But A Mist...

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

On this day 12 years ago, many lives were lost in a horrific act of terror.  There is no good explanation.  No good reason. Nothing.  Today I reflect because of two young men I knew, though not well, who lost their lives in recent weeks. Both were young.  Both were popular. Both were star athletes. Everyone liked these young men. One was starting his senior year. The other starting life in the real world. Both had so much potential.

Like many others I am left wondering Why? Why God would you let someone die so young? Why would you let someone who has so much potential die? I don't have an answer. I probably never will. Many emotions can well up inside. Anger. Sadness. Hopelessness. Defeat. The most recent passing is the one that has me choked up the most. But its strange. I didn't know him that well. I spent a summer in Colorado and got to know this young man. The emotions keep coming.

I am left knowing certain truths though.  God is Sovereign.  1 Timothy 6:15 says  ...God will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. God is above all, he knows all. He is in control. God is Love. 1 John 4:8 says Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. I don't claim to always understand God's love. But I know he loves each and every one of us dearly. God has a Plan. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.  You never know what tomorrow is going to bring. But God establishes our course for His glory.

Hold on to these promises about God. Take refuge in the Lord in the difficult times. Take refuge in the Lord in good times. He is our strength. Our purpose.

Come near to God and he will come near to you

James 4:8a

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

    a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 9:9

Lastly, I want to say its okay to be upset with God. Throughout the Psalms we can see David and other Psalmist exlaiming "GOD! Why have you forsaken me!"  Jesus even said that on the cross! God created us with feelings.  He knows we will be upset with Him many times. Be truthful with him, don't be afraid to speak your mind, to feel like you have to be okay with tragedies. Just know he is faithful.  Psalm 33:4 says For the word of the Lord is right and true;  he is faithful in all he does.  We can't know all things. all reasons. And sometimes we will feel like we have more on our plate than we can handle. That is when we go to those God has put in our lives to help us limp through until we can walk on our own again.

Here is an article that can be for those of you thinking "I can't handle this anymore."

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/yes-god-will-give-you-more-you-can-handle

Life is but a mist. Make the most of the time you have now. Glorify God with your life.  Share the gospel as often as possible. You never know when life is going to take a tragic turn.  Love each other. Love God.

Above all else.

Praise God in the good. Praise God in the bad. Praise God.
Give Him the glory.

Setting the Pace pt 3

1301 Central Avenue Ocean City, New Jersey.

Upon reflection, Ocean City Summer Project 2012 did set the pace for the rest of my life.  The theme of the first week of project was true for the rest of project also.  It is a summer that has impacted my life in many ways.   Read my previous two posts to see the weekly impacts it has made. Below I will talk about how the second half of the summer and the relationships created there have impacted me.

The second half of the summer the staff left and gave us their responsibilities as leaders of the project. We were all given different roles and each role was important in many different ways.  An example of a role that may not seem important at first was important in setting the moods and inspiring us.  That team was the vibe team.  The three wonderful young women who were in charge of that did a fantastic job inspiring us to treasure the gospel and to Go among other things.

Anchored in Christ

The responsibility I was given was a middle action group leader.  I had a Bible study with the leadership team and got discipled by a pretty stellar dude named Jake Pearring from UCLA! I was blessed and humbled to gain wisdom from this kid who was 2 years younger than me.  I also led a Bible study for 4 action group leaders and discipled 3 of them.  It was a privilege to pour into these incredible men who were themselves pouring into men of their Bible studies.  I was the in between man, that's why I was called the middle action group leader. The action group leaders led bible studies and discipled the rest of the project students.  This time of leading felt behind-the-scenes because I don't feel like I got recognized at all for it. Which is fine and great! It was humbling seeing God use me like that and help me grow in different areas outside of any sort of spot light.  It definitely helped me prepare to lead a Bible study back on campus and disciple a few solid guys here.  I am blessed to have been able to do that.

And then there are all the people from project.  I call them family now.  The type friendships I created there are unlike any I have ever experienced.  It was the most Biblical community I've ever been a part of.  The women were so encouraging.  The men were so encouraging. We had deep conversations about life, our lives all the time.  We shared our life stories, our testimonies with each other. Sometimes sharing for over an hour, going in depth and being open and authentic with each other.  I know I will not ever have this type of community ever again, but thats okay.  To experience that is to experience a little piece of God. And I want more of it.  It only helps my relationship with Christ by remembering those friends from Ocean City in the summer of 2012.

