Friday, October 22, 2004
God and Why He's Awesome
History is stressing me out. I have to finish part of this big paper by next Friday. Plus, do the video. Uuuggh.
Film Society went well, though only three people came. One guy hadn't seen the first half - but he saw the second part of The Usual Suspects and loved it! Another guy saw all of it, and loved it. And the last guy saw all of it and thought it was a really pointless movie. That's the thing with cult films. You either love them or you hate them. Afterwards I went and got coffee with Souwa. And we talked. Coffee coffee coffee yay yay yay! Then as we were driving around afterwards, not really headed anywhere in particular, she got a really bad cramp and we had to pull over. We sat there for about 20 minutes, just talking. And it was really really good. Yay. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
I just got back from Friday's Night. It was awesome. During the "rompehielo", we were divided into three groups. Each group had to perform a skit based on a certain topic, and the other groups would guess what it was. My group's topic was "A normal day on a bus." I got to be the marero (gang member) thief. It was so cool. I went up to the girls in my group and stole their purse. Then when I tried to run they all tackled me and I was trying to crawl away. Hehe. There will probably be pictures on the website soon. But anyways...
God. Is. Incredible.
Today has been great - filled with laughter, fun, confusion, freedom, insights, etc. Here are some things I've learned in the past few weeks, though they don't do God or the situation they apply to justice. God, I love you so much! Thanks for everything!
1. God is in control. No matter what's going on in your life, God can handle it if you let Him. And the results, whether good or bad, will be the best things that can happen.
2. Take risks. Don't think that you can sit back and let God do all the work. You have to do your part. Then He can take over. It's like jumping off a high-dive. The longer you stand on the edge without leaping off, the scarier and more confusing things can be. You have to learn to take a leap of faith and become totally dependent on God. Then you can rest assured knowing that things are going to be okay.
3. Try not to be afraid. Be confident that no matter what happens, some things won't change. God will still be God. He'll still love you. He'll still hold the world in the palm of His hand and make sure everything is running smoothly. The sun will keep rising and setting. At times, it's hard not to be afraid of the future, but do your best to put all your worry in Christ.
4. If you're thinking about "what ifs", you're thinking too far ahead. When you're in a situation that needs fixing, focus on the present. The farther you think ahead, the more complicated the situation becomes - you keep thinking "what if this happens" and "what if that happens". That's just going to result in more confusion. And chances are, you're wrong. Seriously. You probably couldn't guess in a million years what God has planned. Focus on one thing at a time. Focus on the now. As Christ put it, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." He was right. Sometimes it's good to think ahead, but if you think too far ahead you won't help solve anything.
5. To God, your problems are teeny weeny. This was one of the big points Kenneth spoke about tonight. The example was David and Goliath. The Devil makes our problems look freakin' huge. Invincible. In tons of armor. And with a huge sword. Our problems taunt us, saying that we can't beat them and that they'll conquer us.
Meanwhile, God doesn't wake up and go, "Oh crap! My children are in trouble! I'll go rescue them! Or no...I'll get Rambo or Ahnold to save them! Some super spiritual warriors!" Not at all. He probably sits up in heaven, watches some football, relaxes, and in the back of his mind hears this little squeaky voice taunting his followers: "You'll never beat me! Bwahahahaha!"
It's like an ant to Him. He doesn't pay attention. Until finally, when the time is right, He sends the most unlikely help possible. In Goliath's case, it was just a teenager with a rock. In the case of Jehoshaphat (or however you spell that), it was just the people praising God that stopped them from being wiped out by foreign invaders. You don't need armor, or huge weapons, or be some big huge spiritual guru in order to overcome your problems. If you leave things up to God, He can use you to take care of everything.
6. God likes to come through for us. I read that in a book once, and now I realize it's true. God likes to wait until the situation appears hopeless, and then use the most unlikely means to save the day. That way He gets the glory. And He's the hero! Not us. Not David. Him. God likes to be the hero. The trick is giving yourself completely up to Him, and making yourself vulnerable long enough for Him to come to the rescue.
I've got some incredible footage from Seguidores to put in my History video. I'm going to go work on it now. I leave you with some inspiring Biblical passages. Emphasis added, of course.
Quote of Da Moment:
"David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands.'"
