CSU Ministry In South Padre – Beach Reach 09

There are representatives from tons of different schools here in Padre. But we are very surprised by the huge showing of students from CSU. Last night we drove a number of CSU students around and were able to connect with them in a greater way than we could ever do while we were in Fort Collins.

There was an incident a few nights ago that really was eye opening for our team. There is a girl from CSU that really found herself a bad situation by drinking way too much. She was carried out of one of the clubs and one of our Timberline vans happened to be right outside of the club. The guy who carried her out handed her to me and I pulled her into one of our vans. A few of our girls were in the van and recognized who this was, they knew her from back home. The van took her back to the hotel and was going to leave her there with her friends but something in their heart knew they couldn’t just leave her there. We have a ton of Samantha Spady cards with us that warn people of the signs of alcohol poisoning and the history we have with the Sam Spady incident has really heightened our team’s awareness when it comes to alcohol poisoning. One girl from our team decided that it is better to be safe than sorry and called the ambulance. The paramedics said that it was a good thing that we called them, she definitely was in danger but they were certain that she would be ok. I am really glad that our team listened to that small still voice in their heart prompting them to call.

We have also met a few guys and gals from the Greek system on campus at CSU and one of the guys has expressed interest in helping start a Bible Study at his fraternity.

God really is doing some amazing things here. We have 2 days of ministry left on the island and we are certain that God is not finished and that He is ready to do greater things through those that are willing to be used by him.

You Are A Prophet!!! – Beach Reach 09

One of the highlights of this trip for me is watching our team work in amazing ways and watch them trust God more and more to lead conversations as they encounter others. One guy in our ministry that has been amazing to watch grow over the last year is Justin Woodiel. Justin is one of our Growth Group leaders and is a faithful prayer warrior for others.

Justin was in the back of a van and a middle eastern group got in. There were 6 of them, 3 girls and 3 guys. One of the guys looked and Justin and said, “I bet you dont know how old I am”. Justin looked at him and said, “Um… I bet your like 28 or something”. The guys jaws DROPPED and his eyes got really big. He started gripping the chair in front of him and started yelling, “THIS GUY IS A PROPHET!! Justin, there is something about you man, you must be from God.” Now, this guy was obviously exaggerating and was influenced by some chemicals he put in his body but what he was saying and doing was starting a relationship with Justin.  Last night Justin ran into the same guy again in the van. This guy sat next to Justin and they started talking for about an hour. The traffic was horrible on the island so it took a long time to get places, good for conversation. I heard Justin and this guy talk about Mohammed the Prophet and Jesus and the different perspectives of Christianity and Islam. Justin really was being stretched in the conversation and as we arrived at their hotel, I heard Justin say, “Lets get together for lunch this week and talk more about this.” As he was getting out of the van I told him that my name was Reza and that I was born in Iran. He asked if I was Muslim and I said that I was not but that I follow Christ and through Him have a relationship with the Father. He said that he REALLY wanted to keep talking about this because he had a lot of questions he would like to talk to us about.

The funniest conversation I had last night was outside the McDonalds on the island. A guy stumbled up to my drivers side window and said, “You people are good. I like what you all do. I am an Atheist but I respect you guys.” I thanked him and said that God loved him. He said that he didn’t believe in God, and I said, “Thats ok, he still believes in you” ( I have heard this response a could of times from others and have always wanted to use it). He looked at me kind of confused and said that I was probably right. Then he said something that kind of made me laugh. This guy who professed to be an Atheist said to me, “God bless you for what you are doing, I wish that I could do it too.” His friends were driving away, but I reflected on the fact that an Atheist just said, “God bless you” to me.

Contentment

We live in a society which makes it very difficult for us to find contentment. There are a lot of things that are competing for our attention in our society. It is easy for us as individuals to loose our sense of identity because of the things that we continue to desire for in life. Have you ever stopped to wonder why we want certain things in life, why we continue to want more and more and more. This is the reason that cell phone companies stay in business. People trade in perfectly good phones for the latest model (I am guilty of this). We are a society that continually wants.

I asked a simple question on Facebook yesterday on my status and I got some great responses. I asked people what they thought Contentment meant and why we as people continually want more and more. Here are some responses:

“I’m finding contentment in being without want and it usually comes when life slows down and I try and simplify and it starts with perspective on life and whats most important not what society says is the most important…..” – Jake

“I think it means being a peace no matter the circumstances that we find ourselves in. Sometime I find God’s peace to be most present when times are most difficult. Getting my eyes off of God and trying to figure it out on my own and not accepting the eternal presence of His Holy Spirit.” – Gary

“I think life in general keeps people from being content. With all the stresses of do this, go here, pick up that, run there…it can get a little overwhelming at times. We forget to slow down, forget to take time for ourselves and God. We forget to rest. Emptying my heart to God and slowing myself down at least once or twice during the day reminds me to keep pursuing contentment. The more I give to Him, the more at peace I feel.” – Sarah

The more that people posted the more it was evident that the reason that we are not content in life is because we lack peace in our hearts. So the question isn’t why don’t we have contentment in our life, the question is why we don’t have peace in our life and what will bring us peace? For those of us who are followers of Christ we find peace in a relationship with the one who is the Prince of Peace. There is a story in scripture when someone asked Jesus why his disciples didn’t fast. Jesus replied, “Do guests at a wedding banquet fast / mourn when the groom is right there with them?” The principle here is how can we want when we have the potential to be in relationship with the One who fills ALL desires in us.

It is only in a relatinoship with Christ that we can find true contentment in our hearts and in life.