the object of Christianity

David Platt writes in the book, Radical, "the message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him-his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness- known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel, God is."

John 3:16 says "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life." The object of Christianity is God incarnated in human form so I may spread His fame across the globe.

It's not about me.

So often I make it about me: what I want to do, where I want to live and where I'll end up.

That's making Christianity about me. The object is me.

I'm starting to see that is not what my beliefs are to be rooted in. Beliefs are to be rooted and founded on Him and His truth, not what is convenient for me.

That isn't saving the world.

The object of Christianity is Jesus and I want to keep it there.

Focus: Hands [Part 3]

The third aspect is "hands", which focuses on the service aspect of my faith. How do I live out my convictions?

Without action, my faith is dead.

Making my faith relevant to the world is critical.

All for His glory + Always <3

~Susie

Perfectly Blind

At the beginning of my Junior year at IWU it seems as though I continued to fall spiritually. Things are going great then I trip up and fall and then work  to get back to the strength I was.

Through struggles, hardships, and temptations, I have learned that just because I am a Christian doesn't mean I am immune to what lies outside of the IWU "bubble" where I used to have a perspective that everything is "bad" and sinful. I know that is no longer true.

Also I used to be blind to the world around me. I used to view it as a perfect world where everyone is good and no harm or pain could come to me in the same way as a non Christian.

I was perfectly blind.

Because of a recent situation, I see the world from the outside. I know the pain, hurt,  and ,temptation, of those who don't share the same faith I do. I want to reach out to them in their pain and love them for who they are, not how I think they should be.

I believe that is God's love showing through:

God loves humanity for who we are and not how we should be.

If He did, humanity would lose before they even had a chance.

I am definitely humanized.

That also humbles beyond anything I have experienced.

Every day offers new experiences for me to love people who may not be like me. And that is a beautiful thing.

Always <3

All for HIS glory

AWAKE

It's that time of year again.

I'm home for Thanksgiving break and instead of posting what I'm thankful for, I want to reflect on something completely different.

Last Friday night I got an email from this organization PULSE movement, who promotes and organizes outreach events for college students at state universities. This specific event was held at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus). When I read the email that listed prayer requests for the event, my heart broke.

At the same time, something clicked. Why was I sleeping (in the metaphorical sense) when I should be awake?  I don't want to be "asleep" to all God does in the world. I want to be awake to His work in the world.

 I have attended IWU for the past 3 years. While I love my school; it breaks my heart to see the spiritual climate dwindling. As a student, I am required to attend chapel 3 times a week. This is sad to admit but my freshman year, I loved chapel; it refreshed my soul and encouraged me to pursue God and His heart.

Now 3 years later, I no longer depend on chapel for growth. I depend on my own personal devotion time. The issue I have with chapel are the speakers are random; I don't see how their topics are relevant to my life right now.

I don't mean to "bash" chapel; I appreciate their efforts. I just think and ask myself, "Is there anything more than this? and "What has happened to all the passion in our faith?"

Then I thought back to the outreach event held at the University of Minnesota. I thought how a large number of people might be reached for the Gospel, how God has the power to move at at state university.

And here I am. At a small private Christian university; where we should be passionate about what we believe in and not rest until everyone hears about a love that goes beyond what they know.

I'm not saying there aren't any on campus; I just don't see it.

That brings me to where I am right now in life.

God has called me out of mediocrity into a life of crazy passion of Him and His renown. It has taken me so long to reach this place in my life with God. I am now AWAKE.

I won't go back to "sleep" until the world hears about a love that changes their life.

All for HIS glory + ALWAYS <3

Spiritually on Fire

It is more than evident by this blog that I am a Christian. I am not ashamed of what I believe. I just have a different "out of the box" perspective on what my life should look like as a follower of Christ. Things have happened in my life that have forced me to approach my faith from a down low perspective.

Yeah, I'm a Christian but who cares?

Who cares what I believe? Everyone in the world believes, has faith, in someone or something. This all influences how I live out my faith in the world today.

I think about myself more in a day than I ought to. I am caught up in what everyone thinks of my life. I'll be honest: i'm spiritually lacking.

I lack God in my life.

God calls me to be passionate for Him, above everything else. But I'm not. I'm close to finishing my college career at Indiana Wesleyan University. (I have about a year and a half left.) I'm concentrating on leaving college as a legacy, not to the school, but for my own pride.

