Weekly E-letter from United Methodist Campus Ministry

Dear Friends,

 

Tonight we are beginning our new study that looks at questions college students have about what it means to be Christian and whether it is a big deal.  Tonight’s study will look at the question “How do I know if I’m a Christian?”  There are a lot of folks out there that say if you are a Christian you have to be sure.  We’ll look at what being “sure” really means and if there is truly a “litmus test” for Christianity.  Come on down; the answers might surprise you.  For more information on all of our topics this semester, or for directions, please see our website at www.wkywesley.org .

 

 

Sunday is our Super Bowl Party!  Oh yeah!  Show up between 5 – 5:30pm.  We will have free food (homemade chili) and watch the game projected onto the big screen.  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!  Hopefully this year there will be no “wardrobe malfunctions.”

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Over the break I picked up a book by David Chow called The Perfect Program and Other Fairy Tales.  Just like Seven-Up is “the un-cola” this book is the “un-ministry guide.”  It’s written on the premise that we all screw up, and it is one former youth worker’s confessions of his own screw-ups and what he learned from them.  I loved it!  He shares how it was his failures that made him better as a person in ministry with young people, not his successes.  Not that he was content to stay in messes, but that in cleaning them up he learned better and then did better.  This is good news.  And it is the heart of the gospel.  Jesus always is there with grace to offer us second chances.  (And third ones, and fourth ones, and . . . .) 

 

Some of you may have had a really cruddy Fall Semester.  Guess what?  There’s hope!  Start by taking an inventory of choices:  what were the good ones?  What were the really stinky ones?  I have been learning that if I am just really honest with Jesus (and with myself) about my poor choices, then ­He (notice the underlining) gives me the power (i.e. Holy Spirit) to help me change and make new, better, good-er (yes, I wrote it) choices.  Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is still a relatively new semester.  You can still offer it up to Him, asking Him to help you evaluate the way you are living it, and then to offer guidance on a better, good-er way to live it.  You (with the Lord’s help) can turn not only your semester around, your college career around, but your whole life around.

 

The whole message that we, the Wesley Foundation, are here to share with students on campus is this:  God loves you; God has a purpose for your life; as you walk with God that purpose will be fulfilled.  If that is a message you NEED to know more about, check us out.  We are here for you.

 

Blessings,

 

Sami

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

sami@wkywesley.org

270-842-2880

How Can We Learn If We Never Blow It?

Over the break I picked up a book by David Chow called The Perfect Program and Other Fairy Tales. Just like Seven-Up is “the un-cola” this book is the “un-ministry guide.” It’s written on the premise that we all screw up, and it is one former youth worker’s confessions of his own screw-ups and what he learned from them. I loved it! He shares how it was his failures that made him better as a person in ministry with young people, not his successes. Not that he was content to stay in messes, but that in cleaning them up he learned better and then did better. This is good news. And it is the heart of the gospel. Jesus always is there with grace to offer us second chances. (And third ones, and fourth ones, and . . . .)

Some of you may have had a really cruddy Fall Semester. Guess what? There’s hope! Start by taking an inventory of choices: what were the good ones? What were the really stinky ones? I have been learning that if I am just really honest with Jesus (and with myself) about my poor choices, then ­He (notice the underlining) gives me the power (i.e. Holy Spirit) to help me change and make new, better, good-er (yes, I wrote it) choices. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is still a relatively new semester. You can still offer it up to Him, asking Him to help you evaluate the way you are living it, and then to offer guidance on a better, good-er way to live it. You (with the Lord’s help) can turn not only your semester around, your college career around, but your whole life around.

The whole message that we, the Wesley Foundation, are here to share with students on campus is this: God loves you; God has a purpose for your life; as you walk with God that purpose will be fulfilled. If that is a message you NEED to know more about, check us out. We are here for you.

Blessings,

Sami

Do Not Be Afraid

Dear Friends,

Blessings! It’s finally here: the last week of school. Please know that we are praying for you as you take your finals and finish up last minute projects. In fact, let’s pray now:

Dear God, I thank You for this day and all Your mercies. I come before You in the name of Jesus on behalf of all the students this week who are taking finals. Please Lord, be with each one. I don’t know their all their names, but You do. I pray that You will give a sense of peace and direction to them as they study and take tests. For those who don’t test well, I pray that You would calm their nerves and melt their anxiety, that in the midst of taking their finals they will feel clear-headed, unrushed, and will be able to easily recall all that they have studied. I pray that even in the craziness of this week’s work they will still experience the wonder and joy of this Christmas season. You are so good; I know You can do this and more, and I pray for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Don’t forget we are doing free lunches this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Just show up at the Wesley Foundation (Methodist Student Center) at about noon. We are located at 1355 College St., one block down from Cherry Hall on the left. For more info call us.

