This week I was a counselor at a music camp for middle schoolers. I taught two sign singing classes and was the lifeguard (aka the coolest counselor according to several of the kids, but only because I was the lifeguard...haha). The theme for the week was "Worship: That Thing You Do!" And man was it a worship-filled week. I was able to witness several kids experience God in ways they hadn't before, whether it was through music, the sermons, devotions, or their classes. God was present this week at Truett camp, and not only did the campers get a taste of Him, but I had my own encounters with God.
At the beginning of the week I struggled a little because even though I knew a couple of people there, I always felt like the odd man out. Everyone else had been going to Truett for a few years and had inside jokes and traditions and I had no idea what was going on. I made new friends though and caught up with the ones I did know and now I have some amazing friends that I wouldn't give up for the world. Later in the week I was even able to talk to a 7th grader who was going through the same thing with her friends that week. Because of my recent experience, I was able to encourage her with ease and relate to her really well. I am glad to report that she and her friend are now closer than ever and I owe it to God for allowing me to experience what I did.
The point that stuck out to me the most during the week however, was the subject of molding Jesus. Throughout the week, we talked about how if we spend a lot of time concentrating on one thing, it turns into what we worship. Some examples include money, time, sports, TV, music....if you can name it, it can be worshipped. Our challenge is to not let those things come before God.
If we find ourselves pushing back our quiet time, skipping out on church, or giving up a unique opportunity to serve because we want to go to a Carrie Underwood (looove her!) concert or we want to finish reading the latest Harry Potter book, then who are we serving? Not God, that's for sure. Instead of following the example that Christ has given us, we are molding His standards to what we want them to be.
This really didn't hit home until the other counselors and I did this skit called Molding Jesus. Each counselor acted out something that was important to them (reading, cheer leading, music, body building, shopping) and molded "Jesus" to look like what they were doing. After each person left, he would return to his original position. Then, the last girl examined him and molded herslef to what He looked like instead.
Putting God first isn't always easy. We have to wake up every day and make the choice to follow Him, give everything up, and make Him number one in our lives. So what are you doing? Are you letting your life mold Jesus into what you want Him to be? Or are you letting Him mold you?
**I tried to upload the video of the Molding Jesus skit, but either my computer or blogger won't let me do it, so if you want to see it, the video's on facebook. You should check it out, it;s really great. I didn't get the first part of it because I was in it, but I got enough to get the point across.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The CEO Family
The CEO Family. I heard this term while listening to an NPR broadcast in which the speaker admitted to being part of this family at one point in his life. If you go to church regularly, you know who I’m talking about…or maybe you don’t because you never see them. That’s right, I am talking about the Christmas & Easter Only family. Most CEO families only attend because they feel like this “fulfills their Christian duty” for the year, not the mention that these are two of the most important holidays in the Christian calendar which makes their case even better. Or does it?
Christmas and Easter are two major events on the Christian calendar and I think it is great that people feel the need to go somewhere to celebrate Jesus’ birth and resurrection. But, what I would like to know is what is keeping them from going the rest of the year?
I recently had a conversation with a friend about why they aren’t going to church. My friend said that they work five, sometimes six, days every week outside and the weekend, especially Sunday, is the only time they have to rest. Now, if you read one of my previous posts “Remember the Sabbath” you know that I agree that God calls for the Sabbath to be our day of rest, but not when it comes before God. God gives us 7 days in a week and all He asks for in return is only an hour (two if you go to Sunday school:). Think about it.
While I am in Greensboro, I go to First Baptist and I have had an amazing experience there. The college department does a wonderful job reaching out to college students and they are so friendly. There is one couple a lot of us consider to be kind of like our grandparents away from home. They are also great teachers, not only during Bible studies, but also by the way they live their lives. They are there if we have questions, need prayer, or just need to hang out off campus for a while. I love having a church family like this because they are more experienced and can offer an outside, Godly perspective on things that I may not have thought about before.
