Christian Student Guy
This is the life of a Christian College Student and the things in life that he sees and wants to share with the world. He writes about things happening in his life, and what Christians can do in similar situations.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Love Found Me
Friday, September 10, 2010
I Still Miss You
- Always enjoy the food you are eating and eat as much as you can. Leave your plate clean
- When you are in the car and a song comes on that you enjoy ALWAYS wait until it is over before getting out, even if the song just started as you pulled into the destination.
- Be thankful always for your family and have relationships with them. Love them and they will love you in return
- Be a fan of your sports teams and never give up on them, even through the losing seasons and bad decisions. Part of being a fan is being one through the good and bad.
- Family is more important than sports. Even though he loved to watch the Twins he always was willing to let us use the TV when we stayed over as kids and never thought twice about it.
- Take joy in the small things. He always folded up his Taco Bell wrappers in perfect squares just to throw them away. One thing that was special between Him and my brother Tom was puzzles. Even though he finished most of the puzzle during the week when Tom wasn't there he always saved the last piece for Tom to put in.
- Let nothing stop you from having a relationship with God. Even though he had his problems one thing Pete never did was miss church. He was there every Sunday without a doubt.
- There are zero people in hell who won't have had their sins forgiven, but millions who didn't accept it
- If you feel called to lay your hands on someone and heal them in the name of Jesus Christ, do it and DON'T limit God
- Faith is the one true gift you need. Without faith you can not speak with God and have no relationship with Him.
- Everything in this world was created for you by God. You must remain humble and be thankful for it all
- God's messages are there all the time. They are subtle, you have to seek them out and interpret them
- Spend time with older Christians. They have things figured out because God has been working through them for a long time.
- Become involved and build strong relationships. These relationships will be there for you if you are ever in need of a handout
- When at all possible offer a hug not a handshake.
Livin' the Life
Thursday, June 3, 2010
My God's Enough
Lately I've been feeling empty not really knowning what has been missing. These feelings became more and more present with the loss of my grandfather. Although we probably didn't have the best grandpa-grandson relationship there are things I will always remember about him. His LOVE of all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Gophers Football. It was one level that we truly had a great connection and will miss discussing the two. Even before his passing into God's arms I had been feeling empty.
This whole feeling seemed to start with the beginning of summer/end of the school year. In all the crazyness of finals and moving out I realized that I had become disconnected from God. I can't even remember when I had last read my bible, or prayed during the day. What happened? Why did I get so disconnected and start falling into habits that I HATE and am so ashamed of?
I feel like what happened to me was falling into the ways of the world and away from the ways of God. Near the end of my school year I put off and put off doing things with the group of people who cared about their relationship with God and instead went with my own agenda. I pushed them away and I pushed God aside. In the end I realized it was the dumbest mistake I could have ever made. The things I care about and strive for are not in this world, but are in God.
Psalm 73 goes like this :
1Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong. [a]
5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity [b] ;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance. [c]
11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
I found myself envying the sinners and not being grateful for the things God had given me. In this life the things others have and the ways of life of other people are going to seem like better and easier choices. "They don't have a relationship with God, but look at them. They're beautiful, rich, happy, and have all the nicest things." Throw these thoughts away. Our God is enough for us. He provides us with the tools we need to do his will and we have to continue to trust him with our lives. He will not put us through anything we can't handle.
In Jeremiah 29:11 God says " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God has the ultimate plan for our lives. When we trust Him and His plan then shall we be whole and have true joy. I fell away from this belief. I fell away from the group of people that God had surrounded me with that knew these same things and that believed in them. I had seperated myself from God's word, and from going to Him with my problems and I felt empty and hollow. Now as I continue to work my way back to God and his son Jesus Christ I know the mistake of my actions and the stupidity of my thinking that I could survive without Him. I know this happens all the time and it happens to everyone. What a gracious and AMAZING God we have that he will welcome us back time and time again even when we push Him away.
Lord, I pray that you continue to welcome us back as we fall and push you away. God I thank you for your unending and AMAZING love. Lord continue to lead us to you and to help us to trust you plan for our lives. I thank you God for the wonderfully amazing friends that you have surrounded me with. I love each and everyone of them so much and I will do my best to be there for them in their hard times as they are there for me always and forever. Lord thank you for the gift of life and the gift of everlasting second chances. Lord help me to stay on your path of glory and continually help us to prosper and have hope for the future. I love you God and in your holy name I pray. Amen.
