The Divide.

Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Most of us already know that subconsciously there are two kinds of people in the church. Those who take Biblical mandates seriously and those who take them lightly. Sometimes the difference is really clear to us. For example, the difference between one who gives money to charity so they can feel like they are helping out and then those who give money and also do the work of helping. There is also an approach to reading the Bible to let you know more clearly where the divide is. On both sides of the divide there will be people who can quote scripture to you, but what they use the scripture for can tell you a lot. Sometimes it is used to judge people and to name others as sinners but sometimes it is used to love the children of God and to push us further towards the realization of Heaven on Earth. That's where you find the dividing line. 

Well, what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. These things are required. Not requested. Many people would choose this simple verse in Micah to summarize the teachings of Jesus. But if you watch the lives of many Christians, many do not consider this verse as a requirement but rather a request. 

With each generation, it becomes harder for some to identify with their heritage. Some of it has to do with culture or a difficult time understanding it clearly. Many white Americans seem to be filling in the gap of our lack of a sense of heritage with Christianity. It's like a silent claiming of heritage of Christianity. Christianity has a lot of non practicing Christians who still observe certain rituals for the sake of remembering their heritage and passing it on. But what non practicing Christians do not realize is that they are passing on the heritage and not so much the faith. 

Look at church on Sunday morning. We all assume each other is there for the same reason that we are. But one group is there to maintain Christian heritage and another to pursue Biblical mandates. Because of this, we find ourselves at impasses that won't reach a lasting resolution. These two understandings of what it means to be Christian are not compatible. They define the dividing line where a lot of churches find themselves splitting. 

God requires us to be about seeking justice and practicing kindness and love. And doing so in a humble way, not feeling privileged because of it. Followers of the teachings of Jesus will not settle on ritual repetition for the sake of Jesus, because Jesus didn't either. The church as the body of Christ should never become a cultural heritage club, because when we do we displace the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity. This is simply not the way of Christ. As we look to expand and grow the body of Christ, we should be asking ourselves "what does the Lord require of us?" God requires that we do justice, even when it's not easy. Love mercy, even when you don't like someone. And walk humbly, always remembering that God walks every step with us. 

Will it bridge the gap of the divide? Probably not. But if we can recognize what is required of us and not requested, we might find that God's love peace and hope will continue to grow in all of our churches,

Courtney

You are More Than the Sum of Your Parts.

We are not nearly as mature as our parents were at our age. Do you ever hear them say "when I was your age…?" While the maturation process is slowing, the age we are exposed to life impacting decisions is getting increasingly younger. It used to be that drugs and alcohol weren't exposed to kids until the ages of about 16-18, now kids are being exposed at the age of 11. It's not unusual to have young kids to get hooked on these things, and they don't have the capacity to make life long decisions at this age. We can see these impacts on our lives in so many areas. The current music, tv, movies, culture all influence us. Sometimes we are being forced to deal with things way before we are ready to. 

We live in a culture that tells us that we are sexual beings, therefore we should be sexually active. We live in a culture that challenges the church in telling people you are wrong to not be sexually active outside of marriage, in fact you are causing them to have mental issues because they are repressing this natural drive and it's making everybody crazy. Some peoples mindset is that God gave us parts and He is a brilliant designer, so we might as well use them. Tragedy results because of our decisions that rationalize, justify, and abandon God’s commands. But you are not your own. What you do with your body is a way of worship to the Lord. You are not a thing. And you are not to be used. What is His Word telling you to change? How has the Holy Spirit been speaking to your heart about an area of your life that’s out of line with God’s perfect will for your life? We are called to be Godly men and women, regardless of the situation or the circumstance. Temptation is designed to meet the desires of your heart. If you grab hold of your wants and thoughts, it will sooner or later become an action. 

Paul tells us that we are more than our desires. We are more than our body. We are more than that. Don't keep living like you are less. It's not the church that has lied to us, it's the world. We are attracted to stories of celebrities self destructing, after all "if it bleeds, it leads" right? 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Paul tells us that the body is not for immorality, it is for the Lord. Our bodies are members of Christ. He says that we have come from God and that we are not our own, so glorify God with our body. When we get healthy in Jesus, then our sexuality lines back up. We glorify God in the way that we live. 

Someday you will meet him or her, and you'll fall like a big tree in a forrest. Will you stay for the right reasons? Will you love them enough to postpone whatever you're feeling and the desires you might have so that they can be honored and cherished? Will you pay any price for them? "Love" isn't giving in when your partner wants to cross an established boundary because you are both subject to temptation and you know God will forgive you when it's all said and done. That is not love. Love is respecting a commitment you both have made and valuing each others hearts above all else, and honoring God in your relationship and with your bodies. 

Will he not love you if you don't compromise yourself? I don't know what that is, but it isn't love. We are designed to connect, soul to soul. When you are deeply connected with another and that touching of souls holds you together, it gets deeper and deeper and stronger so that you may become one. Giving our hearts in relationships outside of marriage kills our dreams. When you aren't connected and the two souls pull apart, they rip and bleed and scar. And eventually get to a point to where the scars can't feel. In that moment when God answers your prayer and says here she or he is, the person I've been preparing for you, your heart will be so scarred over, you won't be able to feel it. That's not what God wants for you. He knows there is a moment when your soul will touch another and He wants it to be as deep and as rich and as beautiful and as bonding as it can be, with no scars. God wants what is best for you, a relationship that holds you together in thick and thin because sooner or later it gets hard. Your future spouse doesn't deserve to receive you covered in scars, they have valued your heart before even knowing you and deserve your whole self when you two decide to enter into a relationship rooted in Christ. 

Why Is Sex Outside Of Marriage So Destructive? | Tim Keller:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKdSLsGMcnA

He is holding out for you, and yes, it is worth waiting for. 

Courtney

Unbind.

What fear is limiting you from living fully into your God given potential? What unclean spirit has you?

