Life is a Vapor - Post Project

We’re finally back in Minnesota, trading palm trees for pine. This summer seemed to go by way faster than any other. It feels like STP was just a dream. Although it’s been really nice to be able to sleep in and see family again, I’m definitely missing the environment and community of project. STP was filled with so many memories and sweet relationships. We all grieved the separation of a place that has become so dear to us. Ocean View Motel in Murrells Inlet has become a second home.

Our last theme talk was; “Three Ends: Jesus, Love, Heaven.” While we mourned our final evening of STP, we rejoiced in the hope of heaven. Heaven is real. Heaven is tangible. Heaven is forever. We will constantly be in community in the presence of our Savior.

Paul Poteat asked the question, “Would you be beside yourself to leave earth and be in heaven with Jesus?” I instantly responded to the question with uncertainty. I’m so young and have so much life to live. I’m not sure if I would necessarily be “beside myself” to leave earth. As I thought about the question more, God showed me how He is greater than I can ever imagine. My ignorant, human mindset is so focused on the insignificant details of my life that won’t matter when I’m in heaven. Marriage, success and fame are such insignificant things in light of eternity.

It is so different to look at this earth as a temporary home, even though I know that it is only a vapor. As God has been changing me to have an eternal mindset, I can answer Paul’s question with, “Yes. Nothing would be more exciting to me than to be in the full presence of Jesus.” I praise God for the gifts that He has given me that point me to Him. My community and the environment of project has been a small taste of heaven.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” ~ Colossians 3:2-3

In every trial and loss [part 1]

“It hurts just as much as it’s worth.”

We all hate pain. We’ll do whatever we can to get out of a situation that we believe might cause us to suffer...in even the smallest measure.

Yet all of us experience pain. Physical, emotional and spiritual - each just as hurtful as the others and just as real. When pain comes to believers, how do we cope? Do we see it as a means of sanctification or do we try to escape?

At STP, the leaders don’t shy away from engaging heavy topics, and so we’ve been hearing talks on and dialoguing over the issues of pain and suffering quite a bit this summer…because it’s such a universal issue. Eric Lonergan and Nate Van Zee have been talking about this in a lot of detail, as well as what it means to have a Gospel perspective in the midst of suffering.

Waiting in pain

    Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
        fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
        over the man who carries out evil devices!
    
    Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
        Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
    For the evildoers shall be cut off,
        but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
    
    In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
        though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
    But the meek shall inherit the land
        and delight themselves in abundant peace. (Psalm 37:7-11)

The word “wait” in Hebrew is a very active verb meaning to hope in to look for. It doesn’t mean sitting back and watching; it means actively engaging what we have to hope in: the Gospel. We must actively refrain from fretting - being angry or aroused in a negative way - by our pain and what seems like the success of the wicked. Instead we must remind ourselves that God will deliver justice one day, but it is not up to us to decide how or when. We must preach the Gospel to ourselves in the midst of our pain.

But we can’t engage the Gospel until we can acknowledge the pain and hurt we feel. However, as humans we fall into two extremes with pain: feeling too much or ignoring it completely. But as we engage the hurt, trials and suffering we experience in life, we also experience an expansion of our hearts that is filled with a longing for Christ and a greater love for others around us.

Part two is coming soon!

CCP

Well, they’re gone.

No, not the staff – they left a while ago.

I’m talking about the CCP teams.

CCP stands for “Cross Cultural Project.” This summer, we had two CCP teams; one to India and one to Lebanon (for more specifics, feel free to ask a student!)

For the past week, our Project has been blessed to have had both CCP teams visiting us. The Lebanon team just arrived home from Beirut, and the India team will be flying out next week.

When the CCP team comes to visit, you cannot help but become more missions-minded.  It is such an encouragement to talk with these fellow college students and friends about what God is doing in their lives and the things they are excited about and fearful for when it comes to missions.

Last week, during the Theme Training talk, Andrew Knight spoke on missions. It was practically impossible to walk out of that room unchanged, or at least unchallenged. I have talked to several students who have said they will not be able to view missions – or their own lives – the same way again.

(If you want to listen to Andrew Knight’s talk, it will be posted on the website along with the other talks from this summer!)

At the end of the talk, we sang worship songs which were concluded by a recording of the ‘call to prayer’ that Muslims hear multiple times a day in places like Lebanon and India. For many, that was the moment in the evening that influenced them the most.

The Project has been buzzing since then. I have overheard conversations about missions countless times over the course of the week. It has been wonderful to be around the CCP teams and to remember that the gospel is needed all over the world and God is working his plan of redemption everywhere, even right now.

I ask you to join me in praying that this new heart for missions that many of the students have will not fade away. I pray that the missions-minded mentality is not superficial and fueled by the excitement of the CCP teams and a convicting talk, but rather fueled by a love for Jesus and a broken heart for the unengaged and unreached peoples of the world.

Prayer request: Pray for a faithful and fruitful trip for the India team!