6 1/2 weeks to go

Again, prayer requests first, followed by those more interested in stories and details/have the time to read longer blogs.

Prayer requests: My friend Cory Dimler has been accepted to Josiah Venture and will be going to The Czech Republic. Please pray that he will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's lead in all aspects of his life as Jesus prepares him for the wild road of ministry this summer. I ask for the same prayers for Nik Walborn and myself. Pray that I would continue to grow in understanding of the Gospel -- Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and the salvation he offers through justification by faith, both being an incredible grace from Him, greater than I will ever conceive. Please pray for support to come in for my friend Nik Walborn and Cory and me, being thankful for whatever extra God provides for any of us because it will be able to support any who need more. Please pray that I continue to be diligent in my walk with God, remembering that He is the center, the rock that makes the ripples in the lake of my life. Everything ought to flow from Him, and I desire this to be true each moment of my life.

It's hard to believe I will be in another country in 6 1/2 weeks. This semester has been kick in the face. It has definitely been the hardest semester yet, and I believe even that is preparing me for this summer. I am pretty sure this summer will be the busiest most pressing time of my life to date, and I believe God is teaching me to experience spiritual rest in the midst of the lack of physical or emotional rest.

In preparation for the summer I am reading Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll, and I will be reading his Death By Love as well. These are both to give me a further grasp of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. My responsibility as a believer is not to convert anyone. That is the Holy Spirit's responsibility. My responsibility is to preach the gospel, which means I need to get it right. I will be preaching the gospel to many teenagers who have never heard it before, and by God's grace, even when I get it wrong the Holy Spirit still works. It is amazing that he has called me into this legacy of standing for truth and preaching the gospel.

I read of Athanasius today. He is pretty much the one responsible for making sure the doctrine of the Trinity became just that, Christian doctrine. Those preaching heresy had political power, and he spent 17 years in flight and exile, all the time writing against the heresy and for the truth. I thought to myself, "God is calling me to a legacy of witnesses such as Athanasius. Who am I to be called to such a task?"

This Good Friday I am reminded that it was for my sin that Jesus died (1 Cor. 15:3), and indeed [his] grace is sufficient for [me], for [his] power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me (2 Cor. 12:9). It is with this confidence and hope that I take steps boldly into the future, putting faith in the in Him who has promised to be the power in my weakness.

It is incredible. My brother in Christ, Cory, is going to the Czech Republic. Nate had sent me an email asking me to continue casting the vision of the summer internship and JV to guys I knew because they still needed more guy interns. I asked many people, and then I asked Cory. God works in incredible ways. He went through two international ministry opportunities, and God brought him to JV. It is incredible to see my brother taking up the mantle of Christ and taking His message to the lost. I am incredibly grateful for his friendship and the opportunity to serve alongside him, whether on the same team or knowing we are both seeking the same goal - the glory of God in Christ - in different places in the country, separated by time and space but together in spirt. The same goes fo rNik Walborn as well. He is a brother I have been blessed by beyond measure.

I have grown more and more thankful for eternity. Not only to see my savior face to face and live with Him forever, but I get to spend lifetimes unending with brothers and sisters who have gone before me, walked beside me, and come after me.