Science and Faith: Compatible or in Conflict? Ard Louis speaks at Large Group

On March 23rd, Dr. Ard Louis, a theoretical physicist at Oxford University, came to Swarthmore College to talk about a hot-button issue for many here on our campus: the compatibility of science and faith in how we figure out our world. The speaking event was supported and made possible by the Veritas Forum and the Cooper Serendipity Fund.

Please watch Dr. Louis' talk in the video embedded below.



So what do you think? Are science and faith compatible? The conversations that were generated from this talk are many, lively, and important, so let's continue them!

Sacrifice

Lent starts this Wednesday, and right now, I'm struggling to figure something out.

What exactly does sacrifice mean?

It's a term used so often in the Christian church, how God sacrificed his one and only son so that we might be forgiven of our sins, but what does it mean for us, today?

This question stems from a campaign started by World Vision, and co-sponsored by Intervarsity, called Relentless ACT:S of Sacrifice. The goal of the campaign is to get our generation, college-students, twenty-somethings, those just starting to dig their feet into the "real world," to think about what it means to live a life that is sacrificial, that isn't about us at all, but rather about the larger picture of God's Kingdom.

I really love the idea behind this movement, because, as you can probably tell from previous posts, what draws me most to Christianity is the message of social justice present at its core. I think, in many ways, Christianity has one of the most radical philosophies out there: that everyone, regardless of race, class, background, or gender, can find an equal place in God's kingdom is crazy. No other philosophy is quite like that.

Which is why I am struggling to figure out what I, personally, can sacrifice this Lent. Obviously, nothing I do can compare to what Christ did (nor should it), but as William Penn so straightforwardly said, "To be like Christ is to be a Christian."

What part of myself can I give up?

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." - Isaiah 9:2

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that whether you are home for the holidays, abroad on some adventure, or anywhere else, that you are feeling the love, joy, and peace that this day traditionally symbolizes for us as Christians.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

Love, because although we live in a world that is separated from God, He loved us enough to send Jesus down to earth. This wasn't Jesus' vacation, as my pastor said this morning, but Jesus' mission: to act as the reconciliation between humankind and God. When we read John 3:16, we tend to wield it as the ultimate Evangelical trump card: "Perish or have eternal life, unbeliever! Bible says so!" But how appropriate this verse is for Christmastime, especially the first half! God gave us his son! That's Christmas for you. The most priceless gift ever: a gift because God gave it to us for free, priceless because there's no way we could ever work to deserve it or repay it.

"And Mary said: 'My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.'" - Luke 1:46-47

Joy at the news of Jesus' birth! This was the moment that all of creation was waiting for: the incarnation of its Creator as one of its own, a being of flesh and bone, just like the rest of us. And who isn't filled with glee at the sight of a baby? The angels definitely had something to sing about. Mary was pretty stoked, too. Everything about Jesus' birth was "good news" - which, when rendered in Middle English, becomes gospel. The knowledge of God's love for us and the salvation we acquired through his son Jesus is enough to keep us joyful even when there are no decorations, no trees, no cookies, no carolers, no presents, parties, or even people. Christmas is all about just one person: Jesus, our Savior.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." - Luke 2:14

Peace on earth. Today, it seems both more desperately necessary and desperately futile to wish for peace. I mean, I don't think Jesus was even born on a "silent night". Probably lots of cows mooing and donkeys getting fussed up about a baby taking up room in their feeding trough. Of course, today it's hard to find silence anywhere, what with phones and TVs constantly feeding ads and music into our homes, missiles and bombs going off in a third of the world's unstable regions, people arguing, weeping, mocking, cursing; and when you want to escape it all and just withdraw into your own mind, it's hard even then to tune out the doubt, the anxiety, the pride, the distractions... in short, peace is hard to come by.

But it's so, so, so important to pursue peace, to make it manifest in our lives in the lives of everyone around us. To actively go out and create it in places or people that don't have it. It's more important now at this time of year than any other, and I'd say more important at this point in the history of the world than any other.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." - Matthew 5:9

No coincidence that Jesus is the son of God, is it? His birth was the beginning of the restoration of peace in the universe, the harbinger of shalom. But he has entrusted us, sons and daughters of God, to be peacemaker ambassadors of God's kingdom to this world. The celebration of Christmas should be a reminder for us to continue to live lives of peace, as well as lives of hope, healing, and salvation. But when Jesus was born, the message of the angels (God's messengers) to mankind was: peace on earth.

Said the king to the people everywhere, "Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people everywhere; Listen to what I say!
The child, the child sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light."

How are you pursuing peace?
What other reminders has God placed on your heart this holiday season?

Swat Night!

Hey all! Andrew asked me to share a bit from my Swat Night testimony, so here’s a short(er) version of what I said:

I was born into a Christian family, with two ministers for parents. My uncle was the pastor of the church we went to (my grandfather was the pastor before he died), another uncle was the choir director, and my aunt was the youth director. So, growing up my four siblings and I spent most nights of the week at church. I guess it’s not surprising that I accepted Christ and was baptized at six.

Maybe more (or less?) surprising is that it actually felt pretty awful a lot of the time, being at church so often and constantly surrounded by people so involved in the church. I remember at one point when I was around 10 years old my mom putting her foot down so to speak, and saying that we had to make some changes because we were at church entirely too often, and she was worried about the effect it was having on our grades since we were out so late every night. It sounds kind of dramatic, but it was true. At this point in time my father was the minister of music of a church with well over 5,000 members and my mom worked in the discipleship office. This church was also about 45 minutes from my house. This meant that it was not unusual for us to come home around midnight.

