In Pursuit of God

Monday, July 23, 2007

BUCKIT Week—Monday, July 23

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 [writing about Monday, July 23]

The pillows were very downy and squished down to thinner than I’m used to. I finally got to sleep about 12:00. Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep past 6:00 am., so I managed to survive on six hours of sleep for the day. I took my Bible and notebooks outside for a while to spend time with the Lord. It was a little chilly, but refreshingly so. After a while of looking at the 1 Chronicles 17 passage I’m studying, I determined I needed to write some more down, so I set up the laptop computer back in our room, while Daniel and Nathanael went down to breakfast.

About 8:00 I myself breakfasted in the lounge with James A. from Georgia, Austin T. from North Carolina, and Leah R. from Georgia. It’s inexpressibly joyous to fellowship with these people! We come from all over but are as close as family.

A little past 9:30 the first session began. Jabe Nicholson is only here Monday and Wednesday this week, so we had three sessions in a row from Jabe. The first session was an introduction to Local Church Truths, concentrating on what God’s big idea for the church is:

man and God in intimate fellowship!
The church should be marked by supernatural love and supernatural power. We are to live lives so different that there is no way people can refute the existence of God. What an awesome responsibility!

We had a half-hour break after the first session. Daniel, Rachel, Nathanael, Bethany, Megan (from Maryland University), Rachel H., and Austin and I all were talking with Jeremiah M. about his upcoming tour with the Good News on the Move bus, and evangelism methods. It is so encouraging to see this eighteen-year-old’s zeal for the Lord and the gospel.

David and Jeremiah

The second session concentrated on culling church principles from the Acts, looking to what the early believers did before we look into the epistles. This was also insightful into the fundamentals that make up a church.

Patient waiting on the Spirit of God—so often we just run ahead with our ideas instead of really relying on the Holy Spirit.
Occupation with Christ—the early church was willing to die for the name of Christ. Everything they did was in His name, and everything they did therefore reflected well or evil of Christ.
Loyalty to the Word of God—they were faithful to show from the scriptures why Jesus had to die, and to point out Israel’s and everyone’s sin which separates them from God. The Word of God was their only authority; nothing was from their own opinions.

During the second break—in which we ate Chick-Fil-A brought in—I got to talk to Daniel G., an MK from Zambia. It was very interesting to hear about the mission field there: the struggles of the believers to overcome their cultural preference for going to the witch doctor or to buck their traditions and not conform to their close-knit communities. I know better how to pray for believers in Zambia now, and believers in more tribal kinds of cultures.

The third session involved some small-group discussions about hypothetical situations in which churches could begin. For instance, a remote tribe gets a hold of a Bible in their own language and is converted through reading God’s word. What do they do now? How will they form the church? They won’t be preprogramed with Western ideas of Church. This session, though long, was very informative. Very eye-opening about how little we need to “do church.”

For supper, we went up I-81 a couple exits to Ryan’s, a buffet restaurant. There was great food and fellowship. I got photos of all the tables of the BUCKIT Week attendees (below are most of them). We finished supper about 8:00.

Our teachers: Craig Shakarji, Jabe Nicholson, and Mike Flester

Me and Daniel K.

Rachel K. and Rachel H.

David, Jeremiah, Mike A., Jonathan, Austin

Jason, Andrew H., Shane

Sharon, Katie, John, Nathanael, Josiah

Mike and Jess R., me, Tami and Ozzie

Tiffany, Elspeth, Leah

Jeremy, James, Joe-Paul

Charlotte, Megan, Anna H., Elizabeth

Bethany, Arielle, Joyce, June

Back at the hotel I tried to figure out the wireless network on Mom’s laptop (on which I’m typing this) but to no avail. Nathanael and I traded photos we’d taken so far.

