Thoughts of a Holz

So a friend of mine from our Men’s Fellowship on Monday nights had this published in his high school’s yearly publication and I wanted to share. Let me know what you think.

So I came across this post I had on a previous post and thought it was an interesting look into what I was going through then. It’s fun to sometimes look back and see how much you’ve grown. I remember being in that position and how I felt. It’s amazing looking at how God used that time in my life to make me who I am today. I still haven’t completely beaten the things I ask pray for in this post, but I’m definitely on my way.

Ok, so this has been my struggle lately, or struggles rather. I struggle with complacency and contentment. Which are almost opposites because complacency is being content with where you are and who you are but I struggle with another kind of contentment. Its amazing how I can struggle with both not being content enough and being too content all at the same time, but I think my sinful self pulls it off pretty nicely. I’m content with not sharing my love for Christ with the thousands across campus who don’t know Him. Last semester I was content with hanging out with “friends” who made fun of me behind my back. I’m content with the sinfulness in my life, barely giving effort to reading my Bible or praying like I should be. And yet, at the same time I expect so much more from God than I have given Him. I expect Him to come into my life, put my wife in front of me in an instantly perfect relationship, for my career path to be really easy without training myself for the ministry, for unbelievers to just ask me about Christ and for them to be open and to convert easily. I expect God to do all these things for me, but what do I do for His name? Maybe now you understand why I get so complacent (not trying to improve) while at the same time not being content (girls is the big one, then career, witnessing, etc..). I pray that I break both of these. If you will, I’d very much appreciate it if you could pray for me as well. Any prayer requests? Does anyone even read these, lol.

Daniel Holzberger
Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey
Book Review

Please give a brief summary of the book and it’s central ideas or themes:/ Describe some ways the ideas in this book could influence your life:

This will not be brief unless compared to a doctoral thesis. Which I am doing to correctly answer this question.

General summary and first chapter – Yancey in this book goes through 13 of the people in his life that shaped who he is today. The majority of them are Christian, but not all of them are. But all of them have taught him some truth and have helped him matured spiritually. They were all in some way mentors to him. In the first chapter he really explains why these people were important to him in a broad sense. They all helped him get over the scarring that the church he grew up in did to him. However, he does a good job mentioning that he forgave the church for this. I thought this was important because it keeps him from being just like the judgmental church that he grew up in. We are no better than the Pharisees if we judge them, and therefore are guilty of the very same thing we are judging them for.

MLKJr. – Growing up in the south, Yancey was like many of us scarred by the churches he grew up in. They skewed the way he viewed God, people, and life in general. One of the     specific ways that his church scarred him was through racism they believed was Biblical. Through both spiritual maturity and growth through people like King, Yancey was able to for the most part get rid of the racism in his life. He still admits that it may still be in his subconscious and may still affect some of his decisions. He also was thoroughly impressed with King’s devotion to his course of nonviolence. One way that I know this will immediately change my life is that I’ll respect MLKJr. day a lot more. After learning a lot more about him, I definitely respect him a lot more and now feel he’s completely deserving of his own day. Before, I didn’t look down on him just thought it was weird how our biggest presidents had to share a day and MLK Jr. day was the only day we ever got off school. Now however, I feel like he did so much more for our country and for people.

GK Chesterton – So this chapter definitely made me want to read Orthodoxy regardless of the fact that I completely agree with Yancey when he says that its title makes it completely unappealing. In a way, both GK and MLKJr. both seem to be profits of their day, though they did take very different approaches. Chesterton seemed to make it his goal to bring joy back in to theology and truth. He was constantly debating, and always won the admiration of the crowd and his opponents alike through his joy and general cheeriness. Yancey seemed to learn a lot about joy because of him, which coming from a strict Bible college was almost absent from his life.

