What we seek for...

I was just hanging out with my buddy, Dan, talking about what we learned on summer project and about trusting in God rather than in other things or even ourselves. So often, we forget that God is in ultimate control and we trust in other things and people to fulfill the emptiness in our lives. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek God first and He will provide all the things we need. We should not trust in our grades or drugs and alcohol or our social circles because they can't fulfill us. I think about how people miss memorable times in their life (like project) and they think if only they could go back to that temporary fulfillment, but they don't remember where the source of that fulfillment came from. It is very important as we start this next school year that we remember to seek God FIRST and trust Him to fulfill all of our needs.

This mobile tidbit is brought to you by the funkyjunky himself...

-Ray

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Reflections on Chicago Summer Project

The following is a reflection on one of the lessons I've learned during my time at the Chicago Summer Project...

When I got accepted to Chicago Summer Project, I asked God to show me how to see myself from His perspective. Here is what I saw first. I saw an oddly shaped image. It had a pretty cool pattern on it, but I had no idea what its purpose was as a piece of art. Then God told me to take a step back, closer to where he was. So I took a step back and I saw a small group of these images. Each one had a unique shape, and although some of them may have had a similar pattern, no two images were exactly the same. Looking a little more intently, I noticed that some of the shapes could possibly line up with the sides of the other shapes to reveal that their patterns would mesh together. "Oh, so this must be a puzzle and I'm represented by one of these pieces. Cool!"

So I immediately started looking for pieces that go with mine. I found a piece here and there that match and I started to realize more and more that I am actually represented by several puzzle pieces that fit together somehow. So in my efforts to piece together this puzzle of myself, I started searching for the best arrangement of the pieces, but I failed because I didn't have any idea what the final picture looked like. I asked what my final picture looks like and God told me He didn't want to spoil it and I was not ready, but he would give me a hint to how my picture fits. So I took another step back and realized that there is a bigger picture that my picture fits into. With every step back that I took, I realized just how big this piece of art is and it got overwhelming, so I went back to where I was and started again at trying to piece together this picture of myself.

I often got frustrated at this daunting task because the pieces frequently didn't fit where I placed them and I ended up with a mess that didn't look like anything special, and my picture didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the bigger picture. After trying to no avail, I gave up and asked God why it seemed like my picture was not coming together quite right. It was at that moment that I was reminded that this is God's puzzle to piece together and that only He knows exactly what the puzzle is supposed to look like when it's finished. Instead of trying to piece together parts of the puzzle on my own, I should completely trust that God knows how to piece everything together and that he won't place any of my puzzle pieces where they don't belong.

So I stood back and let God step forward so He could start fixing the mistakes I made with the puzzle and continue working on the final picture that included me in it the way He intended.

Now obviously, I didn't close my eyes and see a puzzle all of a sudden, but this imagery represents how, over the course of this project, God reaffirmed my identity in Him. I am unique and valuable to God because He made me for a specific purpose as part of His master plan. Part of my uniqueness is my desire to be social, and there is a purpose for it in His big picture. However, when I try in my own effort to define my purpose in life and where I fit in, I inevitably make mistakes and end up frustrating myself. Alternatively, if I turn to Him and trust Him with the entire picture (not just the parts of the picture external to me, but me included), then I can find my true value to His picture overall. I can know for certain that I will fulfill my purpose and that I will fit in with my surroundings, the surroundings that He fits me in specifically. I won't have to feel like an outcast or like I don't matter, and all my affirmation will be out of the purest love only God can provide. And with that love, I can be healed of my own hurts and I can learn to show that same pure love to others and be more effective in sharing the Gospel of Christ.

My prayer is that I always remember to trust God for EVERYTHING including the fulfillment needs of my heart, not just the external stuff. I also pray that this could be an encouragement and a challenge to all who read this to always put your trust in God to be your fulfillment and your provider. God loves you better than anyone else ever can or could. (He should be able to, He is pure love in His very nature.) Seek Him for everything and His love and grace will be sufficient for you.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
--Matthew 6:33

-Ray

For the Love of God... Literally

So I just finished with some quiet time where I was reading 1 Corinthians 12 about the spiritual gifts. Then I read chapter 13 about love. For some reason, that chapter really impacted me. I realized that in my life (specifically with the insecurities I struggle with here on project), I wasn't fully realizing the totality of God's love towards me. I know about His love and know what it meant on a salvation level, but living according to that same love was lacking. So I meditated on chapter 13 and everything it mentioned as a characteristic of true love. Then I was led to Romans 12, which talks about being transformed as a servant of God to live out His love. As a result, I am feeling challenged to make it a point to concentrate on God's love towards me and everything that entails. Secondly, as I fully consider that I also need to make it a point to live my life in accordance to that love by loving others the way God loves me, which includes things like being patient, being selfless, and being humble in EVERY area of my life. I must say that this was a very refreshing experience.