Monday, April 12, 2010
What a Beautiful Smile
All of the "titles" of my blog posts have some significance and usually reveal (in some way, shape, or form) what my topic will be about. This is no different, and while I won't reveal what that is (then you might not want to read it) I will tell you that it comes from the song "Beautiful Love" by The Afters from their CD I Wish we all Could Win. Not that my usual music plug is done (what can I say I LOVE music) let's get on with our discussion.
In life many men struggle with our treatment of our brothers in Christ, and really struggle with our treatment of our sisters in Christ. Now why is this? What makes us think that we have to be "manly" around our fellow guys, and treat our sisters terribly and as only objects? Is it pride? Is it lust? Is it that we are truly just bad people and disrespectful? I like to believe that its not that last one. I don't think any one thing can be considered the "reason" that we act the way we do around different sexes. Unfortunately society has embedded this into our heads and it comes out.
In the bible Christ calls us to more. To be "manly" is not what Christ worries about. In my experiences what it means to be a Christian man is to treat others as they would want to be treated. We are called to show unconventional love to everybody (man and woman) just as Christ showed the ultimate love to us. We need to be raising each other up, not tearing each other down. This all starts within yourself. It can be small things, such as not laughing at crude jokes, not giving into temptation and peer pressure to fight or comment on others (again male and female) and to just treat everybody as equals. The bible says that "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). We can plan our way all we want, but it is through God that we take those steps. If you ask God to help you with these struggles he will direct your steps the right way and never let you down.
Now the other struggle (some what covered above) is the struggle for Men with their treatment of Women. Society instills a sense of treating women like objects of lust and for our own sexual desires. Society tells us to judge our sisters on the basis of looks and instills the "perfect" woman in our minds. Guys this is not what we should be doing. Truly our sisters in Christ are the greatest gift God ever gave to us. They are our companions and understand things about us that we don't even understand. God gave Adam the gift of Eve my taking one of his ribs and building her up. The bible tells us that: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). We are all one in Christ. We are no better than our female counterparts, and they no better than us. We are equal. So why is it that we treat each other as naught? We should be treating our female friends as princesses and showing the respect and love we have for them. They are a gift from God and are our equals.
Now nobody said this was going to be easy. Its not easy to stand up to your friends and say "You know what the way your treated so and so was wrong and I don't appreciate it." It is even hard to go up to that person that may have been disrespected (whether male or female) and tell them that you are sorry for the way that your friend treated them or said the things they said. A true friend would be there with you helping you to stand up and helping you not be in those positions. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). We need to be encouragement for each other and help lift each other up and stand by each other through life's trials and demands. Be the iron to your friends, and let them be the iron to you. Blessings on your week and on your faith journeys. One love, one heart, one God.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Water for the Weary
How long will it take you to read this sentence? 15 Seconds maybe? In that time 3 people will have died because of insufficient means to clean water. Do I have your attention now? Hearing this statistic (among others) really got my attention Friday March 19, 2010 when a group of friends and I went to the Sanctus Real concert at Club 3 in Minneapolis. In between the last supporting band and Sanctus Real taking the stage we watched a video with a speaker (the speaker who was supposed to be there was in Haiti adopting his daughter) telling us about Mocha Club an organization working to provide clean water for those who don't have it in Africa.
The explaination was that for $7 a month we could provide water for 7 people in Africa for a year. Suddenly thoughts were running through my head. "Seven dollars? That's nothing! I spend that on bottles of pop alone. What was my excuse for not giving seven dollars to people who really needed it?" I had none. So along with my buddy Lucas we went back to the table and signed up to start donating.
After getting home I started to think more and more about these families in Africa that have no clean water. Do you even realize how much clean water you go through in a day? And they have none? I began to think of things that I could do to get the word out about this dire need. I started to put it in my status on Facebook, signed up to apply to be a campus rep for them, and now I'm blogging about it. In scripture Jesus says : "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in" "I tell you did the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:35, 40).
When we do these things for the least of our brothers we are doing it for Christ. One day in heaven Christ will thank us for giving him something to drink when we saw him thirsty. We may be confused and ask him Lord when did we see you thirsty and give you drink. He'll tell us that when we did it for those people in Africa we were doing it for Him. We are called to serve others before ourselves "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10). Let's start by serving our brothers and sisters in Africa.
