NEWSBOYS MEMORIES

As I was driving back from the "Total Chrisitianity" class tonight offered through the institute at East Valley Bible Church, I turned on the stereo to hear one of my favorite old school songs. The song that was playing was "Shine" by the Newsboys. To the best of my memory, the lyrics go something like this:

Shine, make em wonder what you got
Make em wish that they were not,
On the outside looking bored.
Shine, let it shine before all men,
Let em see good works and then,
Let em glorify the Lord.

This is my complete hearts desire to live a life that would radically make people wish that they weren't just on the outside looking in, but that they would see the good works and love I have for the Lord, and they would in turn glorify Him.

Today had its ups and downs. I felt tired, yet I still felt the hand of God reminding me to run the race. Having ate at the Taco Bell today at the MU, I think that the Diet Coke and Carne Asada tacos might have woken me up just a little so I was able to skate over to my Rock Climbing class. This class is very interesting in that it is very laid back. We just go to the Phoenix Rock Gym and climb for about an hour and then we are done. . . I know, school can be rough sometimes. . . its a hard job, but someone has to do it. Anyway, not desiring to climb the walls and fall to our death, we are required to have a partner when we climb. For the last few climbs, my partner has been Mike. Making small talk, he asked me how my weekend was, and what I had done. To my surprise, I could not think of a thing to say. So, after racking my brain, the one thing I remembered doing was going to Pan De Vida, a Spanish church in Chandler. I told him that I'm really trying to learn Spanish. In reply, I asked him about his weekend. Mike told me about his weekend and I definitely knew that I was in the presence of a non-believer. However, I was so encouraged that this Mike was open about his life, and I pray that God will allow me to really show him the love of Christ through our friendship.

I have so many thoughts about the gospel, missions, and sanctification right now, but I will leave you with this thought that I was just convicted by tonight through a conversation with Tyler Johnson. He told me that rather than seeking to be a salesman of the gospel, Christians should desire to love on people. . . This exuberance of love will open doors for the gospel, and not vic versa. I am convicted, for I think that my mentality is very often, "I want to develop a relationship so I can share the gospel" rather than just wanting to love on people. May God allow me the grace to not be a Christian salesman, but a lover of people.