Well, this is it.
My last full day here at home in good ol' Illinois.
I have never left home for so long 11 months before. This whole area has been home in so many different ways to me:
More than a place where…
I
live.
work[ed].
go to church.
learn things & stuff.
play Ultimate Frisbee
with Ultimate Friends.
hang out with people.
[Insert all the other thi
ngs you do as a living,
breathing person here]
(^ see what I did there? I built a house out of words…. heh… complete with grass!)
Now it's time for me to go out into the nations.
Stepping out of the comforts of home.
out of my comfort zone really…
Cramming crap stuff into a backpack,
and heading out into the world.
Alongside me will B my wonderful B-Squad family,
(I'm on Team Freedom!)
our squad leaders Mike Sanders and Stacey Compton,
And most importantly,
Jesus.
In order for me be used by Christ to impact the nations,
I'm going to have to
Push. Past. Personal.
Yes, I'm sure most of you have heard the phrase "it's not a religion, it's a relationship." And I completely agree that being a Christian requires a personal relationship with Jesus.
More and more, I wanna push past personal. Not lose the personal relationship, but truly take the lamp out from underneath the bucket.
Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)
God put the light in me. It's not just for me to have this personal relationship with Christ so that I would simply feel good about myself.
The light is not my own; may it always speak of Christ.
When you turn on a light in a room, everyone is able to see.
NOT just the person who flipped the switch.
The light is not my own.
And so, I wanna bring the light to the dark places around the world.
Flip some switches.
Tell others about Christ, so that they can flip switches.
Can I say it again?
The
light is not
my own.
It's not only a personal light that I have been given.
I'm pushing past personal.
You down with PPP?
(Yeah you know me)
This. world. is. about. to. get. lit.