I’ve never had serious doubts about God’s existence. What I have doubted, however, is if I’m truly accepted by Christ. I spent a large portion of my childhood fearing that I wasn’t really a Christian and that I would go to hell. I think this partially comes from the fact that I accepted Christ too young to fully understand Him, and partially from my own insecurities. When I was in eighth grade I started going to my church’s teen program and in many ways it was a life changer for me. I was suddenly thrown into a group of teens, mostly older than me, who loved God and loved to have fun. My aunt, director of youth at church, constantly commented on how we were the most special group of teenagers she’s ever worked with. My social life at this point was more dominated by my church friends than friends at school. More than that, my church life became dominated by my church friends to the point where the only joy I had in church was in hanging out. I became a social church goer. I was good at pretending I cared about God but on the inside I was mostly apathetic.

This apathy was fully cemented by my sophomore year of high school. Almost all at one time most of the people in the teen fellowship moved, many of them out of state.A few months later my family also changed churches, moving to a much larger church, with over 23,000 people, because the bishop of this church was ordaining my parents. Having no family or friends here made me care less about church than I ever had before. Church had been the center of my social life growing up and for the first time I had no friends at church to lean on, and rather began to spend more time with my school friends, most of whom were not Christians. While this wasn’t bad, it contributed to me losing interest in God.

By the time I came to college I really saw no need for God. I believed that Jesus existed, but I did not feel I needed to do anything for him or that there was any kind of personal connection. My mother told me she was worried about my spiritual life, but I just didn’t see it as important. I didn’t see the importance of joining a Christian fellowship my freshman year, so I wasn’t a part of any. I did start off the year going to church, but by the middle of my first semester I was barely attending. Church at Swat was and is frustrating to me, because it is not what I’m used to at home. At the time I did not feel I was getting anything out of it (other than a free breakfast), because my concept of church was simply as a social gathering and not as a place to learn about God. I’d grown up in a black church, and I was looking for the same kind of experience, with the same kinds of people and music.

I hit a low point the middle of my spring semester freshman year. I was having problems with my family, and had decided not to come home that summer. Partially as a reaction to this I started attending church more regularly again. Somehow, the last few weeks of school it worked out and I agreed to come home that summer. I wasn’t ready to go immediately home though, and my friend Sonja had been bugging me for weeks about coming to this thing called Chapter Camp. I didn’t really know what it was, but I knew it would buy me an extra week away from home, so I signed up. In the process of all this turmoil I’d realized something I hadn’t thought of before: how I couldn’t separate my own beliefs from my parents’ beliefs, and I felt like I wanted to formulate my own thoughts. At Chapter Camp, for the first time, I was given the chance to discover Christ for myself. This opened up the door for me to really spend the summer exploring God, and to join two Christian fellowships when I came back to Swat.

As I reflect on my feelings about God I realize that so much of how I interact with God and how I feel about church is based on my social standing. While community is important, it’s easy to forget that God is the reason for that community. Although my relationship with God is stronger than ever, I still found myself thinking of the reason for church and Christian community being to satisfy me, rather than to glorify God. I’ve come to realize that putting God first is more than the action of me going to church and talking about Him, but it’s my mental state as well.

That's basically been my spiritual journey up to this point. I'm always happy to talk about this, or anything else, so if anyone ever wants to talk just shoot me an email!

Post-Thanksgiving Response

Hi friends, I sent Andrew an email response to his Thanksgiving posts due to my inability to be comment-length concise, and he requested that I share it with you as well. For those of you that don't know, I'm a '10er currently living in a French monastery with a Catholic-based, ecumenical, charismatic community. I'm nearing the end of a two and a half month formation in which I experienced community life and learned about the Bible, the Holy Spirit, ecumenism, Ignatian spirituality... and so on. Commence copy-and-paste of email:

We had a really good lesson a few weeks ago about Christian communities and how they work, etc., and there are a few points that might give you some room to think. So, the lesson in part was describing the difference between projects for God and projects of God. Projects for God start from our needs, move on to our plans, our organizations, and then finish with praising God. And it's not a bad thing for us to look around and assess our needs and move on from there, but sometimes we need to check ourselves and make sure that we aren't building up these great projects for God without actually asking God what He wants and how He wants to accomplish it. So yeah, we're God's workers, but it's important to remember that it's God's work first. If it's been coming from human sources only, even if you're doing it for God, it's bound to founder. (note: this teaching is based on Mt 7, 21-27)

But as you describe it, it doesn't sound like the work on campus is foundering. It sounds like it's not progressing as quickly as you see it in Acts. You have a good point in saying that we have the same Spirit as the disciples in Acts; the question is, are you inviting the Holy Spirit, personally and as a group, to come and work? A lot of songs about the Holy Spirit are songs of invitation (the only one in English I can think of right now is "Holy Spirit, come with your fire") and if you look in Acts 4, 23-31, very soon after Pentecost, the disciples pray again and are filled even more with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn't come once and it's finished, we've received all we can hold; if even the first disciples received a fresh infusion of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, then surely we too have a constant need to receive the Holy Spirit more deeply and more fully. God the good Father gives his Holy Spirit to those who ask of Him, but it's important that we ask, and ask often!

And then I'd also like to leave you with Luke 17, 7-10: "Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " My question for you would be why it is that are not satisfied with the fruits you do see on campus. Is God asking you to do more and you're ignoring His call for other things? Are you looking for signs that what you have done was a success so that you can feel good? It could be good to take some time to discern why you're feeling so frustrated. I'd encourage you to pray, and in the beginning of your prayer, ask for the grace to know whether or not you're following His will, and you can even pray that your time of pray be aligned with His will, that He conform your intentions and your heart to His.

Yeah, so that's all over the place and not everything I want to say but it takes me forever to type on these silly keyboards! I'm trying to be encouraging, sorry if it didn't work very well. Pray, rest in the silence, take a passage from a Gospel and repeat a word or phrase that touches you slowly, allowing the Holy Spirit to engrave it in your heart, and seriously, seriously renounce any feelings of pride or perfectionism that might be driving you. If it feels like you're trying really hard and seeing no results, that means you're trying too hard. It shouldn't be you doing the work, and don't ever let anyone tell you any differently (including and especially yourself).


That's all from the email! Don't be a stranger if you have any questions or disagreements or clarifications.

