Sacrifice

Talk I gave at the athlete's Bible study last week:

Hope you guys had a great Easter. Tonight’s topic is pretty fitting for what just happened this past week because we’re going to be talking about the word sacrifice. As you know last Friday was Good Friday: the day that Jesus was crucified for our sin. Last Friday was the anniversary of the greatest sacrifice ever made. We’ll get more into Jesus’ sacrifice in a minute, but first I want to talk about sacrifice in general.

I heard someone say once, “In order to get anything worthwhile or valuable in life, something else needs to be sacrificed.” Off the bat I wasn’t sure I agreed with that. After all, I had a pretty cushy life. What had I given up? But as that phrase was explained I began to agree. We sacrifice for things that are important to us. If what’s important to you is losing weight, you sacrifice food and comfort. If you value athletic achievement (which I assume you all do, because you are athletes at this school) you sacrifice your body and your time to reach your goals. If it’s your country that is important to you, you may sacrifice your life. If it’s car, you sacrifice money. If it’s education, you sacrifice time and money. We actually sacrifice all the time. If something is important enough to us we give up our time, comfort, money, sleep, freedom, etc., etc. I think you guys more than almost anyone at this school understands sacrifice. Your time is not your own. You give up holidays and weekends for your sport. You give up having a job. You give up sleep when you have early morning weights. Sometimes you have to give up your social life because you have commitments to your sport. And my question for you is: why do you do it? Why do you give up all this stuff to play football here? To play volleyball or softball or soccer or to swim here? Why do you do it? Many of you are wondering the same thing. Why the heck would I put myself through of all of that? I must be crazy. And maybe you are, but I think the reason you do it is because you love your sport. Even when I hated volleyball, I still loved volleyball. I always did and I always will. And hopefully for most of you that’s why you’re here. Hopefully you’re willing to make all those sacrifices because at one point you fell in love with your sport. And I’m pretty confident in saying that the driving force behind most sacrifice is love. We love things, or people, or ourselves so we’re willing to make sacrifices. Where our love is, there our sacrifice will be also. Think about it: parents love their children enough to get out of bed at 3 AM to feed a screaming infant. People love money enough to stay at a job they hate or love their families enough to stay at a job they hate in order to provide for them. Some boyfriends love their girlfriends enough to sit through a Nicolas Spark’s movie. The driving force is love.

I hope I have some fellow Harry Potter fans in here because I’m going to read an excerpt from the first book in the series.  For those of you who haven’t read the books or seen the movies: #1 - shame on you and #2 - I’m telling you right now: spoiler alert! I’m about to ruin the end of the first book for you, so hopefully you had no intention of ever reading them. Harry Potter’s nemesis is Voldemort. He is a dark wizard who is the epitome of evil. Long story short, Harry is an orphan. His parents sacrificed themselves to save Harry’s life. And in the first book Voldemort had to borrow someone’s body because his was destroyed in a curse gone wrong. He possessed the body of Professor Quirrell, a teacher at Harry’s school. In the climax of the story Voldemort instructs Quirrell to kill Harry, but every time Quirrell put his hands on Harry they started burning and blistering. Eventually Harry defeats Quirrell and Voldemort (for the time being anyway) by burning him to pieces. As Harry was recovering he asks his mentor Dumbledore, “Why couldn’t Quirrell touch me?” I’m going to read you Dumbledore’s response because I think it was actually pretty profound:

“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever… Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.”  (Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone p. 299)

That is a fictional story, yet the reason why so many people connect with it is because it surfaces desires we all have in our hearts: desires for love, bravery, and sacrifice. All of these sacrifices we connect with in books and movies are meant to point us to the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus showed us love’s greatest act by dying for us and taking upon himself all our guilt and atoning for our sin. The important thing about sacrifice is it involves choice. Sacrifice isn’t random or passive. We choose to give up something in order to gain something else that is exceedingly more worthwhile. And Jesus chose to go to the cross for you and me. Let’s turn to Romans 3:23-25.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Now this section of verses has some words I hear in church a lot, but don’t hear often in everyday conversation. So I’m going to define them for us so we can understand these verses a little better.

1. Sinned: moral failing in thought and action. In what we do, and what we fail to do. You could think about it this way. Sin is anything less than perfection. So if you were going to shoot arrows at a target, the bulls eye is perfection. Anything off the mark is sin. Anything less than perfect: this includes thing I do wrong on purpose, things I do on accident, or things I know I should do that I don’t.
2. Justified: a judiciary term where the guilty party is declared, not only innocent, but morally blameless. Let’s say you stole a candy bar, got arrested, and went to court. If you were justified it would mean that you were declared innocent by the judge. And not just you were innocent because there wasn’t enough evidence or you had a hung jury or you get off on a technicality. You are declared morally blameless. They believe you didn’t even do it. It would be like you could rewind and it never even happened.
3. Grace: a free, unmerited gift neither earned nor deserved. Let’s pretend I broke into Wes’ car and stole money, his iPod, and his GPS. Then he comes to me later and instead of getting mad, yelling at me, and calling the cops (which is what I deserve) he gives me a puppy instead. I deserve punishment and he gives me a good gift instead. That’s what Jesus did for us on a way bigger scale. We deserved death and hell and he gives us eternal life instead.
4. Redemption: the price paid to purchase someone out of slavery.  Again, Jesus did this for us. We were slaves to sin and he purchased us out of slavery.
5. Sacrifice: a substitute takes upon themselves the suffering and judgment of another. Jesus took my sin upon himself and willingly went to the cross in my place.

