Refocusing

Ok, so i'm not so sure that anyone reads this anymore, but i like writing on it so i'll update it anyway. This week has definitely been an interesting one. Nothing huge happened, just a lot of little things piling up that i don't really feel like divulging right now, but Wednesday chapel was class chapel. I attended the Junior class chapel, and heard a devotional on refocusing our lives to Christ. I guess i've been holding on to that this week. Just read Col 3...its pretty powerful.

Culture Shock

So in my Foundations of Ed (sociology) class we have been studying culture, and i believe the correct term for my current condition is "culture shock." That is coming from a culture to which you have become assimilated and encountering another culture that seems completely foreign. i can say that after 3 years at Crown, I began to accept it as my norm. Thats not to say i followed all the wonderful rules, but i accepted the fact that i had them. Upon arriving on campus this semester at MBBC, i observed things i hadn't seen on a campus in three years. For example girls and guys are allowed to walk into town together, girls are allowed to wear pants for certain activities, shirts with writing are allowed, people who aren't KJVO aren't in league with the devil, we can stay up late, and there aren't times set aside for the entire campus to study, but the part that hit me the hardest is that with all these things happening and allowed, this isn't some "trap of liberalism" or "Bible college in name only." For three years i have been taught (although indirectly, taught all the same) that if a college doesn't have the strictest standards of living then they are not following God's will. I guess i am just learning something else here, something that God meant for us to know and practice all the time. Man has a free will, and God wants worship and praise that man has decided to give him freely. God doesn't want our forced praise or our mechanical service. He wants us to worship Him because of who he is, not because we are required to do so. The philosophy i heard voiced before was if you are start now because you are forced, you will begin to do it when you aren't being forced, but is that even what God wants? Does He want our praise, worship, and service to be a habit we picked up?

Anyway, all that to say this, I'm having a great time here, and i KNOW im in God's will. Pray for me, i haven't found a job yet, but i KNOW this is where God wants me, so i know he'll provide. Last night i went to a little party (pretty much 8 of us watching a movie and eating food)Today i slept in and went to a football game. It was a ton of fun. I can honestly say that i am glad that i am at a school where influence and academics are equally important, where the students matter, and where i am treated like an adult.

God used Crown in my life for a specific purpose, and i learned a lot there about my life, my God, and my friends, so please don't take this as a "Crown bashing" post. I am just in the center of God's will and loving every minute of it!

Reflections

Well, to say that this summer has flown by would be sadly inaccurate. I guess the end just snuck up on me. So many things have happened to me this summer. I've gotten closer to some of my good friends and farther away from some i still consider good friends. I've learned lessons about life, and had a few interesting moments. I've made memories that will last me a lifetime. Today i went paintballing. That was....well...interesting. It was definitely fun. Well, as fun as being shot can be. I got hit a few times, and that hurt pretty bad, but just hanging out with my friends was so much fun. God has blessed me so much with an amazing church that not only hang out after services, but actually want to get together and do things whether they be ministry or just fun. I am really nervous about going to MBBC, but God has shown me again and again thats what he has for me.

When an amazing book becomes a mediocre movie...

Right now, im sitting here, at 1:19 am, by myself in my house. I'm a little freaked out cause my neighborhood is now full of delinquent juveniles, who would rather break into houses and blow up cars than go home and sleep or do something more productive, and im at home by myself cause my parents are on vacation and my brother is at work. To make it all even better, I've been reading books about twisted realities, and im currently watching a movie about a man with mulitple personalities that is trying to blow himself up. Thats what is really irking me. This movie is a horrendous attempt at recreating an amazing book, and instead of serving the book ANY justice at all, it is butchering the complexities that made the plot gripping in the first place. The book was so vivid that it wouldn't be hard to recreate some of the details, but instead some of the most important parts have been cut.

In whatsoever state I am...

So, lately (as in the pas 2 days) i have been praying about some things that really don't matter too much in the scope of eternity, but they have been weighing rather heavily on my heart and mind. It is kind of nice to have something to think about while im at work since it passes the time more quickly, the almost ten hours yesterday just flew by, but i just want this taken care of. Unfortunately, i'm not writing to say that God has tied all the ends of all the little strings together in a magnicient looking package. This morning i read the book of Philippians (lately in my devos, i have been reading an entire epistle just to get the overview of the book). The thing that really jumped out at me was the necessity of the Christian to be content. Christ was humbled to be obedient to death, but he never grumbled or complained. In chapter 4, Paul tells the philippian church that he has learned to be content not matter what state he was in. Contentment isn't an easy state to reach, but when you do, it's amazing... That's what i need to pray for...contentment, and then everything else will work out...

On a side note, looking at the verse sometimes makes me think about being content in any state, whether going to school in TN, living in PA, visiting friends in OH, or transferring to WI. God with with me wherever i go...

Stirred or changed?

Yesterday i got a phone call telling me that there had been an accident. Three of the guys from school had been travelling for New Testament Church Pioneers. Their SUV had rolled over and pinned one of them under the car. He died before the rescue crews could free him. Lee Waller was one of the godliest Christians i had ever met. I went on visitation with him for a few months my sophomore year, and he had a vision for souls. I've had very little to do since i heard the news, and i have been thinking a lot (which i know i do far too much sometimes). I thought about what this would be like if one of my friends had been taken to eternity. How would our relationship end? Would they know that i love them? Would i be able to live knowing our relationship was right? Would there be a senseless grudge between us? Then i started thinking what would happen if it had been me? Lee was serving the Lord. He was encouraging pastors and church members. What am I doing for the Lord? I am praying that Lee didn't die in vain. I am praying that Lee's Christian example will not just stir people but change them. Please pray for the Waller family, his girlfriend Jessica, the Peoples Baptist Church, Crown College, and Pastor Sexton. Also please pray for Scott Davis and Zach Gillit as they were travelling with Lee and are dealing with this loss and the tramua of the accident.

Eventful days

Well, since i last wrote, a lot as happened. I turned 21, which was a lot better than turning 20 (at least my family remembered this time...but i didn't get to go out...jk), our house got broken into (my brother's laptop and all his software got stolen), i was in a wedding, i saw pirates 3 (which i considered a horrible waste of time and money), i started my job (i hate it), i started teaching 4-6th grade at my church (i love it), and prolly a list of ten things i am forgetting to mention. I prolly would have written earlier, except our internet was down for 2 weeks. I miss everyone like crazy, which seems to be a theme of my life this summer. Just thought i would give a quick update.