"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body."
--Ephesians 5:25-30
In this metaphor for Christ and the church, Jesus is obviously the groom and we, as the church, are His bride. This language of marriage is incredibly refreshing and has helped me experience the depth of what it means to be in a relationship with Christ. It isn't a relationship like dating someone, it is like being married to someone. Now, granted, I do not have any idea of what it is like to be married to someone, but I know that it has got to be a lot sweeter than dating someone! I have been dating this girl for over 3 years now, don't get me wrong, it is amazing to be in this relationship with her...but, being married to someone has to be so much better than dating!
I have been thinking more and more about this marriage metaphor God uses to describe our relationship to Him. It is much different than a dating relationship. Dating feels good, but it is very vague in terms of actual responsibility. Marriage, on the other hand, is very clear...just think about the vows you hear at every wedding you have ever been to; "For richer or poorer, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live." It is saying, "You will be together FOREVER...there is no backing out of this one!" It seems like somewhere along the way, we as the church decided we'd rather just date Jesus instead of marry him.
It's a lack of responsibility.
A lack of commitment.
We are not fully committed to Him. We cheat on Him every single day by putting other things that are less important above Him, the God of this universe.
Jesus wants our everything. He doesn't want a loose idea of what our relationship will look like...He doesn't want to "date" us. He wants to marry us! He wants to have that intimate of a relationship with each and every one of us! Can you imagine that? The God of this world; the God who created you and this entire universe that you live in wants to be in communion with all of us! Not just any kind of communion...holy matrimony kind of communion. How amazing is that?!
My prayer is that we can look at our lives and see if we are in a relationship with Christ. And if we are, what kind of relationship do we have with Him?
Is it a dating relationship where we just go to Him when it is convenient? Do we just pray before a meal and forget about God for the rest of the day?
Or are we really married to Christ? Are we all in for Him? Is He the most important part of our life? Are we putting Him above all else in our lives and giving Him control of ourselves?
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
And So It Begins...
On May 31, 2010 the students arrived for the San Diego Summer Project 2010. Exactly a week ago I was sitting down in my condo on the San Diego Mission Bay thinking, "Wow, all the students are going to be here in just a day! I cannot wait!" It was for good reason that I was excited about them all coming...it has been such a blast so far!
On the first day we just moved everyone in and got people settled down in their respective houses and condos, and then the fun started! It first started when I got to meet all of the guys who are in my "Growth Group" (which is just a group of us who meet regularly and really get to know one another). Their names are SPENCER OBERSTADT
(Stevens Point Freshman), CHAD REINHARDT (Florida Statue University Freshman), CHRIS BARILE (North Carolina State Sophomore), PAUL FRIZ (Truman State University Sophomore), and MIKE COSTELLO (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Freshman). Me and another staff member by the name of David Coulter are the leaders of this Growth Group and we are both so stoked for them all.
On the second day we had this thing we like to call "Soul-To-Soul" in which we spend the entire day with our Group Groups basically spilling our souls to one another. Even though we are all strangers to one another, we telling each other EVERY major thing that has happened in our lives. We talk about our victories, our struggles, our pains, our fears; EVERYTHING. This is such a scary thing to do when the people you are doing it with are strangers, but it is one of the coolest things we have done so far. From this we have become so close with one another just in a weeks time. It seems like we have known each other for such a long time when really it is the opposite.
What David and I do with these men is pour our knowledge, wisdom, abilities, etc. into their lives so they can apply these things to their summers and their entire lives. We have been job hunting every day this week and also sharing our faith with people on the beach, on the bus, walking down the street, when ever there is opportunity. It has been so encouraging to see all five of these guys take steps of faith and start conversations with strangers to tell them about their faith in Jesus Christ.
We also have been job hunting with them and they have been so amazing. They are stepping out in faith, expecting that God will provide jobs for them and provide for them what they need. They have become discouraged at some points in the hunt for a job, they have mostly stayed on top of it and have really been getting after it. Once again, it has been such an encouragement for me to see them do these things with such faith going into every and any store asking for applications. This is a big feat in itself because the unemployment rate in San Diego is 11%.
Each of them really want to grow closer to God and are here on the San Diego Summer Project to do just that. I am so excited to see what God is going to do with each of them over the course of this summer.
For myself, I am excited to learn more about what it means to be a leader. I am ready to learn more about discipling other men like Christ did. I am also thrilled to grow closer to God over this summer. He is stretching me in ways that I have yet to be stretched and I am ready to take on more of this.
I pray that God would stretch, mold, and shape me into the man he wants me to be this summer and for the rest of my life. This is something you can be praying for me as well. Thank you all for your support in me, it is appreciated more than you know.
God Bless
On the first day we just moved everyone in and got people settled down in their respective houses and condos, and then the fun started! It first started when I got to meet all of the guys who are in my "Growth Group" (which is just a group of us who meet regularly and really get to know one another). Their names are SPENCER OBERSTADT
(Stevens Point Freshman), CHAD REINHARDT (Florida Statue University Freshman), CHRIS BARILE (North Carolina State Sophomore), PAUL FRIZ (Truman State University Sophomore), and MIKE COSTELLO (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Freshman). Me and another staff member by the name of David Coulter are the leaders of this Growth Group and we are both so stoked for them all.
On the second day we had this thing we like to call "Soul-To-Soul" in which we spend the entire day with our Group Groups basically spilling our souls to one another. Even though we are all strangers to one another, we telling each other EVERY major thing that has happened in our lives. We talk about our victories, our struggles, our pains, our fears; EVERYTHING. This is such a scary thing to do when the people you are doing it with are strangers, but it is one of the coolest things we have done so far. From this we have become so close with one another just in a weeks time. It seems like we have known each other for such a long time when really it is the opposite.
What David and I do with these men is pour our knowledge, wisdom, abilities, etc. into their lives so they can apply these things to their summers and their entire lives. We have been job hunting every day this week and also sharing our faith with people on the beach, on the bus, walking down the street, when ever there is opportunity. It has been so encouraging to see all five of these guys take steps of faith and start conversations with strangers to tell them about their faith in Jesus Christ.
We also have been job hunting with them and they have been so amazing. They are stepping out in faith, expecting that God will provide jobs for them and provide for them what they need. They have become discouraged at some points in the hunt for a job, they have mostly stayed on top of it and have really been getting after it. Once again, it has been such an encouragement for me to see them do these things with such faith going into every and any store asking for applications. This is a big feat in itself because the unemployment rate in San Diego is 11%.
Each of them really want to grow closer to God and are here on the San Diego Summer Project to do just that. I am so excited to see what God is going to do with each of them over the course of this summer.
For myself, I am excited to learn more about what it means to be a leader. I am ready to learn more about discipling other men like Christ did. I am also thrilled to grow closer to God over this summer. He is stretching me in ways that I have yet to be stretched and I am ready to take on more of this.
I pray that God would stretch, mold, and shape me into the man he wants me to be this summer and for the rest of my life. This is something you can be praying for me as well. Thank you all for your support in me, it is appreciated more than you know.
God Bless
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