Draw Near

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4.14-16

I think we all frequently find ourselves in places of "weakness" and "in time if need." I know I do, so when God brought me to this verse today, it brought me to tears...big ones. He then began to reveal my weaknesses and needs to me - weaknesses and needs He already knew about. Not only did He already know about them, but He already took those weaknesses on Himself. He continues to offer to bear our burdens for us if only we will let Him.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11.28-30

Why would He do this for us? Why would He do this for me? I'm such a mess. To think that He would take my sin on Himself is a humbling and amazing thought.

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant." - Hebrews 9.11-15

"Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." - Hebrews 9.22-26

"But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins...

then he (Christ) added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." - Hebrews 10.3-4, 9-14

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." - Hebrews 10.19-22

We can draw near because Christ drew near to the Father when He came to earth for us.

"And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." - Luke 22.40-44

We can draw near because He prayed that we would.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." - John 17.20-23

We must draw near so that we can have confidence and endurance.

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,

“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." - Hebrews 10.35-39

More Singles' Laughs from SCL

As if Surviving Church as a Single wasn't enough, Jon Acuff gave it a holiday twist. This post is hilarious and I thought I'd share my favorites.

4. With bated breath, they ask, “Should I put you down as +1 for the Christmas party this year?” = +2 points

I didn't get this one this year, but numerous times I've been asked if I was bringing anyone home with me.

20. A friend you only see once a year during the holidays, uses the S word when hearing you’re single. “Still?” = +1 point

I haven't gotten this exactly, but I've heard something close to this.

21. People spend an exorbitant amount of time telling you marriage success stories, e.g. “The instant my friend Jill stopped looking for a boyfriend this incredible guy came along and swept her off her feet.” = + 1 point

This one might be my favorite.

28. For Christmas, your friends bought you an annual pass to eharmony.com or another dating site. = + 5 points

Hasn't happened yet, but my sister did mention it...today.

29. They filled out your dating profile for you and made you sound 97% more awesome than you actually are. = +10 points

She may have already done this...

31. At a Christmas party, someone tells you the wildly inappropriate compliment, “Where were you when I was single?” = + 2 points

Haven't gotten this exact phrase, but trust me, there are plenty of inappropriate comments along these lines.

iBand

Merry Christmas from Northpoint's iBand! Hats off to these guys.

I haven't watched this longer version yet, but here it is if you want it:

Sports Rule Changes

I'd like to consider myself a sports purist (get rid of the DH), but my friend, Joey, isn't exactly the sports enthusiast I am. He thinks they are boring. He found these rule change suggestions on Tyler Stanton's website, and I couldn't help but share. They are too funny.

Oh, and...

GO GAMECOCKS!!!!

Fear

God has been dealing with my anxieties a lot lately. I’m not going to get into particulars, but I will say that it is not just one area of my life. In fact, it’s most, if not all areas of my life. It’s almost like a chain reaction. I worry about one thing and it sets off something in my head and heart that begins a cycle of worry.

At the center of my anxiety is pride and unbelief. However, as Paul reminds Timothy, “…if we are faithless, he remains faithful…” (2 Timothy 2.13). God continues to open my eyes to this sin, rebuke me, and offer grace and encouragement.

That grace and encouragement has come recently in some things I have been reading. The first is a chapter of a book that a friend sent me awhile back. The book is called Scripture Opens Blind Eyes, and though I’ve only read the “Don’t Worry” chapter, I’m sure the rest of the book is also helpful. Here are some quotes that stuck out to me:

- There’s always something to worry about.

- We worry about things that are inherently uncertain.

- You worry because of you, not because of things.

- We lose sight of God because what we want (and worry about) is the only thing we see.

- Central to worry is the illusion that we can control things…Worry assumes the possibility of control over the uncontrollable.

- A worrier is storing “treasure” in the wrong place. If what you most value can be taken away or destroyed, then you set yourself up for anxiety.

- Some things are certain (namely Christ and His love and provision).

- If your life isn’t made by having money, then your life can’t be unmade by the lack of it!

- He (God) will give you what you need to live on if you need him in order to live.

- Anxieties feel endless and infinite – but they’re finite and specific.

- Anxious people “eagerly seek” the gifts more than the Giver.

- Your Father cares about the things you worry about.

- In the darkest hole, when life is toughest, there’s always some way to give yourself away.

I also listened to the following clip from a message by Mark Driscoll. The blog post basically says what he says in the video clip.

http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2010/11/21/7-truths-about-fear/

I hope some of this is helpful or encouraging to you. Finally, I’ll leave you with this promise:

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5.17

Go Gamecocks!

35 - 21

Wow. Hard to believe, but I love it! We beat Alabama! So that means...

January 26, 2010 - Basketball beats the #1 team (UK)

June 22, 2010 - Baseball beats #1 Arizona State

October 9, 2010 Football beats the #1 team (Bama)

...and now baseball IS the #1 team.

