Sunday, January 9, 2011; Athens, Georgia. It snowed. A lot. There hasn't been this much snow in Georgia since before I moved here. Maybe even before I moved to Pennsylvania, or even before I moved to Maryland. Or, quite possibly, before I was born. A lot of people went outside to play in the snow, and I'm pretty sure that, collectively, UGA had people outside all night.
Monday was supposed to be the first day of classes. It wasn't. Instead, we had the day off because of the icy roads. I hung out with some friends from my Music Theory class last semester, and we built a snowman, had snowball fights, and sledded down the hill next to my dorm. Freshley was canceled, but two people from the praise band got some people together to have a worship service on Meyers quad. So some of us went to that, and it was awesome! I loved that, even though Satan tried to use God's gift of snow to get us down, God gave us a desire to worship that was too much for Satan to handle. And afterward, we watched The Wizard of Oz and part of the Auburn vs. Oregon national championship football game.
Tuesday, classes were canceled again. Things started getting boring. It was a pretty lazy day. I tried to get my textbooks from the bookstore, but it was closed.
Today was actually better though. Even though not many people are actually excited to be back in class tomorrow, the anticipation of finally getting out of snow-lockdown and being able to get around campus to do stuff was almost tangible. The excitement permeated today's activities as we celebrated our last day of freedom from class—or imprisonment because of the snow... however you want to look at it. I finally got my books for my classes, and I hung out with the same friends I was with on Monday. We tried to go to the Wesley Foundation service, but the Tate Center was locked. But it wasn't a total waste of time because we ran into two other people, Zach and Catherine, who were also trying to go to Wesley, and we had a good conversation with them on the way back to our dorms.
Tomorrow: Thursday, January 13, 2011; Athens, Georgia. Finally, the first day of classes is almost here. Classes are delayed until 11am, but at least it's an improvement. It's going to be awkward starting school on a Thursday, and it's going to be even worse trying to catch up with everything we've missed. But at least the buses will be running, the roads won't be slick, and we'll actually have something to do. I just want to thank God for the awesome three and a half snow days He has given us, and the amazing friends He has given me.
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." ~ Proverbs 18:24
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Some Thoughts: Missions vs. Music
For missions: I'm seeing/hearing about India everywhere, which is where I want to go to be a missionary; I'm going to Jamaica with Freshley in March; I love reading and studying the Bible and other Christian books; facing persecution would help me develop a stronger sense of what it really means to be a disciple of Christ; I love God and want others to know Him like I do; I can memorize things easily, which means that, with enough time, I could memorize the Bible (or at least the New Testament) and smuggle it into hostile areas without physically smuggling any Bibles.
For music: I made it into the School of Music at UGA, so people must think I'm at least a decent trumpet player; I've developed semi-perfect pitch over the course of my nine years in band; I love music; I have composed a few short pieces that, I've been told, were pretty good; after nine years in band, I can hear the different parts going on in a song, which helped me transcribe songs off of YouTube (in fact, I can almost audiate (imagine the sound of) two parts at once); as a band director, I could lead smaller ensembles that focus on sacred music, and I could teach in a way that encourages students to enjoy making music.
When I look at it this way, it sounds like God has given me the skills and tools necessary to be a music teacher, and God doesn't do anything for no reason. But only prayer and time will tell what's really waiting for me in the future.
For music: I made it into the School of Music at UGA, so people must think I'm at least a decent trumpet player; I've developed semi-perfect pitch over the course of my nine years in band; I love music; I have composed a few short pieces that, I've been told, were pretty good; after nine years in band, I can hear the different parts going on in a song, which helped me transcribe songs off of YouTube (in fact, I can almost audiate (imagine the sound of) two parts at once); as a band director, I could lead smaller ensembles that focus on sacred music, and I could teach in a way that encourages students to enjoy making music.
When I look at it this way, it sounds like God has given me the skills and tools necessary to be a music teacher, and God doesn't do anything for no reason. But only prayer and time will tell what's really waiting for me in the future.
Monday, January 10, 2011
"Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold."
2 Corinthians 3:12.
Bold? No. "Very bold"! God sent His Son to die for our sins, not because of anything we have done to earn the right to be saved, but because of His love for us. He paid the price we should have paid: the price of death. And so many of us "Christians" are content to live life as if we had never been saved at all. We are timid because we don't want to face rejection.