Dr. Paul Brand – “From him I also gained assurance that the Christian life I had heard in theory can actually work out in practice. It is indeed possible to live in modern society, achieve success without forfeiting humility, serve others sacrificially, and yet emerge with joy and contentment. (pg. 67)” I decided to use in this quote because it summarizes the things Yancey learned from Dr. Brand. He was a very accomplished doctor who has given his life to work with lepers and do leper research. Yancey comments on his genuine sense of humility and the fact that even though he works with some of the most downtrodden people of the world he still had a huge sense of gratitude to God and the world he was placed in. I also thought his thoughts and teaching on pain were significant both in general but especially in Yancey’s life.

Dr. Robert Coles – This was the first chapter that I feel could’ve been written specifically for me. The others all had an effect on me and I felt like I was right with Yancey learning from those mentors, but this chapter could’ve been written with me in mind. Yancey talks about Bob’s life, schooling path, research into the human psyche, and current teachings. The majority of his work centered on the fact that each human being is completely different from any other. They can’t be categorized and labeled. He spent a significant amount of time with both civil rights leaders and poor and wrote about their resilience. He found their religion not to be a crutch but to be an inspiration. The biggest part of this chapter for me was the idea of looking on each person as an individual. So often I pray and feel for the “poor” and “unbeliever” but how often do I reach out to them when I actually see them?

Leo Tolstoy and Feodor Dostoevsky – These were two Russian novelists that lived in the same era of serfs right before the Russian revolution that were both very influential. However, they both came to two very different conclusions. Yancey learned two very different sides of a coin that helped balance each other for him. Tolstoy was nobility and owned many serfs, and yet, in response to the Sermon on the Mount, set them free and tried hard his entire life to live up to Matthew 5-7 and yet saw his own failures to get there and took them very harshly. The most significant thing I took from him was at the end of his life he defended his hypocrisy by saying just because he stumbles off the path, doesn’t mean the path isn’t there. In other words, just because he can’t live out the truth perfectly, doesn’t mean it isn’t the truth. I just think that was one of the best illustrations or arguments to explain the fact that we all preach something we can’t completely keep. Where Tolstoy constantly saw his own failures, Feodor saw grace. From Feodor Yancey learned grace. His stories were a lot more upbeat and really put into a story true grace. Yancey comments on how unusual it was that Tolstoy seemingly had an easy life and yet lived a tortured life that didn’t seem to look to grace, and Feodor lived on the edge of poverty, in jail, with a disease, and yet grasped the true Grace that Tolstoy needed in his life. One of the general themes of the chapter is that both of these men put into story and brought to life ideas which theologians try to explain (much like Christ seemed to do by using parables).

Mahatma Gandhi – Yancey does it again. Another great chapter. He goes through the life of the “Great Soul” also including the faults in his life, like his mistreatment of his wife and son and his constant battle with lust. Although I knew that Gandhi was famous for nonviolence, I certainly didn’t know the extent to which he was devoted to it. Although Gandhi wasn’t a Christian, he used the principles in the New Testament of the Kingdom of God and of the new lifestyle that Christ presents and seemed to live it out. He wasn’t perfect, but where Tolstoy reached for the Sermon and failed, Gandhi used the principles with great success. Christ gives us a way of living that is contrary to much of what we believe, but Gandhi showed us in many ways it is a possibility.
(So some of the things Yancey talked about, Gandhi walked everywhere barefoot, at one point walking 112 miles to get to 47 different villages in a region. He also was really short, around 5 feet and was very small due to his diet and many fasts and only weighed 114 pounds. Also, due to his diet and the fact that he didn’t brush his teeth, or have teeth to brush for that matter he had really bad breath. So basically, he was a “super callused, fragile mystic, hexed with halitosis.”)
If you don’t get that last ( ) read the last part fast and think Mary Poppins

