Kenya-Bound!

Hey everyone! We're about to leave for Kenya (woop woop!) Just wanted to ask for everyone to be praying for a few things:

1. Safe travel to and from there
2. Unity in our group
3. That we'd be a blessing and encouragement to the believers where we're going
4. Servant's hearts
5. That we will be dependent on God and bring glory to His name
6. Fun!

Thank you! Definitely can't wait to share about all of our adventures!

Redeemer City...The gospel reaches Baltimore.

Baltimore, Maryland.
North. The Ravens. Big city. Unfamiliar. Far away from home. Not the South. No Summit Church. Cold.
Ok, so these are some of the thoughts that first crossed my mind when Summit announced that it's next church would be in Baltimore...and in case you didn't notice, none of them were very pleasant.

For you to fully understand this story, let's go back almost two years. Keva Atwood told me that their family was going to plant a church in Murfreesboro, TN. My first response was obviously sadness because these people who meant so much to me were moving. But underneath that, God began to work in my heart on the issue of domestic church planting. All my life, I thought that "real missionaries" had to go to another country in order to really make a difference with the gospel. But through the Atwood family, I began to realize how desperately cities in America need the gospel and started to understand the deep need for gospel-centered churches to be planted throughout the US.

So, fast forward to this past semester. I've been thinking about domestic church planting in the back of my head for awhile now, kind of wrestling with God about it. Then in church one day, they announce that Summit will be planting a church in Baltimore in 2013.
That's the year I graduate.
Perfect timing.
Cool, God. Maybe I really was hearing from you.
But Baltimore? Really?
So, in my good ole style, I decided that I belong in the South and would just pick some random city that I wanted to live in, try to find a job there, and somehow maybe get plugged into a church plant there. I mean, that's not complete disobedience, right?
WRONG!
God is really funny. And He works in pretty cool ways.
So when we were in NYC, I started thinking about church planting again.
But Baltimore, really?
And plus, I don't even know this Brad O'Brien guy (the lead pastor of the plant).

Weeeellllll, during our first week back in Durham, it just so happens that Brad O'Brien was one of our teachers. (God is pretty funny. I ignore it all, so He just brings Brad to where I am...)
Within the first five minutes of him talking, I knew that this was a guy I could commit to working with and being pastored by for at least the next two years. His personality, communication style, story, and heart to see the gospel go out were all simply incredible.
AND, underneath all of the cool things God had already been teaching me, He had been changing my heart about Baltimore.
That day, Baltimore didn't sound so bad anymore.
Actually, it sounded amazing.
I pictured streets full of broken homes. Kids without one of their parents who just want someone to play with, to love them and be consistent in their lives. Families who need the transforming power of the gospel.
And I realized in that moment...
The gospel really does change everything.
The gospel changes our dreams.
The gospel transforms lives.

Baltimore.
Redeemer City Church.
Within 2 miles of the target neighborhood (Riverside), 56% of the homes are led by single moms and 25% live below the poverty line.
Johns Hopkins Hospital.
125,000 college students.

"We believe that the Gospel not only transforms individual lives, but entire cities. We are asking God to bring peace in the midst of violence, the family of God to the fatherless and generosity in the midst of poverty...We believe that the Gospel changes everything and want to invite you to join us in seeing it transform this great city.” - Brad O'Brien

For more info, check out these sites:
Redeemer City Church: http://www.redeemerbaltimore.com/
SendRDU - Baltimore: http://www.sendrdu.com/2012/04/our-next-church-plant/
Wikipedia - Baltimore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore#See_also
City of Baltimore: http://www.baltimorecity.gov/

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

This was an AWESOME book! Honestly, I learned so so much from it, which is why I thought I’d write a blog post about it. The overarching theme of the book is that our relationship with God transforms us and consequently all of our relationships. Our vertical & horizontal relationships – our relationship with God and our relationships with other people – are interconnected...which is drastically different from the way we typically evaluate relationships.