Pre-thanksgiving thoughts pt. II

I feel stereotyped but defiant.

Labels mean a lot these days, even as we attempt constantly to cast them off. They're powerful enough that entire judgments are made about a person based off of a simple adjective. I'm thinking, of course, of the adjective 'Christian' used to denote a person, event, organization, etc. that seeks to identify itself with Christianity... whatever that means. Things that are 'Christian' have a bad reputation, it seems.

Wes has likened our problem to that of the fraternities on campus. A lot of the recent comment war on the Daily Gazette articles stemmed from what seemed to be inherent prejudice against Greek life. Coming into play was this mental association of frat brothers with drinking, partying, slacking off, white male privilege, discrimination, and lots of other negative things. We at SCF don't have the same reputation, of course, but people are wary around us, too. Christians today and in history have been exclusive, oppressive, intolerant, unreasonable, stingy, hypocritical, and downright unattractive.

Pre-thanksgiving thoughts pt. 1

I feel jerked in two directions.

I know, I eschew dichotomies as much as the next person, but ideas have grown increasingly black and white over the past few weeks, and I don't know why, but this is what it's been sounding like for me...

On one hand, there is a kingdom of God that is small, like a mustard seed. (Today's sermon at Renewal was based off of Mark 4:26-34.) It has humble beginnings, and it grows slowly, but inevitably. It requires patience to see the fruit of this plant. Pastor Charles encouraged us not to lose the faith, even when Christianity became "boring". It isn't all about the mega-churches, the revival meetings, or the deadlines of a generation of results-oriented, perfectionist American Christians.

My priorities?

     I've been sitting in front of my computer after a great Sunday service and an amazing omelette, trying to wake up from a food coma. Then, I started thinking about my weekend, which was filled with the same message that Pastor Dan preached on today. Today's sermon was about Jesus' priorities (Mark 1:35-45). It really hit me today when Pastor Dan asked us, "Where are your priorities?" He also asked himself, "Before I'm a good pastor, am I a good Christian?", which made me question, "Before I'm a good student, am I a good Christian?".
     Couple of times this weekend, I've had to question my priorities. It might not seem like a big deal, but I was torn between an hour of homework and an hour of foot games with specs for Disco Swat. Something pushed me into going, and I'm so glad I did. I've met some great and passionate specs, and one of the specs ended up coming to church with us today.
     This past weekend, I've also been challenged by Cecelia's talk during Large Group. She talked about her time in Haiti after her graduation, which made me wonder how I would respond if God were to call me away from my plans. I've always told myself that since I am not striving for fame or wealth, what I am doing must be for God's glory. But through Cecelia's talk and today's sermon, I've come to realize that just because it is counter-cultural, it doesn't mean that I'm on the road to glorifying God. It could be, but it doesn't automatically make me a good Christian.
     I hope all of us will be challenged, and continue to be challenged, by the question: "Before I'm a good student (teacher/daughter/son/doctor/pastor/etc), am I a good Christian?"

Hey Everybody!

This is Brent;

I just wanted to let y'all know that I have a blog of my own, which I started in high school, about my religious thoughts. It pretty much went dead last year, but I'm hoping to revive it this semester.

Thought I'd share that in case anyone was interested. The blog is: brentswriting2.blogspot.com

That's all :D

Whose kingdom is this?

So... I should be doing my seminar reading now, but I wanted to jot this down instead because I'm blogaholic, in a sense.

If you've talked to me at all this past week you've probably heard me whine and moan about a cappella. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that I've been upset and cynical about the whole thing, and, especially after Sunday evening, I felt slighted.

But Sunday night, when I was trying to go to sleep, I found that I just couldn't stop thinking about how unfair the whole situation was, and my mind replayed over and over again so many different permutations of l'esprit de l'escalier (all the things you wish you could've said in the moment but only think about after the fact). I was tossing and turning, unhappy, for a good hour and a half before I finally drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I went for a run and thought that I could get my head cleared of everything. When I run, I listen to music I like and hum along, so I figured that it would block out space in my head. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before thoughts of disappointment, indignation, and spite crept back in. So I ran for forty-five minutes practically seething, and by the end of it I was tired physically, emotionally, and spiritually, too. I was tired spiritually because I realized that I actually hadn't let go of my disappointment. I thought that I had given it up to God, but I wasn't really willing to loosen my grip on the issue.

Prayer Gatherings!

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that PRAYER GATHERINGS will take place every Tuesday at 9pm in SCI 104 (across from Cornell). The reason why I'm using the term "gathering" instead of "meeting" is because I really want these prayer sessions to be restful, restorative, and encouraging rather than yet another meeting in your busy schedule. We'll try to keep these gatherings short (about 45min).

This week in particular, we'll be covering WHY we pray, then follow up with some prayer. We're exploring the idea of having mini-workshops on a different topics surrounding prayer (such as how to concentrate, what prayer is, how to pray, how to listen to God, etc.). We'll also try to incorporate a variety of prayer styles (prayer walks, conversational prayer, liturgy, Common Prayer, intercessory prayer, etc.) throughout the semester. If there's anything you would like to see during a prayer gathering (or if you would like to facilitate one!), please please please let me know! I'd love to hear any ideas, suggestions, or requests you may have (even if you can't physically make it to prayer meetings)! Feel free to leave a comment, email scfprayer@gmail.com or just come talk to me (Kathryn).

Finally, if there's anything you would like prayer about, please shoot an email to scfprayer@gmail.com and indicate whether you would like your requests to be read by the prayer team alone or shared with the community at large. Remember that nothing is too big or too small for prayer!

With love,
Kathryn

Body & Soul

Hey SCF, I've got a mind to resurrect this blog. So I'm cross-posting from my personal journal into here. Read and leave your thoughts!