But that is no excuse. Paul says to his young companion in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For we have not been given a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." And Jesus says in Matthew 10:22, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." God has given us a spirit—the Spirit—of power, love, and self-discipline. We have the strength to face insults and persecution, a love for people that pushes us to want others to know God the way we know Him, and the self-discipline to live in such a way that people would know that we belong to Christ, even when the going gets tough. If we are not being persecuted for our faith in some way, whether it's by literal torture in areas where Christianity is forbidden or by being made fun of for our beliefs, then we are not doing our job. John the Beloved makes it crystal clear in 1 John 5:5, John 14:15, and John 15:17: "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God"; "If you love Me, you will obey what I command"; "This is My command: Love each other." But if we have received God's forgiveness, yet refuse to share the gospel with others for fear of being hated, we are claiming to be better than Jesus. Matthew 10:24 says, "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master." Because Jesus was persecuted, we will be persecuted; otherwise, we have made ourselves to be our own idols.
So forget the fear of rejection. 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Be "very bold"! "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).
And "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray that God would help both you and me to be strong and go out to "boldly and without hindrance [preach] the kingdom of God and [teach] about the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 28:31).
God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————————
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58
Bold? No. "Very bold"! God sent His Son to die for our sins, not because of anything we have done to earn the right to be saved, but because of His love for us. He paid the price we should have paid: the price of death. And so many of us "Christians" are content to live life as if we had never been saved at all. We are timid because we don't want to face rejection.
But that is no excuse. Paul says to his young companion in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For we have not been given a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." And Jesus says in Matthew 10:22, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." God has given us a spirit—the Spirit—of power, love, and self-discipline. We have the strength to face insults and persecution, a love for people that pushes us to want others to know God the way we know Him, and the self-discipline to live in such a way that people would know that we belong to Christ, even when the going gets tough. If we are not being persecuted for our faith in some way, whether it's by literal torture in areas where Christianity is forbidden or by being made fun of for our beliefs, then we are not doing our job. John the Beloved makes it crystal clear in 1 John 5:5, John 14:15, and John 15:17: "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God"; "If you love Me, you will obey what I command"; "This is My command: Love each other." But if we have received God's forgiveness, yet refuse to share the gospel with others for fear of being hated, we are claiming to be better than Jesus. Matthew 10:24 says, "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master." Because Jesus was persecuted, we will be persecuted; otherwise, we have made ourselves to be our own idols.
So forget the fear of rejection. 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Be "very bold"! "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).
And "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray that God would help both you and me to be strong and go out to "boldly and without hindrance [preach] the kingdom of God and [teach] about the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 28:31).
God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————————
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58
Sunday, January 9, 2011
"The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Matthew 26:41.
Last year, I did something called SPAM: Spiritual Preparation And Meditation. My goal was to get into the Word over a period of 46 days so that I could grow in my faith and in my relationship with Christ. As a side effect, I had hoped that it would also lead me to give up some time on the computer in order to devote more time to devotions and quiet time alone with God. I had been wasting time doing nothing productive before SPAM, and as I went through SPAM, I came to acknowledge that fact. But shortly after SPAM was over, although I definitely felt stronger in my faith, I returned to my old habits of mindlessly surfing the internet. I started a blog to help stay focused on God and to share my SPAM experience with others, but pretty soon, I was spending too much time on Facebook to type much of anything. Eventually, I just stopped trying to update my blog. So I started a new blog to share other thoughts, not just my thoughts from SPAM. That helped some, but then that started to slow down too.
But now, as SPAM 2011 approaches, I want to prepare instead of crashing headlong into SPAM without any specific plan.
Tomorrow marks the end of Christmas break for students at the University of Georgia, and looking back, I realize that I wasted my entire break. Sure, I read my Bible. I read devotionals. (I finished Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, and now I'm reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.) But I didn't take any time to really study the Bible. I read David Platt's Radical, and the last chapter gives a list of five things to do over a one-year time period to help develop a mindset of godly servanthood. One of the five points was to read through the Bible. So I started that, beginning in Numbers to get the "difficult" and "boring" parts out of the way first. I finished Numbers in under a week. My mindset has become one of getting through the entire Bible so I can say that I've actually read the whole thing. But the studying aspect was left out of it, something I'm sure David Platt didn't intend when he included his one-year challenge in his book.
