Well, I have been debating on whether to write this post or catch up with "24" but as you can tell, I'm writing so, good for me! Well, where to start. School has been quite busy and it has been hard to stay on top of all my work. It is rough taking classes such as Engineering and Calc when they don't really apply to my major but, I am somewhat enjoying them, until I get stressed. Ahhh stress. What a wonderful thing you are. It has been very stressful recently and dealing with it has been challenging. Because of said stress, it has started to impact my faith in small ways. I am now almost a week behind in memory verses, I have lost my daily bible reading routine and mostly when I get a free chance, I decide to be lazy or deal with it in a manner that is not focused on giving God the glory. And this is how it currently fits in to story of the week, probably the month.
During this time of year, Michigan Tech holds its annual Winter Carnival. Winter Carnival is a time where students spend a month to build snow statues that pertain to the theme which this year it was games. This is the biggest event that Michigan Tech is known for. Alumni, parents and tourists come to visit well-engineered snow and ice sculptures and statues. What is even more well known for by students is the amount of partying and drinking that goes on. It is insane. The main drinking event is the All-Nighter which is the Wednesday night which kicks off Winter Carnival and the smaller statues that can only be built within the night. I think I missed most what went on last year but I sure saw it in all its "glory" this year. People, (students, locals and even professors) walk around drinking on campus. They carry various containers such as coffee mugs, water bottles, camelbaks, gas cans and even labeled beer and liquor bottles and cans all full of alcoholic concoctions. Cops are right there while it is all going on, only intervening if things get violent or unconscious. At about 3 in the morning, when most everyone is gone, you can just smell the stench of booze and witness the litter of cans all over campus.
Anywho, I did not partake in these activities (nor do I care to) and did something else. Ever read the book Blue Like Jazz? I think that it is a good book that lacks some things here and there but the message of it is being christlike in what seems to be unconventional ways. I would recommend it but, read with caution, he lacks some scriptural foundations of who Jesus was and what he did. Anyways, there is a chapter in the book discussing about his involvement with a small group of Christians at Reed College. During his time there, he felt the need to reach out to his fellow classmates on campus and share his faith with them. At one of their Bible Study meetings he brought up his conviction to the others. Ideas were thrown out and one stood out from the rest, "Lets build a confession booth during Renn Fayre." Some laughed, some were scared but some were serious. After some deliberating they went with the idea to build a confession booth with a reverse confession, they, Christians, would confess and apologize for their short comings of being Christians. They went with it built a booth in the middle of all the craziness and waited. Don (the author) was first up in the booth, dressed as a priest not really knowing what to expect. One guy stumbled in and questioned him, "What's this?" Don explained what they were doing and the guy had a change of heart. "It's really cool what you guys are doing, people need to hear this." It came down to that Don was there representing Christ and standing up in his name. He then describes the impact it had on people, being being drawn into their Bible study and weekly service activities. God truly blessed their ministry and people came to know Christ.
A group of us within Campus Crusade got together prior to Winter Carnival and discussed ways to impact the campus and this came up. We were pretty skeptical at first but ran with it. Myself and some other bought some wood and built some walls and then All Nighter we set it up. Now, I had a pretty crappy day. I was really stressed with all my school work and such so, I was not feeling like I could by any means share the gospel. After some prayer and reading I was ready. Praise God! Still very nervous, thinking that it was going to be a horrible night of ridicule and problems with drunk people. We didn't have any problems other than our electricity kept shorting out which was awkward to talk in the dark but, whatever. So, it was pretty much me and my good friend Alex talking to people with others coming and going. We would stand outside and wait for people to come up to us. Standard procedure was to answer "So, what is this?" and "Are you guys priests?" "No, we are not priests and we aren't affiliated with the Catholic church but we are Christians on campus who would like to confess to you." And then they would either nod, say Ok and walk away or step in the booth and talk further.
Well, it turned out to be a huge success. We were right in the middle of campus, between 2 sidewalks so, you couldn't miss it, prime picken's. We talked to a TON of people. I confessed my shortcomings with people, talked with them about who Jesus was and most importantly shared the gospel with almost every person. AMAZING! Sounds fun and easy right? Wrong.... I, Devin, got all the skeptics, atheists, agnostics, humanists and others that attacked my faith. I talked with at least 3 people for over 30 minutes. It was challenging and I was not prepared at all at the time. I'm not one who is weak in the faith, I know my stuff but I'm also not a scholar. But, for some reason I could not remember scripture, was scrambling for words and was just totally left out to be attacked.
At first, it was pretty heavy. After one conversation with one guy who tore me up, I had to take a break. I wish I could recall what we talked about, their points, my points but due to my awesome memory and just the overwhelming amount of emotion I really can't remember specifics. During my break, as I was walking, I was thinking and praying. "Even though these guys think they ruined my faith God, they haven't. I really don't believe in what they say. They are so far from the truth, blinded, hard-hearted Lord. O God, thanks so much for guiding me, saving me, having grace, mercy, sending your Son, Christ. Wow. I need to read my Bible more with understanding. Make your words mine." It was also great to go to a room where there was constant prayer. Such a blessing.
It may sound weird at first but it was a successful night. Christ was preached and people heard it. I didn't encounter any immediate life changes but how do I know that? I had the opportunity to talk with some of the most hard-hearted, God haters and they got to hear the gospel! There is really NOTHING that I can do to have them believe, that is up to God and his sovereign power. I will say that I prayed for those that I talked to, asking God to change them, work in their lives and reveal himself to them. Before we know God, we didn't want anything to do with him. We enjoyed the pleasures of this world, so lost in our sinful desires. We deserve his wrath because of this. There is nothing good that we have done to "earn" a way out. God, full of mercy and grace, sent his Son to cover our sins, all of them, paid in full for those who repent, turn and live. Our lives should no longer be set on the things of this world rather than God and his glory. Being humans, we loose sight of that, a lot. The most important thing that I can take away from this is that I need to focused on God in everything I do. In class, sleeping, not sleeping, doing homework, reading my Bible, eating, longboarding, driving, you get the point. "It is no longer I who live but Christ in me." I am a new creation, with a purpose and meaning in life.
So, now I ask you to examine yourself. 2 Corinthians 13:5. Where does your allegiance lie? Think about it. I'm always willing to talk about anything. Please be praying for me,
Devin
