Conviction Anyone?

Yesterday my church handed out books for the small groups that go along with the sermon series we're in now. I'm not in a small group but I grabbed one and started using it for my devotions. I say "started" because I got a whole 2 sentences into the book before I had to stop. It was one of those moments where the profound truth and conviction of a question just caught me totally off guard. Then after I had recovered from my shock (and fallen on my face before God) I went on to read the rest of the page and was even more deeply affected. Since then what I read has been tumbling over and over in my mind and changing the way I look at practically everything.
It's not that these statements are new, like I never knew this before, but they struck me in a way that I'm not even sure I can explain. So instead of trying to explain it, I'll just share them with you.

The page started off like this:

" 'I count everything as loss.' Money as loss, food as loss, looks as loss, friends as loss, family as loss, job and success as loss, graduation as loss.

"Everything is a loss in comparison with the treasure that Christ has become for me."

Then, the question:


"How do you make Christ look great in your life, so that you don't waste your life?"



"Money is given to you so that you might use money in a way that shows money is not your treasure. Christ is.

"Food is given to you so that you might eat in a way that makes it clear that food is not your treasure. Christ is.

"Friends and family are given to you so that you might live with them in a way that makes it plain to the world that they are not your treasure. Christ is.

"Computers, toys, houses, land and cars are given to you so that you might use them in a way that makes it plain to the world that these are not your treasure. Christ is.

"The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus is by treasuring him above all things and then making choices which make the joy we have in his supreme worth manifest.

"And if he is not that treasure for you, pray - all night if you have to - that your heart would be so changed that you would now treasure Jesus above everything in you life."

That hit me to the core. To love Christ so deeply that everything I do draws attention to him...that's the life that I want. I'm appalled at how short of this my life falls, yet I thank God that I am totally incapable of doing anything right and only have to trust Him to work in me.

So, that's been my prayer and thought for the past two days, just pondering what my life would actually look like if I lived that out.

**All the quoted material in this post is from the small group booklet my church handed out. I'm not sure how to cite an unpublished booklet so I'll just paraphrase the introduction: this booklet, titled [IN]VEST, was written by a team of talented people from Park Community Church, in Chicago, IL**

The Saga Continues...

I know, I know, "part 4?!!? are you serious??"

But THIS post is one of hope!!

Today I finally saw the vending machine guy!!! He was refilling the machine as I walked back to my room and so I casually (meaning that I stumbled over myself and he probably didn't understand half of what I said) mentioned to him that the Famous Amos dispenser was broken. He was super nice and said "Ok! Thanks for telling me!"
I've yet to test it out - I haven't had any change - but my hopes are restored and my faith renewed! The next time I write about Famous Amos's chocolate chip cookies it will most likely be a story of triumph and satisfaction!
Hooray!!
Anyway, I thought you might like to know.


Oh, and by the way, the philosophy idea sparked some heated debate, which was fun, but it also involved a lot of mental work so unless it is something you really wanted to hear I was going to abandon the idea. I will most definitely bring it back though if any of you really enjoyed it and wanted to debate philosophy.

I love it when God shows off!

I love those moments when God reminds me that he knows better than I do.
The other day I was lamenting/pondering that Christian music is so often cheesy/corny/poorly made/lacking musical talent/etc. I mean, if we have communion with the Creator of beauty and music, shouldn't the music in the Christian community be infinitely more beautiful than secular music? I concede that it is much easier to find beautiful, meaningful lyrics in Christian music, but the intrumentals...not so much. I mean, I love a number of Christian bands, but excellent Christian music is hard to come by, at least when it comes to more modern styles.


All that to say, this week was one of those times when God seemed to remind me that I have no idea about anything at all. This week I had the privilege of listening to Benjamin and Stephen Lynerd, Jazz musicians who use thier amazingness for the glory of God. Their songs (at least the few that I've heard) are fun to listen to, and amazingly several of them are Christian worship songs, not to mention the incredible talent of these brothers on the vibes and piano. A friend of mine said that the vibes seemed pretty lame when we saw them set up before the performance and I agreed. But after hearing and watching the Lynerds, I have a new respect for the vibes and a new hope in Christian music. It was absolutely amazing! The vibes just might be my new favorite instrument. I never thought the beauty of piano music could be improved but God proved me wrong yet again.