I feel like I'm rambling, getting off track from what I originally meant to say, so I'll try to wrap things up. My plan, starting now, is to write something in my blog consistently—whether that's every day, every other day, or twice a week, all that matters is that I'm writing something on a regular basis. It can be a long Bible study or a simple, two-sentence prayer. My hope is that, by pushing myself to reveal aspects of my devotional life, God will convict me and bring me to long to spend more time with Him so that, through my own spiritual growth, God will speak to someone else and bring them to want to grow as well. (It will also help me to prepare for SPAM by giving me a feel for writing journal-type entries, which I will continue to do during SPAM, to be typed up after SPAM.)
Matthew 26:41 says, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." So while I pray for God to "grant me a willing spirit to sustain me" (Psalm 51:12) and to help me "[run] in such a way as to get the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27), I ask that you pray the same thing—not only for me, but also for anyone else who is seeking to know God more.
So until next time—tomorrow, which shouldn't be a problem, since classes are canceled because of the snow—God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Last year, I did something called SPAM: Spiritual Preparation And Meditation. My goal was to get into the Word over a period of 46 days so that I could grow in my faith and in my relationship with Christ. As a side effect, I had hoped that it would also lead me to give up some time on the computer in order to devote more time to devotions and quiet time alone with God. I had been wasting time doing nothing productive before SPAM, and as I went through SPAM, I came to acknowledge that fact. But shortly after SPAM was over, although I definitely felt stronger in my faith, I returned to my old habits of mindlessly surfing the internet. I started a blog to help stay focused on God and to share my SPAM experience with others, but pretty soon, I was spending too much time on Facebook to type much of anything. Eventually, I just stopped trying to update my blog. So I started a new blog to share other thoughts, not just my thoughts from SPAM. That helped some, but then that started to slow down too.
But now, as SPAM 2011 approaches, I want to prepare instead of crashing headlong into SPAM without any specific plan.
Tomorrow marks the end of Christmas break for students at the University of Georgia, and looking back, I realize that I wasted my entire break. Sure, I read my Bible. I read devotionals. (I finished Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, and now I'm reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.) But I didn't take any time to really study the Bible. I read David Platt's Radical, and the last chapter gives a list of five things to do over a one-year time period to help develop a mindset of godly servanthood. One of the five points was to read through the Bible. So I started that, beginning in Numbers to get the "difficult" and "boring" parts out of the way first. I finished Numbers in under a week. My mindset has become one of getting through the entire Bible so I can say that I've actually read the whole thing. But the studying aspect was left out of it, something I'm sure David Platt didn't intend when he included his one-year challenge in his book.
I feel like I'm rambling, getting off track from what I originally meant to say, so I'll try to wrap things up. My plan, starting now, is to write something in my blog consistently—whether that's every day, every other day, or twice a week, all that matters is that I'm writing something on a regular basis. It can be a long Bible study or a simple, two-sentence prayer. My hope is that, by pushing myself to reveal aspects of my devotional life, God will convict me and bring me to long to spend more time with Him so that, through my own spiritual growth, God will speak to someone else and bring them to want to grow as well. (It will also help me to prepare for SPAM by giving me a feel for writing journal-type entries, which I will continue to do during SPAM, to be typed up after SPAM.)
Matthew 26:41 says, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." So while I pray for God to "grant me a willing spirit to sustain me" (Psalm 51:12) and to help me "[run] in such a way as to get the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27), I ask that you pray the same thing—not only for me, but also for anyone else who is seeking to know God more.
So until next time—tomorrow, which shouldn't be a problem, since classes are canceled because of the snow—God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Saturday, January 8, 2011
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'"
2 Corinthians 12:9. Never have I needed the truth of this verse more than now. Last week I went with my mom to visit her childhood pastor. Now in his 80s, Pastor Fletcher has spent his life serving Christ since early adulthood. He has trained 35 current pastors, including at least one who went on to lead a seminary. It goes without saying that Pastor Fletcher is a wise, godly man. So when my mom told him that I was planning on being a missionary (never mind that I wanted to be a band director too), I couldn't help but accept the advice he gave me. Of course, the advice was directed at me as a future full-time missionary, rather than a full-time music teacher (band director, lesson instructor, etc.) who ministers through my teaching style and my personal life outside of my job.
