wake up, prepare breakfast, serve breakfast, prepare lunch, serve lunch, clean up, BREAK! (craft shack, ukulele/guitar playing) prepare dinner, serve dinner, clean up, CHAPEL!, devos, bed, rinse and repeat.

Here is what I have learned:
-lettuce and brooms do not work well together
-at miracle camp, it is perfectly fine to yell that you don’t care if the trees all burn and that you eat wolves. (don’t ask.)
-scripture memorization….yes, please.
-it is possible for camp aides to listen to the same skillet song 50 times without getting tired of it…no matter how annoyed the kitchen staff may be.
-Many times, we live up to the expectations placed upon us, despite how inaccurate they often are.
-Knowing about someone and/or God is very different than knowing someone and/or God.
-Junior highers are impressed by even the least impressive of talents.
-I sing like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland? I’ll take it.) This was according to a junior high camper, of course.
-People can go to church their entire lives and still not know what they believe or why they believe it….and most importantly, they don’t know the Jesus they claim to follow.
-I have also learned how to slice tomatoes and cucumbers like a pro.

Well, the list could go on and on…but, there you have it folks. My camp experience. In a list. I’m an English major and I can’t make myself write a coherent paragraph. Camp does crazy things to you. But crazy things happen. People find God. Lives are changed.

Something as glorious and beautiful as a fireworks show always makes me reminisce.  Exactly one year ago tonight, I was coming back home from a two-week trip to the Dominican Republic.  I remember watching fireworks shows across Florida as I flew over them in an airplane.  It was awesome.  And just thinking about where I was this time last year, and where I am today, I was very encouraged to look back on the past year and see how much things have changed.

It’s amazing what changes in a year.  If you would have told me what kind of year I was going to have as I was riding on that plane a year ago today, I would have told you you were crazy.  Only by the grace of God am I where I am today.  It is incredible how he works things out.  The joy of last summer, the discouraging grind of last fall, the bitterness of winter, and the uncertainty of spring all worked together to produce a Chris that loves God and appreciates his grace much more than I did this time last year.

I no longer take people or circumstances for granted like I did a year ago.  I am working so hard to love my neighbor as myself and preach the gospel not only through words but through actions.

I dunno, I just wanted to write shortly about how much has changed in the past year.  It has been a very heartbreaking year, yet a very joyful year.  Through the past year I have learned that sometimes, God has to break you in order to recreate you, when you have more than a little tweaking to do.  But know, that I have learned, he works out all things for the good of those who love him.  Persevere through the tough times, love when you think you can’t.  Show gratitude for grace and praise for peace.

Pursue Christ always.  Never take anyone or anything for granted, no matter how difficult the person or circumstance.

G’nite.

-Chris

Howdy!  This is one of those posts by me that has absolutely no focus but is solely me rambling on about whatever pops into my head.  As a general rule, my stream-of-consciousness posts tend to be some of my favorites, but I make no promises on this one being any good.  Not to mention, it is getting kinda late, and I have to be up early in the morning, so this can’t be super long or have any profound analogies like previous off-the-cuff posts have had.  I, in my nerdy little English mind, think it’s funny that both words describing the spontaneity of my posts are hyphenated words.  Yep, that’s me for ya.

Lately, my life has been pretty busy.  I have been working five days a week as a teacher’s assistant in a summer school.  I essentially do crowd control for kindergartners through third graders.  It’s….  exhausting.  I’m up every morning at six, and I’m working by seven thirty.  It’s pretty fun, I love the kids, it just wears me down by mid-week.  The school only runs for a month, and I have the rest of this week and one more week before it’s over.  I am going to miss the kids dearly, but I will greatly appreciate being able to hang out late into the night again.  I have learned a lot working with kids, and I can’t get into all of it tonight, but I will say that they are some of the most selfish beings I have ever encountered.  I am probably the most selfish person I know, but man, I don’t even want to imagine what I was like as a kid.  I mean holy cow, these kids don’t care about anything or anyone but themselves.  It’s incredible.  I love ‘em though.  They’re pretty fun and behave for the most part.

I am having a great summer with my guys from youth group.  It has been an amazing summer of fun, relaxation, and most of all, growth in Christ with these guys.  I am truly enjoying the time I am spending with these guys.  And while I am excited for school to start back up again, I am valuing every minute I spend with these guys because I know I will dearly miss them when I go back to TU.

