What Is a Man? Exposition I

MUSIC, LITERATURE, POPULAR CULTURE

So. Upon my first google search, I found a lot of material.  As I had imagined, this question has been around for a while, and people have tried to answer it in many ways.  I found a couple of songs about what a man looks like, two of which I have decided to mention here.  

First, I found "whatta man" by Salt n Pepa.  In this song, the singer describes what makes her man a man.  A lot of it is very on-the-surface and does cover what a lot of people think a man should be...

...My man is smooth like Barry, and his voice got bass
A body like Arnold with a Denzel face... 

...My man gives real loving that's why I call him Killer
He's not a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, he's a thriller
He takes his time and does everything right
Knocks me out with one shot for the rest of the night
He's a real smooth brother, never in a rush
And he gives me goose pimples with every single touch

Spends quality time with his kids when he can
Secure in his manhood cuz he's a real man
A lover and a fighter and he'll knock a knucker out
Don't take him for a sucker cuz that's not what he's about
Every time I need him, he always got my back
Never disrespectful cuz his mama taught him that...
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/salt-n-pepa/whatta-man.html

So.  According to these guys, it's important that a man be physically attractive and skilled in pleasing his lady friend.  That's the biggest thing for these people.  

There's also some attention towards being strong without being violent, and there's a tinge of what feels like faithfulness  and respect in this man, but most of this song is about... something.

I find it interesting that he only spends time with his kids "when he can," but he seems to have plenty of time to pleasure the singer enough so that more babies might come into the picture.


Moving on... I found another song by a group called "The Four Tops"

A man can walk proudly down in the street  

A man’s not ashamed of what he believes  

He knows how to laugh, he knows when to cry  

He knows how to live, he’s not afraid to die
 

What is a man? What is a man? What is a man? What is a man?
 

A man searches for the key to success  

He’d rather be sure than make a wild guess  

He knows how to love, he knows how to hate  

He knows when to move and he knows just when to wait

 
What is a man? What is a man? What is a man? What is a man?

 
A man can be angry and still hold his tongue  

A man don’t give up till the battle is won  

He knows how to win, he’s not ashamed to lose  

He knows his destiny, he doesn’t take long to choose

 
What is a man? What is a man? What is a man? What is a man?
What is a man? Just what is a man? What is a man?
http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-is-a-man-lyrics-four-tops.html 
   

I liked this song a lot better.  It explored the characteristics of a man more extensively than the previous one did.  And I'll leave it at that.  

 Let's move on to Literature.  In my preliminary search on Google, I found a part of Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Hamlet questions what a man is.  He says:

Hamlet:

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how

infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and

admirable, in cation how like an angel, in apprehension how like

a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals--and yet,

to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me--

nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so

Rosencrantz:

My lord, there was no such stuff in my thoughts.

Hamlet explores that man is the best thing God created, with angel-like actions and god-like understanding.  Yet, man is not enough to impress Hamlet (this last part has more to do with Hamlet's issues in the play, and not the definition of man. So, in short, what can be learned from this is that man is amazing.)

Then, a friend and reader of mine sent me a very helpful lead.  He sent me "If" by Rudyard Kipling.  This poem is great.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! 

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if/ 

According to Kipling, becoming a man involves a great deal of maturity and control.  This was possibly the most useful source so far.  Thank you Bradley! 

Finally, I found a meme dealing with the definition of man.

"What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!" 

is said by Dracula in a Castlevania video game.  It became popular because of the over-the-top voice acting.  I found no help in this for my project, except the knowledge that

a) the definition of man is still a part of modern thought today, and
b) not all definitions are positive and/or optimistic

So.  It's about time I end this post.  this is what I've got so far.  I have some recommendations and an idea of where to look  next.  However, if you would like to help along the way, remember that the comment box and my email inbox are always open for you!  Thanks for sticking with me so far.  Stay tuned for Exposition II.

Prayer For A Friend, or The Groove of Things

Hmm.

It's been so long since I've posted something.  I've got to get back into the groove of things!

The groove of things...what is the groove of things? Are we talking about life?  Live itself is constantly changing up on us, so I suppose getting in the groove of "life" would be learning how to stay above the water when the waves come hard at you.

This sounds simple enough, and it definitely sounds like common sense.  However, it is pretty difficult.  There are so many things that happen in life, and sometimes our decisions don't let us get above the waves, but deeper into them.

