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campus_minister
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Name: Jess
Country: United States
State: Maryland
Metro: Annapolis
Birthday: 7/10/1981
Gender: Female
Interests: God, His Word, my college students, a good book, a movie with friends, a long walk on a nice day with some good worship music (usually suggested by my rockin' worship leader), Relevant Magazine, mathematics (and helping students get it), catching up with friends, www.junction111.com (a.k.a church... sort of), camp! www.fuge.com, and did I mention my college students?
Expertise: College students and all of their junk.
Going for coffee, lunch, or dinner and calling it work :)
Occupation: Other
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  ilovjc25
Member Since:
6/6/2005
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| As you all know, I like finding God in weird places (like country music). It is very easy for us to find Him at church, during bible study, when reading His Word, etc. But it is often much more challenging to find Him in other places like on TV, or in secular music, or even in your textbooks... And I don't just mean finding Him in "Touched by an Angel" or "Jesus Take the Wheel" but in anything that is TRUE. If a statement is true, then it about God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." All truth points us to Christ.
Monday night, as Dr. Jackson shared with us about Creation, he made the point that religion and science are both the search for truth. He mentioned about how one of the things that bothers him the most is when students tell him that if science ever contradicts the bible (which is hasn't) that they will still believe the bible. That might sound nice, but it shows a HUGE misunderstanding. If God made the world, and His Word, then the two can't contradict each other.
So I encourage you this week as you hit the books hard to do two things. First, don't neglect your time with God. Although it isn't true that doing your quiet time will guarantee you an A, it is true that taking time to find God in the obvious places will help you have things like peace that passes understanding. And that may actually help you get an A... And second, I encourage you as you read and study to look for God in there. Because everything that is true points us to Christ whether it is biology, or history, or sociology, or engineering. He made everything work beautifully together for His glory.
Happy searching...
In His Service,
Jess | | |
| Monday night as we walked through the rest of the history of Israel, we talked about how Israel had allowed the Canaanites to remain in Canaan and the result was that they struggled with idolatry for hundreds and hundreds of years. But God wanted to sanctify and make them holy, and He wants to do the same for us.
But for what purpose does He want to perfect us?
Oswald Chambers writes:
"The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life... I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants."
God wanted to perfect Israel so that the other nations might worship Him. And He wants to perfect us so that other people might worship Him.
Yes, it is important that you look for, pray for, and take advantage of opportunities to share your faith. But your walk is just as important as your talk.
Got any Canaanites you are allowing to live in the land? God wants to perfect you for a purpose...
In His Service,
Jess | | |
| The prophet Isaiah writes:
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush [a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.
9 All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.
13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"
What great promises we have in our God! He is the our one and only Savior, the Holy One of Israel, and no one can deliver out of His hand. We are His.
And since we are His, he has called us to be His witnesses.
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he."
In John 6 Jesus is asked what it is to do the work of God and He responds, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
You are His. And He has redeemed you to do the work of getting to know Him better. Will you find time to do that today?
In His Service,
Jess | | |
| These last few weeks there have been a lot of weighty things that we have been lifting up to God... I am so encouraged to know that each of your cares what He thinks. That might seem so simple and so obvious, but it is a big deal. Think about all of the other students you see everyday who don't even think about what God thinks. Imagine if you had to make all of your decisions without Him...
But as we seek God for answers, it is important that we are also just, seeking God. Period. Not just for answers, or for peace, or for joy, or for strength, but just to seek Him.
I was challenged by these thoughts from Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, TX:
"In 1 Timothy 4:10 Paul writes 'For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.' I love that verse. We toil, yes. We strive, yes, but where is our hope? What, or rather, who is the goal? I love preaching the Gospel and I love planting churches, but I do those things because in them there is this unbearable weight of His presence. This crushing majesty that makes me want to cry, sing and scream all at the same time.
"The thing that disturbs me lately is that it seems we've made the goal something else all together. We think the goal is growing our churches to a certain size or our platforms (pulpits, blogs, books) to a certain fame. How hollow is that? And, how dangerous? Just because men love Jesus and follow Him doesn't mean that they get to grow a platform or reach a certain level of "success" (I use that word loosely). Here are a few men who loved our great God and King and were obedient beyond the norm:
* Moses spends his whole life with grumbling, whiners and dies without getting to walk into the promise land.
* Samson suicide bombs the Philistines and when the dust settles he is dead and the Philistines still rule over Israel.
* David's son rapes his sister and leads a rebellion against David, dethroning him for a season.
* Jeremiah ends up in exile with the rest of the country after repeatedly getting beaten for preaching what God commanded him to preach.
* John the Baptist is beheaded by a pervert who gives his head to a 15-year-old stripper.
* Peter is killed, reportedly crucified upside down.
* Paul is killed in Rome but only after he spends his life (with thorn intact) being beaten, rejected, lost at sea, and consistently dealing with people coming in behind him and destroying what he built.
"If your hope is set on anything other than Him, how do you survive when it goes bad? How do you remain passionate and vibrant when no one comes or the baptismal waters are still for long stretches? How do you maintain doctrinal integrity or teach hard things if He isn't the treasure? How do you worship when your wife gets sick or your son goes for a ride in an ambulance? If He is the goal, the treasure, the pursuit, then those things are fuel that presses you into His goodness and grace all that much more. I am not saying they are pleasant or enjoyable but only that if He is your goal you will find your faith sustained."
Or to rewrite those words for the average college student: If your hope is set on anything other than Him, how do you survive when it goes bad? How do you remain passionate and vibrant when no one comes to community for long stretches? How do you maintain academic integrity or learn hard things if He isn't the treasure? How do you worship when your mom gets sick or your best friend goes for a ride in an ambulance? If He is the goal, the treasure, the pursuit, then those things are fuel that presses you into His goodness and grace all that much more. I am not saying they are pleasant or enjoyable but only that if He is your goal you will find your faith sustained.
Those thoughts remind me of the old hymn "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
And (for Brett) perhaps this would be a good week to start keeping a record of God's faithfulness. Answered prayers, things your learning, ways He continues to come through.
Remember as you seek God for answers, that you don't forget to just seek Him... May your hope be built on nothing less this week.
In His Service,
Jess | | |
| This week at Connection we talked about trusting God. Do you trust Him enough to believe that He will get you through tomorrow? How about when everything seems to have gone wrong? Or how about enough to ask Him for hardship if that is what is needed for Him to be glorified through your life?
Mercy Me sings:
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings you glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise you
Jesus, bring the rain...
If someone in your life could only have their faith in God restored by seeing you trust God through the worst of circumstances, would you be courageous enough to ask God to do His worst?
Oswald Chambers writes:
"I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, 'Lord, this causes me such heartache.' To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness."
It's that kind of faith that moves mountains. And that kind of trust that brought Jesus through Gethsemane and Calvary. What would your next step look like in the gloriously challenging pursuit of God's best??
In His Service,
Jess | | |
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