Thursday, 02 October 2008

  • The Effect of God's Grace

    It has been a little too long, I fear. I apologize for my absence. I had not meant to disappear from the face of the earth. But you see, I was rather busy this past year.

     

    God was changing my life.

     

    The last post I left you with was a list of several things I had learned while away at school. I’m excited to tell you that I could easily triple that list with things that God has been teaching me since.

     

    Someone recently asked me to sum up the past year: “Did you learn anything?” they unwittingly asked.

     

    I merely replied as I would to anyone else: God changed my perspective of Himself, my view of others, my opinion on mankind, my understanding of myself, and my entire worldview. He challenged my belief systems, showed me my purpose, taught me true compassion, and gave me my first glimpse of what He can do with my life. I’d say He did a work on me.

     

    Several things have changed in my personal life since that last post: I am now a second-year student (I just couldn’t get enough!) and am now living in a new state, experiencing a new culture, and adjusting to a new life.

     

    The old man has gone, and the new man has come. And I’ll be the first to say that it excites me beyond measure.

     

    What am I doing now? Technically, I am a student and a secretary. In actuality, I am a minister of God’s grace, a beacon for freedom in Christ, and a living sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel.

     

    There is one Scripture that sums up my entire year: “But by the grace of God, I am what I am and His grace to me was not without effect.”±

Saturday, 29 December 2007

  • In Brief...

    I apologize in advance for my absence from the land of Xanga. Tragically, the world of Xanga has been off-limits to me for quite some time now, due to the lack of bandwidth available at school. However, I’m taking my break to quickly give you an idea of what I’ve been learning:

     

      1. Relationships are more important than school. Always.

      2. When what you do becomes who you are, it’s time to do something else.

      3. It’s okay to shock the world every now and again.

      4. Your ministry is not based on the size of your crowd; it’s based on the size of your God.

      5. While it’s a wise idea to get your parents advice on a marriage partner, it is not necessary to get your extended relative’s advice on your life plan.

      6. Humility is a mindset.

      7. Humility is not focusing on how humble you are; it’s focusing on how you can serve others.

      8. When a gentleman tries to be one and open the car door for you, it’s advisable to note this fact and wait for him. If you get to the handle first, you risk offending him or embarrassing yourself. As you can guess, I’m an expert in the latter.

      9. Mature people have thick skin. Immature people are easily offended.

      10. The journey to maturity is long and hard. If you want to make it there, you may end up gray.

      11. Age doesn’t necessarily mean maturity.

      12. God can only change you if you let Him.

      13. Nothing gets in the way of ministry more than pride.

      14. Personality tests do not give you license to remain that way, but rather an understanding of how you can change.

      15. Splitting wood is character-building.

      16. Mucking stalls is character-building.

      17. In fact, if doesn’t cause you to sweat, bleed, cry, or all of the above, then it does not build character.

      18. It’s okay to cry when God breaks your heart.

      19. It’s okay to ask questions, as long as you know where to look for the answers.

      20. Nothing is more important in life than knowing God.

     

    That’s just a few of the lessons that have come my way over the past few months. Thankfully, God hasn’t given up on me yet; He continues to bend and break, to convert and convict.

     

    As one of my professors said, even at 6:30 in the morning, you should be able to say where you’ve seen God today. If you can’t, go back to your room and do your devotions again.

     

    Yeah, it’s that important.±

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

  • Faithful Doors

    Each month here at school, we study one principle and one character. This month, it happens to be the principle of faith and the character of gratefulness. While you’ve already heard a little of what I’m learning about gratefulness, I wanted to share what God’s been teaching me about faith.

     

    If you had asked me one month ago to define faith, I would’ve quoted C.S. Lewis: “[Faith is] the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods.”

     

    Inspirational, I know. But not exactly a complete picture.

     

    While we’re here at the program, we are graded on our journals. We are expected to journal daily and keep tabs on all of the insights that we are learning about our principle and character of the month.

