That’s My King!

This is too awesome to not post.

Grumbling

“Nothing unites like a common enemy.”

It seems like humanity seeks common enemies in every collective situation we encounter.  Want to fit in?  Find a common enemy.  Want to dissolve what seems to be an “awkward silence”?  Grumble.  There is an ever-so-common unity of ingratitude which is part of the sinful social framework we find ourselves slipping into and battling every day.

Think about it.  You’re sitting in class, waiting for a professor to arrive, and there is that silence that is bound to prompt someone to say something akin to “We had so much reading last night!,” which leads to “Yeah, I don’t like this class” or “Why do we have to write a 10 pager this week?”  Before you know it, you have been sucked into a unified grumble that somehow makes you feel part of a group, despite the fact you are blessed to be attending a university and may have found the reading interesting and cultivating.

Or perhaps you’ve just finished enjoying a great time swimming with friends, and then you enter the locker room.  You’re bound to hear or say “I hate how the chlorine makes my hair dry” or “Wasn’t the water so cold?”, and grumbling agreement follows with examples and further areas to expand.

Why do we feel the need to unify under the grumble of ingratitude?  The ultimate answer is found in our inherent ungratefulness that is directed toward our Creator.  Just take a look at Romans 1 (we all know the passage): “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Ingratitude is a nauseating spit in the Creator’s face.  Paul puts foolish ingratitude in the category of cursing and sexually explicit jokes: “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving” (5:4).

By nature, we are dark-hearted people who unify through a common delight in grumbling.  This is why it is so extreme when Paul tells us that we should be filled with Spirit “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). The wonder of it all is that we can be filled with the Spirit and gratitude because of Christ’s death on the cross, the event that turns wretched souls to gratitude for eternity.

It is God’s will that Christians be thankful. (“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” I Thes. 5:18).  This is a guaranteed direction for our lives, and how could we not be eternally thankful in light of the cross? Christ is able to cleanse our hearts and our social framework.

When we, by His grace, seek to be thankful in all circumstances and to “Do all things without grumbling or questioning” (Phil 2:14) it is shocking to the world around us.  It is shocking because, as we have seen, grumbling and ingratitude is the way our world works, socially and individually, and Christ’s way is remarkably and completely counter-human.

So, I encourage you to join me in praying for grace to live like Colossians 3:16-17:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Lord, Open Our Eyes!

Approximately 30 students are referred to counselors and other professionals by Student Life a month.  Sure, some may be recurrent, but that is a staggering number for our very small campus population (625).  One person per day!  Open your eyes (as I pray for God to open mine).  People are hurting, people who we walk past  everyday.  People are on the edge, people who sit right next to us in class.  People are without hope, people who just smiled and waved a hello.  People are lonely, people who live in the room over.  People need Jesus, people who are just like you.  Pray for our campus.

 

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Another Lesson

The Holdfast

I threatened to observe the strict decree
Of my dear God with all my power and might.
But I was told by one, it could not be;
Yet I might trust in God to be my light.

Then will I trust, said I, in him alone.
Nay, ev’n to trust in him, was also his;
We must confess, that nothing is our own.
Then I confess that he my succor is.

But to have naught is ours, not to confess
That we have naught. I stood amazed at this,
Much troubled, till I heard a friend express,
That all things were more ours by being his.
What Adam had, and forfeited for all,
Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall.

George Herbert (1593-1633)

A Lesson from 17th Century Literature

We’ve been spending a great deal of time on John Donne in my 17th Century Literature class.  Regardless of the whole John Donne double-sidedness bit (one common theory/explanation divides his life into two parts: “the life of a the youthful Jack Donne the rake,” who wrote quite erotic poetry and “the pious and repentant Dr. John Donne, Dean of St. Paul’s”), Donne is refreshing in Sonnet 10 of his Holy Sonnets, also known as

Death Be Not Proud

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DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

John Donne
(1572-1631)

Kindergarten is for Abecedarians

I love words!  And the more I become acquainted with them, the more I come to believe that there is a name to technically describe everything (we see phenomena and desire a certain ownership through language, which speaks multitudes about the importance of name to God), although I also come to find there are many times when words are completely insufficient (which touches whole worlds of aspects about Him ).  It’s a dichotomy I experience quite frequently.

Anyway, let’s cut to the cute.  Being a word nerd (philologist), I subscribe to dictionary.com’s word of the day (I know).  I was quite tickled to find this one in my inbox:

abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn\, noun:

1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a beginner.
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet.
3. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
4. Arranged alphabetically.
5. Rudimentary; elementary.

So all kindergartners are abecedarians.  Quite scholarly, no?  I was quite tickled.

Watch the Past and Pray for the Future

So, it’s one of those “I haven’t posted in ages, but what I have to request supersedes embarrassment over past neglect” times.  This Monday at 6:15 a.m. my plane will depart for San Salvador, El Salvador.  I’m going on a mission trip with Alpha and Omega again, and we will be sharing the gospel with children, youth, and their families in the nearby city of Chalatenango.  Pray for all whom we will encounter, and please be praying for our group.  Pray that we stay in tune with God’s guidance and truth, remain unified, have opportunities to share the gospel through our actions and words, and not “grow weary in doing good” (2 Thes. 3:13).  We’ll be back July 6th.

I Chronicles 16: 23-27

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.

24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!

25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be held in awe above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.

Oh, and great news.  Our mission trip video from last year is finally finished, so to give you an inside look about our trips:

P.S. Yes, that was me that made the Outside J

About last semester…

Junior year officially ended as of 12:30 yesterday afternoon.  Exams are OVER!  Papers are DONE!  And I cannot be more thankful for such a great semester.  God has done so much, and it is incredible that I have not been able to blog about it.  So now that the summer provides a bit more writing opportunity, I’m going to share some of the fantastic things that went on this spring semester within my next few blogs.  The first being…..

My part-time job.  I was not sure that I would be able to get an on-campus job this semester.  Everyone had applied last semester while I was in Ireland, and it is hard to get a job on a small campus and in a small town, especially with economic troubles lurking about.  I heard that people were even being denied Tyson’s late night shift, a previously guaranteed position.  The first places I inquired were full.  I was somewhat disheartened, but God knew best.  One especially trying afternoon, a friend recommended asking the Jones Learning Center if any positions were available.  All positions were filled except one; they needed a writing lab assistant.  I met Tina, the writing specialist, who was just about to send an e-mail, asking professors to recommend someone for the job. We talked, and I was hired on the spot.

Since then, I’ve been able to work under a wonderful specialist, while helping people with learning disabilities communicate through written word.  I’ve been able to hone my grammar and paper organization skills, as well as meet a lot of new students.  I’m looking forward to working with Tina next semester.  It has all been such a great blessing.  During a time of uncertainty, God closed many doors so that I could work somewhere fulfilling, in something related to my major.  He’s equally blessed me with my summer job, where I will be paid to write web content.  Great is Thy Faithfulness.

The Desert Song

I have recently fallen in love with Hillsong’s “The Desert Song,” but I hadn’t heard the story behind the recording until last weekend.  Its worth sharing; this is what Philippians 4:4-7 is all about.

In the Midst of the Whelming Flood

I played this on the guitar the other morning, and never before had it meant so much.  Papers, presentations, exams, decisions, housing forms, extracurricular activities, senior thesis prospects, etc.  For all of you who are in the midst of the crazy last weeks (the whelming flood) of school…

The Solid Rock

Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.