Sometimes we think that we have it all figured out – that we can read the Bible and talk to God and we are ready to go. While those are great things to do and I encourage everyone to do them daily, we need support, guidance, and affirmation from other Christians who have had different, and more, life experiences than us. Learning more about your faith and how to apply it is kind of like riding a bike. You can’t do it the first time, so you have to have someone hold the bike up while you pedal and try to find your balance. That person will whisper in your ear “Steer a little to the left”, “Keep looking ahead”, “Pedal faster”, or “You are doing great – keep it up!” Eventually that person will let go and we can try to go on our own. Sometimes we may fall or hit a bump in the road, but that will be there to pick us back up or show us a less bumpy path.
Similarly, a church family can be there to guide you and hold you up as you journey through life. They can be there to tell you “Stay on the narrow path”, “Keep looking up”, and even “You are doing great – keep it up!” We may go off track in our Christian walk, but that church family will be there to show us the way back or that "less bumpy path.” Not only is it helpful to have this kind of church family, but fellowshipping with other believers is something God has called us to do. We cannot let our lives get in the way of simple things God has asked us to do because this ultimately hurts our relationship with God.
Let’s go back specifically to the CEO families. Again, Christmas and Easter are great holidays to celebrate especially at church, but you don’t have a child, celebrate its birthday every year and then say “See ya next year!” do you? We should treat God in the same way. Coming to know God better is sort of like raising a child. With children you have to spend time with them, talk to them, let your friends see them and get to know them, get to know your friends children, and try to be involved in your child’s life as much as possible. In the same way, we have to spend time with God, talk to Him, share Him with our friends, maybe learn a different perspective from our friends (or church family), and have Him be a part of our lives as much as possible.
In other words, God isn’t something to be celebrated or praised once or twice a year. It is an ongoing “event” that the members of the CEO family are missing out on. So, if you are a member of this family, or know someone who is, keep in mind that God is an every day, every hour, every minute kind of person – not Christmas and Easter Only.
Christmas and Easter are two major events on the Christian calendar and I think it is great that people feel the need to go somewhere to celebrate Jesus’ birth and resurrection. But, what I would like to know is what is keeping them from going the rest of the year?
I recently had a conversation with a friend about why they aren’t going to church. My friend said that they work five, sometimes six, days every week outside and the weekend, especially Sunday, is the only time they have to rest. Now, if you read one of my previous posts “Remember the Sabbath” you know that I agree that God calls for the Sabbath to be our day of rest, but not when it comes before God. God gives us 7 days in a week and all He asks for in return is only an hour (two if you go to Sunday school:). Think about it.
While I am in Greensboro, I go to First Baptist and I have had an amazing experience there. The college department does a wonderful job reaching out to college students and they are so friendly. There is one couple a lot of us consider to be kind of like our grandparents away from home. They are also great teachers, not only during Bible studies, but also by the way they live their lives. They are there if we have questions, need prayer, or just need to hang out off campus for a while. I love having a church family like this because they are more experienced and can offer an outside, Godly perspective on things that I may not have thought about before.
Sometimes we think that we have it all figured out – that we can read the Bible and talk to God and we are ready to go. While those are great things to do and I encourage everyone to do them daily, we need support, guidance, and affirmation from other Christians who have had different, and more, life experiences than us. Learning more about your faith and how to apply it is kind of like riding a bike. You can’t do it the first time, so you have to have someone hold the bike up while you pedal and try to find your balance. That person will whisper in your ear “Steer a little to the left”, “Keep looking ahead”, “Pedal faster”, or “You are doing great – keep it up!” Eventually that person will let go and we can try to go on our own. Sometimes we may fall or hit a bump in the road, but that will be there to pick us back up or show us a less bumpy path.
Similarly, a church family can be there to guide you and hold you up as you journey through life. They can be there to tell you “Stay on the narrow path”, “Keep looking up”, and even “You are doing great – keep it up!” We may go off track in our Christian walk, but that church family will be there to show us the way back or that "less bumpy path.” Not only is it helpful to have this kind of church family, but fellowshipping with other believers is something God has called us to do. We cannot let our lives get in the way of simple things God has asked us to do because this ultimately hurts our relationship with God.