Yes, in today's world, education is valued. But what about faith?

The faith I possess constantly gets pushed to the back of my mind. Not even doing my devotions is a priority for me. I just skate by.

God calls me to something completely different than what this world can offer me. I'm quoting a Switchfoot song when I say this, "We were meant for so much more. Have we lost ourselves?"

I have lost the spirit of God in me. I think about the world around me, outside of the "bubble" that is IWU. If I'm not passionately on fire for God, why would anyone else desire to be? I have conviction in my life when I say this. Passion starts with me right where I am in my walk with God. In essence, passion for God is contagious: it overflows into others' I am in contact with.

I cling to the promise of God that His spirit would flow down on me, that I wouldn't be spiritually lacking, rather, I would be spiritually on fire.

All for His glory + Always <3

Words

I actually pulled this from one of my journals from last year:

There is no argument that words have power, they create worlds in which we live. We are defined by our words.

Words define us and we define words, shaping our world and ideologies.

We are founded by our words and also build our lives around the foundations of words.

Words create worlds.

We can tear our world apart by our words- both spoken and written.

Can we go any place where our words don't follow us? Where they don't come back and haunt us? We can build others up

Tear them down....

We can't run from our words.

This got me thinking about the many words I speak daily.

Maybe whenever I speak or write something, I should consider the impact of my words.

I want to speak in truth, not just the "Christian" sense- but speak what is true. Life is too short to speak words that lie, hurt, cause pain- the list can go on.

More than anything, I want words I speak to bring healing, truth, beauty, Life!!

After all, my words are meant to be all for His glory,

Always <3

Spring Summit 2011

A "summit" is the highest point or degree.

That's an obvious definition. When someone says the word "summit," I automatically think of a mountain's peak.

This past week (January 17th-19th) was IWU's spiritual emphasis week (Summit). I have attended many Summits, this one was by far the most life changing.

The speaker challenged me in many areas.

First off, going into Summit week I wrote this in my journal: "Summit is on the brink...no matter what happens, no matter how God works this coming week, it changes nothing about the nature and character of God. Let it not be about the "experience" or "spiritual high" but also the lasting change He would bring upon our lives. I wanted Summit to be all for the glory of God. "

Summit truly was all for his glory.

I could write about past Summits but that is irrelevant now.

One of the services was from Ephesians 4:29:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen."

This is one of those verses I try to live by. I want to encourage others by what I say.

I also learned about being low and humble before a holy God. Every day I can walk in pride or humility.

Another thing I learned was 5 life patterns to live by:

1) chastity: learn to control our physical appetites to glorify God. This is not just about sex, but all our physical appetites.

2) poverty: Learn to hold on to our earthly possessions lightly.

3) obedience: Respect and submit to those in authority over us.

4) stability: Be content in the place God has put us. Let's stop and ask God where he wants us to be.

5) conversion of manners: Live in such a way that our faith in Christ is evident to others.

"pray and work"

The last Summit service was on water sources and how they can relate to the types of Christians there are.

"What if the thirsty world came to you looking for a drink...what kind of living water would you be?"

"Downspout Christians"

-gushes during showers of blessing

-but goes dry when the heat's on, never really available when thirsty people need it.

The problem with this is inconsistency.

"Swamp Christians"

-once filled with fresh living water

-now the water is old and stagnant

-a breeding ground for "creepy crawlies"

-not appealing to a thirsty world.

The problem with this is stagnation and impurity.

"Water pump Christians"

-living water is there and it's pure

-but it's buried deep beneath the surface.

-available only on demand

-requires effort by others to get it.

The problem with this is inaccessibility.

and finally,

"Drinking fountain Christians"

-The living water is there

-It flows freely from one's life

-fresh and pure each day

-constant and consistent

-satisfies the thirst of others

The blessing is purity and consistency.

God brought conviction in my life through this service:

I'm a "hidden" Christian where I keep what I'm learning beneath the surface because I care what others think of me. I also think, "Do they really need to know how I'm growing?" So I just keep it locked up inside me. The water is starting to flow again...

I wrote this in my journal too: "The world is thirsty for grace, for something real.

God is real. He is alive in millions of people across the world. Christians are the "drinking fountains" of the earth.

One thing I appreciated about this past summit was that it was real and I'm still reflecting on what I learned.

I'm still climbing down from the "Summit" peak and I want to be consistently growing in my life with God so that it brings satisfaction to those around me.

peace-