As I am sitting in the Orlando International Airport awaiting my flight to Atlanta, I’ve begun to just slow down, unwind, and observe. For the past ten hours or so, my mind has been racing with everything that I needed to have accomplished before I departed Lakeland and all the things I needed to do in my travels to the airport. It’s difficult to accurately describe all that was going through my mind, but let me say it was a lot. Although I’ve traveled alone on multiple occasions, I still have yet to find it as fun as traveling with someone. There’s just a sense of companionship when traveling with another. There’s also a greater sense of security. As I sit watching hundreds of people walk this concourse, I can’t help but to think about relationships.
Relationships are the basic building blocks of societies, cultures, and mankind in general. That’s just simply the way we were created. We have an innate desire to build relationships with others. As I’ve had the opportunity to sit here alone for awhile, I’ve had the time to be able to reflect on the past several months of my first semester in college and all the relationships I’ve built thus far. I thank God so much for the strong born-again peers I have in my life at Southeastern. I’ve built many new relationships that I treasure dearly. As I think about one of my closer guy friends in particular, the verse that keeps coming to mind is “Iron sharpens iron.” How true this statement is! Although Jonathan and I have just recently drawn closer to each other, I find a connection with him. There’s something about his presence that I truly enjoy. I pray for him like a brother. He has such a heart for people and God, it’s amazing. I know one day he will become a pastor, I can just see it in him. He is always challenging me in my relationship with God by the things he says and does. Although we are the same age, I really feel God has given me him as an example of moving to the next step in my relationship with Him. Jonathan and I consider each other our accountability partners and I love just spending time with him. On the flip side of the coin, there’s one relationship in particular that I have that I will be glad when it’s over. I hate to say it, but that’s how I honestly feel. This guy, let’s call him “Bob”, and I became close friends towards the beginning of the semester. We hung out constantly and just spent a lot of time together. I grew to really enjoy his friendship until I started to really get to know him. Although he is a PK, his walk with God is not close at all. Of course, I understood perfectly well that since he’s been in church all his life, he’s probably seen it all; the fakes, the phonies, the hypocrisy, everything. However, I thought that since we had become such good friends, I could influence him to draw closer to God. That wasn’t the only issue. His personality is the complete opposite of mine – he is extremely unorganized, spontaneous, unchallenged and unfocused. How we became close so quickly I still don’t know. Our relationship reached its peak sometime in mid-October and then it just went downhill from there. I found him CONSTANTLY complaining about school, the policies, rules, work, food, everything. I really hated that a lot. I found myself trying to minister to him, but those who constantly complain are never enjoyable to be around so I find myself continually distancing myself from him. There are of course so many more factors that I’m not going to go in to, but now I find us further apart then we were close. He will be attending a different school next semester, so I will just continue to keep him in my prayers.
So, I think I’ll go back to ‘people watching’ and wonder who they are, what their story is, and where they’re going. This week’s prayer request: that I would be more relational. Blessings.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Daniel 11:32
On my last post, Margie shared a verse that directly tied into what I had planned on writing about in this blog.
She shared Daniel 11:32b. It says, ". . . but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and do exploits for God." (depending upon what translation you read).
This morning in my Fundamentals of Speech class, the lesson was on arguments and identifying the different types of arguments. After a 45 minutes lecture from the teacher, he began to go around the room and call on people. He would ask, "How do you know God exists?" A response would be given (usually lame at best) and then he would argue back (usually fallacies) and the class had to identify what type of arguement the professor was using.
What really got me thinking was the responses (or lack there of) of many of the students when asked this most basic question. I heard some of the lamest, most ridiculous responses. Several guys just merely stuttered out a 'well creation didn't happen by chance.' Certainly that's true, but to someone who doesn't even believe in the existence of God, I just don't see that argument going very far. Another guy when called on simply sat there. As the professor tried prodding him along, he almost burst into tears! The room sat in silence for about 2 minutes, yet he couldn't think of even ONE reason as to why/how God exists. Seriously!?! How do you call yourself a Christian?