Dr. C. Everett Koop – So before reading this chapter, despite all the publicity it says Dr. Koop has gotten, I had no idea why I recognized his name. After reading the chapter, I certainly realize why Yancey chose to put him in his book. I’m not sure when Roaring Lambs was written, but it should’ve included him somehow. Koop was a pediatric (children, not feet) surgeon who eventually was nominated by Ronald Reagan to be Surgeon General of the US. It took 9 months for him to get approved due to his strong stance on abortion and other morality issues. At the beginning it was the evangelicals supporting him and the “liberals” were opposing him. By the end of his time in office however, those two groups had switched. The evangelicals seem to call for him to always be 100% on an issue and even to change the facts to fit their beliefs. Koop was a man of integrity and wasn’t willing to lie to have his beliefs by made into law. He was a strong supporter of “abhor the sin, live the sinner.” It was a good thing this chapter was placed here in the book or I would’ve felt like a Pharisee judging the uncompromising evangelicals and conservatives of the world. Koop never gave up hi stance that homosexuality is wrong, but also never gave up his love for homosexuals as people made in the image of God. In the end he noticed how sinners tend to hate people who sin differently than they do. Another thing in the chapter that was significant to me was asking the question on what is just immoral and what should be illegal. For instance, pride is spoken of as in many cases the “worst” sin, but can we or should we make that illegal? It is immoral yes, but no government could enforce that. After reading the chapter it made me think about my stance on a few hot topic issues. Good stuff.

John Donne – So as compared to the other chapters this one happened to seem a bit depressing. The chapter follows John Donne, who lived a really tough life. He lived during the days of the Bubonic plague and the doctors at one point diagnosed him with it. Although it ended up being something else, like a Typhus fever or something, thinking he was dying some of his most passionate writing. The majority of his writing centered around death because of this and the rest of his tough life. Getting to John Donne and his ideas on death seems like a natural progression to me after all of Yancey’s thoughts and wrestling with the idea of pain. John Donne after all his time with the issue finally came to a point where had to choose to either fear other things, or fear God, and he finally got to the point where he feared God.

Annie Dillard – So Annie Dillard is another author like a few of the others that has had an effect on Yancey in his lifetime. In her twenty’s Annie won a Pulitzer for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. In her writing she shows her insistence on faith, which makes her books attractive to Christians, but also her struggle with it, which makes her seem believable to non-Christians. She is also often labeled as a “nature” author, and its her focus on the “nature” of nature that gives her so many of her doubts. When she considers the inconsistencies of nature it can be hard for her to find God in it. However, the thing that Yancey looks to as the thing he looks up to her most for is the fact that she is a pilgrim. She is honest about her doubts, and doesn’t claim to have every answer. She is just on a journey of finding God just like everyone else. Sometimes Christian authors get labeled as saints, where she preferred to be a pilgrim.

Frederick Buechner – I don’t know why I find it so surprising that there are so many authors on this list, but for some reason I continue to be. Alas, I digress. Ole Fred lived a very different life from Annie but they had a very similar effect on Yancey. Both were pilgrims that bridged the gap between the religious sect and the secular sect. However, where Annie found her inspiration in nature, Fred found it in himself. By going introspective into his own life and the life of others around him. He did, however, go to nature to find the solitude necessary to see the depths of himself. This was one of the things that had the biggest, most tangible effects on Yancey because it inspired him to move. He moved from Chicago to Colorado. And it was after reading Freddie that he decided that despite the depth of inspiration in the way of people in Chicago, it lacked the peacefulness and had too many distractions needed to live a writer’s life.

Shusaku Endo – Guess what? Another author you say? You are correct! Here’s a cookie. However, this author has a very different story and from what I’ve heard about Yancey’s other book, Endo has been a huge influence on him. Endo was rejected his whole life, whether it was as a catholic in Japan, or as Japanese in Europe. This idea of rejection and betrayal seems to enter all of his writing, and yet through the gospels, this is ok. By discovering that our Savior was constantly rejected and despised, Endo rediscovered his faith. Yancey (and myself to a lesser degree) can relate to him because of rejection in our own lives. The kingdom of God is very counter culture and is going to be rejected by mainstream society. Another concept that he talks about is “father and mother love.” The mother love is unconditional, whereas the father love is dependant on success and earning the love. Father love is so prevalent in the honor filled Japanese society that they don’t quite understand grace and God’s mother love.

