What's the point?

Hello,

     As someone who is pursuing full time ministry, there is a definite temptation to seek God purely for Him to bless the ministry. You read the word so that you will have some wisdom to share to whoever you are ministering to. You pray for God to do breakthroughs and start revivals. These are both great things that need to be done by all people pursuing full time ministry, but I think that sometimes we forget the point.
     Why are we doing ministry in the first place? What is the reason for all of this effort and toil? What's the point? I have recently been asking myself this question, not in a negative way, but just really seeking God's direction on whether I am truly getting the point of why I am doing what I am doing.
     One of the perks of doing the internship is that I am exposed to amazing literature that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. We just finished reading "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer and it was life-changing. I learned so much from his wise and thoughtful words. The biggest takeaway that I have gained from reading the book was that for most of my life I have been missing the point. I have been a believer for most of my life, but I often forget why I am a believer in the first place.
     I am not a believer to serve God; I am a believer to be in relationship with God. Jesus didn't die on the cross for me to do the Chi Alpha internship at Tulane. He died on the cross so that I can enjoy constant communion with Father. I often, and I mean often, forget this. The creator of the universe sacrificed His own son, His pride and joy, a piece of His very Self to know me. He didn't want me to ever be apart from Him, so He went to the ends of the earth to bridge the gap. That is powerful and humbling. I am not worth this sacrifice. I am just the creation, something that He has all authority to cast out, but He doesn't. Wow.
     I spend most of my time worrying about if I am serving Him right, when I should spend most of my time enjoying the wonderful privilege of HIs presence. I find delight in the fact that I never have to leave it. Many people have enjoyed the rush of peace and joy you get when the worship team at church ushers the Spirit into the service. That is a feeling that we don't ever have to part from. We can be consistently bathed in His love, mercy, grace, joy, and peace.
     If you are feeling like your walk with the Lord is burdensome, I want to encourage you to remember that His burden is light and easy. Allow yourself to delight in His presence and let His healing love restore you. He is waiting patiently for you to come back to Him. That's the point anyways right?

Matthew 11:28-30
²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Morgan :)

Picture Update

Hello,

It has been a while since I blogged about Tulane life and while I definitely believe that words are powerful and can express deep feelings and emotions, I wanted to show you guys what God has been doing through pictures. These are pictures of events that have been happening with students and I truly love these people so much!

(warning: there are a lot of pictures)

Verse I have been meditating on lately...

John 13:35

The Message (MSG)

^34-35 “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

 

- Morgan S.

Hidden Gems

     I must say, WOW! It has definitely been an interesting and exciting few weeks. If you didn't know, I recently moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue my passion for college ministry. We have recently had orientation and now we are gearing up for start-up week. If you are a part of the college ministry community, then you know that start-up week is the craziest, most exciting, and quite often most fruitful week of the ministry for meeting new students. I am so anxious and excited to begin! I want God to do unbelievable things this year for Tulane (that is the campus I am on!).

     But before I can go all crazy on campus and start being BFFs with everyone in sight, I have to learn about Tulane. Get to know what is special about the school and how Chi Alpha functions on their campus. For four years, I have been learning about ministry from a totally different lens. First of all, Tulane is private and in a major city. While Louisiana Tech (where I graduated) is in a rural college town and is public. I did not understand the vast differences in how ministry would work until walking around Tulane's campus, talking with students, and asking my campus pastor tons of questions!

      When coming from Northern Louisiana, you are used to seeing land and lots of land. Tech was wide and spacious. It has huge beautiful trees and beautiful landscape. In the fall, it is gorgeous with all the different color leaves and in the spring the tulips are to die for. That was my current idea of a beautiful campus. At first,Tulane did not match the qualities I liked in campuses. It is by no means wide and spacious! Instead it is skinny and long and smushed next to another campus. But as I looked deeper, I started to see little things that I loved. The architecture, the high tech feel of the student center, the beautiful modern art, and the backdrop of a truly fantastic city! Yes, it is smack dab in the middle of the city, but it has all of these beautiful elements that make me want to sit on the lawn and drink coffee like a hipster or something :).

     I often find myself making these silly comparisons. Tech is like this; Tulane is like that. I find I do that when God changes my location or direction in life. I always look back to the old and reminisce about the "good ole days". Don't get me wrong, I am so excited about Tulane and have loved every minute! But I no longer want to try and fit it into my current frame of mind. I want to clear the slate. Open my mind and take a posture of listening and learning. I think that is how we should approach every new task God has set before us. We should remember that there are new things to learn in every situation that God has set before you. He does this because in every new situation there is an opportunity to learn more about who HE is. That is so amazing to me! God wants ME to know HIM and He orchestrates my life in such a way to make that happen. WOW how exciting is that? I mean He is the creator, the author, the conductor of life and I get to know Him!

