“Who shall we say You are
You’re the living God
Who shall we say You are
You’re the Great I AM
The highest name of all
You’re all You say You are

You are holy, holy, holy
God most high and God most worthy
You are holy, holy, holy
Jesus, You are
Jesus, You are”

I absolutely love the bridge and chorus of this song “Holy” by Matt Redman. They seek to describe our inability to understand or comprehend who God is, because of the sheer majestic holiness of His being. God is so holy and above us, that mere words are not enough to grasp the depth of His character. Even our most profound thoughts and wildest imaginations of how holy God is, are not enough to scratch the surface of His true holiness.

“Holy” is the only word in the Bible that describes God which is repeated three times in a row. In the book of Revelation, when John describes the throne room of heaven, he mentions four creatures that are in the midst and around the throne. “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

‘Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!’”

Revelation 4:8

There must be something extremely significant with the fact that God is supremely and eminently holy. I believe that trying to grasp this fact helps us understand the relationship between us and God. That although there is this closeness and intimacy with God, there is also a vast difference between who He is and who we are, that humbles us and brings us to our knees in worship, in acknowledgement of God as our sovereign Lord and King.

However, many times, I think it’s commonplace for us to lose sight of God as holy, holy, and holy. I think a big reason why we struggle so much in our walks with God is because we are quick to forget that God is holy. We treat Jesus more as a friend, and in focusing too much on that role of Him in our lives, we find it easier to brush Him aside or spend less time in conversation with Him. We find it easier to doubt God when we forget that He is the majestic Creator of the universe. Our prayers are stale, because we don’t really believe that God can answer them. We don’t own up to our faith or spread the gospel, because other people’s reactions and ridicule overwhelms the tiny god that we “worship”.

Matt Redman reminds us that God is the Great “I AM”. In Exodus 3, Moses asks God what he should tell the Israelites if they ask who sent him to lead them out of slavery from the Egyptians. “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). The powerful phrase “I AM” seems to embody the essence of a Being that needs no further explanation. No phrase or word can adequately and completely describe who God is.

God is utterly majestic, purely righteous, and perfectly worthy of our praise and adoration. He is holy, holy, and holy. May we come to this realization of the sheer magnitude of God’s holiness and allow that truth to completely saturate and transform our lives.

Author: Micah Shyu

*For further reading, I highly recommend A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy.

(I’m speaking out of conviction today, so I’m sorry if this post is a little harsher than usual.) I decided to reread Crazy Love by Francis Chan. For those who haven’t yet read this book, it’s convicting. Francis Chan speaks a great deal of truth in this book; truth I wasn’t ready to hear.

“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him – and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”

I had no idea how to even process this. I don’t think we, myself included, truly understand how mighty our God is. We take Him out of our back pocket when times are hard, then put Him back when things are going our way. That is not the relationship that God desired to have with us and this is something we should not be taking lightly. God is the most powerful being that has ever lived and will ever live. He gives our bodies the strength to wake up every morning, live our lives, go to bed, and repeat this process the next day. So, who are we that we should feel entitled to have a life? We don’t deserve any of the gifts that God continues to bless us with. So, why are we living out our relationship with the Lord as if it isn’t a priority?

We aren’t needed by God and we’d be crazy to think that we are. But the beauty of His love shows us how much He loves us. Jesus Christ died a grueling, painful and undeserved death just so we could spend eternity in Heaven with Him. How much more should we reflect that love and devotion to God because of His sacrifice? We don’t deserve grace, life, mercy, love, eternity, you name it. We need to stop living with a sense of entitlement that this life is ours. We need to stop slacking in our relationship with the Lord.  Friends, we need to start living like Christians.

As I began to digest this part of the book, I had to evaluate my relationship with my Savior. I encourage you to do the same. What are the areas that need work? What actions should be stopped in your life? As you work through these tough questions, I encourage you to find someone to hold you accountable. Be vulnerable with these struggles. Be praying through the changes as you make them. God wants nothing more than a relationship with you. How humbling is that? I’m excited for this stage in your life, friends. Allow God to work and move!

Author: Nicole Presley

**Thoughts for this post came from Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

On November 10, 2011, I made a commitment to God that I would refrain from dating. No asking girls out on shady one on one hangouts. No thinking about girls from church that are “potentials” and imagining them as my girlfriend. No foolishly thinking that because a girl gives me “extra” attention, it would lead (quickly) to something more intimate. In short, through God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s conviction, I was able to start a year commitment in taking my focus off finding a girlfriend to focus on Christ.