--1 Samuel 17:45-47
"He said: 'Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'"
--2 Chronicles 20:15
Film Society went well, though only three people came. One guy hadn't seen the first half - but he saw the second part of The Usual Suspects and loved it! Another guy saw all of it, and loved it. And the last guy saw all of it and thought it was a really pointless movie. That's the thing with cult films. You either love them or you hate them. Afterwards I went and got coffee with Souwa. And we talked. Coffee coffee coffee yay yay yay! Then as we were driving around afterwards, not really headed anywhere in particular, she got a really bad cramp and we had to pull over. We sat there for about 20 minutes, just talking. And it was really really good. Yay. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
I just got back from Friday's Night. It was awesome. During the "rompehielo", we were divided into three groups. Each group had to perform a skit based on a certain topic, and the other groups would guess what it was. My group's topic was "A normal day on a bus." I got to be the marero (gang member) thief. It was so cool. I went up to the girls in my group and stole their purse. Then when I tried to run they all tackled me and I was trying to crawl away. Hehe. There will probably be pictures on the website soon. But anyways...
God. Is. Incredible.
Today has been great - filled with laughter, fun, confusion, freedom, insights, etc. Here are some things I've learned in the past few weeks, though they don't do God or the situation they apply to justice. God, I love you so much! Thanks for everything!
1. God is in control. No matter what's going on in your life, God can handle it if you let Him. And the results, whether good or bad, will be the best things that can happen.
2. Take risks. Don't think that you can sit back and let God do all the work. You have to do your part. Then He can take over. It's like jumping off a high-dive. The longer you stand on the edge without leaping off, the scarier and more confusing things can be. You have to learn to take a leap of faith and become totally dependent on God. Then you can rest assured knowing that things are going to be okay.
3. Try not to be afraid. Be confident that no matter what happens, some things won't change. God will still be God. He'll still love you. He'll still hold the world in the palm of His hand and make sure everything is running smoothly. The sun will keep rising and setting. At times, it's hard not to be afraid of the future, but do your best to put all your worry in Christ.
4. If you're thinking about "what ifs", you're thinking too far ahead. When you're in a situation that needs fixing, focus on the present. The farther you think ahead, the more complicated the situation becomes - you keep thinking "what if this happens" and "what if that happens". That's just going to result in more confusion. And chances are, you're wrong. Seriously. You probably couldn't guess in a million years what God has planned. Focus on one thing at a time. Focus on the now. As Christ put it, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." He was right. Sometimes it's good to think ahead, but if you think too far ahead you won't help solve anything.
5. To God, your problems are teeny weeny. This was one of the big points Kenneth spoke about tonight. The example was David and Goliath. The Devil makes our problems look freakin' huge. Invincible. In tons of armor. And with a huge sword. Our problems taunt us, saying that we can't beat them and that they'll conquer us.
Meanwhile, God doesn't wake up and go, "Oh crap! My children are in trouble! I'll go rescue them! Or no...I'll get Rambo or Ahnold to save them! Some super spiritual warriors!" Not at all. He probably sits up in heaven, watches some football, relaxes, and in the back of his mind hears this little squeaky voice taunting his followers: "You'll never beat me! Bwahahahaha!"
It's like an ant to Him. He doesn't pay attention. Until finally, when the time is right, He sends the most unlikely help possible. In Goliath's case, it was just a teenager with a rock. In the case of Jehoshaphat (or however you spell that), it was just the people praising God that stopped them from being wiped out by foreign invaders. You don't need armor, or huge weapons, or be some big huge spiritual guru in order to overcome your problems. If you leave things up to God, He can use you to take care of everything.
6. God likes to come through for us. I read that in a book once, and now I realize it's true. God likes to wait until the situation appears hopeless, and then use the most unlikely means to save the day. That way He gets the glory. And He's the hero! Not us. Not David. Him. God likes to be the hero. The trick is giving yourself completely up to Him, and making yourself vulnerable long enough for Him to come to the rescue.
I've got some incredible footage from Seguidores to put in my History video. I'm going to go work on it now. I leave you with some inspiring Biblical passages. Emphasis added, of course.
Quote of Da Moment:
"David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands.'"
--1 Samuel 17:45-47
"He said: 'Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'"
--2 Chronicles 20:15
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 10/22/2004 09:41:00 PM 