Welcoming all types of people is part of who we, as Christians and members of the church, are called to be. It is not because it shows that we are good and accepting people, it is because of what it allows us to do. It puts us in a better position to follow the lead of Jesus. We can be considered "unclean" if we are bound by something, maybe in the spirit or affliction, or a social stigma that we need to be released from. Think of the homeless that we see on the sides of the streets? Don't we consider them to be unclean?

There are all sorts of things that limit us and bind us, things that hold us back, things that keep us from achieving the fullness of life which God desires for us. Some of us have some demons in our lives that bind us and constrict us from being everything that God hopes for us. Greed, self doubt, self centeredness, no matter what it is we have things that limit us from being all that God calls us to be. We all have our demons bind and limit us. 

This requires being in a relationship with Him, forming a community together, and loving one another enough to rebuke the things that are binding us and the evils that make our spirits unclean. Confronting the evils of this life that hurt people, like homelessness, hunger, prejudice, and any number of things that bind people up and distance them from society. We as Christians and members of the church are responsible for releasing people from these things that hold them captive and help them to overcome their demons. 

Jesus actively did the work of unbinding people. He strived to eliminate evil from the world. As the modern day Body of Christ, we the Church are called to do the same. Welcoming the homeless or those who society avoids is part of who we are called to be. We are called to name the demons of others and call them out of peoples lives and promote life for them in the face of their demons. As I mentioned earlier, we can't be arrogant or blind and think that we don't have these demons…Because we do, we all do. It's a harsh reality to know who you are on the inside, to feel the person you know you can become, yet you look around and your reality reflects the exact opposite. A lot of us are scared to face this. The thing that binds us more than anything else is fear itself (s/o FDR: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself). As followers of Christ, we're not only to help unbind others, but to unbind ourselves. We can do this by confronting and facing our fears, chase them out of our lives. 

If we are to live unbound lives, lives that are meant to help others, we must recognize and name our own fears. This will look different for every person. It might be educating yourself about something, talking about a fear that you've never talked about before, observe what others are doing, or maybe even directly confronting it. The point is to cast it out. Cast out that fear and tell that demon that you don't have room for it in your life. Most importantly, see that we must trust in God and cast our fears upon Him. We must trust in the face of our fears, cast them upon the strength and love of God. The thing that we fear will NEVER be able to overcome that strength and love. 

Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." When you find out this "why" is when you become unbound. 

The only thing that we should bind up is a broken heart, everything else that we see that binds, we should be unbinding.
Courtney

The Battle that is Prayer.

Prayer. Let's face it, no one is good at it. Mike Glenn once said, "No one is born with the gift of prayer." We couldn't pray at all if Jesus didn't help us. Why is this? Well, God starts the conversation between us and Him. When I sit down to pray I sometimes think "what will I say?" Do you ever do this? Paul tells us that the Spirit that searches the deep things of God searches your heart as well. The Spirit knows when we BS Him, example: "Dear God, thank you for this day…Amen." For some of us, the hardest thing about prayer is not falling asleep in the middle of it, I am definitely guilty of this. 

"Help me," is such a basic prayer we can pray to God, after all prayer starts with humility. Watch Jesus show up in your life when you pray this.  By humbling ourselves before Him, we are able to soak in just how powerful He is. After all, we wouldn't bring our innermost thoughts to Him unless we trusted Him unlike any other. In Luke chapter 11 we can see the Disciples indirectly asking God to basically help them. They ask Him to teach them how to pray. He teaches them Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer. And when they heard Him pray, they had never heard such a confident prayer in their lives. Our prayers will be strengthened by presenting Him with honest and humble prayers, leaving our insecurities at the door. Jesus teaches us to keep praying no matter what and to never loose heart. When does He ever look at us and say "woah, that's a lot of prayers?" Fun fact: He doesn't. By trusting Him with our prayers we show Him that we trust Him with us more than we trust us with us. 

It is important to know that some of the most meaningful prayer times can be those when we don't say anything at all. Start spending time in prayer. It could be just hanging out with Jesus, recognizing and enjoying His presence. By doing this, over time you'll start to admire Him and see the difference between our own lives and His. Jesus is after us, because He loves us and He loves our relationship. He gives us the confidence to deal with reality and He has already forgiven us for what we have done. So why BS Him? He will make amazing things out of our brokenness. He wants conversation with us. Through our time spent with Him, whether it be intensely praying or just chillin with Him, He can reveal to us who He is. If we practice showing up to talk to Jesus, He will too. Make it a habit, repeatedly present your requests before God. Only He can do the things we bring to Him through prayer. How cool is that? God is the only one who can help us with the thoughts in our heads and the needs in our hearts. Our God is strong enough, near enough, and good enough to respond to people like you and me. He is more. Our God is a BIG God. So, with that being said we should be praying Big prayers. He can handle anything you throw at Him. What are you praying for that is Big?

What if God gave us everything we wanted, but it caused us to compromise our most important relationships, morals, or ethics? It is important to recognize that God will stop at nothing to give His children what we need, but not what we want. He delays what we are praying for so that we will be more prepared when He provides it to us. He delays because He's trying to do something in our lives that we might not otherwise see. And He delays because He wants us to evaluate what we are asking of Him.We can simply ask Him "what are You teaching me?" while we wait. This allows us to line up who God is calling us to be and who we want to be, so that they can become the same. Job 14:15 says, "You will call and I will answer you." Let your requests be known to Him, but be patient in His timing for it is perfectly planned for our good. 

Give who you are to Jesus,
Courtney

We Are Young.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-5. What a beautiful passage in God's book. 

Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.

This shows us that we get distracted. How easy is it to get lost in the culture that we live in today? So easy. Extremely easy. Before depression comes, remember your Creator. 

Right now, we're "young adults." We have the awesome responsibility of being adults, but we still consider ourselves young. This will be the only time in our lives that we will be young, and adults. Jesus loves using young adults. His ministry began as a young adult. We have "ministry freedom." We have influences like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. and we can use them to make God famous. Use also your youth to follow Jesus. The time is now to follow Him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl4q_mjggQw...This video, Following Jesus-Social Network Style, kind of has nothing and everything to do with these ideas I'm grasping for. But I thought it was pretty sick and has an underlying message of how we can honor Him through all our actions, including social media. 

