I know who I am

Day 13

It’s my vanity: I check myself out in the rear-view mirror one too many times. To finish my look, check my lipgloss, give myself a winning smile, haha. It gets the best of me. And sometimes I let the negatives define me - the things I don’t like (profile, oily skin, crooked glasses, bags under the eyes regardless of sleep…)

So whenever I can get the focus off of me, it’s a good thing, like on Sundays. Honestly, spending time at church is becoming something I desire and look forward to in the week more and more. Crazy! Half my gas and time (and a good chunk of my money) is going towards my church! It’s not that it gives me a break from the kids (don’t have those), and it’s not exactly a hotspot for hooking up, and I’m not getting paid to go….so…

…the only thing that must be compelling me to be there is seeing the face of God. The more we stay with Him, the more I see His way working together, the more I come to understand Him and His love for me, the closer my understanding of who I am.

Not that I have an identity crisis. More of a vanity crisis. And I think we all do. We get stuck on ourselves, take pity on ourselves, deny risks because of ourselves and how we might feel. But when the focus centers on Christ, I find out who I am. It’s not the outside or the accessories, I’m so much more – IN CHRIST i know who i am.

Listen here! –> Identity by Israel Houghton & New Breed                                                  

Beautiful!

Kickball

This doesn’t do it justice, but last night was great! Good music, good message, good fellowship, pizza, and…kickball =)

Day 11

I’ll be feeling it all weekend.

Church Burn Out

It’s so possible to get burned out from doing too much at the church. Sad, but true. Where more than half the population should be on Sunday mornings is where 20% are going crazy over petty things like schedules, lunch meetings, he said-she said gossip, and random details that haven’t the least to do with God and evangelism. And it’s so easy to get over committed – at least for someone like me. So I got a little upset when the schedule I don’t even keep track of starts to invade my thoughts and gets me worried. It’s the wrong approach to church and I don’t want to be waking up Sunday mornings thinking of reasons why it’d be ok to stay at home this time. Hello…don’t forsake the fellowship of believers in God…it’s in the Bible.

Check yo attitude

But my frustration really has nothing to do with other people as much as I’d like to admit it. It’s the fact that I let them get in the way. I let the lunch meetings bother me. I let my good works show as if I depend on them rather than my faith in God’s grace to get me through the days. So I run ragged and forget to check my attitude. I can’t let it get to me, as simple as that sounds. I have to check my attitude at the door because it’s the only thing I can control sometimes.

Wherever you are, blessed be the name of the Lord. The sun is still shining. Let the other details slide.

Bob Marley – Sun is Shining…listen free at LastFM

peace

Pretty looking church thing

So I’m at the University walking around feeling pretty good after taking a final – and I come across their beutiful church, or meditation center. The campus itself has gorgeous landscaping and water pieces – it’s great – every work building should be like that. But I’ve never gone inside the place as beautiful and inviting as it seems. Here’s what I encountered when I finally entered on the last week of class:

• a lot of windows let me see most of what I thought I saw from the outside
• there was only one way to get in (I tried to leave out a different door, but the hedges and flowers were surrounding me. I’m sure I looked crazy as I was debating whether or not to cut through the flowers, I couldn’t get out of there, it was weird.)
• there was no cross, or any symbols whatsoever
• there was no one inside.

 It was the University religion building, like a physical education building, but with no true purpose than organizing the religious club offices. I’ve heard of church without walls, but what’s a church without a cross? I can be at home, or in a parking lot, in a crowd at a converted grocery store it doesn’t matter, but if 2 or more are gathered in Christ’s name, He’s with me. The symbolism isn’t necessary. The building isn’t necessary. But it is an expression of respect - a visual statement that we honor and follow God and commit to worshipping Him as a group of believers. The church shows unity and should not show ambiguity for whom it represents. I would call it irreverent and disrespectful at the least; there should be no shame in whom I  worship. 

So if the church is the body of believers in Christ, is there a point in having a universal meditative/spiritual center with windows and flowers on the outside, and some pews for weddings…if its purpose isn’t to hold a body of believers in Christ? Why have a building at all if it’s for the unknown god. There is no glory there.   

Church is cool.

Since I’m studying it in class, bear with me on the nerdiness… In an effort to encourage self-regulated learning (which is the ability to carry out and evaluate your own effort on a certain event or process), I’ve just written sermon notes without comments on a pretty cool lesson I heard in church the other day. The idea here is that you’ll be motivated to check out the story, and generate some positive thoughts and actions. This doesn’t always work since I’m not too great myself at self-regulating my performance in class. But if anything, you’ll get a good feel for those wacky Bible stories you might recall from way back when. 

Title: People Who Lived by Faith

Hebrews 11:23-40

Honor God…

1) …Even in the face of danger

        * “Every son…cast into the river” – Exodus 1:22

        * “was hid 3 months” – Hebrews 11:23

        * Their confidence in God 

                   – led them to disregard the unrighteous command of Pharoah (11:23; Acts 7:20)

                   – was unshaken (Acts 4:18-20; 11:24-27)

 2) …Even when another path may seem easier

        * He chose the pain of suffering over the pleasure of sin (11:25)

        * He chose the reproach of Christ over the riches of Egypt (11:26)

        * He left a life of pleasure for a life of perseverance (11:27) 

3) …By surrendering to His will ( 11:28 )

        * “keep it a feast to the LORD throught your generations” (Exodus 12:1-4)

4) …Even when the enemy seems too great

        * The Red Sea (11:29)

        * The walls of Jericho (11:30-31) 

5) …To the end ( 11:32-38 )

        * They were testified of by God (11:39-40; 12:1-2)