Let’s go back specifically to the CEO families. Again, Christmas and Easter are great holidays to celebrate especially at church, but you don’t have a child, celebrate its birthday every year and then say “See ya next year!” do you? We should treat God in the same way. Coming to know God better is sort of like raising a child. With children you have to spend time with them, talk to them, let your friends see them and get to know them, get to know your friends children, and try to be involved in your child’s life as much as possible. In the same way, we have to spend time with God, talk to Him, share Him with our friends, maybe learn a different perspective from our friends (or church family), and have Him be a part of our lives as much as possible.
In other words, God isn’t something to be celebrated or praised once or twice a year. It is an ongoing “event” that the members of the CEO family are missing out on. So, if you are a member of this family, or know someone who is, keep in mind that God is an every day, every hour, every minute kind of person – not Christmas and Easter Only.
The Moment of Truth
Have you ever seen the show “The Moment of Truth”? Well if you haven’t, it is a game show where the contestant takes a lie detector test beforehand and 21 of the 50 questions asked of the contestant while taking the test are chosen to be asked on the show. If the contestant answers truthfully, they win money – up to $500,000. That doesn’t sound too bad does it?
Well, there is a catch. Some of the questions are extremely personal and relationship threatening, especially since some of the people the questions are about are asked to sit in on the show. One episode, for example, consisted of a woman who was asked if she thought her father was trustworthy (no), if she blamed him for ruining her childhood (yes), and if she would ever consider marrying someone just like him (no). She answered all of these questions truthfully with her father sitting right in front of her. She hurt her father and her relationship with him for money…and she only got to $100,000.
Why would someone intentionally put themselves in a position knowing they could possibly hurt those closest to them? This woman could have backed out at any moment, yet still chose to answer questions that hurt her father….all for money. It is really sad to see what some people will do for money or just to be seemingly happier.
Although a big majority of us will never be on a game show like this one, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like. To be honest, I wouldn’t even consider it because I know there are some things I have said, done, and thought that I don’t necessarily want others to know, but would be really juicy according to this show. I think about how horrible it would be to have all of my darkest secrets poured out on television for other people to laugh at and have my family shake their heads in shame.
Wow. That would be pretty hard and although we probably won’t be on a show like this, we will have to stand before God one day. I am not sure what that day will be like, but I do know that I wish I had a rewind button for life so that I didn’t have to face God with some of the things I’ve done. I bring this up only to emphasize that we shouldn’t go through life not thinking about how what we say, do, and even think affects others and how we interact with them.
Without trying to be too cliché-ish, you really have to think “what would Jesus do?” Jesus genuinely loved people, even those that hated him and treated him like dirt. I don’t know many of us that could pull that off successfully, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. Yes, we are human and we make mistakes, but wouldn’t it be great if, at the end of the day, we could look back and say that we did our best to love and care for other people and even ourselves?
Think about this tomorrow when that crazy driver cuts you off or you get stuck behind the slowest person in the check-out line. Instead of “blessing them out” why not wish them a blessed day? And that’s just the easy stuff. Think about your relationships with your friends and family. How much better would they be if you always listened to what they had to say, confronted them when you aren’t happy with the way things are, or encouraged them when things were great? Not only could you improve the quality of your life and the lives of those around you, but I think your “moment of truth” would be a lot more enjoyable too.
Well, there is a catch. Some of the questions are extremely personal and relationship threatening, especially since some of the people the questions are about are asked to sit in on the show. One episode, for example, consisted of a woman who was asked if she thought her father was trustworthy (no), if she blamed him for ruining her childhood (yes), and if she would ever consider marrying someone just like him (no). She answered all of these questions truthfully with her father sitting right in front of her. She hurt her father and her relationship with him for money…and she only got to $100,000.
