July 1, 2011

• Here's a rough outline/draft of some parting thoughts / things-which-seem-in-my-opinion-extremely-important-to-remember, intended to be shared (in either written or possibly oral form) to my local campus Christian fellowship, when I leave (perhaps some time next year)...  these will be refined and expanded and possibly distilled before final presentation...   

  What are your thoughts?   (on these points, and also, are there any other points you might suggest?)

   

  1. dependence on God.... (personal and corporate)  (attitude of humility/He must increase/I must decrease, constant personal prayer, regular corporate prayer, )  cf. Moses "fell on his face before the Lord", "...was the most humble man who ever lived", John 15 "apart from Me you can do nothing."

  2. look for the "poor/needy" - the unbeautiful people, the unpopular people, the lonely, the people who can't help you in return, the boring people, the physically handicapped people, the international students who can't speak good english, the nasty people who don't have any friends, the poor people, the people who don't have any connections, etc  -- seek to help them  ("when you give a banquet... do not invite your friends...")

  3. 'it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace' - the crucial central importance of justification by faith...  the insidious tendency to forget/neglect/sideline this truth to make room for lots of social-gospel/good-works/helping-others/missions-trips/loving-your-neighbor type talk (which, themselves, are also extremely important, but always secondary (cf. Romans 12 comes after Romans 1-8))

  4. root your identity/sufficiency/confidence in Christ and His unfailing love (not in academic performance, research performance, moral/witness performance, or anything else) (shamelessly borrowed from Pauline and Helen)  2 Cor 3

  5. life is short... Ps 90 (timeline illustration shamelessly borrowed from Jay)  ... focus on the things that will last for eternity... God, and human people...   easy to accidentally depersonalize fellow hospital personnel, patients, even classmates (because of the multitude of faces in the hallways/sidewalks, preoccupation w/ personal concerns, constant turnover of people)  but people have only a few years on earth, and then they die and will spend eternity in either heaven or hell - take every opportunity...   (yet sowing is just as important as reaping... an attitude of love (and discernment) asks 'how much is this other person ready for right now?' and then boldly progresses to that point....

  6. don't be afraid of non-Christians thinking you're stupid for believing in God, and even talking about Him in public (as opposed to 'that's fine if you believe it, but keep it private' attitude)   "whoever is ashamed of Me and My words..."   Whose opinion/approval matters more?   Whose opinion will we be concerned more about, 1 million years from today?

  7. rely fully/100% on God's promises (shamelessly borrowed from Bill) ... God ALWAYS keeps His promises...  e.g. Rom. 8:28, Phil. 4:6, Ps 37:4, etc etc.

  8. work as if God were your boss...  (colossians/ephesians passages)

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