Be a child today! Wesley Foundation E-letter (Methodist Student Center)

 

Dear Friends,

 

Hope you are doing well this fine October day.  It seems to be too hot to be Autumn, but the trees have begun to change and fall is in the air, even if only briefly.  We do have some fun things going on this week, so take a look!

 

Tonight is worship at 6:30 pm.  Come and join us!

 

Thursday we will be having a cookout and movie night on South Lawn!  This will be so much fun.  We will gather around 5pm, grill some burgers and dogs, watch some fun and frivolous movies, listen to Kyle and Justin play their guitars, and generally unwind and relax. 

 

Fall Retreat is this weekend.  Gather at the Wesley Foundation on Friday at 4pm.  We will have all kinds of outdoor adventures.  And some sweet relaxation Jesus time too.  Go deep!  Go bold!  Go to Loucon!  Cost is $40, which can be paid this weekend.  Financial help is available if needed.  Don’t let the cost keep you from going!  Please email me if you are interested in joining us.  I do have several openings available.

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Yesterday I drove to Nashville to see my spiritual director.  It is one of those monthly pilgrimages I make to keep my spirit.  To keep it in all manner of senses.  Like to keep it so I don’t lose it.  To keep it so I remember it’s there.  To keep it, as in upkeep and maintaining its vitality.  To keep it fresh and available.  To keep it as sacred space in the craziness of my life.  It’s my way of remembering my first call, to be a child of God, that is the foundation for every other call upon my life.  Sometimes I get them confused.

 

Yesterday in particular I needed that reminder, that I am a child of God.  Not a servant of God (although I do earnestly try to serve Him).  But a child.  His child.  I should have had a clue that I was forgetting this last week when someone said something about giving the message, “God loves you,” to people and as I heard it tears filled my eyes.  I know so keenly how deeply He loves everybody else.  I forget so easily that He loves me, that I am included in His love.

 

And so I made my pilgrimage to Nashville, the Mecca of Methodism, the home of my spiritual director.  We spoke as we often do of balance.  Usually I come in with a hunger for silence and a deep complaint from my heart that there just hasn’t been enough.  But yesterday was different.  I had been regular about quiet times, attentive to God’s Holy Spirit leading, seeing God unfold His plan in a way only He could do.  The problem was not about being more “spiritual.”  It was in fact about being more of a child.  In a moment of recognition I finally realized God was not asking for more and harder work.  He was asking me to play.

 

Here these words of wisdom from writer Michael Joseph: 

 

We live in a serious world.  For too many of us, work is competitively cut-throat, social expectations are high, parenting is a burden, and marriage is a project.  Religion is solemn and our “recreation” is largely of the spectator variety.  If this isn’t enough, we project our success-driven and labor-based ethic onto children, pressuring them—albeit inadvertently—to learn, achieve, and succeed almost from infancy.  Is it any wonder that we become bored, tire, and frustrated by life and our children become candidates for depression at an early age?

 

Why do we live this way?  Is it perhaps because we’ve forgotten the importance of play?  We stake too much of our personal value and dignity on what we do and accomplish.  We overorganize and overanalyze our lives.  In the process we forget that life is a gift as well as a task.  If we are to enjoy this gift and truly live our lives, we’d best learn to play authentically once again.

 

From ­Play Therapy

 

By simply changing some of the scenarios, this so perfectly depicts the pressures and obligations of college life.  Everyone seems over analyzed and over organized.  We all need a break and are deathly afraid of taking one.  Now I am all for responsibility.  So please do, be responsible.  Turn in your assignments.  Be a good student.  But in the midst of it all don’t forget to get some fresh air.  Take a break.  Laugh.  Practice the spiritual discipline of joy.  God’s word for it is Sabbath.  It is so important He made it one of the top ten.  And we reap the consequences from disregarding this commandment as much as when we break the other nine.  Is it any wonder we are a prozac nation? 

 

You are God’s precious child.  He wants you to know that.  He wants you to rest in His goodness.  He wants you to trust Him.  And learning to enjoy life as gift is a true act of faith.  As Michael Joseph says, “Consider playfulness as a gift from heaven.  After all, only people with faith can play.  Others must work and worry.” 

 

So take time to love and laugh.  Take time to enjoy the life God has given you with a childlike heart.  Play.  And enjoy by entering into the joy of the One who gave your life to you.

 

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:14).

 

This is me trusting,

 

Sami

 

 

 

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Wesley Foundation Weekly E-Letter List go to:

http://lists.wku.edu/mailman/listinfo/wesley

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Does holy ground really exist on a college campus? WKU Wesley Foundation E-letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Hello Friends!  So it looks like fall has finally landed.  I was leaving my University Experience class today when it started raining.   I hid out in Mass Media instead of walking up the hill.  Thanks Nic for giving me a ride back up to the Wesley! 