Right now I am a Music Education major at the University of Georgia. This is my eighth year playing trumpet and my ninth in band, so obviously, I love making music. I have wanted to be a band director ever since I moved from Pennsylvania the summer before my freshman year of high school. My middle school band director had a huge impact on me, and I wanted to be able to have the same effect on band students in the future. I've had my mind set on what I wanted to do for a long time now. My college decision was a little bit less certain, but it was still pretty clear that UGA would be one of my top choices after I had attended music camps there three years in a row. When college application time rolled around, I applied to UGA and Taylor University, a private Christian college in Indiana, which is where my parents met. I was sure I would at least get into Taylor, and I was pretty confident that I could get into UGA, so I didn't bother applying anywhere else. Taylor would be my fall-back school if I didn't get into UGA.
But something happened during Christmas break last year, my senior year. A revival was started. Not a large-scale, national revival. A simple, local revival, and a personal one. God used several recent events—my grandfather's death; struggles with cancer and death in more distant relatives; and an incredible, late-night worship service at a church retreat—to reveal Himself to me and to show me my real purpose in life: to serve Him and to share the gospel and His love with those who have not experienced His presence.
Then, last summer I went to a camp in Andrews, North Carolina, called Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. The last night of Snowbird was dedicated to missions. To make a long story short, the focus of the night was unreached people groups (or unreached nations, as the Bible would put it), and when I saw that India had the largest number of unreached people groups, something clicked inside me: God wants me in India. The Bible says that "every tribe and language and people and nation" will be represented in heaven (Revelation 5:9), and I wanted to be a part of the movement that takes the gospel to the nations that have never heard it before (and I still do).
My college decision, if pictured on a balance or a seesaw, was now almost perfectly level. Taylor was looking more and more like my future college. But when it came time to make my final decision and make the payments, UGA won out. Of course, God knew that would happen, and I know He still has a plan for me. Just because I went to a public college rather than a Christian one doesn't mean that God can't use me. God provided me with great Christian friends and awesome campus ministries like Freshley (the freshman ministry of the Wesley Foundation) and Team United (a coalition of three Georgia athletic ministries; at UGA, Team United counts marching band as an athletic program, which is awesome), and He has been using them to help me grow closer to Him in many ways. My faith is becoming stronger as I learn new things about the Bible, both in apologetics and in doctrine. And Freshley is even giving me a chance to go to Jamaica on my first mission trip during spring break. And that could be just what I need to prepare me for India later on.
But now I'm starting to look back on my college decision again. Is Taylor really where I should have gone? Well, of course, that decision is in the past now, but I'm starting to think that maybe God's plan for me includes transferring to Taylor. I can't really see myself sharing the gospel just by being a good band director. Public school teachers can't talk about religion (although I would argue that Christianity isn't a religion), but I don't want to teach in a Christian school because those kids have already heard about the Bible. I want to share the gospel with the unreached. But as far as I can see, that would mean leaving behind music as a career. I would have to go to a Christian college, something I was a little reluctant to do because it would mean being around other professing Christians, including some who really aren't Christians at all. And calling people out for not living in a Christ-like manner is not something I like to do. A public, secular college seemed easier because I could actually share my faith with non-Christians, a rare and hard-to-spot opportunity on Christian campuses. But now a Christian college may be just what I need, a community of students and professors who (by the Holy Spirit) can train me and equip me to do God's work.
Just about anyone who has had any Bible experience at all knows that Peter, among others of Jesus' disciples, was a fisherman. In fact, Jesus' first four disciples were all fishermen. When Jesus came along, they immediately left their nets to follow Him. The brothers James and John, whom Jesus nicknamed the "sons of thunder," actually left their father Zebedee in their fishing boat in order to to obey Jesus' command, "Follow Me."
When it comes right down to it, giving up something I've worked for for so long is not as easy as Peter and James and John make it look. Jesus told them to follow Him, and they dropped what they were doing. But I don't know what God wants for me. I'm praying and studying the Bible, trying to listen for God's whispering voice that will tell me exactly what to do, but I'm not hearing it. Is India really where He wants me? Will that require me to abandon music as a career in favor of going to a Christian college (and maybe even seminary) to be equipped to be a missionary? Or does He want me being a foreign missionary elsewhere? For example, there is a ministry in Ukraine called Music Mission Kiev that a good friend and one of the leaders at TNT (my high school youth group) introduced to me. Does God want me using the musical abilities He gave me to minister to others? Or does He want me at home as a band director, like I've been planning for years? Does He want me to teach in a way that is encouraging to young students, and then go out and share the gospel when I'm not teaching music? I feel like I'm standing on a fence between God's will and my will, and I can't tell which side is which.