I also found these facts (from ESPN.com) very interesting:

In a 2009 win over South Carolina, Mark Ingram had 246 yards as the Tide totaled 264 rushing yards on the Gamecocks defense. On Saturday, Ingram had 41 yards, while the Tide as a team had 36.

Quick Notes on South Carolina's upset * First win over No. 1 team in school history * 35 points on Alabama is most since LSU scored 41 on them in 2007 * Ends Alabama's 19-game win streak and 18-game SEC win streak * Held Alabama to 36 yards rushing (3rd-fewest in Nick Saban era)

Marcus Lattimore has 2 Rush TD and a rec TD today vs Alabama. The last player to have 3 TD vs Alabama? Tennessee WR James Banks in the Vols' October 25, 2003 shootout with Alabama. Banks had 2 receiving TD and a Rush TD. Tennessee won 51-43.

The trio of QB Stephen Garcia, WR Alshon Jeffery, and RBMarcus Lattimore will all have eligibility remaining after this season. Garcia is only a junior, Jeffery a true sophomore, and Lattimore is a freshman who was one of the top recruits in the country last year.

ESPN Stats & Information

Proud to be a Gamecock!

Happy Birthday, Carlyn!

On her 25^th birthday, I thought I’d share 25 things about my sister, Carlyn.

· Her name is Carlyn, which is pretty unique. So is she.

· Someone was named after her. A girl in her kindergarten class’s mom named her other daughter after Carlyn.

· She is totally the middle child – center of attention and peace-maker/seeker in the house.

· We’re 20 months apart. When we were younger (and our mom dressed us alike), people thought we were twins. Sometimes they still do.

· She once saved a child’s life…when she was about 5. A friend’s little sister slipped in the pool and since none of the adults saw it right away, Carlyn jumped in and pushed her out. Pretty impressive, I know.

· She is really good with money. Since I know how “great” she was with money in high school, I know that’s amazing. Dave Ramsey should be proud.

· She is super smart. She didn’t always give a great effort in high school, and she’ll tell you that, but since she was about 19 she has studied/read about/learned all kinds of things including banking, money, real estate, raising kids, marriage, and the Bible.

· She once met Donovan McNabb (at Michael and Marcus Vick’s house)…and didn’t know who he was. (Her defense is that he wasn’t on the Campbell’s soup commercials, yet.)

· She paid her college roommate to let her use the bottom of her closet for her shoes because they wouldn’t all fit in her own closet.

· She is a really good dancer.

· She is great with kids of all ages, which helps a lot in her marriage.

· One time at a homecoming assembly in high school, she stood up on the bleachers and started dancing, and eventually everyone in the gym was chanting, “Go Carlyn, go Carlyn.”

· She once tried to make cookies, but they turned out a soupy, boiling mess. When my mom asked her what went wrong, she said, “I don’t know. I guess it’s because I used diet soda (instead of regular soda).”

· Her sports motto is, “If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.”

· She was invited to be in Who’s Who of American High School Student Athletes. We’re not really sure how.

· She got married over a year ago, and it’s still kinda weird to me.

· Before they started dating, she wanted to set me up with the guy that she’s now married to. I was living in China at the time, so I didn’t end up meeting him until they were engaged.

· She has incredible fashion sense (or so I’m told). In high school, she would frequently forbid me from leaving the house until I changed clothes.

· She’s a great wife.

· When I was in China, she gave up her Christmas and New years to come visit me, and even hiked up a mountain to stay in a village and build a greenhouse.

· She’s going to be an awesome mom.

· Though we haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything, she’s an amazing sister.

· She started talking late because when we were younger, I knew what she wanted before she could figure out how to say it, so I’d just tell our parents what she was trying to say. She’s more than made up for that late start since then.

· She’s really good at talking.

· She loves the Lord and loves people.

That gives you a little glimpse into my sister, though it doesn’t come close to telling you everything she’s about. I hope if you haven’t met her, you get the chance to. It will probably help you understand me a little better, too.

I think the thing I love most about my sister is how much she has grown in Christ over the past several years. It has been totally amazing and humbling to see her draw close to the Lord and let Him teach her. I love the conversations we are now able to have because of where the Lord has brought us and how His Spirit has worked in our lives. She seeks God in all that she does and the advice she gives me is Biblical and inspired. I don’t always want to hear it, but I’m so thankful that God is using my little sister to sharpen me.

I’m so proud of the person you’ve become over the last 25 years, Carlyn. Happy Birthday! I love you!

Learning from Experience

I don’t like learning from experience. I like having experience. I like knowing what to do based on experience. I just don’t like the process of learning from experience. I think experience is the best way to learn something, but if I could learn everything I need to know by reading a book and studying, I would.