 

Here is what is going on this week: 

 

Tonight is Worship @ 6:30pm in our chapel.  We did some rearranging; it looks great!  Come and check it out.  Also this week we are looking at what it means to take the love of Jesus beyond our own four walls.

 

Speaking of which, we will have a guest this Thursday.  Free food at 6:30pm and then for our program John David Ryan from Broadway UMC will talk to us about his passion for living out his faith through service and mission.  He will give us practical wisdom on how we can really live our faith out by making a difference in the world around us!

 

SIGN UP FOR our Fall Retreat, which will be at Camp Loucon October 17-19.  We will have fun outdoor adventures and learn how God is surprising us on our journeys.  Cost is $40.  E-mail me if you are interested in going!

 

Also, next Thursday we will have our annual South Lawn Cookout and Movie on the Lawn.  This will be an excellent opportunity to bring a friend and introduce them to our ministry.  It will be totally low-key, lots of fun, and a great time to hang out.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

The last few days I have been pondering the ministry and teaching of John Wesley (the founder of Methodism).  His life was marked by an ardent pursuit of God, even from his earliest years.  As a young man studying at Oxford, he so wanted to participate in a Godly life that he expended himself in spiritual calisthenics, and invited his friends to join in.  Together they founded “the holy club.”  (How about that for the name of a student organization?)  They were so rigorous in pursuing specific disciplines or methods of holiness that on-lookers derisively began calling them “Methodists.”  John Wesley liked the name and kept it.  In fact, he embraced it.  However, none of his “methods,” no matter how holy, brought the union with God that he longed for.  That experience of being accepted by God came purely through grace.  It came not through his efforts to earn it, but through the chance encounter of showing up at a public reading of Luther’s preface to the book of Romans on Aldersgate street.  Think this through with me.  God could have chosen any moment in John Wesley’s life to show up in an unmistakable, “I won’t let you miss this,” kind of way. It could have been while he read his Bible, while he woke early to pray, while he visited prisons, while he did any number of “holy” things that look really impressive for someone trying to build a spiritual resume.  Instead, God chose a moment when Wesley himself admits he showed up “unwillingly,” and while he wasn’t doing anything “holy” at all.  He was simply listening.  And in that moment of listening to Luther’s description of “a change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ” John Wesley “felt his heart strangely warmed.”  In that moment of not even having a very Godly attitude, John Wesley was overcome by the realization that he was accepted.  Not because of what he did for God, but because of what God did for him, period.

 

I think this has been so much on my mind lately because I so keenly sense a longing for acceptance that is an undercurrent among so many on campus.  People want to know that their lives matter, that someone misses them when they are gone, that they are loved, that they really are accepted just the way they are.  It is pretty obvious that we cannot be as good as God.  I think students get so discouraged in trying reflect God’s goodness while living in a hedonistic campus culture that they sometimes just give up, and go with the flow.  And the further along they flow, the further away they feel from God, as well as the more impossible it feels that they will ever regain “holy” ground.  So here is good news:  Take off your shoes for this is holy ground.

 

This often-times very un-holy ground is still holy ground.  Because God is here.  God enters into our lives where we are, not where we believe we should be.  The cool thing about John Wesley’s story is that it shows that we can be doing all the “right” things and still be far away from God’s grace.  We can be so caught up in our own efforts to reach God that we miss Him altogether because our focus is on ourselves and our own goodness instead of on Him and His goodness.   And God’s goodness is all around us, reaching out to us, especially when we haven’t got it to reach out to Him.  It’s like He does His part and ours.  This is the cool thing about the cross.  On it we find just how far away we are from God; we see our sin and what it does to God in stark reality.  But we also see how far God is willing to come to us while we are sinning and separating ourselves from Him.  He comes to us, through Jesus, even when it costs Him His life.  When we cannot make our way to Him because we are impossibly far away, He makes His way to us and gives us His love:  “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).  All we have to do is receive it!  (Even God cannot receive His own love for us; we still have to cooperate.)

 

Oh and what a difference receiving God’s love makes!!!!!!  GOD LOVES YOU!  Oh dear one, God loves you!  There is nothing you can do or say that can make God stop loving you.  And really there is nothing you can do and say to make God love you more.  BECAUSE GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU IS ALREADY PERFECT AND SO HIGH YOU CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE IT!  You cannot add to infinity.  So you don’t have to try to be good enough; you just have to receive what is already there with your name on it.  And in receiving it your whole life is transformed.  You are finally able to reflect God’s goodness because you are filled with it and it just naturally flows out.  The power of who God is transforms you and helps you to live the life you are longing for.  It’s really that simple.