It seems like this mindset is completely absent in current society. As 18-20 somethings, the main concern or topic of interest in our lives seem to all be about finding the right significant other. There’s the pressure from culture and society to find the right mate, before it’s “too late”. Our TV screens are swarmed with dating shows, happy ending romances, and the search for the “right one”. Our radio stations are overflowing with songs of declaring our love for that special someone.

This social convention even seems to spill into our Christian circles. We look at all our friends who married young and wish for that perfect wedding ourselves, with plans of getting married in our early 20s. In large gatherings, our focus seems to be distracted by the opposite sex, wondering if that girl or guy over there could be a potential mate.

Sometimes I wonder if we place too much emphasis on getting married and having kids. Of course, most of us agree that we’d love to get married; we want to find that person to share a life with and start a family, and there’s plenty of good that can come out of that. We learn to exemplify Christ’s love for the church as His bride, we learn how to sacrifice and love unconditionally, we learn how to stay committed, and we can help one another more intimately draw closer to Christ. However, many times that need to find someone can become an obsession and easily turn into an idol which can destroy relationships, both with others and God.

The Bible talks about how a relationship with Jesus can divide families. It can “set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in law” (Matthew 10:35). It also says in verse 37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” These verses strongly emphasize the love that we should display for Christ because of His great love for us. It makes me wonder if our love for God transcends our relationships with others around us. Is God the number One person in our lives? Or are we desperately exposing ourselves to dating to try to fill that empty void that only God can fill Himself?

Many times, I wonder if our strong emphases on marriage makes being single a dreaded curse, something to be ashamed and embarrassed about. However, Paul talks about the benefits of being single in 1 Corinthians 7. He mentions that there is the potential to devote more time and energy in serving God and to be free of anxieties that the married go through (such as the worries of the safety and provision of their families). With this perspective, singles can rejoice in being able to apply more of themselves in doing God’s work!

Regardless of whatever situation we’re in, whether single, engaged, or married, let us reflect on our desires for intimacy with others and with God. May our focus not stray from Christ as the center and foundation of our lives.

Author: Micah Shyu

Philippians 4:6
Do no be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Mark 11:24
Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 16:23
I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.

James 5:15-16
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Throughout the Bible, we’ve seen the power of prayer. We see that Moses desired to set his people free from the Egyptians and God proved himself faithful (Exodus 6-14). We see that Hannah prayed for a child and God proved himself faithful (1 Samuel 1-2). We see that Esther wanted freedom for her people and God proved himself faithful (Esther 2-8). I could go on and on. Because God answers us through prayer, there’s importance in praying boldly. We must pray with conviction and expectation that God will show up. One of the biggest examples of praying boldly is in the book of Daniel. Because of his faith in God, Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions. Could you imagine being in a pit of hungry lions and have no way out? I would have freaked out. So what did Daniel do? He prayed boldly (Daniel 6-9). Talk about faith in the Lord! He prayed boldly, knowing that God would bring him out of the pit. And God did!

So, why don’t we pray boldly? Maybe we’re afraid it won’t be answered. Maybe we don’t know what to pray for. I encourage you to examine your prayer life and see how you’re praying and what you’re praying for. I’ve found that as I’ve been learning to pray with conviction, I see God show up more. I see him answer requests with clarity and promise. It’s been such an excitement to be in a prayerful relationship with Christ like I haven’t before. Commit to praying intentionally and with expectation that God will do what he says he will do.

Author: Nicole Presley

Discipline is defined as “to bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.” I feel like discipline is something I’ve always lacked in my life. Because I’m a person with a Type-B personality, my spontaneity, easy-going habits and desire for things to be relaxed overruled my need for discipline. I began to think more about this after hearing a message on rest. I was asked, rhetorically, “Is my pace sustainable?” I knew instantly that my answer was a clear “no”. I went to school, worked, was a part of small groups, and that didn’t even begin to include my time with family and friends. I started to evaluate what was and wasn’t important in my schedule; I came to the realization that they were all important. So, now what? I talked this over with a close friend and we discussed what I should do, going forward. We decided it’d be best to cut out one aspect of my schedule: school. Now, I know what you’re thinking. School?! Really, Nicole? Well, as I began to pray and see where my mentality was on this aspect of my life, it wasn’t getting the focus that it needed. So, I took a little break. I’m giving myself six months to start developing discipline.