Learning from experience is humbling and it’s usually hard. That’s why I don’t like it. In order to learn something through experience, you typically have to be experiencing something you’ve never done before or at least not done much. That means that you don’t know what you’re doing. And it usually means you will fail. And many times when you don’t know what you’re doing, people are watching. They are watching you, and they know you don’t know what you’re doing and they think you’re an idiot. At least that’s how it feels to me.

I don’t like to make mistakes. I really don’t like for other people to see me make mistakes. And why is that?

Pride.

Pride is my biggest struggle. It’s the sin I see most often in my life. And by most often, I mean everyday. Multiple times a day.

I want to be perfect…in everything I do…all the time. And I want everyone around me to know that I’m perfect. But you know what? I’m not. I’m far from perfect. I know that, but I still want people to think I’m perfect. How arrogant is that?

I think that if people see me as perfect, they will like me and respect me. Well, first of all, everyone won’t always like and respect me. And even if my perfection would guarantee my popularity and respect, that’s not God’s plan. God’s plan is to bring glory to Himself, and if people hating me, disrespecting me, and looking down on me brings glory to God, then that’s what needs to happen.

My humility, not my arrogance will allow people around me to see Christ. My dependence on Christ, not my pride in my abilities will turn people to Him.

God has placed me in situations lately that allow me to either choose humility or get smacked in the face with it. I’m batting about .500 in choosing humility, and that’s being generous. Many of the situations He’s placed me in are painful and difficult, regardless of if I choose humility or get smacked with it. So why would God place me in these situations?

I’ve been questioning Him about this for several weeks now. Last week at community group, a friend said something that really hit me. We were talking about qualities (in us or other people) that attract people to Christ. She said that the people who have shined the brightest for Christ in her eyes weren’t those who had it all together and seemed perfect. It was the people who seemed to struggle well with life who shined the brightest.

That hit me hard because currently I am not struggling well with life. I’m certainly struggling with life, but I’m not struggling well. That thought has stuck with me as I attempt to press on each day. In every situation, everyday, God wants me to struggle well with life that I might “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2.15).

Then, Oswald Chambers hammered the point home when he said, “God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.”

Ouch, that hurt my pride…oh wait, that was the point.

Another Free Audio Book

Ok, so Forgotten God was really good. I haven't listened to my August download yet, but I can tell you you definitely want to get this month's free audiobook from Christian Audio. Go here and download Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. I'm almost done with the paperback and have filled up several pages of quotes. Be sure to listen with a pen and paper. Great book.

Thrifty

So buying a cabinet at Goodwill for $15 and then sanding it and painting it black so it looks good in the kitchen isn't specifically mentioned in Proverbs 31, but it's implied, right?

Either way, I like my little coffee station. :)

Live Your Snapshot

Last month, I had the privilege of going to the island Eleuthera, in the Bahamas to serve alongside about 35 high schoolers and adults from Grace Church. The trip was amazing. We got to spend time with a family from our church, The Fastzkies, who are living and serving in Eleuthera. We got contribute to a couple construction projects, putting roofs on a water cistern and medical clinic. We also got to put on a Bible School for the kids on the island.

As I said, the trip was amazing because of the people and the opportunities God opened up for us there, but it was special to me for another reason. This was my first trip out of the country since coming back from China.

While I was in China, we had several short term teams come to serve with us, so I was used to being the “longer term” person organizing the teams, preparing, and following up. The trip to the Bahamas was the first time I had been on the “other side” in several years, and the perspective God granted me in China really changed the way I viewed the trip.

I think on short term trips, it’s easy to view yourself and your time there as unimportant, because you’re not there long enough to make a difference. I know many times, this has been my attitude. But the thing is, and this is what I learned in China, God places you in specific places at specific times with specific people to do a specific task. It is our obedience in these specific things that bring glory to His name. It’s so difficult for us to really believe this, though, because we can’t see the whole picture. We can only see our miniscule snapshot. God knows the whole movie, though, and places us in our snapshot for a reason.

One night in small group, I felt like God wanted me to share what short-term teams look like from the “other side” and how much God can (and does) use short-term teams to make a big impact. So I shared the following story…

After being in China for about 5 months, a teammate and I made a trip to a friend’s home village. This friend was a new believer and already growing astonishingly in the Lord. This village was one we hadn’t planned on visiting at all because foreigners were not received well at all and had even recently been kicked out. We certainly were not well received there during this visit. While in the village, though, we visited the elementary school, where we discovered they had no clean water to drink. They drank out of filthy cistern, using a communal hose that stayed on the ground next to the cistern.

We agreed this was not ok, and if there was any way to fix this, we would. We immediately began brainstorming ideas and trying to find people to ask for help, since neither my teammate nor I were water purification/piping experts. As I talked to my dad about this, he decided he wanted to help. He contacted a friend who was involved in water purification in Africa, and the 3 of us began discussing how their bio-sand filters might work for us.

