Depth of Insight

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."
-Philippians 1:9-10

First off, new blog, so welcome.

I'm on a journey. To grow more in Christ. To root myself on the teachings of Jesus Christ, God who came to Earth as man, and what God says in His Gospel, and apply to my life, my emotions, reactions, experiences, and every sunrise and sunset seen by my two blue eyes. And to let Him chisel me, from a mold of this world into the creation I am supposed to be.

Here you see me passing by on the road I am traveling to God, to eternity.

One of the struggles I've been having is as I attend college at WKU and as I am more and more heavily involved with the Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM), I am still in a college environment. There are highly intelligent people with a vast knowledge of theology, and I don't quite understand it. That's some of the frustration, but where I am highly frustrated is everyone makes aspects of the BCM and of following Christ so darn complicated, it's stressful. It isn't just with following Christ, but on the college environment as well, simply trying to have a conversation with someone... I'm always attacked with this "What do you mean?" question. I wish people would open their ears and listen. I am a simple man. I keep things simple, I keep my vocabulary lowered, but just high enough to get by, so that I can understand what is going on around me.

I'm beginning to wonder if God has just given me the gift of being able to understand a conversation.

A discipleship group brother once told me how he loved that I kept things so simple. I mean, why not?

Another verse comes to mind, however. "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God." Hebrews 6:1. I use this with Hebrews 6:2 to say I don't believe in denomination. Twofold, I believe this is a callout to keep Christ simple... but don't keep the relationship one has with Christ simple.

This isn't original, but look at a caterpillar. Then look what happens after the caterpillar comes out of the cocoon, and it is a butterfly. I cannot fathom the changes that take place inside that cocoon. The changes that God makes in one's life, if He's allowed into that person unconditionally, are unfathomable. If one studies God's Word, and has a clear basis of why Jesus is The Way instead of the claimed religions of this world, wouldn't that be a highly intellectual feat? I'm pretty sure that is who I am surrounded by in the BCM. I haven't reached that point yet. I believe in Jesus, because I believe in God, and that is because I do not believe our bodies, our world, or even our universe was started and exists without divine intervention; I cannot see how likewise would be possible, and I cannot see how even a single cell would "work" without God. Now I am learning what worship is, and the effective ways to worship and what a worship service is all about. I've learned some on service, on devotion, on discipleship, on faith. This journey... has just started.

So, what is my point? I shouldn't settle for the simple. Christ's commandment for us was very simple, to love God above all others and love our neighbors as we would love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). And if I am to love like this, people can see the simple message of Christ within me (John 13:35). THAT should remain simple. That is a large portion of my life. But when it's just me and God, or when it's me, an intelligent person who knows God's Word and God Himself, and God, that's when I can dig in deep and really learn all the details. But... I also have to remember God didn't intend for us to know everything about Him. Otherwise, I think we'd all be scarred and destroyed by His Glory. Anyway, it's all a process, and I'm trying to learn.

I can feel God chisel away at me. Sometimes, it hurts. Sometimes, it is wonderful. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for me on down the road.

See you next time.