Now, what do I want to be disciplined in? Two things in particular: my health and my relationship with the Lord. Because I’m not taking classes this quarter, I have all my mornings free. I’ve been on this schedule for the last week and I already feel a lot better. I have time to go running in the morning and have times with Jesus during and after my workout. I’m not confined to the pressures of classes and homework, where my health and relationship with the Lord would be pushed aside. I have a solid amount of time to spend on myself, something that doesn’t happen too often.

As I create time for these two aspects I want to be disciplined in, I realized that I’m being obedient to what God has called for my life. This is the same call he has for your life too! 1 Corinthians 9:24,25 (NIV) says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” I look at this and see discipline as training. I must be dedicated to keeping discipline as a part of my daily routine. It’s not easy, but it’s well worth it. We must strive for things that have importance and long-term value. I see that in the two areas in which I’m working on.

Now, how are you doing? Is your pace sustainable? What should be cut out or added to your schedule? Ask these questions to someone who knows you well. Be willing to see how God reveals himself. Praying for your hearts, friends!

Author: Nicole Presley

In our Bible study last night, our group read and discussed Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In chapter two he talks about the humility of Christ. Check this out…

Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV):

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

My car broke down this week. I had to pay my mechanic hundreds of dollars to put a new starter in it. My normal reaction to a situation like that would be…stress, anxiety, fear, anger, and entitlement. I just bought my car a year ago! It shouldn’t be breaking yet! BUT…The Lord reminded me that when I look at everything through the lens of eternity, replacing the starter in my car isn’t a big deal. He provided the money that I needed to be able to pay for it and gave me peace and humility when I didn’t have a car for a week. In our culture we have a sense of entitlement that is engrained into our thought process. We start to think that we “deserve” things and we put our needs before other people’s needs. So I praise Jesus, who was and is and always will be God, for making himself NOTHING, because the Lord gently knocks me to my knees and humbles me every time I am reminded of that.

Last night, our small group decided to pray through verse 3 this week and our goal is to pray that verse at least 4 times a day. I’d invite you to join us. The Lord’s already showing me my selfishness and I’ve only been praying for humility for 12 hours! We are so blessed that our God set the example and lived out what He calls us to live out. I’m so thankful for Jesus!

Author: Whitney Elliott

Surfing is one of those sports that requires a lot of patience and it is also one that teaches you the importance of having a patient mentality.

For years I have watched other, wiser and more experienced surfers as they sit and stare at the sea for eons before entering the water. Or they paddle into a wave and then suddenly stop right before the wave begins to curve, allowing the wave to pass right under them. It boggled my brains! I just jump in and paddle out and then once out, I paddle into as many potential waves as possible in the hopes of catching one. It’s only been until recently (in my very scattered years of surfing) that I’ve realized what these other surfers were doing. They were waiting, watching, feeling, for the right opportunity. They were being patient. Just as I am now learning, these surfers have learned to read the ocean, to decipher the underlying currents, and look for the right waves. In doing so these surfers use their now knowledge, gained from both personal experience and through the teaching of others, how to determine the best paddling out routes and which waves are best to paddle into. Ultimately, their few minutes of waiting allows these surfers to save the most amount of energy for the right and ultimately the better waves; and of course, this means that more times than not their time spent in the water is not just efficient but more enjoyable.

The practicing of patience also applies to our life of faith. One of my close girlfriends told me the other day that our faith is often, if not always, very intertwined with our level of patience. That really, we can’t have faith without patience, and vice-versa. As we grow in our faith, we find ourselves more and more learning and waiting to hear God’s whisper to say, “Yes, this way is best.”  As we learn, we often want to jump at the first thing that appears good, but often times what appears to be good isn’t always God’s best. And when we jump too quickly on these good things, our impatience leads to hurt, frustration, and confusion. Especially when certain situations, events, or relationships don’t pan out the way we intended or thought that they should. Sometimes, it’s not even the situation that was wrong, but simply the timing or maybe even the other people involved. Waiting and being patient for God’s best is crucial.