I say all of this because I have a friend who is in this very situation.  She is drowning in life, and making decisions that will only push her farther and deeper into a sea of woe.

Please pray for her.  

As I was rediscovering 80% of the music on my iPod that I don't listen to, I came across this song by Casting Crowns.  It is so beautiful, and it's exactly what I am feeling about this friend of mine.  Listen to it:

God just spoke to me through this.  He used this melody to remind me of His power and how I need to entrust this burden to Him.  This is what I"m feeling right now.  The song itself is very sad, because of what is going on in the friend's life.  However, there is a sense of surrender and trust in this song.  I am lifting my friend to God because there's nothing I can do, but I know that He can do anything.

So, please pray for my friend.  And if this song speaks to you; if you or a friend of yours need this prayer, let me know so that I can pray for him, her or you.  

Let's pray for all of us to get into the groove of things.

What Is a Man? - Prelude

Recently my dear friend Voguemind published a post that has provoked a lot of thought in me. You should read it. It's profoundness transcends beyond that of ordinary blog posts.

http://voguemind.blogspot.com/2012/07/mans-world-attempt-2.html

Now. After having read this at around 11 PM the other night, I went to sleep. Then I began to dream. Usually, my dreams don't have a scrap of comprehensibility, but this one flowed coherently. My dream explored what kind of husband and father I would be. And because of this dream, I have been thinking about what it means to be a man. How should manhood be defined?

So I have decided to make this a research project. I will painstakingly analyze different sources on what a man should look like, and I will report it back to you, my reader(s).

(Follow my blog, guys! I don't know who all I'm talking to!!!)

Oh! And should you want to help me in this quest, the comment option is below, and my email address has not changed!

Things to Consider: Part II

In China, all I had ever heard of Jesus was that he was a man. But when I got here, my professors and other students have told me different things about Jesus. Who is Jesus really?

Here, I just explained that Jesus was not just a man, or a "good man," because of His message.  By claiming that He was God, he challenged everything the Jews and the Romans stood for.  Therefore, Jesus was either really God, or else he was a liar or a mentally unstable person.  Having presented those three choices, I wanted to highlight parts of Luke with her (Born of a virgin...Never sinned...His Ministry...His sacrifice and triumph), but we moved on to the next question.

I don't know much about Christianity, but I do know a little about Buddhism and Islam. Islamic people are very exclusive, and they won't marry anyone outside of Islam. Is Christianity like this?

For this question, I told her that Christians should not marry outside of the Faith, and I used 2 Cor 6:14 as support for my statement.  

However, I explained that I believe this rule was a safety mechanism for us.  I told her about King Solomon.  I told her about how when God offered him anything he desired, he asked for the wisdom to lead God's people. I also told her how great his name became and how much God blessed him.  But then I told her about all of his wives, most of which were pagan.  He began to build temples for their false gods and God was pretty upset. 

I noticed some people who call themselves Christians are very aggressive, and some are not at all. When I got here, I was interested in Jesus, so I asked a girl to teach me the Bible. She did a Bible study with me, but then she asked me if I wanted to do another one, and another, and another, and another! But I was busy with classes, so I felt pushed.

I read her the Great Commission at the end of Matthew.  I told her that our mission as Christians is to share Christ's love and message to everyone.  I also told her that as humans, we do make mistakes.  Some of us just stick with other Christians (and that's not bad, but if we do not try to reach out to others at all, we are ignoring our commission).  Others seem to overdo it and add pressure and tension.  But it is our goal to share God's love with others.

Should I pay attention to what the professor says to me or what students tell me in Bible study?

I told her that since she is not a Christian, but a seeker right now, Bible study might not help her as much at this stage.  I advised her to seek stronger Christians, whether they be professors, some students, or even ministers and preachers.  I invited her to my church, and told her a little about the youth minister.

A girl I know told me that nothing is more important than prayer. She said I don't even need to study for tests, I only need to pray all night long.

I told her that prayer is a powerful and amazing thing.  The word 'pray' simply means 'ask.'  We are able to talk to our amazing God, and He listens to us!  I also told her that prayer is real.  I told her about how prayer had affected my life.  Then I told her that prayer, however, is not a magical formula that will make God do what you want.  If I asked God for a Ferrari, I might not get one, since God knows that with my driving skills, I could get myself killed!  So, in short, God answers prayer, but don't try to manipulate Him!