- - -

Wes recently read to me a fascinating excerpt from the book of essays by Wendell Berry that he's reading. I'd heard of Wendell Berry mostly through Greg, who wrote a very long poem of his (entitled "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front") on a path with chalk to mark the start of National Poetry Month two Aprils ago. I thought it highly amusing to watch people walk up to that point in the path, and then turn around and start reading it while walking backwards beneath the young redwoods.

The rest of Berry's literary and academic work is just as intriguing. He encourages getting away from the greedy insanity of the modernized, over-technologized world, going back to our roots in the wild, staying local, knowing people personally again, sharing wealth and doing nothing for personal gain but everything for the community.

GET EXCITED!!!

Hey SCFers,

I know it's the last week of classes, and it's almost finals.  But we should all GET EXCITED!!!  You know why?  It's almost CHAPTER CAMP!

Bonjour from France!

Hello, everyone! I'm so sad that nobody has posted anything all semester long... oh well! I'm just here giving a short update on some of your fellow SCFers abroad (see previous post). Those of us who are currently in France (Jenna, Jeewon, and me), took a short weekend to visit an SCF alum, Katie Becker, whom most of you know! She's in Chambery, France, finishing up a year she spent teaching English to middle- and high-schoolers. When we visited, the weather was beautiful, so we went hiking up to the Croix du St. Nivolet, which is the huge cross pictured below.

It completely dwarfed the four of us, as you can see. We also had an American picnic at the peak, "in the shadow of the cross"! It was "American" because we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...

I, personally, was psyched to have a mini-SCF reunion that weekend. It was made even better by two opportunities to Skype with SCFers, Wes, who is abroad in Beijing this semester, and Alan Chiu, who graduated two years ago and is currently in med school in Philly. But being around all these SCFers just made me miss all of you back at Swat all the more!

Well, that's all! Just trying to keep this short. If you want to read more, you can check out my blog posts from France. And all four of us put up photos on Facebook, naturally.

See you all this fall!

- Andrew

Off-Campus SCF-ers Spring 2011

Happy New Year and new semester, SCF! Unfortunately, this semester, nine SCF-ers will be missing out on all the fun by being off-campus, either home or abroad. Don't let us be lonely! Write letters! Send photographs! Care packages stuffed with junk food from Essie Mae's!

Well, that last one isn't necessary. But if you'd like to write, here are some mailing addresses for you to quickly refer to! Remember, this blog is private (for SCF eyes only), so you must be added as an author to this blog before you can access the post.

Andrew Cheng (Grenoble, France)

http://swatsnapshot.blogspot.com/

S/C Famille Sémavoine

45 rue Antoine Polotti

38130 Echirolles, France

Jeewon Kim (Grenoble, France)

S/C Famille Marchal

10 avenue de Valmy

38100 Grenoble, France

Jenna Zhu (Paris, France)

5 rue Cassini
75014 Paris, France

Porsche Poole (Morocco)

tba

Rebekah Yang (South Africa)

http://swatadventures.blogspot.com/

http://captionsfromcapetown.blogspot.com/
9 Rhodes Ave
Mowbray
7705
South Africa

Wes Willison (Beijing, China)

tba

Hana Lehmann (Beijing, China)

tba

Daniel Pak (Seattle, Washington)

http://swatadventures.blogspot.com/

tba

Shari Rutherford (London)

tba

Chaos. And then there was... a baby

"When they [the shepherds] had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." -Luke 2:17-19

Christmas is awesome. Period. No discussion there.

I mean, how can it not be?

This is the story of a deity who created a world of unbelievable things: things that twinkle and wink at you in the night sky; things that grow out of the ground, look beautiful, then wither away, only to come back again and again; things that bay, oink, growl, and tweet; things that pounce on you and lick your face when you walk in the door; things called humans, who were made in his very image; and a thing called love, which is greater even than the amazing things called hope, joy, and peace. Scratch that, this deity is the very definition of love, which is in and of itself unbelievable.

This is the story of a deity who loved what he created so much that he could not bear to see it plunge into darkness of its own accord. He loved it so much that he decided to take this world's iniquities upon his own back, not so that he would fall under their weight, but so that he could triumph over them in a glorious embrace of reconciliation.

This is the story of a deity who came down not to condemn, or slander, or meddle, but to love and bring hope, joy, and peace.

This is the story of God who so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus, a great light shining in the darkness.

And like the rest of us, he was a baby -

a little bundle of joy who took that euphemism and multiplied it ten times over because unlike the rest of us he was also the very definition of love itself.

How much more awesome could you possibly want?

And while we celebrate with food, friends, parties, and the general spreading of joy, don't forget to take a moment like Mary did to treasure these things up and ponder them (kinda like taking that last piece of German chocolate cake and savoring it by yourself in some coat closet, but better and with zero guilt). Why? Because that little baby, who yawned a cute little baby yawn before shutting its little baby eyes real tight to fall asleep that first Christmas night, was born for you.

Merry Christmas!

Some photos of the crazy things we do!

This is a special photo dump for events over the past few months!

Jenna got baptized at Blue Route Vineyard Church! (10/9)

The annual Freshman Raid! We kidnap 2014 and have our way with them play sardines and the Foot Game with them in Bond Hall. (10/21)

Spencer dressed up in a King Crab suit. (10/21)

And we danced! (10/29)

Happy birthday, Octo-November babies! (Liz, Hana, Tiffany, and Steven!) (10/29)

The annual Freshman Banquet! (11/20) More people came than are shown in this photo, promise. In fact, more freshmen came than members of any other class! Yeah 2014!