Christmas Caroling!

This Thursday night we are going Christmas Caroling on Campus. Meet at 6pm at the Wesley Foundation for a warm dinner of homemade stew. Then we will venture out to sing to folks on campus. If you want us to come and sing to you, please e-mail me back! We can also sing to anyone else you want also.

Now for Sami’s Rambling About Jesus:

What stirs in my heart this Christmas season is the admonition that the angels keep echoing throughout the favorite Christmas passages: “Do not be afraid.” Every time they show up with a heavenly message they say these words. They say it to Joseph before telling him it is okay to take the pregnant Mary to be his wife. They say it to Mary before telling her that she will be mother to God’s own Son. They say it to Zechariah before telling him that in his old age he will produce a child who is the prophet that prepares the way for the Messiah. They say it to the poor shepherds watching their flocks in the fields on the night they announce Christ’s birth. They seem to be saying it every time they show up. Why?

Maybe it’s because the human capacity for fear is so relentless. Many scholars have suggested it is because seeing an angel is a fearsome sight. Could be. I’ve never seen an angel before. But I do know that I don’t need an angel to be afraid. Fear can crop up anywhere, anytime, for all kinds of reasons. As I ponder especially the lives of students and the circumstances they face, fear is a familiar companion. So much is uncertain. So much of the future seems to be riding on the performance and decisions of the present. There is always that worry that what is happening now will negatively affect the rest of their lives and will also be impossible to undo. This is specially true this week, when the exams students are taking can make or break their final grades.

If an angel showed up right now in the middle of your dorm room, classroom, study room, or even bathroom, the message would still be the same: “Do not be afraid.” How can this message be said with so much certainty for so many different circumstances? It all has to do with the Child their appearance proclaimed 2000 years ago. Jesus has come to us. He came and lived among us as a human being. He gave His life for us as a perfect offering for the forgiveness of sin. And He lives now resurrected. He lives for us. And He lives in us if we let Him. He wants to take all our fear away. He came to us so that we would know the truth of God’s real presence with us. We never have to face any moment of our lives alone; His forgiveness can cleanse any sin; His power can help us meet any challenge; and His healing love brings us new life morning by morning. Every day is a new invitation to accept the hope, love, and help He gives. He can turn any lemon into lemonade. And know that it will be better than the “Country Time” pink kind.

He just loves us. And His love is with us. And His love makes it possible to overcome anything.

Rest in His love today my friends. I’m going to try to.

Blessings,

Sami

A Christmas Prayer For You

Dear Friends,

It’s beautiful outside, but so cold! Hope you are staying warm. The Lord keeps reminding me that sometimes the warmth we need the most is something to warm the heart. I pray that you have a heart-warming experience this week! We all need one every once in a while.

It’s PARTY TIME!

This Thursday at 7pm is our Christmas party. Just bring a gift (guys bring a guy gift, ladies bring a lady’s gift) that cost between $7-$10 for the “Crazy Santa” gift exchange. We’ll eat dinner, make tree ornaments, and watch “The Grinch.” It’s sure to be lots of fun.

Also, the time has come for our annual OPRYLAND road trip.

We’ll meet at the Wesley Foundation at 3pm and carpool down. We will eat on our way at the Rivergate Olive Garden. Then we’ll head on over to the Opryland hotel to see the lights. This year there should be plenty of time for shopping afterwards at Opry Mills for those who need to get gifts. This is a great event to come to if you have never joined us before. It is always a lot of fun.

Coming next week:

Finals week lunches—at noon at the Foundation on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Also Christmas Caroling on Thursday night; Jim and Michelle Schlinsog will provide a warm and tasty dinner before we head out into the cold to spread Christmas cheer.

Let me know if you have someone you want us to go sing to!

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

Last Thursday night before going out to shop for our Angel Tree gifts we thought about some things we wanted to ask God to bless our campus with this Christmas. Out of that list came the following prayer that we posted in today’s College Herald:

A Christmas Prayer for You—

As this crazy semester draws to a close

We pray perfect peace for each one of those

Straining within these halls of learning to see

Their futures bright with hope unfolding.

We pray for guidance, compassion, gratitude,

A heart full of love and a humble attitude.

