Celebrate good times, C'mon!

This has absolutely nothing to do with what I have to say, and everything to do with nothing. It was put on my heart to put in the title spot.

Greetings Earthlings. I've been brought back to you from the planet SAU. Now usually when an abduction happens, it's no good. I am pleased to tell you, that even though I left you for quite some time, my experiences were beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

Now, one would think that after seven abductions I would get used to it, but even though I go to the same place, I never come back the same. Each time is a new and different experience, some better than others.

okay..it's too late to be creative anymore...

Hi. I just finished my seventh semester at Spring Arbor University. Best.One.Yet. Why? three words:

Iron

Sharpens

Iron

Remember in proverbs where it says Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance" (27:17)? I'm reminded of this everyday. My life was a dull knife. Though others perceptions of me seemed one way, my life was lived with temptations. It was filled with an absence of God because of my own laziness, and it was lived squelching the Holy Spirit of what it wanted to do. My reputation on campus as a leader, worship major, has-it-together type person got me in trouble because Satan tricked me into thinking that I was living the perfect life. But when I screwed up, I was at the lowest of lows. Nobody saw that side of me. I wanted nobody to see that side of me. I was okay with it being my own secret.

This summer I learned about how powerful prayer is. There is no freaking way I could have done it without to holy spirit moving through me. It reminds me of the verse in James that talks about we need to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other, because the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective! Shoo, boy! That is some thick stuff.

Listen! People! I beg of you. Get some accountability. I am overjoyed and reaping in the joy of the Lord! Though it's hard to confess, it's so refreshing. You guys, the burden is not on you, if you allow Jesus, and your brothers (if you're a guy) and sisters (if you're a gal) to take care of it. Obedience to God is not something we can master by ourselves. That's why he gives us a community, a church to use as our army. We cannot, I repeat CANNOT get through alone.

If it sounds like I'm begging you, it probably means I am. So many people get caught up in their reputation, that they forget about their salvation. Here are some guidlines I followed

1.) Someone of the same age-ish
2.) Someone of the same gender. I cannot stress to you how important that one is. Your girlfriend doesn't count.
3.) A Christian (duh)
4.) Someone who knows you reallllllly really well.

That's the biggest thing that happened this semester. I'm more joyful now, and I've found it easier to submit to Jesus if I know my burdens have been taken away. A lot of other stuff has happened, but nothing comparable. I'm too tired to tell you the rest.

Suckers.

Love,
Marc

"There are only so many times you can hear something about yourself before you begin forgetting if it's even true or not. Before it starts leaving some scars. Even by the end of eighth grade. I feel like I could trace those scars all over my body. Like I had been cut to pieces and put back together again all wrong.

Scars from the pain of feeling unloved.

Scars from the pleasure that I sought and found empty.

Scars from the possibility that life would be this way forever."

-Wasabi Gospel

I read this today and it hit me hard. The scars from my past come up to my brain everyday. There isn't a day in my life where I don't think about my past. Those stereotypes that people place on me, the things people told me that I couldn't help but believe, the pleasure that I sought that only left me empty at the end of the day.

There are scars all over my body from these things I've done, and these ways I've lived, but the redemptive mercy of Jesus covers those.

This was the best, hardest summer of my life. I've never been pulled in so many directions, had to make so many decisions (HARD decisions), seen Satan work so much, and I've never had to have conversations that were harder then the ones I had this summer.

HOWEVER, I've never heard so many encouraging stories, I've never seen so much growth in people, and I've never seen how incredibly God works through prayer.

This summer I felt very alone. I felt empty a lot, and I felt like I couldn't continue a lot of days. That was a DIRECT result of not finding accountability. Brothers, and sisters, I'll be honest with you. There is no way you can live a committed, pure relationship with Jesus Christ without finding that person to hold you accountable to the temptations that you are faced with every day. I'm not even saying there is a chance, because there isn't.

Yesterday I had a conversation that I will never forget. An open, vulnerable, conversation that created a bond. Now, it was one of the hardest conversations I've had because no one wants to admit their struggles to each other, but because of this, I feel accountable to this man, and stopped myself from screwing up today. That's what it's like living with the Body of Christ. That is what the church is all about--keeping each other pure so that the message of Jesus can be effectively shared with the world.

God is so freaking good.

Authenticity

Recently, I've had the privilege to interview Brad Moss for an assignment in my Church Leadership class, and I have gained a TON of wisdom from not only this assignment, but just from him in general. The biggest piece of advice he gave me while he was being interviewed was that he was finally enjoying people for who they are, not who we expect them to be.