Right now are you following Jesus? I ask myself this all the time, am I truly following Him? Not because of the commitment I made when I was 10 to get baptized on Easter Sunday, but RIGHT NOW am I following Him? Mike Glenn, the senior Pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church who I've talked about before, says "EVERYONE has a spiritual gift God desires to be used in the life of His Church and the work of His Kingdom." 

Our generation is called to do something great. We're so absorbed with our lives that we don't get it. We are called to leave it all behind and follow Him. And I know how hard that can be. Hard. But know that He asks this of us because He knows we're crazy enough to do it. We don't ask enough from people. we don't ask as much as Jesus asks. We're often afraid to be called on by God. We tell ourselves, knowingly or not, "please don't ask anything huge of me. Let me live a normal life…." We don't get it. We are scared and we are cowards. We need to believe in Him. Whole heartedly. Tell strangers about Him. The time is now to call others to follow Jesus. Multiply yourselves into the lives of others. We underestimate what we can do in a long period of time. Start walking NOW. There is no greater thing to give your life to. God asks us to give our lives up. Mike goes on to say, "Christ followers are citizens of the Kingdom of God. We're given work visas for our ministries and mission here." Invest in His Kingdom now so that you may invest in it forever.

The most powerful man in history of the world is with you, 

Courtney

Commitment.

Could you imagine if you couldn't trust God? Well you can. So you should also be trustworthy.

Matthew 5:33 says, "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made."

Jesus is telling us to keep our word, because it's consistent with His character. 

Matthew 5:37 says, "All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Have character and be strong. All you have to do is say yes. 

We are made in the image of God. He is faithful and never changing. When we look at ourselves we fall into one of two categories. We are either dependable people, or we aren't. One is a Blessing and the other is a Burden. We share the Gospel through our words, which is why it is so important to keep your word so that people will believe what you say is true. We must be intentional about practicing authenticity with God, with ourselves and with others.

Authenticity with God is so valuable in developing our relationship with Him. We read in the Word about those who easily give their life experiences honestly to God. They trust that He will be completely understanding of anything they bring to Him. When we give God the cookie cutter version of our lives and tell Him what we think He wants us to say to Him, our connection with Him is spiritually limp. We can grow spiritually alongside Him by allowing Him to hear the truth in our hearts. He is welcoming of all our thoughts and concerns that we want to talk to Him about, not what we bring to Him that we think is culturally appropriate. God doesn't just want to hear the watered down version of things that we have to say. He wants to hear the ugly things too. Don't just talk to Him with words we think He will be well receiving of. He is receiving and gracious of anything that we bring to Him. 

Today we have a fear of obligation, let's face it. The less we commit, the more flakey we become. My generation is so used to the term "the one," as far as a life partner goes. We are already breaking commitments with future partners when in the back of our heads, we think eventually we'll find "the one." We just need to find a Godly person and spend the rest of our lives with them. Someone we can cherish, that loves Jesus. I know it sounds simple, but in reality it should be. With patience and trust, it will be. We put too much pressure on ourselves and our future husband/wife and expect them to be the perfect one we've been waiting all our lives for. Now this is a new concept I've been slowly processing, and I kind of like it. Why should we have these huge expectations of our future spouse when we ourselves are in no way perfect? When we find that Godly person who loves Jesus, that we want to pursue and cherish, we need to make a commitment to them and forget about "the one." What if this person is "the one" and you're not fully committing yourself to them because you still believe "the one" for you is out there? 

Life gets sloppy when we can't commit. We find ourselves not keeping commitments. We say we're going to do something and we don't do it, and that makes us liars. This is inconsistent with the spirit of God. Look at yourself. What is your reputation? Dependable, or flakey? Learn how to say no (I know for some of us this is hard, but look back at Matthew 5:37 for reassurance). Re-prioritize your life. When you have made a commitment to someone, you have given them a gift of time and a gift of your presence. If we must get out of that promise, we need to learn how to ask for that commitment back from that person. 

I've come to the recent realization that it is important for us to develop relationships with other people who have room to share the good and the bad. Commit to these relationships. Value these relationships, because they don't come by often. Similar to your openness with Christ through the good and the bad, having others that you can share your inner most thoughts and ideas with is crucial. These relationships allow us to commit to each other and provide a give and take scenario that is constant in the busy lives we live. They also aid us in verbalizing the good and the bad to God, because it isn't always going to be easy, at least for me I know that is true. 

I never regret following God. It's God's commitment to us that He has saved us. Don't be a fake Christian. Be the real deal, a follower of Jesus Christ. 

How Do You Know Someone Is "The One"? || Jefferson Bethke:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERIOlDTk2M

Blessings come through commitments, 

Courtney

Who is in the Middle?

The speaker at Ignite tonight, JP Pokluda, delivered an awesome message about the downfall of "us in the middle." When we put ourselves in the center of our lives, we set ourselves up for disaster. This mentality leads us only in the direction of failure. 

When we grow up, everyone is a winner. Everyone gets a prize. We are told that we are all rockstars. Even as we grow older we fall into this trap of obsessing over ourselves as being number one. JP gave an awesome modern day example of this when he read us the Christian appropriate lyrics of Drakes "The Motto." It goes a little something like this: 

Now she want a photo
You already know though
You only live once ‒ that’s the motto baby YOLO
And we 'bout it every day, every day, every day
Like we sittin’ on the bench, baby we don’t really play
Every day, every day, F what anybody say
Can’t see 'em 'cause the money in the way
Real baby what's up?

Now as funny as this was listening to a middle aged man speak the words of this rap, I couldn't help by being kind of taken back by the lyrics. We as college students listen to this stuff, and we can't believe this. It will mess us up. It brain washes us. We often find ourselves using God for what we want, whether it be grades, money, a boyfriend/girlfriend etc. We want to become great in the eyes of ourselves and others. Whoever wants to become great must serve. We're not going to be great, but He is going to be great. We are going to serve and love and care for people. JP said, "We can't follow the King and be the King." We continuously ask "what's in it for me?" And this distracts us from who Jesus is. We need to ask Him how can we serve Him, and how can we spend our lives poured out, loving people. 

