Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
He Cares
Lately, I've allowed unnecessary stress to overwhelm me. I describe the stress as 'unnecessary' because I don't have a busy schedule. It's my last semester of college so my course load is light. In a perfect world, my semester would be totally chill. However, the world isn't perfect and my school work isn't light. Yet, it's my fault. This semester I've procrastinated on both assignments and studying. I admit that the root of my unnecessary stress is my habitual procrastination.
I've struggled with procrastination for most of my life. It's nothing new. It all stems from my laziness. If you know me well, then you know how lazy I can be. If you don't know me well, then you can look at the decline in updates to this blog for evidence of my laziness. But I don't want to sit around here talking about my laziness all night.
Instead, I want to focus on Christ. Even though I'm feeling anxious about all this PETTY school stuff looming over my head, I still can seek refuge in Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." This promise in Scripture brings me great comfort because it calls me to give all of my burdens over to Christ no matter how big or small they might be. I'm so thankful His care knows no bounds! When I begin to reflect more and more on this verse, my anxiety over school quickly fades away as the Holy Spirit points me to the cross. At the cross, Christ not only conquered the need for His children to worry about earthly matters, but also eternal matters. He defeated death! When the Holy Spirit brings me to this point, I gain great perspective on my unnecessary stress.
I pray God would empower me to overcome my unbelief and my pride when I'm tempted with laziness. May He fill me with the Holy Spirit to glorify Him in all the areas of my life including school!
In Him,
Mark
I've struggled with procrastination for most of my life. It's nothing new. It all stems from my laziness. If you know me well, then you know how lazy I can be. If you don't know me well, then you can look at the decline in updates to this blog for evidence of my laziness. But I don't want to sit around here talking about my laziness all night.
Instead, I want to focus on Christ. Even though I'm feeling anxious about all this PETTY school stuff looming over my head, I still can seek refuge in Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." This promise in Scripture brings me great comfort because it calls me to give all of my burdens over to Christ no matter how big or small they might be. I'm so thankful His care knows no bounds! When I begin to reflect more and more on this verse, my anxiety over school quickly fades away as the Holy Spirit points me to the cross. At the cross, Christ not only conquered the need for His children to worry about earthly matters, but also eternal matters. He defeated death! When the Holy Spirit brings me to this point, I gain great perspective on my unnecessary stress.
I pray God would empower me to overcome my unbelief and my pride when I'm tempted with laziness. May He fill me with the Holy Spirit to glorify Him in all the areas of my life including school!
In Him,
Mark
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
I've been slacking on updating this blog. Time to change things up!
So I'm going to be unoriginal and dedicate my first post in 2010 to the subject of time. I can't believe it's already March! Time keeps soaring right by me. Coincidentally, for the past few months, God's really been speaking to me about the importance of managing time well.
Back in December, I read Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I recommend it. It's a great book with God-centered principles for Christian living. But, I've found it hard to take Piper's big ideas about not wasting your life and actually apply them to my everyday life. I began praying for God to help me understand what it means for me not to waste my life. He spoke to me through the encouragement of others that I need to manage my time more effectively.
Honestly, I've struggled with time management all my life. I think part of my problem lies in my idealism. I'm great at thinking up grand ideas. In fact, I find great pleasure in picturing what I want my life to look like. For example, when I entered college, I saw myself graduating at the top of my class with honors as the UNC Kenan-Flagler school president. Yet, my academic career at UNC fell short of that goal. Basically, I'm trying to convey how I set high goals for myself, but I get overwhelmed by all the time it takes to accomplish them. Plus, I think my carefree personality lends me to being quite disorganized which definitely contributes to my horrible time management skills.
Though it's clear I struggle with time management, God is gracious and He provides me with all the means necessary to overcome my deficiencies. Specifically, He has used the persistent pushes of my mother to better organize my life through keeping a personal calendar. Usually, I live weeks with no real plan or set purpose. I live each moment as it comes and seek opportunities as they present themselves. However, I'm now beginning to see the value in keeping a calendar. It relieves me of stress and helps me reach goals that seem far off. It maps out time and organizes my schedule in an effective way. I'm praying God will continue to instill the discipline of time management in my life.
