"If I perish, I perish."

This fall, I (Megan) have been studying Beth Moore's Esther. I was able to share some of what I have been learning with our students on Thursday night at our Real Life Connect.

Beth Moore says, "The most critical breakthrough of faith you and I could ever experience is to let God bring us to a place where we trust Him - period! We don't just trust Him to let us avoid what we fear most. We determine to trust Him no matter what, even if our worst nightmare befalls us."  With this in mind, we read Esther 4:12-5:2. Towards the end, in the exchange between Esther and Mordecai via Hathach. Mordecai underlines this reality for Esther: That either decision - to approach the King or to do nothing at all - has its risks (death). And Esther was moved to a point of being able to say, "If I perish, I perish." She recognized the risks on either side and chose.
We have so many opportunities to fill in these blanks with our greatest fears: "If ____ happens, then _____." But as Christ-followers we can apply the gospel to our life and remember that God has in effect extended the golden scepter towards us in Jesus Christ. We can approach His throne with confidence and ask Him to change our hearts and attitudes, so that we trust Him more and more, even in the midst of our circumstances. Here's what some of our students shared:

"If I don't get accepted to RPI, then I'll be embarrassed."
Other students applied the gospel: "You are still valuable, even if you don't get accepted."
"God has a plan, even if that's not the one." (Jer 23)

Another students shared, "If my dad doesn't become a Christian, I am a bad ambassador."
Others applied the gospel: "His decision/choice is not up to you."
"God is the one who accomplishes growth, we only plant and water; we can't make someone trust Jesus."

And so, we shared some of our fears and the reality that the Gospel changes our response to them, the way we look at them.

And music to my ears: a couple days later a student facebooked me to say that he would be sharing this with the high school kids he leads in the church youth group.

men's breakfast

This morning, Dave and the staff guys are meeting students at Bob's for some men's time - hopefully accompanied by lots of bacon and coffee. They will be talking about Piper's definition of Biblical Masculinity:

AT THE HEART OF MATURE MASCULINITY IS A SENSE OF BENEVOLENT RESPONSIBILITY TO LEAD, PROVIDE FOR AND PROTECT WOMEN IN WAYS APPROPRIATE TO A MAN’S DIFFERING RELATIONSHIPS.

Fall 2011: a season of learning

We feel as though we have some exceptional clarity from which to lead this Fall.  That’s the good news!  The bad news is that clarity is the result of some, “Oh man, that was a big miss!” kind of moments.  So there’s this whole thing that God is working out in us about his sovereignty and our effort and what’s ours to own and what’s his to own and how we can rest because of what Jesus has done, not only when things are hard, but when things are hard because, perhaps, of us! We are meditating on the 7 Gospel Truths while learning so much.

One lesson that seems true for our area at this time is this: mission flows from community.  There are some areas we clearly see we can facilitate community on campus and we pray that God is in it and blesses those efforts like crazy.

7 Gospel Truths

We were first introduced to this powerful list in Wildwood this summer, when our dear friend J.W. Betts shared them with our project. The list originates with Drew Hyun, a pastor in New York City. He was also our speaker for the Upstate NY Fall Getaway this fall, where he shared this powerful message. 

Because of Jesus/In light of the Gospel:

We are fully loved. 

We are fully accepted. 

We have nothing to prove. 

We have nothing to lose. 

We have nothing to hide. 

We are free to make mistakes. 

We have nothing to fear.