I think I gave Professor Lewis a harder time then he expected, because he reverted to character defamation and just ridiculousness. For example, he said God does not exist because if all of creation is beautiful (stated earlier) then my existence proves God is false (i.e. he called me ugly). All jokes aside though, there shouldn't have been only 1 student in a class of 40 (at a Christian University nonetheless!) who could actually stand up to that question. Certainly there are harder questions then that! As I began to listen to others falter, I begged the question: can you really call yourself born-again if you can't even defend your own faith? Granted, I know the Bible says that to be saved, you have to believe Christ died for your sins. It certainly doesn't say you have to be able to hold a theological discussion on how/why you know God exists (fortunately for many Christians), but shouldn't you be able to?!? It just bothers me that such a high percentage couldn't think of anything to respond with; even just the basic plan of salvation would have worked!!
Anyway, hopefully this has encouraged many of them to dig deeper into what they believe and why. I'm just so thankful for the four years I spent in the IB program at Hampton High. Without that rigorousness in thinking critically (and for yourself) and without my parent's guidance at the dinner table each night that I came home with those types of questions, I probably would have been in the same boat as many of my classmates.
". . . but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and do exploits for God."
So, does God exist?
She shared Daniel 11:32b. It says, ". . . but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and do exploits for God." (depending upon what translation you read).
This morning in my Fundamentals of Speech class, the lesson was on arguments and identifying the different types of arguments. After a 45 minutes lecture from the teacher, he began to go around the room and call on people. He would ask, "How do you know God exists?" A response would be given (usually lame at best) and then he would argue back (usually fallacies) and the class had to identify what type of arguement the professor was using.
What really got me thinking was the responses (or lack there of) of many of the students when asked this most basic question. I heard some of the lamest, most ridiculous responses. Several guys just merely stuttered out a 'well creation didn't happen by chance.' Certainly that's true, but to someone who doesn't even believe in the existence of God, I just don't see that argument going very far. Another guy when called on simply sat there. As the professor tried prodding him along, he almost burst into tears! The room sat in silence for about 2 minutes, yet he couldn't think of even ONE reason as to why/how God exists. Seriously!?! How do you call yourself a Christian?
I think I gave Professor Lewis a harder time then he expected, because he reverted to character defamation and just ridiculousness. For example, he said God does not exist because if all of creation is beautiful (stated earlier) then my existence proves God is false (i.e. he called me ugly). All jokes aside though, there shouldn't have been only 1 student in a class of 40 (at a Christian University nonetheless!) who could actually stand up to that question. Certainly there are harder questions then that! As I began to listen to others falter, I begged the question: can you really call yourself born-again if you can't even defend your own faith? Granted, I know the Bible says that to be saved, you have to believe Christ died for your sins. It certainly doesn't say you have to be able to hold a theological discussion on how/why you know God exists (fortunately for many Christians), but shouldn't you be able to?!? It just bothers me that such a high percentage couldn't think of anything to respond with; even just the basic plan of salvation would have worked!!
Anyway, hopefully this has encouraged many of them to dig deeper into what they believe and why. I'm just so thankful for the four years I spent in the IB program at Hampton High. Without that rigorousness in thinking critically (and for yourself) and without my parent's guidance at the dinner table each night that I came home with those types of questions, I probably would have been in the same boat as many of my classmates.
". . . but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and do exploits for God."
So, does God exist?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Discernment
A current prayer request that I have: discernment.
I was recently reading about discernment in regards to the Biblical perspective on the matter. Here's a little bit of what I read that I found helpful, "Understanding [discernment] is a moral and spiritual issue, not an intellectual one. Although the mind is involved, to understand spiritual realities one must be open and responsive to God . . . the essence of wisdom and understanding is to grasp spiritual realities and use them in distinguishing how to act in practical life situations."
I thank God that He gives us discernment and understanding in our time of questioning and testing.
I was recently reading about discernment in regards to the Biblical perspective on the matter. Here's a little bit of what I read that I found helpful, "Understanding [discernment] is a moral and spiritual issue, not an intellectual one. Although the mind is involved, to understand spiritual realities one must be open and responsive to God . . . the essence of wisdom and understanding is to grasp spiritual realities and use them in distinguishing how to act in practical life situations."
I thank God that He gives us discernment and understanding in our time of questioning and testing.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Saturday Morning
To what extent do we as Christians condone physical confrontation?
Over the weekend, there was some boiling over of tensions. Saturday morning at 3am was pretty crazy in the dorm, particularly in my hall. I would like to attribute some of the problem to the hour of the day that the confrontation occurred, however I don't believe that reason alone can be used as the scapegoat.
