Allah and Issa

This one is gonna be kinda long. Sorry. But it needs to be shared. 

So this weekend, a church in my neighborhood is hosting a weekend-long event called Jesus In The Qur'an, or JIQ. The purpose of this conference is to inform Christians of the most effective way to minister to and make disciples of Muslims. The things I've learned have radically changed my perspective and blown my mind. I was given a free copy of the Qur'an and plan on finishing it in the next few months. The man who founded this ministry is an incredible speaker and has wonderful stories to tell. I'm so moved by what he said, I don't know what to type or how to explain to you this passion I have to make disciples of all nations. I already wanted to learn Arabic and I already wanted to visit the largest mosque in the southeast (it's next door to me). But, wow! I have such God-given passion and zeal! Thank You, God. I want to meet Muslims and be their friend. 

Simultaneously, a bunch of brothers and sisters came to ATL from Athens and FoCo. They were Bibbling (studying the Bible...ask Dylan C.) and praying. Morgan C. asked me if I wanted to go to a church thing to which she had been invited. I agreed because I love Jesus, because I wanted to hang out with Morgan, and to keep an eye on her. I'll be honest, I was expecting this to be a little sketchy, especially since it started at 11 PM. As soon as I entered the house, I knew this was legit. The first hour or so was intense worship. Since I didn't know any of the words (and no screen with the lyrics), I prayed and read Psalms and other Scriptures. Then for 30-45 minutes we prayed. I asked God to give me just a little guidance as to what I should do for Him this summer, even though I already had some plans. I was on my knees. I had that feeling I get when I'm consumed by the Holy Spirit: burning up yet freezing. "Now the Lord is gonna tell me something awesome," I thought. I waited on Him and He gave me a vision. I was at home and showing my family Scripture and teaching them. By this, I believe God wants me to stay at home letting God's Light shine through me. I was contemplating and I thought that the Lord might use me in my church to speak Truth. I got this desire to just preach all the time! I think that God might be calling me to the Navy but I just wanna preach all the time! Maybe Mason L. will let me lead a youth Bible study. That would such a blessing and an opportunity. It was apparent that the Holy Spirit came to that worship service in the middle of the night. I love God, I love my family, and I love people. 

If you see me on a daily basis, you know that I have learned so SO much from God in the past few weeks. I can talk about some of those things later, but I would like to take a second to talk about marriage. Yea it might get touchy, but Jesus Christ never sacrificed the Truth in all of His compassion. I've observed that in all cultures of the world, marriage is held in high esteem. In fact, it has become an idol to people all over the world, especially Christians. We have this notion that God will put a godly man or woman in our lives and we will find satisfaction. Where is that in Scripture? What I find in Scripture is "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:8) I can present more Scripture if necessary, but it all says that God's Name, bringing Him glory, and His affection for us is far greater than anything on this earth. Yes, God did design marriage, but that doesn't mean that it is impossible to be made an idol. I think that sometimes, young Christians open the Bible as if it were a crystal ball or treat God as only an oracle seeking knowledge of the future of their relationship. There is an idea concerning soul mates, or "the one." I don't like that idea either. Since becoming a sincere disciple of Christ, I have started to desire one thing only for my life: to bring His Name glory in all parts of my life (Romans 12:1). I know that if God continues to grow me to become like Christ, He will get glory from me. That's ALL that matters! If God wants me to be single, OK! If God wants to marry this girl or that, OK! I don't care about things like that because God will get glory from me one way or another. I think marriage is holy and a clear picture of Jesus Christ dying for and marrying the church. But I don't think that whom we marry needs much thought. As long as he/she loves Jesus more than you and more than him/herself, and has been given a desire from to become more Christ-like, he/she is fit for marriage. Proverbs 4:23 says "And guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." I don't think that tis means that we shouldn't alk about spiritual things of people of the opposite gender. I think it means that we should guard our hearts VERY CAREFULLY from idolatry. I think that if brothers- and sisters-in-Christ all desire to be like-Christ, then praying, witnessing, hanging out, and even talking about marriage as friends should be normal. Stop giving so much attention to a relationship if it distracts you from the relationship that saves your soul. 

God be with me and give me words to say so I don't get in the way. I love you. Purify me. Amen.