Food

I can now say that I am a true college kid: I will do almost anything for free food. I will attend informational meetings about groups on campus, or even join clubs that meet over the lunch break if food is offered. In fact, I will even listen to Baptist preaching for a quick bite of lunch. It's really a matter of convenience. On Thursdays I simply don't have time to run 15 minutes to the cafeteria, wait in line, eat, and get back in time for my next class. However, I do have time to run three minutes to the Baptist Student Union, pay two dollars for a home cooked meal, and listen to a speaker while I eat.

This is a very clever tactic that the Baptists use to draw in students such as myself. We get food, and at the same time we get to find out how to live our lives more like Jesus. We hear all about how God wants to give us His power in our lives, and He will give us His power if we just do our part. We learn all about how great our lives will be if we just allow God's power to enter our hearts. Jesus usually gets honorable mention, if that. It's a bit depressing to listen to, but the food is really good...

There is also a Lutheran Student Fellowship on campus. Of course it's very small, maybe seven or eight people, but we meet every Monday night. Pizza is included of course. The Lutheran pastor here is very mission minded. Church, Sunday school, and Monday night... meetings, are very focused on making the church more inviting, accessible, dare I say relevant. I can't call what we do on Monday night a bible study, since we never open a bible, and we don't discuss theological topics. We use a Methodist program that discusses issues more 'relevant' than God's word. Our first study was about whether gambling is bad and whether the church should accept money from gambling. The second one was about how to make people with disabilities more comfortable at church. These are interesting topics to ponder, but our pondering never leads to God's word. Jesus doesn't even make honorable mention in these studies.

Last night a friend invited me to a Reformed University Fellowship bible study. They are a group of reformed Presbyterians and Baptists, more conservative than their mainstream counterparts. My friend told me they would sing some praise songs and then do a lecture style bible study. Based on afore mentioned experience, I wasn't expecting much. But it was something to do, so I decided to go see what they were all about.

It was true that they did sing songs with a guitar and a beat, but I was very surprised at the songs they choose. They were hymns, same words, same tunes, songs that can be found in LSB. They syncopated the beat and added a guitar, but otherwise nothing was changed. That was surprising, but after the songs was the message, and I settled in, ready for half an hour of headache. The study opened with a prayer, and again I was surprised. There were no "I just want to... (fill in the verb) Lord" phrases. The prayer could have easily fit into a Lutheran church! We prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal God in His word, and that He would bless the study and make it fruitful. No verbs for us!

Then the leader, Ben, handed out sheets with a reading from Mark. I was surprised again, this study was actually bible based! As Ben started teaching the lesson I could feel my eyes bugging out. My jaw must have been close to the floor. A quick summary of the lesson: We are all sinful and our sin is the only thing that seperates us from God, but Jesus came to forgive that sin and restore our relationship. Time and time again the people try to figure out what they can do to get rid of their own sin, but Jesus continues to turn their world upside down by showing that all their good works amout to nothing. Without Jesus' forgiveness they are left dead and so are we.

It was amazing! I listened closely for the punch line, for Ben to say 'now here's what you need to do, here's why Jesus isn't enough." It never happened. The study was far more biblical and in line with Lutheran teaching than anything I've heard from the Lutheran church in town!

The situation is ironic: the Lutherans here are so worried about being relevant that they have ditched God's word, focusing on what we do rather than what Jesus does. They do this out of a sincere desire to grow the church (the pastor has said as much). So far the pastor has brought in five or six kids. The Reformed Presbyteriean group is focused on God's word and Jesus' saving work for us. Ben was not saying good church growing things- he was telling us how sinful we are an how we can't do anything about it. There were at least thirty or forty kids in that room.

Forget the numbers- Give us the Word, that's the food we really need.

A Time for Prayer

School has definitely started. I've gotten through two weeks of classes, meet-and-greets, and orientations. Things have been extremely busy, and to complicate matters even more, I got a nasty virus last week. I don't expect the pace to slow down much. Soon there will be papers due, club functions, and all manner of busy college life to keep up with.

It is interesting to note that, with seemingly fewer and fewer hours in every day, my sinful human nature is quick to cut prayer out first. My daily devotions, which had become a habit over the summer, have been the first things to get shortened or skipped altogether. "Real life" keeps getting in the way! For example, I have made a commitment to exercise for half an hour every day. No one is making me do this, I am doing it on my own because I know it will give me great health benefits. However, when it comes to God's word, which delivers greater benefits than any amount of exercise, half an hour seems unreasonable. I weasel it down to 15 minutes if that. My old adam refuses to make time to be daily drowned in God's word!

Fortunately God is gracious, and so far He hasn't fried me to a crisp for ignoring Him. Instead He keeps calling me to repentance and offering his forgiveness. Fortunately He will not send me to Hell for going out for some late night ice cream instead of saying my prayers. Thank God that my salvation does not depend on how much I pray. Rather, prayer is a gift of faith receiving the promises of God. The question then is why would I refuse the gift of prayer?