Henri Nouwen – Yeah, no worries, I’m not going to make another author joke. But this chapter, more than any other, seemed to have so many mini chapters within it. I think this fits right in with the fact that Henri went through many stages of his life. There was a Rembrandt painting that meant a lot to him of the prodigal son and at one point or another in his life he could relate to all three in the painting. He grew up being an achiever, always trying to earn God’s approval or to please Him by his actions. Like the elder brother he was always trying to please. Then later in his life, while struggling with many things, like rejection and secret homosexuality, he realized he was also the prodigal in need of the Father’s arms to hold him. He also seemed to bare almost all in his writings and was very open. He didn’t hide his brokenness and the fact that he was wounded in need of God.

What was the most meaningful idea or theme in the book to you and why?
Humility. In the majority of these great men and women, there seemed to be a great sense of humility despite all their great accomplishments. From the very beginning of the book it starts as a theme. In the first chapter he talks about the need for humility for himself in dealing with people in the south like the people he grew up with. Without humility, we can’t look upon the fundamentalist and not become a Pharisee ourselves. Then right off the bat you have MLK Jr. who had to be humble to accomplish what he accomplished. Then we have Chesterton who had to have a level of humility if he consistently beat debaters and yet they came away loving him. Then we have Paul Brand and Gandhi, where the descriptions of them seem to be the very definition of humility. Bob Coles and Dr. Koop aren’t far behind them in that department. Then you have Annie Dillard who, even though she was in the upper levels of academia, treated everyone with a level of respect that is representative of humility.

Were there any parts in the book you disagreed with or had issues with? If so, why? There were obviously parts of the book I disagreed with in terms of how some of the people (Tolstoy, for example) went about some things, or the mistreatment of many of their wives, but I don’t remember anything that was presented as a virtue that I disagreed with. The only other problem I had with the book is that a lot of the book seemed to be advice to other writers. Like on how to enhance their own writing through the examples of all these great authors. Not the entire book, but as I went through author to author, I got that feeling. But I still loved the book despite the fact that I don’t think my writing has gotten better since I learned the 5 paragraph essay method in middle school.

Oh and one more thing, who in the world is Soren Kierkegaard? He was quoted throughout the book! If you took all the paragraphs where his name was mentioned I think you have another chapter.

Daniel Holzberger
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Book Review Questions

Please give a brief summary of the book and it’s central ideas or themes:

I feel like every new book that I read becomes one of my new favorite books. Although I had already read this in high school for class, it definitely had more meaning to me this time. In almost every chapter, I saw how either my life, close friend’s lives, or society in general reflects the concepts being discussed. I also thought it was a really creative way for Clive to present the information. For me, it was a great way to convey the points that he wanted to get across, but I do feel like some of his points may have been lost due to the fact that everything was backwards.
The most basic summary is that Screwtape Letters is a series of letters from an uncle fiend/demon to his nephew fiend/demon who has been assigned to a human. In the letters, Screwtape, the uncle, gives Wormwood, his nephew, advice on how to turn his patient to their father, the devil. Throughout the letters we follow Screwtape’s advice as the patient goes through different stages in life. Towards the beginning of the book the patient is “saved” as we call it, but they obviously didn’t see it that way. He also goes through various stages of doubting, having bad influential friends, meeting a girl, and getting in a seemingly genuine Christian community.
The main theme or what seemed like the main theme to me, was also the most significant idea for me, so I will address it below.

What was the most meaningful idea or theme in the book to you and why?

The main theme that I feel like I saw time and time again in the book was that it was always the goal of the fiends to take our focus off the “Enemy.” When it came to most things, the advice was to take the patients focus off of God and on to themselves. When it came to the patient trying to improve himself, the goal was to put the focus on himself, and not to use the Enemy’s help. And if he happens to increase in a virtue, to again focus on himself in that virtue and make him prideful. Then, when it comes to vices or faults, to have him focus completely outward at others. So instead of seeing his own faults in a situation, he only sees other faults in that situation.  This was significant to me because it seemed to be at the base of almost every ploy of the fiends. No matter what the ploy, there seemed to always be a focus shift either off of God and on to himself, or off of himself, and on to either others or something superficial.