I'm weak, and I know it. I don't know what to do. I have no control over my future; only God can claim that power. So I really need prayer right now. Please pray that I would know what God wants for me: if He wants me to set aside music as a profession in favor of full-time ministry, or if He wants me to continue with music and use that to glorify His name in some way that He will reveal later.
This past week, I went to visit my friends at TNT and at Etowah High School. I talked with two people who distinctly outlined my choices. Now that I look back on it, it seems clear that God has set these two paths before me, waiting for me to rely fully on Him to make the decision for me. The first person I spoke to was a friend from TNT; although we haven't really known each other for long, our desire to know God is all we needed to have in common in order to quickly become friends. When I asked what she wanted to do in the next few years, I was shocked when she told me that she wanted to spend a year in India after she graduates next year. Was that God speaking to me? Is India really where He wants me? I couldn't possibly go to India in just a year and a half, could I? In the middle of my college career?
The second person was my high school band director. Well, one of them. After the first director moved to a different school and the second retired, the one I'm referring to became the director my senior year. While walking back to Etowah from the intermediate school across the street, he suggested, somewhat jokingly, that I come be his student teacher when I get to my senior year. The joking nature of the suggestion seemed to fade quickly though when he asked if it was even possible for me to choose the school I student teach at. (Another related decision came up the other day when I visited my first high school band director at his middle school: I've been planning on being a high school band director, but being a middle school band director seems to have become slightly less frightening. But that decision can wait until after I get past this first decision between music and missions.)
The paths are clearly marked. There's no questioning that my decision is between being a band director and being a full-time missionary. But now the question is, Which path has God marked out for me?
"[When] I am weak, then I am strong." God, make me strong in my weakness, and help me make the right choice. In Jesus' name, amen.
Right now I am a Music Education major at the University of Georgia. This is my eighth year playing trumpet and my ninth in band, so obviously, I love making music. I have wanted to be a band director ever since I moved from Pennsylvania the summer before my freshman year of high school. My middle school band director had a huge impact on me, and I wanted to be able to have the same effect on band students in the future. I've had my mind set on what I wanted to do for a long time now. My college decision was a little bit less certain, but it was still pretty clear that UGA would be one of my top choices after I had attended music camps there three years in a row. When college application time rolled around, I applied to UGA and Taylor University, a private Christian college in Indiana, which is where my parents met. I was sure I would at least get into Taylor, and I was pretty confident that I could get into UGA, so I didn't bother applying anywhere else. Taylor would be my fall-back school if I didn't get into UGA.
But something happened during Christmas break last year, my senior year. A revival was started. Not a large-scale, national revival. A simple, local revival, and a personal one. God used several recent events—my grandfather's death; struggles with cancer and death in more distant relatives; and an incredible, late-night worship service at a church retreat—to reveal Himself to me and to show me my real purpose in life: to serve Him and to share the gospel and His love with those who have not experienced His presence.
Then, last summer I went to a camp in Andrews, North Carolina, called Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. The last night of Snowbird was dedicated to missions. To make a long story short, the focus of the night was unreached people groups (or unreached nations, as the Bible would put it), and when I saw that India had the largest number of unreached people groups, something clicked inside me: God wants me in India. The Bible says that "every tribe and language and people and nation" will be represented in heaven (Revelation 5:9), and I wanted to be a part of the movement that takes the gospel to the nations that have never heard it before (and I still do).
My college decision, if pictured on a balance or a seesaw, was now almost perfectly level. Taylor was looking more and more like my future college. But when it came time to make my final decision and make the payments, UGA won out. Of course, God knew that would happen, and I know He still has a plan for me. Just because I went to a public college rather than a Christian one doesn't mean that God can't use me. God provided me with great Christian friends and awesome campus ministries like Freshley (the freshman ministry of the Wesley Foundation) and Team United (a coalition of three Georgia athletic ministries; at UGA, Team United counts marching band as an athletic program, which is awesome), and He has been using them to help me grow closer to Him in many ways. My faith is becoming stronger as I learn new things about the Bible, both in apologetics and in doctrine. And Freshley is even giving me a chance to go to Jamaica on my first mission trip during spring break. And that could be just what I need to prepare me for India later on.
