Friday, November 16, 2012

LOVE


Love is a funny thing… Not that I would know any thing about it. ;)  This week in class, we learned about two different kinds of love.  Love that we have for other human beings, and love we SHOULD have for Christ. 

Tuesday morning Adam Donyes talked with us about relationships.  It was really interesting to hear a Godly man’s advice on how to form good relationships; luckily, as a girl, it’s pretty easy.  We are TREASURES.  Now, if you’ve ever seen Indiana Jones, you know that he worked pretty darn hard to find the priceless treasures he was looking for.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that the Holy Grail was walking around looking for someone to find it.  It was guarded by tons of different traps and tests to ensure that the right person, worthy of possessing it, was the discoverer.  Like wise, we should guard our hearts, and allow men to be the ones hunting us.  It shouldn’t be easy.  They need to work hard to prove their character and earn our hearts.  Lust is a feeling, but Love is a commitment.  Don’t confuse the two. 

Thursday, Andrew Munneke talked to us about Spiritual Formation in Contemporary Culture.  Yeah, that was intimidating first slide.  Don’t worry, he really broke it down and unpacked each word to help us understand what he meant. 

Spiritual – πνεύμα (nooma) Among humans, the immaterial aspect of humanity.  Also used to describe the third person of the trinity.  The spirit.

Formation – Morphe – shaped and molded. 

Spiritual Formation – Shaped and molded to the Holy Spirit.  It is the intentional transformation of the inner person to the character of Christ.  It is a conscious decision to be shaped by God’s Grace.

Culture – Cultra – Started in agriculture by taking something natural and making better.  A cultured person has taken steps to increase their knowledge.  There are different cultures, called sub-cultures, within cultures.  For instance, I live in Branson.  There are things in Branson that Bransonians find acceptable that most people outside of Branson would see differently; for example, Mullets.  Branson is a sub-culture of the United States.  Within Branson, there is the Kanakuk Culture, and within that, the Link Year culture.  In all of these sub-cultures, different things are mediated.  Culture uses Language, Images, Artifacts, and Rituals to mediate Meaning, Value, and Identity.  Take a $100 bill for example.  In reality, it is just a tiny piece of green paper.  Our culture tells us that it represents money, and has a value of 100 dollars.  We then find our identity in the fact that we have a $100 bill. 

Culture causes our priorities to change.  Instead of desiring a relationship with the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, we desire relationships with Boys.  Instead of spending time getting to know our savior, we spend time playing games and gossiping.  Instead of using our financial blessings to help others in need, we spend it on material possessions that will fade away.  We choose not to show the image of God because we are showing the image of the world.  Consumerism is the #1 religion of our world today.  We find our hope, joy, and identity in the products we own.  Our satisfaction cannot be purchased.  We will never truly be satisfied until we can learn to love the Lord our God with all our soul, mind, and strength.  Spiritual Formation is a choice.  But it is more rewarding than anything this world could ever give you. 

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” –Ephesians 6:19-20

Thursday, November 8, 2012

GO. PRAY. GIVE.


I am truly amazed by the ways that God prepared me for this past week.  We, as a class, were given the opportunity to travel together to Kansas City, Missouri, and work with a unique ministry called The Hope Center.  The Hope Center, located in the middle of the neighborhood with the second highest crime rate in the United States, works to teach children living in this area how to be leaders in their community.  They run a school, provide tutoring, and provide different afterschool and evening activities for the kids and teenagers who have grown up in often times broken, or non-existent homes.  The goal of this ministry is to equip the students to be lights to those around them, and hopefully make the area a better place. 

It was an extremely humbling experience to be in a city so different from what I am used to.  Urbandale, Iowa, the 39th nicest town in the United States (according to our commercial), is probably just about the furthest thing from inner city KC.  I was amazed to see children getting off the bus and running home playfully, just as I once did, and hearing six gun-shots just minutes later.  Probably about two blocks from the street I was standing on.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it would have been like to hear things like that growing up, and just accept it as normality.  This was the first time I had EVER heard gunshots, and I wanted to run inside and hide… but this is what these kids are used to; this is what they have grown up around.  But that was just the beginning. 

