Am I a peddler?

There were some moments today and yesterday I felt like I was some random street peddler trying to sell something to college students (freshmen). As I approached students with a flyer, several of them would try with all their might not to make eye contact with me...as if that would somehow make me believe that they really didn't hear me talking to them.

Yesterday was the freshmen organizational fair. We had our epic table out there along with all the other groups vying for the attention of freshmen. What struck me most was that freshmen are searching. They are searching for a place to belong, a community. They are searching for significance through relationships or a career (as they madly signed up at every table that had any relation to what they were studying). And whether they knew it or not, their souls were thirsty to be satisfied by "something."

Am I a peddler? Yes I am, but I'm not peddling something that'll just collect dust on someone's shelf. I'm peddling a message of hope, freedom, and satisfaction that only Christ can give.

"Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Past couple of days, we passed out about 1250 flyers for an ice cream bash tonight. When they come, they will receive a Bible, a copy of Blue Like Jazz, a CD, and some free music downloads. Tomorrow night, we will have our freshmen Bible study. We are trusting that students will come out to both to find the goods that we're peddling.

Death By Turbo

A big juicy ribeye, a platter of sashimi and sushi rolls, a big plate of number five no flour on rice (if you've never been to santong snacks, you haven't fully lived), and of course, texas bbq. When things get crazy in life, these are the constants that can always keep you coming back for more. Let's get back to bbq...Bert's BBQ. A local joint in Austin that has some decent bbq...nothing compared to Rudy's or the Salt Lick...but hey it's Texas bbq. One thing Bert's has that no place else has is the Turbo. A big helping of brisket, sausage, chopped beef, and baked beans smothered in sauce and served over fritos...instant heart stopper. When it comes to food, there are some that are good purely rated on how incredibly bad they are for you...the hawaiian local favorite loco moco - crazy good. Bert's Turbo - insanely good, but only safe to eat maybe once a year. Problem is though...I failed to prepare my body for the Turbo. I've been eating pretty healthy these days so the Turbo proved to be a shock to the system. It's now 4 in the morning and I can still feel the sodium and fat coursing through my veins as I lie awake watching infomercials waiting for the sun to come up.

Idolatry

Training started on Monday. BUT, before we got into leadership principles, the whole first day was spent on getting our hearts connected with the Savior. I really appreciated the attention the trainers gave to this - stressing that as leaders, our main concern was to be Christ-centered leaders.

During one of our sessions of personal contemplative times, I was reading an article entitled "Whom or What Do We Serve, Fear, Trust or Desire?" The artice focused mainly on the idea of idolatry. We often think of idolatry as something made out of wood or stone and fashioned into an idol. OR something that we've made as a replacement to God.

I really liked the article's definition - An idol is anything we believe we need apart from Jesus to make us happy, satisfied or fulfilled. An idol arises when we desire something moe than we desire Jesus; when we fear things rather than God; when we worship ourselves rather than Christ; when we put our trust in anything other than God, when we serve any other thing rather than Jesus.

We serve, love, desire, trust, fear, worship other things apart from God to give us love, joy, peace, freedom, status, identity, control, happiness, security, fulfillment, health, pleasure, significance, acceptance and respect. Sometimes our idols are obviously wrong. However, the things we desire are often good in themselves, but even good things become idols when they start to rule in our lives.

Talk about a gut check...how many times in a day do I commit idolatry?