6 pages down, 45 to go… about to finish a 15 pager.

I have from this moment until monday at 5pm to finish 51 pages of papers and study for a sit-down exam. I will have a countdown on this blog so you can monitor my progress. If you don’t see anything getting done, someone please get on my case.

last crusade meeting…. here’s my speech….

    Have you ever been to a karaoke bar? It can be a painful experience but it’s almost always a lot of fun. When I was in high school, me and some friends of mine used to go on occasion. It was fun when all the guys got up and sang “Unchained Melody” to all the ladies that were with us, in typical Top Gun fashion. It was bearable when some of the girls used to add dance steps while they were trying to sing “I Will Survive.? But it almost cleared the room the one time when the girl I was dating stood up and started belting out “Stand by your man.” It was just more than we could bear! But the great thing about a karaoke bar is that people are willing to jump up and get involved and have fun no matter how much of a fool they make of themselves. And it seems to me that we as believers ought to be like a karaoke for Christ. It ought to be a place where people are so at ease and so comfortable that they are willing to jump to their feet and do things they’ve never thought of doing before. “Hey, I’ll teach that Sunday School class. I’ll work with those children. I’ll go on Summer Project. I’ll start a Real Life group. I’ll go volunteer at Salvation Army. I’ll go on staff with Crusade.” People are so excited and so comfortable that they’ll volunteer to use their gifts in some kind of ministry.
    This lesson has been extremely influential to me over the past few years. Having become a Christian my freshman year of college, I?ve had to really make some major adjustments in my life choices. My sophomore year I was confronted with an open schedule for my summer and a newly planted faith just waiting for the rain to fall. Instead of waiting for that rain, I went out to find the water on my own. I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and go on Summer Project, despite the interest of my non-Christian friends and family that all wanted me to come home for the summer. The experience was like that of a campfire. I?ve had the kindling burning for a while, but now I was finally putting on the bigger pieces of wood. Soon after, I felt God laying upon my heart the desire for full-time ministry. I had always thought I?d be a doctor? I even finished Organic Chemistry and Vertebrate Anatomy. I was certainly in my comfort zone and ready to head off the med-school. God wanted me somewhere else though. It was like all my friends yelling at me to get up on the Karaoke stage but I was too nervous to agree. I eventually gave in and now I am headed off to seminary in Atlanta, GA starting July, which has been the most invigorating decision in my life.
    There?s a last story I want to tell. 5 year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn?t want to go alone. “It?s dark in there and I?m scared.” She asked again and he persisted. Finally she said, “It?s OK-Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said, “Jesus, if you?re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup.”
    This is the message that I want to leave to all of you that I have really learned along the way. We often look ahead and see that darkness and are afraid to trust. Where we are is familiar and comfortable… change can bring instability. But just like the mother in the story and the Gospel tells us, it?s OK ? Jesus will be in there with you.

here’s a fun web page to procrastinate for about a minute or two on… click here.

well… it’s been a bit of time since my last entry. not too much is going on in my life at this time outside of the typical end of the year crises. i have 51 pages to write from today until monday, then i have a few days off, then i graduate. it’s pretty exciting. i am so caught up in moving and finding a job and figuring out the next 4 years of my life that i forget about the next week of my life. i need to focus on school so i can graduate. i will talk more later as i start to procrastinate during homework tonight.