In other news, I can't believe I have two weeks left. On campus, we are trying to wrap up all our big ministry efforts to reach out, and we are continuing our everyday efforts up until the last day. I pray that they all go well, and that when we are done for the summer the Chicago Metro CRU team has a new base to start from. I also pray that over these last two weeks we students continue to make efforts to get to know each other closely and to learn from each other. I also pray that everything we have learned and experienced is applied in our daily lives when we move back home and go back to school.

-Ray

So the staff have officially been gone a week and things are still running smoothly! I didn't expect anything to fall apart, but I just think it's awesome that God is using us all in the capacity that He is. In the past week, our weekly meetings have undergone some slight changes, but they have been for the better. We are feeling more recharged on Monday night meetings and the Wednesday night meetings are flowing a bit more smoothly. One thing to note, however, since everyone has more responsibilities, we are actually busier than we were before. With that in mind, I am constantly praying that we just continue to actively seek time to spend in the Word and in prayer.

This week has also been pretty interesting because I have been volunteering at a VBS at Park Community Church. It's been a great time filler considering I haven't had much work. I am really happy that I've gotten this opportunity. I have been working with a class of preschool kids and that has been very fun, yet very taxing on my energy. Just imagine "Mr. Ray! Mr. Ray! Airplane again!" and "Tackle Mr. Ray!" each day during activity times. However draining it is, I would still say it has been worth it. I can just see God working through me in the lives of these kids.

Well, that's all for now... Continue to keep the usual gamut of prayer requests on your list.
Thanks...

Ray

It's been a while... I know

I want to start by apologizing for not keeping up with this as frequently as I should. It has been 2 weeks since I last posted an update. I honestly haven't been spending all that much time on my computer. Nevertheless, I am alive and things are going well.

First off, the ministries are still chugging along, with maybe one hiccup here or there. The English Club at IIT is doing well and has been the scene for some really good conversations with international students studying here in Chicago. That has become a weekly meeting now. We are also trying to follow up over the phone with students who filled out surveys over the last couple weeks. In addition to sharing the Gospel with non-Christians, we are looking for some Christians to mentor so that the ministry at IIT can continue to grow strong after we leave. At Malcolm X College, things have been a little rougher. We have been able to survey a few students, and we are initiating some good conversations there, but some red tape is working against us in setting up a formal survey at the moment. However, we are still looking to initiate some good conversations there in the meantime, and our ultimate goal is to get 7-8 interested students together to form a recognized group at that school to at least start a small Bible study, and eventually a fully functioning Impact movement.

On the home front, God has been working so much in my spirit. Over the past 2 weeks, I have been coming to terms with a lot of ugliness that has been hiding in my life and learning what it means to continually find and turn over those issues to God. As part of that process, I have been studying what it means practically to live life by the Spirit. Through these lessons and through insights from some of the students and staff here, my interactions with other people as well as my self-esteem and my mindset have begun growth in the Lord, and while it is very tough to face my own faults, I am enjoying the benefits. I am starting to see some visible changes in how I approach situations. I am also growing closer to my friends and family in Christ.

If you would like to pray for me, please remember to pray for the people I am following up with, including Doug. Also pray for my continued growth in walking with the Spirit, as I believe that we always have room for more growth in the Spirit. Also pray that the ministries at all of the colleges that we are involved with experience continued growth and that many are reached. Finally, but certainly not the least on this list, please pray that as our staff leave and turn over the rest of this mission to the students, we will all continue to seek after God and allow Him to lead each step we take.

