So I read that "Sexy Christianity" article thats going around FB and it was pretty good. It was written extremely well and I ideas the author conveyed were spot on. Being a Christian in America is kind of popular now. It fits in with the whole minimalist lifestyle that is our skinny jeans, slouched beanies and thrift shopping binges. We love the idea of being best friends with God but we don't wholeheartedly and unconditionally love him. Being a Christian doesn't mean all that much when there is no sacrifice in choosing Christ. So is reading our Bible and supporting good causes just a fad along with our Mustaches? I pray it means more to us than that, and that we will continue to carry our cross when the road gets tough.

What happens when you pour your heart out to God about one thing for several years and see no kind of response? Where do those prayers go? Do they reach him, do they not? I don't know about you but my idea of perfect timing sounds right. Faith withers and doubt sets in but we are told to keep walking with our eyes closed and our hands tied behind our backs. I like control, especially when faith seems to fail me. I know I'm wrong but that's just how it feels sometimes. And then people try to reason with me and explain why I shouldn't feel this way...shut up!...just walk with me. I long for the day when I can 100% mean it when I say "God's timing is perfect. And I am happy with that."

All Sons & Daughters

I am a sinner, if it's not one thing it's another
Caught up in words tangled in lies
But you are our savior, and you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful.
Beautiful.

How do you Worship Grow and Serve?

This is one of the many questions I had to answer when I was filling out my application for being an intern at ccob. This one in particular stuck out to me because I didn't know how to answer it. I feel like I'm usually pretty good at selling myself and showing my good side but this question bypasses the assuring smile I've grown fond of and asks you if you are who you say you are. Dang. Worship: I go to church. Grow: I do a bible study and commit to pray for all my friends. Serve: um.....well.....that one time I picked up this persons book...That answer doesn't cut it and it really showed me that I am doing relatively nothing to share Gods love beyond being nice to people every once in a while.
SO, this year I am changing that. I am helping lead a high school small group with a church up here, and I am volunteering at a few places so that I can get a feel for where God can use me best. Today I helped middle school boys in the city do their homework because no one else will help them. This friday I am handing out towels at a homeless shelter downtown to the homeless that need to take a shower. I feel the need to serve this year, and I hope that doesn't go away.

Coach made cuts today. I'm really happy my friend Matt made the team, but not being part of that brotherhood this year was and is saddening. This fall will be difficult for me but I know I needed to stop playing so that I could pursue God the way I wanted and the way I needed to. I feel like I didn't word that very well. Anyways, my point is that God is calling me to look for him in new ways right now. Through this uncomfortable time, he is reminding me of the parable of the man who sold everything to buy the field. I needed to give up soccer to because I found something better.

My attempt at being artsy

So at Camp Cow they had a door with a bunch or pictures from style and muscle magazines and all that. Then the door had Psalm 100 written over the pictures. The idea was that we turned the world into it being all about us, but then God wrote over what we did to the world and took it back for himself. Through Jesus, our sins and shortcoming have been written over. He has made us new; everything we were is washed away because Jesus has overcome. So this is my version. The words are from "Take Heart" by Hillsong United.

 

There are so many different qualities of God that make him beyond remarkable; but tonight I am in awe of how steadfast he is. My buddy from Calvin was telling me about how sad it is to invest in relationships and then have them end in a matter of a conversation. He is completely right, worldly relationships are flawed and they break like twigs under our feet, but the beautiful truth is that our LORD is never changing, and that his love is relentless! Seriously guys, we need to invest in the one person that will never stop loving us and perusing us. And we don't have to put our lives together before he is ready for us, he wants us now. No matter what condition our hearts and lives are in, he wants us right hear, right now. We were never made to walk alone, lets make our right hand man the one who will never stop caring for us no matter where we go. Then, when we are ready, we need to follow him where he wants us to go.