Senior Year

I know I mentioned something about my Senior year in a prior post. But having my first day of classes today made me think about it again. I just can't believe I'm actually a Senior in college! It's crazy for me to think about it. I still vividly remember the first day of college when my family dropped me off at Ehringhaus and I felt total freedom for the first time in my life. That seems like it was yesterday. These past three years flew right before my eyes and I expect my final year will blaze by too.

When I look back at the past three years of my life, I see a landfill of wasted time. That's not to say I didn't do anything productive the past three years. I don't want to be pessimistic or negative. God blessed me with some great friendships, acceptance into Kenan-Flagler Business School, the experience of a Crusade Summer Project and a solid summer internship. However, I wasted a ton of time! The relaxed style of a college schedule provides ample free time. Most students like myself spend this free time on the computer. I don't want to even know how many hours I've wasted looking at random people on Facebook, watching pointless YouTube videos, and reading stupid stuff like Juicy Campus. I'm not hating on these sites. Well, I do hate Juicy Campus. But I'm mainly hating on how much we indulge ourselves on the computer. This is just one time waster. Another one for me is sleep. I'm naturally prone to laziness. I struggle with it. I know I slept way too much these past few years. That's probably one reason college flew by! I was alseep for a huge chunk of it. Also, I threw a bunch of time away on video games. What a waste! I mean who really cares if I get to level 50 on Halo?! That's lame. Again, I'm not hating on video games entirely. I just think they are easily abused and aren't very beneficial. Now, I try to play them with other people and not by myself. Alright, I feel like I'm ranting. So I'm going to shut up.

Basically, I'm trying to say I want to live every moment for something that matters, namely God. I'm tired of wasting my time with trivial pleasures that only scratch the surface of my soul. Instead, I want to dive into Scripture and experience the fullness of God. He will satisfy my soul completely. He will give me fulfillment and purpose. He will live through me and touch others through me. He is my delight, my treasure and my joy. He alone is sufficient!

I pray that I won't waste my Senior year. I want to live each day of this year in light of His mercy and grace. May His kindness outpour to others through my life!

In Him,

Mark

Summit Church

I went to the Summit Church this evening to try out the new Saturday night service. It was so good! I plan on going to it from now on. I think it gives me a great opportunity to invite my peers to a gospel-oriented sermon their more likely to attend because the time of 6:00 on Saturday is convenient for most all college students. I'm thankful for Summit's intentional effort to be missional.

I'm becoming an official member of Summit because I think it's very important for all Christians to belong to a local church. I wish I would've become a member earlier my college career. But I'm looking forward to getting plugged in this year. I'm open to serving in any capacity on the Front Lines. I hope to get connected with a small group. I found out they have a ministry geared towards young professionals. I'm excited because I know being active at Summit will strengthen my walk with Christ.

I tangibly feel the Holy Spirit every time I go to Summit. God speaks through J.D. very passionately and very clearly. Tonight, he preached from Proverbs 16:1-4. He talked about how God is completely sovereign over everything, He works all things for good, the importance for living each day in light of judgment day, and committing everything you do to the Lord. He then presented the Gospel and the congregation responded with worshiping by singing the Gospel.

I can't wait to see how God works this year through Summit! I'm blessed to be a part of His movement! I pray I'll surrender to His authority and live obediently.

In Him,

Mark

One Sweet Summer

So my summer is coming to an end tonight. I'm heading back to Chapel Hill tomorrow afternoon for my senior year of college. It's both exciting and overwhelming. I can't believe I'm a senior! College went by so fast. It went by twice as fast as high school. So before I begin my last year as a Carolina student, I want to take some time to reflect on my last real summer.

As I look back over this summer, I thank God for blessing me so greatly. He gave me many opportunities to serve and to experience Him. I learned more and more that He is good, grace, mercy, justice, sovereign, kindness, and holy. I pray I will remember His attributes daily and how He displayed them to me this past summer.