So here’s my translation of those verses, the way I understand it. We all screw up. We’re less than perfect. So much less in fact I don’t deserve to know him. But I am declared completely blameless, but not because I did anything to deserve it. It is a free gift that I could never earn or deserve. This was made possible by the gruesome, painful death of Jesus on the cross. He took my place because I was the one who deserved that. I’ve been called righteous by putting my complete trust in his name.

Wow. That all sounds great doesn’t it? But why is Christ’s death and resurrection the solution to my sin? Have you ever thought about that? Why did Christ have to die? Why couldn’t he just run a marathon and call it good? Why couldn’t he just live a perfect life and ascend to heaven? Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” A wage is something you earn. If you work at a job you earn a wage. You get money for the work that you do. This verse is saying what we’ve earned for our sin is death. I can’t say to a perfect, holy God, “I’m a pretty good person. I probably deserve eternal life.” How good is good enough? I can’t be good enough.

According to Romans 6:23 the price to be paid was death. You wouldn’t walk into a store and try to buy a $50 pair of jeans with cheerios or buttons. No, the price is dollars. The price for sin wasn’t a marathon or a perfect life. It was death and Jesus willingly went to the cross to pay that price for you.  He lived a perfect life to be a perfect sacrifice, so that no other sacrifice was needed. You and I walk free because of what Jesus did. And here’s the really cool part. Jesus is better than Harry Potter’s mom. Besides the fact that she is fictional… Harry’s mom sacrificed her life for her son because she loved him deeply, but that is where it ended. She had no power over death. Jesus defeated death. He rose from the dead and gives us freedom from death as well. The only thing other religions can over you is rules. Christ through his life, death, and resurrection offers forgiveness, justification, and life.

If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ, but believe what I shared with you tonight please let me, Wes, or one of the leaders know. We’d love to talk more about these things with you! If you’re already a Christian I hope these truths hit you in a fresh way today. I hope Good Friday didn’t pass without reflecting on the magnitude of that day. I hope tonight was another chance to praise God for his undeserved grace and mercy. And if you’re a Christian tonight I want you to think about the “so what” that goes along with all of this. That’s what you’re going to talk about in your groups tonight. This is the best news you’re ever going to hear. I don’t want us to become calloused to it. I pray there never comes a day when the cross and resurrection stop being amazing.  Christ’s sacrifice should lead us to some sort of response. Maybe it’s some actions that need to change. Maybe you need to confess some sin. Maybe God is asking you step of faith. Maybe he’s asking you to surrender some part of your life to him. Whatever it is know that he is WORTHY. Because of his sacrifice, because of the cross, because of his love he is worthy of whatever he’s asking. My prayer is that you’re surrendered. Again… because he’s worthy.

I’m going to leave you with a quick story and 1 Peter 3:18. Then you can break into your small groups to talk. Donald Grey Barnhouse is pastor of a church in Philadelphia. He was driving his family in a car to the funeral of his wife, who died from cancer. His kids were in the car, and a big truck passed by them on the other side of the road. Barnhouse said to his kids, “Did you see that truck? Did you see the shadow of that truck? Would you rather be hit by the truck or the shadow of the truck?” Of course his children replied, “The shadow.” And Barnhouse said, “Kids, the truck of death hit Jesus, so that mommy only has to go through the shadow of death.”

1 Peter 3:18:

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” 

Let's Celebrate

God is good! Let's celebrate together. Here's a video recapping just a few of the things God has done this year. Just a fun little side note: the Kiley that is mentioned in the Before and After portion of the video is a girl I disciple. SO COOL!

Thank you for your support!

Anticipation

Most recent talk I gave at the athlete's Bible study:

Last week Wes touched on anticipation. He talked about things we anticipate: relationships, success, vacation, being done with school, etc. These things aren’t bad in themselves, but we elevate them to a place in our hearts they were never meant to be. So tonight I want to continue on that same thread and hopefully point us to the one thing we can anticipate that won’t let us down. But first, a story. 

Guys might not be able to relate to this at least directly, but hopefully you get the point of my story. When I was younger I really wanted an American Girl doll. For you guys that don’t know, these dolls are pretty much every little girls' dream doll. I really, really wanted the Kirsten doll. She was a American pioneer and I seriously thought she was the coolest thing ever. I asked for a Kirsten doll for Christmas that year and my Grandma was coming to spend the holiday with us. So I thought, "I’m set. I’m totally getting this doll." And like every other kid I inspected the presents under the tree. There was a package from my Grandma and it was the perfect size! And how did I know that? Because American Girl sent catalogs to my house with an “actual size” picture and you better believe I snuck out to the tree and measured the package against the catalog.  The package was even heavy enough to be this doll. I was pretty certain I was getting what I asked for. Finally, Christmas day rolls around and I finally get to open Grandma’s present. What’s inside? Well it wasn’t a doll. Not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed. It was actually this beautiful wooden chest engraved with my name. Absolutely gorgeous! And me, being the brat that I was, was bummed I didn’t get a stupid doll.