The book began by discussing why we should even bother with relationships at all (a valid question, I think we’d all agree at times). Since the Fall, sin has run rampant in our world; but at the cross, Jesus brought grace to sinners. So we live in this in between stage between Jesus’ death and resurrection and when Jesus will come back and install His new Kingdom. This is a tough place where sin and grace abound, and we see this so clearly in our relationships. But the purpose of relationships, just like the rest of Creation, is to point to God. We often forget that and get so self-absorbed and treat our relationships to get what we want out of them. To reverse this pattern, we need to remember that our relationships aren’t an end of themselves but instead another means to reflect God’s glory and grace.

To put this into perspective...God is the only properly functioning community in the universe; God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Sprit – the Trinity – live in perfect unity. And God ripped apart the perfect, eternal love relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit to allow us to be restored to God and reconciled to one another. So the authors conclude the introduction with, “If you wonder, Why bother? the answer is, ‘Because God did.’”

Okay, so since this wisdom all belongs to the authors, I’m going to just bullet point some of the key statements that really impacted me (and if you want to read more, then definitely read this book!!!!)

• People made in God’s likeness (so all of us) were made for community. Only when human beings live in community do we fully reflect the likeness of God.
  
• The Bible assumes that relationships this side of eternity will be messy and require a lot of work.
  
• Our biggest problem is inside us and we can’t fix it on our own.
  
• Sin affects us in six basic ways: self-centeredness, self-rule, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, self-satisfaction, self-taught
  
• Every good relationship we have is a gift of God’s grace. Left to ourselves, nothing good would happen!
  
• While the control of sin has been broken, the sin that remains in us still puts up a real fight.
  
• Ephesians 4.......You can’t take the gospel seriously and not take your relationships seriously.
  
• God’s purpose is our growth in grace.
  
• God’s purpose is to give us what we really need. He wants the things that ruled Christ’s heart to rule ours as well.
  
• Beneath all our conflict with others lies a deeper conflict between these two agendas: ours and God’s.
  
• The two stones in relationship foundation are identity and worship. When I live out of a biblical sense of who I am (identity) and rest in who God is (worship), I will be able to build a healthy relationship with you.
  
• Our quest for personal identity is meant to drive us back to God as Creator so that we find our meaning and purpose in Him.
  
• A large part of the biblical story is about identity. It reveals the wrong reactions that come when we forget who we are, as well as the godly responses that come with remembering...Much of the drama of God’s people is a drama of identity.
  
• To love you as I should, I must worship God as Creator. Affirm the glory of God in the way He made everyone around me!
  
• None of us ever gets to be in relationship with a finished person. Here on Earth, all relationships are between two sinners.
  
• Words have power. Our words always have direction. They’re going either toward life or toward death. Word problems are heart problems.
  
• God is zealous to do whatever it takes to regain the affection of our hearts. He doesn’t do this because He needs us; He does it because He loves us.
  
• With forgiveness, you make a conscious choice to absorb the cost yourself.
  
• The Father emptied Heaven of its greatest treasure so that you could be forgiven.
  
• Our relationships are lived between the already and the not yet.
  
• We are all people living in a fallen world, but with a faithful God.
  
• Repentance and faith must be your daily lifestyle.
  

Week One in Bull City

Last week was our first full week in Durham (AKA Bull City). What a great week! We had class from 9-12 every day, and the theme of the week was “What is the gospel?” I learned SO MUCH this week during each of these days. Monday and Tuesday, Dr. Bruce Ashford, one of the deans at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, taught us about the grand story of the world and how this story relates to our lives and culture. This was the coolest thing I learned from him:

The True Story of the Whole World

Part 1: Creation. God creates something out of nothing.
...God created humans in His image and likeness.
...He told us to till the earth...to bring out the best qualities of the earth (hint: because we'll still have all of technology, roads, etc. when heaven comes down!)
...Shalom. Everything was in perfect relationship. Adam and Eve were in perfect relationship with God, with each other, with the world, and with themselves.

