This summer I was wrecked for the Gospel. I guess I should
say it was re-wrecked. The reason I say ‘wrecked’ is because like a ship out on
the open ocean that has rammed itself into an island, so I am not able to leave
the Love of my Lord and savior because I understand this simple fact: that,
as humans, we are wicked enough to need a savior, but loved so much that he chose to.
To flesh that statement out, and to answer the inevitable
question: ‘well, I don’t need to be saved from anything, I’m a good person’. Perhaps the best and most simple way I’ve
heard sin and the gospel really explained is through a movie called Courageous.
It’s kind of extremely cheesy, but super simple. And super awesome because it
demonstrates the Gospel extremely well, and gives people a wonderful example of
how we need to live it out. It’s also a great family movie, but I’ll just go
ahead and get to my point.
The way it is explained is this: all sin separates us from
God. Because of this, it’s like if someone was to rape and murder your mother,
or someone in your life that you care deeply for. The person who did it was
apprehended and brought to court. Once there, the person stands up and says to
the judge, “excuse me sir, but I have many years working with the homeless. I
have built houses for them, clothed them, fed them, and have also worked at an
orphanage in Tijuana, bringing them gifts and supplying for their needs as
well. As you can see, this was a one-time act and I can assure you it will not
happen again.”
The bible says that God is a good judge. So, would God be a
good judge if He simply excused whatever it is that we do ‘just that one time’?
Rhetorical question, and I can hear you
all sighing and rolling your eyes. The beauty of grace is that God loved us so
much, that he stood up from the crowd of witnesses at the trial and said to the
judge: “Your Honor, I will take this person’s place.”
There are two sides to the beauty of this illustration. The
man did absolutely NOTHING to deserve this sacrifice. There was no amount of
work he could have done to eliminate the debt that he owed to society, or the
insurmountable amount of pain that he caused the family (Matthew 18:23-35 is
also a good illustration for this).
I think a large part of the reason everyone hates a judgmental
person is because every person literally has no reason to be judging anyone else. We all know that deep down,
there is something fundamentally wrong. Self-help aisles are full of ‘easy
fixes’ promising to alleviate the pain. Frat parties also present a nice
distraction through liquid, hormones, and deep beats. Books and airplanes
provide escapes as well, one in your mind, the other physically.
They will not satisfy. They will not even come close.
One day in particular about halfway through the trip, I was
boldly challenged by my mentor for the summer to apply the principles we had
been learning the past few weeks, and invite someone to hang out. Now, I had
only been working for two or three weeks at this point and really felt like I
was really rushing things. But this was another item in a long list of occurrences
where I had absolutely no control of the outcome of this challenge and all day
at work, I prayerfully petitioned the Lord that He would provide an opportunity
to reach out to my coworkers.
Another part of the challenge was to capture my thoughts for
the Gospel for the day. What I mean by this is: I have a very active
imagination. Unfortunately that sometimes gets the better of me and causes me
to focus on things that really have nothing to do with my life. I have vivid
daydreams that range from Space Adventures to discovering a portal to Narnia
where I forlick with Aslan in the magical in-between world. Both of those are
accurate daydreams that I have had. Your welcome world. The challenge was to
instead of letting my mind wander aimlessly, focus on the simplest form of the
Gospel I know: that I was wicked enough to need a savior, but loved so much
that he chose to. I also recited scripture that we had been learning all
summer.
I can safely say that both of these practices shook my
perspective from focus on myself to focus directly on others around me, and
what ways were that I could love on them directly. I also ended up not only
hanging out with just one or two coworkers, but three. God is good.
You guys. When all of your thoughts are meditating on The
Lord, and His love, you can’t help but look outward. Because your gaze no
longer stretches to the end of your backyard, God lifts you up above the clouds
to see the expanse of the Valley, and eventually the curvature of the earth.
Our life is not our own. Thank God. There is something else so incredibly
larger than anything even the most creative person could conjure up.
Perhaps the biggest thing I took away this summer aside of
the Gospel and its direct impact on my life (which is pretty huge) is the fact
that laziness and apathy are an epidemic within believers EVERYWHERE, especially
in the US. There is a sleeping army that is regressing in their faith without
discipleship, they need brothers and sisters to come alongside them and refresh
them with the gospel to bring their dead flesh back to life.
