Currently Listening Verve Jazz Masters 10 By Dizzy Gillespie see related

A whole lotta processing

Since being back, many things have gone through my mind.  So much about where I've been and what I did this past year and what I'm currently being called to here in America.  There's a lot I've jumped into this first month being back and a lot I've left behind.  But right now, my thoughts are centered upon what I've found to be poignant for we who call ourselves believers.  Think of all that we've been given and what we are currently doing with it.  As we come to the end of our time in college or other experiences (or some have been out for a while or have not even started yet), and are embarking on new things, it is easy to get lazy and become spiritually complacent.  It is easy to flounder about and lose the desire to search for community once again--claiming that it's not like Chi Alpha or your community of choice--and replace it with the desire for bigger and better salaries and things.  It's easy to forget the deeper calling we have on our lives.  But we are, nonetheless, left with a choice.  What am I going to do with all that has been given to me?  What am I going to do with the undeniable truth that has been handed to me that life is about so much more than that?  Who am I going to love with my actions and my choices? 

I'm reminded of the seeds of truth that have been sown into me for the last 5 or 6 years--truth that has taken root and become a part of who I am.  The wise Daniel Savalla asks us, 'Why do you do the things you do and who do you do them for?'  And then my mind goes to Eli Gautreaux's famous definition of love:  "Love is unselfishly choosing for another's highest good."  And I am also reminded that to whom much is given, much is required.  Another piece has been said by Eli many times--"What God has done IN you, He wants to do THROUGH you." 

So with these things in mind, I can't help but be convicted and to remember that our lives and our faith, are about responsibility.  It's about seeing beyond ourselves and what we can get and it's about looking to the Lord and what He would have us do with every bit of our lives. But am I really doing that or is it just a nice little idea that I say I have?  I'm burdened for this truth.  I apologize if my rant is difficult to follow--there is so much going on in my head right now and this is the only way I can seem to process. 

My thoughts were only spurred on and enhanced by an article that I read on the Relevant website today:  http://relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=7462I .  I encourage you to read it for yourself, but some things that stuck out to me were as follows:

"Those great years of college ("the best time of your life" as my parent's friends often say) are drawing to a close, and it's time to start putting our convictions into play if we haven’t already. Yes, we're still honing who we're going to be and how we're going to live our lives, but for the most part, we've got a pretty good idea of how we want to live."

""We place an extremely high emphasis on being constantly connected, through the computer or the cell phone or some sort of technology, which is really a deeper desire for community, and that is a great thing."

"It certainly seems that this generation of ours talks more about what's not them, about doing something for someone else, and holds that as important. And that's exactly the mentality Jesus wanted His disciples to have. "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others" (Phil 2:4 NRSV).

"We're the generation who talks about doing something about the invisible children out there. We talk about International Justice Mission and see their work as an honorable crusade of our day...."

"But are we really doing those things that we talk about and think are cool—even though it might cost us more of our entry level salaries or cast us into a different light when it comes to what is acceptable to our society or to our parents? That's seems to be the bigger challenge—acceptance and personal identity. Are we standing up to and living Biblical truth, having found ourselves uniquely in Christ, or do we let the overwhelming acceptances of culture overshadow that truth? Do we seek to fit into society first and then Jesus second? Or is it Jesus first, and then the world second? Do we spend more time in a day in the Scriptures, praying, serving or worshipping the Lord, or more time surfing Facebook? Does it even matter?"

It takes courage to go and be a missionary for Jesus. Doing so can be scary, lonely and strange; it can involve denying certain comforts, receiving ridicule or being denied acceptance for what you believe. It’ll even challenge your self-identity and cause you to wonder if you can really be found in Christ alone or not. Yet, we are clearly called to do it. Go. And "go" doesn't necessarily mean travel to a foreign country. The majority of the time moving locations is not even necessary. "Go" is much more an attitude of the heart. You don't have to move an inch; you've got a chance "to make disciples of all nations" right where you are. Today. Now.

"We have an amazing opportunity before us. We recognize that in our thoughts and in our speech and in the things to which we aspire. We are young, and we have a lot of time before us to do something. If we are truly convicted about Christ our Lord and His truth, and not God who fits secondly into my culture first life, than it’s the time to let that shine. The “how” depends on each one of us, but I think St. Francis' advice can be a good place to start: 'Preach the gospel always. If necessary, use words.'"

Chew on this.

As always, catch you on the flip....

A Good Word

Currently Reading Daughters of Islam: Building Bridges With Muslim Women By Miriam Adeney see related

Create Something!! It was what we were born to do!