I had anticipated one thing and because my hopes weren’t met I was sad. We’ve all experienced that haven’t we?  We put all our hope into something and when it doesn’t happen we’re disappointed. We hope for a doll and get something else. We want to date a certain person who we think is perfect and they end up letting us down. We look forward to winning the big game and it we don’t (or we do win the big game and the excitement or high wears off too soon.) We anticipate the perfect job and it doesn’t satisfy us quite like we thought. Why do we feel this way? I have some thoughts on that that we’ll get into now.

Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 2. While you do I’ll tell you the funny part about that stupid doll. I still have that wooden chest my Grandma gave me and I have no idea where that doll is. The chest ended up being something I still love, cherish, and use. The doll ended up being something I grew out of and put in a box somewhere. It's kind of funny actually. Okay, Ecclesiastes 2. Solomon is the author of this book and is probably the wealthiest, wisest, and most powerful man humanity has ever seen. This will seem kind of depressing but stay with me for a second.

“I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

You’re probably thinking, “Wow, thanks Melissa. That really sucks.” And you’re right it does, but there is good news and that’s why I need you to stick with me. There are so many good gifts under the sun, but where we run into problems is when we elevate them to a place in our heart they don’t belong. We anticipate and look forward to and hold out for a variety of things. Often the hoping for tomorrow gets us through today. Those things aren’t bad. They’re really not, but we just misdirect our anticipation and hope. Solomon tried it all. He had wealth, power, relationships, all the food and drink he could ask for, basically anything he ever wanted and he called it meaningless. He called it a chasing after the wind. How is that possible? It really does seem crazy that we could have it all and not be satisfied  I’ll be honest with you guys, I have a hard time believing that, but it makes sense because we were made for something better than this world. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” He has planted eternity in our hearts. We weren’t made to just be satisfied by material possessions, or people, or human wisdom. We were meant to be satisfied by someone eternal.

Ecclesiastes make seem like  a downer, but Solomon wasn’t trying to destroy all hope. Instead, he was trying to direct our hopes to the only one who can truly fulfill them and give our life meaning. Solomon spends the rest of Ecclesiastes affirming the value of knowledge, relationships, work, and pleasure, but ONLY in their proper place. Everything temporal must be seen in light of the eternal. Temporal things just won’t fulfill what your heart aches to find. Many of you are saying, "logically I get that. I know the right answer in my head, but I don’t know how to change my thinking. I don’t why I keep coming back to material possessions or people or pleasures to try to fulfill me. I know I shouldn’t, but what should I look to and how do I do that?"

First the what: here’s the Sunday school answer: Jesus. We’ve been getting it right our entire lives and somehow we still forget. We were made for eternity and we are meant to worship the eternal one. Heaven is going to be awesome (like really, really awesome.) Sometimes we have this view that we die, go to heaven, get our harp and our little wings, then we spend the rest of eternity floating on a cloud playing boring harp music. But that’s not the case at all.

• The Bible says its going to feel like home. Don’t you love that feeling when you haven’t been home in awhile. Maybe after a long semester or a long road trip and you get back and you’re like, “Aaaaaah! Home.” You feel comfortable and at peace.  
• Heaven is also going to be breathtaking. Some of you guys are thinking, "I can’t relate to the home example because I live in a crappy apartment." Heaven isn’t going to be a crappy apartment in the sky. Its an amazing city and Jesus told us he was going to prepare a place for us! Jesus was a carpenter after all. Seriously though, it's going to be beautiful. 
• Also we’re not just going to float around like ghosts. If you remember the garden of Eden which was perfect you’ll remember that Adam and Eve ate fruit. Christ ate food in his resurrected body. We’re going to feast and its going to be really, really good. 
• There is going to be so much joy in heaven! There won't be any sin, or pain, or sadness, or sickness, or fear. 
• We’re going to work (not work we hate). We’re going to have refreshing work that brings us life. 
• We will never be bored. God is infinite and inexhaustible so there’s why to stop learning about him and we can’t even imagine the type of things he prepared for us for eternity.  
• We also get crowns, mansions, and treasure! 
• All things we enjoy here on earth will be redeemed. 

It isn’t this boring place in a fluffy cloud in the sky. Heaven is a real place and it goes beyond even our wildest imagination  And the BEST part? We get to see Jesus face to face. The one who bought you with a price; who took every bad thing you’ve ever done, every nasty thought that has ran through your mind, every evil that has been in your heart and made you righteous. We get to spend eternity with him.

But here’s the cool thing about that. You have access to him right now. The same one who is going to give you all those things when you get to heaven is the same one who lives inside you right now. We look to all these outside sources to fulfill a place in our hearts that isn’t empty. If you know Jesus, if you’ve surrendered your life to him you don’t need anything else. You’re complete. You don’t need more money, or a better a job, or the starting position in your sport to be happy. You have access to all joy, all peace, and all good gifts through the one who took your place on the cross. Everything else is just a cherry on top.  But somehow we still manage to look to other things to satisfy so I’ll offer and few suggestions of how I attempt to find ultimate joy in Jesus. After you guys can talk more about this in your small groups.