But now I'm starting to look back on my college decision again. Is Taylor really where I should have gone? Well, of course, that decision is in the past now, but I'm starting to think that maybe God's plan for me includes transferring to Taylor. I can't really see myself sharing the gospel just by being a good band director. Public school teachers can't talk about religion (although I would argue that Christianity isn't a religion), but I don't want to teach in a Christian school because those kids have already heard about the Bible. I want to share the gospel with the unreached. But as far as I can see, that would mean leaving behind music as a career. I would have to go to a Christian college, something I was a little reluctant to do because it would mean being around other professing Christians, including some who really aren't Christians at all. And calling people out for not living in a Christ-like manner is not something I like to do. A public, secular college seemed easier because I could actually share my faith with non-Christians, a rare and hard-to-spot opportunity on Christian campuses. But now a Christian college may be just what I need, a community of students and professors who (by the Holy Spirit) can train me and equip me to do God's work.
Just about anyone who has had any Bible experience at all knows that Peter, among others of Jesus' disciples, was a fisherman. In fact, Jesus' first four disciples were all fishermen. When Jesus came along, they immediately left their nets to follow Him. The brothers James and John, whom Jesus nicknamed the "sons of thunder," actually left their father Zebedee in their fishing boat in order to to obey Jesus' command, "Follow Me."
When it comes right down to it, giving up something I've worked for for so long is not as easy as Peter and James and John make it look. Jesus told them to follow Him, and they dropped what they were doing. But I don't know what God wants for me. I'm praying and studying the Bible, trying to listen for God's whispering voice that will tell me exactly what to do, but I'm not hearing it. Is India really where He wants me? Will that require me to abandon music as a career in favor of going to a Christian college (and maybe even seminary) to be equipped to be a missionary? Or does He want me being a foreign missionary elsewhere? For example, there is a ministry in Ukraine called Music Mission Kiev that a good friend and one of the leaders at TNT (my high school youth group) introduced to me. Does God want me using the musical abilities He gave me to minister to others? Or does He want me at home as a band director, like I've been planning for years? Does He want me to teach in a way that is encouraging to young students, and then go out and share the gospel when I'm not teaching music? I feel like I'm standing on a fence between God's will and my will, and I can't tell which side is which.
I'm weak, and I know it. I don't know what to do. I have no control over my future; only God can claim that power. So I really need prayer right now. Please pray that I would know what God wants for me: if He wants me to set aside music as a profession in favor of full-time ministry, or if He wants me to continue with music and use that to glorify His name in some way that He will reveal later.
This past week, I went to visit my friends at TNT and at Etowah High School. I talked with two people who distinctly outlined my choices. Now that I look back on it, it seems clear that God has set these two paths before me, waiting for me to rely fully on Him to make the decision for me. The first person I spoke to was a friend from TNT; although we haven't really known each other for long, our desire to know God is all we needed to have in common in order to quickly become friends. When I asked what she wanted to do in the next few years, I was shocked when she told me that she wanted to spend a year in India after she graduates next year. Was that God speaking to me? Is India really where He wants me? I couldn't possibly go to India in just a year and a half, could I? In the middle of my college career?
The second person was my high school band director. Well, one of them. After the first director moved to a different school and the second retired, the one I'm referring to became the director my senior year. While walking back to Etowah from the intermediate school across the street, he suggested, somewhat jokingly, that I come be his student teacher when I get to my senior year. The joking nature of the suggestion seemed to fade quickly though when he asked if it was even possible for me to choose the school I student teach at. (Another related decision came up the other day when I visited my first high school band director at his middle school: I've been planning on being a high school band director, but being a middle school band director seems to have become slightly less frightening. But that decision can wait until after I get past this first decision between music and missions.)
The paths are clearly marked. There's no questioning that my decision is between being a band director and being a full-time missionary. But now the question is, Which path has God marked out for me?
"[When] I am weak, then I am strong." God, make me strong in my weakness, and help me make the right choice. In Jesus' name, amen.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
On Shirley Phelps Roper and the Westboro Baptist Church - Part 5
I was reading the WBC blog again, and came across another entry I had to respond to. So here's my fifth letter. Wow... Five already?
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Mrs. Roper,
You know, you and your church amaze me. And I have to admit, it's very rarely in a good way. I was reading your blog again when I came across the entry entitled "We Have A Hope," your reply to Caitlin's letter. As is the case when I read most of your other blog entries, I came away from this one with more questions than I had when I started reading it, but this particular case was more extreme.
