Random Thoughts: Still God

My last two entries have been about the awesome wonder that comes about when God steps in and does something extraordinary. I believe God uses these moments to rejuvenate our faith, to make a statement of the Godness of God, to let us know He's still near. But what happens in the inbetween? The times when the extraodinary is not happening? After these last couple of experiences you'd think I'd be set for awhile as far as my willingness to trust God. We shall see...

This morning, I woke up feeling sick and my first thought was "God why is this happening to me." I hadn't gotten much sleep during the night and I had to go take my first major exam of the semester. I managed to get out of bed and start my day. My test was first thing in the morning but when I went to take it, I couldn't concentrate and my mind felt foggy. So I complete the test to see my grade (everything's computerized) which was the lowest grade I've ever made on a nursing exam. Again I ask God, "Why is this happening?"

I went back to my room and basically wasted away the rest of the morning wallowing in self-pity when all of the sudden, a thought hit me. What am I doing? I had this picture in my head of God standing over in the corner with a smirk on his face saying sarcastically, "Are you done yet?" Yes I was done.

I was reminded once again, that God is God all the time. He's still God when I bomb a test. He's still God when my health fails. He's still God when I act stupid. It is not the content of my day that determines my relationship with God but my daily willingness to trust regardless of what happens. Got a down day? He's still God.

Random Thoughts - Prayer

God works in awesome ways. I fully believe we are in a time of spiritual renewal and I want nothing more than for the power of God to be seen in the lives of people so that God may be glorified as He alone deserves. The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to a couple of friends. These words alone cannot adequately describe everything but hopefully God will move in your hearts as you read.

"There have been some really cool things going on here with prayer lately. Every Friday and Saturday, we have a variety of worship services and music events and each week, they have been progressively getting more and more intense as far as meeting with God. Along with that, Satan has been working harder and harder on everyone involved because we have been letting God use us more. My story about last week can be found on my blog page called "God in a music stand". This week was again surrounded in prayer.

I was asked in the middle of the week to play music for our main Friday night vespers service which most of the students here attend. So Michael and I decided to do an acoustic service with just the two of us playing and a couple of singers. Prayer was very present in our practice time. Michael and I were sitting in our room getting ready to practice and I said "Let's..." and Michael quickly finished "...pray." On Thursday, I got an email from a friend asking me for prayer about a test that she had spent a lot of time studying for but still felt very unprepared. I realized that she was in the test at the time so I immediately took time to pray for her. Later that day, I saw her and said I prayed for her. She asked what time and I said about 10:40 AM. At that exact moment, the teacher came over to her and said "You look like you're having a hard time, can I help you?" So she sat down and helped her understand the questions. On Friday, we spent part of the afternoon practicing for the after vespers music program called Adoration. I could feel a lot of tension as we were practicing and I believe fully that it was Satan trying to get our attention off of God. Later that day, I randomly got a text message from a guy whom I respect as a man of God who said "i really want to pray for you tonight". Also, a little bit after that, my mom emailed me and said "I've felt really impressed to pray for you more than usual today." She said she was impressed to the point of pulling over on the side of road as she was driving and then a second time later that day as she was doing some house work. Then sound check came and historically, the program participants have not set aside a time of prayer before the service. But this time, our chaplain really emphasized how from now on he's wanting to get sound check and all of the preliminaries done so the participants can have an extended time of prayer before-hand. So we did just that and it was a really intense time with God as we prayed with and for each other and shared our thoughts on the core Bible verse of the evening. Soon after we finished praying, it was time to start the music. We started off with a modern version of the hymn, "The Solid Rock" and then moved on to "Blessed be Your Name". Both of those songs went really well but the last two were even better. We went on to "Enough", during which I substituted the bridge for a monologue about God being sufficient in different points throughout history, wrapping up with the current moment. Then we ran that song into another old song, "I have decided to follow Jesus." As soon as I started leading the first phrase, the one-thousand or so people in the room erupted with a volume I've only ever heard in auditoriums of 10 - 20 thousand. The intensity of the singing was overwhelming. The sermon went on from there and was a perfect followup. After, that service was over, Michael and I moved over to another auditorium where we were going to play for the "Adoration" service (it starts at about 9:15 PM). The seats quickly filled with probably 200 people or so. We cycled between times of fun and times of worship and then the time ended. Our song leader paused and everyone got up and started to leave because it was "officially" the end. But then, as people were stepping out, our song leader (whom I also admire as a great man of God) said quietly into the microphone "do you want to keep singing?" followed by a resounding roar of "yeah!" as people rushed back to their seats. From there, the worship took off in a way I can't describe. I can only say that it was God lead.

I look back up and see I've spent awhile writing but it is hard for me to keep silent. I hope that you are encouraged as I am to see God working in awesome ways. He is inspiring a passion in the hearts of people that moves beyond the levels of church and music and gets down to the core of our existence. All of this excitement that I have been describing is not just excitement but a movement of people for the glory of God. Lives are being changed daily because of the joy of God's people. Even today in my religion class, our teacher said that two students came to him one day last week and said they wanted to give their hearts to Jesus. Pretty cool!

How do we live our faith?