Satan wants to take our attention and focus it on ourselves to distract us from the Kingdom. We must focus on the desires of God instead. Selfish ambition is fuel from Satan. God comes from full opposition, He gives Grace. We can't handle a life in the middle. We must live for Him and nothing else. We did nothing to be saved. This blows my mind every time I think about it. Take a look at your life, is the Gospel at the center of it? JP later asked this question, "if it was illegal to be a Christian, would they have enough evidence to convict you?" Are we at the center of it all or are we making Jesus the center? We are given our gifts and talents for God. These abilities are entrusted to us from Him. Are we using them to glorify Him? He will multiply our talents for Him. If we put the Son in the middle, everything else will be held in place. 

He is the greatest, live for Him

Courtney

Ordinary Us.

At McKinney, we've been studying how to accept the invitation that Jesus presents before us to be "beyond ordinary." This got me thinking about how much this applies to so many of our lives and needs to be addressed.  I often find myself in admiration of others who seem to easily live the life that Christ has called them to live. You know those people that radiate Christ's love so much that they seem special and different? We see them as having "it," and we so desperately want to have it.  It's the way they walk, talk, the look in their eyes, the ease and confidence that they carry, appearing completely secure in their walk with Christ. Well theres something that they have that we don't. Trust. It's the difference between us and those who we consider to be beyond ordinary. 

I sometimes find myself being called to do these beyond ordinary things, but I question Him and come up with all of the reasons why I shouldn't be a part of it. I think a lot of us do this. We think that what we are being called to do, is for those beyond ordinary people that we look up to. We tell ourselves that we don't have what they have. By doing this we are telling Christ that what He is asking of us isn't possible, even with Him in the mix. We often reply to His call by saying that it's way too big for someone like us to step up and take action. 

We have to trust in ourselves as being beyond ordinary so that we may trust His beyond ordinary plan for us. He's had this plan in place before we were even born, how insane is that? It's not about what we can provide, so forget that. We need to accept His invitation to let Him show us how BIG He is. He uses us to fill a need that He sees. He is higher than any other. He always has us perfectly positioned. We must allow Him to work in us. Our God is huge and powerful, why should we ever have any hesitation to go where we are called? We shouldn't. 
Charles Spurgeon once said, "My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, what He has done, and what He is now doing for me." We have to be all in. When we rest our faith in Him, we will trust Him. 

Chris Freeland, the pastor at McKinney, summed up the entirety of this message in two sentences: God often calls us to meet beyond ordinary needs around us so He can meet a beyond ordinary need within us. When we trust God with ordinary us, He always reveals beyond ordinary Him. 

He is always up to something beyond ordinary, 

Courtney

Loving Your Wife Now.

Check out this rad videooo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH_OBesCINo&feature=youtu.be

"What if you loved your wife so much that you would do absolutely anything to put a smile on her face?
What if you did everything you possibly could to love your wife as much as God loves her?
What if you stopped what you are doing right now and started thinking and making the steps towards being the whimsical, Godly Husband that your wife will deserve?

And what if you started all of that NOW!? Before you even met her!?"

So, Mike Glenn is the Senior Pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN. This guy is like a celeb to me y'all. This summer I went to their Tuesday night contemporary service called Kairos. Two of my closest friends, Bethany and Kaissling, and I would go each week. I'm so thankful to be blessed to call them my sisters in Christ. Anywho, Tuesdays were our favorite day of the week simply because we couldn't wait to soak in some of this awesome mans wisdom. One night Mike was talking about the married couples relationships and said "Marriage is 100-100. The husband gives everything he has, and the wife gives everything she has. Anything less isn't enough."

After I watched this video a few times through I imagined myself as the woman on the other side of a man pursuing Christ like the guy in this video talks about, and I also imagined myself as the "husband" if you will. What if I began to live a life pursuing Christ, so much so, that I dropped everything to prepare myself righteously for my future husband? I can't even put my admiration for this guy into words. 

We worry so much about the "here and now" that we often stray from what's most important, the "then and how." We need to let God pursue us first. There's no way we can keep chasing after the things of this world and pursue God at the same time. My wish is that we look more and more like Christ every day.  

"How radically different would you live your life if you lived it in love?"

Live a life filled with love,
Courtney

Lately.

I thought I'd keep this short and sweet, just sharing with y'all what's on my mind :)

I've been learning lately that everyone has the potential for Gospel influence. Everyone who has been saved by the Gospel is empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. How awesome is that? We should feel empowered as Christ followers to proclaim the Gospel proudly. Living Sent isn't just about you or me doing all the work. It's also about us seeking out others, loving them, equipping them, and sending them out. I want to equip others in figuring out this life as a Believer, and empower them. God has really been telling me to send love and Live Sent, so that's what I'm trying to do. 

He is showing me that no longer will the most important story be found on a Sunday morning inside of a building. The most important story will be found as Gods people (the church) live out the Gospel everyday in their various spheres of life, whatever this may look like from person to person. 

Be Bold.

With faith that endures no matter what and Gods spirit in your heart, you will experience amazing things in this life. Never stop believing, you're never out of the game. Never. I believe my life could make a difference to someone, to lots of "someones."

Joe White once said: "Dream Mighty Dreams; delight yourself in the Lord. He loves to make faith filled dreams come true." 
Courtney

Mary is a Badass.

John 12:1-8 says, "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Yesterday at Church this verse was presented and I couldn't help but to break it down a little bit. As I sat there next to my roommate Jamie, (s/o to her) I added a little flare to this verse which made us bust out laughing. So I thought I'd share it with y'all now...

So basically... Mary is a badass and washes Jesus' ratchet feet with rlyyy expensive perfume ($$) and then wipes it off with her hair!!! She dgaf what Judas Iscariot thought and was like BYE I do wut I wantz #praiseHim (in her head, of course). Judas had sticky fingers (he wanted moneyzz $) and didn't care about the poor, he just cared about himself #selfish. 

