Delving into the Campus America movement a bit

Below are some quotes that are making me think. They're excerpted from God On Campus: Sacred Causes and Global Effects by Trent Sheppard. I hope to write more about this book later.

On Discipleship

A rhythm of practical discipleship and steady engagement with suffering people was not simply characteristic of the Oxford Methodists: it was their DNA.

On Friendship

One final thought to keep in-mind about the Holy Club at Oxford, the Great Awakening in the New World and the Methodist movement in England is the enduring friendship the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield shared. Later in their lives they strongly disagreed with each other on certain points of theology...but they still maintained a genuine lifelong friendship, even though it was clearly challenging at times. When George Whitefield died in 1769, John Wesley delivered the sermon at his funeral in London. The Holy Club was not only outstanding for how it helped to shape history; it was also outstanding for the lasting friendships it formed.

...Intentional friendships that include honest conversations, steady rhythms of prayer and practical service to others are essential for healthy spiritual growth.

On the formation of the mind

When the full-bodied message of Jesus is reduced to the saving of souls alone, we fail in our equally essential calling of exercising the mind of Christ in working toward creative and thoughtful solutions for the pressing issues of our age. Learning to think like Jesus is a vital part of learning to live like Jesus....In actual fact, the biblical idea of repentance begins with a deep and thorough rethinking of every aspect of our lives.

Wait...where are we going? ...

Sometime in high school, I began, each time I found myself getting stressed out or anxious, to stop and ask myself this question: What is my ultimate life goal? If I have been stressed or anxious, it has usually been because I've been striving toward the completion of a goal which does not actually matter so much in the grand scheme of things. As a college student, when I became anxious about my studies, I would (try to) ask myself, "What is my ultimate aim in life? To be the perfect student? To get a good job?" No.

Still today, I often ask myself the same question: "What is my ultimate life goal?" To be a good writer? A teacher? A missionary? A wife? A mother? A sister or daughter? Employee? Nanny?" The answer is D. None of the above. We can get caught up in having good goals, even good "Christian" goals or "dreams" such as these, and hold them as being more important and better than the world's simply because they are not "sinful" or what we who are Christian consider "worldly." We can sacrifice a job opportunity, be generous in our financial resources, put all sorts of things on-hold "for the sake of the Kingdom" without having a totally given heart for that same Kingdom. We can act like the older son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and complain to the Lord, "Wait, I gave you everything, I've been giving you my life, so where's my reward?" A response such as this from us reveals where our heart truly lies--still in this world and not in Heaven. As Tim Keller argues throughout Counterfeit Gods, idols are more often than not good things placed above God.

So, as I have tried to regularly remind myself over the past several years, my ultimate life goal is to be a saint, to be with the Lord eternally in Heaven, and to bring as many people as I can with me through the work of evangelism. This is the only thing that really matters. As Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, our moments of anxiety, suffering, and hardship on earth are collectively all but a "slight momentary affliction preparing [us] for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4: 16-8). And oftentimes, we should probably look at the hardships and afflictions we suffer and be able to admit, in humility that they are the fruit of our own flesh and weakness not of someone else's wrondoing or weakness.

We can submit to this if we are humble; the Lord is never scandalized by our weakness so neither should we be (something wise someone once said to me). We have only to admit that we are weak, that we are oftentimes idolaters, that we are sinners, and then turn to the Lord and ask him to be the Savior which he purposed to be: "This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him" (Ephesians 3:11-12).

The Lord Jesus Christ says to us, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5: 3). And who are these "poor"? Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch: "Those who recognize their need for God and his grace. Unattached to this world, they find their security in the Lord and rely on his mercy rather than their merits or material wealth."

May we recognize our need for God and his grace, that we may be able to recognize it when He surely sends it. Amen.

Treasures from Thrift Store Shopping on the West Side of Michigan

I am reading Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot right now, a book about Christian discipline, that is, discipleship. The book is great--found it for 49 cents at a Christian thrift store. You know it's a Christian thrift store when there is a "Prayer Corner" in the store, and the book section is basically all books on Christian prayer and discipleship. Anyways, reading a book on Christian formation reminds me that my mind still needs exercise and formation, and for me, that formation comes from reading books, particularly, Elisabeth Elliot books--she pulls no punches. Honest and eloquent to a fault when it comes to sharing the word of God.

A few days ago, while developing Campus Outreach Academy material, I was recalling Descartes and the Cartesian split. The gist of this theory: our minds and bodies function separately from one another. I first heard of this notion in a university course. Today, apparently, I am still unravelling what I was taught to be true during my college years because in the past several days I've been struck by the falsity yet the impact that this theory has had on my mind and heart (and thus my body--my actions), and lifestyle, as well as our world today, particularly Western civilization.

When do I--we--assent to this theory in our thoughts and lifestyles? When we do not think that, for example, getting enough sleep will affect our minds and hearts; when we do not think that, as Elliot reminds her readers in a chapter entitled "Discipline of the Mind," the discipline of one's body has a profound correlation with the discipline of the heart and soul, our emotions and thoughts.

