London Calling

"How's London?" Loved ones back home ask.

How does one even answer that? "British as ever"?

But six letters hold much.

London is crowded. Diverse. Sunny some days, gray most days. London is traffic. London is a park amidst a concrete sea. London is a wealthy capital and a back alley. London is a posh block of flats and a weather-worn council estate. It's a rush of adverts, a rush of faces, a rush of tea and biscuits. London is a rush. London is a mad dash for the Jubilee westbound and a quiet walk in steady rain.

London is searching, crying out for answers.

I wanted to see the world and its cultures, so I came here. I wanted to love the people of the world like God does, so I came here. I wanted to tell London that the answer is Jesus Christ. So I came here.

Six letters. But infinitely more than that.

"How's London?"

I'm finding out, slowly. This could take all year.

London City Mission

So, I graduated from USF this past May, and since then I’ve been praying about my next step. Do I get a job and settle into Sarasota life? Do I try for a job somewhere else, with a change of scenery?

I decided on something that’s been on my heart since I graduated high school: mission work. I’ve wanted to join some sort of missions program since I was 18, but my parents thought it’d be wise to go to college first. Now that I’m finished, I’d like to give my time to missions for a little while before I choose a career.

In May I applied for an 11-month mission work program at an organization called London City Mission (LCM), and in June I was accepted. The program runs from September 6, 2010, until July 23, 2011. This organization has been around for 175 years and is still faithfully serving the city of London through community outreach. There are different outreach centers around the city that work with youth, the homeless, the elderly, and with society’s marginalized. Other efforts involve church planting, sports ministry, and coffee shop ministry. I’m not sure which group I’ll be placed in yet, but I’ll be assisting an already-established missionary. LCM is big on people using their gifts for the advancement of God’s kingdom, so I may even use my creative writing degree.

I’m nervous yet excited to join this team because I know God is going to stretch me and take me out of my comfort zone. It’s going to be a lot of work, and I need all of the prayers, encouragement, and emotional support I can get. Send me a loving email once in a while if you think about it: srowe2@mail.usf.edu.

For more info on London City Mission, visit www.lcm.org.uk

Life By His Words

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:27

Forgive me for my worrying, Lord; it's the opposite of trusting you. What does it mean to trust you? Worry comes in the form of feelings, and I know how easily it is to live by my feelings. I need to live by what your word says is true, not by how I feel. So...

Your word says that you take care of your people, that you know your sheep by name, that you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing, that you're near to all who call on you in truth, that you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, that you will supply all of my needs, that you are Faithful and True, that you know what I need before I ask, that you hear my cry and will answer, that you lift up those who are bowed down, that you set the prisoners free, that you open the eyes of the blind, that you watch over the sojourners, that you are more than enough for me, that if I come to you I will want for nothing, that you are the truth, that you are the owner of the earth and all that fills it, that you're the Living One who sees me, that you are the Righteous Judge, that you have paid my way into the throne room of the Most High, that you are holy and desire purity in my life, that you have loved me with an unending, perfect love, that by your blood I am cleansed and made into a new creation, that you give good gifts because you are good, that you know me and still love me, that you won't leave me, that you're coming back to claim me, and that you will be glorified forever.

God, remind me of these things when I forget. Lift my eyes to you, and may I subject my feelings to and order my life around you and the truth of your words.

Our High Calling

There are tons of aspects about God that amaze me, but I want to highlight one of them. This gets me every time I read it in the Bible: how Jesus allows himself to be betrayed, mocked, beaten, and killed, and yet He is God of the universe. He hung there on the cross, dying, gasping for breath and in extreme pain, and the people who he made and formed and watched since they were little children, the people who grew up and became his enemies...those people stand there making fun of him, yelling things like, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross", and "He saved others; he cannot save himself."

This gets me because Jesus is the only one who ever lived who had the divine right to zap them out of existence, to call down those angel armies, to have that "I'll show you" attitude, and yet he hung there and loved them. He asked God not to hold it against them.

And yet we get up in arms when someone simply disrespects us?

I was reading a passage in 1 Peter that really challenged me. Ch. 2, verses 19-23.

"For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."

What level of humility is this....and is it even attainable? This attitude isn't just something "nice" that's good to keep in mind. Here it says it's a calling. If we're claiming to answer the call to live a Christian life, that's major. His example that we're to follow is perfect...He's the one who had every right to revile, but He didn't. I love the end part about how he "entrusted himself to the one who judges justly." When we take revenge into our own hands, we're making ourselves the judge. But God says that vengeance belongs to Him. Can we trust him with the injustices we experience? Can we release those people to Him and ask, as Jesus did, that God would forgive them? Can we replace retaliation with prayer?

I don't think humility means living a boundary-less life or letting people walk all over us. That's not honoring to God, either. Humility is more about having a right idea about ourselves in relation to God, recognizing our sinfulness and rejoicing in His righteousness which, because he chose the road of humility which led to the cross, is now ours. Humility isn't weakness, either. It's easy to return evil for evil, right? I think it takes more God-given strength to go against something that comes naturally to us.

Humility is a funny thing though; it can't be aware of itself or else it'll cease to be. Anyone who says "I'm humble" would be considered arrogant. It's definitely a process, part of our sanctification, and not a state to be reached completely in this life.

Asking for humility is dangerous prayer to pray, but what a privilege to walk in the steps of Christ!

Ruined For Anything Less

I had a dream a while ago and was recently reminded of it:

I was standing in line at the concession stand at the beach. I bought all this unhealthy food (pizza, fries, a hot dog, chips, soda, candy) with the only money I had with me, and I stood there looking at it in disgust, wishing I didn't have to eat it, but that's all there was, and I was hungry.

Then my sister came up to me and said, "Shan, what are you doing? Dad's taking us out for a really nice dinner."

I woke up thinking about it, and the word that came to mind was "settling". At that time I know that God was speaking specifically to me about a relationship in my life that needed to go; He had something much better planned. But I think it can apply to the amazing grace of God and what we're missing out on when we settle for second best (or for just plain ridiculous), whether it's with what He's called us to do, who He wants us to reach out to, the way He wants us to live our lives...

Why do we settle? We don't see beyond what's right in front of us? (I thought junk food was my only option.) Laziness? (It was easy, the concession stand was right there.) We dare to assume what is and is not possible? (I only had enough money for cheap food, not a nice dinner.) But the word says that God is able to "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20), and that nothing is impossible with Him (Mark 10:27).

Sometimes our choices don't make sense in light of what He's offering.

My prayer is that we will have our eyes opened to the areas in our lives where we may be settling, as well as to what God wants to do instead. And it's more than what's in His hand or what His plans are for these little blips of time we call our lives --- it's about HIM. It's important to recognize where we may have replaced intimacy with Him with something or someone else, things that will always be infinitely less. He's beckoning us in to sit with Him at the fanciest party, an awesome feast, and we'd rather sit in the dirt outside with a Slim Jim and a can of Pringles? C.S. Lewis puts it like this: we are like "an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." (from The Weight of Glory).

I love the phrase "ruined for anything less"; it describes how I feel about being in relationship with God. Nothing else compares... nothing and no one else can even come close. I don't want to settle because I trust that His heart toward me is good, and that He wants what's best for me in all areas of my life, in my relationships, in how I spend my time, in my thoughts, in my speech...because ultimately, what's best for me is being close to Him, and a life connected with Him is what will bring Him glory.