We pray for peace, abiding and true,

Hope full of trust, strength to see you through.

We pray that your health will continue to thrive,

That graduation day soon will arrive,

That the joy of family and friends will surely bless,

That the weary and forlorn soon will find rest.

We pray for patience with end drawing near,

Travel safeties for all soon leaving here,

For contentment in life whether here or at home,

And the fullness of Grace touching needs not yet known.

As the holiness of this holiday comes clear

Know it is for you, dear one, that Jesus draws near.

He comes close with joy, the tenderest touch,

Just let Him in: His joy gladdens much.

As I read these words I am reminded once again how very tender the Lord is for each one of us He has created in love. There are thousands of faces on this campus that He lovingly crafted; hair, eyes, and facial features all distinct from person to person, and yet each is so intimately known by Jesus. I hear His heart longing for each of us this Holiday season. I wonder about all those students who are far away from Him during their college experience, who just haven’t found time or the right place to get connected to their faith. I hear his yearning. You may be reading this as one of those who are in a spiritually far off place right now. Can you hear those words, “Dear one,” spoken personally to you, from His heart? You are so dear to Him. You. Everything that is you sounds a chord in His being that isn’t resolved until He is able to relate directly to you. Gosh, I hope you are hearing His heart today. My prayer is that all of us would simply hear Him address us as “Dear one.” I think if we could honestly hear that in our deepest souls so much that is churning within would be resolved.

Know that you are loved.

Blessings,

Sami

Campus Minister/Director

Wesley Foundation (United Methodist Campus Ministry)

1355 College St.

842-2880

sami@wkywesley.org

Happy Birthday Jesus!

When I worked as an associate pastor at a church in Florida, I often got to help with the chapel service for the church’s preschool. Every Christmas we would sing a song called “Happy Birthday Jesus.” It went something like “Happy birthday, Jesus. We’re so glad it’s Christmas. All the carols and bells, and the tinsel is swell but the real gift is you. . . .” I’ve been thinking today about how we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, or at least how He would want us to celebrate it. I mean, what do you give to the One who creates everything in the first place? It’s kind of the same difficulty as trying to buy for people who don’t really need anything and who go out and get what they want when they do. In some ways gift giving would be so much easier if we were all children.

Yet there is a wonderful answer to this question in scripture, from Jesus Himself. It says this:

Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundstion of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. . . . Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:34-40

When we want to give Jesus a gift, we simply give to those who need it. It can be stocking stuffers for young men whose families won’t give them anything, who may not even speak to them; it can be a doll for a young girl on behalf of a relative in prison who just wants her to know she is loved and remembered; it could be a cookie to a neighbor you’ve never met, who may have lost hope; it could be singing “Silent Night” to a someone on campus who has felt completely isolated and alone on a campus of nearly 20,000. I just know that when we reach out to others with love, Jesus is blessed. He smiles in wonder and joy the way a child does when seeing brightly colored presents under a tree. We love Jesus best by loving others, especially those who cannot repay us.

If you want to experience that special joy of knowing you have made a difference beyond yourself, knowing you have touched Jesus’ heart, come and join us. It is sure to be wonder-full fun.

Blessings,

Sami

True Words

have been slowly reading Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz. He says in his chapter called “Grace” one of the most beautiful and profound things I have ever heard:

If we hear, in our inner ear, a voice saying we are failures, we are losers, we will never amount to anything, this is the voice of Satan trying to convince the bride that the groom does not love her. This is not the voice of God. God woos us with kindness, He changes our character with the passion of His love.

Isn’t that beautiful? There is such tender mercy in the touch of Jesus Christ upon our lives. We experience true tenderness and true mercy so little in this fallen world, that it is often hard to recognize the voice and the touch of our Savior. And yet something primal in us years for grace and mercy, tenderness and understanding. The good news, the news Jesus left heaven to bring us and died on a cross to demonstrate for us, is that this grace and mercy, tenderness and understanding is God’s heart for us. God’s heart breaks for us to experience what we are so hungry for. Did you know it breaks God’s heart when He sees us suffering, yearning for a soft word of encouragement, and instead of hearing His words of grace, we instead open our ears to words that demolish our spirits and kill all that is beautiful within us?

I’ll be honest. This is a time of transition and change for me personally. It’s not easy. But I am learning that Jesus is so gentle and tender and forgiving as He engineers my transformation. I am learning there is nothing to fear in submitting to His hand in my life. I can say to you with good conscience there is nothing to fear from the Lord. He loves you. And in doing the hard thing in our lives, He always takes the hardest thing upon Himself. He shares our burdens. He gives us His strength. He surrounds us with people who love Him so they can love us with His love. I am so thankful.