Five months later, my dad and stepmom were on a plane to China. We assembled all sorts of parts for our cistern/filter prototype, and headed to the village. During this trip, we were received fairly well in the village, and our language was coming along, which allowed us to communicate more. After completing the plastic prototype with my dad, we began discussing a permanent solution.

The next teammate that joined our team just happened to be the agriculture guy we needed. He came just weeks before a small team (4 construction workers) from SC came out to work with us. We quickly put them to work building a cistern with a bio-sand filter at a spring toward the top of the mountain. While they were working, my other teammate and I got to go in every class in the elementary school, give out toothbrushes and worm medicine, and tell them about the Great Physician.

Over the next year, we had several teams come to work on 2 other cisterns and pipe water from the first cistern to the school. Each team stayed for less than 2 weeks, but their contribution lasted much longer.

The more time we spent in the village, the more we were welcomed back. As we showed Christ’s love by meeting physical needs, the more their hard hearts opened to hearing about our true need. In the year and a half I spent making trips to this village, I saw 2 people accept Christ, and many more become open to dialoguing about Him. We also saw our friend, who first took us there, be empowered by the Holy Spirit with a boldness to share Christ that I’ve rarely seen in mature followers. And one of the people who chose to follow Christ was a young boy; the first male believer that we know of in that village.

I bet, though, that if you asked any of those short term teams about the impact they made there, they would talk about the cistern or pipe, and wouldn’t be so sure about the eternal impact. In the same way, if you ask us what impact we had in Eleuthera, we’d probably talk about the shingles on the roof or playing games with kids, not so sure about the kingdom impact.

That’s because we can only see the snapshot, not the whole movie. And the thing is the story I just shared with you is only a very few snapshots, maybe a frame of the movie. God was working in that village before we got there and continues to work once we’re gone, just as He was in Eleuthera before we got there and will be there once we leave. He doesn’t need to use us, but He chooses to. He gives us opportunities everyday to glorify Him through obedience wherever He happens to place us. But He always gives us the choice.

Listen to Him. Obey Him. Live out your snapshot for Him, and be confident that He works before, after, and in the midst of our snapshot. Because the movie isn’t about us. It’s about Him. He just loves us enough to include us in a snapshot.

*Picture from http://fashion.elle.com/blog/

Take Care Lest You Forget

This morning at Grace, Matt Williams preached on the conversation between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7. In speaking about how she was desperate for Jesus because she knew she was empty on her own, he asked, “When everything is going our way, are we still desperate for Jesus, or are we full on our own?”

He then said, “Wherever our strengths lie, we must release that so that it doesn’t become and idol.”

It reminded me of the passage in Deuteronomy 8, where Moses is imploring the Israelites to remember God and all He has provided.

"Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.” – Deuteronomy 8.11-20

So how do we take care to not forget? Moses gives us that answer, as well:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. – Deuteronomy 6.5-7

And Paul also reminds us that nothing good comes from us:

“For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh…Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!...For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 7.18,24-25, 8.3-4

All things in my call for my rejection, All things in You plead my acceptance

Praise be to God!

- Picture from provindents.com

It's August? For Real?

Where did summer go? (I realize that I live in SC and summer still has about 2 months left, but with school and football starting , it feels like fall is right around the corner.) This summer has been so crazy, but wonderful at the same time. I've been super busy and tired for most of the summer, but it's been worth it. I can't honestly say I've loved every minute of it, but overall it's been a great summer filled with old and new friends. And maybe one of the best parts is that Greenville feels so much like home to me now, every time I left town, I was excited to come back to my church, my friends, and my house.

So what have I been up to? Let's see...

- National Athletic training conference in Philly - where I got to spend time with my dear cousin, Whitney, and also see her brother Johnny and his family.

- Bachelorette weekend for Elizabeth at Douglas lake outside of Knoxville, TN.

- Peikou's wedding in Louisville, KY, where I also got to see some great friends and go to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

- My cousins, Jennifer and Polo, and their daughter, Gracie, came to visit and we went to the Atlanta Aquarium.

- Bahamas mission trip with the emosewa Wafuasi and Dioko peeps from Grace Church. (Had to steal one of Sabrina's pictures for this because on this trip my camera started to get moody...then it broke.)

- Elizabeth and Rusty's wedding in Knoxville, TN. (My camera was pretty useless for the majority of this trip, as well, but I did get a couple good pictures.)

- Started a new job.

- Rob and Renae's engagement party in Columbia (where I took no pictures).

Yeah, so that's what's been going on. I'm going to try to catch up on some blogs I've been wanting to write throughout the summer (we'll see how that goes). God has been teaching me things and showing me things from new perspectives in my life lately, and I'd really like to share some of those thoughts. Hopefully I'll make the time to do that soon.