God: 2 billion 78 Me: 0

Finally Exempt

I'm definitely a person that builds things up in my mind, imagining that they are going to be a lot worse or better than they really are. Fortunately, it's usually the former and not the latter so I'm not disappointed too often. Unfortunately I do wimp out of things fairly easily because I'm sure they're going to be really difficult.
Example: At school we have to wear IDs. After 2 semesters on campus you get a sticker on your ID that lets the desk workers know that you are curfew exempt so that you don't have to sign in. I could have gotten a sticker last semester...but I heard that you had to provide proof that you'd been on campus 2 semesters and I didn't know what that proof would be. In my mind the conversations went something like this:

"Hi, I need a curfew exemption sticker."
"Do you have proof that you've been here for two or more semesters?"
"No..."
"Didn't you read the e-mail and the signs, Dummy?"
"Yeah but..."
"Well then why are you here without the papers?!"
"Uh..."
"Thanks for wasting my time. Come back when your brain's developed a little more."
"Ok. Thanks. Sorry. Bye."

People in my imagination are really mean.

Anyway, this uncertainty was enough to make me put it off...not a problem because I rarely need to stay out after curfew and when I did I just signed in (after all, what could they do to me? I can't run out of late minutes! I don't have any!) But then someone mentioned a limit to the number of times you can sign in and I started to panic a little every time I had to sign in.
Would this be it? Would I get sent to the dean? What would happen? Would the desk worker call me a Dummy too and revel in the thought of my stupid procrastination from getting a simple sticker?!? Now I had uncertainty on both ends!! What would I do?!?!

Well, I finally pulled up my bootstraps and decided I would risk the humiliation and try to go get a sticker. After a couple weeks and a boost in my confidence from a friend telling me that she just "walked in" without any proof and got a sticker, I finally went to the STUDENT DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (dah-nah-DAH-NAH!!!!)

But right outside the office door there was a sign addressed to students desiring a curfew exemption sticker. A sign that said

"Second Semester students:

Please provide a transcript as proof that you have attended MBI for two semesters."*

*Direct quote only from my brain...the actual sign sounded much more professional

Oh No! The friend I had talked to was a junior! Of course she didn't have to provide any proof!

I paused uncertainly outside the open office door.

Should I risk it?
Would I be a complete idiot to walk right past the sign and ask for a sticker without proof that I has been here for more than two semesters?
Would the man laugh at me?
Call me names?

WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!?!?!

Fortunately, God sometimes allows me to use the curse of laziness to my own advantage.
"Well, I'm already here..."

I thought about having to go all the way back to my room for proof.

Nope. Too far. Too much trouble.

I walked through the door.

"Excuse me?"
"Yes?"
"I need a curfew exemption sticker."
"Can I see your ID?"
[I hold my ID out to him]
"You'll have to take it off."
"Oh. right. sorry"
[He flips through a binder as I hand my ID to him]
"Rebecca?"
"Yeah."
"This is your third smester?"
"Yep."
[Awkward pause as he starts rubbing some sort of liquid on my ID and I think, "Wait, I'm a sophomore and this is spring semester." I count to make sure.]
"Oh, actually this is my fourth semester."
"Fourth semester?"
"Yeah."
"ok"
[He searches a little for his stickers and sticks one on. ]
"Here you go."
"Thanks."

SO anti-climactic.

Philosophy on the Brain

Lately I've been studying a lot for my philosophy quiz and it has just totally absorbed my mind. So, I thought I would torture my few blog readers even more by telling you all about the complexities of Philosophy. Well, at least what I've learned so far. If you don't know philosophy, you can look it up to try to discover what I'm talking about or you can just sit back and enjoy the ride through this complicated thing called argument.

Apparently, it would seem that there are no valid arguments that are not fallacies. Now, considering this is an argument in and of itself, I am aware that someone at some point will probably be able to point out the fallacy in my logic, thus proving the validity of my point.

Anyway, there are all these different types of fallacies that make an argument unreliable. After studying these for a while I came to the conclusion that all arguments are fallacies and that one can only believe in absolute truth, it cannot be proven (which sounds heretical I know, but at least from what I've learned so far, it's true). Basically Philosophy teaches you that you can know nothing for certain except what you believe...and even belief isn't certain knowledge. Thus the complexity of it all.

I digress. Fallacies. Last year in speech class I learned how to make an argument by appealing to authority or the emotions, or a number of different options. This year in Philosophy I am learning that those were all fallacies. This is really complicated to explain so for the sake of our education I will most likely spend the next few days selecting one fallacy and explaining it. I'm sure you have much better things to do than argue about Philosophy, so I understand if you all stop reading my blog, but I'm finding it fascinating and would like to share the complexity of it all with you as I journey through it.

Feel free to point out the errors in my logic...that's the fun of it!

Stay tuned for more Philosophy fun!