On a more serious note, I sat there in awe of Mary's commitment to Christ. Feet were really nasty back then and for her to demonstrate such a symbolic act, usually left for the lowest of servants, is amazing. Nard is worth a years salary and she didn't care, because Jesus was worth so much more to her than that. She risked ridicule to perform a sacred act for Jesus, which I will never look upon lightly. 

Our church (McKinney Memorial Bible Church) is currently going through a series called "Beyond Ordinary." The Lead Pastor, Chris Freeland, defined this Beyond Ordinary sacrifice as:

A response to Jesus' work in the past. 
A response to Jesus' presence in the present. 
A response to God's promise for the future. 

We are called to be Beyond Ordinary in our community, no matter what that looks like for you, 
Courtney 

Changing by Grace.

Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

If we identify ourselves at Christians, the Bible calls us to be wholly. There is a divide between who we are in the eyes of Jesus, and the way we flush ourselves day in and day out. Fortunately for us, the Grace of God helps us to catch up on the outside who we really are on the inside over the course of our lives. This is known as Christian growth. 

The purpose of Grace is to restore us as prosper image bearers. God's purpose for us is to be made into the image of Jesus to reflect His beauty and His perfections.  Our moral failure isn't our last word. We are God's adorning jewels. 

How does it happen? God is at work in all of us if we are in Jesus. He is at work, changing our hearts. What confidence is it to know that God is at work in us? The point of our growth is to know that God goes to work on us at the level of our love. He shifts the things that we find beautiful and lovable. Jesus shapes us by His Spirit to make us love all the right things. This tells us that God will actually go to work on the things that we love. We are not the people we once were, this is because of God's Grace. The enemy of our souls will tell us we stink and that is exactly how we know what failure is. Shame will pound us down and in that moment we say "yes I've failed, but Jesus loves failures." He has promised to go to work in me and He will never stop making me more like Him. God is more concerned with our change than we are: that ought to deeply encourage you. Once Grace enters our life, He isn't content to leave us there. 

We don't just sit back hoping to be carried along by the Grace of God. Our sanctification involves us doing something too. We are meant to pursue that which is good, and live self controlled upright lives. Repent, Believe, Fight. Grace is God's doing from the inside out. He changes the very loves in our hearts. What God has worked in, we are called to work out. God gave His son for us and He won't waste that death by not making us like Him. 

We are in for a lifetime of sure change,
Courtney

Would Jesus Drive A Mercedes?

Consumption rates in the United States never cease to grow and often compete with those Christians who are wealthily able to participate in consuming at outrageous rates. We are faced with a dilemma as “blessed” Christians. Can we pursue God whole heartedly while being surrounded by the material items of this world? As Christians, we are taught that we are not supposed to put our hope in earthly things, because our treasures are in Heaven. At the end of the day we can still pursue Christ while being privileged Christians, although it may be more difficult for some than others.

We have to step back and consider the importance of balance. Overconsumption was not God’s will for our lives, but He also did not intend for us to live on the streets, for example, when we’ve been given blessings, blessings that can reach many people and potentially lead them to Christ. As Christians, we are encouraged to turn to scripture when faced with ethical dilemmas, such as this one. Luke 16:13 says “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Our responsibility as Christ followers is to follow Christ as closely as we can, no matter how many diamonds we own or how big our house is. But what happens when your’e surrounded by an abundance of both wealth and religion, so much so, that it literally suffocates you...?

Because I am from an Upper class family, I identify quite closely with the overconsumption crisis. My parents are fortunate enough to be able to give me everything I could possibly ever need, and so much more. Daily, I struggle with the competition between my thirst for material items and my thirst for Christ’s love. I grew up in the Church and was taught not to store up earthly treasures. Instead I was supposed to focus my energy on my relationship with Jesus, because real treasures are found in Him and in Heaven. But this is hard to do when your’e getting dropped off at Sunday school in a new Mercedes, wearing a pair of $300 shoes. Because of this, I often find myself putting my hope into worldly things out of habit, mostly because of what I grew up surrounded by in my “Christian bubble”.

As I grew up in the South, I was surrounded by an overwhelming amount of wealthy Christians. My environment shaped my Christian ethical outlook and narrowed it to a small percentage of extremely blessed individuals. My Church body and private Christian school were both comprised of upper class people, stay at home moms, and country music stars who lived in big houses, had luxurious things, and drove exotic cars. There was no one I knew who wasn’t a Christian. There was also no one I knew who wasn’t blessed with wealth and access to the many material possessions that most people in this world are not. Over the years this caused an internal struggle that I consistently deal with to this day. Weren’t we taught to give up our wealth to follow Jesus? Well, every Sunday everyone (including my family) was writing fat checks for the Church, worshiping the Lord, and then driving away in their Mercedes. So, we were generously giving like we are taught to do, but still maintaining our over the top and lavish lifestyles.

As I grew older I wanted to experience a different kind of Christianity, a kind that I had only read about on the Internet or saw sad commercials about on the television. In high school I branched out and traveled to other areas of the country for mission work so that I could experience the love of Christ in impoverished areas, where they literally had no material items to distract them from Christ’s love. These interactions gave me a new perspective on the way I had been living my life. The brothers and sisters in Christ that I interacted with, barely had enough food to eat and ridiculously small homes, yet they were consumed by the love of Christ. There was a light that shown in each and every one of them that I will never forget. After each mission trip I went back home to my big house and nice cars and Christian community. I knew I had to make some adjustments in my life, so I began volunteering with my Church, serving the homeless, and stepping outside of that "bubble." Christ taught me on those life changing trips that overconsumption will be something that I will always struggle with, but by staying active and aware in my community and conversing with those who are less blessed, I will find hope in Him and learn not to rely on what wealth can bring me, but rather what He can bring me.

It’s hard to consume responsibly when you can afford luxurious things and follow Christ at the same time, and still do mission work, and still give money to the church, and other organizations on top of it all. It is a challenge to have access to wealth and to not invest myself in it. As Christians, our job is to pursue Christ no matter the dollar amount in our bank account. I am trying to minimize my consumption of earthly things, because they distract me from what I believe to be truly important. We can pursue Christ while being privileged Christians. As we have been blessed, our duty is to be overly generous so that we may be closer to Him and His kingdom.

