Humbled
Today I was meeting with a student, which is fairly normal given the nature of my job. This particular student is a new believer, and it has been particularly encouraging to me as we meet and talk through the gospel and many of the questions that he has in this stage of his life.
We were talking today about why we have to be born into sin and be sinners, when it wasn't me that sinned way back then. It was this guy named Adam, who I don't even know. I did my best to explain the idea of Adam being our representative, and then if we have faith in Christ, then Christ is our new representative before God, etc. etc. So then I made the assertion that we cannot do anything without sin affecting it. Sin affects, distorts anything that we do. We can still do good things, and furthermore are called to do them, but they are never 100% for the glory of God. So I continued to talk and talk and talk until I was sure that I had driven home who we are as sinners. Very honestly, he then looked up at me and said, but didn't Christ set us free? It is for freedom that he has set us free, right?
The blood rushed from my face, I felt a little cold, and answered him, "yes."
I think often I see my sin and dwell on my sin so much, that I forget who I am in Christ. I think of my Adamic nature so much more than I think of my Christian nature. Therefore, I get depressed. Joy runs from my face just as the blood did today. I fail to realize as Paul says that if I am in Christ, I am a new creation. The old has gone, and the new has come. I am no longer ruled by sin. The effects of sin are still in me (for sure) but they are not my master. They should not have the power to rule my life. Why do I not think of this more?
So today, I was humbled. And it was a good thing indeed. I need to see myself in Christ so that I may be strong to overcome sin and to not give it the foothold in my life that it loves to occupy. Thank you, Mr. 1 year old believer.
Big Bang
I recently saw an article on cnn.com about the Big Bang's 'Smoking Gun'. Turns out that scientists have all the answers. Here is a clip from the article...
"In that trillionth of a second after the big bang, the universe expanded from the size of a marble to a volume larger than all of observable space through a process known as inflation. At the same time, the seeds were planted for the formation of stars, galaxies, planets and every other object in the universe."
I am not a scientist, at all. But I just think that it would be harder to believe that everything came to being by this process called 'inflation' and that it all happened in .000000000001 of a second. Star seeds and planet seeds were planted. And i guess human seeds too. That's really wierd to think about. What does a human seed look like? (please avoid the obvious answer here)
Jealousy?
That's right. Two in one day.
So if you don't know, I'm working at Vanderbilt for a campus ministry, called RUF. We are a part of the
Presbyterian Church in America . We're a fairly insignificant denomination on a national scale, but we are growing, and many people seem to love our churches. Likewise, RUF is now on over 100 campuses, which numerically is fairly insignificant when compared to other campus ministries, but we believe that we are doing a great thing in bringing the gospel to students where we serve.
At Vanderbilt, RUF has a rich tradition of having many good campus ministers and we have enjoyed a fairly successful ministry here, if that is really measurable?? Recently, another campus ministry has made a big push to make a 'comeback' on campus, and I am beginning to see their influence more and more. They are making a big push with freshmen, and with people that would be considered 'leaders' in most peoples eyes. I feel like that I am in a wierd place because on one hand I want to say, "Good luck" and I want to mean it. On the other hand, I am really not too convinced of their methods of doing ministry. I believe that they treat people as projects rather than people, and its generally pretty hard for me to support that kind of approach. So what do I do? I talk to many students who are meeting with the leaders of this other ministry much as I do.
I wonder what the other leaders are telling the students? I tend to think of our approach as bringing the gospel to the students wherever they are, and this can look many different ways. Sometimes this might mean that hanging out might be the best thing, and many times it means that we have to take a deep look at someone's life and their sin and have very difficult conversations. It just depends. I think this is what Jesus would do, and so do many other people who are involved with RUF. We tend to focus on 'being' and not so much 'doing.' But doing is the natural inclination of our hearts. We all tend toward legalism because it makes us feel like we can earn it, and do it before God. It makes us feel good about ourselves. But it is not the gospel. The gospel tells us to give up on our own efforts, and trust Christ because we can't do it. Jesus doesn't bring a 5 week plan to discipleship, he brings grace and the Word to our real lives. This is hard.
Any suggestions?
The Grossest Thing in Recent Memory
Dear Naked Juice Company,
I recently purchased one of your Naked drinks. I have thoroughly enjoyed your juice drinks since I first had one last spring. Although they are a bit expensive (sometimes as much as $5), I will splurge in order to treat myself to such a wonderful taste. However, today I found myself rather hungry about mid-morning and I thought that I would go for something that would mirror more of a full meal than one of your juice drinks. I chose your Chocolate Karma All Natural Protein Soy Smoothie. I took one drink and almost threw up. It was sour and it tasted like urine smells. I hope it is heart healthy as the bottle depicts, because anyone who drinks it knows that it is not taste-bud healthy. I am rather curious as to why you keep selling this product, as I think it is the worst thing I have put in my mouth in recent memory. I am asking for a full refund of the $3.44 that I paid for this drink.
Honestly,
Brent Corbin
I don't envy them at all
In my life I have realized a few things, and one of the significant things that I have realized is that being a boy is so much easier/less stressful/less complicated than being a girl. Think about it. We don't have to mess with our hair if we don't want. We don't have to do makeup stuff. We don't really worry too much about which pair of jeans make our butt look fat or tall or smushed in or whatever. We surely don't have this once-a-month-for-a-week phenomenon. ALthough, Sarah would probably argue that my mood swings could rival even the most intense PMS. And there is more.
But what I am really absolutely struck by is how much it costs to be a girl. Think about it. Haircuts $50, minimum. With color, at least a cool $hundy or so. Makeup isn't cheap. And as I am finding out as Sarah has been shopping for some clothes to wear to a wedding party this weekend, girls clothing is freaking outrageous. There are little lace tops that can't have more than $6.75 in material, that cost $180, and dresses that in your wildest dreams couldn't cost $200. They don't, they actually cost $480. And jeans are this whole mind boggling thing too, although I am a bit more sympathetic with the pricey jeans since they can be worn all the time, but jeans can cost up to $250, and heck, probably more.
I once spent $78 on a pair of jeans. I felt like I was getting ripped off majorly, but I think I've gotten my use out of them. I wear them about twice a week, and have for the last 6 years. No holes, nothing.
$480, wow.