I was reading the Detroit Summer Outreach monthly update letter a few days ago: people's lives continue to be changed by the rigor of DSO life--the everyday rigor is the gateway to spiritual riches and a renewed heart for the Lord. DSO is a glorious reminder from Him that He is faithful and that He has made us to give our entire lives to Him, and that this giving takes place through our thoughts, emotions, and actions, the whole package.

God tells His people time and again that He made them with a mind, body, and heart and that all of the aforementioned were created to work in unity. He gives us the Greatest Commandment: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5). Just as the Lord our God is "one," so we, too are "one." We have been made to reflect His one-ness, and we do when we work to live a consistent life.

But we need to allow ourselves to be disciplined--discipled--by Him. Another example: UCO Summer Household is a rigorous program. The every day, practical commitments help to yield spiritual fruit in the participants' lives because what we do and say has an impact on our thoughts and hearts. Another example would be an athlete; the training of the body has an impact on the formation of the mind and heart.

Yet it is not enough to believe that the Cartesian split is a load of bologna. People who do not believe in this theory still do things oftentimes that do not align what they have professed to believe or think. Added to which, people often think or feel something bad and then act on that thought or feeling--that is a unity of mind and action, but it is not righteous. And righteousness matters.

It's our fallenness that we need to surrender to the Lord. I am a sinner, made of flesh and Spirit; that is the primary reason why my thoughts and actions often run contrary to one another. I need the grace of the Holy Spirit, not myself or a better coach or teacher or the right theory, in order to help me "live in a manner worthy of the call [I] have received" (Ephesians 4). I need God's help if I am to ever be unified in my mind and actions, and not just unified, but conformed to the mind and actions of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Resting and Standing

A couple months ago I read in a New York Times Health article that the majority of the pleasure one takes in a vacation actually does not occur while on the vacation but in the preparation and time leading up to the vacation. And I've been thinking about this health study as I have been preparing for my own summer vacation, mainly I've been thinking about this article as various and random obstacles have arisen in my planning. It might be worse, come to think of it, that I know that the majority of the pleasure in a vacation actually occurs in the planning stage. Good grief--I hope that's not true!

But I trust the Lord much more than I do the New York Times, I hope, and I am called to believe that the Lord's plans are good. I find it ironic that as I plan the perhaps singlemost important and potentially restful period of my entire year, I've been challenged, yet again, to think about what "rest" really is, which just happens to be at the core of UCO's Summer Household teaching program on Ephesians.

I find that the Lord is filling out my understanding of rest through the challenges I've been facing with my vacation plans. True rest comes from trusting in the Lord, and this true rest, as one friend put it earlier this week, is to be fought for, needs to be fought for. They were right to point out that my rest has been under attack, and that God is calling me to fight for it.

Summer Household is wrapping up, and so we've been focusing on "standing" in the Lord, chapter 6 of Ephesians: standing up to the Enemy, spiritual attacks on our identity in Christ. As I "stand" in this fight to "rest," I am reminded that the "rest" I fight for is much more significant than a vacation in July; the rest I fight for is a more eternal rest which comes from the conviction that God's promises are true, that He has good things for His children, that He is to be trusted, that Jesus Christ died and rose again for our salvation. But it's creative on His part to make this fight tangible, to teach me this lesson about rest, through this very real situation of planning a literal vacation, with all its practicals, communications, financial aspects, etc. That is our God. :)

And God never promised me the world's version of a peaceful vacation; He actually promised me just the opposite: "Peace I leave, peace I give to you, not as the world gives." So, we shall see just how peaceful this July vacation is. I think it may be epic, if the grief leading up to it has been any indication of how restful it will be. This vacation may just prove the NY Times wrong.

Uncompromising Discipleship

Another excerpt from My All for Him:

For a long time I could not find the key, the solution, to my questions: What is true discipleship? What does Jesus want? On the one hand, He calls us to an uncompromising discipleship. He calls us to forsake everything, to lose our lives for His sake. He calls us to leave father and mother. On the other hand, we are supposed to honour our fathers and mothers...

...I wondered. What did God want?...I wanted to tread His path, no matter what it cost...He had to make me see the truth about myself before He could show me the right way. He had to show me that I was a poor sinner...The Lord granted me a penitent and crying heart. This experience drove me into the arms of Jesus...It was He Himself--not any particular teaching or any religious doctrine, but rather He Himself who was the answer.

...Yes, all my questions had been answered and all my problems solved. Now I was truly free....I now had part in everything that belongs to this earth and to the whole universe. My love had become all-comprehending, but my love had also remained close to God and bound to the centre of creation.

Just as my life had been unhappy and torn with inner conflicts before I found this answer, so everything was much more happy and more natural afterwards. My life was filled with joy, because I had found the One who loved my soul and whom I was permitted to love above all else with all my soul, with all my strength, with all my being. I found in Jesus my greatest Love, my most intimate Friend, and for almost thirty-five years since then I have gone through life with Him, and over and over again I have told Him how much I love Him, who is my Bridegroom.