Part 2: Fall. Adam & Eve trusted Satan’s word over God’s word.
...This unleashed hell on earth.
...Creation began to unravel. And relationships broke...all of them.

Part 3: Redemption. The whole Bible is the triumphant march of God to bring forth the seed (Jesus) that He promised Adam in Genesis.
...Jesus comes!
...Christianity isn’t DO. It’s DONE.
...God is beginning to reorder things, but we’re not there yet.

Part 4: New Creation. God will renew everything.
...Never again the possibility of sin.
...Yes, creation will be restored, but it will be BETTER than Eden! It will be our tilled world MINUS the sin!
...Our relationships will be perfectly restored!
...Heaven’s coming down. And Jesus is coming back!

Some other cool lessons from the week from Derrick Smith and Brad O’Brien (two of the other men who came in to teach us):

• We are justified because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Justified once and for all. But we are being sanctified day by day. God is making us more and more like Jesus until that day when Jesus comes back and we’ll finally be sanctified. But we don’t have to work to get into right standing before God. Because of Jesus’ finished work, we stand before God righteous, pure, blameless, holy…because when He looks at me, He sees Jesus. Wow!
  
  John 16:13&14 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
  
  
• The gospel changes your dreams. I could even see that sitting in class throughout the week. [more on this to come soon…cliffhanger!]
  
  
• If the gospel is true, then IT CHANGES EVERYTHING!
  

The other part of our weeks in Durham is my internship with Summit Kids. Since Kids Week (our vacation bible school) is this week, my main task last week was to help get everything ready for the week. Needless to say, it was a crazy week! But it’s been so cool to get hands-on ministry experience! Ministry isn’t easy nor is it always fun and glamorous…but it’s so amazing to know that I’m working in some small way to help the gospel be spread in the RDU area. (And I LOVE children!) So it’s been a lot of fun too! I think I’m learning that I enjoy being with kids much more than the administrative aspect, but the administrative side is necessary to allow for the playing part to happen.

I’m still LOVING living in my house; Lizzie (one of my housemates) made us a permanent sign:



And we got to help Katharine (another housemate) celebrate her birthday! Wahoo!! I’m definitely falling in love with Durham. Bull City, baby!

New York City, Part 2. What did I learn?

I learned a lot this week, so I'm still getting my thoughts together. But here are some of my reflections from the week:

1. Abiding in Christ is beautiful! It is how we were created to live. In community, digging into the Word, and constantly praying. I felt a peace like I've never felt before. In the midst of such a busy week, I felt strength, joy, and peace, which come from the Lord. He is so gracious. When we seek Him, we'll find Him. And I believe that He was dwelling in our midst the whole week throughout NYC. I was made for community! I need to have Christians around me who are redirecting me to the cross and challenging/encouraging me. Through this week, I'd say half of what I learned was from the Bible/prayer and half was from my fellow City Project peeps. God uses believers to speak into each other's lives.

2. EVERYTHING points to Jesus! "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!" The gospel is real! And it is SO FREEING! Through Jesus Christ, it was all done for me. I don't have to earn God's favor. I don't have to live my whole life trying to do good deeds and hoping that my good deeds will outweigh the bad in the end. Through Christ, I have been put in right standing before God. I am a sinner, and nothing that I could ever do in my own power could earn God's favor (see Genesis 3. After ONE sin, God kicked Adam & Eve out of the Garden of Eden. ONE sin separated them from God's presence. How could I ever think that I could earn my way into God's presence?) But God so loved the world that He sent His Son to pay the penalty for my sin and to reconcile me to God.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." - Romans 3:23-26

"...but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 5:20&21

Here is a beautiful passage from Psalm that celebrates what God has done in my heart and in the heart of those who believe in Jesus Christ:

"I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward You.
Nevertheless, I am continually with You;
You hold my right hand.
You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from You shall perish;
You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You.
But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all Your works."
Psalm 73:22-28

3. The way God sees me should define how I see myself. The gospel should be the lens through which I see myself, the people around me, and the world. The gospel is objective. I need to preach the gospel to myself every moment so that my eyes don't wander from the cross. Below is a beautiful passage from God speaking to His people:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine...Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you...everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made...whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me...Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?...But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. I, I am he who blots our your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
- excerpts from Isaiah 43

4. God loves the nations! He desires for all to know Him and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. As we walked the streets of NYC, we prayed over the people there. We read Isaiah 61 and 62 over the streets. We claimed the city for the Lord. That is what God has called His people to do - to boldly proclaim His name. To stand in the gap on behalf of those who don't know Him.