Do you need a place where you can see His love for you personally? Just come on down. We have some good news we just can’t wait to tell you!

Blessings,

Sami

Becoming a Goldfish

Strange things are happening to me. After years of hating goldfish crackers and applesauce, I find myself eating both on a regular basis. It all began when Noah (my little boy) became a picky eater and we were looking for easy things to feed him that traveled well. All the books say that you must introduce a new food to a baby a total of seven times to get him or her to eat it. Well, I don’t know how it works for babies (we’re still working on Noah’s eating habits), but apparently it worked on me.



What does this have to do with Jesus? Well, in a very real sense we are what we experience. The things we pack into our lives are the things we wind up feeling comfortable around. Making a life of faith feel right has more to do with living in it a while than having a natural liking for “spiritual stuff.” People may say, “Yeah, I tried the Jesus thing, and it just isn’t for me.” But did they really give it a genuine chance? It’s not enough to go to church once in your life to see if it’s for you. In many ways it’s like planting seeds; we must allow time for them to bring forth fruit. The same is true for anything in life. One can just as easily begin to feel “at home” in dangerous activities (or at least not good for you stuff) by spending time around un-Godly influences.



Scripture says this: “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20). Things of God are going to produce good fruit, i.e “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). If your life is not producing these things, take a look at how you are spending your time. Your life will produce exactly what you are cultivating in it. If the produce is not what you want it to be, begin to make changes. I promise that if you get invested in a Jesus-centered community of faith, you will begin to see peace and joy like you’ve never seen. If you don’t know where to start, then look for a person whose life demonstrates the qualities you want in yours, and hang out with them. Just don’t give up. Eventually you will find that you will even enjoy being a part of a group of people who love Jesus. Besides, if I can start loving goldfish crackers, anything is possible.



Hope the rest of your week is fabulous!



Blessings,

Sami

What Questions Would You Live?

When I was taking English Composition as a student at Western, my instructor gave us one of those assignments that have the potential to change a life forever. I don’t know how it affected others in the class, but it shaped me. She had us read Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. One particular page spoke volumes to me. I guess because it made so much sense. Rilke writes:

I would like to beg of you, dear friend, as well as I can, to have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. (pg. 35).

I don’t know if I could come up with a better definition for the life of faith, or at least what living by faith looks like in a real life. Life in college demands so much faith, because so many things continue to remain unsolved in the heart. Questions like, “Am I in the right major?” or “what will I do when I graduate?” seem to haunt students from the day they first arrive. The good news is that eventually life destinies do get figured out.

I love that phrase, “live the question.” What questions would you live? The really cool thing is that as we live into the questions of our lives, instead of trying to run away from them or give them a quick fix, we ultimately find ourselves living more deeply into God’s life. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). As we seek Him to be all of these things for us, the big questions in our lives find the right answers.

I want to encourage you to be patient to all that “remains unsolved in your heart.” Listen to your heart and know that this is where the Lord speaks the most.

Blessings,

Sami

Need More Power?

In his book ­The Meaning of Prayer Harry Emerson Fosdick has this to say about the “hindrances and difficulties” of prayer: “It does cost to win a life that really can pray.” The truth of this really hits me as I sit here writing to you about Jesus. I guess for me, prayer is the place and time where Jesus takes His place in my life. It is that moment of meeting where the Lord becomes Lord of me. Sometimes I bring desires to prayer that are actually good, but cannot be accomplished because something stands in the way. Usually for me it is because I am trying to jump ahead of the Lord and pray for things that He isn’t ready to give (primarily because I am not ready to receive). To pray further into His will for my life, I have to go further into His will. Usually I will come to Him with my agenda on the prayer list. And He will quietly listen, letting me sit with it. I will leave feeling nothing has been accomplished. And then He will come and visit with me and share what is on His heart: I pray for measurable things; He invites me to know the measure of His love. I pray for immediate results; He invites me to immediately rest in His provision, trusting Him for the rest. I pray to go places and do things; He simply says, “being with Me is the most important place and listening to My voice is the most important thing.”