In their book Do Hard Things Brett and Alex Harris challenge teens of our generation to strive for more. To want to do bigger things and overcome the low expectations the world has for us. Who's to say that we can't rise up and make a difference in the world. This book has really spoken to me to want to do more for these people who haven't known the joys of clean water. If i get one friend to join the cause and they get one friend and that friend gets one friend and so on and so on pretty soon we'll be really making a difference and bringing clean water to thousands of people in Africa. So rise up and do hard things join the cause. Clean water is something everyone should be entitled to.
Friday, March 12, 2010
I Will Walk by Faith
Today while reflecting on things that took place earlier this week I was listening to Jeremy Camp's song Walk by Faith. I found this song to be a good reflection on what I'll be writing about next. So that plug being placed let's get into the real discussion.
Throughout the last few weeks and even into last month a lot had been floating in my mind about if I'm in the right place or not. A lot had happened at school, and suddenly I wasn't so sure that this was where I wanted to be, and if it was were I was supposed to be. I felt like God was putting these thoughts into my head for a reason, and so I started to pray about it. I prayed long and hard and even got the opportunity to talk to others about what I was going through. I found great support in the friends and community that God had surrounded me with.
After much searching in prayer I decided to look at some scripture and see what it had to say about God's plan for my life. One that I found particularily interesting stated: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11). Duh! Of course God has a plan for my life. How could I have forgotten that? Not only that but he has a plan to give me a future and to give me hope. AMAZING! The fact that this seemed to fit so perfectly towards what I needed to read seemed almost too good to be true. Then I kept reading and I came across this one and it said: "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).
Once again this seemed like too perfect of a bible verse. I started to pray asking God to guide my steps to take over this process and thoughts that are running through my head. If it is your will and what you want me to do, then help me God! To side track slightly it should be noted and made perfectly clear that at this point the idea in my head was to transfer schools, and to transfer to NDSU, a place I had applied, been accepted, and declined, earlier. Suddenly it wasn't a question of whether I would transfer, but more of a how would I break it to my parents. I was scared. It would be the first time my parents would hear that one of the kids was having second thoughts or that one of the kids was suddenly changing their mind on school, but it was just that fact that it had happened that made me afraid. I kept telling myself I couldn't do it, but I knew I had to.
So at this point the time had come, and I had to let it known one way or the other. Now to make a long and emotional story short I orginally hinted at it to my mom. She got really upset at me (later telling me that it was actually her displacing other anger towards me). When I was "asleep" (half asleep) she told my dad that I wasn't sure about school anymore. This made it sound more like I wanted to quit than that I wanted to just transfer. So when it came time for someone to take me to the grocery store to get food for the next few weeks and my dad volunteered I knew that it was because he wanted to talk about this. I was nervous, but I asked God just to help me and to give me the strength just to let the facts be known.
Suddenly the time came and my dad flat out asked what was on my mind as far as school. I told him I was thinking of transferring out. At first he seemed confused asking if I was thinking of another major or just another school and I informed him that just another school and that I was set on NDSU. I then told him before anything else could be said that this wasn't just me doing something without thinking. I told him all the prayers and talks and considerations that I had had over the last few weeks. To my surprise he said "ok." Ok? Is that it? No yelling at me? No getting angry? What? Oh God I know you helped me on this one I thought. My dad gave me his full support and before I left I was able to give him a hug and tell him I loved him and thank him. If God wasn't part of this working I can't explain it.
So what was the point of this story? Just for me to vent and write? No, of course not I've always got a reason to my works. See I wanted to share a story in my life that really represents and shows that we can always go to God for help in our problems. That God has plans for our life (as stated earlier) and that He is able to give us hope for our future. I know that I am stoked for what God has ahead of me at NDSU and the new challenges that await. I also know that I have support up there in my friends Lucas and Kelly. I know that God has a reason for bringing me to this new community and I look forward to it. I wanted to leave you with one last verse that really sums up my reason for writing and what God really wants us all to know and be able to do: "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass ... Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." (Psalm 37:4,7) Blessings on your week and your journey ahead. Put your trust in God and go to him in times of need. One love, one heart, one God.