The other day, I found myself browsing through my myspace "friends" list and came across the profile called "The Adventists Space". Basically it's a discussion forum for Seventh-day Adventists (my denomination) so I decided to check out the blog page to see how it was going. I was scanning through the discussion all the way back to May 2007 when I suddenly became intrigued by the umber of responses to each topic (the full list is at the bottom of this post for those who are curious). Two most popular were "Ten Commandments – obsolete" and "Sunday, mark of the beast" with 34 and 30 responses respectively. I'm sure these discussion were very captivating and I have no problem with discussions on these topics. But I looked down the page a little and came to a post called "How do you live your faith?" (posted Jun 2, 2007). It is very succinct and asks two specific and relevant questions.

1. What are some things that you or your church community do to live out the life of the kingdom of heaven?"

2. What are some things that the Adventist Church could do to further extend our influence on behalf of the causes Jesus advocated?

As of today – over 3 months later – there are only 8 comments to this post. The two most popular posts were listed within just a few days of this one. Is it because we automatically assume that everyone already knows how to live their faith or because we don't feel it is that important or because it's too hard.

I find it so easy to talk about what I believe – theology – points of doctrine. It's safe. But to actually put into action the life of Christ, this is hard. Jesus was asked what the most important commandment. We all know the answer. Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37-40)". We know in our heads but do we believe in our hearts. Jesus certainly spent time teaching doctrine but His "doctrine" mostly encompassed the practical application of holiness and love. God says to Israel in Hosea 6:

"What can I do with you, Ephraim?
     What can I do with you, Judah?
     Your love is like the morning mist,
     like the early dew that disappears.
Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
     I killed you with the words of my mouth;
     my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
     and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

And in Jeremiah 22

This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

I could go on and on with Bible verses from all corners of the Bible showing God's desire for love in action. Jesus spent his entire ministry spending time with the despised, and showing mercy to the unloved.

Yes it is hard. Living our faith requires us to go to uncomfortable places, give of our time, and do the unpopular. So my challenge is this: pray – I mean really sit down with God and pray and see what he has for you. Then, take action. Don't let fear hold you down because "if God is for us, who can be against us?"

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (I John 4:16-21).


As promised, here is the complete list in chronological order. Intriguing isn't it?

• 20 posts - "What 27 Adventists are doing" – basically what it says. General discussion of people talking about what they're doing
  
• 15 posts - "How do we approach former Adventists"
  
• 18 posts - "When it's time to move on" – a question about a pastor at a church
  
• 9 posts - "The Bible – Roadmap or…?" – discussion about the purpose of the Bible
  
• 23 posts - "Which version do you use?"
  
• 18 posts - "What to do with MADventists"
  
• 34 posts - "Ten Commandments – obsolete?"
  
• 8 posts - "How do you live your faith?"
  
• 30 posts - "Sunday, mark of the beast right?"
  
• 20 posts - "To move in or not to move in…that's the question"
  

God in a music stand

It was one of those times when you feel like you're the hero of an action movie. You know, when he's being held captive and the world is only seconds away from being destroyed. Everything seems to be going bad; the crisis has come. This time though was without the drama of a daring escape, a massive gun battle, followed by the inevitable destruction of the evil hideout.

A group of us were setting up sound equipment for a late evening time of worship in my university's cafeteria only we didn't get near the time we wanted because we had to wait until supper was over. Time progressed very rapidly to about 30 minutes before start time and the band still hadn't gotten a chance to run through even one song. Each of us was running around frantically trying to complete the setup. I couldn't get the monitors to work, there mix was sounding horrible, the lead singer couldn't find any music stands, the drummer couldn't find drum sticks, and the program we were to immediately follow was ending. Stress was very near boiling. The band finally managed to get a couple songs partially played right as people were starting to arrive, but roughness was apparent.

Right before everything started, I stepped around the corner and leaned my head against the wall to pray. I didn't know what to say, I just had this feeling of intensity that I hoped would project to heaven. The lead singer, Eduardo, whom I greatly admire as a prayer warrior and passionate worshipper, had followed me around the corner and placed his hand on me. So the two of us stood there silently in the corner taking a moment with God. We stepped out of prayer feeling slightly better.

The issues still remained. Eduardo commented to me that he was feeling more stressed out than usual before playing and singing and that he really wished he had a couple music stands to feel more comfortable with the lyrics. I commented back somewhat in jest that we should pray, and that maybe there were music stands around the corner. You know how we get with God sometimes, especially when stressed. So Eduardo and I look at each other and walk around the corner to face an open closet with two music stands. My eyes barely stayed in my head. If that wasn't even enough, we walked back into the cafeteria to see the drummer proudly holding a set of drum sticks that someone had brought just minutes before.

Part way through the set list, the band played an awesome arrangement of the old hymn "The Solid Rock"

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

I was completely drawn in to the words as I thought about the whole evening. All the songs were played that night, all the equipment worked correctly and the mix didn't sound that bad. Though it began as the most stressful nights of music I had ever had, it ended as a incredible reminder that God is our Rock and that we only need to trust in Him.

Back to the movie. Somehow, when all is grim, the hero does something extraordinary and saves the day. This is who God is. Though the journey may be tough and the outcome totally unexpected, God has a way of taking those things and molding them into something beautiful.

"The God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast." I Peter 5:10