Several intense rounds of Mafia followed. SCF youth group went on a road trip to Idaho, and people died each night along the way... (11/20)

The hilarity of White Elephant gift exchanges, at the annual Tri-Co Christmas Party! (12/3)

We're so weird! And awesome! Yeah Tri-Co IV! (12/3)

AND AND AND! Greg Albright ('10) got engaged to his longtime sweetheart Heather, this past Thursday at Rittenhouse Square! Click on the photo if you don't believe it- enlarged, you can see her ring! (12/2)

Finding Your Purpose

I was wandering around campus across the beautiful Parrish lawn, admiring the sunlight streaming through the majestic trees, and wondering about my purpose in life, not knowing I was about to have an encounter with God. I had been having a bit of a difficult day. I had missed a leadership training for SCF in the morning, and I had to give up going to a Christian conference that I was really looking forward to going to for school obligations. “What was my purpose?” I was wondering. Like Benjamin Braddock from “The Graduate,” I guess I was “worried… about my future.” ‘Worried about my future?’ you might be wondering (as I’m sure readers of this blog should be able to identify with). ‘Why should you, a student at Swarthmore College, ripe in your youth, ready and able to tackle the world and to do so with a smile on your face, too, of all people, be worried about your future?’ Even if that were true, it wasn’t always so easy. I was worried, confused, and, more than anything, stressed out about my purpose. It just didn’t seem so clear once God threw a challenge my way, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with my life anymore.

That evening after the church service, I was going to dinner downstairs when I saw a gathering of folks around the table discussing something intensely. Thrown for a loop, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to help out with the planning of the Kids’ Christmas Service, which was happening right then. As I sat dumbly for a while, God intervened. “We’re going to read a traditional folk tale,” the Kids Ministry Leader more or less said (forgive the imperfect quotation), called “The Three Trees.” As she began to read, I felt something change inside of me.

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said, “I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!” The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. “I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!” The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Years, passed. The rain came, the sun shone and the little trees grew tall. One day three wood cutters climbed the mountain. The first wood cutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. “Now I shall make a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said.

The second wood cutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It's perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. “Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. “I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!”

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last wood cutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the wood cutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me,” he muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the wood cutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, or treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the wood cutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and awed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river, instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the wood cutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. “What happened?” the once-tall tree wondered. “All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God...”

Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. “This manger is beautiful,” she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awoke. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten wood pile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hand to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

It’s amazing what stories can do to you, isn’t it? After listening to that, I had little to complain about. “The next time you feel down because you didn't get what you wanted, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you,” the last words of the book read. After I heard the story, I no longer felt as worried, upset, or confused. I still did, to some extent, but that was work that I needed to do, not because that’s how God wanted me to be.

God has a purpose for you, and you don’t need to worry about how big or how small it is or how exactly it will turn out. All you need to have is an idea, and that’s enough for Him to go by. After all, when you “delight yourself in the LORD… He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). “Pray, trust, and don’t worry,” Padre Pio says, for God already knows the desires of your heart (and, as my friend Liz aptly points out, He was the one who put them there, in the first place). And even while I was wallowing in gloominess and misery, I knew that God had a purpose for me, and that, through Him, it was all going to become clear again, in the end.

Patience is a virtue

As we mature as believers, good fruit becomes increasingly evident in our lives...

If 1) balance is the Key to Life, and 2) Jesus came to give us life abundantly, (both of which I know to be true) then 3) as we grow in our walk with God, we should strike that balance in all areas of our abundant life... being able to walk this narrow path skillfully. Since 4) God grants the desires of our hearts, and 5) He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask, 6) I'm excited to see more balance in being self-disciplined and showing love to my loved ones! 7) Anticipation sets the atmosphere for miracles!!!

Patience is a virtue... so while I wait, I LOVE Jesus <3

Privacy settings changed

Hi everyone, this blog is now readable only by those designated as authors. If you can read this post, then you are designated as an author. That also means you can publish your own posts! So write some when you have the time. Otherwise, those who are not signed in or who are not authors will not be able to read or comment on any of the posts in the blog.

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[edit] 11-29-2011. This blog is now public, readable by anyone. Certain posts have been set to private, the settings of which are the same as above.

Recap 11.12.10: We all need somebody to leaaan on...

Accountability. What is it? What does it look like?

Two years ago, Pastor Leonard Dow was abruptly summoned home by news of a grievous incident within his church: a young, recently-married woman was discovered to have cheated on her husband with two young men. Anger gave way to sadness, frustration, and finally embarrassment as he berated himself for having failed to keep the believers in his church accountable. Not being one to simply lament over a mess and walk away, however, he immediately went about setting things right. He met with all of the parties involved, cleared up the issues, and spoke to his congregation. After careful deliberation, the two young men were asked to attend different churches for some time, each accompanied by a brother to their new church. The couple was allowed to remain, and the church paid for them to have marriage counseling. On Easter Sunday, six months after the incident, the two young men were welcomed back by the community of believers. All of the individuals involved in this affair are now active in the ministry, serving as living testimonies of the grace and forgiveness that comes from Christ Jesus.

According to Pastor Dow, accountability is about speaking out when a brother or sister goes astray. It’s about dealing with hard, messy situations. It’s about being a friend--not just a “Facebook friend,” but a real, genuinely-caring, and completely honest friend.

Pastor Dow presented an acrostic to help us better understand some elements we should expect in such a friendship:

Family - A brother or sister in Christ. Luke 8:21 was given as an example.
Respect - Someone who shows you respect as well as someone whom you respect.
Intentional - Willing to roll up their sleeves, just as the church was in Acts 4:32-35, where the believers were intentional in loving and taking care of each other’s needs.
Encouragement - The person should be your biggest cheerleader, just as Jonathan was for David in 1 Samuel 20.
Near - Near doesn’t have to mean geographic propinquity, but closeness in heart and spirit. Shared experiences foster close friendships, and inside jokes are a plus.
Disagreement - The friend should be willing and ready to disagree with you, but also desirous of mending the friendship after disagreements. According to Proverbs 27:6, “wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”

In Exodus 4, the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. The understandably nervous Moses wasn’t too thrilled at the idea, and he kept on making excuses not to go. God performed miracles for him, but he only consented to go once the Lord sent Aaron to go with him. He needed a friend to be there for him. After large group, Nate pointed out that the Lord tells Moses that “[Aaron] is already on his way to meet you” (Exodus 4:14). In other words, God anticipated that Moses would need someone by his side and provided a brother to help! Just how great is our God, exactly? :)

We all need to be accountable to someone. According to Ecclesiastes 4:9-10:

“Two are better than one,
Because they have good return for their labor:
If one of them falls down,
One can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
And has no one to help them up.”

