Kingdom Called

It's a few weeks late, but finally, a post about Kingdom Called! :) This is one of my favorite conferences (I feel like I always say that!) - it's incredible to sit in a room full of college students and recent grads that are passionate about reaching the world with the Gospel. Their lives have been changed by God, and they seek to be used by Him to change the lives of others.

We provide vital training and development for students going on international summer projects, along with the new US and international interns in our region.

As I stood up in front of a room full of 150 people on Saturday night, I felt overwhelmed with the task of sending these students and staff to the world. This will be the first trip overseas for many of these students, which could lead to many more trips. I feel so privileged to play a part in sending laborers around the world!

Day of Prayer

Today was the CCC Worldwide day of prayer. Being able to pull away from the craziness of ministry and gather with like-minded people to pray for our world was incredibly encouraging.

Last week was so busy, by the time Easter rolled around I was so emotionally and mentally spent I couldn't reflect on the significance of the day. I didn't get a chance to go to a Good Friday service, so getting to spend an hour or so this morning reflecting on the cross and events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection really made up for that.

I was able to lead the group in 30 minutes of worship this morning. I can honestly say it was one of the best worship sets that I've ever experienced. I sensed that hearts were really engaged in worship; people were connecting with the heart of God, which was my prayer the whole time. And everyone sang so loudly, I could barely hear myself at times...and that just makes it fun. It was about as far away from a performance as you can get, which can be a struggle.

To stop in the midst of a super busy week and sit before God for several hours is very humbling. It leads me to admit that I am only able to do my job because He enables me to; and He can do more in a minute than I can do in a month. He doesn't need my work- He wants my worship. There are times that the two don't gel like they should.

When Pancake People Persevere

I like to dabble. I have a long list of hobbies: photography, songwriting, running, graphic design, crocheting, reading, golfing, playing cards- the list could go on for quite awhile. Recently, I was talking with a friend who used a funny phrase to describe a friend of hers; "all about." She said her friend was "all about quoting Saturday Night Live."

I found this very interesting. What does it look like to be all about something? Is there one thing I'm all about? Is it even a good thing to be all about one thing?

I neglected to include a major hobby in the list above: googling. I love google. I like knowing an instant answer to a question. This is totally normal for the millennial generation (or Net gen, or iY gen, or whatever they call us now). I recently read an article in which my generation was referred to as "pancake people" - due to rapidly advancing technology and instant gratification, we are turning out like pancakes: a mile wide and an inch deep.

This topic continues to run through my head. Last week I received a weekly e-devotional, and the topic was dabbling. The author suggested the opposite of dabbling was a lot less common in our world today: persevering.

If there was one thing I'm "all about," it would probably be strategy. I enjoy using my time wisely. I constantly multitask, which leads me to accomplish a lot in a day. But, I've found that sometimes this leads me to be a little pancake-y. On Sunday I listened to an hour-long podcast while running, but I didn't remember much from the sermon and I couldn't focus very well on my form, so I ended up being pretty sore. I'm not so good at persevering, because I'm more interested in the desired outcome, and getting there as quick as possible.

When I dabble in something, I am satisfied with small results. I've dabbled my training before, and barely been able to finish a 5k. Sometimes, the process of persevering is more important than the goal. This month I started training for a half-marathon. I think I'm about to learn an important lesson; shortcuts in my training now are going to lead to mucho pain later. When I cross that finish line on June 5, I certainly won't be winning any prize money or a trophy. The real reward comes in the health benefits of months of training, along with a deep sense of accomplishment in sticking to a tough training schedule.

I dabble in a lot of things, and I think that's ok. But I should never dabble in my walk with Christ. I may not enjoy the process at times. I may try to take shortcuts so I don't have to walk through tough stuff. But the outcome of persevering, no matter what it is, is in the hands of the God who knows me better than I know myself. It may not be the way I would have chosen...but you said I'll never go alone.

Why do I do things I don't want to do?

Do you ever do something you don't want to do only because you know when it's done you'll feel so good it's over?

We all do things that we don't necessarily want to do. We do them because it's good for us. The benefit, over the long-run, will be worth it. I'd love to eat pizza every day, and watch tv instead of going on a run, but I know that eating healthy foods and exercising is good in the long-run.

But I want to take this subject deeper. Do you ever do something that you really, really don't want to do- something you suffer through- because you think you have to?

Growing up, I could only get away with skipping church if I was sick. I'm talking running a fever or throwing up- there had to be some proof you weren't faking it. You maybe had a similar experience as a kid.

I frequently felt a sense of pride after I made it through another Sunday morning. I gave up an hour of my time for Sunday School class, and an hour for the church service. I read the liturgy, sang the hymns, stood up and sat down at appropriate times.

I felt as though I was suffering for good reason - that I needed to do the appropriate religious ritual to make things right with God. I felt as though the only way to do that was to suffer through a Sunday service.

We're all on a journey, to God or away from him. Looking back, I can see that I engaged in religious activity (church) to try to move towards God. I wasn't sure what else to do, it just seemed natural.

It's kind of sad that I thought this "suffering" for two hours a week would be adequate enough to appease the God of the universe. There's a problem with that logic. If doing good things gets you to Heaven, how many good things do you have to do? Do you just do more good than bad, and that's it? How do you ever know how much is enough?

The solution is both simple and deep. To make God happy with me, I'd have to live a perfect life. That's the standard. That's the only way. So we know the solution, but we can't get there. Even on my best days, I'm nowhere near perfect.

Jesus was perfect. Because he came into this world as a human, and lived a perfect life, he's the solution to the problem of not being able to earn my way to God. I don't have to rely on my own religious activities; I can't rely on them, because they won't hold up. I won't be going to heaven because I read my Bible or go to church or tithe. I'm going to heaven because I trust that Jesus' perfect life covers my messed up one, and I believe that it's the only solution.

Reminds me of something Paul wrote in the book of Philippians: "I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith."

Another version states it this way: "I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the law. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ."

Ruminating

Tonight was my first night back to my Perspectives class after a 3 week hiatus. The topic was poverty. We talked about a variety of things: what's the real problem, what's the real solution, how does eradicating poverty involve the Gospel, how should we involve ourselves?

I really enjoyed the lesson tonight, even though it was a mix of devastating facts and stories, and discussion on how we often hurt more than we help. I found myself very interested in this topic. On the way home I realized I think I was so interested because much of the night was spent talking about strategy and economics, and how they are involved in developing potential solutions to a problem that is at times hard to define and understand.

I want to ruminate (is that the right word?) on some things before I post more- but I do have to mention that one of the examples tonight that the speaker used to showcase helping people help themselves is the concept of micro financing. I thought it was a brilliant concept, one I hadn't really heard of before but want to learn more about. It took me awhile to find some Christian micro financing organizations, but finally I discovered the website for Hope International. We had a guest speaker at church on Sunday, who talked about this organization at length, as his wife is involved in it (also hoping to write a quick post about the sermon a little later this week).

Speaking of quick posts, this is turning out to be rather lengthy. And I have to get up in 7 hours...so I will sign off!

Paperwork.

I'm amazed at how many forms it takes to send a team of missionaries overseas.

For one student, there are 4 forms from Headquarters and 5-8 donation forms sent throughout the spring. Some projects have visa forms, as well, and I'll need multiple copies of the same form.

The Upper Midwest will send around 157 people overseas this summer. Some quick math tells me that I will handle something like:

628 Headquarter forms
798 Donation Forms
170 Visa Forms

That's 1,596 forms. It's a good thing that 'Input' is one of my strengthsfinder themes.

I wonder what I use more: paperclips or forms?