SOAP June 13, 2008

Last night I was watching Letterman, and Zooey Deschanel was talking about a woman at the Mutter Museum whose body, after it was buried, turned into soap. Zooey (we’re on a first-name basis, she and I) ((did you catch that cute play on words there…cause her musical duo is She and Him…ha…ha…no.)) said, “How did they realize she was soap?? By trying to wash with her???”

Kind of gross.

But that’s not really what I want to post about. Despite the fact that it is totally strange and worth mentioning. I want to write about a different kind of soap.

Our Crusade campus director, Jimmy, has been doing these little videos called CRUCoreTV as a way of keeping everyone connected and informed over the summer, updating us on what God’s doing in his life while dancing around to Trick Daddy and Guns n’ Roses. I kid you not. Here’s Episode 1 and here’s Episode 2, if you’re interested. At any rate, in episode 1 he talks about journaling, and how God has been using journaling to show him some really cool stuff. And the method he’s been using while writing is SOAP, which works like this: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer.

I think I might try this because as much as I like to ignore the fact, I can get kinda lazy sometimes and in order for most things to be really effective in my life, I need to approach them in some kind of disciplined way. A clearcut method like this helps me to do that consistently. Journaling is always something really rewarding for me in general, even in non-spiritual parts of my life (which, really, I’m learning don’t exist–it’s all spiritual). How much more am I going to gain and learn from writing if I start doing it consistently as I read the Bible (which, hopefully, I’ll also be doing consistently). So I think I’ll try this SOAP method a bit and see what awesome things God is going to teach me.

Do you journal? How do you approach it?

Let’s Do Some Good. March 4, 2008

This only takes about 5 seconds. Go do it. Right now. Go.

They’ll fund up to 20 masons (1 per 100,000 visitors), so that means we have until July 1st to get 20,000,000 people to visit this Web site.

Burkina Faso has been on my heart lately because they have the lowest literacy rate in the world, and as a future teacher and as someone who just loves to read, it makes me so sad.

So let’s do some good.

Let’s build some houses.

Something to think about. February 18, 2008

I’m mostly concerned with the second half of this video. I don’t have time this morning to really talk about it, but it bothered me a lot. I don’t think Christians need to back down from issues or from politics. I think the opposite. We should stand up for what we believe in just like anyone else should. But I also think we would be so much better off if Christians, as a whole, stopped and considered HOW they say what they say, and consider the way Jesus lived and acted and impacted people, as opposed to the way most people go about it today. Jesus talked a lot about boldness, but he also talked a lot about gentleness. I think a little more gentleness and a little more understanding would go a long way towards preventing opinions like the one Charles Barkley apparently holds.

Mystery January 13, 2008

so much for “jumping in” on july 17 August 23, 2007

Ok, let’s have another go at this.

Today was Day One of Year Two here at the lovely University of Florida. I’m beginning with a new home, new roommate, new major. More than that, I am thrilled to see all the amazing things God is going to do on this campus this year. You can already feel it beginning.

Walking around campus today, I was hot and sweaty and disgusting. It was the kind of weather that usually makes me want to do nothing but get home into the AC, drink a cold glass of water and take a nap–so humid and sticky you can hardly catch a breath of fresh air–but I was so excited to be there it didn’t matter. Besides the general excitement the first day of classes usually brings, I felt like everywhere I turned there were people proclaiming Christ. Everywhere I turned, there were people not ashamed.

RUF in Turlington Plaza, another group on the Colonnade, Gator Christian Life handing out free cold drinks all over the place, and Crusade in Plaza of the Americas. In my Teaching Diverse Populations class, a few people included what campus ministry their involved with as part of their “interesting things you should know about me.”

In between my two classes today I spent maybe 45 minutes out there with other people from CRU handing out our schedule of events and info about our first meeting (which is tonight! I’m so excited!) , and I wasn’t expecting so many people to be as enthusiastic as they were or as willing to listen to someone talk about our events and what we’re seeing God do on campus.

Most of the time, all you can really do is say, “Would you like some info about Campus Crusade for Christ?”. Usually, you get someone who politely shakes their head. Maybe someone who takes your flier, but they usually just shove it in their pocket. But God was really faithful about providing opportunities to go beyond that: to give a freshman directions to class, have someone fill out a card requesting more info, talk to someone about how awesome and important it is to have a group of Christian friends.

I can’t wait to see who God brings to our meeting and after-party tonight and who He continues to bring to the rest of the events this week. He’s doing such amazing things on this campus. I’m having trouble expressing how incredible it is to be a part of it.