Were there any parts in the book you disagreed with or had issues with? If so, why?

I’m not sure I agree with his opinion of how fiends are assigned to people, but I don’t think it is his opinion necessarily of how it actually happens, but more of an avenue of discussing some of the temptations of man. Other than that the only part I disagreed with was on page 106 where it says “ It is the business of these great masters to produce in every age a general misdirection of what may be called sexual ‘taste,’. This they do by working through the small circle of popular artists, dressmakers, actresses and advertisers who determine the fashionable type. The aim is to guide each sex away from those members of the other with whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are most likely. Thus we have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male (such as the beard) disagreeable to nearly all the females – and there is more in that than you might suppose.” Enough said. I am living proof this is wrong. However, if it were true, I do agree with Staples that it would be a triumph over nature to make a beard unattractive.

Describe some ways the ideas in this book could influence your life:

Well, the first way is that I hope to able to use the main theme of the book to help me react to any scheme that is thrown at me. By keeping my focus on God when it needs to be on God. I think by listening to the Beatitudes when they say to be poor in spirit, I will hopefully be able to gain perspective on situations. When having a conflict with someone, for instance, being able to take a step back and realize I’m not always right, and that most likely I have some fault in it as well. Although, even in that situation, when I’m looking for faults in myself, my focus should still be on God. I also feel like reading a book like this was perfect to go along with the Bible studies we’ve been having lately. Since you don’t physically see much spiritual warfare, it’s easy to forget that it’s even going on. Always helps to be reminded.

Wow, what a week!

So, this past week, my house and I went to New York City to a place called The Bowery Mission and volunteered for the week. I couldn’t have loved it more. It was such an incredible ministry. There are multiple different parts of their ministry.

Number 1 they have a 6 month program for men wanting to get off the street. This program has multiple phases, starting with a 30 day phase called the Gateway that serves as a detox for most men. During this they can’t leave the premises. Then in later phases they can take classes to begin learning a trade (like they can take Bible classes, go to mechanic school, get their cdl, or get a counseling degree to name a few). Also, once they graduate they can do “re-entry” and stay at the bowery for 6 months and work outside the bowery to save money and get them back on their feet. If they drop out of the program, often they are let back in to try it again, and that grace amazed me. You don’t see it too often in such ministries that somehow lose it when dealing with difficult people.

Number 2 was that they serve 3 meals a day to homeless people every day of the year. They are the only ministry in the city that serves that many meals. Thats like 700 meals a day sometimes. Anyone that wants a meal all they have to do is go to the chapel service and they are given a big hearty meal afterward. Another thing that impressed me was even if they miss chapel and don’t get to eat the meal for dinner, they aren’t left hungry, the bowery will give them a sandwich, again showing so much grace. It would be so easy to say, just come to chapel, and we’ll feed you, thats the cutoff, but they don’t. They don’t want anyone going hungry.

The other ministries the Bowery has is a shower program where 2 times a week they can use the showers and get some clothes from the clothing room where tons of clothes have been donated. So no one goes cold either if they are willing to wear what is available. They also have a referral clothes program where you can come get a suit if you have an interview.

Almost all of the staff of the Bowery were men who had been through the program. What great guys!

Another great part of the week was the bowery was a great “testing ground” for a lot of the things I’ve been working on this year. The three things I’d say I’ve focused on the most are service (and not just when its convenient for me), giving up my preferences, and taming my tongue in general (not being so argumentative, and snappy for example). Although I still dealt with these things all week, even more so in a high pressure, long hours situation, I was very encouraged to feel like I saw a lot of growth in myself this week. Not as much that I grew because of the week (although that was definitely true) but mostly that I saw change in myself that had happened gradually through the year that I might not notice when it happened gradually. I was continuing to serve when I could’ve gotten out of it, or could’ve used an excuse, or could’ve served mediocrely. I honestly don’t say this to brag, but rather realizing, that this is something I couldn’t have said after a summer in New Orleans in a similar testing ground. I was so encouraged to actually see growth. Praise God! I mean, due to the inner struggle within myself, I know I still have a long way to go and must change from the inside out, not just outwardly. However, this week gave me a new passion a drive to let God make that happen in me!