Finally, I want to share a prayer that Pastor JD (The Summit's lead pastor) uses and encourages us to use to refocus on the gospel. It's called the Gospel Prayer:

In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.
Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.
As You have been to me, so I will be to others.
As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.

New York City, Part 1. What did we do?

Wow, I don't even know where to begin talking about the past week of City Project. We just returned from our trip to NYC, and it was amazing! We had a lot of fun, got super tight as a group, shared the gospel with people, and learned so much about God. I'm going to recount what we did day-by-day, including some pictures. Here goes!

Day 1: Sunday
We made the long drive from Durham to NYC and went into Manhattan & Times Square for dinner and hang out time. This was my first time to New York, so needless to say, I was pretty much in awe of the city.

Day 2: Monday
We met with Brad, who was our local contact for the week doing ministry in NYC. He is an amazing man of God with a heart to reach Muslims with the gospel. He taught us some of the basics about sharing our faith with people, and pretty quickly two things stood out to me:
1. This week was about abiding in Christ. Walking with God. How freeing! It wasn't about how many people we shared the gospel with, how many places we went, or anything else! It was all about our walks with Jesus!
2. Sharing the gospel isn't an awkward, forced, weirdo-Christian thing. We basically got to spend the week starting conversations with random people about their religions, giving us a chance to learn more about Islam, Sikhism, and Hindu, and in the process sharing what we believe with them. Talking about the gospel could just be a part of our everyday conversations! So we got to spend a week making friends all over NYC! How cool!

The rest of Monday, we went into Manhattan & then Jamaica (a part of Queens) to meet with people. Just for fun, we went up to the 38th floor of the Hilton - check out the view!

Day 3: Tuesday
Brad brought in a man named Boto to teach us about Sikhism, which resulted in us getting to spend two hours in a Sikh temple. That was an incredible experience, once which I honestly never imagined I'd get to do! We learned about Sikhs and what they believe...what I realized is that their whole religion seems to be built around questions (seeking), and they just stopped before they found Jesus. Jesus is the answer to their questions, to their seeking! That was really cool to realize because it helped me to understand Sikhs better and to understand the gospel more truly.

That evening, our City Project group walked through Central Park, which is BEAUTIFUL. We talked about what God has been teaching us, primarily about the community that He's building in our group and what we've been learning about the importance of community. For me, that was a central part of what I learned this past week. Then we just stood under this gazebo in the middle of Central Park in the middle of NYC and prayed and worshiped the Lord. Another thing I never in a million years imagined I would ever get to do! It was a beautiful time of thanking God for sending Jesus to reconcile us to Himself. As the week went on, we realized more and more how beautiful the truth of the gospel is, and it was so refreshing to just take time to praise God for what He's done, what He's doing, and what He's going to do. He is doing big things in NYC and it was incredible to get to be a part of that for a week!

Day 4: Wednesday
This was one of the most intense and most difficult days of the week for sure. Boto taught us about Hinduism, and we visited a Hindu temple. It was a dark, oppressive, and very demonic place. We could all feel it and the weight pressing in on our souls. As we walked through it, Boto reminded us that there are 800 million Hindus in Indian alone (to put that into perspective, there are only around 300 million people in the United States)...That's a LOT of people who don't know Jesus! I learned a few huge things through this day:
1. As I walked into the temple, I couldn't get over how weird I thought it all was...the stories make Greek mythology seem plausible. But I was convicted that, no I don't build statues and put them in a temple and worship them, but to God, that's what my heart looks like. I am an idolator; I worship all kinds of things in place of God. And when He looks at my heart, He is disgusted by my idolatry.
2. Spiritual warfare is REAL. I so often forget that angels and demons are battling over souls and that it is a real battle, not just some fairytale or pretend thing. The most incredible thing happened in the temple: we got to sit and pray and sing to the Lord in the middle of the Hindu temple! Another thing I will never forget! As we sang "Amazing Grace", I was reminded that God dwells in the midst of us when we gather in His name. Therefore, God was with us in that temple. His angels were battling with Satan's demons over that temple in that moment. God was pushing back the dark. It was an amazing thing to picture; and it was REAL.