This is not to say that every situation that has ended up bad, or hurtful or incomplete was a result of impatience. Life happens and we are human. It even happens in surfing – the best waves can sometimes end up being the deadliest. And God, who plans all things, uses every situation for our ultimate good and his ultimate glory. But as we learn to wait patiently for God’s best timing, our hearts become less distracted and hurt by the wrong situations, and more of our energy can be poured out into doing what is best.

The practicing of patience works. In surfing, the few extra minutes of standing on the beach or waiting for the right wave not only saves my energy but helps me avoid the torment of being pounded by and engulfed into the wrong wave. In life, the more patient we learn to be, the more our hearts and our minds are clear to see, do, and experience what is truly God’s best.

Author: Emily “EMJ” James

I remember the first time I stepped foot into the meeting room of a campus ministry I’ve never been to. I brought my friend along for mutual support and almost instantly, thousands of questions and anxieties began compounding through my head as the night drew nearer.

For some reason, when you’re walking into a new church or Christian gathering, where you know nobody and nothing about how things are going to be, your senses become heightened to an extremely sensitive awareness of every minuscule detail: the body language of others around you, the choice of worship songs, which Bible verses are plastered across the bulletin, what people are engaging in conversation about, or the general dress code.

You start reading into everything, become overly critical, and find yourself judging other’s actions even when they haven’t particularly done anything wrong towards you. When I finally mustered the courage to walk through the doors of the classroom, I first noticed that nobody rushed at me and my friend with open arms, a loud cheer bursting from their lips, with an eager excitement to learn every single aspect of our lives.

After the night concluded, I instantly noticed that nobody talked to us after the service was over, with my friend and I awkwardly glancing around in hopes we would be spotted. We soon ended up migrating to the door and I literally stepped in the middle of the doorway, contemplating whether we should make more of an effort to get to know others. The desire quickly vanished; we stepped out into the dark, and never came back.

These experiences are memories you don’t forget. Yet, the irony of this experience was that my friend and I were involved with another campus ministry where we were charged with an underlying responsibility of welcoming newcomers…and that was a responsibility I wasn’t doing well to uphold. And even though some of these newcomer feelings were unreasonable and almost foolish, you find yourself unable to think rationally when put in a situation like that.

From then on, I vowed to welcome every single new person that walked into our fellowship room. And yet, this passionate zeal slowly diminished over time, occasionally popping up its curious head through a regret or vague longing to approach the awkward bystander, but shortly disappearing through a myriad of excuses.

I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum, and it’s safe to say that it’s challenging to introduce yourself as a new person or greet a newcomer. It’s very challenging. There’s always a feeling of unease putting yourself out there, as if the person’s acceptance or outright rejection (at least it seems to be that way) defines entirely who you are.

So we’re careful to reveal ourselves. We make easy, comfortable chit-chat that doesn’t go beyond the “I’m good” response to “How are you?”. We keep our guard up, cautiously treading through conversations as if everyone was out to get us, a calculated “trust” that ends up pushing others away. We fear rejection and awkwardness, so we stick to those that we’re close toand unintentionally seek to divide into cliques rather than build community.

I’ve definitely been guilty of committing the surface level responses to other’s genuine questions that desire to get to know me better. And yet God is revealing that this is not how it should be. There is something deep within all of us that screams for a sense of community, a community that God has designed for us to encourage, edify, love and support one another as we grow together as one body, regardless of being a newcomer or someone who’s been going to the same gathering for years.=

I stumbled across a passage in Romans that addresses this very issue and provides a foundation for us as we learn to selflessly welcome others:

Romans 15:5-7 says:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

God desires us to live in such peace and harmony with each other that we can truly be one voice that glorifies Him. And this is exactly how we can achieve this sense of harmony and joy: by welcoming everyone, just as Christ has welcomed us into His family.

I’m reminded of Romans 5:8, that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is how deep His love reaches, that although we completely rejected Him, deliberately sinned against Him and outright pushed Him away, He still loved us through it all, and died a gruesome death to wipe all those transgressions away. How then, can we not even show just a glimpse of that love to new people around us?

With a profound awareness of our value in Christ, may we learn to step outside of our comfort bubbles, push through the pain of the unknown, and walk in love and grace, extending Christ’s love to others.

Author: Micah Shyu