After all, WWJD?
Courtney

Grace.

The Pastor at Ignite tonight (s/o to him because he's from Nashville) spoke about Grace. It really opened my eyes as to how fortunate we are to be born, simply born worthy of Gods Grace. 

Read Ephesians 2:1-7

What is Grace? It's a favor that we don't deserve. At all. It's counter merited favor. Grace gives us what we do deserve, and also what we don't deserve. It is all of the richest blessings that God can possibly muster. How powerful is that? All He can possibly muster. It never excuses our sins and our selfishness, nor does it pass over it. It holds us accountable. Grace stares down what we are too scared to admit. Grace comes to the real you. 

It matters. Grace matters. We often catch ourselves focused on things other than the Grace that God has granted us. We do this literally all the time. We need to stop what we're doing and run quickly and recklessly to God. How sweet is this Grace that we are given? Why don't we appreciate it enough? We start to change when we repeatedly come back to Christ, a million times over. Because God gives us Grace, that's when the real change happens. 

Read verses 1-3. This is why we need Grace. Paul says that we are dead because of our sins and trespasses. We don't do anything to merit Gods amazing Grace. Paul is saying that we are on the absolute bottom, basically dead people. Spiritual death happens not because we aren't moral enough, but because we were all once living the passions of our flesh. Passion means an over desire, for a good thing--all controlling drive and longing. Sinful desires become rooted deep in things that drive and control us. Sin makes us feel like we have to have this, that, and the other: something to give us a since of worth and value. 

Over desire to save face is spiritual suicide and will never bring us the love we long for. Are we willing to be as honest as Paul says God is about us? God has a seating beauty. Because of His Grace, we can be honest about who we are.

Verses 4-7 tell us how Grace comes to us. Grace is Grace because it comes to us freely. How awesome is that? It is free. Our ability to trust in Him is given to us by God himself. How powerful is Gods mercy and Grace is to us. We are all objects of a great divine love, because He loves us. His love is rooted in Himself alone. Grace is something that God gives us because of who He is, not because of what we have earned. It is the only thing that will allow us to rest when we get tired. The heart of what Grace does is that it saves us from real and spiritual death, the death that we have created ourselves. 

The Pastor tonight ended with a Bono quote which sums it up awesomely, "Grace makes beauty out of ugly things."
Courtney

Trust.

Does God change or do you change? Is God changing for us or are we changing for God? How might God act? What is the nature of God and humanity?

These questions really pricked my theological consciousness.

God is omnipresent, therefore He is in everything. It is up to us to find Him and seek Him out. Everything is a part of Gods plan, but today Christians really do believe in chance. WHY is this? We should trust every aspect in our lives and leave it up to God, knowing that He plans every little detail in our lives. But time and time again we use terms like "luck" and "chance" or "what if?" There is no "what if." Things are going to happen to us in this life, crazy things, we just need to trust that God has got our backs, which He obvi always does.

In an awesome chapter of the Bible, Romans 8, Paul writes in verse 28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." This is so true! But sometimes we wallow in self pity, not leaving our hesitations and concerns at the feet of God. I am a firm believer that God gives situations to people who can handle them. Can we comprehend why things happen? No. We can only try, and then trust that it's Gods will. The human mind is finite. I don't get why things happen, I'm not supposed to get it, and I don't have to get it.

A guy from my Christian Ethics class, Connor O'Modhrain, said it perfectly when he said, "the church doesn't need to be a building, it's a body of Christ." If we walk together as a community with Him, we don't have to know all the answers. I often find myself getting frustrated when I don't have the answers that I so badly want to give others and myself, but walking with other Believers helps me to give it up to God and just trust in His plan. 

The book of Jeremiah seems to have a common theme: the idea of trusting in God's promise. God tells His people that he will deliver them and reward them, and all we have to do is wait. What would you say if God asked you to give up your entire life to do something for Him, but you would never be able to experience the results of your life's work? Maybe God isn't asking us to give up everything we know in search of some crazy purpose He has, but there are so many things that He is promising us every single day. He wants us to trust in Him and be patient. This is so hard for us to do in todays culture. We get so many things, whenever we want them and are considered to be a society that lives for the now. 

It's really easy to get caught up in the world and the obsessions we acquire over time. We are loved by a God who planned our existence before we were born and has a purpose for our lives, a special purpose. Sometimes He asks us to wait for the things He has promised us and He might ask us to go through times of hardship and suffering before we can get there. But we were made to be special. Psalm 37 talks about waiting for the Lord and trusting in His promises. We need to have faith that whatever is thrown at us, God will bring good in the end because He is good. God is constant and will never stray from His love for us, regardless of our choices. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." 

In Him, 
Courtney

Why.

Today in Christian Ethics, my class walked together in silence to the flagpoles on campus. The flags were half mass due to the traumatic shooting that happened in Washington D.C. yesterday. TCU lowered the flags out of respect and love for those impacted by this horrific event. It is a symbol of a united body on this campus, recognizing tragedy. As we walked together I felt a strong feeling of respect from my classmates, everyone was a little somber. While we stood looking up at the American flag, Texas flag, and TCU flag my heart began to break a little. 

We always ask why do bad things like this happen to undeserving people? My response has always been, because it is Gods will. Everything is planned perfectly by Him. But sometimes it's hard to understand His intentions. Looking up at the flags half raised, I saw respect and a sense of community on campus. I felt a part of this campus, as we were all joined by sadness. I could hear nothing but silence and my thoughts and conversation with God. I begged Him to give me just an ounce of understanding. What I would give to be able to answer everyones questions as to why. 

