Today i woke up and read my email, looked at Woot, Sellout Woot, and Shirt Woot. This is a typical day in the life of Morgan Berry, however when checking my email I saw that my cultural geography class was canceled. Through out the morning I was not looking forward to this two hour gap, and had no idea what I was going to do to fill it. I hung on the the idea that maybe I would get some homework of something to work on, well that never happened.
So I went to the Cafe, got some food and sat down. No more then ten minutes after getting my laptop out and everything situated I heard the warming up of instruments on the other side. Being the Curious George I often am I decided to move over closer to the sounds.
Boy was i pleasantly surprised! Turns out it was just what I needed today, and for a while. This sound I was hearing to the warming up of a gospel band and choir. When they started singing i was very caught off guard. See Cincinnati State is not known for being a religious school at all, let alone to have many people that would openly confess they are Christians in front of the judgmental crowd that is a college Cafe filled with tired stressed out students.
One song into there performance the crowd was standing, shouting, and singing with them like i have never even seen in a church before.
To give you an idea of the craziness of the situation, a guy about my age with hair down to his back, wearing all black with a shirt on the said "God?...LOL", and a sticker on his
laptop stating that "Satan worships Me" stood up and stated to sing wit them!
Needless to say the environment was like none other I had every been in before.
This all brings me to courage in our faith.
Lately I have suffered in this area. Part of the reason i and not currently a Young Life leader is do to a lack of courage. I didn't have the courage to do, i didn't have the courage to give up a day at work, free time, and I didn't have the courage to go to an high school and talk to kids i didn't know and try to be-friend them. Why is it that these people can get up in front of a huge crowd full of every type of person you can think of and sign about the Lord, and how they love him so much, yet i can't just go into a school and share the love that I have experienced?
Though I do not currently have an answer to this question, I do have a verse that i feel is going to help me out, and that can help out any one in a similar position.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 (New International Version)
So I as do a Keyword search on Biblegataway.com for the word courage to try and figure out a reasoning for this I would love some feed back on what could help me out in this.
So I went to the Cafe, got some food and sat down. No more then ten minutes after getting my laptop out and everything situated I heard the warming up of instruments on the other side. Being the Curious George I often am I decided to move over closer to the sounds.
Boy was i pleasantly surprised! Turns out it was just what I needed today, and for a while. This sound I was hearing to the warming up of a gospel band and choir. When they started singing i was very caught off guard. See Cincinnati State is not known for being a religious school at all, let alone to have many people that would openly confess they are Christians in front of the judgmental crowd that is a college Cafe filled with tired stressed out students.
One song into there performance the crowd was standing, shouting, and singing with them like i have never even seen in a church before.
To give you an idea of the craziness of the situation, a guy about my age with hair down to his back, wearing all black with a shirt on the said "God?...LOL", and a sticker on his
laptop stating that "Satan worships Me" stood up and stated to sing wit them!
Needless to say the environment was like none other I had every been in before.
This all brings me to courage in our faith.
Lately I have suffered in this area. Part of the reason i and not currently a Young Life leader is do to a lack of courage. I didn't have the courage to do, i didn't have the courage to give up a day at work, free time, and I didn't have the courage to go to an high school and talk to kids i didn't know and try to be-friend them. Why is it that these people can get up in front of a huge crowd full of every type of person you can think of and sign about the Lord, and how they love him so much, yet i can't just go into a school and share the love that I have experienced?
Though I do not currently have an answer to this question, I do have a verse that i feel is going to help me out, and that can help out any one in a similar position.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 (New International Version)
So I as do a Keyword search on Biblegataway.com for the word courage to try and figure out a reasoning for this I would love some feed back on what could help me out in this.
4 comments:
i am exactly with you on this topic. if you ever need to talk about to someone ill listen! and since when did you learn how to spell?
Hey man, good post. It is a good sign that you even posted this as this shows courage as well.
I feel we all are not bold in our faith as we should be many times. It is important to remember this "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
Another thing to mention is that the reason you are holding back is most likely because Satan is afraid of you. He knows what a person can do if they speak boldly for the kingdom. If you recognize this when it happens, it gives you more boldness and ability to fight off those thoughts.
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 One of my favorite verses. It always gives me courage.
One more thought (hope I am not losing you):
"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5: 38-40.
Remember, we are one in Christ. We belong to a body. You are not alone. Hopefully we can talk more. Just know that I will be praying for you.
This is a great post. I wrote something similar on this topic on my blog. I am terrified of public speaking and that is why I was never a Young Life Leader. Check my story out: www.thewisdomofabrokenman.blogspot.com
I hear what you're saying and know that it's rough to take those steps out of the comfort zone and be courgeous.. who ever knew that people from the ages of 13-18 could be so scary!
I really didn't think that I would ever lead, went into NLT saying it was just for fellowship and growth. I didn't make the decision to lead until the day I had to make it.
I was convicted by many things as God used the process of NLT to grow and bolden me in my faith and my ability to share Christ's love with people.
These two still get to me today, 5 yrs later (gosh, I'm old:)
1. God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called.
- I knew I was called and just couldn't walk away from it, no matter how much I wanted to
2. "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" Romans 10:14
- I had to memorize this verse to go on a canoeing trip in high school with my youth group...I didn't care much what it said then, but I didn't actually memorize it, and like I said, it still convicts me. How is anyone to know anything unless someone tells them?
I'll pray for you to be bold in your faith and in sharing it... mostly b/c I want you on my team :)
side note: How much do you loooooooooooove biblegateway? I use it all the time!
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