Cradle to Grave

From the cradle to the grave,
God is with us.
From the littlest embryo,
God is with us.
From the toddler years, through teething,
God is with us.
From the the teenage years, going through the ups and downs and temptations,
God is with us.
From young adulthood to midlife,
God is with us.
From career satisfaction to retirement,
God is with us.
From the cradle to the grave,
God is with us.

And when it rains, it down pours.  you can’t stand in it for more than 2 seconds without becoming drenched.

Farmers are having a tough time with all this rain, and a lot of people are complaining about it.

But I have something else to say about it.  Let it rain!  Let it rain!

I believe God is trying to show us something through all this rain.  Water is a symbol of cleansing, of healing, and of restoration.  I believe God is beginning something big, so big that we can’t begin to comprehend it.  I think God is starting to cleanse this generation.  I think God is starting to heal our wounds.  I think God is going to restore these lands.

So let it rain, let it rain!  God we ask, we beg of you.  Open the flood gates of heaven and let it rain.  Let your grace, your mercy, your holiness rain down on this generation.  Purify us and make us holy.  Open our eyes to the wounds in our life.  Show us where there is emptiness and hurt in our beings, and fill those holes with your joy, with your healing power.  Restore this land.  It was was green and lush with vegetation, but now is dry and dusty.   Make it full of life and peace once again.  Let it rain, let it rain.  God, won’t you please open the flood gates of heaven and let it rain.

While sitting there, the worship team leading us in some great songs, I just start to listen.  Not to the music, but listening for God to speak.  And guess what, He did!  And He reminded me the very simple truths in life.  Why was I struggling so hard this summer?  Well, in the terminology of John Eldredge, I wasn’t partaking in a battle and I definitely wasn’t on an adventure.  And without those two very important things in a man’s life, it’s easy to loose purpose and get caught up in sin.

The thing is, I know where the battle is on campus, and I know what it looks like.  I love fighting there.  But what do I do when schools not in session and the battle seams liks it isn’t there.  The truth is that it still is, but I believe the lie that it is far away.  The truth is it just looks different durring the summer.  As for my adventure, I’m still not sure what that looks like.  I can tell you though that in my adventure, I have no idea whats going to come next.

So, with that in mind, I’m going to fight.  I going to fight till my last breath and give it my all.  And I can almost bet things are going to get messy.  As the pastor was giving his sermon this morning, he quoted a couple of different guys (whose names I don’t remember).  One of the quotes talked about how the safest places to be was in the center of God’s will.

The safest place in the world is to be in the center of God’s will.

The other quote:

The center of God’s will is dangerous. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger, to live in His will makes us dangerous.

I love the second quote.  I love being dangerous.  I love being inside of God’s will.  It’s adventurous, it’s exhilarating.  It brings purpose and meaning to life.  It taking steps based on faith, rather than facts.  It’s scary.  It’s awesome!

So yeah, I have no idea if this post made any sense or not.  I have the strangest feeling it doesn’t, but that’s ok.  Love to hear your thoughts.

Peace and blessings,

Adam

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4lwYRUwDRM

1. You can buy stamps at Wal Mart.  Seriously, I lived right across the street from Wal Mart for 3 years, but always made special trips to Lewis to get stamps.
2. The people you hangout with easily influence you.  Hang out with heavy drinkers, chances are you will start drinking too.  Hang out with people who care about social justice, chances are you will too.
3. Your friends are your family.  At college, it’s often hard to visit parents and family a lot.  Choose to befriend people who will care for you and love you.  Love and care for them too.  When something comes up, and it will, they are the first place you will go.
4. Don’t take your laptop to class.  You’ll never pay attention to a lecture again (trust me, I wrote this one while in class and I had no idea what the professor was talking about).
5. Your sin does not define you.  God create you, you are His workmanship.  Your identity is found in God and God alone.
6. Be unified.  Matthew 12:25 says that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”  I’ve see so much division, been apart of a lot it, and every time the group or people fell to ruins.  Be unified.  Humble yourself and love, even if that means you don’t get what you want.
7. Guys – “in the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.” – John Eldredge
8. We are a mess, but it’s beautiful!
9. We might not always be faithful, but God Always is.
10. Be who you are.  Only then can you come alive and become who you are.

I thank God for the trials and tests of college.  Through those trials, God transformed my life into where I am now and I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for them.

I know I’ve learned many more things in the last 5 years, but these are just some of them.  How about you?  What are some things you have learned in college and want to share with others?  Post in the comments.  I’d love to start hearing back from you.

As always, may God bless you,
~Adam

And it was a good show.  Why was it so good?  I think that is a simple answer.  It was good because, like any other good shows out there, it told the viewers that they are worthy and accepted.  The show took flawed people and turned them into something important.

It was a common theme from the 6 seasons, especially the last 3.  I remember a specific episode when Ben was going to Locke’s side because at least there he would be accepted.  Then he was asked to stay because he was accepted there too.

It happend again in this last episode.  Ben was asked to be number 2.

I think we are all flawed.  We are human, and we all want to be worthy and accepted.  But the show is over, the good feeling it gave while it was on the air has come to an end.  However, there is one place where you can truly feel worthy, where you are truly accepted.