The question we face here isn’t whether or not we will fall, it’s what we will do when we fall. Hopefully those of you reading this blog have someone you can lean on and trust within SCF. If not, keep coming to SCF events! Let’s build a community of trust!

Everyday Justice

http://www.jrdkirk.com/2010/11/10/you-are-what-you-eat/

This is a great blog I've discovered recently (thanks, Susie Flood) and I particularly enjoyed this post on food and Everyday Justice. It's a great book, a lot of really simple and practical advice for how to live justly in an increasingly confusing global marketplace. Check out both the book and the blog -- they're well worth it.

Psalms and Miracles

Hi SCF. This is Cecelia (Osowski, class of '10, in case we haven't met). I'm living and working in an orphanage in Port-au-Prince Haiti this year. If you want, you can catch up on more of my thoughts about life in Haiti at my blog, here. I've been inspired by reading this blog and seeing all the ways God is working at Swarthmore. I'm posting to hopefully inspire you with the ways God is working outside the bubble. 

Sometimes it seems to me as though there is just one cause for fear after another here in Haiti. There is still a threat of cholera making its way into Port-au-Prince. Our streets have been disturbed by gunfire in broad daylight right outside our doors. And this week, for me at least, has been dominated by fear and anxiety over the approach of Hurricane Tomas.

Yet in the midst of all this there is God. First thing every morning, and last thing every night, I read from the Book of Hours; a beautiful devotion of prayer and praise centered on the Psalms, which has been prayed continuously throughout church history. Last night as I prayed desperately for the safety of this city, for the beautiful children in our school who live in the tent city on top of the hill, utterly at the mercy of the approaching storm, I read these two psalms in the evening prayers. 

Psalm 144  (paraphrased)
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle;
my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under him.
...
Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down! Stretch forth thy hand from on high, rescue me and deliver me from the many waters.

Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

Despite all these assurances, I fully expected to spend most of today cowering on the inside of the building so I wouldn't have to watch 100 mile per hour winds rip my neighbors' houses to shreds. Instead this whole city experienced a miracle. It rained, but only gently. Instead of tearing winds, there were playful breezes all day. The sky was overcast, but never dark with thunder or lightning. At 3pm it was perfectly calm outside. I called my mom and she listened to me in disbelief, telling me that the hurricane was a huge angry storm covering Haiti on the radar map. It was as if God had mercy on this ravaged city and covered it with his hands while the storm passed over. As it started to get dark, Jamie and I sat in the library, staring out the window trying to make sense of what was (and wasn't) happening, and Jamie just said "This is miraculous". And he was right. I wasn't going to make sense of it, because it doesn't make sense, and yet I saw it happen with my own eyes.
As we sat there and marveled, Jamie grabbed a bible off the shelf and we started paging through the Psalms, looking for we weren't quite sure what, and we found Psalm 46.

God is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, thought the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Behold the words of the Lord, how he has wrought desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire!
"Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

To all of you who prayed for our safety: know without a doubt that your prayers were heard and answered! May we never cease praising the God who can do this.

Love, Cecelia

Family Group Follow-up and invite to dinner

Let's do it. Keep talking with each other. Pray pray pray for this. And don't forget, you can post stuff here! This IS your community, this IS your house-- so, own it. To quote Jimmy, this abstract notion of "community" will only be realized when we all decide to do something on an individual level. We can start by first pressing into God and then reaching out to each other. (If you want to know what that means more concretely, let's talk about it).

Also, would you have a meal with me sometime? Just e-mail me when's good for you.

Large Group Recap 10.29.10 - Family Group!

Abstract: We had Family Group yesterday! It was a "temperature check" so that we could gauge the spiritual health of our fellowship as a whole. We had good attendance, over thirty members plus some new faces. Some members of leadership went over SCF's vision statement and gave updates on some of our different ministries (Large Group, Small Group, Prayer Team/Meetings, and Outreach). Then, we went into small groups to discuss some questions about how we felt about the fellowship. Lastly, we had a time of discussing as a whole. The conversation started with the issue of actually being a welcoming, non-cliquey community, and the relationship between "inreach" and "outreach" and what both of those mean.

SCF Vision statement
Through God’s help, we hope to foster a community that:
- Continuously intercedes on behalf of Swarthmore campus through focused, persistent and expectant prayer.
- Fully equips witnesses and sends them out to live missional lives.
- Sustains Christ-centered transformation through mentorship.

Ministry introductions
Large group / Fri. 7pm, Kohl 115 / Jimmy
LG is supposed to fully equip people to grow stronger in Christ and then to spiritually help those around us (i.e. the LG talk on post-modern evangelism, and next week we’ll learn about how to share your faith). Different large group topics were designed to give us space to learn skills/personalities/characteristics that will enable us to love each other inside and outside our group.

Outreach / Wes
Primarily made up of Groups Investigating God (GIGs), when one person who really loves Jesus wants to share it with 1, 2, 3 other friends through the Scripture. The intent is to raise the huge theological questions (i.e. Why is there suffering, Does God actually exist, etc.). GIG members are usually non-Christians who are interested in the Bible. It’s important that we have GIGs because a lot of people only experience the shallow and negative image of Christ and Christianity.

Right now there are several GIGs (Wes leads one, Nate leads two, there are a few more), all going pretty well, all studying passages in John 1-4, which are great for Swatties to deconstruct. The conversations that come from this are a good thing. If you're interested in starting one, or are yourself interested in the Big Questions that Small Groups sometimes don’t address, tell Wes.

Small Groups / for dates and times, see poster / Sara (Rebekah proxy)
These are dorm-based or community-based groups that study the Scripture, a way for non-Christians and Christians alike to study the word of God together. SGs tend to become a pretty tight group that supports each other throughout the year.