1)      I praise him: I find that it's hard to be unsatisfied when I'm thanking God for all the good gifts in my life. It's hard to want more when I'm thanking him for the ultimate good gift of salvation. I realize how undeserved all the good things in my life really are when I'm praising him for forgiving my sins. I praise him. Because when I really look at my life, I'm certain that I am more loved and blessed than I deserve or could dare hope.  

2)      I tell others about him: when I'm communicating eternal hope to others I start believing it more myself. When you hear the Gospel preached you listen. It starts to sink in even deeper when I'm sharing it with others. When I hear: I am more jacked up, messed up, and sinful that I would care to admit. But Jesus in an act of complete love and grace sacrificed himself for my sin by dying a gruesome death on a cross and defeated death by rising from the dead after three days, making me completely righteous in the eyes of God. And now because of that truth I am more loved, accepted, and valued than I could ever dare hope. When I communicate that with others, I hear it for myself and that leads me to look to Jesus to satisfy me rather than temporal things. 

3)      I preach the gospel to myself as often as I can: it's like I said in #2: I hear the Gospel and I believe it more fully. Even when I don't communicate it to others, I need to hear it daily. Because it's really GOOD NEWS! 

Those are a few suggestions to lift our eyes to what we already have. There is no magic action step I can tell you to fix this. All I know is that if you’re a Christian you already have all you need. Enjoy the good gifts of life, but ANTICIPATE Jesus coming back, because really that’s the only worthwhile thing to look forward to: the only thing that isn’t going to disappoint you.

Africa Update

Now that I am finally past my jet lag (I think)... it's time for an update. I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend 10 days in Cote d'Ivoire. For those of you that don't know Cote d'Ivoire is MSU Cru's overseas partnership. I mentioned this in my last post but I'll say it again here because it speaks a lot to what I'm about to tell you in this update. I love our partnership for many reasons but one of my favorites is how strategic it is. Islam is making a huge push from Northern Africa down into the South (The 10/40 window is not far away from Cote d'Ivoire). But at the same time the country is so open to the gospel! Students are willing and excited to hear about Jesus and many are placing their faith in him. Many countries are closed to Christian missionaries, but we can come into Cote d’Ivoire without restrictions. Another reason is that the country is rebuilding from a civil war a few years back. The country’s future leaders are on college campuses right now and they have a huge opportunity to change their country for Christ. Finally, Abidijan is the third largest French speaking city in the world! What an amazing way to reach beyond Africa and into other French speaking countries. Beyond strategy I LOVE the people in West Africa. I got a pretty good picture of the people two summers ago when I went to Mali so it brought me so much joy to come back and experience their kindness and love all over again. A day by day account may be too much, but for those that are interested read on (if you're not, at least check out the photos).

Day 1 - We leave Kansas City VERY early in the morning. A long layover in Chicago and even longer overseas flights make for one very tired girl.

This was a common site in the airplane. God has blessed
me with the ability to sleep anywhere.

Again: blessed to be able to sleep anywhere.
I'm the one with the pink shoes poking out.

Day 2 - 5 hour layover in Brussels, Belgium. We had enough time to wander in the city a bit so we left the airport and ventured into downtown. I enjoyed an authentic Belgian waffle! The freezing cold (I was going to Africa and didn't bring a coat) and overpriced train ticket were totally worth it because that waffle was AMAZING. Next: Brussels to Abidijan. That evening (or is it morning in my mind? Time change is a funny thing) we arrived in Cote d'Ivoire. We were greeted by Craig (American Cru staff member ministering in Abidijan with his wife, Bryn, and their three kids), the Kouadios (Ivorian staff couple), and a few Cru students. Finally we get to sleep in a bed!

Beautiful architecture in the city!

Train station in Brussels.

Day 3 - This was a Sunday so we went to Craig's church. They speak in French in Cote d'Ivoire and I can say a total of three words in French: bonjour, oui, and merci beaucoup. Needless to say, I didn't know what was going on most of the service, but it was really fun to worship the Lord anyway. A theme I've noticed in West Africans is the passion in which they worship the Lord. It's contagious and even I didn't know the songs they were singing my heart couldn't help but praise God. That afternoon we got to meet students involved in the local Cru movement. We sang praise songs, mingled with students, played soccer, and heard Stephen's (one of the student leaders) testimony.

Loved spending time with these ladies. L to R: My roommates Kelsey,
Chrissy, Me, Lizzy, and our friend from K-State Chrissy.

Day 4 - Our first day on campus! We went to Abidijan's largest campus called Cocody. There are 60,000 students that attend Cocody University. There was definitely a buzz around campus because a bunch of Americans where there. We spent the afternoon near the English department sharing with students and doing follow-up lessons with new believers. I mentioned before how open students were to hearing the gospel. We could literally walk up to someone, ask if they wanted to talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus, and they would agree! That would never happen on even the most open campus in the United States. The first day I got to share the gospel with 2 Ivorians in the English department. I found out that they were Christians, but had a limited understanding of the gospel. They still lived in a performance mindset. I got to show them in God's word that grace is a free and undeserved gift. If they have surrendered their lives to Christ they are free from the guilt and shame that sin brings. It was a great day and the best part is they wanted to meet the next day to start follow-up lessons. After meeting with students we went to their Cru meeting. It was outside in this beautiful wooded area on campus (I wish Missouri weather was nice all year so we could meet outside). It was so fun to see all the students there, much like they would be at Missouri State. Although we are worlds away, we serve the same God! It was a huge blessing to be a part of that.