As you can see, the network problem was frustrating! :)

Craig had given us an assignment of a passage of Matthew to read and make observations about, so I tried to do that in the lounge. It proved too noisy to be fruitful, however, and I went back to the room to work on it. That worked! It was about 10:30 by the time I was done observing, and I was tired enough to go to bed, but lonely enough to return back to the lounge to see who was around and what was going on.

I found Nathanael, Daniel G., Rachel and Anna H., Bethany, and Austin talking. It wasn’t long before Justin found and joined us and immediately wrested control of the conversation! I smile to think of it, because Justin is an extreme extrovert, and loves finding connections between other people to facilitate conversation. He’s so funny and inspiring. He makes me want to step out of my reserved shell.

(Clockwise) Bethany, Daniel G., Rachel H., me, Justin, Austin

After a good long time, it was down to Austin, Nathanael, me, Justin and Daniel Geesey. Justin, having no sisters good-naturedly grilled Nathanael on what it’s like to have eight sisters, and what they are like. That kept us up until 12:30. I slept for six hours again, getting up this morning at 6:30.

[writing about Tuesday, July 24]

It’s almost time for the first session now, so I’m going to pause for now and pick this up later.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

BUCKIT Week—Sunday, July 22

Monday, July 23, 2007 [writing about Sunday, July 22]

Yesterday Rachel and Daniel K., Arielle H., Jessica S., Nathanael P., his friend Bethany W., and I drove down here to Hagerstown, Maryland for BUCKIT Week. BUCKIT stands for Bible University Christian Knowledge Intensive Training. We left directly from church on a 330 mile trip that took five and a half hours.

Arielle, Bethany, Rachel, Me, Nathanael, Jessica, Daniel

Everyone ate packed lunches while I drove the first section—from Newtown, Connecticut to I-78 in New Jersey. Then Rachel took over so I could eat. We swapped again when we were just past Harrisburg.

We arrived at the hotel about 6:45. The weather was absolutely beautiful—warm, not too humid, pink and blue clouds, and a light, warm breeze. Inside the lobby we met Craig Shakarji. I was glad Nathanael had met him before, or I wouldn’t have been sure who he was! He checked us in with his system and gave us the key cards to our rooms. Daniel, Nathanael, and I are all together; Rachel, Arielle, and Jessica are together; I’m not sure with whom Bethany is—she was assigned to a different room. We decided we’d check out our rooms, dump our luggage and meet back in a half hour to decide what to do for supper. Bethany and I bought some Quiznos salads, while everyone else ate some more food they brought.

We had an orientation session about 8:30 in the conference room. There were 40 to 50 people there. Craig went over some details of the week, and Mike Flester gave a quick, insightful encouragement about presenting the gospel to people.

About 9:30, that was over, and I got to talking with one of the young men here, Josiah M., who’s nineteen. I had left my toiletries at home, so I had to avail myself of the 24-hour Walmart Supercenter just north of us by an exit. I mentioned to Josiah that I was going there, and He expressed that he and some others also were headed over there. I offered the use of “my” van (really my family’s van) to go over there. He was grateful, and I ended up taking Josiah, his brother Jeremiah, a fellow named Shane, from California, and Rachel and Anna H. We were there until 11:00 and I didn’t get to bed until 11:30, but we had a great time talking in the car to and from Walmart. Christian fellowship is so amazing!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Doing Hard Things Starves the Flesh

Alex and Brett Harris have chosen ¨Do Hard Things¨as the motto, or ¨battle cry,¨of The Rebelution. You can read more about what Do Hard Things means here.

As I was musing on the subject of Hard Things recently, I thought of a practical reason to Do them.

What's the opposite of Doing Hard Things? That's right: Doing Easy Things.

Doing easy things feeds the flesh. Playing computer games in free time when I could write to missionaries, tinkering on the guitar instead of cleaning my room, even building a web site instead of following up on that business lead I got—all these feed the base desires of the flesh for pleasure and self-satisfaction.