I particularly enjoyed spending time at Lawndale with the youth group. It's refreshing to be a part of the youth ministry again. I missed hanging out with all the students and pouring into the younger generation. I sense a new unity in the youth group because the summer was filled with so many activities. From Consumed camp to a countless number of 'Body! Body!' games to the filming of X-Teens: Rise of the Tanzanians, all the youth experienced the joys of Christ together in unique ways. I attribute the success to the outstanding Christ-like leadership of Chris and his two interns, Adam and Ashlie.

I liked being part of the Lawndale college ministry too. I regret not getting more involved with it earlier in my college career. Over the summer, I had the privilege of getting to know Curt Dean and Dave Clemens better. Curt and I met and talked a couple of times to talk about the college ministry, theology, and spiritual disciplines. I met with Dave at the beginning of the summer and shared my testimony with him. We got to know one another better through hanging out at the White House. He now cuts my hair and he wants me to help lead the college ministry in an outreach program for the community of Greensboro. Needless to say, both Curt and Dave are men of God who desire to see His name lifted high!

I've already mentioned the African refugee families some on my blog, but I can't help mentioning them again. They're such a blessing! I will miss not getting to see them as much as I've been able to this summer. However, I look forward to seeing how God will use their lives to serve His kingdom in the future.

I'm thankful for the blessing of my accounting internship. The internship gave me the opportunity to learn some practical accounting skills and I got to meet some interesting people. Specifically, I learned how to apply the book knowledge of accounting to the actual practice of accounting. As for meeting new people, my boss is from Peru, one of my coworkers is from England and another is from Argentina. They're all very unique and I like hearing different stories about their lives. I look forward to working there this semester part-time.

I will miss this summer. It was probably my last 'real' summer. I'm glad my last summer was a good one. Thank you Lord for a wonderful season!

In Him,

Mark

The Radical Reformission

To prepare for a Cornerstone leadership conference and this upcoming semester, I read a challenging book earlier this summer by Mark Driscoll entitled The Radical Reformission. I'm going to partially review the book and share my thoughts about it in this post by quickly answering some questions provided by Miles.


1) How does Driscoll define 'Reformission'? How did it evolve for him?

Early on, he defines 'reformission' as "a radical call to reform the church's traditonally flawed view of missions as something carried out only in foreign lands and to focus instead on the urgent need in our own neighborhoods, which are filled with diverse cultures of Americans who desperately need the gospel of Jesus and life in his church." Eventually, he distinguishes three important components of reformission: the gospel, the culture, and the church.

2) What were your thoughts about Chapter 3: Shotgun Weddings to Jesus? What did you agree and disagree with?

I really enjoyed this chapter of the book and agreed with most of what Driscoll discussed. He begins by critiquing "routine presentation" evangelism such as going door to door in a neighborhood or handing out tracts in a park. He says, "while these routine patterns of evangelism have proven fruitful in the past - and remain fruitful in some cultural contexts - their effectiveness is waning in the emerging American culture." I could not agree more with this statement. I've never really felt comfortable handing out gospel tracts to random people because I know how I feel when I'm approached by a total stranger who starts preaching to me. I would rather someone I know preach to me with their lives. That's what the reformission calls Christians to do.

3) What did you learn about culture?

Americans are more likely worship themselves than God. Here are some appalling facts about our selfish culture:

In ninety nations, people spend less each than we in the United States spend on our garbage bags.

We have twice as many malls as high schools.

Our supermarkets have 250 percent more items than they did twenty years ago.

Parents spend six hours shopping each week, and forty minutes playing with their children

Seventy percent of Americans visit a mall each week; that's more than visit houses of worship.


Overall, I think Driscoll hits the nail on the head. I think the Church in America could use some revitalization from a reformission. We need to make healthy distinguisments between the gospel, the culture, and the Church. Focusing on just one of these components causes us to ignore the others and produces either the parachurch, liberalism, or fundamentalism. The reformission calls for us to fall in deep love with Jesus Christ who will call us to embrace the gospel, the culture, and the church. Though I think Driscoll covers this issue well, I wish he did not use some of language he chooses to describe Our wonderful Lord and Savior. With that said, I really enjoyed the biblical freshness of his book.

