This does change everything...

There is a story...legend maybe...of a guy being demanding at an airport ticket counter and saying "Do you know who I am?" The airline agent gets on the microphone/speaker, "Attention, does anyone know this gentlemen in front of me? He seems to have forgotten his name?"

I don't think Jesus was being demanding or forgot his name when he asked, "Who do you say I am?"  Matt 16:15.  

Note the "you" is plural. King James version is helpful in this regard as it uses "y" pronouns for plurals like "ye, you, your" and "t" pronouns for singular like "the" and "thou".  In modern english "you" is singular and plural so one can't tell whether it's referencing a person or a group. So here Jesus is addressing all the disciples, not just Peter, though he is recorded as replying.

This (the question, not ye and thou!) changes everything - who is Jesus?  Have you checked Him out?  Who is He?  When we see Him for who He is it really does change everything...creator, giver, Savior, lover of humanity and all that is good, perfect, hopeful, and healing in the world.  That is worth following, I can sign up for that.

"The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him." Blaise Pascal

What are you creating?!

What are you creating?

Psalm 97:1 "The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad." God is sovereign over all. That is who we serve, the One who is above everyone else. May that comfort us this week as we encounter professors, people, work, demands, and expectations! And check this out, God in all His sovereignty ordained that Genesis be written. Imagine God addressing humanity for the first time, like the first time meeting someone you have wanted to meet for a long time - with that kind of anticipation building - what are they going to say?

Genesis 1:27-28: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’"

God calls us to be co-creators! We are called to create order in the world. Name the animals, plants, and birds. Feed them, organize them, learn them, manage this world to thrive, live, and grow. We are part of God’s team, working along side Him in His creation. That’s what you do isn’t it? You manage something - finances, numbers, computer code, engineering products, designs, medical, tools to make life simpler, accessories to streamline and spice up our lives, building, organizing people and resources…we are all co-creators, every single one of us. And women, have the unrivaled sensation of co-creating, growing, nurturing, life from within.

Have you ever borrowed or lent something?  We have notions to “return things better than it was borrowed”, or get upset when that doesn’t happen! Well, to that end – everything is on loan to us. Our friends, family, our very lives are all on loan. We get it for a time, a period, a breath. There is no second chance, no insert quarter to try again, no reset button, no additional lives saved up - we get one chance and it’s all on loan. May we be reminded that God is Sovereign and is Lord over everything. When we get that - then we can’t help but to serve Him and worship Him - indeed the word “worship” and “serve” in the Old Testament (NIV) is the *same* Hebrew word! He has given us every single step, breath, dollar, friend, minute, job, circumstance, situation.  Go create!

What are you creating for Him?

Connecticut response leads us to a Spring of serving...

Connecticut happened and I thought of words my children hear me say, “It’ll be okay.” Is that true? Does that hold much water? Here is a response and guiding scripture that we worked through during CSF services. A couple CSFer's were convicted to have a strong service mindset this spring through our life groups so we get to teach and live this out this semester. May God’s purpose also encourage you in the midst of unsettling and lingering uncertainty.

CSF response on facebook and more:  “We say to children, "It'll be alright". Serve Him, pray, push back the darkness, love at every turn and you have been true to your word. Stay true Connecticut.”

Dissecting that response:

Serve:

Henry Ford:  “To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.”

Martin Luther King: “Life’s most urgent question is what are you doing for others?”

Rachel Naomi Remen:  “Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”

Phillipians 2:7  “but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant”

Matthew 20:28  “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:43   “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

Pray:
Corrie Ten Boom:  Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”                                  

Oswald Chambers “We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.”  

I Thessolonians 5:16-18  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Pushing back the Darkness:
Matthew 16:18  “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Love:   
Michelangelo:  “Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.”

Matthew 22:36  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 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.           

God calls us to timeless truths. How we love, fight for things that matter, pray, and serve with our time, money, resources, relationships…these things define us at every turn: in prosperity, tragedy, and the vastness between.  Stay true to God, stay true to your word.

Hobbit Release Party

We just finished up three nights of Feed Your Finals at CSF, but we're not stopping there! Led by Jared and Marissa, CSF is hosting a Hobbit movie release party on Thursday, December 14th. The official festivities start at about 5pm, but folks will be hanging out in the "Shire" pretty much all day long. Be sure to bring your appetite.

Activities throughout the day include all of the typical hobbit meals (first breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, etc), Tolkien-inspired games, and tons of other fun. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. If you're planning on going to the midnight premiere, a large group of us will be heading to Hollywood Theaters for the 2D show. Check out the Facebook event for more information and updates.