Regular election to do easy things builds a habit of feeding the fleshly pleasures. Therefore it hinders my fellowship with God throughout the day.

It's analogous to desiring good health and nutrition. Eat a fruit at breakfast or be sure to include a few carrot sticks in lunch, but otherwise eat sugary, frosted, refined-grain, and deep-fried foods. You still wish to be healthy, but by choosing all the foods that "taste good," you are actually choosing not to have good health.

Doing Hard Things, on the other hand, is choosing to eat healthful foods. It builds habits of starving the flesh, suppressing that hindrance to a closer walk with God.

Paul even did this in 1 Corinthians 9:27—

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Why do Hard Things? To keep the flesh in subjection (or at least to keep out of fleshly habits that keep you from God) so you can have a more effective relationship with God. Doing Hard Things in mundane aspects of life also builds discipline for doing hard "spiritual"* things like sharing the gospel with strangers.

Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

*I put spiritual in quotes because all of our lives ought to be spiritual! See Romans 8.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

"Facing the Giants" Review

Eight months ago, I wrote about the movie "Facing the Giants." No theaters northeast of Philadelphia were showing it, so I never got to see it. But my family recently bought the DVD.

Initial reaction

Best. Movie. Ever.

It was inspiring, it was heartbreaking, it was funny. A lot of movies can be those, but because of the overt reliance on God portrayed in the movie, it overwhelmingly surpasses any other secular or "undercover Christian" film. ("The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" excepted, since I haven't yet seen it. I'm sure it's great too.)

This movie was the most realistic to my experiences, because God was a part of the character's daily lives. "Family-friendly" secular movies, though good, do not have this aspect, and they are utterly devoid of importance compared to "Facing the Giants."

Faithful representation of truth

One thing I especially appreciated was that biblical truths were realistically portrayed. Usually you must die to your dearest desires before the Lord will bless you.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit." (John 12:24)

Another truth was that you can't just ask God to bless the football team and expect amazing changes if your heart is not devoted completely to Him. God won't just give you what you want because you're saved. You must be completely, honestly, given to the Lord in all areas of your life.

Things I got out of it
Another thing that made this movie different from all others is that it is truly inspirational. It challenged me: am I going to give God my best? Will I be a leader even when I'm weak?

I was impressed also with the idea that we are to entrust all outcomes of situations to God, sacrificing what we want, but still give Him our best efforts.

Then praise Him no matter what, because He led us.

This is pictured in a quote from the character of Mr. Bridges: "I heard of a story of two farmers praying to God for rain to come. Both prayed but only one prepared the land. Who do you think trusted God more to send the rain?"

Favorite quotes
All these quotes reveal what truths impacted me. There are so many ways they can be applied to daily life!

Coach Taylor to his wife, Brooke:"If the Lord never gives us children, will you still love Him?"

Brock: "So you think God does care about football?"
Coach Taylor: "I think He cares about your faith; He cares about where your heart is. If you live your faith out on the football field, then yes, God cares about football because He cares about you."

Coach Taylor: "But it's not just out on the football field: we've got to honor Him in our relationships, in our respect for authority, in the classroom—and when you're home alone surfing the Internet."

Coach Taylor: "[In order for God to do great things with this team,] we need to give Him our best in every area. And if we win, we praise Him; and if we lose we praise Him. Either way. We honor Him with our actions and our attitudes."

Coach Taylor: "Your attitude is the aroma of your heart. If your attitude stinks, it means your heart's not right."

Coach Taylor: "I've resolved to give God everything I've got and leave the results up to Him."

Brooke Taylor to God: "I will still love you, Lord!"

Coach Taylor to Brock: "This is when it matters most. I know you're tired. It's easy to lead when you're strong, but now is when you lead! Right now!"

Coach Taylor to David: "Your job is to do the best you can and leave the results up to God."

Oh what joy is possible when we seek to honor and glorify God with everything we have—from the secret places of our hearts to every attitude and action!