Prayer Ministry / Tue. 9pm SCI 104, and Thur. 6pm Sharples / Theresa & Jenna
Prayer meeting (Tue.), prayer team meeting (Thur.), & prayer at Large Group. Focusing on intercession and that part of the vision statement. Prayer meetings this semester have started with our identities as Christians and how we relate to God, moving from there to praying for all parts of the community and this campus, and parts of the community. They do intercessory prayer walks. Prayer at the end of large group is a time when everyone should feel safe and comfortable with each other; it might sound the opposite, but they want people to be encouraged to pray! Sign up on the sign-up sheet! But tonight, we want to know, what can we do to get everyone praying for our entire campus? Maybe having a prayer room on campus, specified prayer times for short prayers.

Personal Reflection Time
- How have you been encouraged/met/challenged by God this semester through SCF?
- Where are you seeing signs that God is at work in/through SCF?

- Where do you think we are thriving in pursuing our vision and being a community?
- Where do you think we need to work on aspects of community and vision?
- How can we practically implement these thoughts?

Family Discussion Time
Sonja: A lot of people feel isolated within this community. Sophomores esp., because if they all go abroad next year, they’ll feel really separated. Should address this.

Liz: Some parts of the vision statement seem very oriented toward outreach, and there isn’t enough place for fellowship, inreach, etc. Small groups seem like GIGs, large groups seem more about evangelism than personal growth.

Lauren: Remembers that ’10 Seniors talked about how much they prayed for a huge freshman class, and 2013 came! Same thing for the next year, and 2014 happened! God has answered those prayers. Imagine if we continued these prayers, and prayers for other things, too, like inward growth? God is faithful. And for the future, if we want new students to feel welcome, we need to have a strong base to welcome them, a family that’s already strong that they can join.

Cecilia: 2011 was a huge freshman class, but after three years they’re really small…

Nate: Do we want this community-building to be structured? Large Group for community-building instead of having a speaker, or make this entirely individual inreach? Person to person?

Jeewon: Thinks we can do both of those things. Programmed inreach as well as personally finding time to talk with other people. It should be effortless and natural.

Lauren: But it’s hard for introverts to do that personal initiation of relationships. So these relationships can start naturally but they have to be purposely maintained.

Wes: The idea of Vision Team leading things and everyone else following, it’s a kind of weary/wary? structure. But there’s space for anyone to do whatever they want; we are flexible and will support anything you want to do, including Liz’s 3-4 person lunches. It is a good thing that GIGs are more structured now, but if you personally find something that’s really working, spread the word!

Cecilia: Our outreach to freshmen is great, but once you grow up (Juniors/Seniors), it gets harder. You can feel isolated once you don’t have older people constantly pulling you back in. A good thing that after 3 years of rough times with SCF, I’m still here. As for studying abroad, she’s glad that even though when she came back from abroad and found that she didn’t know a lot of the people who were now here, she still knew that SCF was full of welcoming people and that it’d be all right.

Theresa: So what’s Inreach? Any Biblical examples or examples from other places?

Hana: Is inreach just making friends?

Tiffany: No, because that will just form cliques.

Dan: Inreach keeps people involved in SCF, so that they won’t just leave. Help people know they can still be a part of the community even if they don’t come to all the functions.

Allison: It’s encouraging that people were eager to invite her to Large Group, “I felt like these people want to give me a big hug!” It’s a good thing to check in on people, and from the other side it’s good to feel wanted to be back there, even if it takes being dragged back here.

Christina: It’s simple as taking notice of people when they’re gone. Showing that you care if they’re here, notice if they’re not, is a good thing. Pray for those who are studying abroad! Don’t just think: they don’t go to Swarthmore anymore just ‘cause they’re overseas, remember that they’re still a part of our community!

Allison: For people who are studying abroad, it’d be awesome if you could send emails home! Update us on what you’re doing and give your address. Take the initiative, and we’ll respond!

Sonja: I remember when Mi went abroad, and she sent emails and pictures and things all the time, and I appreciated that you were so invested in us. Also, going back to Tiffany and Spencer’s point about cliques: SCF can be cliquey, even for Swat standards, and that was one of the barriers for her getting involved her freshman year. You need to be open in your group and notice if you’re being cliquey and figure out how to avoid that.

Wes: This confounds inreach a little bit…

Liz: My vision of inreach: the Senior class of 2010 loving each other in a real way. The early church in Acts- they spent time with each other all the time, and loved each other. Start by praying for each other.

Spencer: I agree, and something special about the Senior class was that they were committed to each other. Say that you’ll be there for each other and that you’ll take care of each other. Swat is a hard place to be a Christian, but it’s also just a hard place to be. Even sophomores are still looking for people who will be there for us (platonically!) when we need it. College is a time of extreme highs and extreme lows, and so this community is needed for a lot of people.

Kai: I think when it comes to inreach, it takes making people who are on the outside on the inside, even without their permission. Someone you meet, say hi to them forever now just because.

Theresa: Seems like inreach is an expanded form of outreach. Reads: "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

Dan Pak: Cliques occur in youth groups at home, too. But accountability is a very important thing, too. Need people to keep each other in check in the faith.

Wes: Proxe station. The experience of preparing it and going through it together was a good thing. But it was also an outreach to the entire outreach. Have the perspective where everything you do, you do together. So even our outreach things can involve inreach. The point is, this is everyone’s prerogative.

Kathryn: The Proxe station was a really good thing, but it does attract a certain group of people to participate, usually the core group of SCF. A lot of people who aren’t as comfortable with the entire group might not step up to do things. I feel like just talking about more love and care and stuff is great, but unless there’s a little structure, we’ll just forget about it. How about a little icebreaker/mixer at each large group that gets us to actually know about each other? That way we’ll want to get to know each other outside of SCF. But on that note, I think SCF does a good job of being welcoming, but it could do better.

