Resolved Reflections

So I'm back from Resolved and immediately in the thick of the routine.... not much time to get my bearings, but the Lord is gracious.

Resolved was amazing. Simply amazing. I won't try to provide an in-depth synopsis for each of the messages, because world-renown Christian blogger Tim Challies (whom I got to meet!) did a far better job of summing up each sermon on his blog, www.challies.com. Seriously, it would be profitable to check it out.

I'm very tired, but I'll just try to fire off a few quick observations from my experience at the Conference.
1.) The Lord answers prayer-- I came to this conference with a super busy and hectic schedule, and I knew I was returning to a still super busy and hectic schedule, but I asked the Lord that He would help calm my heart and help me really absorb some truth this weekend, and by His grace, He did.
2.) Fellowship is sweet, but not with everyone in the entire world-- what I mean is this... for so long, I've been the guy who knows everybody. I realized this weekend that it is often quite better to spend time socializing with only a few close friends and then even just yourself and the Lord than with everyone you see that you know. And when it comes to fellowship, when you don't try to be that guy who's always talking to someone but you take advantage of the solitary moments, the Lord brings about the sweetest fellowship, hands down.
3.) John Piper boggles my mind-- I'm not kidding. I've read his books, I've read his blog and internet posts, I've heard his cd's, and I've even watched his dvd's.... but hearing him in person blew me away. I don't believe I have ever witnessed firsthand such a volatile and Christ-exalting combination of intellectualism and passion inside a single human person. His sermon this morning (well, technically, yesterday) on missions might quite possibly have profound ramifications on the direction of my life. His sermon Sunday evening on the Gospel was so profound, I'm going to have to listen to the cd about 5 times just to begin to get it all to sink in.
4.) The Gospel is precious-- I've grown up knowing this, but this weekend, I believed it. This truly is the greatest story ever told. It's not just base on a true story, it is the True Story. The most adequate response I can think of is the chorus of one of the last songs we sang: "How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be: How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me!"
5.) I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed.

"What can I reply? My hand I lay upon my lips; Shall I attempt to speak?"

Spring semester is like water. No matter how hard you try to hold onto it, it just slips by. I don't know what it is. Weeks go by faster, classes take less time-- if you're not careful, you find yourself at the end of yet another week asking yourself, "what just happened? wasn't it just Truth and Life?"

This semester in particular is a blur. Even for all the trials, it's gone by fast. One minute you're living up winter break, and then all of a sudden it snows for one morning in Santa Clarita, you send your friend off to Israel, and then life hits you. You think you have time, but you don't.

Wow. Is this how life is gonna be? So fast. So very, very fast.

I guess it is. We grow up. We grow old. Friends come and go.

The Lord stays the same.

As does our responsibility to be faithful.

I think that's what I'm learning most. Yeah, things go by at lightning speed sometimes. It's not about really stopping and smelling the roses, although that's sometimes a profitable exercise. No. It's really about maximizing every moment for the glory of God. It's about seizing every potential opportunity and squeezing all the juice out of it like you would a lime over a fish taco.

I've got to confess, I haven't really succeeded in this. I swore this would be a semester that I would never have to worry about catching up on homework, a semester that I would work out every day and still have time for extra-cirricular reading and be the best Vice President this school has ever seen. Let's just say that those goals haven't been realized yet.

Life comes at you fast, and you don't always have time to deliberate over what is the right thing to do-- sometimes you just have to act. This is why we need to be constantly influenced by the wisdom of the Word of God... so that we make the right choices when they're thrown at us.

In three months, this will be over. I will move out of the dorms for good. I will be done with Vice President. I will be done with Political Studies (except for Senior Seminar). I will be planning for IBEX. One friend will be moving up to Portland for good, two friends to Orange County, and another to Italy for a year. It's weird to think that it's only three months away... three months ago I was watching my brother's high school football career come to a close. Strange to think that in that same amount of time, so many other things will come to a close.

It seems like I'm saying the same things over and over again, and with no real redeeming purpose at that. But I believe it helps to marinate on the fleeting nature of this life. Again, that's why I've titled this blog what I've titled it. This is a vapor. And the vapor is a gift.

Wow.

I guess, in a way, it sort of makes me sad. Robert Frost was right when he penned "nothing gold can stay." But I'm also excited. There's always something new around the corner. A new day, a new friendship, a new trial, a new struggle, a new job, a new book to read, a new joke to tell, a new food to eat, a new sermon to hear, a new aspect of God to dwell on. We never stop learning, as long as we're open. But more than sad or excited, I am struck silent. I can't help but step back and watch the blur that is life on this earth and just ponder that time has no meaning to God. For Him, this is both no time and a very, very long time--- He is in time, but not bound by it. This is already over, this has just begun. I think. Wow.

The Lord is good.

More Manliness...

I probably should have included this link to an article written by Al Mohler nearly two years ago. In it he outlines the characteristics of a godly man... and some of them might just surprise you. It's definitely worth more than a passing glance.

http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001093.cfm

Ummm... the picture of the creepy looking guy is not Al Mohler... but he does freak the heck out of me.

The Measure of a Man

My friend Pete Bargas recently wrote an incredible post on what he calls "humility vs. wimpiness". He hit right on the head some of the issues I've been wrestling with for a while. If you're a guy and you've got a few minutes, read it. It's some great stuff.

http://petebargas.blogspot.com/2007/01/humility-vs-wimpiness.html