I figure I should add a bit of what I’m learning on here so it is worth reading at least partly…  So here is a little bit of what I’ve been learning (I have been learning many different things and developing my theology a lot this summer.  So I’m sorry if it seems all over the place.  I cannot possibly explain all I have been learning in this short blog post, but message me on Facebook if you want to hear more sometime.):

“We, as Christians and obligatory teachers of gospel of Jesus Christ, must always remember to keep the gospel at the center of what we teach and share with others.  The minute we begin to stray away from the foot of the cross, in thinking its too basic or the like, is the minute we, as obligatory teachers, lose sight of the big picture and stray from the main idea of the Bible and Christianity.”  (That’s how I would write it, if I was scholarly and stuff).

I will attempt to unpack this statement a bit for you.  The word “obligatory” that I throw in front of the word “teacher” a couple of times in that statement above may be somewhat alarming or confusing to some of you (the word some assumes that more than one person actually reads this thing, ha!).  I say obligatory because I could not think of a better way to say “we are all called to teach in some capacity” in adjective form.  The reason I say that we are all called to teach in some capacity lies in Titus 2:1-6.  It says:

“Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So i can be
Filled with you”

But God allowed for an opportunity for all to come crashing in, for all that I cherished to be on the line. He was gracious to keep my life and allow all things that I make my central focus to be taken. Broken I came to the Holy One, wanting to be filled. I was and am willing to give up those things because they have become smaller than the God that has become my central focus. I want never to have Him leave my presence.

Lord Jesus, Keep me and Purify me, O God.

“Spirit of the living God fall fresh again
come search our hearts and purify our lives
we need Your perfect love we need Your discipline
we’re lost unless You guide us with Your light”

“Cuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
Compared to you
Cuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
So I surrender all”

Sin has a beginning with the Father of Lies and with birth of sin nature. I haven’t any escape to be sinless but I have a choice of willful sin. I knew that this started a long time ago, wanting nothing more than to be disgusted with the very thing that consumed my life. Redeem my heart, O God.

“You saw the very day we fall away from You
and how desperately we need to be redeemed”

“Lord Jesus
come lead us
we’re desperate for Your touch”

Now let me not run from this opportunity, Lord. Let me embrace it full heartedly with all diligence and allow it to pierce every aspect of my life. My heart wants to be free of this so I can be full of You, Jesus. Pour Your blood over my words, pour Your blood over my thoughts, pour Your love over my heart.

“Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don’t fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us”

Cleanse me Lord, keep me only in Your commandments. I want to live a life worthy of the Gospel, Christ. In the powerful name of Jesus I want nothing more than to have You reign fully in my heart. Revive my dead heart. Peel back these ribs again and breathe into my lungs, Lord.

“So reign please reign in us
come purify our hearts
we need Your touch
come cleanse us like a flood
and send us out
so the world may know You reign You reign in us”

Take away the lies thrown to me by the Adversary, Lord. Allow me to be free of this in time and through diligence in your Truth so that I may learn truth. Real truth is my only hope in this life but my only way to confidence in eternal life with You. You are Truth; open my eyes to see Your truth.

“So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you’re good
And you can’t believe it’s not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside”

Break down these walls, Mighty One. Break them from their foundations. Shatter my hopes and false promises in sin and open your flow of blessings in Your righteousness.

“So let ‘em fall down
There’s freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We’re here now”

Humbly at your feet I come to see that darkness will no longer prevail in this soul of mine. Make this heart and soul Yours forever, God. Keep this life to glorify You only.

“When you come to where you’re broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark”

Please let my only desire be that You would seek and pursue my only love. You are worthy, Lord. Help me, O God, to have you be the center of my life; my ONLY life.

“Oh great and mighty one
with one desire we come
that You would reign that You would reign in us
we’re offering up our lives
a living sacrifice
that You would reign that You would reign in us”

Keep me blameless and from stumbling Lord in this journey of pain. Give me accountability, give me love, and give me Your body to help me survive this in spirit and body. Hear my cries Lord as I purge this sin from my life.

“we cry out for Your life to revive us cry out
for Your love to define us cry out
for Your mercy to keep us
blameless until You return”

“I do not write to you because you not know the truth, bue because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.” 1 John 2:21