"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations." - Psalm 22:27&28

Day 5: Thursday
We returned to Jackson Heights, the area we had been hanging out in the past couple of days, to continue to meet people. The girls in my group went to get henna tattoos, which was really fun. (FYI, it's a temporary tattoo - lasts 2-3 weeks - and is an Indian bridal tradition but has extended to being part of all female Indian culture.)

That afternoon, we returned to the subway stop to grab one of the guys in our group, but to our surprise, the area was roped off in crime zone tape and Mark (our group member) was standing in the middle of the area with a few other City Project members. Needless to say, we freaked out! But everyone was okay, thank the Lord! Please follow this link to read the full story (yes, this was actually printed in the New York Times!): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/nyregion/a-thief-in-queens-is-thwarted-by-missionaries.html?_r=3&ref=nyregion

Day 6: Friday
Friday was fun day for us; honestly, it was fun, but I enjoyed the rest of the week just as much if not more (reflections on this to come in "Part 2"). We played tourist! Yahoo! We rode the Staten Island ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty and take cool pictures of the city.

Then we walked down Broadway, got to see Trinity Church (where part of National Treasure was filmed), Wall Street (the econ nerd in me loved that!), and finally ended at the 9/11 site. I was surprised because it's been 11 years since the tragic day of September 11, 2001, and yet the whole area was still a construction zone. But they're building the Freedom Tower, which was incredible to see. It was just very sobering to be there and to remember back 11 years ago...

To finish up the evening, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was absolutely amazing!

On Saturday, we said good-bye to The Big Apple, and I think we were all glad to get back to the South and to Durham. The first thing we did was rush to Chick-fil-A haha. But New York was an amazing time; "Part 2" will be my reflections on the week, so please check those out next!

Ready. Set. GO!

Yay! The City Project has finally begun! This has been a super exciting past few days! Let me see if I can explain some of the amazing things...

Meet The Hatchery (or "The Hatch"), my house of 10 girls for the summer:

Living with these girls has already been one of the coolest experiences of my life. Just talking, sharing, worshiping, and praying alongside each other is incredible. This is going to be a great summer getting to know them and building this community. In Galatians 6, Paul writes, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ...So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:2,10) I can already see how our house is building by bearing each other's burdens and how we're growing by sharing our walks with the Lord together.

So we're only on day 4 of City Proj, but here are some of the cool things we've gotten to do so far:

• Get oriented to Durham and plan for NYC. We're starting to learn our way around Durham! Woohoo!
  
• To help us with directions, we got to go on a scavenger hunt kind of activity around downtown Durham. It's a beautiful place!
  
• Cook dinner together as a house and spend the night worshiping and praying.
  
• Meet some incredible people! I'm so blessed to get to spend this summer alongside 34 other college students who are so passionate about knowing Jesus! Not to mention, the staff at Summit is awesome.
  
• We had lunch with our summer d-groups (discipleship groups) a couple days this week. Mine is comprised of six girls from UNC and our leader, Katherine, who graduated from UNC last year. This is going to be a fantastic group of girls!
  
• We met with our supervisors for our community/church internships that we'll be working in when we return from NYC. I'm interning with Summit Kids, which if you know me, you know how much I love serving with kids. So I got to meet with my supervisors, one of whom happens to be my friend/small group leader, so needless to say, it's going to be awesome! I get to learn a lot of what goes in behind the scenes during the week to prepare for weekends in kids ministry. This is where my heart is, so I'm super excited and blessed to be working in this area this summer.
  