Later on in our trip, we had been divided up into our groups of four, also known as our ‘family’ groups, at lunchtime, and each group was given a number.  One group received a 1, three groups received a 2, and four groups received a 3.  Group 1 got to enter into the lunchroom first.  They were seated at a table full of catered in Chick-Fil-A, Coke, and Dr. Pepper.  It was the meal we had all been craving after a hard day’s work.  Group two walked in, and was seated on some couches, and given sack lunches containing PB&J, chips, and Gatorade.  Although it was no chick-fil-a, they accepted the lunch and sat down to eat, content with what they had, yet jealous of the other group.  Group three came in to two large bowls of beans and rice on the ground with several spoons stuck in each bowl.  We were asked to sit on the floor, and otherwise ignored. 

This ended up being a powerful demonstration of the separation of classes in the United States.  As students from primarily upper class families, we often don’t realize how well off we really are.  We can choose whether or not to eat the meals provided to us, knowing that we will always have other options; that we will never go hungry.  We are given more than enough food that other people would love to have even once a month, or less.  We take advantage of our blessings by wasting food.  We don’t realize that there are people proverbially sitting on the floor sharing bowls of rice and beans.  We are immune to the fact that there are people starving to death in our own cities because we can’t comprehend what it truly means to starve.  We waste so much food that we do not need on ourselves when we could be sharing our wealth and giving food to those who cannot provide it for themselves. 

We were given many different opportunities to serve throughout the week.  We helped clean up a house that The Hope Center had purchased with the intent of inviting a Hope Center family to live in, cleaned up around the school itself, and helped clean up an old catholic parish the Hope Center had purchased a while back.  When we got in there, this church (as stereotypically beautiful as any catholic church may be), was packed, front to back, wall to wall with stuff.  I couldn’t even tell you what… just stuff.  Some of it trash, some of it ready to be given away, and some of it very valuable or even priceless.  We spent two days clearing things out, storing them properly, and getting rid of literally tons of trash. 

Once that was done, we spent the rest of our time cleaning up around the building.  Mind you, this church has probably been abandoned for a solid 20 years, and the dust really does build up over time.  We swept, vacuumed and scooped out the dust from the building.  When we had finished, it felt like we were standing in a completely new church.  It was a great feeling.  The director of the Hope Center could not thank us enough for all that we had done.  He told us that we did more work in three days than they could have done in a year.  Knowing that we helped them with a project that will positively impact many people for years to come is a feeling that cannot be described. 

This trip really showed me that you don’t have to get on a plane to go on a mission trip.  Frankly, you don’t even have to drive four hours to one of the most dangerous areas in the country.  There are people in need all over the place; people who need homes, food, clothes, and most importantly, Jesus.  We have no idea whether or not any individual has heard the story of the gospel, and fully understands its significance.  We have no clue where our closest friends’ hearts stand in their spiritual walks.  Yet we are too ignorant to find out.  We hold the key to eternity in our hands, but we are too selfish to open the door to our neighbors, our co-workers, our families and friends… What are we waiting for?

God has really used the past three speakers I have heard from to prepare me, and stretch me through this week.  Marvin Daniels explained to us the importance of sharing the gospel with our friends, and those we see every day.  He showed us this video about what it would be like to loose an unsaved friend…

http://youtu.be/YFZ1pt0WX5c

Sunday morning, the church I have been attending invited a guest speaker to share with us about the ways he has been reaching out to several unreached tribes near Oaxaca, Mexico.  He explained that the world that does not know Christ is in desperate need of a savior.  Eternal condemnation is at stake for them, and they will have no reason or excuse when they stand at the judgment seat, other than the fact that no one ever bothered to share the good news of the Gospel of Christ with them.  These lost people are not going to be here waiting for us in the light.  We cannot keep standing around waiting for them to walk into our privileged little lives and ask us to tell them about God.  We MUST seek them out.  We are right where Satan wants us.  In our comfort zone.  No one wants to get out of their box long enough to make a difference in the life of another person.  There are too many ways that could go wrong…  we could be rejected, out smarted, embarrassed.  We could say the wrong thing. We could look silly… These are all things that go through our minds and keep us from sharing what it is we have been called to share.  But, things could be worse… WE COULD BE ETERNALLY CONDEMNED TO HELL.  How much do you have to hate someone to stand behind your own insecurities and fears and know that that will be their outcome? 