What is even more astonishing about these friendships is how real they really are.  A saying on project was campus trumps project, meaning campus is so much more important than anything we had here on project. Project was just a training ground for home. So as a result, some of these friendships may be harder to keep up. Sure, some are better at keeping up than others, but some, myself included, have a hard time staying in contact with everyone. The great thing about that is that if I see any of the guys or girls, I can sit down and catch up on life and have a deep conversations.  It is almost as if we have never left each other.  The genuine love felt between everyone is great.

If I had no idea what real friendship and community was before, I do now, this is it. Brothers and sisters in Christ, living life together and serving Christ together by telling others about him.

Setting the Pace pt 2

Going into project you are told the second half of the summer is where you grow the most. The part where you are without the staff and on your own. After experiencing it a second time (the first time was in Alaska), I can vouch for that and say it is very true!

I decided 2 posts wouldn't be enough, so in this post I'll just describe the weekly themes that were student led. Part 3 will describe the growth through leadership and how the friendships from the summer continue to impact me.

Weekly Themes
student-led second half

Treasuring the Gospel. What kind of struggles do you face in ministry or your personal walk with Jesus? It is these things that tempt us to say its not worth it.  Our brokenness should bring us to a dependance on the Spirit. Are you going to treasure jars of clay or the gospel? Like 2 Corinthians 4 says, the jars of clay are our brokenness and sin, while the gospel is a relationship with Christ and eternal.  Our suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory of Christ. It is these things that I often forget. But those days I do remember, those days I do treasure the gospel, that is when my struggles become momentary and fleeting compared to the glory of Christ.  Keep your eyes on the prize, the best is yet to come!

Running to Win. This seems to be a theme I need to review more for myself...so here ya go! 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says we should run the race of life in such a way to receive the prize. That prize is God returning. How do we do that? With self control and discipline. If athletes train their whole lives for a few moments of glory, how much more so should we live our lives to win the prize of Christ? To do this, you need a running partner to hold you accountable and to help you train your the spiritual muscles.  What pace are you running in the race? When we truly recognize that Jesus is the only imperishable prize, our natural response will be to run to Him. Will you run the race with me?

Who Will Go. If you've read a good amount of the Bible, a common theme of going is seen throughout.  It is important to recognize who we are and who God is and surrender to Him. God's holiness is set apart, it is outside of our comprehension. In Isaiah 6:1-8 God is described as "holy, holy, holy," or the holiest.  Isaiah responds by saying he is ruined! Sin is an offense against God that has eternal consequences, that is why Jesus had to die on the cross. God offers us this relationship, but we deny it, saying "I don't need You!" Charles Spurgeon said that God won't do anything with us until He has undone us. We say "I don't need You!" God says "I love you!"  He did that by dying on the cross, in verse 7 God cleanses Isaiah, then says "Whom shall I send? Who will go?"  Isaiah responds by saying "Here I am! Send me!" God offers us the privilege to serve Him. Are you willing to surrender it all for God's glory? If you don't feel a calling, GO! God will use you! What do you need to surrender to God? Are you willing to give up everything to be sent?

Anchored to Christ.  How can one stay anchored in Christ? Read at 1 Corinthians 15:58. Be steadfast, immovable, keep doing what you're doing! We need to continue to pursue Him and He'll meet us where we're at. Here are three challenges. Prioritize your personal relationship with the Lord. the number one sin committed by Christians is not keeping the Sabbath   Set the pace for a gospel centered community, lead by example. Lastly, prioritize sharing the gospel on campus. Sometimes we think our comfort is worth more than thousands of lost souls. Sharing our faith may be tough.  It can be discouraging, 3 indispensable requirements for a missionary are patience, patience, and patience. Successful evangelism is taking the initiative to share Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God. Sharing is stretching, our Father makes many a flower bloom unseen in the lonely desert. Remember, it is WORTH IT! Our mission on Earth is to glorify God! Know,your labor is not in vain! Galatians 6:4 tells us to not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap what we've sown. This is a week where continually am reminded how important it is to be anchored in Christ, running whole hearted after him.