There should be some prayer requests in there somewhere!

Hey everyone, I’ve got a prayer request for the next week. Starting tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM, my house “family” and I will be driving to NYC for a missions trip. We are staying and working at a place called the Bowery which is a homeless shelter that has been open for over a hundred years I believe. From everything I’ve heard, they have an amazing ministry and I’m excited about being a part of it.

My biggest prayer request is that the Lord give me His energy for the week. I struggle without sleep and we’ll be getting up at 5:30 every morning to make a serve breakfast, without really being able to get to sleep that early to still get sleep. So I’ll have to be running on an energy source not of my own. Please be in prayer for that. In addition, pray for our conversations both with each other and with the people at the shelter. Also, we’ll be leading some of their chapel services, so pray for those that are speaking.

Thanks!

www.bowery.org check it out!

Book Review Questions

Please give a brief summary of the book and it’s central ideas or themes:
Well, I have zero choice in this being a brief summary as the book itself was very brief. However, it makes up for its briefness with the depth and importance of what it has to say. Although I had read and heard about the two main scriptures it uses in John, I don’t know that I had really thought about their implications. Basically, Schaeffer goes through John 13:33-35 which states that the mark of a Christian is that they love one another, and that the non-believer has the right to judge whether we are Christians by this mark. He is sure to explain that this mark is not what makes us Christians and that by failing, as all men do, it does not mean we are not Christians. In addition, he is clear that we are to love all men as well, not just true believers.
The other main scripture he uses is John 17:21 that shows us the importance of showing this love. In that verse Christ says that through our unity as Christians unbelievers will know that Christ was sent by the Father. That’s quite the heavy verse.

What was the most meaningful idea or theme in the book to you and why?
I think the most meaningful idea for me was the idea of unity or oneness that he goes over. I’ve just seen so much disunity among the denominations. Schaeffer even talks about how we work out these differences with love! I think it is important to note that Schaeffer is talking about differences between true Christians. I think this is important because I do think there are some key things we should address. I feel very strongly in a faith alone salvation, with works being a sign of that faith, not what saves you. I feel like that is an issue which needs to be address before we talk about any other difference between Christians. Schaeffer does mention that it is in these differences and how we handle them in love that unbelievers can see that we are different. He even references 1st Corinthians when it talks about differences that could be taken before the court and how Christians should settle them outside of court.

Were there any parts in the book you disagreed with or had issues with? If so, why?
I can’t think of anything I disagreed with at all.

Describe some ways the ideas in this book could influence your life:
Well, first off, I hope I am able to apply a lot of the concepts in this book. Multiple times he explains how many of the applications of these scriptures are easy in understanding but tough in application. I would certainly agree with that. For one, I hope to be able to say “I’m sorry” when I need to, as well as be forgiving whether it seems easy or not. I want to be loving to those around, especially to my Christian brother and sisters. In the past I have been quick to argue with other Christians over differences in theology that are necessarily pillars of the faith. I want to live with a love that shows nonbelievers that Christ was sent by the Father.

Wow, so yet again it’s been forever since I’ve updated this site, so for that I apologize…again. You’d think I’d learn my lesson.

So since it’s been so long a lot of things have happened. The holidays have come and gone, and yet again I’m amazed by the irony of the celebration of our Lord’s birth turning in to the biggest materialistic time of the year that seems to be dedicated more the the God of mammon than to the Christ’s who is the “reason for the season.”

