I would just like to throw out a couple of random thoughts first. First, why is McDonald's always having "technical difficulties" with their drive through every time I come? I think after 11:00 they decide they need a break and just tell everyone in the drive-thru to come back in half an hour. That's frustrating when you're craving those two cheeseburgers with no onions. And second, I think that the service clubs should do rush skits too. The girls' skits were hilarious!
But anyway, today I went to First Baptist Church Jackson for the Sunday morning service, and it was a good service. It's a beautiful church and I like the traditional and contemporary blend of the service. But the pastor spoke on a passage of scripture from Matt. 16. And I noticed something very interesting about it. In this passage, Jesus first asks the disciples who the people around them say that the Son of Man is. And they reply to Him and tell Him that the people think the Son of Man is Elijah or John the Baptist, etc. etc. So then Jesus asks them who they think that He is. And Peter speaks up and says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus does something really cool! He says, " Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church..." So basically, what stood out to me is that Jesus asks Peter who He is. Peter, because He knows Jesus, answers correctly. Jesus then, and this is the cool part, gives him a new name. I don't think Peter would have believed Jesus about being the "rock" on which He would build His church. Wouldn't that sound crazy to Peter who would later deny Jesus three times? But the illustration that I saw from this is that when Peter knew who Jesus was, Jesus told Peter who he was. And what Jesus said came true.
That is directly applicable to everyone's life. When we know Jesus...when we understand that He is the Son of the living God, He will tell us who we are. He knows exactly who we are, even better than we know ourselves. And He knows how he wants to use us, just like He knew how He would use Peter. So knowing Jesus is sort of an indirect way to knowing ourselves. And doesn't everyone want to know who they are and what they're here for? Who better to get that answer from than the God who made us?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
2. Less Than Hot but Not Quite Cold
I was listening to a sermon today by Francis Chan, and he said some things that really hit me. First of all there was this statistic that 53 of every 100 people in the world live on less than a dollar a day. How is that possible? Less than a dollar? That puts me in the minority. I made $7.50 an hour when I worked in fast food. So in one hour I made over seven times more than 53% of the people in the world live on in a day. What? Isn't that crazy? But it's true. I guess there's really no wondering why people call this the land of opportunity.
Francis linked that fact to the verse in Matthew where Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and tells him that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. By the standards I just talked about, I think that I, an 18 year old college student, would probably be considered rich. I think most of us would be considered rich compared to the greater portion of the world population. And yet I find myself complaining about money all the time, and I hear my parents worrying about money. It just seems wrong to me now to ever complain about anything. Being born an American is quite a bit of a blessing in itself. I've never lacked in any of the basic things that people need: food, shelter, clothing. And yet I always want more "stuff". I think this is the flaw in materialism. I get everything and more than I need, and yet I always want more.
He then goes to the section in Revelation 3 where Jesus is speaking to the lukewarm church at Laodicea. V. 17 says, "...you say, ' I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked..." I think my actions show that I really believe that I am in need of nothing. To me it seems that I can get through tomorrow on my own. I may not read my Bible. I may not pray. I may not acknowledge God tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that I can't meet my needs tomorrow myself right? If I'm hungry I'll buy food. If I'm bored I'll find something to do. If I'm tired I'll take a nap. If I get sick I'll get myself from medicine. I'm pretty self-sufficient. And I think that sense of self-sufficiency is what will damn the rich man because it's a false sense of security. God has given me everything I have and I have really earned none of it. I'm not sure if I'll ever know how to depend on God the way that the Chinese Christian under persecution does. Or how Elijah depended on God for food. God told him to leave where he was and that He would provide food for him by ravens, and He did. But I am able to deny God and provide for myself, when truly every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights. And everything is His. I'm just a steward of what He's given me. Unfortunately I think that my own sense of self-sufficiency has caused me to be less than hot but not quite cold.
Francis linked that fact to the verse in Matthew where Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and tells him that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. By the standards I just talked about, I think that I, an 18 year old college student, would probably be considered rich. I think most of us would be considered rich compared to the greater portion of the world population. And yet I find myself complaining about money all the time, and I hear my parents worrying about money. It just seems wrong to me now to ever complain about anything. Being born an American is quite a bit of a blessing in itself. I've never lacked in any of the basic things that people need: food, shelter, clothing. And yet I always want more "stuff". I think this is the flaw in materialism. I get everything and more than I need, and yet I always want more.
He then goes to the section in Revelation 3 where Jesus is speaking to the lukewarm church at Laodicea. V. 17 says, "...you say, ' I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked..." I think my actions show that I really believe that I am in need of nothing. To me it seems that I can get through tomorrow on my own. I may not read my Bible. I may not pray. I may not acknowledge God tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that I can't meet my needs tomorrow myself right? If I'm hungry I'll buy food. If I'm bored I'll find something to do. If I'm tired I'll take a nap. If I get sick I'll get myself from medicine. I'm pretty self-sufficient. And I think that sense of self-sufficiency is what will damn the rich man because it's a false sense of security. God has given me everything I have and I have really earned none of it. I'm not sure if I'll ever know how to depend on God the way that the Chinese Christian under persecution does. Or how Elijah depended on God for food. God told him to leave where he was and that He would provide food for him by ravens, and He did. But I am able to deny God and provide for myself, when truly every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights. And everything is His. I'm just a steward of what He's given me. Unfortunately I think that my own sense of self-sufficiency has caused me to be less than hot but not quite cold.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Who is Chase?