Davy sharing the gospel.

My roommate, Kelsey, sharing the gospel. These girls were precious!

Worshiping at the Cru meeting. 

 Day 5 - Back to Cocody! I spend the morning doing follow up lessons with the students from yesterday. The first follow-up lesson deals with confidence. New believers can have confidence that their eternity is secure in Christ. It was so fun to see their eyes light up and for them to understand that salvation isn't the result of good works and neither is God's love as Christians. In the afternoon we went to Bingerville where a local Cru movement has started in a all boys school. We attended their Cru meeting. We got to dance with them while they worshiped and encourage them to keep pursuing the Lord. After that we went to the Kouadio's (Ivorian staff couple) house. I'm incredibly encouraged by their faith. They raise support just like me and I can't imagine how much harder it is in Cote d'Ivoire. They are committed to college students hearing the gospel and even though they have little, they are so incredibly joyful in their service of the Lord.

Doing follow-up with new believers. 

Dancing with the Ivorians.

I love the way they worship!

Learning song with Colette. She is on staff with Cru in Abidjan. Such a
joyful woman! It was a pleasure to get to know her. 

Day 6 - Today I got to talk for a long time with two Muslim students studying English. Anna and Kadi were beautiful girls with tons of questions about American music, fashion, and culture. It was really fun to talk with them and they answered plenty of my own questions about their religion. Their major hang ups with Christianity are they don't believe Jesus is God and they believe good works will get you to heaven. The conversation was good, but hard at the same time. I want these girls to understand the gospel so badly and it was hard to walk away from them still holding onto false beliefs. However, I know that I serve a good God and he loves Anna and Kadi more than I ever could. I know our discussion didn't fall on deaf ears and I pray God will continue to bring to mind all that we talked about. I'm thankful that these girls, although they are Muslim, are incredibly open to talking about spiritual things. It is extremely rare to be able to have those types of conversations with Muslims.

Sharing with Anna and Kadi.

Me, Kadi, Anna, and Chrissy.

Day 7 - Off to Bouake! We drove 6 hours north so we could share with college students in Bouake. I don't think I can adequately describe the adventure of driving in Africa. Pot holes in America can't compare to pot holes in Africa. I think I saw my life flash before my eyes a few times, but fortunately we made it to Bouake safe and sound.

This is Alloco: fried plantains and fish. We ate this A LOT!

Day 8 - Today might have been my favorite day because I got to see an old friend. When I went to Mali a few summers ago I had the privilege of meeting Barnabas who was one of our translators. When he found out we were coming to Cote d'Ivoire he made the trip from Mali to see me. His mother lives in Bouake so it was perfect! I was thankful the Lord orchestrated the opportunity for me to see him again. We shared the gospel on campus and he very kindly translated for me. We also happened to meet a Christian on campus and got to take him through the first follow-up lesson. Later that afternoon: more soccer (of course). This will forever stick out in my mind as one of the best days of my life!

My good friend, Barnabas. He is very musical!

They had a jam session. 

Day 9 - Headed back to Abidjan, but we stopped in the capitol city of Yamoussoukro to see the world's tallest Basilica. It is absolutely breathtaking to behold. Words don't really do it justice so I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Didn't look too big as we walked up. Boy was I wrong. 

View from a balcony inside.

View from and outdoor balcony. This is the courtyard.

Beautiful stained glass everywhere!

Day 10 - Back to Craig and Bryn's church! It's funny to end a trip the same way you started, but again worshiping the Lord with believers from across the world is something I will cherish the rest of my life. For me it's a little picture of what heaven will be like and I can't wait for that day! Today was incredibly bittersweet because it was our last day in Cote d'Ivoire. I will miss the people I met in these short 10 days, but I rejoice knowing I will get to come back this summer. More on that later.

Blessed by these women.

Pray for this incredible family! They are doing
amazing things for the kingdom.

Overall here's what I want you to know about my trip:

• God is working in Cote d'Ivoire. It's absolutely crazy how open they are to the gospel. I think we take it for granted in the U.S. that we can openly talk about our faith. That certainly is not the case most places around the world. Thankfully it is true in Cote d'Ivoire right now. The harvest is very plentiful and I think these students are going to make an impact that goes beyond their country. 
• Ministry success is not a result of me... or my team or any human for that matter. God is the one at work and he is working in Cote d'Ivoire and in Springfield, MO and in a million other places in the world. I got to see a lot of fruit on this trip (people coming to Christ, believers growing, students stepping up into leadership) but even when I don't (I think of Anna and Kadi) I can trust that God is moving. I pray for those precious girls and I ask that you would too. 
• Obviously our ministry isn't about numbers. You can't measure success in ministry like you measure success in business or sports, BUT numbers represent real people. Real people that God cares deeply about. So I'm going to share the stats from the week with you. Not for a pat on the back for our team, but for the praise of the Lord Almighty. Because these stats are truly amazing and ALL glory belongs to the Lord. As a team we presented the gospel 135 times. We saw 15 people trust Christ and 2 of those people were Muslims! The best part is that these new believers are going to get discipled! We got all of their contact info and they will be followed up with. I'm so excited for them to grow in their understanding of the gospel. Finally 45 believers were taken through follow-up material. It was truly an amazing week. 