     I am excited to do just that. I am just super ready to not only love on Tulane's students this year, but to get to know my wonderful Daddy in Heaven.

Morgan :)

Community

     In the organization I am currently involved in, we talk a lot and I mean A LOT about community. One would say that our sole purpose is to create a Christian community on my campus. All this talking about community has me wondering what community really means and looks like. Is it just a clique of people who look the same and act the same? Is it a group of people doing the same things trying to reach a goal? Or is it something more?

     In my last post, I talked about loneliness and how God fills that emotional void we all stumble upon. I do believe that God is sufficient in all of our needs, but I also believe that He also gives us the "cherry on top"! In our culture, the "cherry on top" always means that extra special treat that creates that perfect sundae. Now we all know that a sundae by itself is wonderfully delicious and fulfilling, but that extra cherry on top makes it just the more indulgent and even exciting. I believe that God gives us community with other believers just for this purpose. 

     "God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature...God created human beings;  he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature." The key word that I see in this verse is "our". God is not some freaky creature from Lord of the Rings speaking in plurals for no reason! When He says "our", He means the Trinity. People across all beliefs have questioned and questioned the meaning of the Trinity, but put as simply as possible, the Trinity is the union and unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One being that fulfills three purposes fully (1 John 5:7). I am not here to debate all the theological views on the Trinity, but that is the simplest view of what the Bible has to say about it. Anyways back to community, I believe that since God has made us in His image we are made to be in community or communion with others. Dictionary.com describes communion as an, "interchange or sharing of thoughts or emotions; intimate communication" and "the act of sharing, or holding in common; participation".

     So I know I have drowned you with information, but I do have a point to make! Community is NOT just a group of people that look the same, act the same, or speak the same. Community is a body of God inspired, reflected, and re-created people sharing their thoughts, communicating intimate emotions, and participating in each others lives. How sweet is that? So not only do we have the God of the universe to have intimate relationship with, but we also have a body of God-inspired believers to share our lives with!

    I think of these truths and marvel at the fact that our world is still hurting and broken. God has not created us to live lives apart from Him or each other. So why does it take us so long to understand these things? Why do we continue to live our lives estranged from God and hiding from people? I think the best way to counteract this conundrum is to start being open and honest with God and man. Let your life be an open book and let others in! It is so fulfilling and freeing to let others love you! Don't hide any longer, but live your life like an open book, willing for others to read and study your pages. Also let others have the ability for editing in your story, so that you can grow together! I know God has called you to live a life that is in communion with Him and others! So start Living. :)

Why do I feel so lonely?

     I think as a people we are struggling with a loneliness so deep that it rocks our core selves. It changes us. It distorts who we are supposed to be. It alters our view of the world. It alters how we love. I have been suffering from this loneliness, quietly and behind the scenes. Outwardly, I am bubbly, joyous, confidant, happy. Inwardly, I am bleeding, screaming for someone to notice me, the real me. That is our way. We hide behind smiles so that no one sees who we are, but all the while desperately wanting just that. Someone to notice. Someone to care. Someone to love us. 
     I wondered for a long time why we do this. There are billions of people on this earth. Why are we all struggling, when we could reach out to one another. I started to reach out to others. A one woman show to change the world. It was exhausting. There are so many people with need. As I started to pour myself out, I noticed that my cup was never being filled. I was still bleeding. I looked to those I loved and asked myself why they were not reaching out to me. Why was I the only one trying to help? 
     During this time, God revealed something to me that was so profound, comforting, and painfully obvious. Why are we expecting people (flawed and inherently evil) to fill a void that only HE can fill? He created us to be in communion with Him. He created us to have a natural need for intimacy with Him. He created us to love Him. When we forget that we were created to have relationship with Him, we forget who we are and why we are here. We start looking for that love and intimacy in people, material items, sex, drugs, media, food, exercise  movies, and the list goes on and on. We start to have unhealthy thirsts for these things. These thirsts can NEVER be quenched. We will always want more. Jesus says in John 4:13-14 that , "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." That is such an exciting thought to me! To know that I never have to struggle with this awful loneliness ever again helps me to breath easier and feel lighter!
     Now that we know God's promise, it is our duty to remember it. When you are feeling lonely, get into the presence of the Lord. Don't become a slave to worldly and finite quick fixes, but dive deeper into your relationship with God. Let him be apart of your everyday life. Every negative thought or action should not go unheard, let Him in on the secret. You can be honest with Him about your faults and know that He brings renewed strength and love. His love will help you open up to others and share with them your struggles and strengths. 
     I hope this post helps someone who is struggling silently. Do not be silent any longer! Speak! Share your life with God because He is living! He yearns for us to reach out to Him and share our lives with him :)