—————

Howdy.  It’s good to be back posting on What the Blind See.  My name is Chris Martin and I am a sophomore Bible major at Taylor University in Upland, IN.  I am looking to pursue further education in BIblical Counseling or some other seminary field.  When Cookie emailed the writers about needing someone to write about John 10, I thought I would take him up on the offer.  I have been struggling to write on one specific topic lately because of the wide variety of things I am learning in my life recently.  I figured writing on one specific passage would be easier than trying to articulate exactly what I’ve been learning (I need to tackle that one for my first general blog post… oh boy).
Before we even start reading John 10, we need to understand what the purpose of the book of John is.  It is a gospel, so we would be correct in assuming that the book is about Jesus.  However, what part about Jesus does the book of John cover?  The header, in the ESV at least, preceding John 20:30 helps.  It reads, “The Purpose of this Book.”  If that isn’t straightforward enough for you, I don’t know what would be.
Here is what John says is the purpose of his book:
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. “(John 20:30-31 ESV)
I kinda see John as the first apologetic.  Unlike our modern day apologetics, he doesn’t present historical proof or the like because this gospel is more like CNN than the History Channel.  John presents the gospel in such a way that says, “Here is the God-man Jesus.  He is the Christ, and here is why.”  That’s kinda the vibe I get from it.  And know, you need to take my interpretations with a grain of salt.  I am not a Biblical scholar.  Cookie encourages the writers to think for themselves about a passage before they consult commentaries.  So all of this that I write is personal interpretation, not scholarly by any means.
In this post I want to analyze John 10:1-21, but I am going to focus on one verse more than the entire passage itself.  The passage is primarily Jesus painting the illustration of him being the good shepherd.  Here is a passage we are going to break down today:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:1-5 ESV)
I was a bit troubled when I read this passage.  I thought this illustration was going to be somewhat difficult to break down.  But then, as I read on, I realized Jesus broke it down for me!  (to a point…)  Here is a brief overview of what each image in the illustration represents:
Heaven/eternal life with God = sheepfoldJesus = gateFalse prophets = thieves and robbersJesus (spiritual leaders?) = good shepherd??? = hired handGentiles? = other sheepUnited church = one flock
Some parts of the illustration that I listed above (hired hand, other sheep, etc.) are not mentioned in the passage I copied above, but later in the chapter when Jesus breaks down the illustration.  Let’s begin to digest what’s going on here exactly.
Jesus doesn’t explicitly say this, but I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the sheepfold he speaks of, to which he is the gate, is heaven, or eternal life with God.  Jesus is the gate to heaven, the only way to become part of the sheepfold.  False prophets, or false teachers of God’s word are the thieves and robbers that try to enter the sheepfold (heaven) by means other than the one gate (Jesus).  These would be people who preach gospels of works-based salvation, prosperity gospel goons, etc.
Next is a point that is somewhat puzzling, but one I think I may have somewhat of a clue on.  Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, the shepherd who leads the sheep through the gate, to the sheepfold.  Initially, I thought to myself, how on earth is Jesus the gate and the shepherd?  I mean I know he is God, and he can do anything, but logically, in the illustration, it didn’t make sense.  Then, it hit me, and I was rather surprised that I didn’t figure it out earlier.  Jesus is simply explaining his spiritual leadership.  I think, again, my personal interpretation, that the “good shepherd” is a Biblically-centered spiritual leader leading people to Christ.  I think another stipulation for this “good shepherd” is that he must be willing to “lay his life down for his sheep.”  Aside from Jesus, Moses and David are also called good shepherds in the Scriptures.  I may not be correct in thinking that a self-sacrificing spiritual leader can be the shepherd, but it just kinda makes sense.
Besides that, I think that in this illustration, Jesus is simply showing that not only is he the gate by which we enter into eternal life with God, but also that he leads us to himself.  Above, I put “???” next to the hired hand.  I am somewhat confused as to what a hired hand would look like in the deciphering of this illustration.  I think that it may be someone who considers himself a leader but bails when times get tough?  I am not sure, maybe a friendly commenter could help me out on this one.
Next, Jesus starts talking about “other sheep” and how his sheep and these other sheep will form “one flock.”  I think this should be an easy one to break down.
The other sheep Jesus speaks of are obviously the Gentiles.  This makes the most sense, as he is addressing Jews.  The one flock is the mix of Jews and Gentiles to form one church.  if you want to know more about this topic, read Ephesians, there, Paul writes about the unity of the Church in Christ, not ethnicities.
Well, that part of my post turned out to be a lot longer than I planned on it being, so I’ll make my rant on this one verse shorter than I thought it would be initially.  Here is the verse I want to write about:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”(John 10:10 ESV)
This is one of the most-taken-out-of-context verse EVERRR!!!  Particularly by one, Joel Osteen.  Jesus did not come so that you may have a Ferrari and an in-ground pool.  Rather, Jesus came so that you may find abundance in him.  Abundant joy.  I could write on this for days, so I won’t go into much depth.  But please, I beg of you, don’t take this verse out of context.  Jesus did not come so that we may be worldly rich, but that we may be abundantly joyful in him.
Thanks, post any questions you may have.
-Chris

In about twelve hours, I will be on the road to Michigan. I ask that you guys will keep me in your prayers this summer as I do my best to live a life that reflects that of Christ. Pray for patience, perseverance, and for a love that cannot be contained. I will probably stop writing sermon-style blogs (as I like to call them) for the time being. I am going to try to do a weekly update of my time at camp, sharing stories and encouraging tidbits of my week. I want to have documentation of what God will be doing over the summer that others can see and experience. I hope that my posts can be reminders of God’s faithfulness and his unfailing love. I’m ready for an exciting summer! Are you?