Finally, I want to clarify why I strive not to waste my life. It's not because I want to have 'my best life now' or whatever the prosperity gospel preachers. No, I want to orient my life in such a way that the cross would be magnified to the fullest extent possible. God's been so gracious in allowing me to experience His presence that I desire to show His worth to others through living a life worthy of the calling. Therefore, whether it's keeping a weekly calendar or making 473 to-do lists, I want to do whatever it takes to live such a life.
God, grant me the power to become a good steward of time so that I will better reflect your great glory!
In Him,
Mark
So I'm going to be unoriginal and dedicate my first post in 2010 to the subject of time. I can't believe it's already March! Time keeps soaring right by me. Coincidentally, for the past few months, God's really been speaking to me about the importance of managing time well.
Back in December, I read Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I recommend it. It's a great book with God-centered principles for Christian living. But, I've found it hard to take Piper's big ideas about not wasting your life and actually apply them to my everyday life. I began praying for God to help me understand what it means for me not to waste my life. He spoke to me through the encouragement of others that I need to manage my time more effectively.
Honestly, I've struggled with time management all my life. I think part of my problem lies in my idealism. I'm great at thinking up grand ideas. In fact, I find great pleasure in picturing what I want my life to look like. For example, when I entered college, I saw myself graduating at the top of my class with honors as the UNC Kenan-Flagler school president. Yet, my academic career at UNC fell short of that goal. Basically, I'm trying to convey how I set high goals for myself, but I get overwhelmed by all the time it takes to accomplish them. Plus, I think my carefree personality lends me to being quite disorganized which definitely contributes to my horrible time management skills.
Though it's clear I struggle with time management, God is gracious and He provides me with all the means necessary to overcome my deficiencies. Specifically, He has used the persistent pushes of my mother to better organize my life through keeping a personal calendar. Usually, I live weeks with no real plan or set purpose. I live each moment as it comes and seek opportunities as they present themselves. However, I'm now beginning to see the value in keeping a calendar. It relieves me of stress and helps me reach goals that seem far off. It maps out time and organizes my schedule in an effective way. I'm praying God will continue to instill the discipline of time management in my life.
Finally, I want to clarify why I strive not to waste my life. It's not because I want to have 'my best life now' or whatever the prosperity gospel preachers. No, I want to orient my life in such a way that the cross would be magnified to the fullest extent possible. God's been so gracious in allowing me to experience His presence that I desire to show His worth to others through living a life worthy of the calling. Therefore, whether it's keeping a weekly calendar or making 473 to-do lists, I want to do whatever it takes to live such a life.
God, grant me the power to become a good steward of time so that I will better reflect your great glory!
In Him,
Mark
Saturday, November 21, 2009
E-Haus Men and Prayer
About three weeks ago, I realized God faithfully answered one of my biggest prayers from this summer. He has blessed me with an incredible group of younger guys to lead in studying Scripture each week. I'm blessed to lead with two other upperclassmen and we are overwhelmed each week at how much God displays His grace in our Bible study. There about eight to ten guys from the communities of Ehringhaus and Koury who come on a regular basis. My first Bible study in college only had five people and two of those five were leaders. So I think the sheer number of young men willing to come to Bible study on a weekly basis is a HUGE testament to the grace of God! Yet, it's not always about quantity, but also it's about quality. The guys I lead are solid because Christ reigns in their lives! God's already brought the majority of them to an understanding of His great love. This is clearly evident in their moral fiber, missional focus, and knowledge of Scripture.
Praise God for answering my prayers for these guys! When Miles first asked me to lead a Bible study, I started praying right away for my Bible study. I consistently prayed over the summer for group unity, chemistry, understanding, accountability, and transparency. Before I met the guys, I prayed God would draw them close to Him and open their eyes to the beauty of the cross. I asked God for wisdom and divine guidance for myself and the other leaders. Continually, I prayed for these things in Christ's name over the summer and at the beginning of this semester. Though my prayer life has dwindled in the past couple of months, I can see the ripple effects of my God-given faithfulness to prayer manifesting itself in my Bible study.
Therefore, God has shown me the importance and effectiveness of prayer. Oh, how often we forget and deny the power of prayer! Our hearts hate the idea of prayer. Prayer is dependence. It's giving up. It's saying, "God, help me! I can't do it." We rarely say anything along these lines. Our striving and efforts to do anything whether "good" or bad are generally always self-centered because we don't believe God is necessary to accomplish anything. In America, it's easy to get into such a self-reliant mentality when we live in a culture that says, "Yes, we can!" But, we must break free from this sinful self-reliance! I pray we as Christians will repent of our self-reliance and ask God to forgive us. In His forgiveness, I hope we will cling to the cross and begin to pray desperately for His presence to fully overtake us. May we lean on Him! If we come to this point of dependance, I think we will be amazed at what God will do in and through us!