Why would someone intentionally put themselves in a position knowing they could possibly hurt those closest to them? This woman could have backed out at any moment, yet still chose to answer questions that hurt her father….all for money. It is really sad to see what some people will do for money or just to be seemingly happier.
Although a big majority of us will never be on a game show like this one, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like. To be honest, I wouldn’t even consider it because I know there are some things I have said, done, and thought that I don’t necessarily want others to know, but would be really juicy according to this show. I think about how horrible it would be to have all of my darkest secrets poured out on television for other people to laugh at and have my family shake their heads in shame.
Wow. That would be pretty hard and although we probably won’t be on a show like this, we will have to stand before God one day. I am not sure what that day will be like, but I do know that I wish I had a rewind button for life so that I didn’t have to face God with some of the things I’ve done. I bring this up only to emphasize that we shouldn’t go through life not thinking about how what we say, do, and even think affects others and how we interact with them.
Without trying to be too cliché-ish, you really have to think “what would Jesus do?” Jesus genuinely loved people, even those that hated him and treated him like dirt. I don’t know many of us that could pull that off successfully, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. Yes, we are human and we make mistakes, but wouldn’t it be great if, at the end of the day, we could look back and say that we did our best to love and care for other people and even ourselves?
Think about this tomorrow when that crazy driver cuts you off or you get stuck behind the slowest person in the check-out line. Instead of “blessing them out” why not wish them a blessed day? And that’s just the easy stuff. Think about your relationships with your friends and family. How much better would they be if you always listened to what they had to say, confronted them when you aren’t happy with the way things are, or encouraged them when things were great? Not only could you improve the quality of your life and the lives of those around you, but I think your “moment of truth” would be a lot more enjoyable too.
Bible Bloopers
I have had an interesting week and needed a laugh, so after looking up some stuff on-line I found these cute bloopers.... Some answers given by students: From Richard Lederer's “Anguished English” (Wyrick, Dell)
~The first book of the Bible is Guinness's in which God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off.
~Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.
~Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.
~The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.
~Unleavened bread is bread with no ingredients.
~Moses went to the top of Mount Cyanide to get the 10 Commandments.
~The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
~The Fifth Commandment is humor thy father and mother.
~The Seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
~The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
~David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar.
~David fought the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.
~Solomon had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
~Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.
~Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah.
~Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.
~When Mary heard that she was the Mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.
~When the three wise guys from the East Side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager.
~Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
~Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you.
~He also explained, "Man doth not live by sweat alone."
~It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tomb stone off the entrance.
~The people who followed Jesus were called the 12 decibels.
~The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
~One of the opossums was St. Matthew, who was by profession a taximan.
~Salome danced in 7 veils in front of King Harrod's
~St. Paul cavorted to Christianity.
~He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.
~A Christian should have only one wife. This is called monotony.
They gave me a chuckle, so I hope you enjoyed :)
Do you know of any more?
~The first book of the Bible is Guinness's in which God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off.
~Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.
~Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.
~The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.
~Unleavened bread is bread with no ingredients.
~Moses went to the top of Mount Cyanide to get the 10 Commandments.
~The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
~The Fifth Commandment is humor thy father and mother.
~The Seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
~The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
~David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar.
~David fought the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.
~Solomon had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
~Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.
~Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah.
~Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.
~When Mary heard that she was the Mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.
~When the three wise guys from the East Side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager.
~Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
~Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you.
~He also explained, "Man doth not live by sweat alone."
~It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tomb stone off the entrance.
~The people who followed Jesus were called the 12 decibels.
~The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
~One of the opossums was St. Matthew, who was by profession a taximan.
~Salome danced in 7 veils in front of King Harrod's
~St. Paul cavorted to Christianity.
~He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.
~A Christian should have only one wife. This is called monotony.
They gave me a chuckle, so I hope you enjoyed :)
Do you know of any more?