I also wanted to update everyone on some life goals or plans rather. So after much prayer, discussion, and thought I’ve decided that I’m not going to be doing missions in at least the immediate future. I do still have a heart for missions and plan on going on some more short term trips, and still supporting missions, and could even see myself doing it in the future. But for now, it is not in my plans. When I really began to pray for pure motivations, I realized that I didn’t have them. The trips that I’ve been on have been so much fun and I enjoyed them so much that I thought I wanted to do that with my life. However, I’ve realized that the main reason I’ve enjoyed them has been the people on the trip with me and the community that was built more so than the people I was serving. Another reason I was thinking about doing missions was my frustration with the American church. I see a lot of religion and not a lot of people acting like Christ and being salt to the Earth. However, after being in the community I am in now, I not only see hope, I have Christians around me that have dealt with the same thing. It has been pointed out to me that although the church may not be perfect, it is still the bride of Christ, and I decided I’d rather not talk badly about Christ’s wife. Through Broad River Community Church I’ve been so encouraged. Sooo…now I’m back to square one, if not missions now, then what?

Well Daniel, what do you do well? What do you enjoy? Those are the questions I’ve had to answer and I think I’m getting somewhere.

I’ve decided that I’m still going to be living in Greenville next year with a few of my best friends and I’ve got multiple ideas for what I could do that excite me.

My first option and preference would be to work for a friend of mine doing marketing/networking/anything else he’d want me to do for his business. However, if that doesn’t work out, then my next preference would be to do one of a few things. For instance, I really want to work in the business side of a ministry and do administration or management type work. So I will probably try to talk to different ministries in Greenville and see if they could use me. Another option would be to propose to some larger churches to start a missions department that kind of mirrors Crossroads missions departments, and I know I would love that. The last is kind of far fetched but I wouldn’t mind opening a coffee shop franchise in Greenville. Again, far fetched but it crossed my mind.

Either way, I’m excited and trust God to place me where He wants me.

So, it’s been too long since I’ve updated. For that, I apologize. It’s been a crazy past month. We’ve had 2 book reports, an ISP or interest specific project, and multiple service projects as a family, in addition to everything else we normally do. So, needless to say, I’ve been busy. Though, it is still no excuse.

So, with my mentor, I’ve been reading through the gospels, a chapter a day, and right now we’re in Luke. I love it. For one, he writes a lot different from Matthew and especially Mark. So its nice to get some information and wording that feels new even if it isn’t. One of the things that struck me yesterday was Luke 9:27 which says,

“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

This was significant to me, because those people obviously are not still alive hiding underground somewhere or blending in and getting new names like in highlander. Logically, that means that the kingdom of God has already come! I love that! I think we tend to think of the Kingdom of God as heaven, that we’ll one day go to, or will one day come down to earth.

So last night, we had dinner, reflection time, and the Q&A with Matt O. So I asked him this question, “How does he define the Kingdom of God?” I really liked his answer. He said it is the rule of God. So the ones who saw the rule of God were the ones who were around 40 or so days later when the Holy Spirit came down and ruled in people’s hearts. Love it. The kingdom of God is not something far off. It is here today.

Another thing I encountered a chapter later really stuck out to me. It was Luke 10: 18-20…

“18He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”"

I loved this as well. I think it is important to note. Right now, God is moving in Clemson. He is doing things that I never thought I’d see there. It is amazing. A good friend of mine had his shoulder healed on stage one night. People are beomcing more and more passionate and bold for the gospel. I love seeing it whether I’m there or not. However, on the flip side, I’ve also seen people trying to fit in to this new culture, and I’ve seen people who focus on the healings and the things God is doing, rather than on God. All throughout the Gospels Christ says that forgiving sins is bigger than healing someone. How true that is! But it is so easy to enjoy the healings and the casting out of demons more so than the one who has given that power, the one who is actually moving! So that is my call to the Clemson nation, do not rejoice that you are given the power to pray over someone and have them healed, rather rejoice that through it someone may be led to the truth that God alone saves! Never forget that it is through the Spirit you have the power to do those things at all.

Good stuff.

During the days surrounding the election, I feel like people went completely insane, defying all logic and forgetting the sovereignty of God. This of course is a generalization and very possibly doesn’t include you. However, it includes a fairly high number of people.

One of the places this was on display was on Facebook, where people’s status’s were absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully, one of my friends, Miss Kate Gazaway, copy and pasted a large majority of these onto a word document and shared them in a note on aforementioned facebook. I’ve asked her permission to share them with you. They are both humorous and yet somewhat appalling.

