April 20, 2009

Do not be discouraged.

Man, I’m going through the same thing. I felt like today was a double hit, and they hit hard. College is scary, but God is greater. & He will reign & remain sovereign. I know it. I know it.

This whole weekend, both the discipleship sessions & Sunday School talked about the world’s viewpoints on trying to understand this world, through philosophy, anthropology, mythology. It’s amazing, really. Seeing how desperate this world is, but really all we need is the Word of God. During discipleship, we learned about this scientist who spent his whole life to discover the different dimensions of this world. Time. Force. Matter. Space. (I think it’s also action? But does that come with force? I don’t know.) His whole life to figure this out. What do we need to do? Read Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning. Time. God created. Force. (+Action?) The heavens and the earth. Space and matter.

His whole life. Whole. Life. We needed the very first verse of the Bible. What a waste..

Today was just especially challenging and all day, I had hoped that I brought my Bible around. First, Anthropology. We were asked to put any personal beliefs aside for these debates, and today was the first day. Our group had been assigned to Genetic Cloning— against. Thank God, really. I wasn’t sure how this would’ve gone down if I had been assigned to battle for it. Anyways, luckily the separate groups didn’t bring up anything religious, but I was still sketchy. The 2nd cluster of debates was on Natural Selection vs. Intelligent Design. This one… did it. Basically, Intelligent Design was arguing that there is a greater being (whoever it may be) that started this world from the very beginning. Natural Selection fought for the belief that… well, basically, we evolved. Evolution. All that jazz. Of course, with debates, we would go back and forth. It really pained my heart to hear people argue for the proof that there is an ultimate Creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1. Ugh, CAHMON. Like the watch analogy— it’s something so intricate and complex, that there had to be a maker, right? Well, there is an ultimate Designer for this world. Just the human eye alone holds enough complexity that it took the human population years to understand, and we still can’t fathom every bit of it. One of the group members of Natural Selection said that he was actually Christian, yet he stated that he believes in a God that created everything, but also in that natural selection happened. What? There is no compromise with Jesus. I couldn’t stop praying. For my heart. For these people.

Wow @ the world.

Next, was my Human Sexuality class. That class is fine; it’s pretty fun, but today was definitely hard as well. Mind you, this class comes after my Anthropology class, so my heart had already been challenged. We had some guest speakers today coming in to talk about the organization PFLAG. Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays. Oh, this is gonna be interesting. Faaaaahdge. The first guest speaker used to be Christian. Used to. Long story short, he started attacking the Bible. Like that group member in Anthropology, he believed in only parts of the Bible. He told us right off the bat, he believed in, “loving God & loving your neighbor. That’s all I really believe.” Tell me, how are you loving God by disobeying Him? Do you fight and rebel against your parents because you love them? Think about it. Again, I will quote, “Just because the Bible says it, doesn’t mean it’s true.” I don’t think that it was fair for him to attack it like that. I wanted to leave, but I wanted to stay. I really wished I knew more about my Bible, or at least, had it with me. I’ve been so discouraged today; I really wish I had a Christian friend to talk to.

This was exactly what this weekend was for. I really think God was trying to prepare me. It was encouraging, though, to read Colossians 2:8..

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Be careful, friends. I have been praying all day; I’m in such disbelief with everything that happened today. Plus, it’s only 2 classes. So many of us Christians are being put on the spot to stand up for God around the world. To choose a side. To stand firm in the faith. Reading that title alone was encouraging enough for me, for a suffering Christian. (So, thanks Jainah.) But, I want to leave you with more verses that really helped me finish off this day.

“[6]Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. [7]Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. [8]Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. [9]Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:6-9

“[1]Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. [2]My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. [3]When I am afraid, I will trust in you. [4]In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” —Psalm 56:1-4

And, my favorite one of the night…

“[3]For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. [4]They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. [5]But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” —2 Timothy 4:3-5

—Loris.