Remember the Sabbath
Lately I have been reading through Genesis and I have been extremely in awe of the creation story. I grew up going to church, so I have heard this story many, many times. So many times, I think that I have become somewhat immune to it. It wasn't until recently when I decided to read through Genesis that I have been able to rediscover it.
The first six days of creation are absolutely mind-boggling if you think about it. I like to consider myself pretty creative, but I highly doubt that I could come up with something as complicated as the earth that God created. Not only did He create numerous species of plants and animals and the different environments that they live in, but He also designed them so intricately that even the most advanced scientists still have not figured out everything there is to know about them. That just really amazes me.
For the longest time, I have heard this story and never really stopped to think about the 7th day of the story. Most of the time that day is passed over as not as important as the others. I mean, God just rested right? What’s so significant about that?
Actually, it is pretty significant. Genesis 2:2-3 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” God didn’t just create the world and say, “Yup, good job me. Now it’s time for a break.” After carefully putting together all of the pieces of the universe, God stopped to look at His creation and declare it good, perfect in every way. Then, God rested not because He was exhausted from all the work He had been doing, but because there was nothing left to do. God had created everything effectively and perfectly and there was no need to add anything thing or go back and revise. God obviously recognized this and took the opportunity to celebrate it by taking the time to let Himself rest. He even made a point to bless that day and make it holy.
To be “holy” basically means to be set apart. So If God declared the 7th day (later called the Sabbath in Exodus 20:11) as holy, it should be set apart from the other days right? Yes. Do we do it? No. In today’s society we have become so wrapped up in work, school, and our social lives (or lack thereof) that we can’t even remember what day it is sometimes, much less which one is supposed to be holy. Most people see the Sabbath as a day to catch up on yard work or homework, get ahead with office work, clean the house, or catch up on shopping (it is noted however that to some people shopping may be relaxing).
How can we rest if we are constantly trying to catch up? If God was able to create the earth in six days, shouldn’t we be able to get done what is required of us in the same amount of time? Granted God is much bigger and more powerful than us, but I think you get my point. We cannot continue to ignore what God made so clear to us not just once, but at least twice in Scripture. (Genesis 2:2 and Exodus 20:11) God did not just give us this command for the heck of it.
God wants us to strive to be like Him, so we should try to do everything we can to make this happen. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do everything we needed to the best of our ability and then be able to sit back on the Sabbath and look at all that we have accomplished and just rest? Yes, I think that would be amazing. I also, think that if we aren’t able to do this, then we have too much on our plate. If we are unable to follow this command because worldly things are getting in the way, then we need to rethink our priorities. We cannot continue to deliberately disobey God or our relationship with Him will suffer. God wants us to rest not only because of our physical health, but we also need time to rest and revamp our spiritual lives as well. The Sabbath is our day to do that.
So do you remember the Sabbath? Whatever you are doing, I encourage you to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy – keep it set apart from the rest of your days. We need God and we need to rest in His arms - we cannot truly live without it.
The first six days of creation are absolutely mind-boggling if you think about it. I like to consider myself pretty creative, but I highly doubt that I could come up with something as complicated as the earth that God created. Not only did He create numerous species of plants and animals and the different environments that they live in, but He also designed them so intricately that even the most advanced scientists still have not figured out everything there is to know about them. That just really amazes me.
For the longest time, I have heard this story and never really stopped to think about the 7th day of the story. Most of the time that day is passed over as not as important as the others. I mean, God just rested right? What’s so significant about that?
Actually, it is pretty significant. Genesis 2:2-3 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” God didn’t just create the world and say, “Yup, good job me. Now it’s time for a break.” After carefully putting together all of the pieces of the universe, God stopped to look at His creation and declare it good, perfect in every way. Then, God rested not because He was exhausted from all the work He had been doing, but because there was nothing left to do. God had created everything effectively and perfectly and there was no need to add anything thing or go back and revise. God obviously recognized this and took the opportunity to celebrate it by taking the time to let Himself rest. He even made a point to bless that day and make it holy.