     

    I was a bit stumped as to how faith fit into my everyday life, so I asked one of my professors about it.

     

    “What happens when you turn the handle on that door?” he queried, pointing to the nearest exit.

     

    “Well, it opens,” I replied.

     

    “Do you hesitate when you open it?”

     

    “No.”

     

    “Why not?”

     

    “Well, because it opens every time I turn the handle. It hasn’t failed me yet.”

     

    “So you have faith that the door will open?”

     

    “I guess so.”

     

    “What if you said you had faith in the door, but hesitated when you went to open it?”

     

    I began to get his drift. “I wouldn’t really have faith then, would I?”

     

    You see, friends, faith is only faith when we put our feet behind it. I have stood near the threshold, claiming that I have faith, but have never touched the door handle.

     

    Faith is an action.

     

    I think of that every time I open that door.±

Friday, 21 September 2007

  • The game of gratefulness

    Sometimes God has to smack you upside the head to get your attention.

     

    Sometimes He uses a basketball.

     

    While innocently getting a drink at the fountain in the gym the other day, I found myself suddenly aching and holding my head. It appears that a stray ball had found its way into my corner of this earth and decided to implant its pattern upon my skull.

     

    My star-gazing moments were interrupted by a host of voices: “Tekoa, are you okay? Can you hear me?” My carnal urge was to turn around to pummel whoever had inflicted such pain upon me, but my body was rather unwilling. It preferred to slump against the wall in agony.

     

    During the past month here, we have been studying the character of gratefulness. And easy one, I thought to myself. Surely there’s not too much to learn on this one! After all, you simply have to be polite and thankful when someone gives you a gift. Yes, sir, I think I have gratefulness covered.

     

    Anytime I think I have God figured out, He reminds me that I don’t. Sometimes He uses a basketball.

     

    While in head-splitting pain, I realized that God expected me to be grateful in every situation, not just pleasant ones. How could God possibly want me to be grateful for a headache??

     

    While lying in my bed that afternoon on mandatory rest, I began to mull over things to be grateful for. I found quite a few. I was grateful that the ball hadn’t hit me any harder, or hit my temple. I was grateful that I didn’t have a serious concussion. I was grateful that there was someone available to take me to the nurse. I was grateful that I was able to get some much-needed rest time. I was grateful that all my fellow students cared so much about me and were concerned that I was feeling okay.

     

    And that was just the beginning.

     

    I’m currently working on (or supposed to be working on!) one of my projects on gratefulness. I chose Job, Joseph, and Paul as my three grateful Biblical characters to do a brief sketch on. After choosing them, I realized they all have one thing in common: each one had a grateful attitude in horrid circumstances.

     

    The realization has hit me, friends: my circumstances don’t define my gratefulness level at all. I choose to be grateful despite my circumstances.

     

    And, boy, am I grateful to learn that lesson now, before the soccer ball came along.±

Sunday, 16 September 2007

  • My new family

    I haven’t been able to tell you much about the program that I’m attending, so let me give you just a few glimpses.

     

    I have gained 41 new siblings in the past week. I have around 10 brothers and 30 sisters. We live together, eat together, study together, learn together, and sleep together (with obvious gender divisions). A week ago, we were still trying to recall each other’s names. Now, I can name all 41, plus ages, home states, and favorite colors. Well, almost.

     

    This, my friends, is the beauty of our close-knit discipleship program. We come from far and wide with one thing in common: to draw closer to Christ. While we might not agree on what to call carbonated beverages (is it soda? Pop? Coke?), we do agree on the fact that our risen Lord is the most important thing in our lives.

     

    As I type this, there are many fellow students around. Some are singing with the piano and guitar, some are comparing photos on their computers, and some are just chatting. We’re an eclectic mix. A zany crew. A motley group.

     

    But we’re seeking Him with all we’ve got.

     

    And to me, that’s all that matters.±

Breviloquence