Thank you for your prayers and support. You are a part of reaching Cote d'Ivoire for Christ and I'm thankful for your partnership. 

More exciting news: I get to go back at the end of May for a 6 week summer project (short term mission trips). I will be helping to lead a team from the Great Plains Region. Last summer we had a team in Cote d'Ivoire and the Lord showed up in big ways (no surprise there). I am so excited for this summer and I look forward to seeing the people I grew to love on this trip. Can you please start praying now for this trip? Students are taking a huge step of faith and giving up part of their summer to serve the Lord. They will be raising support (as will I) to go on this trip so please pray that the Lord provides every single cent of their support before they board that plane in May. I can't wait to share with you how the Lord moves this summer. If it's anything like those 10 days, it's going to be amazing. 

February Newsletter

Fresh Bread

In two days I have the amazing opportunity to go on a vision trip to Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) which is in West Africa. I will in Abidijan (economic hub of the country) from February 8-17. Why Cote    d’Ivoire you ask? Great question! Every campus has an overseas partnership. I love Cru’s heart for the   nations because it reflects our Fathers desire that every nation, tribe, people, and language know him. MSU’s overseas partnership is in Cote d’Ivoire. We have a full time staff couple there right now with their three kids. They lead the Cru movement on college campuses in Abidijan. 

We love our partnership for many reasons but one of my favorites is how strategic it is. Islam is making a huge push from Northern Africa down into the South. But at the same time the country is so open to the gospel! Students are willing and excited to hear about Jesus and many are placing their faith in him. Many countries are closed to Christian missionaries, but we can come into Cote d’Ivoire without restrictions. Another reason is that the country is rebuilding from a civil war a few years back. The country’s future leaders are on college campuses right now and they have a huge opportunity to change their country for Christ. Finally, Abidijan is the third largest French speaking city in the world! What an amazing way to reach beyond Africa and into other French speaking countries.

As you can tell I am so excited about this trip. Two summers ago I went on a missions trip to Mali which is just north of Cote d’Ivoire. I absolutely fell in love with the West African people and their culture. Since I left I have longed to go back. While we are there we will be joining the staff doing college   ministry. We will be sharing our faith on campus, catching a   vision for what ministry is like over there, and encouraging the local staff team. Each summer we send students on a short term missions trip called a Summer Project. I’m so excited to be able to encourage students to go, knowing the needs and realities of the ministry in Abidijan. I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip. Please pray for safety for our team and that college students in Cote d’Ivoire will be ready to receive the gospel as we share with them.

From Campus

The semester has just started and God is already moving! Just last week I heard these stories:

• My roommate Tina took one of the girls she disciples to do evangelism in the student union. They picked a random person to approach and give them a spiritual interest survey. It just so happened it was a volleyball player and she was incredibly receptive to the gospel. She didn’t place her trust in Christ just yet, but said she wanted to learn more about what it meant to be a Christian. When Tina told me about it later that evening I texted the volleyball player. This is what she had to say about the experience: “It was really random but what makes it interesting is she came at the right time, I was needing some of those words today.” I’m excited to continue talking to her about Jesus! Praise God that he is working in the volleyball player’s lives.

• Olivia is a sophomore in our Cru movement. She went to DCC and had a great time of growth, but the coolest part happened when she got home. A big part of DCC is the outreaches. Olivia participated in an online outreach using Facebook. The point of the outreach was to get into   spiritual conversations using social networking. The Lord used Olivia in a big way. Here’s what she had to say about it: “At DCC, I sent my high school friend Emma the online survey. Instead of submitting her answers we just agreed to meet up at Starbucks and talk about the survey together in person. When we met up back in St. Louis at Starbucks other people were there so the conversation didn't really go towards the topic of God. We did talk a little bit about the survey though because I sent it to a few other people who were there. It didn't go very deep, so Emma said she would like to talk about it another time. She said that the idea of God is hard to understand for her, and she would like to just hear from different people their experience with God and how He has worked in their life. We decided to meet another time, just her and I, and I shared the gospel with her (my very first time doing that) and she accepted Christ right there in Starbucks! It was unbelievable! Not  only did I come away having another sister, but I personally grew in my faith because I was truly able to see how God works through you if you just let Him. “

We Were Made for Relationship

This is the talk I gave at the athletes' Bible study last week. Hope you enjoy!

This semester we’re doing a study called “backstory.” At Cru we believe it’s really important that we know the Bible. I know some of you guys are familiar with Bible stories. We know of Noah building the ark, David killing the giant Goliath, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jesus doing miracles and eventually dying on the cross and rising from the dead. All these stories seem to be unrelated right? Sometimes the Bible seems like the random compilation of stories, but this semester we’re going to see that all these stories connect to the same common thread: Jesus. We’ll see that the Bible isn’t just a random assembling of stories but it’s actually one cohesive story that allows us to better understand God. We’re going to be talking about different common themes that we see throughout God’s word over this semester. They are intimacy, betrayal, anticipation, pursuit, sacrifice, invitation, and reunion.

