For All Who Will Follow

Another Thursday night has come and gone, and so has another Generations (group pic from about a month ago above). God has used Generations to bless me in so many ways, and tonight was no exception.

As a study we have been going through MacArthur's Daily Bible. Each Thursday, someone teaches on the week's memory verse. Tonight the sermon was on Luke 9:23-24, which says, "And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

Joey Newton delivered a powerful message on these verses. True discipleship goes against everything the world tells us. I noticed two distinctives of discipleship:

We must lose ourselves in this life. Christ calls us to give up everything. This hit me on both the large scale as Joey spoke of martyrs and on the small scale as I thought of the countless small ways I need to deny my own desires daily.

We gain everything in Christ. This is the great thing about discipleship. We are giving up the inferior things of this life for the superiority of eternal life with Christ. And this eternal life begins now as we know the new life that he brings.

After the study had broken up into fellowship and dessert (which was really a full meal tonight--I had a cheese dog, shrimp, cake, strawberries, candy, and deviled eggs), I talked with Matt, a newcomer to our study who just got saved two weeks ago. Personally, I was refreshed and amazed as he told me about the work God had done and is doing in his life.

Both on the way to and from Generations, I was listening to some old Godsong, especially the song "For All Who Will Follow." The chorus says,

For all who will follow
You say, "Come take up your cross today"
And Lord, I am yours now
Raise me up to lose myself for your sake

Jesus is calling for us to leave all and follow him and find abundant life in him. Now that's really awesome.

The Push is Over!

Over the past two and a half weeks, I have had tests, quizzes, projects, and papers due in every class. When I finished one, I simply started the next. But as of 12:15 this afternoon, what I like to call "the push" of the semester is over. The rest of the semester should be downhill until finals week. The stream of projects and tests has dried up. Most of what I have left is reading.

So I decided to take tonight to relax and celebrate. I ended up going to Vista Valenica driving range to hit golf balls with Brad Smith. If there ever was a night for going to the driving range, tonight was it. The winds that had swept through the Santa Clarita Valley all day subsided as the sun set. And if you've ever hit at a driving range at night, you know that few things feel better than hitting a good shot that goes out and disappears into the darkness. Brad and I had a good time talking about golf, school, the coolness of the Godsong podcast, and other things. After my bucket emptied, I drove back to school with the windows down and Jack Johnson serenading me.

After I got back, I hung out with guys on the wing for a while before going to small groups. Tonight we talked about decision making. We talked about how making good decisions requires consistent time in the Word. We also discussed how good decisions require counsel.

Now I am going to continue the celebration by sleeping...a lot. Hopefully a cessation of schoolwork will lead to an increase of blogging.

Here's some quick music updates:
I've recently been checking out a band called The Fray. Their song "Over My Head" is one of the fastest rising singles in the history of benTunes.

Godsong now has a podcast. Have you subscribed?