When Caitlin mentioned the fact that none of us deserve mercy, you replied that you and the congregation of WBC "give all diligence to make our calling and election sure... [Because] we see mercy, and we have impulses upon our hearts to RUN to please our Great King, we have a hope. " But I get the feeling you're leaving out a couple very important verses. First, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." When Christ died on the cross, He took, not just our sins, but our sin nature, upon Himself. Yes, we still sin, but sin is no longer our master: God is. This means that, when we believe in Christ, we are freed from the chains of sin and added to the family of our Lord and Savior: "the elect." You say that obedience is the only way to be saved. I agree partially, but that's a very near-sighted view of the Way to heaven. Jesus says, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the only Way to heaven. Yes, obedience has a part in salvation because Jesus obeyed the entire Law perfectly, and we have to accept His sacrifice, but our personal fulfillment of the Law has no effect on our redemption. When a mother calls her child into the house after playing outside, the child continues playing and returns to the house an hour later; the fact that he returned makes no difference to the fact that he disobeyed by not immediately coming inside. It's the same with the Law of Moses: obeying the Ten Commandments now, after we've broken them many times in our past, will not make us any more righteous than we were before. The only way we can be saved is through reliance on Christ. Romans 8:3-4 says, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Christ fulfilled the Law, and when we put our faith in Him—note: only faith is required, not strict adherence to the Law—God replaces our sinfulness with Christ's righteousness. Christ fulfilled the Law so that we wouldn't have to, so that our inability to fulfill the Law wouldn't condemn us.
Romans 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Because Christ fulfilled the Law, the Law no longer has any power over us, whether we obey it or not. That is not to say that we shouldn't strive to keep the Law, but failure to keep the whole Law DOES NOT RESULT IN JUDGMENT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PUT THEIR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. (Sorry for the caps lock, but I figure that, if you, as God's chosen people, can use it, then I should be able to use it without being judged for it.)
"Dude, shut up about us. It is NOT about us." Well, your response to Caitlin's letter seems to indicate otherwise: "Therefore, we must give all diligence to make [OUR] calling and election sure." What about everyone else? "But because [WE] see mercy... [WE] have a hope." Again, what about everyone else? "Get to the place God put his name and where he meets with HIS people!" Maybe I'm just crazy, but it sounds to me like you're claiming that WBC, and only WBC, is where God meets His people. Nowhere else, and with nobody else. That sounds pretty self-centered to me. Doesn't Jesus Himself say that His people will no longer worship in a specific place, but that they will worship "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:20-24)? I'm pretty sure you attend Westboro Baptist Church, not The Temple of God In Spirit and In Truth. Spirit and truth are present all over the world; therefore, God meets with His people all over the world. (Think of it this way: are you able to worship God while you are on the streets picketing, away from your church? By your logic, any worship you give to God while you are away from WBC should not even be considered as true worship. That's the claim you are making against the rest of the world for not attending WBC. That just doesn't make sense, now does it?)
Have you ever heard it said that a half-truth is no better than a lie? Then don't avoid giving a straight answer. Paul says in Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." So please, kindly answer Caitlin's question(s): "Have you ever tried reading the Bible with an open mind? Tried wiping all beliefs from your thoughts and read it like any other book you might read? Or do you have special scriptures? Only speaking of God’s "Hate" for America and His creations?" Like Caitlin, I'm curious to know as well. Have you ever read the Bible as someone who has never even heard the name of Jesus before? Have you ever tried going back to the time when you first committed your life to Christ and tried to read through the Bible as if you were back where you started? I'm positive you would see the Bible in a different way if you did. You constantly tell your audience to "READ THE BIBLE" and "OBEY." But if you can't read with an open mind—willing to look for, find, test, and accept new ideas—that's really not any better than not reading at all. After all, it's not like you're learning anything you haven't heard already. The point of reading is to learn, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway, that's all I have to say this time around. But be prepared for more letters in the future. You can be sure that my last five letters (found here) will be followed by many more like them.
Thank you for your time. I apologize for anything I said that may have offended you. I look forward to hearing back from you to see what you have to say about the thoughts I have presented (more accurately, the thoughts I believe God has given me to present to you).
Again, thank you for reading, and God bless!
Michael Watanabe
"You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me." ~ Psalm 86:5-7
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