If a person is saying really bad things to me, and I tried to ignore him, tell him I don't like what he's doing, and tried to avoid him, but he keeps doing it, and I punch him, and he punches me back, who's fault is it?

This was a tough question! It was a little random, but I started by saying they were both in the wrong.  I reminded her that our mission is to show Jesus's love in our lives, so the moment she punches, she is no longer showing love.  I said that if she can't avoid him, she could find an authority, such as a professor, a campus safety officer, even a dean or the president!  Then the person would notice how much of an effort you put to not fighting, and that will make him wonder.  I told her that this was just my opinion, since I could not point to any scripture, but I felt this was a good idea because I tried to focus on our mission.

Is it more important to become a good person and do good things or to find out about Jesus and be a Christian?"

I was surprised to learn that she heard this from a professor! Then I felt bad that I told her to take their advice.  I started by trying to tell her that sometimes, even professors make mistakes, and then I addressed the question.  Our God is so perfect, that even the smallest smidge of sin will keep you from getting anywhere near Him.  Even if you try hard to be a good person, if you have sinned at least once in your life, that will discount you from being with God in Heaven.  That's why God Himself became a man and died for us.  I explained that Christians use the phrase "washed in His blood" because since Jesus is the only one who never did anything wrong, He was the perfect sacrifice and when we let Him into our hearts, he cleans our hearts so that we can be like Him.  If a person who has tried to be a good person does not choose Christ, he will not get any closer to God.  I used Galatians 2:16 to back this up.
 Then I told her about how when one lets Jesus into his heart, He sends the Holy Spirit to start making him like Jesus.  I read Galatians 5:22-23: The Fruit of the Spirit.  I told her that we will become "good people" by following Jesus and letting the Spirit teach us these things.
_________________________________________________________

This is how our conversation went.  As I mentioned before, I wanted to post this so that you can start to think about things like this, about how you answer questions like these, about your story.  I know for a fact that I have a long way to go in my own walk with Christ, but I feel He gave me the words and the scripture references during that time, and it makes me glad that He would use me!

So if you have any responeses to what I have said, you know what to do!

(comment/email)

Things to Consider: Part I

The other day, I was able to talk to someone about Jesus and our faith in Him. At first I was nervous because I didn't know what to say, but it went really well. She already had a list of questions for me, and by the grace of God, I was able to find answers and biblical support to the questions. Praise God!


So this girl did not make a decision for Christ in our conversation, but she is definitely not as confused as she was before. I think that's a great step. So I asked this girl if I could talk about the questions she asked on here, and she said yes.


" In China, all I had ever heard of Jesus was that he was a man. But when I got here, my professors and other students have told me different things about Jesus. Who is Jesus really?


I don't know much about Christianity, but I do know a little about Buddhism and Islam. Islamic people are very exclusive, and they won't marry anyone outside of Islam. Is Christianity like this?


I noticed some people who call themselves Christians are very aggressive, and some are not at all. When I got here, I was interested in Jesus, so I asked a girl to teach me the Bible. She did a Bible study with me, but then she asked me if I wanted to do another one, and another, and another, and another! But I was busy with classes, so I felt pushed.


Should I pay attention to what the professor says to me or what students tell me in Bible study?


A girl I know told me that nothing is more important than prayer. She said I don't even need to study for tests, I only need to pray all night long.


If a person is saying really bad things to me, and I tried to ignore him, tell him I don't like what he's doing, and tried to avoid him, but he keeps doing it, and I punch him, and he punches me back, who's fault is it?


Is it more important to become a good person and do good things or to find out about Jesus and be a Christian?"


So these were the thongs we talked about. I decided to write the answers in a separate post so that you could think about how you would answer these things. I will post my own answers shorty.


By the way, I would love to hear from you on this topic, so please comment or send me an email at tanglefreerace@gmail.com!