Do y’all have any personal favorites? (Mines the handbasket one, you’ll get to it)
” is thinking to herself…America has just hung itself. We have just told God we dont need him- now he is giving us our wish.”

” thinks y’all need to look past the fact that he’s black and except he is making a positive change for this country!!!”

” is prepairing for four years of secrets and half truths.”

“is this is funny as hell. America finally decided to admit their racist ways and elect a non-white dude who’s not looking out for his own interests.”

” is sad for the future America.”

” is currently taking a dump.”

“XXXXXX XXXX ’s president is black.”

” is watching America great it’s ruin with thunderous applause.”

” Never in American history have so many amassed with such efficiency and diversity for the common purpose of annihilating their own future.”

” is wanting to know what people were thinking..the man is a fake! THat is how satan gets control…PRAY PEOPLE PRAY!”

” how dare people call me a racist..this has nothing to do with skin color it has to do with socialism, infanticide and godly principles.”

“…Rev. Wright: “God Damn America!”…God: “Okay”.

“Where are we going? And what are we doing in this handbasket?”

” will be throwing up when he does his speech.”

” is going to buy more guns!”

” when you think about your loss, think about a people, what their history has been, from not being able to vote to seeing this day, this is no men’s land!!”

“. Well it was a good run freedom but I guess it’s over. So much for having faith in Americans I guess this country is full of absolute retards afterall….”

“wonders what happened to common sense, & hopes that either Christ or revolution will come before my son must live under socialism. May God protect His people!”

” feels, for the first time in a while, maybe this old world has a chance after all. ”

“is thinking that Jesus needs to come back real soon….God Bless America what have yall done.”

” is Obama hunting season has officially opened!!! Get you guns ready before he takes them away!”

” is so disappointed in America. Why did Barack OBAMA become the 44th president? Let’s hope this is just for four years.”

” PRESIDENT IZ OFFICALLY BLACK!!!!!YEAYAH *HI HATERZ*.”

” is like I know ya’ll hating that OBAMA is winning.. haha you can still move over sea’s trust me we won’t miss you not one bit TRAILS BITCHES.”

” is wishing she was more surprised that American’s can’t use their brains.”

“says to his fellow Christian brothers and sisters, “You’re a Christian, Act like it!” He is our president, support him. God is the judge not you.”

” iz like we don did, man i wish Martin Luther King Jr. waz here fa diz.”

” is wishing that everyone would realize that at least a woman isnt in office.”

” is afraid of both parts of Congress & the presidency being democrat-controlled. Abortion rates are gonna be through the roof.”

” …awww, socialist douchebags =]] so CUTTTE. (Having the feeling I’m going to struggle with becoming UNpatriotic in the next few months) lol.”

” is how can ppl vote for someone that wants to take the right to LIFE away!!!! I hope all you that did can sleep at night!”

” is congrats America. You are officially electing a non-Christian wolf in sheep’s clothing as president.”

” …so this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.”

” will not be sleepin’ 2nite, faced GLUED 2 CNN comin’ on OBAMA, like Jeezy, my president iz BLACK!!! THA HATAZ GON LUV DIZ 1.”

” is fuck…hello soup lines.”

” hey it worked in Blazing Saddles.”

” Well freedom we had a good run didn’t we.”

” is America is going down the toilet. Let Us open trade with Cuba and I’ll be outa here.”

” thinkz itz funny how white people r votin’ McCain and black people OBAMA, an thiz supposedly haz nothin’ 2 do wit race, OBAMA/BIDEN TIME 4 CHANGE!!!”

” voted for your mom.”

” so I said “obama is a white guy too”and they said no he not, then i said “his dad black and his mom white therefore he as much black as white” and they said oh”

” has faith in a great God who can make miracles happen…even with this election!”

” is like people are so ignorant!! Just watch the people you think are your friends are gonna show their true colors!!!”

” thinks it’s incredible how immature & rude some people are. Praise God that HE will still be in control tomorrow…”