God says He loved us before we were even conceived in our mother’s womb.  He created us to love us.  Like a parent loves a child, God loves His children.  You and I.  All we need to do is receive it.  I spent 2 years of my life running away from that love, but God showed me time and time and time again just how true it was.  And guess what, it doesn’t end after six years.  It doesn’t even end after 100 years.  Not ever.

So, are you searching for something.  Are you looking for validation, for your identity.  If you want it, cry out to God ad ask Him for it.  Then grab a Bible, go to church, email me, or talk to someone about it!

I pray that right now, as you are reading this God will reveal a new piece of His love for you to you.  I pray it would be more than just a feeling or an emotion, but something real.  I pray this because He has told me who I am, and I want you to know who you are.  You are a masterpiece, a beautiful masterpiece, created by a good God who loves you deeply.  I pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW579icDRSA

After following the tread on Facebook about this video, someone posted a link to a video called The Butterfly Circus.  It’s a 20 minute film and worth every minute.  You can watch the full 20 minute version at The Doorpost Film Project’s website here.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-19)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

How cool.  Here are some more images I found.

Saturday – December 26, 2009

It’s a rough ride down.  We were suppose to leave at 11 in the morning, but it ended up being much later due to the winter storm we were experiencing.  The Interstate is closed, and three members from the group are stuck on the West side of the state.  As soon as the Interstates open up, four cars decided to head on out, one stayed back to wait for those stuck still out west. We left from Brookings and made it to Sioux Falls to pick up a few more.  We soon found ourselves divided though.  Do we continue on in the bad weather, or stay there for the night.  After some discussion, and payer, we decided it was God’s will for us to move forward.  God blessed us with really good weather and safe travel to Sioux City, where we stayed the night.

Sunday – December 27th, 2009

The conference starts at 6:00 that night, so after a brief nap, we get up and head out on the road at 4:00a.  Travel is good and God blessed us all the way there. We arrive at the Hostel we are staying at.  The host was super nice and kind.  They actually gave us a night free, as well as providing free bed sheets and towels.  We quickly(ish) unloaded and started walking towards the conference.  It’s about a 4o minute walk.  We go through the registration process and head to the large group session that started at 7:00p. And wow, was it intense.  You could feel the presence of the Spirit of God.  Here there were 16,000 people from all over to worship one God.  Wow.  We started singing the song “Doxology”

Monday – December 28th, 2009

Today, we had our first Bible study.  It was a small group (read less than 100 people) study, and we dived into John 1:35-42.  Very cool stuff.  I  was reminded that in Jesus, we are given a new identity by God our Father, but I was also realized that the identity He gives us doesn’t come in fullness right away, but rather fullness in time. After the first large group session, I laid down near our group and pretended to sleep.  I was broken and just wanted to cry, so I did, and prayed.  I’d become very distracted during the worship session.  I don’t know why.  So I cried and prayed.  Finally, I was like, just keep fighting this war and things got better.

At the first seminar, we talked about sharing the gospel.  The interesting part though was when we started talking about Mark 1.

¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

We defined near.  I always thought it meant a temporal near, but it turns out that isn’t it.  Apparently, when Jesus says the kingdom of God is near, it means that it is physically near, like you can reach out and touch it near.  How cool.

The evening large group was a full circle of emotions.  We praised and thanked God, sang in multiple languages, heard/saw Rahabs story, and heard about slavery.  Intense.

Tuesday – December 29th, 2009

Today was super intense too.  I missed all the sessions but did stop over at InterVarsity booth in the Global Connections room.  I spend about 20 minutes talking to a guy about going on staff and he asked me to come back later to do three 15 minute discipleship like meetings.  I signed up for a time slot and came back.  Each meeting ended up taking closer to 30 minutes, but it was awesome!  God really took away any reservation I had about wanting to go on staff today and I can’t wait to talk to Aimee to start going down the application process.

Break time

I think I’m going to get this part posted.  It’s almost been two months since Urbana and I want to give you all something.  I’ll do my best to get Wednesday and Thursday up sometime in the near future, but no guarantees.  I apologize for taking so long on this.

I’ve been thinking about my blog a bit and realize I haven’t posted much recently.  I’ve been thinking, and I think it’s about time that the purpose and direction of this blog change.  A lot is going on here at South Dakota State University since Urbana, and while I will continue to tell you about what is going on in my life, I’d like to also share with you what is going on on our campus and in the lives of people on our campus.  I probably won’t get much into it tonight, being that it is 12:30, and I’m tired, but I can tell you this.

I see a new song coming forth.  I see a generation rising up.  Something is happening on this planent that has never happend before.  It’s new, and it is real.  I can’t wait too watch it unfold through out the semester.  I heard a prayer said at iHop and this is how it went.

From the north, to the south, to the east, to the west.  Every college campus, revival!

And so that is my prayer too, as well as for the church and the nations of this world.  I believe it is coming and so I ask for your partnership in this.  Will you join in praying with me for revival for the nations.  Also, pray for us as we go out.  I thank you in advance for your prayers and support.

I am off to go sleep now.  May your morning, day, and/or night be full of blessings.

~adam