Galatians

Dear Galatians,

It's Paul, Christ's apostle.  Grace to you.  I'm surprised you guys have put aside the Gospel for "another" one, because THERE IS NO OTHER GOSPEL! Everyone who says otherwise should be cursed. But the Gospel I preach is the real one because I received it from Jesus Himself!
You've all heard my story-I was really mean to Christians and all about tradition. But when God, who had a plan for me since before my birth, showed me Jesus, I didn't go straight to see other people.  I stuck around Arabia and Damascus for 3 years before finally talking to Cephas (Peter) and James.  People in Jerusalem still didn't know me, they had just heard that a former persecuter is preachng the Gospel.  So God was glorified by their praise.

14 years later, I went back to Jerusalem with Titus and Barnabas because of a revelation I had.  I talked to the influential leaders- I shared the Gospel I had been sharing with the Gentiles.  I wanted to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.  Even though false believers who came to spy on our freedom in Christ tried to trip us up, we didn't submit to them and Titus, who was greek, did not have to be circumcised--So the Gospel is preserved.  When Peter, James and John saw the grace of God in my life, they accepted Barnabas and me.
But Peter came to Antioch, I got on to him because he was in the wrong.  He was being hypocritical, eating with the Gentiles until his "circumcised crowd" showed up.  They were all so hypocritical that even Barnabas went astray.  So I told Peter in front of everyone, Hypocrite! How can you live like a Gentile and tell them to live like us?  We know we are justified by faith and not works, but, if I seek justification and keep sinning, does that make Jesus a supporter of sin? NO! For I am crucified with Christ, but I live; but not I, but He lives in me. I don't ignore the Gospel becaused if righteousness could be gained from the law, Christ died for nothing!

What's up with you guys!? Did you receive the Spirit by works or by faith? Those of faith are sons of Abraham, and God even preached the Gospel to Abraham since He knew He would justify all by faith.  The righteous live by faith since Christ took our curse under the law away.  Before faith, we were captive under the law, but now that faith is here, we are sons of God.  If you are Christ's, you are an heir under Abraham's promise.

As youg heirs, you used to be like slaves, since you were under your guardian until you inherit what is yours.  So we were slaves to the world, but when God sent His son under the law to redeem us from the law, we became adopted sons with the inheritance. 
You were also enslaved in worldy things before knowing God, but now that you do know Him, why are you turning back?  When I first preached to you, I was not well, but you accepted me as an angel from God.  What happened?  Don't forget the story of Hagar and Sarah.  Both had Abraham's kids, but one did according to flesh and the other did according to promise.  Hagar's son had no inheritance.  Remember we are the children of Freedom, because

Christ set us free.  Don't get yoked into sin again.  Walk in the Spirit, not by fleshy desires.  These two are opposite and if you try to pursue them both, you will get nowhere.  Works of the flesh are obvious, and they will keep you out of the Kingdom, but the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So bear one another's burdens.  You reap what you sow.  Let's never grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap, if we don't give up.  And circumcision doesn't matter; God's new creation in you does.  Those who focus on details like this want to boast in themselves.  I won't boast in anything but the Cross.

May the Grace of the Lord be with you.

_______________________________________________________________________

This is what I got out of Galatians.  It turned out a lot longer than Ephesians, even though both books are six chapters long.... I don't know if it's because of my sudden loss of summarizing skills or because God had a lot to say to me through this book... I'm leaning towards the second possibility.


Anyways, I think the three biggest ideas in this book are


1) There is no other Gospel but Jesus's. (This is what led to Paul's testimony in the first half of the book! Also, at first I didn't get why he mentioned his stay in Arabia and Damascus, but now I think He's emphasizing that he got the Gospel from Jesus, not a Christian leader in Jerusalem)


2) We are justified by our faith in Jesus, not by our actions. (This is where all the talk of circumcision became relevant.  Peter and the other Jews apparently thought everyone should be circumcised, according to the old traditions.  But Paul argues that this "action" will not bring salvation.)


3) Being freed by Jesus, let's not entangle ourselves again! (The verse I used yesterday came from this passage; don't use your freedom for fleshy desires, but love and serve one another.)


Like last time, if you have any questions or comments, comment!

Freedom

Happy Independence Day!


Today, Americans all around the country celebrate on the 4th of July. No, we are not celebrating the month of July or the number 4. Rather we celebrate a quintessential part of our history. We celebrate the anniversary of July 4, 1776, when American colonists stood up to Great Britain and declared themselves as an independent country. War broke out, but after the struggle America emerged victorious. Since then, the United States of America have been "the land of the free and home of the brave."