Hey everyone! Since I didn't fill out any of the profile information, I guess I should start with a few details about myself. I'm Chase and I'm from Gulfport, MS. My current major is Biology with an emphasis in pre-med. Whether it's going to stay biology, I'm not sure yet. I'm interested in other things too and am not sure whether the medical field is the field for me. I just really like the anatomy part of it. I'm really interested in foreign languages, music, and Christian studies. So who knows? It seems like everyone wants to know what your hobbies are these days so I'll throw some of those out there too. I'm a snowboarding fanatic! I don't necessarily know a lot about it like you would know a lot about football or some other sport, but I know I love to do it! I play guitar; enjoy reading things that are entertaining, deep, or applicable to my life; love to have deep one-on-one conversations with people; enjoy helping people understand things that they have a hard time understanding (maybe that's called teaching); and enjoy outdoors activities like canoeing, white water rafting, hiking, etc. I think I would have to consider facebook a hobby too!
I like talking to people about how their college experience is going, so I'll talk about mine. I enjoy Mississippi College. I can't say whether it's better than other colleges because I've never attended any other college, but I think that MC must be up there as far as college experiences. I enjoy all of my classes. A couple take some perseverence to stay awake through. My dorm experience has been great! I knew my room mate (two words or one?) before I came here, so that was a weight off of my shoulders although I think it would have worked out well. The guys on my hall are all great guys. It's been fun getting to know everyone, and it's kind of neat living in such close proximity to your friends. I do miss the privacy that I normally had at home, but I think the whole dorm experience is a good thing. When we were in high school we all had a sort of basic routine: get up, go to school, come home, and other things would be sprinkled in between all of those, but it was still pretty basic. I don't feel as if that's how it is here. Everything fills like it's spur of the moment.
"Hey, we're goin' out to get something to eat (at 1:00 AM). Wanna come?"
"Yea!"
There's always something to do! I guess that's why I've heard time management emphasized so much. We're on our own and we can do whatever we want. Sweet! I'm hoping for a little more structure though as the weeks progress. But college is awesome! It really is a privilege!
There's a question that's been on my mind a lot since I've been here and it's bugging me. Who am I? I know I can't be the only one asking this question. I think everyone asks themselves this question but in different ways. If someone was to ask me, "Who are you?", I'm not exactly sure what I would say. I could tell them things I like or things I believe or things I want to be, but are those things who I am? We talked a little about passion the other day in my comp. class, and I think that may have something to do with knowing who I am. That leads to another question: "What am I passionate about?" And that's really where I've been camping for the last day or so. What am I passionate about? I think we, as humans made in the image and likeness of God, desire to be passionate about something. God is passionate about Himself and His glory, and our heart's true desire is Him. So it makes sense that we would desire to have passion. I know I do. I just don't know what I'm passionate about. Or maybe I do have a clue but am too afraid to be passionate. What would other people think? Would they think I'm weird? Would I be accepted? Would I have to give up my friends or my time? Unfortunately these questions plague me! But I think they plague everyone to some degree. I think the answer is to realize that there's something out there more important than myself. And that's hard to accept, but it seems like it's key. It's the message of the Bible. To die to myself is to find life. I'm not sure I really grasp that yet but finding life sounds like something I want to do.
I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs!
I like talking to people about how their college experience is going, so I'll talk about mine. I enjoy Mississippi College. I can't say whether it's better than other colleges because I've never attended any other college, but I think that MC must be up there as far as college experiences. I enjoy all of my classes. A couple take some perseverence to stay awake through. My dorm experience has been great! I knew my room mate (two words or one?) before I came here, so that was a weight off of my shoulders although I think it would have worked out well. The guys on my hall are all great guys. It's been fun getting to know everyone, and it's kind of neat living in such close proximity to your friends. I do miss the privacy that I normally had at home, but I think the whole dorm experience is a good thing. When we were in high school we all had a sort of basic routine: get up, go to school, come home, and other things would be sprinkled in between all of those, but it was still pretty basic. I don't feel as if that's how it is here. Everything fills like it's spur of the moment.
"Hey, we're goin' out to get something to eat (at 1:00 AM). Wanna come?"
"Yea!"
There's always something to do! I guess that's why I've heard time management emphasized so much. We're on our own and we can do whatever we want. Sweet! I'm hoping for a little more structure though as the weeks progress. But college is awesome! It really is a privilege!
There's a question that's been on my mind a lot since I've been here and it's bugging me. Who am I? I know I can't be the only one asking this question. I think everyone asks themselves this question but in different ways. If someone was to ask me, "Who are you?", I'm not exactly sure what I would say. I could tell them things I like or things I believe or things I want to be, but are those things who I am? We talked a little about passion the other day in my comp. class, and I think that may have something to do with knowing who I am. That leads to another question: "What am I passionate about?" And that's really where I've been camping for the last day or so. What am I passionate about? I think we, as humans made in the image and likeness of God, desire to be passionate about something. God is passionate about Himself and His glory, and our heart's true desire is Him. So it makes sense that we would desire to have passion. I know I do. I just don't know what I'm passionate about. Or maybe I do have a clue but am too afraid to be passionate. What would other people think? Would they think I'm weird? Would I be accepted? Would I have to give up my friends or my time? Unfortunately these questions plague me! But I think they plague everyone to some degree. I think the answer is to realize that there's something out there more important than myself. And that's hard to accept, but it seems like it's key. It's the message of the Bible. To die to myself is to find life. I'm not sure I really grasp that yet but finding life sounds like something I want to do.
I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs!
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