To be “holy” basically means to be set apart. So If God declared the 7th day (later called the Sabbath in Exodus 20:11) as holy, it should be set apart from the other days right? Yes. Do we do it? No. In today’s society we have become so wrapped up in work, school, and our social lives (or lack thereof) that we can’t even remember what day it is sometimes, much less which one is supposed to be holy. Most people see the Sabbath as a day to catch up on yard work or homework, get ahead with office work, clean the house, or catch up on shopping (it is noted however that to some people shopping may be relaxing).
How can we rest if we are constantly trying to catch up? If God was able to create the earth in six days, shouldn’t we be able to get done what is required of us in the same amount of time? Granted God is much bigger and more powerful than us, but I think you get my point. We cannot continue to ignore what God made so clear to us not just once, but at least twice in Scripture. (Genesis 2:2 and Exodus 20:11) God did not just give us this command for the heck of it.
God wants us to strive to be like Him, so we should try to do everything we can to make this happen. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do everything we needed to the best of our ability and then be able to sit back on the Sabbath and look at all that we have accomplished and just rest? Yes, I think that would be amazing. I also, think that if we aren’t able to do this, then we have too much on our plate. If we are unable to follow this command because worldly things are getting in the way, then we need to rethink our priorities. We cannot continue to deliberately disobey God or our relationship with Him will suffer. God wants us to rest not only because of our physical health, but we also need time to rest and revamp our spiritual lives as well. The Sabbath is our day to do that.
So do you remember the Sabbath? Whatever you are doing, I encourage you to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy – keep it set apart from the rest of your days. We need God and we need to rest in His arms - we cannot truly live without it.
The Unreached
I started this blog almost seven months ago and am just now getting to write my second post. Fall semester I was extremely busy with being in the school of music and trying to keep up with the massive amounts of work and practicing required of us. It was ridiculous.
However, over Christmas break I decided to change my major to Deaf Education. Before this switch I was extremely stressed out. I was having a lot of panic attacks and really struggling with my grades. Since changing my major, I have not had any academic related panic attacks and I have been able to actually enjoy some of my classes, not to mention the fact that I was actually able to have a social life. I say all this to emphasize that I really feel that I am finally doing what God wants me to do.
This journey for me has not been easy. I have been a “Christian” since I was 11 years old, but it has only been recently that I have felt a real connection with God. Throughout middle school and high school my dad has dealt with many illnesses. It all started with migraines, diabetes, bipolar disorder, depression, several cases of pancreatitis, apparently un-diagnosable stomach pains, and more. Having to see my dad go through all of this, having to help my mom raise my brother and sister, and having to deal with the horror that is middle and high school was extremely hard for me. I mean, I sucked it up and did the best I could. I played the stereotypical Christian “goody-two-shoes” role during high school, and most people believed it. However, what most people didn’t know was that I really was ignoring God. I was mad at Him for a really long time and am still working through that even today.
Since I started college, I have been able to really find myself and evaluate what exactly it means for me to be a Christian. This new freedom along with the help of people at FBC Greensboro and UNCG’s most recent campus minster, I have been able to discover and connect with God on a much deeper level than ever before. It is the most amazing feeling knowing that even though I ignored and shunned God for so many years, He is always there calling out to me and waiting to receive me with open arms. I love it!
Because of my deepening relationship with Christ, I have been able to get more excited about future ministry opportunities. I feel that God is calling me to eventually go overseas and minster to deaf people in other countries. When I think about the possibilities I am just overwhelmed.
The other day I was researching deaf ministries and I came across some incredible information. There are over 300 million deaf people in the world. If they were all put together, they would form the fourth largest unreached people group in the world. Only 2% of them claim to be Christians. Wow – only 2%. When I look at these numbers, I am devastated to know that there are so many deaf people who don’t know Christ, but I am also challenged to help change those numbers.