Tonight's topic is intimacy. Now I bet some of you are like, “what? We’re talking about what? I thought Christians didn’t talk about sex.” Well some Christians do. In fact our director Justin will be talking about sexuality in an upcoming Thursday night Cru talk. But sexuality is not what I’m talking about tonight. In our culture the word intimacy has taken on sexual connotations. But it is much, much more than that. It includes all the different dimensions of our lives. Yes, the physical, but also the social, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects as well. Intimacy really means total life sharing. Some synonyms are closeness, inseparability, familiarity, and nearness. If you look throughout the entire Bible you’ll see that God’s desire for you and me is that we would have intimacy with him.

I know guys and girls think differently about these things but I also know that ALL of us at one time or another desire to be close with another person. We long to be understood, loved, and accepted. We seek out meaningful friendships with people who share our interests, with people who are loyal, with people that genuinely care about us. We long for our families to have healthy relationships. We want dating relationships that are deep. We are relational beings. Because that is the way that God designed us to be. Turn with me to Genesis 2:18-25.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

So you guys know the story. God spends five days forming the world and everything in it. On the sixth day God creates all the animals and living creatures that are on earth. And then he creates man: his masterpiece; the absolute best that he had. Nothing else in all creation was created in God’s image. As beautiful as mountains are, as amazing as some of the animals in the world are, as powerful as the ocean is… none of them quite measure up to us. Why? Because we created in God’s image. We were designed to reflect the beauty of our creator. So God looks at his masterpiece and says, “this is good. But what isn’t good is that man would be alone.”  Why is that? I bet a lot of you guys are wondering the same thing. You’re thinking, “God you gave us women and they have been nothing but trouble!” But seriously, why?  Why wasn’t it good that man should be alone? I think there are a couple reasons:

• First, because we only reflect the image of our creator one single person could not have all the attributes that God has. I get to see the character of God through numerous people with their different personalities and spiritual giftings. We don’t have it all. We’ve got a piece and other people have pieces. And combined we get to see a fuller picture of our creator. 
• Second, the God we serve is relational. I can’t adequately explain the doctrine of the trinity in the time we have tonight, but we serve one God existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you look back in Genesis 1:26 it says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” From the beginning of time God is relational so it makes sense that we, created in his image, would also be relational. 
• And third, it brings God glory. When we love and serve each other God is glorified. And God uses people in our lives to bring us joy and to bring us closer to him. 

So for those three reasons and probably many, many more God decided it was not good for man to be alone. God in his goodness decides Adam needs a helper that is fit for him. So Adam is watching all the animals go by naming them, “Aardvark, Arachnid, Armadillo…” He gets all the way through and none of them were worthy of an intimate relationship. So God puts Adam into a deep sleep and creates Eve. A helper that was worthy.

But here’s what we do. We take created things and put them above the creator. We take relationships and intimacy with people and look to that to satisfy what only God can. Tim Keller is a pastor in New York. He wrote a book called Counterfeit Gods. It’s about exactly that: how we take good gifts the Lord gives us and places them above God. We take the incomplete joys of this world and build our entire lives on them. Yes, we were created for relationship; first and foremost with God and secondly with people. We were created for intimacy. The God of the universe wants to know you. He wants to be known by you. He has called you by name and desires a deep, intimate relationship with you.

Some of you here maybe don’t have a relationship with God. That’s ok. We are so glad you are here. This is one of those things you have decide: “do I want this? Do I want a personal relationship with God?” If you do we’d love to talk with more about what that looks like. There is a card under your seat and if you fill out the info we will get in contact with you so we can talk about what it means to have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. 

Some of you might be struggling with your relationship with God. You say, “I get that I was made for intimacy with God and I want that, but I just haven’t been feeling it. I don’t know how to make it better.” I want to give you my favorite quote from Tim Keller’s book. It says, “The only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the True One.” I encourage you to examine your relationship with him. You might be struggling because you’re looking to some outside source to give you what only God can. He desires intimacy with you and the solution isn’t try harder or sin less or be a better Christian. The solution is to run to Jesus. Talk to him. Tell him that you’re struggling. Ask him to turn your heart away from counterfeit gods and help you develop you intimacy with him.

Some of you may be doing fine with God but are struggling in your relationships with people. You know you were made to be in relationship with others, but that’s not always easy. Its not always easy to let people in. It’s not easy to deal with peoples’ sin. Or your own sin for that matter. Relationships are never easy. They’re messy and hard. But God created us to be relational beings so they must be worth it. If you’re struggling with some of your relationships whether that be with your family, friends, teammates, coaches, boyfriends, girlfriends let me encourage you to change the way you think about them. Many times the tension I experience in relationships comes because I view them as a means to benefit me. How can you make me happy? How can you serve me? How can you make my life better? Rather than thinking of relationships as a means to benefit myself I should look for ways to serve and love others. Relationships with others are hard. That’s a fact but it’s harder when we put unfair expectations on people and try to get from them things only God can give us.  Yes, they are difficult, but they’re worth fighting for.