Lauren: We came to college to study. But, “seek ye first the kingdom of God”? Academic life comes first, but it shouldn’t be like that. So, we should envelop our Christian relationships into our daily life, like studying together, hanging out together, having meals together.

Nate: “I only see you during SCF!” “We only hang out at SCF events!” Feels weird about that. Should consider any time we see each other and interact as an SCF event. Maybe a personal opposition to internal structure, but we’re not going to just say hi to each other, the random passings-by should become our time to check up on each other. This can happen every single day!

Tiffany: Maybe it would help to have some activities that are more social, not exactly connected to Christian stuff. How about a study break? Something fun?

Christina: One of the best things so far was that baking thing in Parrish! It was only a few people, but it was really fun.

Sonja: Plug for studying together! It can be a real bonding experience.
Tiffany: 90% random stuff and 10% stat, but it’s fun.

Michio: Thinking about inreach and outreach, and wondering if they’re really such a dichotomy. We like to structure and label things, but what it means to be a community is Christ-centered. If the center of a circle is Christ, and all of us are some distance away from it (some de-localized gradient, random nerdy stuff), we are a continuous space. Pull people towards the center of the circle can be inreach and outreach at the same time. It will allow Christians to bond and also allow non-Christians to seek Christ at the same time.

Lauren: Good analogy. So what is the responsibility of someone near the center of the podium? Do they stay where they are or do we keep moving in and out of this circle?

Liz: We’ve gone way overtime. Let’s have follow-up discussions, but we’re going to pray and close.

- - -

Feel free to continue the thoughts via comments on this post.

Perfectionism

As Christians all of us feel so much pressure to be perfect. We feel the need to be perfect in our love for others so that everyone can feel the love of Christ, we feel the need to act perfectly because other Christians seem too and because if we aren't perfect why would anyone ever feel the need to be Christian, we feel the need to make every decision the right decision because what if we do something that so wrong we can fix it or be fixed? If you do not fall into this train of thought, I apologize for over generalizing. But, I see Christians around me everyday worrying and struggling with this, and I struggle with this myself.

Add this pressure to the pressure we feel everyday as Swatties to do our work right and to be active in extra-curricular activities, this pressure can be over whelming.

What I need a reminder of often, sometimes on a daily basis, which I am now going to remind all of you, is that God doesn't care if we are perfect. God does not care if we make mistakes. God doesn't care if we slip up. God doesn't care if don't understand him sometimes. God doesn't care about any of those things. God just loves us. He loves us no matter how many times we screw up. In God's eyes there is NOTHING that can make us more or less worthy of his love. Do not let this world tell you differently.

So relax and just rest in God's arms.

Large Group Recap 9.24.10 - And we shall call it ... the love shack

Rich Andrews came to large group last Friday. For those of you who weren't there, he's a pastor at BlueRoute Vineyard Church and was speaking about intercession.

Actually, he wasn't just speaking about it, he was living it. Intercession is going between or on behalf of someone else- in this case, praying to God on behalf of others. It's a basic idea that many of us understand without ever using the word. But to Pastor Rich this was more than an idea he was suggesting. Earlier in the week he had practiced it by coming on campus and praying for us and Swarthmore, listening for what God wanted to tell us. Intercession, he explained, is really just selflessly loving people- getting up early in the morning to pray for a friend, for example; giving God a "platform to speak from."

So selfless love drives us to intercede. When we understand that praying for people is fundamentally connected to seeing God work in their lives, we can be like Moses, holding up his hands for hours so that the Israelites won the battle (Exodus 17:11). We are learning to be like Jesus who died for us and gained a position of intercession for us before God. When we intercede we listen for God's voice so that we pray His will for people, and this prayer is one that is *always* answered.

Rich pointed out some important things we must do as we begin to intercede: confess our sins individually, confess our sins in groups, and begin our periods of intercession with adoration, praise, and worship. It makes sense that we can only pray for other people if we are right with God ourselves.

And when we are interceding, the more people praying together, the better! As adding two waves multiplies the effect, so bringing people together multiplies the power of intercession. No, we don't have to change the name of large group to "love shack" (the name of Rich's college LG......). But we must influence each other to love through prayer, whether that means encouraging each other to set aside times of daily prayer, or even writing prayers that we prayed today and posting them on this blog.

God wants us to learn to hear his voice. If we are going to be successful in all our goals for outreach, our cookies and jam :), we have to learn to hear from Him and pray His will for others.

Some questions to think about:
When are you most able to listen to God's voice?
What are the barriers limiting your intercession?

"Religious"

I was asked yesterday if I was “very religious,” and for a moment I was tempted to say no. It would have been cooler and trendier to reply, “I don’t prescribe to religions, but I do consider myself a serious follower of Jesus Christ,” or “I’m not religious, just madly in love with God.” Maybe if this were ten or fifteen years ago, I’d say, “No, dude, I’m just a Jesus Freak!”

But… am I a Jesus Freak? Am I considered an outcast of society because my actions are in line with what Jesus taught but against the grain of everyone around me? Am I really madly in love with an invisible deity? No, no, and… no. Serious followers of Jesus Christ don’t merely ascribe to an arbitrary set of moral rules and get together a few times a week to celebrate their sameness. Serious followers give up their lives, their plans, their dreams, the things they love, and set their eyes only on God’s promises. They drop their nets and go.

My Christian faith has once again faded and blended into the weird mosaic that is my personal identity, instead of shining bright and over-lighten-ing the other patches and patterns. Christ is my only identity, not just my Sunday-morning and Friday-evening mask.

So, at the moment, yes, I am very religious. Deeply religious. I’ve grown up with religion my entire life, and it is ingrained into my being. But I still fall in and out of love- true love- with Jesus Christ, and still haven’t let go of myself in order to grasp onto Him and let Him lead me.

Here’s to hoping that will change soon. Here’s to the belief that I can overcome my disbelief. One day, I’ll say that I love Him, and it won’t be because I’m supposed to, but because I do.