. I know for me, my relationship with Christ is often shortcutted and given low priority or no priority because "there isn't enough time in the day." But we can't do that. Christ has to be the number one thing in our life, given top priority and full support. Then everything else has to fall around that and at the same time work around that.

And honestly I've sucked at that recently/this summer.

The time to change is now.

Tune in every Friday and throughout the week for more posts/posters

When Shadows Fall On Us

This song has been running through my mind a lot lately. The link below is the audio of it if you want to follow along. I miss you, Nick.

Shadows


Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We'll remember the cost
We're resting in the
Shadow of the cross

With every breath I take, every heart beat
Sunrise and the moon lights in the dark street
Every glance, every dance, every note of a song
All a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known
Every moment I lie, Every moment I covet
I'm deserving to die, I'm earning your judgment
I, without the cross there's only condemnation
If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration
So in times that are good, in times that are bad
For any time I've had it all I will be glad
And I will boast in the cross, I boast in His name
I will boast in the sunshine, boast in His reign (rain)
What's my life if it's not praising You
Another dollar in my bank account of vain pursuit, I do
That count my life as any value or precious at all
Let me finish my race, let me answer Your call