Chances are that you are struggling in either your relationship with God or a relationship with another person. My challenge for you tonight is to not be okay with that. I know a lot of times it’s easier to just let those things go. It’s easier to watch a movie or take a nap or play XBOX than it is to take time out of your day to read the Bible and pray. Intimacy is not one-sided. God knows you fully but you’ll never experience intimacy with him unless you spend time getting to know who he is. I can’t expect to know Kiley if I never talk to her or see her or listen to what she has to say. The same is true with God. If we want to know him we must take the time to learn about who he is and learn how to listen to him. We were created to have intimacy with God and when we don’t you are seriously missing out. On the flip side I know it’s easier to not work on hard relationships or deal with difficult people. But it is not good for man to be alone. You were created to be in relationship with others. And God has placed certain people in your life for a reason. Don’t miss out on God’s good gifts because you want to take the easy road.

I can think of two eternal things in this world: our relationship with God and our relationship with others. The only thing that’s going to matter after we’re dead is if we had a relationship with Jesus and what we did on earth with our relationships with people. Did we love them well? Did we serve them? Did we point them to Jesus? Maybe that’s why in Mark when Jesus is asked by a teacher of the law what the greatest commandment is he says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” You were created for intimacy. From Genesis to Revelation we see that God’s design is intimacy.

January Newsletter

Fresh Bread

Sometimes when I spend time in God’s word I forget the purpose: to spend quality time with the one who loves me. Sounds silly right? But how often do we Christians do that? We search for  application points or read because “that’s what Christians are supposed to do.” And sadly, we miss Jesus in the midst of our “quiet time.”  As I opened my Bible yesterday I heard the Lord say, “Melissa, just rest here.” And by His grace, I did. This was the best time I’ve had in the Word in a very long time. Psalm 16:2 says, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” How easy it is to forget that apart from Him good does not exist… even when I’m doing all the “right things.” My prayer is that we can rest in the presence of the Lord, for apart from him we have no good thing.

Me and Lauren (one of the girls I disciple) at DCC.

From Campus

It’s hard to believe Denver Christmas Conference (DCC) has already come and gone. God always does incredible things in the lives of our students at DCC and this year was no exception. The theme of DCC this year was “Uncommon.” Speakers challenged students to live an uncommon life, just like Jesus did. At the end of the conference we had a some time together as a campus where students got to share about their DCC experience. Here are a few of the stories from this year’s conference:

The whole group from Southwest Missouri.

**Because this link gets posted on Facebook I have changed the names of the students to respect their online privacy.**

• Alexa, a Sigma Kappa at MSU, rededicated life to Christ because she realized she was trying to fill the gap in her life with relationships and school when really that gap was meant to be filled by Jesus alone. She described her time at DCC with words from a famous worship song: "sweetly broken, wholly surrendered." 

• Jake, a junior at MSU, said he has always been terrified to share his faith, but now he is ready to be challenged and take steps of faith in the area of evangelism.

• Phil, an international student from China, walked away with solid community. He expressed joy in  being able to connect with fellow Christians and feels very blessed to have American friends who love Jesus.

• Bailey, a junior Bible study leader, said, “The Lord revealed to me the judgments and prejudices I have. The Lord broke my heart for people that I have looked down upon. He’s teaching me how to truly show love to His people.”

• Lexi is a student at one of our distance campuses, Missouri Southern in Joplin, MO. Over the summer she walked away from her relationship with God, but DCC helped her fall in love with Jesus again.

• Daniel said, “God renewed the joy of my salvation.”

• For years Andrew was a hardened atheist, however, the Lord had been working in his life because he made friends with a few  of the guys in Cru. He decided to go to DCC and surrendered his life to Jesus while he was there. Praise the Lord that we now have a new brother in Christ!

• Bryan, a junior transfer student, said,  “For the first time, I’ve allowed people in. Secrets I thought I’d die with are now being shared. The shame and guilt I feel is slowly melting.”

• Junior Bible study leader, David, said, “DCC helped me expose my idol of success and recognize God will love me no matter how much I fail.”

• Emily, a junior, said,  “I have been running away from making a career choice. I was scared of what God was calling me to do, but I finally surrendered.”

• Kelly is a nursing major at a local nursing college. She said, “God has taught me that I’m not too messed up to be used by Him.”

From the ladies I disciple:

• Carly (junior, helps lead the athletes’ Bible study): “DCC was a great time of thanking and praising God for everything he has done in my life.”

• Madison (junior): “Growing up my Dad was highly addicted to drugs and left my family. I have not been able to forgive him, but this week God has been working in my heart. I am now ready to take steps and start working on forgiving him.”

• Jenna (junior on the soccer team): “God taught me that what He desires most is my relationship with him to grow and not the work I do.”

• Brittany (sophomore, helps lead dorm Bible study): “I’ve discovered my spiritual gift: leadership.”

• Katie (sophomore, helps lead athletes’ Bible study): God has shown me that I try to hold onto control over my life and that I need to have Him be the center of my decisions. And despite my feelings of inadequacy, He loves me truly and completely For the first time I wholeheartedly believe that.”

First day of DCC. So excited!

 Ways you can pray

• Please pray for the students that went to DCC. Ask God that DCC would not just be a spiritual high, but rather a jumping off point for a deeper relationship with Him.
• We are beginning a new semester! Please pray that God would continue to move in Southwest Missouri and that students would meet Jesus for the first time.
• Please pray that a member from every team on campus would be involved in the athletes’ Bible study.

Worship was AMAZING!

One of our speakers: Pastor, Eric Russ.