from Ravi to Elijah

Yesterday I got to class early, and it was just me and this other dude mike. He's one of the more respected people in the philosophy department, he knows his stuff. he's also just a good guy. most ppl in philosophy are good 'guys' (not too many women, but those that are there are usually good too. i think because we do more introspection). we casually talked about what we were going to do with our philosophy degrees and I was gonna give a cop out answer I've given before, "I hope to apply to law school or do post-grad and teach." But a still small voice screamed in my head, "BE NATURAL." It's something i've picked up on from my boy John Hood at York, who is very real with his convictions about God to everybody.

So I straight told the guy, "I was planning on law school, but half way through I went through a change and now I want to do short term missionary work before anything else." there, i said it. mike causually said he met some missionaries before and they were cool ppl. we made more small talk, convo dulled, and then he asked if how i can be in philosophy when everything is against me. I told him it was hard at first but now i find it strengthening (sometimes). Oh, and by now the room is starting to fill. Then mike did what I wasn't willing to, and asked "so am i going to hell cause i don't believe in the bible." i fumbled around, told him it was a good question to ask, and answered. amazing thing was the pastor had given the answer the night before. wicked cool. i explained we expect a just system on earth, so we should expect a just one in heaven. perhaps from our perspective we think we're good enough for heaven, but from God's, if He's just He has no obligation to us. Surprisingly mike didn't pursue it, but he grilled me on some other standard tough questions.

Anyhow, i learned a lot from that convo. 1st that God prepared me, not my prev studies. 2nd it's imprt to be natural about who i am. 3rd Give people the truth, don't dance around hell or anything else (i think i danced too much). 4th even though God prepped me the night before, it was still imprt that i had tried to keep fresh by checking out Ravi and other apolgetic material now and then.

and here's the 5 th thing i learned, but you need a context, so please read on. Tmrw (Wed) i'm doing a small outreach on my floor, inviting friends to my room for pizza and spiritual talk. should be cool. I was STRESSING about asking ppl. I am not bold. But by the power of God, and some solid teaching by Dan Mac, I found peace in God and invited people. I was so happy when God relieved me of some of the stress and gave me opportunities to ask some people. Then I go to philosophy class, and get grilled, and do an ok job, but i left that class back where i was. I didn't get it. all these good things are happening, why am i sinking into depression. So i took a nap, and then did some devo's. but instead of studying the bible i meditated (thought hard) about my situation, the gospel, and Elijah (1 Kings 19). The nap helped me think with clarity, as I'm sure it helped Elijah, and meditating on the gospel gave my heart peace, and prepared me for my situation. So 5th thing I learned, time out of heavy ministry to rest and go back to the grace on which you rely.

the event is tomorrow at 10 30pm, and i would still like to invite some more great people, so if you can remember me in your prayers, much appreciated.

any other c4c ppl got MDA stuff on the go?