Stuffed With Turkey

So the awesome thing about being a teacher is that you continue to get the vacations that you had while you were in school! It was great to go back home for our Thanksgiving break and see some smiling faces!

For Thanksgiving dinner we had the normal crowd over at the Livingston house and it was fun to see them again and catch up on the past year. My Grandma (aka Grammy) on my mom’s side of the family was also in town and it is always great to see her because we joke, laugh and watch sports together! I personally love it when we are rooting against each other’s teams because it just makes things more interesting!

It was also a special trip home because I got to see my beautiful girlfriend, Caitlin. She is from The Woodlands and it is the first time since we have been dating that we got to spend time in our hometown together, so it was special to me! We got to spend time with one another’s families which was fun, we ran a 5 mile Thanksgiving morning Turkey-trot, went to The Woodlands High School football game and just got to spend some quality time together.

So all in all it was a good trip home and I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with my parents and my sister’s family. I am really looking forward to Christmas Break and an extended stay back home!

P.S. For all of those who are interested, my James lecture is now online if you want to listen! Here is the link to the page where you can see all of the lectures from this year. (http://www.esbsonline.org/audio-2011-12/). So please feel free to scroll down and listen!

Changing Perspective Isn't Always Bad

So I guess I haven't written on this thing in a while ... ya know ... life got in the way!

Its funny when you ask God to show you where you need to improve in life and what needs to change, and then he reveals it to you and starts breaking you down in order to build the pieces back up. That is what took place inside of me as I was preparing to teach the letter of James, which I taught today.

While I was doing all of my prep work and studying the content, I would go on runs and just ask God to show me what is going on in my life and what needs to change. Then throughout the weeks, as I prepared, God started showing me the heart behind the book of James and how we are to love our neighbors and we do that by living out the Gospel. We do that by not complaining about your job and continue to do it because that is where God has you. We do it by doing the act of service that will never be acknowledged. Or by speaking a kind word to someone that is down and needs encouragement.

The main idea of James – how we are called to love our neighbor as yourself, has had a great impact on me. It has shown me that my motivation shouldn’t be on getting the glory, but instead it should be on revealing the glory of my Savior through the way that I go about living life with those around me. My attitude shouldn’t be about going out everyday and receiving awards for the things that I do, but instead it should be one where I am hoping to be used by God today in order to make a greater impact for his kingdom.

I thoroughly enjoyed my studies and teaching the book of James and I think that it is a book that is very practical to the way that we live our life.

On a side note: The month of November is being celebrated in a great way here in North Carolina. They guys from school are going for the “No Shave November” look and I just want to say that we look good!

I have given my mustache the name “Mustacheo” and I see him as my Latin crime fighting alter ego!

It's Ok To Be Weak

This past week has been another good one! We just got finished with our two lectures on 2^nd Corinthians and they were awesome. Last year, when I was a student, 2^nd Corinthians was the book that really changed the way that I view my relationship with God. Throughout the letter, Paul is showing that we all have weaknesses in our lives and within our ability to minister and love one another, but with those weaknesses we have an opportunity to invite God in and let Him do his thing and show off his power in our lives. In 2^nd Corinthians, Paul boasts about his weaknesses because that is where God is strong.

This really idea really rocked me to the core last year because I am someone who wants to get things done and do them to the best of my ability; and when things don’t go well I get frustrated and down on myself. 2^nd Corinthians showed me that I don’t always have to be strong and its ok if I am weak, because those weaknesses are an opportunity for God to manifest himself in my life. In my weakness God can give me the strength, courage and power to perform the task that he has given to me.

I remember sitting in lecture and just feeling this weight being lifted off my shoulders and feeling free from not always having to be perfect. The book of 2^nd Corinthians is one that I hold dear to my heart and I hope that you will take the time to read and let God comfort you in your weaknesses!

Spirituality

This past week, we had the amazing opportunity to Dawn Masucci come and teach us all about the book of 1 Corinthians. She came and totally rocked our world with her teaching! I think that what hit the class so hard, was the fact that 1 Corinthians is so applicable to the church today. We are struggling and going through some of the same things today, that the Corinthians were going through more than 1900 years ago. Its interesting because the book could really be called “1 American.”

The thing that really grabbed my attention was how Dawn showed that the book really presents the question: “What is spirituality?” Spirituality is not measured by what gifts God has blessed you with, or how the Holy Spirit manifests his power in you, but instead it is how you live out everyday. The choices that you make everyday, the simple ones, the complex ones and everything in between, is really what reveals your level of “spirituality.”

I think that this truth is important for those you believe that Jesus is Lord because it shows that every decision and choice that you make reflects how you see and what you think about Jesus’ work on the cross. It has really motivated me to think about and be intentional with my actions and to take every choice seriously. I have been motivated because my actions are just as important as my words when I display the truth of who Jesus is and how he has changed my life.

I have really loved sitting in the 1 Corinthians lectures and I think that it is a book that can really speak to us, if we let it.

Community

So we have just spent the past week on the book of Acts and the thought that I have had continually running through my head is idea of community. The book of Acts gives us such a good picture of what Godly community is supposed to look like. In the chapters following Pentecost it gives us a great example of the disciples of Christ living like the Church is suppose to live. They are all willing to help one another in any way that they can, there are people selling off their possessions and giving it to the Church in order to provide for their fellow man. I talks about how they were in fellowship with one another and that they ate together and talked about Jesus and the Scriptures.

I feel like what we see in the church of Acts is similar to the type of community that we have hear and I am so thankful for it! I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to live life and be in this community here. Its such a pleasure to be in a place where conversations about Jesus don’t have to be held in private, but that they are everywhere. This is something that I want to take with me, whenever I may leave, because I want Jesus to be talked about in my conversations. I want this because he is the most important person in the world and I want him to be made known. I also love how when someone is down here, everyone rallies around them in order to pick them up and comfort them. This is something that I can see the early church in Acts excelling at because of the love the book displays they had for one another.

The thing that I think I love the most about being here is the safe environment (spiritually) that we have. I love that I am really able to wrestle with the things that I am learning and really allow them to affect my life. I love the fact that I can talk with other staff members and “challenge” what they believe with what I believe and we can continue to have a dialogue as we both learn. This has been something that has really changed me over the past year and I am so thankful for it!