I pray that we would all come to a point of repentance and reformission in our lives to bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus Christ.

In Him,

Mark

Word-Centered Discipleship

This summer I've spent a lot of time with Claude and Eriya. I've hung out with them over at their apartment and they've come over to my house to hang out. We've gone to many places together like Celebration Station for go-carting and games, Myrtle Beach for Consumed Camp, and downtown Greensboro for a tour of their new home city. I took them to their first movie, their first baseball game, their first Krispy Kreme visit, and many other firsts. Through all this time we've spent together, I've established a great relationship with them.

I cherish the memories of this summer. It's been a blessing and a privelge to hang out with them. They're hiliarious and are constantly cracking me up. I look forward to creating more memories with them.

But as I reflect upon my time spent with the boys, I regret not teaching them more directly from the Word. Of course, I taught them to the best of my ability whenever an issue came up and I corrected them whenever they were misbehaving. For instance, on multiple occasions, I had to tell them not to fight with one another because they continually were punching each other. When I corrected them, they stopped but they always questioned why they couldn't fight. After several conversations later, I now understand they fought every day in Africa. It's natural to them and they don't see anything wrong with it. I realize I need to start teaching them from the Word to develop their worldviews in light of Christianity so they'll better understand how to live.

I now desire to lead them in a Bible study to instill a solid Christian worldview in their hearts and minds. I'm planning on working in Greensboro this coming semester on Thursdays and Fridays so I'll have a chance on Wednesday nights to lead them. I pray I'll consistently teach them from the Bible and I pray God will open their hearts to His glorious Word. From now on, I want my discipleship to be Word-Centered!

Please pray for Eriya and Claude. Ask God to use them in a mighty way!



















In Him,

Mark

Our Battle Cry

"If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31

Romans is full of great verses but this is one of my favorites. I like it because it's very simple and very powerful. God is on our side. It doesn't matter who is against us. We have God!

I pray my mind will recall this great truth constantly. So often I find myself fearing man and fearing Satan. These fears can easily begin to torment my soul and control my actions if I do not remember God is on my side. I have the almighty, omnipotent creator of the universe in my corner! And He is in control over everything and nothing can overpower Him! No one can be against us! This truth is our battle cry against all adversity.

Thus, we must be bold in Him. I pray we would all memorize this simple verse and take it into the depths of our hearts. Then boldness for Him will naturally out pour from within us . By the truth of Romans 8:31, we can proclaim His name with more zeal and less anxiety for how others will treat or think of us afterward.

Pray for our hearts to fully grasp this empowering verse!

In Him,

Mark

Spectacular Sins

This week I read Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ by John Piper. It's a Christ-exalting book about the complete sovereignty of God over everything including sin. Piper uses stories from Scripture such as the fall of Adam, the Tower of Babel, and the betrayal of Jesus by Judas to illustrate how God works out the sinful atrocities of man and Satan to ultimately further His glory. I found the book refreshing because I've always thought of sin as thwarting Christ's glory, but Piper convincingly argues otherwise.

For me, Piper's most compelling argument comes in the introduction when he discusses the evil of the crucifixion serving the 'apex' of God's glory. Here is the short, sweet excerpt:

At the all-important pivot of human history, the worst sin
ever committed served to show the greatest glory of Christ and
obtain the sin-conquering gift of God’s grace. God did not just
overcome evil at the cross. He made evil serve the overcoming of
evil. He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil.
-page 12, Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ

At the cross, God shows His supreme sovereignty. He turns the most horrific murder of history into salvation for all of mankind. How glorious!

We serve an infinitely awesome God who reigns over all things! We should boldly trust in Him and know He is in control!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

In Him,

Mark