Every time I go back and review what I've learned from this summer, I can see where I was a year ago and see where I am now.  I am so. much further along in my faith now than I was a year ago

Setting the Pace pt 1

Months after I have returned from project in Ocean City, New Jersey, I'm reeling from the impact it has made in my life.  Not only from what I've learned, but the friends I made there.  The theme of the first week was Setting the Pace, I'd like to believe that I did exactly that for the rest of my life.

The more I reflect on the summer, the more I realize that each of the weeks has impacted my life in different ways and continues to do so. And every time I see project people again, I realize more about the relationships that were made there.  These different aspects continue to affect my life in positive ways.

In this post I'll look at the first half of the summer. The next one I'll look at the second half and friendships.

Weekly Themes
With staff

Setting the Pace. This week didn't seem to make much of an impact at the time. But because I took the theme of that week to heart, I believe I not only set the pace for my summer, but for the rest of my life.  The steps of faith I began taking were ones that would continue to impact me.  It was that week that I went sharing with my discipler TJ Habel for the first time. That would plant the seed that would grow into a love of sharing.  It was  that week that I began to make friends with those on project who would become like family, even if I never got to know them deeply. The connection of the summer was enough to make us family. We shared our stories with each other and got to know each other deeper than we had anyone else in our lives. I praise God for that.

Thirsting to Know Him. This was the first week we went through our Thirsty devotional with our action groups.  It talks about walking with the Spirit and thirsting to know Him.  We talked about Psalm 63 where David was in a desert.  I'm not sure if it was literal or spiritually that he was in the desert.  God is the only thing that can quench our thirst, not food, not friends, not relationships, not things. Only God can.  David saw God's glory and wanted Him. The more tastes of God we have, the more we desire Him.  I only find that to be more and more true the more glimpses of God I have.

Killing the Giants. If greatness is your goal, safety can be your enemy.  On a scale of 1-10, how risky is your walk with God?  If you want to grow like never before, start giving God things that are hard to do.  These are just a few quotes from the week. Its a week that reminds me that with God, I can kill the Giants in my life, whether it is sharing with someone or going outside of my comfort zone. In Joshua 3, the Israelites had to step into the Jordan, a raging river, before it would be calmed. Sometimes in life God calls us to step into the raging river before He calms it.  When we step into the unknown Jesus meets us there.

All for One.  Looking back at this week I'm reminded how important it is to work as the body of Christ.  One day this week we had to rely on one person to wake us up because only one alarm could be set that day to meet a challenge.  Its important when we speak truth into others lives to do it in love.  We learned how we need to bear each others burdens together.  We need each other in community to build each other up and spur one another on. Know there is no true christian maturity or ministry without love.

World Vision. This week possibly has had the biggest impact on me. Its where I learned more about God's heart for the world.  Its this week I believe I met the four things to know I'm called to full time ministry.  I'm convinced the world's problems are spiritual.  I'm convinced Jesus is the only answer to those problems.  I'm convinced God can use me. I'd rather do ministry than anything else. Four perspectives of mine were shifted. From What is God's plan to my life?  to What is God's plan and how do I fit in that? From I will stay unless I get a special call to go to I will go unless I get a special call to stay. From God please tell me if I should go to God please send me. From Here I am, send Him to Here I am send me.  God has put it on my heart to serve Him by reaching the world. I don't know what that looks like yet. I could go over seas, or I could stay here in the U.S. and mobilize others to go themselves.  I may end up only supporting a missionary who goes overseas and praying for the unreached people groups of the world.

Agape. The staff were leaving this week and they showed how much they loved us and how important love was.  People want to follow a loving leader.  There are different things in our lives that keep us from seriously experiencing Christs love for us. An improper view of God, a lack of faith, not listening to those He has put in our life, not using the gifts He has given us, and not using the logic He has given us. These are a part of the 5 spiritual senses God has given us.  God wants to have a personal relationship with you, a part of that is leading you by listening to the 5 spiritual senses. I find myself using these sense more since project has ended.

This is just half of what God did this summer. God is BIG. He did big things. more to come later on what he did in Ocean City.
#OCSP12