As a Christian, people are going to ask you "where is your God right now?" in times of tragedy. Well, why do bad things happen to those who have Faith? I think bad things happen to good people every minute of every day. Those 12 people who were shot and killed are in Heaven with the Lord, living a better life with Him then they would here on Earth. I know He was so gracious and welcoming to those 12 and joyous that they have entered into His kingdom. I know He welcomed them with open arms and a heavy heart. We can't explain why people do bad and traumatic things, but we can pray that God give us some peace and a glimpse of understanding as to why. 

What is our responsibility as Christians? Is there an obligation to stop violence? These questions were asked by my professor at the end of class and really made me take a step back. We have a community accountability and everyone wants to feel safe and secure. Christian faithfulness requires public action by churches and Believers. Actions like these tragedies could be lessons for us to learn from. We have the privilege to not have to find out answers to the question why? But as Christians, we are asked to wrestle to find answers. 

Trust Him,
Courtney

Believers are Salt and Light.

Matthew 5:13-16 says, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." I remember memorizing these verses in one of the many religion classes I took from Coach Pierce's in high school. At the time I was just going through the motions and memorizing it to make a good grade, but tonight I truly understand the significance of this passage.  

Ben Connelly from The City Church here in Fort Worth spoke at our campus ministry, Ignite, tonight. He dissected these verses for us to grasp the concept of salt and light more clearly. Light is the only thing that can push back dark. When you think about it, how could darkness possibly cover light? It just can't. But, too often our lives don't mirror this image. Instead of a city on a hill, we hide it away from the world. We put our light under a basket instead of being a light before others. Something is missing if we're not doing what God tells us to do. 

If you are salt without light, no one can see your good works. Our lives try to shine light but because we don't know and spend time with Jesus it's difficult. Salt without light is about input and no outflow. 
If salt becomes diluted, there is no use for it. Therefore, we don't have the ability to shine this "light." To be pure and salty is to live for Jesus. Pour out and shine light to penetrate the darkness in the world, whatever that may be for you. This is only possible if Jesus has motivated you. God tells Abraham that He is going to bless him so that he can bless others. Gods priority is love and making disciples. 

One thing that Ben said that really stood out to me was, "You don't have the power to show Christ unless He's dwelling within you." Now this scares me if I'm being honest. Believers want so badly to show Christ, but don't have that ability unless He's living inside of us. This motivates me to take a deeper look into myself and see Christ working within me. It breaks my heart to think that so many people say they're Christ followers, yet shy into the darkness because of their insecurities. This has all been us at one time or another. 

We need to fill ourselves up with community and discipleship. Don't leave people outside the Christian bubble, in the darkness. Jesus ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes and hung out with lepers. This walk with Him isn't supposed to be comfortable, it's a fine line that we walk. He laid down this life so we can be disciples for Him. 

Ben beautifully ended by saying, "It's about loving people enough so they know what we claim to be the centerpiece of our lives."

Be the Salt and the Light,
Courtney

Bold.

I want so badly to spread Gods Word, but sometimes I have a hard time doing it, even at a Christian University. I have faced more diversity at this school than ever before in my life. As cheesy as it sounds it has been life changing. I grew up as a very shy kid and went to the same Christian, college prep school, from pre-k through 12th grade. I never had a hard time making friends growing up because the friends I met on the playground were the best friends I still have to this day. Because we went to a very small Christian school, I was always able to be very open about my relationship with Christ. My friends and I had intimate conversations and were connected on a level that was much deeper than "best friends." We are sisters in Christ.

When I came to TCU, this was not the case at all. I just assumed everyone were Believers as well, after all it is called Texas CHRISTIAN University. Right? My freshman year I was so blessed to find a deep spiritual connection with my Resident Assistant, Kayla, and look up to her as a beautiful example of what living the Christian life should look like. After many nights in her room I grew to admire her love for the Lord and really viewed her as a role model. Even to this day, I view her in the same light.

TCU has given me the chance to watch people grow in their faith like I have never experienced before. I have been so incredibly blessed to watch my close friends grow in their individual walks with Christ. Each of them are so unique and have their own complex stories that I learn more and more about as our time together grows. These people have been such an asset to my faith by challenging me, uplifting me, and walking alongside me with Christ. It's so beautiful to see the Lord working in both my life and the lives of people that I surround myself with. It's like a gift and I am so thankful for it. 

I admire those who are fearless and outspoken and these are qualities I strive to possess. Growing as a Believer on such a broken campus has improved my ability to show Christ's love to others, which lets face it, is what God set us on this Earth to do.

But what happens when we give up on religion and try following Jesus?

Everyone has the potential for Gospel influence. Everyone who has been saved by the gospel is empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. Living Sent isn't just about me doing all the work. It's also about me seeking out others, loving them, equipping them, and sending them out. I want to equip others in figuring out this life as a Believer, and empower them. God is telling me to send love and Live Sent. No longer will the most important story be found on a Sunday morning inside a building. The most important story will be found as Gods people (the church) live out the Gospel everyday in their various spheres of life. 

Be Bold. 
Courtney

Not of this World.

A Man & His Idols | Spoken Word: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf22ke_pOl8

Why are there demons that haunt us?

I hate them. God's love is too powerful to let these things control our lives. Maybe there are voices in your head telling you that you might be happy if you went to this party or hung out with a certain group of people. That's not happiness. That will never fulfill you. I can confidently tell you that right now. 
That will never fulfill you. 

We continue to chase after these worldly things that we make idols, and they will never make us, our definition of "happy." Like Jefferson Bethke said in his spoken Word video (link posted at the beginning of this post) "Idols take but they never give." It's funny though isn't it? We think we know what's best for us. I'm in a stage in my life where I am surrounded by young adults in their 20's who think they run their lives. #lolz  We walk around like we are in complete control and often forget our Maker who actually runs this show.

There is no such thing as chance or accident. God controls everything around us. Every little thing that makes up our lives is strategically planned. And what do we do? We think we are the shot callers. Wrong. 

It's been frustrating me lately, as I have seen it in myself and the people around me. By choosing to invest our time and energy into things of this world, are we sending a message to God that He isn't good enough. That breaks my heart. I would never want Him to have that feeling or be treated that way, yet I continue to live my comfortable life the way that I want to. I often resist His intentions because I think my way is better. Don't we all do this? 

