duke divinity school

right now i'm sitting in an Old Testament class at duke divinity school. one of my new friends, Tony, is finishing his Master of Theological Studies here. i'm quite blown away by the beauty of the campus, because of the impressive architecture. i'm out of class for "easter recess" at my seminary (Southeastern), so i'm chilling over here today in a few classes with Tony because i'm a theological junkie. today has been excellent to visit Duke.

anyways, getting to the good stuff, i'm more and more convinced that our view of Scripture determines how we view life, theology, God, history, ministry, and Jesus. this is so so very important for the church. right now, i hold Scripture as highest authority for my life, theology, ministry and view of Christ. it determines and defines me. i don't determine it. why? because i believe it is the very word of God, that is truthful and authoritative for all of life and practice. this is huge for your worldview and philosophy of ministry. hold firm to scritpure. hold firm to scripture.

God is smarter than i

i know this seems like an obvious statement, but we don't always act like it. God is ultimately smarter, wiser, and more knowledgeable than me in every area of my life. he's the one who came up with the whole idea, and he's knows better how everything works together, way more than i do. SO...all this to say, when we find in Scripture that God has a plan or method of doing something in our lives, he's right. it doesn't matter what it's about, his way is so much smarter than my way. it's not that he's a mean God who doesn't want for us to be happy, but rather the extreme opposite. God's design and plan for us is so that we will be ultimately happy and fulfilled and satisfied in Him. His way, in the end and now, is the most satisfying, pleasing, and happy way to do things. history is a testimony to this and your life should be. when i desire to do something that doesn't please God or fit with Scripture, it will ultimately be to my dissatisfaction and ruin. however, when we follow Scripture and God's desires for our life, we will be "blessed" the Psalms say...ultimately filled with joy and satisfaction in every area of our lives- dating relationships, marriage, finances, time, school, family, work, entertainment, church, etc.

Longhorn and the Word

i've been working at Longhorn Steakhouse for the past 7 weeks in order to have a job and pay the bills. however, there is a greater purpose in me working here. God has called me, in whatever i find myself to be doing, to live for the name of Jesus (Col. 3:17). so, this has been fleshing itself out in my work environment with my co-workers. there are probably about 35-45 servers (waiters) including myself that i work with, and there are probably about 30 other cooks, hosts, managers, etc... . I believe God's desire for the world is to make His name great everywhere. so, i am the personal agent/vehicle of God's mission (to use weird Christian language) at Longhorn Steakhouse to make His name great. to my knowledge there are only 3-4 believers at my workplace.
so, i've been firstly, loving my co-workers and placing their well-being above my own. as i love them, we become friends and they enjoy talking with me about religion and morality. i haven't stood up on a booth yet with my Bible yelling at them to repent, but i have had a couple incredible situations arise. here is one:
for the sake of not embarrassing my co-worker friend if he ever reads this blog, "Jack" is a host at our restaurant. he recently moved down from New York. he has some Catholic background, but i'm not sure about the object of his faith. so, the other day i had my theology textbook and my Bible with me at work so i could do some school reading during the breaks. well, we began to get busy and Jack asked to move my books out of the way so he could sit people at that table. i said "of course." a few minutes later he came back to me and asked if he could read my bible while he was at the host stand. i was amazed and shocked, and i told him "of course" again. so, he read the scriptures during that entire lunch shift. incredible. then, that evening we were both working again, and he asked to read my bible again. so, i went back out to my car and grabbed it so he could read it during that evening shift. wow. since, we've had several conversations about life and religion, and hopefully i'll be able to bless his life with the message of the gospel. you can pray for him. i believe he just quit his job b/c of some other issues, but pray that our relationship will continue.