Today is a great day to appreciate and celebrate such freedom, but as Christians, we should also rejoice in the freedom we have found in Jesus. He set us free with His blood--free from the burden of sin and worldly things. We are free.


However, as with the freedom we have as Americans, we cannot abuse this freedom we have. I was reading Galatians (and a summary is on the way!) and this verse stuck out to me.


" For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another." Gal 5:13


Let's celebrate our freedom by loving each other.

Ephesians

Right.


So I did some Bible reading today.  And the featured passage is...The whole book of Ephesians!


I read through and think I got the big ideas from there.  If you're familiar with Ephesians, and want to add something, feel free to comment!


Ok. so.


God loves us so much, He gave us so many blessings through Jesus because We are His Inheritance and He is ours--sealed with the Spirit.  God has put His Son, Jesus Christ, as the authority over all.  Satan used to rule over us, BUT GOD saved us from the enemy through Jesus, who is now the most important thing ever (the cornerstone). The amazing thing about it is that everyone can have God's love.  We are now ALL one body--the body of Christ.  Show the difference in your life.  Quit your old lifestyle and start over new.  Be kind, compassionate and forgiving, like Jesus was.  Try to be just like Jesus.  Act like Him and not like everyone else in the world, or you have no inheritance in Him.  LOVE EACH OTHER AS CHRIST DID.  Obey authority.  Resist Evil with God's Armor.  Grace be to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love uncorruptable.


Putting these main ideas together was a pretty fun exercise.  Best of all, I feel the Holy Spirit helped me understand all this.  This is actually a really cool message, and I'm sure the next time I read Ephesians, God will reveal even more things to me! I encourage all of you (well, just Voguemind right now...) to read your Bible more.  It's cool.

More about MFUGE: Worship

Now the Worship Rallies at MFUGE have to be my favorite thing about the week.  In the mornings, after breakfast and quiet time, we would go into the auditorium for AM show, where we get all pumped for the day and the Scott Hill, the camp pastor, gives us a thought for the day. Then we go to site.

AM show

After site, we have hang time, in which we sleep, chill or hang out until dinner and worship.  Worship starts with music from the band.  At first no one knew the songs they sang, but we learned them and the lyrics are beautiful.  If you would like, you could look some of them up!

-So Good To Me            Cory Asbury

-One Thing Remains    Jesus Culture

-Deep Cries Out           Bethel Church

-Shout Unto God           Hillsong United

The band: The Weight of Glory-  

http://theweightofglory.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-ep

Worship

Then, Scott would come up and preach.  He was great.  He presented God's word in an easy, funny and deep way.   On Friday, he taught out of Genesis.  We explored sin and God's grace in the midst of it.  The Holy Spirit descended on us and convicted us to the point of tears.   

Scott Hill

After Scott spoke, the Weight of Glory got on stage again.  We praised as we never have before.  Four girls in our youth group were sobbing, like many others in that auditorium.  We were all being broken for our sin, so that we could find the comfort and love of God.  The band finished playing and everyone just wanted to keep praising the Lord.  There was round after round of applause and so they played one more song.  That evening was so indescribable, it's one of those nights where you just had to be there.  However, it was nothing short of AWESOME. 

As mentioned in the last post, please pray for FUGE and the people who work it. 

More about MFUGE: Site

So, I'd like to talk a little more about MFUGE.  It's a FUGEcamp, so we also meet up with CentriFUGE and XFUGE kids over there. However, while CentriFUGE does camp activities and bible study, and XFUGE does something else (I actually still don't know what they do), MFUGE takes its campers to different sites around that community to do missionary work.  We get split up into different ministry tracks, like Childrens Ministry, Creative Ministry (music/drama/etc), Social Ministry (nursing homes/ shelters), PCY Ministry (Paint,Construction,Yardwork), and Games&Rec Ministry. 

My church group at MFUGE

I was put in the children's ministry site and my group went to a daycare center called Operation Upward.  This is a cool place because the daycare watches kids after school during the academic year and over summer vacation...  Well, that's not the cool part.  This is-Operation Upward's goal during these hours with the children is not merely to watch them, but to share the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.  So this summer, MFUGE partnered up with this site so that FUGERS could also share Christ's love to these children. 

My FUGE track group outside Operation Upward.  For the children's safety, no pictures were taken inside.