So how do we go from being a “Loving Pentecostal Community” (as stated in the Southeastern Mission Statement) to having to settle a situation that got way out of hand?
I’ve been mulling over this issue for the past 3 days. I think that I’ve come to the conclusion that had Christ been placed first in this situation, I believe it could have been peacefully resolved. So then, why wasn’t Christ first here? Maybe He’s not as firmly rooted in either party’s heart? Or perhaps neither party adheres to the Biblical principles of conflict? Christ specifically said ‘turn the other cheek’. To me, that means if you’re wronged, you don’t seek vengeance but instead remember that your Father in Heaven will vindicate you. Just an interesting note, maybe you have different view?
Anyway, on a lighter note, I’ve been involved in a local church now for the past 6-7 weeks, so I think I’ve found the church for me down here. It’s much smaller then Bethel, it averages about 300-400 members a Sunday, but I love it nevertheless. I look forward to partnering with them both prayerfully and financially as I move to the mission field. I look forward to coming home. I’ll be in VA from Nov. 21-30 for Thanksgiving break. It will be nice to catch up with everyone back home and see how the church is. I look forward to all the changes that have occurred in Hampton. Have a blessed week and keep in touch.
Over the weekend, there was some boiling over of tensions. Saturday morning at 3am was pretty crazy in the dorm, particularly in my hall. I would like to attribute some of the problem to the hour of the day that the confrontation occurred, however I don't believe that reason alone can be used as the scapegoat.
So how do we go from being a “Loving Pentecostal Community” (as stated in the Southeastern Mission Statement) to having to settle a situation that got way out of hand?
I’ve been mulling over this issue for the past 3 days. I think that I’ve come to the conclusion that had Christ been placed first in this situation, I believe it could have been peacefully resolved. So then, why wasn’t Christ first here? Maybe He’s not as firmly rooted in either party’s heart? Or perhaps neither party adheres to the Biblical principles of conflict? Christ specifically said ‘turn the other cheek’. To me, that means if you’re wronged, you don’t seek vengeance but instead remember that your Father in Heaven will vindicate you. Just an interesting note, maybe you have different view?
Anyway, on a lighter note, I’ve been involved in a local church now for the past 6-7 weeks, so I think I’ve found the church for me down here. It’s much smaller then Bethel, it averages about 300-400 members a Sunday, but I love it nevertheless. I look forward to partnering with them both prayerfully and financially as I move to the mission field. I look forward to coming home. I’ll be in VA from Nov. 21-30 for Thanksgiving break. It will be nice to catch up with everyone back home and see how the church is. I look forward to all the changes that have occurred in Hampton. Have a blessed week and keep in touch.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Sarah Palin - Road to Victory Rally
Today I attended the Sarah Palin Road to Victory Rally in Polk City, FL. It was about 30 min from campus, so it was not a long drive. I woke up at 7am and myself and a few friends left at 8am for the rally. The doors opened at 9am, so we wanted to get there a little early. We waited in line for an hour (830-930) then stood for 2 hours waiting for it to start. It lasted 1 hour total. So we were standing on our feet for 4 hours, then sat in the car in the parking lot for 1.5 hours waiting in line to leave. All in all, it was definitely worth it! It was at the regional airport (not in use) so there was limitless parking on the grass and the rally was held in the plane hangar. I really enjoyed it! It's the only political rally I've been to, other than President Bush's first Inauguration at the White House in 2000, but that's not a rally.
Sarah Palin did a great job. John McCain was actually in my hometown while I was at the Palin rally, so I thought that was pretty cool. I came within 4 body widths of Sarah Palin! So close! Here are some of the day's snaps: (click on picture to enlarge)
Waiting for the rally ro start....you can see the stage in the center left of the picture.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist with Governor/Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin
Look at all the Secret Service. I was within 4 body widths of her!
So close!
Great Speaker!
Todd Palin (on stage), Sarah Palin's husband.
Sarah Palin did a great job. John McCain was actually in my hometown while I was at the Palin rally, so I thought that was pretty cool. I came within 4 body widths of Sarah Palin! So close! Here are some of the day's snaps: (click on picture to enlarge)
Waiting for the rally ro start....you can see the stage in the center left of the picture.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist with Governor/Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin
Look at all the Secret Service. I was within 4 body widths of her!
So close!
Great Speaker!
Todd Palin (on stage), Sarah Palin's husband.
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