School Journal - An Overview of this past Semester - 1/7/10

"When did I stop being first in your life? Why does your family or job come before me? Why do you love material possessions more than me? When did our time together become less important? Why did you stop reading my letter to you? Why did spending time with me become "another thing to do"? When did investing money in my work become "a task"? Why did you substitute your time with me for more time in sleep?" ~God
I have a feeling Satan doesn't want me to publish this note because this will be the third time that I have tried to write this note and went to tag people in it, and my hand jerked and I clicked on their profile instead, and when I went back to my note, everything I had written was gone.
Pride, selfishness, greed, hate, lust, racial controversy, religious debate, moral decline, unthankful, disrespectful, irresponsible, laziness, self preservation, self esteem, and apathetic. When are we going to get tired of it? When are we going to get sick of the perverse sin that is taking over our generation? When did our devotional time become a "task"? When did our prayer life become "second best"? When are going to wake up to the realization that our generation is stepping closer and closer to moral destruction?
" . . . I stand at the door and knock . . . "I heard this phrase growing up all the time. However, Christ is standing at the door of our hearts, and whispering, "Why aren't you spending time with me anymore? When are you going to read my letter to you? I love you. Do you love me? Then keep my commandments."
When I first came back from Northland I was shocked to see that nothing had changed in my youth group. There was still hardly ANYONE that wanted to change, and even fewer who were TRYING to change. When I saw this, my heart almost broke because of the lack of passion for Christ. In Revelations 3:15-16 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold OR hot. So then because thou art Lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spur thee out of my mouth." Before I went to Northland for College, I was the same way as most of the kids in youth group. Apathetic, lazy, selfish, prideful, immature, greedy, wanting my own way, content to stay where I am spiritually etc etc.
This is one of the subjects that have bothered me for MONTHS, and nothing . . . NOTHING has been done about it. No one seems to care . . . no one seems to care about growing spiritually. The kids in youth groups only concern is childish "who likes whom?" and "Who's going out with whom?" and "Who has the hottest brand of shirt, pants, or shoes on". Cliques! THOSE ARE THE PROBLEM!!! Opposites attract? I think not. Not in my youth group. No . . . the preps attract the preps . . . the jocks the jocks, and the outcasts the outcasts. Outcasts? In the house of God?! THIS ISN'T RIGHT!!! Having to watch this "social interaction" game go on week after week after week is enough to make a person go mad! We cannot . . . MUST NOT . . . allow this "trend" to continue ANY longer. There should not be this problem at church. IN A CHURCH! In a place where we are called to "love one another as Christ as loved us." Cliques are NOT a way of "reaching out"! Cliques are a way of separating oneself from the rest of reality. The reality that we need to start looking past the end of our noses and look beyond ourselves and minister to those in need. To reach out to those who are not the most "lovable" people.
Apathy and the whole list that I continue to mention will CONTINUE to run ramped . . . like cholera or small pox when it has become an epidemic until we reach out with the love of Christ and STOP IT!
I have learned many things this past semester at Northland. Many of which have been about myself. About how weak I was when it came to trusting Christ . . . about how apathetic I was when it came to my youth group, and mostly how I was so spiritually immature and that I was content to stay where I was spiritually for WAY TOO LONG.
The only ones that even SEEM to care are my immediate family and a lady at my church. Less than 10 people . . . very discouraging . . . and yet, very ENCOURAGING when I look up from being forced to my knees. My God is greater than anything that we could ever imagine. In Genesis 15:5-6 it says, "And he brought him forth abroad and said unto him, 'Look now toward the heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them.' and he said unto him, 'So shall thy seed be.' and he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness." If you have never done this, you should. Go out into the middle of a field, and on a dark and cloudless night, look up towards the sky. Look all around above your head. Just TRY to count the stars. Now . . . once you have given up on that, think outside this universe. Think about our galaxy. And now think about all of the solar systems in this giant ball we call the world. We are so small and insignificant, and yet Christ still created, lived, ministered, loved, served and died . . . for US so that we could have a part in His glory . . . forever.
When I even try to think about forever, I can get to about 1,000 years or so, but then I start getting all mixed up with the amount of time "forever" really is. Forever is not going to end . . . it's going to continue on and on and on, and I can only pray that everyone that is reading this will be spending "forever" in heaven with Christ. However, I can only continue to pray for those who aren't. Those people will be spending eternity somewhere . . . however, unless they receive Christ as their savior it will be an eternity spent in constant torture.
Now . . . you may be wondering how I am going to tie all of what I have said together into one point. Honestly, I can't. God has been teaching me so many things, and it seems to me that I have barely covered HALF of what He has laid on my heart lately. Before I go I will say this though: Out of all the things that I have learned, and out of all the things that I have been through, the things that I have learned about my God, and the experiences I have gone through with the trials have been the most rewarding thing I have gone through my entire life. I have seen God work in this last semester . . . and I can't wait to see what He does in my life next.