Not long ago I began chewing on a piece of scripture that caught my attention: Be still and know that I am God (Psalm ). As I dug into the meaning of this scripture, I discovered that stillness is more that not moving. To be still is to “slacken.” Some of the words used to capture the essence of its meaning include: abate, cease, fail, (be) faint, be (wax) feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone (let go, let down), be slothful, (be) weak. (See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, entry 7503 for raphah, in the Hebrew Dictionary). This word “still” is derived from a Hebrew word that means “to mend (by stitching), … to cure” (Strong’s, entry 7495 for rapha, in the Hebrew Dictionary). What a powerful message! As we come to God’s presence in prayer, our best praying happens only when we relinquish our control, surrendering to God fully. In that we find the very thing we are trying to manufacture by our own efforts: healing, mending, well-being, a cure for what’s wrong. The big question is: Am I letting go of every conception I have of what is supposed to happen when I come to prayer and simply letting Jesus be who God sent Him to be, my Savior? Is the reason I am not seeing any fruit from my prayers, because I am fighting against Him instead of flowing with Him?

Over the last few weeks my experience of prayer has deepened. And an amazing thing has happened. As I have surrendered to that place of being held in the Lord’s hands, His power has become manifest in my life in ways I could not imagine. I am seeing Him show up in my daily life, leading my day, directing my plans, and even giving me unexpected Divine appointments that accomplish far more than I ever could on my own. It is truly awesome to see what happens when we create space in our lives for the Lord to work. He still isn’t doing things the way I would have Him, but His way is way more satisfying and is accomplishing much more. I guess it is always about trust more than it is about doing.

Hope you are able in this time of “Fall Break” to truly take a break and be still before the Lord. Give Jesus an opportunity to speak to your heart; listen for a change. You will be so glad you did.

Blessings,

Sami

To Pray for Real

In his book ­The Meaning of Prayer Harry Emerson Fosdick has this to say about the “hindrances and difficulties” of prayer: “It does cost to win a life that really can pray.” The truth of this really hits me as I sit here writing to you about Jesus. I guess for me, prayer is the place and time where Jesus takes His place in my life. It is that moment of meeting where the Lord becomes Lord of me. Sometimes I bring desires to prayer that are actually good, but cannot be accomplished because something stands in the way. Usually for me it is because I am trying to jump ahead of the Lord and pray for things that He isn’t ready to give (primarily because I am not ready to receive). To pray further into His will for my life, I have to go further into His will. Usually I will come to Him with my agenda on the prayer list. And He will quietly listen, letting me sit with it. I will leave feeling nothing has been accomplished. And then He will come and visit with me and share what is on His heart: I pray for measurable things; He invites me to know the measure of His love. I pray for immediate results; He invites me to immediately rest in His provision, trusting Him for the rest. I pray to go places and do things; He simply says, “being with Me is the most important place and listening to My voice is the most important thing.”

Not long ago I began chewing on a piece of scripture that caught my attention: Be still and know that I am God (Psalm ). As I dug into the meaning of this scripture, I discovered that stillness is more that not moving. To be still is to “slacken.” Some of the words used to capture the essence of its meaning include: abate, cease, fail, (be) faint, be (wax) feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone (let go, let down), be slothful, (be) weak. (See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, entry 7503 for raphah, in the Hebrew Dictionary). This word “still” is derived from a Hebrew word that means “to mend (by stitching), … to cure” (Strong’s, entry 7495 for rapha, in the Hebrew Dictionary). What a powerful message! As we come to God’s presence in prayer, our best praying happens only when we relinquish our control, surrendering to God fully. In that we find the very thing we are trying to manufacture by our own efforts: healing, mending, well-being, a cure for what’s wrong. The big question is: Am I letting go of every conception I have of what is supposed to happen when I come to prayer and simply letting Jesus be who God sent Him to be, my Savior? Is the reason I am not seeing any fruit from my prayers, because I am fighting against Him instead of flowing with Him?

Over the last few weeks my experience of prayer has deepened. And an amazing thing has happened. As I have surrendered to that place of being held in the Lord’s hands, His power has become manifest in my life in ways I could not imagine. I am seeing Him show up in my daily life, leading my day, directing my plans, and even giving me unexpected Divine appointments that accomplish far more than I ever could on my own. It is truly awesome to see what happens when we create space in our lives for the Lord to work. He still isn’t doing things the way I would have Him, but His way is way more satisfying and is accomplishing much more. I guess it is always about trust more than it is about doing.

Hope you are able in this time of “Fall Break” to truly take a break and be still before the Lord. Give Jesus an opportunity to speak to your heart; listen for a change. You will be so glad you did.

Blessings,

Sami