• Yesterday, we devoted the day to prayer and quiet time with the Lord. We met in Duke Gardens and spent some time alone with God, really focusing in on what He's teaching us and getting our hearts in the right place with Him. That was a really beautiful time for me because I don't really spend time alone very often, especially for extensive amounts of time.
  
• Last night, we had Skit Night. SUPER fun! My group got second place, we had a lot of fun, and we made complete fools of ourselves.
  

So clearly, we've been having a lot of fun and learning a lot. I'm sure I've forgotten to list some of the things we've done, but it's for sure been awesome. For now, we're preparing to leave for NYC tomorrow, which I'm extra excited about because I've never been. Please pray for us for safe travel, for boldness to start conversations with people, and for the people we're going to interact with during our time there.

A couple of verses I've been reading & studying...

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made...The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:3,5

Already you are clean because of the word that I (Jesus) have spoken to you. - John 15:3

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. - Romans 8:19-23

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace...For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a hold temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. - Ephesians 2:13,14,18-22

Why The City Project?

I think the best way to begin this blog is to talk about why I chose to participate in The City Project this summer. God has been doing a lot in my life lately and teaching me some incredible things about Himself. In doing this, He has been changing my heart to want to pursue Him more. And He has me in a season now where I am re-entering the body of Christ and rebuilding my community there. And in my quiet time with the Lord, I am learning more and more about Him and more deeply understanding the gospel.

And the story goes like this. God created a perfect world where everything was in complete harmony with Him. But then Adam and Eve placed their trust and hope in something aside from Him, which resulted in sin entering what was once perfection. The perfect world began to unwind. Creation broke. And Adam and Eve could no longer live in the presence of God.

All of us are born into this world of sin. From birth (Psalm 51:5), we tend towards sin and put other things in God's place (we are idolators). But our sin breaks the heart of God. God HATES sin. He is perfection and completely holy; since I am a sinner, I cannot stand in the presence of the Lord. But God loves me SO much that He didn't want me to be eternally separated from Him. So God devised a master plan - He would send His very own son, Jesus, to this earth to live the perfect life I couldn't ever live and to die the death I deserve for my sin. And on the cross, God laid all of his wrath towards all of the sin of everyone in the world on His beloved son. Jesus took all of my sins to the grave. And now, God looks on me like He looks on Jesus - holy and blameless and pure. Through the cross and resurrection, Jesus covered my life with His and put me in right standing with God (Romans 3:23-26). THAT is the gospel. Grace and love. EVERYTHING that I am I owe to Jesus. Because of Jesus, I can stand before God. Because of Jesus, God looks on me as His child. I receive the inheritance of God. And yes, I still sin, but I can look to the cross to remember that Jesus already paid the penalty for that sin. I am already forgiven. And I am loved incredibly much. Nothing that I have done and nothing that I will ever do can change what Jesus did for me or how God feels about me.

And I live in the hope that one day, God will come back and make all things right. He will bring the world back to Himself once and for all. He will rescue His children from Satan and the sinful desires of our flesh. He will make all things new. But until then, we will join in the cry with creation (Romans 8) for God to come quickly. For Jesus to return.

In the meantime, Jesus called us to share the good news (the gospel) with our world. He has called us to love each other as He has loved us (John 13:34). The gospel radically changes how we see the people around us, how we treat each other, and it should completely revolutionize the importance with which we treat our relationships. Our sole purpose for living is to put the glory of God on display. And this summer, I feel like God has called me to love communities of hurting people - New York City, Durham, and Kenya. I am committing this summer to not only pursuing God and pursuing community and the body of Christ, but I am committing to loving the world around me. To helping meet people's needs and living life with them. And through that, they will see Jesus.

Please join me in praying for this summer.

And for God to continue to become more real and more beautiful to us all day by day, moment by moment.

God, take us into the beautiful.