One of the biggest struggles I've faced in recent years, especially here at Spring Arbor is finding and fostering relationships, and learning that it is a two way streak. I can be as intentional as I want, but if the other person just doesn't want the relationship with me, I have to let it go. I have learned that there is absolutely nothing I can do if the other person doesn't want what I want in the relationship. I'm not even talking about dating relationships right now, just to clarity.

Authenticity is the key to life
Authenticity forces relationships to foster
Relationships thrive when authentic
That is when pure, deep love for others comes.

what a great lesson for me to learn.


Speaking of Authentic; here are some legit people who I've befriended as of late:

that is the only picture I could find of them together. Meet Michael and Kyle. Two blessings, let me tell you. I've had the privilege of invading their room at least once a day, and getting to know them. Two authentic people seeking a deep, loving relationship with the Creator. I've learned so much just from being around them this last month or so, and I can't wait to see what else I'll learn from them.

Two neato people, thats for sure. I love them both.

Here's to all of you readers. I love ya! Sorry it's been so long. If I wrote out everything I'm learning, I'd have a book. I don't like to read, so why would I write a book?

Vegas 5

Hey!

Today was such a great day! It started out with seeing a good friend from last year, Cynthia! She works with Burmese and Bhutanese refugees in Las Vegas, and she shared her story and a little bit about what she does now. After that we set out to two different Club Christ sites. I went back to the one from the first day and got to tutor a kid named Xaiver. It was so great. Here is a picture of him:

It was such an honor to do that. After we got back from that, the team went out to an authentic Mexican restaurant that looked very different and had great food! Here is that restaurant.

Then we headed to Freemont Street which is the old strip and had a great time! We had a dance party in the middle of everyone, and got to spend a little night on the town. It was so great!

Vegas 4

Today was neat. We started the day going to school! Yup! Each one of us was in a different classroom observing for the entire day. Melissa is a teacher there that is on fire for Jesus, and wants to impact people in her school. We got to hear stories about students she impacts, but there is one issue. It's a public school, and so she can't flat out say the name of Jesus there. So she brought us to observe in classrooms and maybe if we got the chance we could give students a little hope. It's a title I school which means that at least 70% of students are on free and reduced lunch. They're freaking poor. The high school they feed to has a 50% drop rate. So just to go into the schools, talk to them about college and give them hope for a future was enough reason to go to that school. I got to observe in an Orchestra class. It was really neat to go into an Orchestra class because I'm so involved with music, but never orchestra so it was really cool to learn a little bit myself. I also got to lead the class in some percussion exercises. 

That brings me to what we did next. The picture below is Katie Green and Mallory Barkholz. There is a girl named Keisha who started a ministry called "Blessed." Keisha is a christian because of Melissa's ministry at the school. These two girls were able to give their testimonies, and I had the priveledge to help lead worship for the night. It was such a great night.

Vegas 3

Today was our chill day. I got to stare at this all day:

Not only did I get to stare at them, but I got to climb them. Yes, I climbed mountains. Actually, Red Rock. After we did that, we went over to the Dodd's house. They are the people in charge of the African Refugee ministry that goes on here, so they talked a little about the ministry and what we'll be doing. You'll have to wait and see. :)

Tomorrow we go to school. I get to work with an orchestra teacher all day. I'm excited about that.
Short and sweet, but it was a nice relaxing day.

Vegas 2

Today was great. So freaking great. We woke up and had a guys breakfast. That was really neat. Here's the thing about Vegas; it's lust hell. Seriously, girls everywhere, and they aren't wearing very much. So since today was our first day walking to strip, the guys started the morning talking about purity and how to maintain it here.

After that, Wes, Theo, Ethan, Steven and I set off for Caliente Youth Center where Juvenile's from Las Vegas go. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was about two and a half hours away in the middle of no where. We pull in, and start setting up sound equipment for the rapper for the worship service. He rode with us. His name is Twzo (twih-zoh), and started to pray over every seat in the place. Once the kids arrived, we started to greet them. These kids were here for some type of felony, but they were the most well behaved young men I've ever met. Seriously. They, of course, loved Twzo. Then a couple went up to lead worship and then Evan, Vanessa Vann's boo went up to preach the word, and let me tell you. He BROUGHT IT. He spoke about marriage, and he was so transparent and vulnerable with the people there. So neat. Then my favorite part. We got to break off into groups, and pray for people specifically. Here is a picture of the prayer card I wrote on.

 

In case you didn't see, three of them have babies on the way, and all three of them want to be good fathers when they get out, and to get a job and their lives back in shape. How inspiring.

After this we went to a guy named Joseph's house so that he could talk to us a little bit about human trafficking and then we went on a prayer walk along the strip. I had the privalegge of walking with KT and Katie. I love praying, but I honestly can't tell you what my reactions are because I haven't fully processed them yet. 

Here is the group from Caliente. So great. Seriously. My life will never be the same after this experience. God is SO good.