What A Refreshment!

Over the past month I have really just been wrestling with the Lord about where He has us right now. I absolutely love my job and feel that Kyle and I are incredibly blessed to be able to pour our lives into college students! That said, raising your own financial support is a daunting task and something that has never come easy for us.  This summer has been extremely hard and I think it has caused me to question being in full-time ministry and I have just grown weary. So, as I prepared to come to our national conference in Colorado, I prayed that the Lord would really refresh my spirit with His word and that I would be reminded and excited about the great calling I have received as a Christian. 

Well, we are 3 days into the conference and I can already say that my soul has been greatly revived and refreshed. If I could think of one word to describe this conference thus far it would be REFRESHING! It really is neat to see that the Lord will meet us right where we are at. 

Yesterday morning we were able to hear from Pastor Tim Keller again. This time he spoke on The Gospel for Non-Christians: How to Use The Gospel. Keller did an extraordinary job of explaining the mission, message, motivation, and method of the gospel. I am not going to summarize this message in detail because I really want you to watch it online (link listed in post below), but I will say that the Lord truly spoke to me through Keller. His message was out of Luke 10 when Jesus sends out the seventy-two. Verse 20 says, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." This should be our motivation in sharing the gospel with others. Our names are written in heaven (past tense) and because of this we can rejoice. We do not have to work so that our names might be written in heaven, they ARE written in heaven, and for this reason we share the gospel with others. Keller said, "I think what Jesus is saying here is this is where you ought to rest your heart. I am your great high priest, and I stand before the Father, and your name is written over my heart, and when the Father looks at your name he sees nothing but an absolute beauty, and I want you to live on a platform of the joy of knowing who you are in me. I want you to rejoice that your names are already written in heaven." 

What a beautiful picture this was to me and a reminder of my position in Christ. That when the Father sees my name, he sees Jesus. It really goes back to what Keller spoke about the first morning. That I don't have to worry about my performance, acceptability, or worthiness because in Christ, I am freely justified. How refreshing it was to hear all of this! Please listen to Keller's messages if you get a chance. I trust that the Lord will refresh your heart also.

All 7,000 staff members gathered in

Moby Gym to hear from Pastor Tim Keller

"Campus Crusade has been and is an enormously big part of what God is doing around the world today, and if you went out of business this week, I know that the wisest and most circumspect leaders of the Christian church would have to reinvent you. We would have to immediately recreate you--that's how important you are!" Tim Keller

What a high complement to Crusade and what a reminder to me that it is a privilege and honor to serve the Lord through working for Campus Crusade.