Luke 12:34 says, "For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him." We can assume that Jesus is asking us to give up our treasures so that we can follow Him. Personally, this is one of my biggest struggles. It's hard not to get caught up in our possessions and the things of the world, but the fact of the matter is: the only thing we need in this life is our Father. 

So what do we do? We make choices. We start small. God knows our hearts and He knows our intentions. We're not going to Hell if we go to a party we probably shouldn't have or watch a Kardashians marathon and obsess over Kendall Jenner. I am so guilty of this, I invest my energy into the things of this world when I know the only thing that will satisfy my soul is Christ. We must acknowledge that we are investing our time in worldly things, rather than trusting that Gods love will always be enough. I am in constant conversation with Him about the decisions I am making, whether they be good or not so good.  Although I know I constantly choose other things over Him, I acknowledge my actions and ask for His forgiveness. This isn't to be taken lightly, however. His forgiveness is always there, but not to be taken for granted. Yes, He will always forgive us and love us no matter what, but that doesn't give us the right to take advantage of His unfailing love. 

Here's my wish for us. Do something radically different with our lives. This life is beautiful and we get so caught up in the here and now that we often forget Who gave us this freedom to begin with. Acknowledge the love Christ has for you, daily, and little by little my hope is that we start to find our happiness in Him and not of these worldly things. 

Trust Him, 
Courtney

Live Sent.

I grew up in the Church ever since I can remember. As a kid I dreaded going and was bored throughout the service, week after week. The best part was coloring on the bulletins. Literally. But when I hit the age of about ten, I think I started to actually listen to what the Pastor was saying. I began to realize I really liked this Church thing and this guy named Jesus was kind of cool. I mean He could save me? Me? #wut. Shortly thereafter, I went to my Pastor and asked to be baptized. I felt like I was at the point where I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart and be saved by Him, but imagine these thoughts in the mind of a ten year old. Now I find it special looking back on it after all these years, because I was baptized on Easter Sunday. At the time, I wasn't able to recognize what a powerful day it was to commit myself to Christ. 

Once I was old enough, I went through confirmation and made some close friends that were interested in the same things I was. A little later in middle school, like 8th grade, I signed up for a retreat our youth group was taking, called Breakthrough, with my friend Kaissling. In other words, our moms wanted us to meet kids at church so they forced us to go. We were both nervous because we weren't really close to anyone in our youth group, due to its extreme clique-i-ness. I was personally nervous that everyone was going to know more about God than me, and that it would be awkward for me when everyone was in deep thought or conversation and I wouldn't know what to say. After a few nights on the trip, there came a night I will never forget. My Church had our own little meeting one night after worship, to talk about the trip so far. A boy named Chris Shaw stood up and poured out his feelings to our entire youth group, fearless. With tears in his eyes, he expressed how he so badly wanted to feel the love of Christ that he had been observing and hearing about the entire week. He just didn't understand why everyone else had this awesome relationship and he didn't. He wanted so badly to be able to confidently say he knew what Christs love felt like, and told us just how much he would give to even know that feeling. I sat there crying, knowing exactly how he was feeling. I wanted the same exact thing. I was thirsty for this love that everyone was talking about. Yes, I had been baptized and confirmed but I didn't feel that deep connection that I was yearning for. 

After that trip I focused on building my relationship with Christ by teaching myself Scripture and trying to absorb as much knowledge as I could, like a sponge! My personal time with Christ grew enormously and I started to finally feel like I was doing something right. My junior year of high school I felt an urge to go on a mission trip my school was offering to New Orleans. This is where I learned what "Living Sent" really looked like. We were made to live beyond ourselves. In John, Jesus says, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." I Live Sent as a letter from God to culture sharing the same message He has delivered along- "I love you. I am near. Follow Me." 

When I was a senior, I joined the Spiritual Life Committee at my high school. We planned devotionals for every Friday to be given in front of our student body. What shocked me was that there were only about 15 students on the committee, out of over 200 kids that attended a Christian school. #wut. When it came time for me to give a devotion, I didn't want to do it. My friend Malone promised to do it with me and finally convinced me to say what the heck, okay. After preparing a PowerPoint and my notes, Malone didn't come to school the day we were giving our devotional. What the actual heck. I was now that much more nervous that I was going to have to get up in front of my peers and faculty and express my love for Christ. This was the largest amount of people I had ever spoken to on a topic of this particular nature. I talked with God about how I really didn't want to do it, but He pushed me forward. I gave the devotion and although I was nervous, I looked out and saw the love in the eyes of my friends who I had spiritual connections with, knowing just by the looks in their eyes that they were proud to call me a sister in Christ. After giving the devotion, I was on fire for the Lord. After that day I devoted my senior year to becoming more comfortable and secure in who I was as a Believer. Constantly working on this brought me the peace and confidence that I had never experienced before. I was fortunate to grow up in a town that was crawling with Christians. This was great for me because I always had someone to turn to, my friends and parents being my main support system. They held me accountable for my actions and acknowledged the strides I was making as a child of God. 

As I began my freshman year at TCU, I was determined to show Christ in myself to the new people that I met. My goal was to surround myself with people whom I admired and wanted to be like. A defining moment in my Faith that year was one night when I went to our Monday night contemporary service, Ignite. They screened a documentary called Beware of Christians. Seriously check it out, best docu ever. It showed four college guys from Texas, backpacking through Europe as Christians. Their goal was to find out what it looks like to leave Religion, and follow Jesus. The people they encountered and the views of Christianity and touchy subjects opened my eyes and encouraged me to spread His Word in as many places that I can, just like these four guys had done half way across the World. 

At Ignite my sophomore year, the pastor had us all close our eyes and told us to imagine Christ dying on the cross and then coming back to life three days later and He looks at you and says, "go out and live as if I am with you always, which I am." This rocked me. The vivid imagery literally blew my mind. So, this is what I want to do with this awesome gift we are given called Life. Spread God's word to anyone who will listen because He is always with us. 

You can't stay where you are and follow God. 

Live Sent, 
Courtney