You guys, what makes Jesus different is not that He makes
bad people good. He takes dead people
and brings them to life. Christianity is not about merely ‘being good people’.
Christianity is not about Christianity. Let that evil notion die. Take it and
throw it in the grave with the other tired and fainting corpses, because the
Good News of Jesus Christ, the Living King is yes He died on the cross, but He
went to Hell and said; “I have paid the price. Death you have no place here,
they are mine. I love them, I cherish them.”
Also, Satan could care less about you. He’s not consumed
with trying to trip you up. His sole objective is to cause God pain by leading
you into dark places where you are too consumed with yourself to see that you
are chasing something that does not exist. However ridiculous it is for a dog
to chase its tail and believe it is chasing a cat, that is how ridiculous it is
for us to chase anything besides our Lord Jesus Christ. Fully God and fully
man, who relentlessly pursues us beyond the limits of what we perceive as the
bounds of life.
WAKE UP SLEEPING ARMY. This is a call to arms. If you are
serious about your relationship with God at all, you get yourself with another
believer and you hold each other accountable to read your bible, because if you’re
wanting to know the character of God, you go to The Word that He specifically
spoke to us. And you pray. That is the most offensive option that we as
believers have. You knock on heaven’s door until your soul bleeds because that
is exactly what God wants. If you’re serious about someone’s salvation that you
know, instead of telling them what is wrong with them, you pray for them and
you humble yourself before God, because God loves them infinitely more than you
ever could and wants them reunited with Him at all costs.
We have NOTHING to be proud of. Our very breath proclaims
the glory of God.
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 91:15 “He will call upon
me, and I will answer Him.” God is not sitting above us, twiddling his fingers
and wishing we could do right. He already knows we’re going to mess up. He’s
not stuck on the cross crying out for you to pay attention to Him either. He’s
diving into the ocean, swimming down to the depths beyond the beauty of the coral
to rescue us from the crushing pressure of the weight of the ocean. He reaches
into the darkness and calls us out of it into His marvelous light. He takes our
leprous flesh and breathes life into its diseased skin and nerves so we can
fully feel Him again. So every muscle, every fiber, every tendon, every bone
down to the marrow feels the fullness of His glory.
We sing His praises because He is worth it. We sing His
praises because He is good and He is not bound by a box made by man, or any box
for that matter because there is nothing that can hold Him. Just ask death, who
is next to you, bowing at the sight of The Creator.
Every night my head hit my pillow and I was instantly asleep because every single day I was pushed to accomplish the various challenges presented to me from my leaders, but also eventually through the convictions the Holy Spirit was prompting within me. It was a good tired, a tired knowing that I had done practically everything in my power to accomplish those tasks. Or if not, learning from it and ready for the battle the next day.
It was the best summer of my life and I am so thankful for everything that was poured into me and I am so excited for what this year holds as I have been blessed with a new leadership opportunity at the On-Campus site for Resonate Church as the Creative Director. I am so excited to apply the training I had this summer among my peers.
ALL glory and power be to Jesus, The Son of God, The Fulfiller of Prophesies, The Risen King, The Creator, The Atonement for Sin, The Biggest Romantic, forever and ever, Amen.
Thank you so much for reading.
Sincerely,
Alyse Neal
Please don’t take my word for granted on the words provided
in these verses, read them in their entirety.
If you’re interested in material that will help you navigate
where exactly you could get started in the word, please message me on Facebook
and I’ll find some way to provide you with some material.
Also if there was any incorrect information in this post
about anything besides whether or not Jesus is the son of God, please also feel
free to message me.
Those of you who prayerfully supported me this summer I would LOVE it if you kept me and the people i'm working with this summer in your prayers as we are planting a new church on campus. The Harvest is ready, but the workers are few. We specifically need male leaders to rise up and answer the Spirit's promptings because that need is especially great.
Again, thank you all for your support because I would not have been able to have this trip without the loving support of not only the community I experience while i'm at school, but also that I have grown up with.