There are a significant amount of resources for deaf people in the United States, but what about countries where Christianity is looked down upon or even punishable by death? They have to depend on missionaries that we send to share the gospel with them. Now, just think for a minute. How many missionaries do you know or have heard of that can communicate with deaf people? Not many. It’s hard enough for hearing people to hear the gospel, but when you throw in the inability to hear period, the situation becomes even more challenging.
God calls us to “go and make disciples of all nations,” not just the most convenient ones. What have you done to answer God’s call? Although, I feel God has called me to go overseas and reach those people, that does not mean that I can also ignore the people on my campus, in my neighborhood, and even in my home. A lot of times we tend to overlook what is right in front of us, whether it’s because we are too scared or because we just don’t recognize it. We have to remember though, that even though some of us are called to go overseas as missionaries, many of us are called to be missionaries right here at home. So I challenge all of you to really evaluate your current situation. Are there people around you who need the love of Christ? If so, what are you waiting for? God did not say “go tomorrow,” He just said “go” and that’s what we should all do – go and do as God has commanded.
However, over Christmas break I decided to change my major to Deaf Education. Before this switch I was extremely stressed out. I was having a lot of panic attacks and really struggling with my grades. Since changing my major, I have not had any academic related panic attacks and I have been able to actually enjoy some of my classes, not to mention the fact that I was actually able to have a social life. I say all this to emphasize that I really feel that I am finally doing what God wants me to do.
This journey for me has not been easy. I have been a “Christian” since I was 11 years old, but it has only been recently that I have felt a real connection with God. Throughout middle school and high school my dad has dealt with many illnesses. It all started with migraines, diabetes, bipolar disorder, depression, several cases of pancreatitis, apparently un-diagnosable stomach pains, and more. Having to see my dad go through all of this, having to help my mom raise my brother and sister, and having to deal with the horror that is middle and high school was extremely hard for me. I mean, I sucked it up and did the best I could. I played the stereotypical Christian “goody-two-shoes” role during high school, and most people believed it. However, what most people didn’t know was that I really was ignoring God. I was mad at Him for a really long time and am still working through that even today.
Since I started college, I have been able to really find myself and evaluate what exactly it means for me to be a Christian. This new freedom along with the help of people at FBC Greensboro and UNCG’s most recent campus minster, I have been able to discover and connect with God on a much deeper level than ever before. It is the most amazing feeling knowing that even though I ignored and shunned God for so many years, He is always there calling out to me and waiting to receive me with open arms. I love it!
Because of my deepening relationship with Christ, I have been able to get more excited about future ministry opportunities. I feel that God is calling me to eventually go overseas and minster to deaf people in other countries. When I think about the possibilities I am just overwhelmed.
The other day I was researching deaf ministries and I came across some incredible information. There are over 300 million deaf people in the world. If they were all put together, they would form the fourth largest unreached people group in the world. Only 2% of them claim to be Christians. Wow – only 2%. When I look at these numbers, I am devastated to know that there are so many deaf people who don’t know Christ, but I am also challenged to help change those numbers.
There are a significant amount of resources for deaf people in the United States, but what about countries where Christianity is looked down upon or even punishable by death? They have to depend on missionaries that we send to share the gospel with them. Now, just think for a minute. How many missionaries do you know or have heard of that can communicate with deaf people? Not many. It’s hard enough for hearing people to hear the gospel, but when you throw in the inability to hear period, the situation becomes even more challenging.
God calls us to “go and make disciples of all nations,” not just the most convenient ones. What have you done to answer God’s call? Although, I feel God has called me to go overseas and reach those people, that does not mean that I can also ignore the people on my campus, in my neighborhood, and even in my home. A lot of times we tend to overlook what is right in front of us, whether it’s because we are too scared or because we just don’t recognize it. We have to remember though, that even though some of us are called to go overseas as missionaries, many of us are called to be missionaries right here at home. So I challenge all of you to really evaluate your current situation. Are there people around you who need the love of Christ? If so, what are you waiting for? God did not say “go tomorrow,” He just said “go” and that’s what we should all do – go and do as God has commanded.
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