June 23, 2005
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April 18, 2005
Listen to this: (err…read this)
“Christian Hedonism (personal note: I have not completely figured out what ‘hedonism’ literally means. I was thinking it was the crazy Greeks and Romans, but I think that was Hellenism???) is a philosophy of life built on the following five convictions:
1. The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.
2. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.
3. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.
4. The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with others in the manifold ways of love.
5. To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: the pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue. That is:
The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. “
well? Agree or disagree?
still thinking?
that is some pretty heavy stuff.
That is the summary of John Piper’s book “Desiring God.” on some of the points I start to go under on understanding, but most of it is like “what?? For real? that makes sense!” kind of stuff.
You know what I realized? The spiritual atmosphere at the youth center has been much more real the past few weeks–and I can pin-point it to the day that God convicted me of not praying protection and spiritual help for the youth center. wow. It seems like God has also given me a renewed focus on working with the girls, and wisdom on where to go next. Of course, we went back to square one–after you are saved, you are baptized.
Tuesday I met with Erica. We went to Starbucks and over a frap had a really good talk. I felt the Lord leading, and so I was pretty blunt. it went something like this: “Erica, I want you to come to the youth center, but you have to make an effort. I want you to come, but I do not want to be in competition with you. You are a leader, and if you are leading in a different direction than me, I am no competition. the girls love you. For you to come, you need to going the same direction I am going–following God. If it is not worth it to you, then do not come back.” I felt really harsh. But she just looked up like “well, duh, I know that is what I need to do and yep, I will do it.” And from what I have seen so far, she seems to mean it. I am glad–I really do love those girls. And Ebony, who I would consider more of a follower, has just really been blossoming. She was one of the girls that got baptized on Sunday! Isn’t that a miracle?
guess what? it turns out that I am sun-intolerant. or something like that. one arm has totally broken out into some kind of heat rash since I have been out in the sun. I went and got some medicine for it, and the doctor was like “just wear long-sleeves until it goes away.” I asked how long that would be and they said it could be until my body gets used to the sun, or for years, or for forever. I balked at that. I said that I worked at the center and was outside all the time, and was going to Brasil for goodness sakes. They said it was up to me, and I could experiment, because they really have no clue what the red bumps are. I have decided to begin an all out attack and stay in the sun until my body decides it must have sun as much as my soul needs it. ahh. it seems to be working–or at least not getting worse. so please pray for that. Brasil and long sleeves? I don’t think so.
The rest of the week went well at the youth center, except for all the little issues–especially the little girl gossips and blah blah. I got a chance to talk with Dabrittnay, and that was neat. I walked over to her and she said “you have been wanting to talk to me for a long time, haven’t you?” and I had, so I agreed with her. She was glad I cared about her and was quite open with her issues. please continue praying for her. She is basically out of her depression thing, but has alot of issues she would rather run away from than deal with.
On Sunday I went to Faith in Avon, where John and Ms.Elizabeth take the kids every Sunday. I was not sure who all would be baptized (we had to get permission slips–yep–permission slips for baptism. I guess there is possible drowning fears? no, j/k) and was alittle worried about the girls backing out at the last minute, but Dabrittnay especially, and Ebony following helped the younger girls continue on. Boy were they nervous! We got back to the room to change (I got smart this time and brought my own clothes for them to use because last time EVERYONE forgot extra clothes and…well…we ended up double layering the robes and no one was the wiser) and all the girls suddenly had to use the restroom. Well, there was no time, so I just hurried the girls on. It was so neat because I got to be there for them…but as much as I loved the privilege, I wish so much that their parents had been there to do that for them. So with much giggles–and no tripping this time–the girls were baptized with radiant faces. Unfortunately, Ebony was so nervous she had to use the bathroom really bad. There were no restrooms behind the baptistery, so we had to run through the sanctuary and foyer to the nearest restroom–with her still dripping, wet clothes, and a towel and me leading with my arms full of clothes, including her shoes! I guarantee those people had never seen anything like that happen!:) it was pretty funny.
The girls that got baptized were Fanny, a younger girl that has recently been saved at the youth center, Diamond, that I wrote about last week who just got saved, Kayla, Dabrittnay’s younger sister (she was even brave enough to go first!:)), Dabrittnay, who has been saved and coming to the youth center for a LONG time, and Ebony, who was saved at the youth center two years ago. This is the second group of girls that I have gotten to see baptized, and man, it is something else. not that there is something magical…and not that baptism really makes any sense in the natural mind–but God says to do it, and with obedience comes such blessing that you wonder why you ever doubted.
For me personally? “Gain a moral victory in chastity or in your emotional life, it may be known to no one but yourself, and you are an untold benefit to everyone else…if you struggle to get through, others are the stronger and better for knowing you.”
–Oswald Chambers
Luke 14:15-23 “…A certain man gave a great supper and invited many…but they all with one accord began to make excuses…Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city , and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind…Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