The week at site was nothing short of amazing.  On our first day there, the kids were so crazy! They were running around, screaming, throwing things, fighting, spilling things...being kids!  However, they were not opening up to us at all.  Although at the end of the day, it did not feel like a victory, Jesus had already begun to change their hearts with the patience and love we showed them that day.

The next day, the word awesome kicks in.  Before we left for site, Stone the worship leader prayed over us.  He prayed that the devil would be bound and kept out of Operation Upward and that we be showered in His blessings.  When we got to site, the kids were like new kids! They were calmer, nicer, and they sat on our laps to color and play games.  Whether it was parental discipline the night before or fear of the daycare owner, I care not.  This was the work of God.  So we began to build relationships with these kids in hopes of sharing the Gospel the next day.

So that next day arrives, and things keep getting better.  We were able to talk to them about Jesus and prayer.  One of our FUGE campers took a little girl aside to share her story with her.  Another FUGER read bible stories to another little girl.  I spent the day with this little boy (for security purposes, I'll call him Perry).  He was so nice and he always played games fairly, and he decided he liked sitting on my lap! So Perry and I spent the day together and I felt I was ready to share the Gospel.  However, the day ended and we had to return to campus (Mississippi College was generously hosting all 750+ of us).

So on the last day of site, I went with the bold intention to share the Gospel with Perry, as well as with some other kids I had become friends with that week.  However, when I got there, Perry was not there.  I was a little sad because I felt I missed my chance, but I was reminded that this was not FUGE's last week there and that Perry saw Christ through my love for him.  Then six little girls accepted Christ into their lives!

So I started sharing with other kids, and one little boy asked me to take him to the bathroom.  So I walked him to the bathroom, but before we got there, he tripped on a water valve that used to be a water fountain.  The valve broke and a continuous plume of water kept hitting the ceiling! Another FUGER and I dived toward the valve and covered the opening with our hands until other the water meter was turned off.  The whole gym building was flooded within 1 minute! I spent the rest of that day helping clean up.

So those were my days at site.  We definitely saw God moving in these kids and in ourselves.  Please pray for Operation Upward, for the kids there, and for FUGE.

The Race Marked Out For Us

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!


Last week, my youth group and I went to Mississippi for MFUGE, a mission training camp.  A day at MFUGE consisted of: 
Breakfast,
Quiet Time,
AM show (worship),
Site (we went to different parts of Jackson, MS to do mission work),  
Hang Time,
Dinner,
Worship Rally,
Church Group Devotionals, 
Night Life, and
Lights Out


The days were busy, but they were amazing.  At site, we were able to see the hand of God working in the children we were working with.  Also, the Worship Rallies were spectacular.  On Friday night, The Holy Spirit was moving so intensly all over the auditorium, that campers all over were sobbing with conviction and  wave after wave of applause and praise for our Lord resounded after the last song!  Had it not been for the timed schedule we had, I'm sure we would have praised the Lord well after midnight.  
But the most amazing thing that happened Friday night was the movement of the Holy Spirit.  Four girls in our youth group broke into tears because of the conviction in their hearts.  Two of those girls joined our Family and one rededicated her life to our Lord and Savior! I also rededicated my life to Him.


Our church host caught up to us during our church group devo, and he welcomed our new sisters into the Family of God.  He also read Hebrews 12:1-2


 "1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."



Not only was this the passage the camp pastor preached from the night before, this is a beautiful exhortation to believers.  I put the part that stood out to me in bold, because this is what the Spirit used to plainly show me how distant I had become from God.  You see, I had gotten entangled in sin, but I finally let Jesus set me free once more and take His place as the Lord of my life.
And this passage tells us how to do so.  We have to run with perseverance the race marked out for us, as Paul says.  We have to be intentional and perseverant, and we have to fix our eyes on Jesus.  By doing so, we begin to pursue Him just like He pursues us.  We pursue what we desire. So, when we line our desires with God's, we begin the beautiful relationship He wants with us.


This morning I made my decision public, after our new sisters were baptized!  I also decided to make a blog and share what I'm about and what happens in my life. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.  My church and friends will keep me accountable. I will avoid the sin that so easily entangles.  I will run the race marked out for us.  I will fix my eyes on Jesus.  


I ask you to join me, to be a part of my life, and to pray for me.


Let us run the race marked out for us.