Luke 9:23 tells us to daily take up our cross and follow Him.  This is a verse I have heard referenced time and time again, but never fully understood the meaning of.  To take up your cross, as Christ took up his, is to recognize that you are about to die… and not only just die, but be tortured, and killed for an offense you have committed.  We are called to die to this world, to our earthly desires and fears, and become alive in Christ.  We are called to live as vessels for him, and to serve him in every aspect of our lives.  We need to look past ourselves, and seek out what God’s will is in our lives.  We aren’t living for ourselves anymore, but as sold out followers of Jesus Christ.  Can I get an Amen?

Finally, yesterday morning a local Kansas City pastor came in and talked to us about what it was like to grow up in ‘the hood’, and how God has changed his life and given him a passion to minister to the people there in KC.  He talked about how so many people claim to be Christians, but do not know the story of the gospel at all.  They do not realize the sacrifice made so that we can live, and live eternally.  The Gospel is the message we were created to share; we are called not to be ashamed of it.  God didn’t save us just so that we could go and sit in church on Sunday mornings… he saved us that we can go and make disciples of many nations.  The gospel message is the most important story we can tell people.  It is the most important thing we can pass on to our children.  There is nothing more significant than the story of God’s love for his people. 

There is no excuse for us not to be sharing God’s love on a day-to-day basis.  There are people all over the globe, in every city and every state that have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.  GO…PRAY…GIVE. Be a light to your community.  Point people to Christ. 

 "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." – Ephesians 6:19-20

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Week 5


This week has been such a week of growth for my entire link year class, both individually, and holistically.  We heard from three different speakers that challenged us to work together and interact as a group, but also make us think about our own lives, and the ways we view real world issues. 

Monday we were privileged to hear from Mary Willis, a Nutritionist from Kansas City.  She taught us a lot about eating a balanced diet, and making sure that we are getting enough of every food group.  She laid out all that we needed to maintain a healthy diet, and showed us simple ways to eat healthy on a budget.  Most importantly, she told us how fortunate we are to be in such a close-knit community.  Studies have proven that it is easier to stick to a healthy eating plan when you are surrounded by a group of like-minded people with similar goals.  She challenged us to challenge each other to work for the goals we have set out for ourselves. 

            Tuesday and Wednesday we heard from Marvin Daniels, the director of Higher Ground at KAA. Marvin challenged us to express our opinions about several different topics as a group.  We all moved to the back of the chapel where he had designated one side as ‘agree’, and the other as ‘don’t agree’.  Six slides crossed the screen with statements that could be argued either way.  With each different statement, we were asked to choose whether we agreed or disagreed, and stand on the corresponding side of the chapel.  There was no option of middle ground; we were forced to pick a side.  As we discussed each statement, and our own personal standpoints behind them, we could choose to change our minds.  It was interesting to hear the different opinions of my classmates and peers behind each of the issues, and really defend my own beliefs against those of others.  We were also split into discussion groups to talk about different areas in our lives that are more personal to us individually.  It was good to be forced into some interaction during class, and have to participate, instead of just sitting back and listening to another speaker. 

            Thursday Morning, we were truly blessed to get to have Keith Chancey come and share with us.  Keith is the director of the Kanakuk Institute, and a phenomenal speaker.  He walked us through the first three chapters of Genesis, and really dug deep into the text.  He talked about why we were created.  God was looking for TRUE worshippers who will worship Him.  Then, he began to unpack the scripture.  He used verses from these first few chapters, and applied to them to modern day issues that Christians often deal with.  It was a good eye-opener to see why the Old Testament is still important to our lives today. 

            This week was definitely a good week of growth for our entire class.  We were forced to talk out our own personal opinions, not just those of the people around us.  It helped us to see what areas we need growth in.  These things will be crucial to be able to defend all throughout my life.  

"Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."