PS: If any of you have prayer requests for the summer, leave a comment or message me on facebook and I’ll be sure to go through those!

I have been reading, though rather slowly, Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll.  It’s a pretty good read.  It is an apologetic of sorts, but mainly just a great, in-depth description of every facet of our Savior.  Below are some great quotes I have come across so far:

“No matter how many verses are used, the Bible has not been rightly understood or proclaimed unless Jesus is the central focus and hero.”

“…Jesus’ mission on the earth was not to diminish, disregard, or disavow the Old Testament.  Rather, he came to fulfill all that was anticipated of him in the Scriptures.”

“As a prophet, Jesus is to be understood as the truth-telling boldly confrontational preacher who attacks our sin, folly, and rebellion by rebuking us and commanding us to repent.”

“As our king, Jesus demands and deserves obedient loyalty to his commands over every aspect of our life.  Subsequently, there is no such thing as a personal life for the Christian.”

This last quote kinda contains a revelation I had recently and have been walking in recently.  I have never been a really greedy person, I have sin issues, but that’s not one of the areas I struggle with.  But I have recently encountered, deeper than I have before, the concept of everything in this world belonging to God, not those who physically possess it.  I have always known, ya know, in the deep recesses of my mind, that none of my money is mine, yadda yadda yadda.  But I have only really thought about it deeply the past month or so.  It kind of plays into the concept of, “everything happens for a reason (the glory of God).”  I just know that if I lose something, or if something gets stolen, or if I feel the need to give something away that I am attached to, it is not mine, it is God’s, he merely lent it to me.  This makes it much easier to let go of things when God calls you to give things up.  In possessing all of your stuff, keep your hands open.  Allow your things to pass freely to those who may need them more than you.  Don’t grip onto your things so tightly you begin to think you actually did something to earn them.  It is only by God’s grace you have life, let alone your flat screen TV or paycheck.

I’m getting kinda tired, and I don’t think I’ll be able to come up with much more that is very profound.  I’ll post again soon.

-Chris

I just finished my third of five finals of this semester.  Tomorrow, in about 30 hours, I will be done with my freshman year of college.  That sounds so unnatural, but what I want to write briefly about today is, that while it sounds unnatural, it doesn’t feel unnatural.

I’m sure people who have watched me grow up think it’s uncanny that I’m finishing my freshman year of college (these are generally the same people that comment on how much you’ve grown and pinch your cheeks).  But while it may seem unnatural to them, it doesn’t phase me at all.  There is a blessing in not being overwhelmed with how quickly your life is moving.  College people used to seem so old, so weathered, so mature.  And now that I’m here, I see that while we may be older, and probably smarter, than those younger than us, we do not face any different problems than we used to, just new experiences.  There is still the drama of high school, the awkwardness of middle school (though not in astronomical quantities), and even a little bit of the naiveté of elementary school.  People still stab people in the back, people still cheat, people still have problems sharing; we aren’t unprepared for the problems of college.  College allows us to encounter new experiences, some of which may be unnerving, but in reality, we don’t deal with any new issues.  We just deal with the same ones in different packaging.  And this may all be because I am only done with my freshman year; by senior year, I may encounter new problems I have not yet encountered.

While this is whole college thing is nothing new, and while it is good to consider it just another step towards Christ and his glory, we need not let it pass without notice.  There is a fine line between taking the college transition in stride and taking it for granted.  It is so important in these four(ish) years our lives, as we continue to discover who God made us to be, that we do not wish it away and live through it like any other period of life.  The work is difficult, the relationships rewarding and stressful, the growth straining, and the memories many.  But do the work, build the relationships, persevere the growth, and make the memories to glorify Christ.  I have only gone through my first year, and I can already see myself and others wishing away these college days.  To get to what?  To get to life after college, which, like we once saw college, we see as amazing, rewarding, freeing.  But, if we attempt to get through college as fast as we can, we will arrive at adult life only to realize that is another step in the road, like college, like high school, like middle school.

