On a mission...

Last week a group of UGA students including myself gathered together in a student's home for worship and teaching. A young couple came to speak to us about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We were amazed and astounded at the wisdom they brought to the table. After talking, we discovered that they were on a mission trip to Athens. 

That sounded a little bit strange. A mission trip to Athens?

Many people are surprised to hear that China sends missionaries to America. "Why do they do that? We're a 'Christian' nation." Well nowadays I'm not sure I or anyone else for that matter could call us that. As much as we would hate to admit that we need missionaries here as much or more than other countries throughout the world, it is true. The United States and Athens is as lost and in need of a Savior as any other city in any other country. It's time to lay down our pride. Just because we have a tradition of Christianity doesn't mean we now follow the truths of Christ. 

Missionaries, we welcome you.

The Green Gospel

Thursday morning was just like every other morning. Well, almost. I got up, brushed my teeth and got dressed before walking out the door to be greeted by a host of raindrops and wind gusts. As I walked to the dining hall to eat my usual breakfast I was stopped by an sweet elderly man who greeted me with a cheery "Good morning. Would you like a Bible?" I stopped and looked down at a big box covered by a plastic bag to keep the rain off the green New Testaments. And of course I took one. And I also remembered that I still have the one from last year when this same group handed out Gideon Bibles. I saw many students who walked past annoyed. I later saw a group that moaned and complained that they were still here trying to get them to take a Bible. 

It got me thinking if this green Gospel was effective at all. Is this group wasting time and money by just handing out Bibles that will be trashed, left on a table somewhere or left in a dorm room until the end of the year?

It would be easy for me to say "use that money somewhere else. Your work here really isn't making a difference." But then I was reminded of a verse: "[My Word] is sent out and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to and it will prosper everywhere I send it" (Isaiah 55:11). Regardless of where or how it is sent, the Word of God will never return void. It will always do what God sets it out to do. His word cannot be chained. Maybe a janitor will pick up that green Gospel left on a table by a student and read the words of life. Maybe a freshman left alone in their dorm room with fears, doubts, and wounds after a wild party will flip through it searching for a meaning to this life they live. Maybe some Christian student will be given an opportunity to give the Bible to a homeless man on the corner, a little girl at the mall or a friend in a class.  

Whatever the case, God will do with that little green Gospel all that he has planned. Work done for the Lord will never be fruitless. Maybe not immediate, but never worthless. It will always produce fruit. Always. 

"Gosh, it sure says something about their devotion. Standing out here in the cold and rain to hand out those little green Gospels." --a freshman at the Ohouse bus stop. 

"Sombodies" review...

The pilot episode for "Sombodies" was able to introduce the main characters fairly well but the characters were not especially unique or memorable. The only name I caught was Scottie. I did find myself chuckling but more so at the ridiculous acting rather than the jokes brought by the dialogue or situation. After the pilot I cannot say that I was eagerly desiring to watch the next episode. 

The second episode of the series was slightly improved. The plot was a little more complex and the audience was able to empathize with the plight of the main character. There was not a clearly defined A and B story line in this episode. There was the issue of finding and designing Scottie's new place and a new woman and then dealing with problems arising from the troublesome neighbors. The pilot did a much better job with combining stories. The tennis instructor's affair and Scottie's search for new knowledge collided in the closet or the instructor's house. 

Obviously, there are some acting issues throughout the show. The female actors (especially Scottie's ex-girlfriend) overacted most of the time. At the end of it all, I thought that the fight of the black man to rise out of racial stereotypes was definitely a worthy topic for a TV show but "Sombodies" fell short of executing it properly. 

There can be miracles

This is a pretty cool story. Ready?

Last Saturday a freshman girl named Paige was playing volleyball and sprained her left ankle. Unfortunately, this had happened before so it did more damage than usual. She hobbled around on one ankle with crutches unable to walk on it, move it up and down, or place pressure on it. Not unusual. Sprained ankles happen all the time. So what's the big deal?

As a freshman in her first weeks of college, Paige was really disappointed that she would be unable to participate in events due to a silly injury. Monday rolled around which is Freshley (the freshman ministry) night at the Wesley Chapel. Unable to make it from ECV to the chapel on one ankle she hopped to the sidewalk to wait for her ride. 

This is where it gets interesting. Two guys walked up to her and asked her what was wrong with her ankle. She told them the story and they asked if they could pray for the swelling to go down. As they prayed, she noticed that she was able to move her ankle up and down, an action that she could not perform at the health center the day before. They prayed again and asked if she could put any pressure on it. She stood up and slowly put weight on it. Guess what? No pain. After the third prayer, Paige was able to take the brace off. 

She walked into Freshley that night with no pain, no swelling, no brace, no crutches, no hobbling. 

Try to explain it. Try to make sense of it all. A coincidence? Hardly. Made-up? Not at all. Impossible? With Christ, absolutely not. 

Hungry

We are all hungry for something. We all crave something. As seen from class discussion, most of us hunger for success so that we can be filled by our parent's or our friend's approval. Does anyone else find it curious that the greatest fear of most women is to end up alone at the end of the day or at the end of our lives? Why is that? It's because we ask for friends to fill us. We would all agree that women are very relational. Little girls want best friends not batman action figures. We seek out social groups that make us feel included, loved, needed and wanted by other people. But somehow we always end up wanting more. If we make a good connection with a friend, we will want the same connection the next time when we meet again, never satisfied until our need for affirmation and acceptance is filled. But it never is. We possess a bottomless well of longing which can only be quenched by the never-ending fount that is Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 5:6 it says that "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled."  At the surface it would be easy for most to stereotype us and assume that the only thing a typical college student at UGA could hunger and thirst for is downtown Athens cuisine and vast quantities Miller Light. But something is happening on our campus. Ministries, churches, and small groups in Athens are growing at astonishing rates. More than ever before, students are hungry and thirsty for the Lord, for His love and for righteousness. There has been physical healing, restoration of broken hearts and realization of God's very present love. It is a season of the Lord's favor. As we hunger and thirst for Him to come, He is giving more and more of Himself to every student who seeks Him out. We cannot be filled by anything else. Our souls long for Him whether we realize that it is Him we want or not. Nothing else will do. So seek. Find. Be satisfied. 

(First Wesley service of 2009 at Tate 2)

New beginnings

It is finally the beginning of a new semester at UGA. New freshmen, new living situations, new classes, new buildings, new friends, new teams, new, new, new, new. Just writing "new" that many times makes the word look and sound differently. We all talk about this new football season, the new fall semester, the new administration, our new class schedules etc. But what does "new" actually mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "different from one of the same category that has existed previously" or "of dissimilar origin and usually of superior quality." There is so much newness going on at UGA, in Athens, and all over the world. Things are happening in Athens that have never previously taken place. The Lord is doing a new work here. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says "therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come." In this passage "new" can be translated to mean "recently made and fresh." I believe as Isaiah did that God is saying to us "Look! I am doing a new, refreshing thing!" This "new thing" that the Lord is doing is "of superior quality" to the work that He has done here in the past. The purpose of this blog is to follow everything that the Lord is doing and what his followers are doing for Him. Or at least, as much as I can keep up with.