We now have the second half of this project ahead of us. I've heard that the most fun and the best of times on these summer projects happen after the staff leave. I pray that this is true for us, and that not only do we continue to minister to the students on the campuses, but that we minister to the needs of each other. I pray that we all take our responsibilities seriously, while allowing for God to work through us. I pray that we all can experience some serious growth in the Spirit and be able to shine so brightly for God that everyone around us will be drawn to God. And finally, I pray that the rest of this project just ROCKS!!! (I'm sure that it will!!!!)

-Ray

This past Monday, I started my summer job in demolition. It was really cool! I got to tear down a couple walls. How awesome is that? The only thing about it is that the work right now is inconsistent because it depends on the number of jobs coming in. As of right now, I will only have two days worked this week. Not a lot, but things are supposed to pick up. Depending on how many hours it picks up to, I may be looking for another part time gig.

In other news, I journaled for the first time this week. We had a scheduled extended quiet time with God and it was pretty cool. I love doing those, but I've never really journaled during quiet time. I've never really been a person that's big on journaling and taking notes and things like that, but I decided to just write down what I was feeling and write out a prayer in response to the thoughts that I wrote down. Writing all that out really helped me to see a little more clearly where I was and what questions I had and then concentrate on turning those things over to God. Along that line, I've been really thinking more about the areas of my walk where I still struggle, including my interactions with others and the relationships I form. Let's just say that I have a lot of things that need to be turned over in prayer.

On another note, the campus ministries are making good progress. At both Malcolm X College and Illinois Institute of Technology, we will be doing spiritual interest and spiritual leadership surveys this week, which is pretty cool. We will also be starting an English Club for international students to practice their English while conversing with us about different things. I anticipate that going pretty well.

Before I sign off, I just want to ask everyone for their prayers. Please keep in mind the three things in this post (job, personal spiritual growth, and campus ministries) plus everything in the previous posts, specifically the people I have tried to reach out to so far. Your prayers are very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

Updates for this week

I realize that I haven't kept this up as much as I would have liked. However, this week was pretty busy. Here's my attempt to break it up into major things that happened.

For those who don't know (which might be most people), I am playing the drumset for the worship band here on project. This has been the second week of playing together and so far, I like the chemistry of our group. We love to come together to worship the Lord, even to the point where we have had late night rehearsals when we are all dead tired. However, in the midst of being tired, we managed to have practice Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday evening before Relate on Wednesday night.

This week, Erin (one of the girls on project) and I went to Malcolm X College during campus time. Our goal was to talk to a contact about setting up a time and place for surveying the summer students about starting an Impact movement in the fall. I could tell God was at work because we got there and had a long conversation with one of the faculty members about the survey and about the need for a Christian student group at Malcolm X College. I could tell that the way was being laid for us, and while there would be some challenges, starting this Impact movement is very likely to happen. I'm hopeful that God will pull enough students together to make this a reality. Pray that next week's surveys go well.

I got an email this week from Anne, another person I talked to at Millenium Park two Sundays ago. She was also interested in the conversation and she also wishes to continue talking about Christ and Christianity over the internet. Pray with me that what I share with her and with Doug will be from the Lord and that He will draw their hearts closer to Him so they may come to know salvation.

This past Wednesday, I also had some quality time with my discipler. Over lunch, we talked about the importance of being open and honest with fellow believers, especially here at CSP because we have such a short time together. This conversation was really great for me because it helped me to see that I still carry a lot of junk in my life that I try to hide, including issues with trusting people with my feelings. I know that there are definitely some people that it's not smart to open up with, but I'm now being challenged to trust God on a whole new level when it comes to deciding who to open up to. In the event that brothers in Christ are trying to get to know me in order to help me grow significantly in Christ (such as now), I need to trust in God to be my protection because when I don't let people know what's going on out of fear of being hurt, I make it hard for God to use them in my life. I also make it hard for God to use me in the lives of the other guys around me. This is gonna take some serious faith and heavenly discernment, so pray with me that God works in my heart and transforms me.

