a lesson from the cows

I went home over this weekend, and on the drive back I noticed something unusual/funny. I was just cruising along 46, and out in the field there was this long line of cows just single-file following one another. It seems strange that just one cow walking home to the barn got every other cow follow her in. And I know its a weird parallel, but it got me thinking about how many people would follow my actions. (not that they would fall into line right behind me) but the influence I have on others seems like a powerful thing.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.

i am so worthless

Last Sunday at Calvary SLO, we learned about Paul's journeys in Acts 14. Afterward, I had made the comment to one of my roommates how easy it was to see that Paul was hand selected by God for a very specific but great purpose. He was a Roman citizen which came in handy; he was born Jewish so he could identify and speak to the people; and Paul was a Pharisee which allowed him to walk into any synagogue and start teaching to a group of people. When I hear all that I wonder why I am not equipped in every fashion like Paul. Then the light bulb kinda clicked. This is where the whole submission deal begins where I have no gifts and abilities that can actually further God's kingdom. But it also begins the part of God giving me a purpose and mission to add and strength my character and eventually spread to my skills. Its such a great encouragement to be reminded of God's eternal promises. That they never fail and it doesn't have a thing to do with me!

so, the other day...

I was just walking to physics class not really thinking about anything in particular, and it just hit me. I really like being an engineer. Or eventually becoming one. It makes me really excited to think about engineering, that I am at a great college, learning all kinds of stuff, meeting really interesting people all on my way to having a cool job one day. (Well, maybe except for the stress and not sleeping much part of the deal.)

2 Corinthians 5:17

What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

fall retreat

So, I finally found a block of time where I could just sit and share what I have learned this last weekend. This was my first time at Campus Crusade's Fall Retreat, and I did my best to go in without any expectations. Wow, everything about it totally exceeded any pre-conceived ideas. So I was going to organize my notes and just have them for the record. I mean it sounds like a good idea to have all this in a place that is easy to find and hard to lose.
Anyways, our speaker was this awesome guy who always cracks me up, but he got down to business and just shared straight from the heart of God.
Friday night:
I got there late and didn't have anything to write on. I had a pen but no paper, and I was actually thinking about tearing out those weird pages from the back of my checkbook. He spoke about Three Things We Need To Know from Ephesians 1:15-23

"Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence."

There was also this amazing video he showed that just gave me the goosebumps all over. Check it out:

http://www.verticalsky.com/thatsmyking.asp

Saturday morning:

Six Things We Need To Be from Titus 2:11-3:8

"For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God, while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right. You must teach these things and encourage your people to do them, correcting them when necessary. You have the authority to do this, so don't let anyone ignore you or disregard what you say. Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not speak evil of anyone, and they must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled by others and became slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy. We hated others, and they hated us.But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life. These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone."

1. Subject to rulers and authorities

• Romans 13:1- "Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. "

2. Obedience

• We usually have a negative reaction to obedience because of our pride.
• 1 John 5:1-4- "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. "
• God does not give us burdensome commands. Why can't we follow ten simple rules?
• Obedience is showing our love.

3. Ready to do whatever is good

• Titus 2:7- "And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. "
• Titus 2:14- "He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right."
• Titus 3:1- "Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good."
• Titus 3:8- "These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone. "

4. Slander no one

• Romans 8:31b- "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?"
• James 3:1-12- "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool."
• Galatians 5:13-15- "If you are wise and understand God's ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise! But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don't brag about being wise. That is the worst kind of lie. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and motivated by the Devil."
• malign-words that cause a negative influence (*cause an influence* seems to be the key here because gossip and slander are so easily recognizable as harmful, but instead any comment that creates negativity counts toward malign)

5. Be peaceful and considerate

• 2 Timothy 2:22- "Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do right. Pursue faith and love and peace, and enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts."
• James 3:17- "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. "
• What is our motivation for debating? (correcting in truth? or arguing our rightness?)
• be thoughtful of the rights and feelings of others

6. Have true humility before all men

• Philippians 2:2-8- "Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross."
• (humility is a funny thing. Once you think to yourself, I'm being humble, the heart has actually transitioned from humility back to pride-in being humble of all things)

I'm thinking that the rest of my notes will get posted later because 1) I am tired 2)there is quite a bit more and 3) it still speaks to my heart even after the fact and three days worth is alot to handle at once.

its practically a miracle

So, in math 241 we got our exams back. I got a 68%, but it was curved to the B+/A- range. How awesome is that!?

marvelous light

I once was fatherless,

a stranger with no hope;

Your kindness wakened me,

Awakened me, from my sleep

Your love it beckons deeply,

a call to come and die.

By grace now I will come

And take this life, take your life.

Sin has lost it's power,

death has lost it's sting.

From the grave you've risen

VICTORIOUSLY!

Into marvelous light I'm running,

Out of darkness, out of shame.

By the cross you are the truth,

You are the life, you are the way

My dead heart now is beating,

My deepest stains now clean.

Your breath fills up my lungs.

Now I'm free. now I'm free!

Lift my hands and spin around,

See the light that i have found.

Oh the marvelous light

Marvelous light

Lift my hands and spin

See the light within...

-by Charlie Hall

sunsets

sunset from apartment

"The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world."

-Psalm 19:1-4

profoundness

"We are finite and cannot understand an Infinite Being."
-my Bible study leader

strange signs

Adam and Eve

"So the Lord God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam's ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the Lord God made woman from the rib." -Genesis 2:21&22

This quote from Matthew Henry's commentary on Genesis beautifully sums up the relationship between Adam and his "suitable companion." "Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him." -Henry

2 Corinthians 5:21

"He(God) made Him(Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

your annual checkup

made for the ordinary

Again, Oswald Chambers has just been teaching me so much through simple daily readings. This one is about how Christians, or anyone for that matter, cannot live on a spiritual high. We long for that mountaintop experience. We feel comforted and supported by fellow believers and the Holy Spirit. But therein lies the problem-we start to feel comfortable where we stop learning and being tested by everyday life.

"We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life-those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things in life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength."

-Chambers

grapes

I've been absorbing so much the last few nights from my devotions. I'm reading My Utmost for His Highest by Chambers. Yesterday's reading was about the call God has placed in each individual's life. This one passage struck me so hard, about how He uses people and my lack of patience to show me His calling. Chambers says, "He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. ...If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed-you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed."