Sorry for a delayed newsletter! I have been in the midst of traveling from city to city for weddings and graduations and now home!

Going from place to place has shown me just how much God is sovereign. Sovereign means having ultimate power. What does it mean that God is sovereign? It means that God has supreme power, that He controls all things--even the dust mites that float around in the air. Every action and reaction is controlled by God. Amazing that  a God can control EVERYTHING all simultaneously and has planned it out since before time. What a privilege it is to be able to worship such an amazing God!

So how was I able to see God's sovereignty in these events? Well, I could tell that if it was not for God's grace and provision, many of my friends would not be able to graduate. God provided the funds and the credentials for my  friends to be accepted into this college, brought them the means and the resources to allow them to come to that place, the intellect and the motivation to finish all of their work for the last four years, and provided friends and family to support them throughout their time. Graduation was a celebration of God's plan for them and His plan for them to graduate!

In my friends' wedding, God was shown to be sovereign through the way that He was able to reconcile broken relationships in each of my friends' families to bring them together on this one occasion to celebrate their son and daughter's marriage. Also, God was able to bring these two unlikely people into a relationship with another one and have a marriage together all in His plan--and not planned by anyone else.

God is also sovereign in your life as well. The place you  live, the school you go to, the friends you have were all orchestrated to be a part of your life by God. He is not far away and inactive in your life. He is always there and always working through each seemingly insignificant detail of your life. Thank Him for everything!

Until next time,

Tonight I went to an Orioles game. For those of you who aren't into sports, the Orioles are Baltimore's Major League Baseball team. They were playing against the Boston Red Sox. And for those of you who don't know, Boston fans are some of the most dedicated and passionate fans in the nation.

While at the game, I was sitting behind a family who had driven all the way from Boston just to see the game in Baltimore. Not only that but the mom had a Boston Red Sox logo tattooed on her back. As I was leaving the game, I also noticed that a man standing, watching the game had an Oriole's tattoo on his leg.

So why am I sharing this with you? This isn't a plug for all of you to get tattoos--at  least not real ones. Instead what I am hoping that you see is that in some way, shape, or form, we should have a tattoo of Jesus' work in our lives so that everyone can see. It was clear that the family in front of us were dedicated to the Red Sox. They had driven to another city to support the team, they wore shirts and hats representing the team, they went so far as putting a permanent tattoo to let everyone know that they were Red Sox fans. It was clear. Same with the man I saw standing at the game. I passed by him, and in 2 seconds, I knew that he was a dedicated Orioles fan just because he had taken an extra step to get a tattoo.

Non-Christians should be able to see that we are followers of Christ by the way we live our lives, the words we say, the attitudes we have, and the devotion we have. Those are the tattoos that we should have to show the  rest of the world who we worship. It should be apparent that Christ is our #1 priority.

How can you grow in this way? Can non-Christians tell that you are a Christian? Can Christians tell that you are a growing, continually sanctified Christian? What steps can you make to make Christ known in your life?

Until next time,

What gives us joy?

Romans 5: 1-5 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have a peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

So what does all of that mean?

It means that when we become Christians (justified through faith), we receive PEACE. Because we have that PEACE, we are able to rejoice not only in God's glory but also in our sufferings--through the good and the bad. We can rejoice in our sufferings because we receive perseverance, which creates character, which creates hope, which does not disappoint because it is from God. 

Maybe this will help:

Become a Christian --> Receive Peace --> Rejoice in God's glory and in our sufferings --> Perseverance --> Character --> Hope

Sometimes we are at different points along this line. Sometimes we have just become a Christian and we have peace, but it is hard to rejoice during the good and bad times. Sometimes we can rejoice in our sufferings, but we don't yet know how to persevere during the tough times. We know difficult times come because  they are for our good, but it is still hard to bear. Sometimes we may have persevered through them, but our pride causes us to forget that God has pulled us through the tough times, so our character is not being built. In all of those struggles, it becomes hard to see the HOPE that God has given us. He promises us that our His HOPE does NOT DISAPPOINT. People, money, jobs, and food will disappoint, but God's hope never does.

When you face tough times, know that God is there with you, promising you the hope at the end of a dark tunnel. Keep relying on Him so that you may see your way out!

Until next time,

Oftentimes, we think that God will love us because we go to church, we read our Bible, we give offering, we sing songs, or we play an instrument for church. God does delight in the ways that we practically worship Him through the things that everyone can see. But what about when you are behind closed doors, at home, or in your room by yourself? Do you still worship God?

Worshipping God is not only for when you are at church or at a Bible study or when you are in front of people. When you only show outward displays of worship when you know other people can see, then you are no longer a worshipper of God but rather of earthly men. Your drive to serve becomes rooted in pleasing other people or wanting to look good in other people's eyes as opposed to God's eyes. By doing so, you create an idol for yourself, and you reject God. It is a grave and serious sin.

Do not be discouraged if you find that your attitude falls in line with what I described above. Instead, spend some time with God, telling Him that you have chosen the opinion of man over His opinion. Repent by acknowledging that it is wrong and that you know His opinion of you is what you really want to desire. Then ask Him for forgiveness and the strength to be able to change your heart and mind to only desire what He desires, and not what other people desire. 
 
What God requires of us is a complete surrender of everything we have--our work, our personalities, our time, our money, our intellect, EVERYTHING--to Him, knowing that only His judgment and opinion of us is of any value. Find ways that you can have this attitude, this surrender in your life.

Galatians 1:10  "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am  I trying to
please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Until next time,

Have you ever worried about having food on the table?
Have you ever worried about having a place to live?
Have you ever worried about having someone near you to talk to you or spend time with you?
Have you ever worried about smelling badly at school because you weren't able to take a shower for the past week because you weren't able to access water?

I believe that for most of you, you probably never had to worry about that. For most of you, your parents might have had to worry about that some time in their life. Most of you have never had to go without the basic necessities needed to live. However, as I learn more about Baltimore, the city that I currently live. I have found that these basic necessities are huge blessings and should not be taken for granted.

Every week, I go to a local lower-income school to spend time for about an hour a week with a student. The girl that I am paired with is Keyona who is a bright 7th grader who loves chocolate ice cream, swimming, and the color pink. In addition to spending time with her, I spend time in a group with five other pairs. That means I get to interact with six girls who have grown up in a lifestyle different from my lifestyle. 

We meet during lunch, and this week a lot of the girls weren't eating their lunch. We asked them,"Why?" and they said that food at home was better. However, when we probed more about their eating habits, we found out that one girl still eats lunch at school even though she doesn't like it because there's not enough food at home. 

What if you didn't have enough to eat at home? Have you ever complained that you wanted a snack and your parents didn't buy it for you? Do you truly know what it means to be hungry?

I share these things not to make you feel bad for these girls or for you to feel bad or proud for what you do have. I share these things for you to realize the brokenness of the world. Because sin has entered into the world, hunger, pain, sorrow, anger, chaos, and destruction are a part of the world. The only way to end the suffering in the world is through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Even if we have nothing, no food to eat, no place to live, yet we have Jesus, then we are satisfied. If we have everything in the world, yet do not know Christ, then we have nothing. 

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

Until next time,