This entire week has been nothing but exhausting, mostly because of the job hunt. Our staff has been taking great efforts to assist us in our job hunt, so we have been meeting at 8am every morning as a group to share some information and pray, then breaking up to go out. As a result of so many 8am mornings in combination with long days walking around the city looking for jobs and late nights loaded with activities, I have been physically exhausted of all my energy. And yet, I keep getting up and pressing on each day. I know that the energy that I feel when pressing on is given by God because if it were up to me, I would have stopped a long time ago. However, pressing on by faith has been rewarded! I was talking to one of the Chicago staff on Thursday after coming in for the day from the hunt, and he told me that he has a contact (who happens to be a Christian friend) that is looking for some guys to do some demolition work. He said that he wouldn't be able to guarantee consistent work for the entire summer, but jobs like that always come up, so it's likely that he will be able to have available work all summer. He also said that we'd be starting on Monday! So I said, "COOL! I'll take it!" My prayers had been answered. I remember praying specifically that day as I was looking for jobs, telling God that it's all in His hands because I have nothing and never really did. Even though it seems really bleak because not many people are hiring for just the summer, I was going to keep my faith in Him because I know that He provides and that He has a plan. And that day, I got His answer! The Lord is awesome.

So now you know why I haven't posted in a while. Yes, there were plenty of things to post about, but little time to do so. And now that I have, you guys can see just how awesome God has been this week.

What a beautiful day...

Today was really cool. My group went to River City Church for the first time, which is the church we are assigned to for the summer. The service was really interesting because it accomodates four different ethnic groups and worship is done in two different languages, which is pretty cool. The message was really good too. The pastor talked about the parable of the wheat and the weeds (tares). I'm really excited for what the rest of the summer will look like at that church. Later on, my action group met up for dinner at an authentic mexican restaurant, and despite our lack of Spanish skills and their lack of good English skills, everything was good. Then we played ultimate frisbee. Now I am preparing for another day of job searching. Keep praying for that and for God to just move me and the ministry dramatically this week.

Interesting day...

Today, I went on campus at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to try to find some students to talk to. The goal was to try and scope out where students spent a lot of time, what kind of things and events are available, and just generally finding out good information that would be helpful in starting a new ministry targeted for the students at IIT. We didn't find many students, but I did have one conversation. The conversation didn't go very far, but it wasn't an unpleasant one.

For the rest of the afternoon, I spent time with my mentor/discipler. We got lunch and talked about some things one-on-one. The conversation we had was pretty cool. It was refreshing to be reminded about the essence of our heart as human, and how our sinful hearts need to be changed and refocused by God in order to affect change in our sinful behaviors. Just focusing on the fact that our hearts are the single root of our desires and actions really spoke to me during that conversation.

I got an email from Doug today. He replied saying that he enjoyed our conversation on Sunday, and that he is open to more conversation about the Gospel. I am praying that God really works in his heart and that he uses me to be able to share with Doug. Keep Doug and the condition of his heart in your prayers also.

Signing off...

Ray

Busy as a bee...

I've been pretty busy lately. I definitely haven't had much time to post stuff up between this past Friday and now, but I'm thinking that should clear up a little. Much of my time has been doing things to get acquainted with the city and finding a job. I've also had some opportunities to talk to some people about Christ this past Sunday at Millennium Park. (Three days in and already at it! I'm excited.)

Speaking of which, I talked to a guy from Brazil named Doug and his friend, also from Brazil, named Anne. They both have some basic knowledge about Christianity and they both seem very interested in the message of the Gospel, but a couple things seem to be getting in the way. Doug himself said he's still trying to see for himself if a works-based salvation is any different from a faith-based salvation, and which one is better. I'm looking forward to talking to him more in the near future. Keep him in your prayers. Tomorrow, I go into campus so pray that God opens up more hearts to the Gospel. (I found out that UIC is not the only campus we will be reaching, but actually one of several. Pray that God does awesome things and starts lasting movements at all of these locations.)

I'm also growing in my personal faith. Since I've been here, I've had time to see just how greatly God works in other people's lives as well as in my own. I've also been challenged to continue fighting daily the things that are/have been a struggle for me and hand them over to God because He is my strength and deliverer. I'm praying that I continue to grow and be challenged to walk in Him.

Signing off...

Ray

And it starts...

Man, I don't know how to really express this excitement right now. I don't know if that's because of a lack of a proper outlet to do so or if it's because the time is 5:38am and I had the equivalent of 4 hours of sleep on a couch. Either way, my stuff is packed and I'm ready to get this show on the road... literally. Roadtrip, anyone? ;-)

Ray