The last few days have been pretty packed...
On Saturday our first day session was about finding our identity in Christ, and this hit very close to home for me because the up till that point on the trip I found myself worrying about fitting in constantly. I felt like everyone else had their own cliques and almost felt abandoned by some of the friends that had come down with me.
But upon hearing that message God spoke gently to my heart once again reminding me to relax. Reminding me that I am down here for one purpose and that is to draw closer to Him, and that if I remain faithful in that regard, then all else will take care of itself.
Popularity & acceptance, these are temporary things that the world tells us are important and necessary. But they really aren't. I am who Christ made me to be, and in Him I can find all the contentment I need.
The second session in the morning was all about learning to Share our Story. Essentially God has given every single person on earth a story to tell, throughout this life we are constantly making corrections to this story, adding things, taking them away but no matter where we go our story is being constantly shaped.
Each and every person's story is important and significant whether they believe it or not, your story can impact those you least expect. So in all things be prepared to share that.
That night we did this Iron Chef-esque sort of competition between our Impact Groups (an Impact Group is comprised of a guys and girls bible study put together, ours is about 11 students and two leaders). We had to go out shopping and put together a creative meal with a budget of $30 and the judges picked the best plate out of all the Impact Groups.
Our group put together delicious breakfast burritos, with tater tots green onions, cheese, salsa and sour cream as sides and for dessert we made cinnamon rolls with caramel drizzle on top.
We didn't win first place, but the food was delicious! :)
The rest of that dinner period along with eating our prepared meal we were allowed to go sample the other group's entrees and desserts. :)
Now for Sunday...
Sunday was a pretty significant day for the project and myself. It was our first time as a group attending an actual church service at Ocean Drive Presbyterian, and let me just say that what I expected and what I experienced were two completely opposite things.
We were asked to bring dress clothes for church and to "think conservative" and from that description I was a little apprehensive that it would be a very traditional church where hymns were the norm and the average age is 65+. However, I was pleasantly surprised because it was not at all like that. The average age WAS older, but these were some of the coolest old people in the world! ;)
They had a band, and everyone was very friendly.
Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with traditional worship, in fact its very satisfying and fulfilling for some. Its just not my cup of tea so to speak.
The pastor spoke on the book of Acts and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Oh and another note, I was able to meet the youth pastor, his name is Walt and today (Monday) we are going to be getting together and talking about a small group study that I want to start among the youth of the North Myrtle Beach community.
That afternoon was spent primarily on the beaches, soaking up sun, tanning (or burning in my case), playing Frisbee and making sand castles.
This part of my day was very significant however not just because of the fact that I was on a beautiful beach, but because I had the opportunity to share my faith with several people.
Now I know what some readers may think is that sharing of faith = preaching to people and force feeding them Jesus.
Not the case at all.
This trip is not about converting people to Christianity. Its about sharing something we feel is very important, that has changed each and every one of our lives. Some will choose to accept this message, some will turn away, but the point is not to gain converts because so often people think that if you "pray this prayer" or if you "take this communion" they will be saved and it is their "fire insurance".
But that is not this case.
Without the commitment of the heart there is no point. If (and only if) there is a willingness to give up the things that you hold onto in your heart such as anger, resentment, malice, lust, or what have you then Christ will be able to come into your life and change you into the person He truly wants you to be. But it has to be a choice you make.
It is made clear in the Bible that there is nothing we as humans can do to achieve eternity by ourselves. No amount of good works (though they are good to do), no amount of ritualistic actions, no amount of wealth that you accumulate in this world can get you into heaven.
But I digress, as far as the sharing went...
In one instance, in the group of women I happened to be talking to there was a girl who believed in reincarnation, but she really didn't know anything about what the Gospel said or what Christ had to offer. We had a really nice conversation in which I was able to lay out the good news for her. Now, I'm pretty good at telling when people are listening and when they are just being polite, but these ladies were very engaged and showed genuine interest.
I'll share another instance with you, that same night a group of us were standing outside our housing complex, just chatting by the road because we didn't want to go in right away. We were approached by about 5 guys who were down here in North Myrtle on a party bus with their senior class. They were very inebriated to say the least, but we struck up conversation with them and were able to find out that they came from Ohio and that they were down here for a week.
Two of the guys went over to talk to some of our ladies, and the rest stayed and talked to the guys. In the guys' area they began a spiritual discussion that got into some theology. One of the Ohioans was a pastors son but wanted nothing to do with his father's beliefs, one was an atheist, and one of them didn't identify with any belief system. I only heard bits of the conversation because I was over with the two other guys.
Their names were Will and Remington (or Remi as his friends called him). These guys both said that they were Christian but that they didn't feel like they acted like it most of the time. They felt like they needed to go out and have their fun, but Will said something like "I'm sure God's gunna punish me good when I get back...".
My heart just went out to these guys, because you could tell just by talking to them that they both had great hearts, and that they felt very strongly about helping fellow humans.
Me and my group members who were talking to them tried to explain a bit more clearly that God isn't about judgment, punishment, and wrath, but forgiveness and grace.
I mean hey, if God punished ME for every time I screwed up I don't think He would have time to do anything else!
We are ALL just human, and while we strive to follow Christ's example, we are ALL going to mess up, but that is why the grace of Christ is so important! He came to us so that we did not have to be punished for every wrong we ever did.
Christ himself had done absolutely NO wrong and He was falsely accused, and crucified and He still did it WILLINGLY because He knew that without that sacrifice we would not have a chance to be with our Father in Heaven.
It is still very difficult for me to grasp that much love. I know how difficult it is to forgive someone who has done me wrong in even the simplest way, much less to show them love and compassion?
Our conversation with Will and Remi ended with us praying over them to be safe this week and that they may experience Christ in a very real and powerful way this week.
We will be trying to get these guys to come to Project events that we are holding this week, but for now it is purely in God's hands to work in these guys' hearts.
So please pray for these guys and the Project as we continue to share our faith.
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