Post 10: It's been a while...

Well, life has been fairly busy lately. I haven't make a blog post since the friday before this last one! Today was Easter, which was awesome. It's the one time of year where a lot of people go to church who would not otherwise go because they feel obligated because it's the day that Christ rose from the dead and conquered the grave! Woot. Jesus is awesome. On Saturday, with Campus Crusade and any other people invited, I watched the Passion of the Christ. It was good to see that movie again as it reminds me of all the pain that Christ went through to save me from my sins. The total pain he felts was certainly not all physical, or perhaps not even mostly physical, but for the First time in all of eternity, the Son of God was seperated from the Father because he took on the weight of all of our sin. I wish I could more fully understand that.

I think if you took that far enough, all of us Christians would realize how much we need to be out sharing the gospel! Many people after watching that movie are affected by it and love Jesus more because of it but don't actually take the step of faith and share the gospel. Now if you're reading this, I'm not putting myself on a pedestal of anything, for I myself certainly do not share the gospel nearly as much as I should. This is why I'm glad that God has put Godly people in my life to help guide me to do some things I wouldn't usually do. After watching the movie, we went out to the campus cafe and met up and then split up into groups of two to go and share the gospel with people anywhere on campus. Quite honestly, the thought terrifies me, being my shy self... at least to new people. However, to KNOW that I have the Holy Spirit inside of me who is working through me, I know that all I need to do is take that step and start talking to people and I will be led to say the right things by the Holy Spirit.

So, that being said, Helen and I went up to a couple of guys and introduced ourselves. We talked to them about life and whatnot and then brought up Easter. I found out they were Catholic and they went to church about every other week or so they said. From the sounds of the conversation and the fact that after a fair amount of small talk, they wanted to get going, I do not think they were Christians just from the responses I was getting, but since they had to go, I just pray that God will use the little we were able to tell them to cause them to really examine their faith and see if it's real. I wasn't able to share the Gospel. I'm really excited for when we do this next week. I hope more people join us!

There are so many thoughts running through my head right now that it's hard to decide what path to take and write about. I guess I can start off by saying my mind hasn't quite been where it should be lately. Nobody ever said living a Christian life would be easy... especially not a life that's pleasing to God, but it should be something we strive for and I've somewhat put it on the back burner by not reading my Bible daily. I MUST get back into that. My days go by SO much better that way.

Oh, there's a track of thought worth talking about: the encounter. I really really enjoyed the encounter. If anyone is reading this blog who doesn't go to Michigan Tech, they're like... whaaaa? An encounter is a worship service that one of my friends headed up just to unite the Christians on campus and for the purpose of outreaching to people. We sang some awesome songs and watched a really really powerful video called fruitcake and ice cream. It's about a girl who went from being totally against God to becoming a Christian in 14 days because of the love of her new Christian roommate who simply listened to her and loved her as we are commanded to love others. The speaker in the movie read from her journal so we could see her thoughts and it was so powerful and moving. After that, we had more singing, then there were some girls who did a praise dance which is a form of worship I'm not too familiar with, but I enjoyed it. I think it was great to do that on campus right inside a residence hall. There were like 70 people? That's a guess, but it was quite a lot. We filled all the seats we had in there. I truly wish I could show how much I appreciate everyone who helped out with that!

Summer is approaching fast! There's very little left in the school year, yet so much more work to be done. Be praying for me that I will be able to focus on my schoolwork more near the end here. I really need to work harder than I have been if I want to get my grades back up.

I want to close this up with the lyrics of a song we sang at Vespers, which is just an evening worship service at a local church for all college students in the area. It's one of my favorite songs and it has a really good message in it. It's called "How Deep the Fathers Love for Us"

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(REPEAT)

I truly want to apply that song to my life and live it out. It captures the message of Easter! Well farewell for now. I think I gave plenty of words to chew on.