First off, thanks for all of those you have been praying for Favre, the guy on my floor with the mom with cancer. She went to Mayo last week to begin surgeries/chemo...etc. When the doctors did another test to locate the exact location (of the cancer that had been found in Sioux Falls), they were surprised to find out that there was NO cancer in her liver...or anywhere for that matter, just a fatty growth. Praise God! For miracles such as this, I am forever praising the creator of the universe for his power, his love, and willingness to answer his people's cries for help! Man, this fires me up...no matter the crap that comes our way in life...God NEVER leaves our sides...he is always listening and caring for us....wow! Great stuff!
Today, Shane Claiborne, author of Irrestible Revolution and Jesus for President, came to speak at our chapel service. I was floored...what a great talk and a great example of Christ in our generation. Because of men like this I believe there is hope for the future of our world. Claiborne is a man who has taken to living in the inner city of Philadelphia...living with the poor and living simply.
The question that stuck out most to me was "What if Jesus actually meant what he said in the Bible". What if the last shall be first, what if we should give to the poor above all else...what if we should love others as ourselves." Such thinking contradicts our culture. Claiborne and his friends have taken this literally, they have traveled the world, even working with Mother Teresa in India...but more importantly they live it out everyday of their lives. Such a lifestyle can be dangerous, but remember Jesus was a dangerous man. He never was about keeping the status quo. I loved how Claiborne pointed out the fact that the Bible has led to more people getting in trouble than any other book. How true... what the Bible demands of us goes against the grain... it begs us to make Christ and his cross the priority of our lives.
Now, I don't plan on dropping out of school tomorrow and moving into a cardboard box, but Claiborne's talk challenged me deeply. God has put a passion for those in dire straights, those living in poverty. My challenge now is to pray earnestly, seeking God's will for my life. Does it involve medicine like I think?...does it involve working with the poor? Regardless, I put my trust in Him that he will lead me to where I need to go. I also put faith in him that he means what he says!
Live Dangerously!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Uh....help?
What a crazy couple of weeks of life...I'm looking forward to a day where I can relax, sip on a glass of Diet Pepsi and reminisce about the days of running around and trying to keep everything straight! School has been kicking my butt lately! I've been doing alright in my classes, but overall I have been taxed more academically then ever before. It seems as though my hardest work and best effort still doesn't net me that elusive A grade. I believe the good Lord is humbling me through all of it.
I'm a Resident Assistant in a freshman dorm. I've seen some stuff...you will not imagine what has been left in the Burgess bathrooms (due to graphic nature it will be omitted :) ). However, the last week has probably been the hardest week of residence life. I've had to deal with seeing suffering amongst my guys. This is so hard to deal with for me at times. How badly I wish that guys could live lives full of happiness, especially those who know Jesus. This week, one of the great guys of my floor (who we'll call Favre for confidentiality) just found out his mom has cancer. Knowing the strain I would feel if I found out such news about my own mother made me genuinely feel hurt for him. Lots of questions come up when such things happen to people who love Jesus. I had the opportunity to listen to many of these questions from Favre, but unfortunately was not able to give any answers. Funny thing about God is that sometimes he saves answers for us for a time when we are better able to understand them. So, that has been a tough thing to deal with.
Another resident had some issues with demonic sorts of things. This is really a long story and not appropriate to talk about in a blog, but let me tell you Jesus Christ reigns over all evil!!
Finally, I had the opportunity to work with the Furniture Mission in Sioux Falls. Basically we donated furniture to needy families. This is a tough thing to see, driving around the poorest neighborhoods of Sioux Falls is like a different country. I wonder how many of our city's residents are even aware that such a poverty stricken area exists. My eyes were opened and I received a gut check. How tragic is it to see people struggling so much that they have kids sleeping on the floor and have NO furniture in their dwellings (some were too rough to call houses). How can any Christian not be hurt by the fact that there are people in such a state of suffering? My heart was broken for them, may I never reach a place where my own possessions become so important that I forget to help those in need the most.
So I'm at a place in life where I am putting up my hands and asking God for help. This is real life, it is easy to be a servant for God when things are going great. When the rubber hits the road and things start to get hard, people start to suffer, this is when we need to rely on God and the power of the cross to carry us through.
One final note, for the politically minded. I try not to make too many bold political statements on the blog, many readers of this particular blog probably don't care too much about political rhetoric. However, I feel compelled to say that I support our President and feel that he is the man for the job and will get things turned around. There is such an aura of negativity around people of my party (I'm a registered Republican). To be frankly honest, sometimes I am somewhat ashamed to call myself a Republican. People like Rush Limbaugh make me sick to my stomach (granted, I believe he is primarily an entertainer, not a politician...or at least I hope). This is pretty much an aside, but I felt I wanted to say it just because I've run across a substantial amount of friends who have been trashing our President.
Remember, God is with you and is willing to help. Live with reckless abandon for Him!
I'm a Resident Assistant in a freshman dorm. I've seen some stuff...you will not imagine what has been left in the Burgess bathrooms (due to graphic nature it will be omitted :) ). However, the last week has probably been the hardest week of residence life. I've had to deal with seeing suffering amongst my guys. This is so hard to deal with for me at times. How badly I wish that guys could live lives full of happiness, especially those who know Jesus. This week, one of the great guys of my floor (who we'll call Favre for confidentiality) just found out his mom has cancer. Knowing the strain I would feel if I found out such news about my own mother made me genuinely feel hurt for him. Lots of questions come up when such things happen to people who love Jesus. I had the opportunity to listen to many of these questions from Favre, but unfortunately was not able to give any answers. Funny thing about God is that sometimes he saves answers for us for a time when we are better able to understand them. So, that has been a tough thing to deal with.
Another resident had some issues with demonic sorts of things. This is really a long story and not appropriate to talk about in a blog, but let me tell you Jesus Christ reigns over all evil!!
Finally, I had the opportunity to work with the Furniture Mission in Sioux Falls. Basically we donated furniture to needy families. This is a tough thing to see, driving around the poorest neighborhoods of Sioux Falls is like a different country. I wonder how many of our city's residents are even aware that such a poverty stricken area exists. My eyes were opened and I received a gut check. How tragic is it to see people struggling so much that they have kids sleeping on the floor and have NO furniture in their dwellings (some were too rough to call houses). How can any Christian not be hurt by the fact that there are people in such a state of suffering? My heart was broken for them, may I never reach a place where my own possessions become so important that I forget to help those in need the most.
So I'm at a place in life where I am putting up my hands and asking God for help. This is real life, it is easy to be a servant for God when things are going great. When the rubber hits the road and things start to get hard, people start to suffer, this is when we need to rely on God and the power of the cross to carry us through.
One final note, for the politically minded. I try not to make too many bold political statements on the blog, many readers of this particular blog probably don't care too much about political rhetoric. However, I feel compelled to say that I support our President and feel that he is the man for the job and will get things turned around. There is such an aura of negativity around people of my party (I'm a registered Republican). To be frankly honest, sometimes I am somewhat ashamed to call myself a Republican. People like Rush Limbaugh make me sick to my stomach (granted, I believe he is primarily an entertainer, not a politician...or at least I hope). This is pretty much an aside, but I felt I wanted to say it just because I've run across a substantial amount of friends who have been trashing our President.
Remember, God is with you and is willing to help. Live with reckless abandon for Him!
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