I think the story of the boy with an evil spirit in Mark 9:14-32 gives a great picture of a God-centered, dependent heart. The boy's father cries out in desperation to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief!" This shows how we will disbelieve God on some level in everything we do during this life, but we can ask Him to help us in our unbelief. And He will!
I pray God would help me in my unbelief! I ask Him to rekindle my prayer life and to show me how much I need Him. I pray these things in Christ's name and for His sake.
In Him,
Mark
Praise God for answering my prayers for these guys! When Miles first asked me to lead a Bible study, I started praying right away for my Bible study. I consistently prayed over the summer for group unity, chemistry, understanding, accountability, and transparency. Before I met the guys, I prayed God would draw them close to Him and open their eyes to the beauty of the cross. I asked God for wisdom and divine guidance for myself and the other leaders. Continually, I prayed for these things in Christ's name over the summer and at the beginning of this semester. Though my prayer life has dwindled in the past couple of months, I can see the ripple effects of my God-given faithfulness to prayer manifesting itself in my Bible study.
Therefore, God has shown me the importance and effectiveness of prayer. Oh, how often we forget and deny the power of prayer! Our hearts hate the idea of prayer. Prayer is dependence. It's giving up. It's saying, "God, help me! I can't do it." We rarely say anything along these lines. Our striving and efforts to do anything whether "good" or bad are generally always self-centered because we don't believe God is necessary to accomplish anything. In America, it's easy to get into such a self-reliant mentality when we live in a culture that says, "Yes, we can!" But, we must break free from this sinful self-reliance! I pray we as Christians will repent of our self-reliance and ask God to forgive us. In His forgiveness, I hope we will cling to the cross and begin to pray desperately for His presence to fully overtake us. May we lean on Him! If we come to this point of dependance, I think we will be amazed at what God will do in and through us!
I think the story of the boy with an evil spirit in Mark 9:14-32 gives a great picture of a God-centered, dependent heart. The boy's father cries out in desperation to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief!" This shows how we will disbelieve God on some level in everything we do during this life, but we can ask Him to help us in our unbelief. And He will!
I pray God would help me in my unbelief! I ask Him to rekindle my prayer life and to show me how much I need Him. I pray these things in Christ's name and for His sake.
In Him,
Mark
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Passion 2010
I realize I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks. Cornerstone, Summit, and school have consumed my time recently. Though some noteworthy things have occurred in my life, I haven't taken time out to write any of my latest experiences or thoughts down. So I hope to update the blog in the next few days.
To preface the upcoming updates, I want to quickly mention my excitement about Passion 2010. I'm pumped to see thousands upon thousands of college students who've experienced the great grace of God join together for worship and praise. For the conference, my prayer is that God will clearly reveal the magnitude of His holiness to all who attend. May He speak through the worship leaders and speakers to display His glory! I pray this revelation would serve as a Christ-exalting catalyst in the lives of the attendees. May it spur on the believers to repentance and laying down their lives at the cross!
Here is a challenging, convicting, God-centered clip of Piper speaking at a previous Passion conference:
I think this preview speaks volumes of how God can use a conference like Passion 2010 to impact the world for Christ. Please begin praying for God to draw more hearts closer to Him through this conference!
In Him,
Mark
To preface the upcoming updates, I want to quickly mention my excitement about Passion 2010. I'm pumped to see thousands upon thousands of college students who've experienced the great grace of God join together for worship and praise. For the conference, my prayer is that God will clearly reveal the magnitude of His holiness to all who attend. May He speak through the worship leaders and speakers to display His glory! I pray this revelation would serve as a Christ-exalting catalyst in the lives of the attendees. May it spur on the believers to repentance and laying down their lives at the cross!
Here is a challenging, convicting, God-centered clip of Piper speaking at a previous Passion conference:
I think this preview speaks volumes of how God can use a conference like Passion 2010 to impact the world for Christ. Please begin praying for God to draw more hearts closer to Him through this conference!
In Him,
Mark
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