I finally did create a blog, and as my new friend Jim said, I'll have to introduce it and myself. I'm not really a blogger (or, as you can tell, a web designer), but this seems the most appropriate and convenient way to keep all of those with an interest apprised of the work that God is doing in and through me this summer. God called me to summer missions even as last summer was wrapping up, and I'm incredibly thankful for this opportunity to step out on faith and allow him to work through me. Hopefully, I'll walk away from this experience with a new and radical perspective of what it means to be a true follower of Christ.
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The work that I've been given will consist of a lot of survey work in an area of northern Illinois called Beach Park. Parenthetically -- but without using more parentheses because I already have once and that's tacky -- I hope Beach Park is as awesome as it sounds. But I never seem to be so lucky. Anyway, regardless of whether or not Beach Park is glorious sand and sun, there's been little interaction with the Son (I cringe even as I pen this unintentional pun, but strangely I cannot bring myself to delete it) there at all. My goal will be assess the current spiritual climate in this area and to hopefully begin a Bible study or two before I leave. This will establish the groundwork for those with an eye on eventual church planting.
The name of this blog is loosely based upon Galatians 1:15-16a, in which Paul says, "15But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles," as a way of beginning his personal autobiography. To me, this is a glorious attitude that I hope that I will one day wholeheartedly adopt, assuming God allows me to reach the level of spiritual maturity required for such a God-centered worldview. To Paul, his very conception was under the watchful eye of a God that would one day reveal himself and his great love and comprehensive plan for the salvation of many so that he alone might receive glory because of Paul's actions (Galatians 1:24).
Even as I begin to contemplate the implications of this amazing truth, I am left speechless and thrilled to know that God loved me enough to call me and to use me in the same manner that he used Paul: to proclaim the gospel. This is truly an honor (2 Corinthians 5:20 -- just trust me, it's there) and I hope to lose myself in him even more so that he can use me even more, thus receiving more glory for himself. As C.S. Lewis says, "When we are wholly his, we will be more ourselves than ever." I pray that God would allow me to adopt that philosophy fully, and that I might aim toward my creation intention with everything I do, remembering that my interactions are those of an immortal dealing with an immortal and that only immersed in him will I truly embody the radical "life is Christ, death is gain" (Phillipians 1:21) attitude.
Songs rocked out to during the composition of this post:
Be Thou My Vision - Ginny Owens
Rocket Man - Jason Mraz
The Brilliant Dance - Dashboard Confessional
T-Shirts - Derek Webb
Beloved - Tenth Avenue North