Good Christian teaching is a good thing, and I've been blest to be surrounded by it. But sometimes, there's a temptation to put the teaching before the Teacher. The Teacher, Jesus, sometimes, often times, confounds us with His ways. We want to quickly figure out the 'lesson' He's trying to teach us. But sometimes, there's nothing we can do but wait for Him to reveal the 'lesson' in stages, sometimes painfully slowly. It's not that we're failing the school of Christianity. It's not that we're flunking out as disciples. It's not a matter of sin or not sin; it's not black and white. God, in His mercy, just blows our minds, and shows us, time and again, that He is God and we are not. When we can learn to rejoice in this, we will know that we are rejoicing in Him and not in our own self-knowledge, intellect, and self-will. B. Schlink says she "was filled with joy" not when she understood 'teaching' but when she realized how much she didn't understand, and this admission humbled her and brought her to Jesus. Then, she was filled with joy and love and freedom.

Do we want to love God so that we might understand Him and have our way, or do we love Him and want to know Him simply that we might love and worship Him?

There are many things each of us does not understand about God and His mysterious ways, but this unknowing need not prevent us from going deeper with Christ and loving Him fully. It was Adam's and Eve's desire to fully know that brought about the Fall. Can we surrender to this unknowing, and count it as God's security rather as a reason for us to be insecure? It's a challenge in the world we live in today and as Fallen individuals. But God gives us His grace and His Son, that we might be content in being the Father's children, taken care of by Him:

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. -Romans 3: 22-4.

God is good. Amen.

Resting in Christ

My soul finds rest in God alone
All my hope I place in Him

These are lyrics from one of my favorite Christian songs, "My Soul Finds Rest In God Alone." And I was thinking today: "All my hope I place in Him." Does this mean, "I put my hopes of x, y, and z in Him?" I think more fundamentally, this lyric means to say that my one hope, my only hope, is Him. He is The Hope. When Jesus Christ is hope alone, we do not hope in vain. All reasons to fear, be anxious, and strive cease. We may want x, y, or z, but when those things are hidden in our want of Him, we find actually that "there is nothing [we] shall want."

I've been reading Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee, and he talks about how when we enter into rest with Christ, we sit with Him and in Him, like a dollar bill between the pages of a magazine. If you burn the magazine, Nee points out, the dollar bill, hidden inside, also goes up in flames. The bill's history becomes that of the magazine's. Isn't this an provocative image? I love it. The image helps us ask these questions: Can we place our desires and other hopes in the magazine? Can we place ourselves in the pages of Christ's story of salvation? How about our sins and weaknesses? Can we let ourselves be hidden in the work of Christ?

In him we have obtained our inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1: 11-2).

In a culture and society that says, "Look at me: look how important and special I am, as an individual, look at me and how different and unique I am," it's no wonder that the phrase and concept of being "hidden in Christ," of being conformed to another's image, is so foreign and maybe even seemingly shallow and easy to grasp rather than complex and challenging. Or maybe just plan distasteful. "Imitation of Christ," or imitation, as opposed to being original, is out-of-style. Our world today privileges things which were once 'secret' but then are exposed. One need only to stand in a grocery store checkout line and scan the covers of tabloids or turn on a t.v. to see the plentitude of secrets, scandals, crazy things, and shocking things which have "finally" been "revealed."

I think that oftentimes, to be "hidden," or maybe just to be normal, aware that one's life is really just one in millions, a blip on the radar, in today's society, is really not cool. We give awards to those who are unique, who do new things, who are original, who are, often, bold for the sake of being bold rather than for the sake of the Gospel. What many do not come to understand is that only those who are confident that they are the center of Christ's attention can allow themselves to be hidden in Him and in the world. Think: St. Therese of Lisieux. Mother Theresa.

This is, finally, what true rest is: trust in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. So many times I think that rest will come to me in the form of a good cup of coffee, a pedicure, a fancy vacation, a good night's sleep, shopping, and any other number of human, fleshy, really good things. And it always takes me some time to recall that true rest does not result from self-edification but from trust in-Christ, who gives us all these good things, including good coffee!

For the Daughter of God

I found this excerpt quite inspiring and think women will appreciate it:

Together with her Bridegroom [the Bride of Christ] builds the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of life, of radiance and joy. Having been called to His side, she is taken up into His life. She let herself be called away from everything else, that she might go through life at the side of Him who has become her All, and so she does not have to rely upon herself. She need to calculate her talents, abilities, and personality. She does not need to consider what is available and what is possible. She has only to reckon with Him, the power of His love. Jesus, the Source of Life for all men, is the Fire of God, the Sun of the whole world, the Hearth of love. Will He not inflame the heart of His bride as well?

-Basilea Schlink, "Bridal Love--A Consuming fire," My All for Him