Don’t treat this college experience as a stepping stone, live for the now.  Let your degree and future aspirations take a back seat to living for Christ and glorifying him in the present day.  You can glorify Christ no less in how you write your papers, how you take your finals, than you can in your future job, with your future spouse, at your future job, in your future home.  Those are going to be just as much of a chore as college is if you continue to treat these parts of life as arbitrary means to an unforeseen end.

This has been a much longer rant than I had planned on it being, and I got off track a bit, but it didn’t turn out too bad.  Bottom line is:

To college students – Stop wishing away college.  You have no less work now than you will in the “real world.”  If we keep looking at college as a chore as we are, we will see our jobs as chores as well, and, before you know it, we will be living for retirement.  And when we get to retirement, we will see how much we wasted in pursuit of…boredom.

To pre-college students – Enjoy every minute of high school.  Find every way to inject Christ into your high school experience, public or private.  Please use this time to begin to discover what God has made you to do, and who God has made you to be.  And remember, this discovery is best done through prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Ok, I think I’m done writing.  I could probably write a bunch more, but I would undoubtedly start repeating myself.  I have a couple of finals to study for, and I am going to do my best to enjoy them.

Have a great day.  Pursue Christ and his kingdom.

-Chris

Then, today, I got to go to church and see my little elementary school buddies.  The most interesting part of the day, so far, was definitely the car ride back to Taylor with miss Susan Roth.  She and I were making our way back to TU when we passed two dead deer on the side of the road (I have never seen deer roadkill before, Susie was surprised.).  Then, we saw a hawk swoop down in an attempt to hunt for some food or something.  And then, we passed some RV parked on the side of the highway, and to our surprise, a family got out.  We passed before we could see what they were up to.  Needless to say, it was the oddest, most random car ride I have ever been a part of.

Currently, I am listening to an Owl City/The Ready Set playlist I made for myself last week.  It is the ULTIMATE summer playlist.  Love it.  In four days I will be going back home to Fort Wayne for the summer.  I cannot wait to have a bit more free time on my hands so I can read more than I am able to right now.  I can’t wait for a summer of reading, frisbee, lemonade, Owl City, and spiritual growth.  It is going to be a great summer, and I can’t wait for it to finally start.

I decided to write today because I said  I would write soon, and because I am currently bored out of my mind.  Finals week starts tomorrow, but I don’t have any study-worthy tests until Thursday, so I kinda have a lot of time on my hands.  After I write here, I plan on reading some of Mark Driscoll’s Vintage Jesus.  Which reminds me!  I have to update whoever still reads this thing on my newest life change!

After much consideration and prayer, last week, I changed my major to Biblical Literature, with a minor in Creative Writing.  Why the change?  Well, I have been fighting it for a while, my closest friends can attest to that, and I encountered an interesting passage while reading John Piper’s book, Don’t Waste Your Life.  While Pastor John was talking about being discontent with a profession, I related it to being discontent with my study.  It reads:

After reading this passage, it just really hit me that I have a passion for studying God’s word more than anything else.  And though, while still an English Education major, I had dreams of going to seminary to study the Bible, I figured that I want to know as much as possible, so I decided to devote my undergrad to it as well.  I am beyond excited to be enrolled in my first semester of Greek next fall, studying poetic and wisdom literature of the Old Testament, and taking a class about discipleship in youth ministry as an elective.

In regards to what I plan on doing with this, I have no set plans.  I am willing to do anything as long as I am immersed in God’s word while doing it.  I will write, I will teach, I will preach, I will counsel, I will do anything as long as studying God’s word has to do with it.  I will have to focus myself on one or two of those things, namely when I get to seminary, but as for now, I’m open to whatever.  I am beyond excited to devote my life to the study of God’s word and the proclamation of Jesus Christ’s Gospel.

I have been reading a lot of books in addition to my Bible lately.  First, I read More Than a Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell, which a basic Christian apologetic.  Then, I read Don’t Waste Your Life as I mentioned above.  Then, I read The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll, which is a great book regarding churches and their part in culture, how to reach out without selling out.  Now, I am reading Vintage Jesus, another Driscoll book, that breaks down everything about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is a great apologetic.  After I get done with Vintage Jesus I will be reading my final Driscoll book called, Doctrine, which is Pastor Mark’s book outlining his theology on a variety of topics.  Finally, after all of that, I want to take some time to study Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology book.  But by that time, school may have started again, so I will have to play that by ear.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading up on my life, as if you care.  I will be reading a lot this summer and I hope to be writing a lot about what I am reading.  Please contact me if you wanna go to coffee or go on a walk or play tennis or ANYTHING sometime this summer.  :)  Finals week begins tomorrow.  Pray for wisdom and perseverance.

Love you all.  Pursue Christ daily.

-Chris