 

So let God love you.  Let God love on you.  In this moment right here and now, open your heart to God’s love.  Accept His hand and heart reaching out to you.  By faith (believing it as true regardless of what you feel) accept His gift of love to you.  May your own heart be strangely warmed!

 

This is me trusting,

 

Sami

 

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Wesley Foundation Weekly E-Letter List go to:

http://lists.wku.edu/mailman/listinfo/wesley

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Take a Clutter Break! Wesley Foundation Weekly E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Hope all is well with you this fine day!  I’m sitting on the front porch of the Wesley Foundation writing this e-letter.  How cool is that!  It’s a gorgeous afternoon.  May you all get out enjoy it! 

 

Even though it is Fall Break this week, we do have some things going on.  Tomorrow night we have worship, and for those who would like to stay we will have a leadership/planning meeting.  We’ll probably grab a bite somewhere while we meet.

 

Tomorrow on South Lawn we will set up the prayer labyrinth.  Come and relax from the mid-semester crunch by walking this sacred path!

 

Don’t forget Fall Retreat is coming up!  October 17-20.  Cost is $40, and scholarships are available.  Sign up now!

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

So this morning I spent some time simply cleaning my office.  I know, there are a hundred things I need to be doing.  But something in me just felt like having an orderly environment was more important.  I’ve been trying to work and pray in the chaos long enough.  My longing for peace and order overcame my anxious need to get something else done.  I am amazed at the transition that age (and I guess wisdom) is bringing.  Some of you who know me well are laughing out loud!

 

Really, it is kind of funny.  One of my dear friends from my first church once got me a refrigerator magnet that basically says clutter is a sign of creativity.  It’s just easier on so many levels to be disorganized.  And there was a time in my life when it worked for me.  But not so much anymore.  So I have come to think of de-cluttering my physical space as a kind of spiritual formation.  There is something about having simplified and orderly space that allows my spirit to be at rest.  My inside seems to reflect and resonate with my outside environment.  And for once in my life (yes, Mom, miracles still happen) picking the stuff up off the bedroom (and office) floor is time well spent.  Somehow it helps me breathe easy.

 

Perhaps it is a reflection of that inner desire for the Spirit of Christ to order my life.  Jesus led such a simple life here on earth.  In its simplicity He demonstrated the richness of God’s goodness and mercy.  It seems that the sparseness of His possessions, appointments, and to do lists helped Him to enter fully into the life that is truly Life.  And in direct contrast it seems that our cacophony noise, stuff, and nagging agendas keeps us far from the abundance of life we are so desperately trying to obtain.  It is as if I can hear Him say to my spirit, “Be still my child.  Let Me be who I am, so that you can be all I made you to be.”  The world would say we become ourselves through intense effort deliberately designed to achieve measurable goals.  God says that our becoming has more to do with our being, and our most significant doing always finds its birth there.  I say let God win.  I’m tired of intense effort that is ultimately a waste of time and energy.  Instead, I want to slow down.  Clean my room.  And create a space where every part of me can breathe easy.

 

Now why would I share this?  The college atmosphere is so fraught with imperatives:  You must do this; you must accomplish that; you must go there; you must contribute here; you must, you must, you must.  Looming over every student’s head is the scary scenario of “what if?”  What if you don’t have an adequate GPA?  What if you don’t have a substantial engagement activities transcript?  What if you don’t hold a leadership position in an organization?  What if you don’t show participation in diverse activities?  What if you never have that perfect resume builder that will set you apart and give you the edge when it comes to entering “the real world?”  There are so many reasons to be full of worries and anxieties as a member of this university community.  And I haven’t even mentioned the relationship turmoil that threatens to undermine friendships, family, and the all important significant other connection.  Life as a college student can be crazy at best and downright scary chaotic at worst.  This is not what God wants for His children.

 

So I come back to the simplicity of Jesus.  “Come unto Me,” He says, “All you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  His presence beckons us to do the one necessary thing.  He encourages us to “seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness,” knowing that when we do this everything else will find its proper place.  He knows how important this time is in your lives.  He know there are things we must do.  His offer of abundance is that when we do His thing first, He helps us do the next thing most needed.  And nothing important is left out.

 

So here’s to clean rooms and a break from all clutter:  physical, emotional, and spiritual.

 

This is me trusting,

 

Sami

 

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Wesley Foundation Weekly E-Letter List go to:

http://lists.wku.edu/mailman/listinfo/wesley

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Progressive Dinner Thursday night hosted by our local Methodist Churches

Hi there!  Just wanted to let everyone know that tomorrow night we will get to enjoy a progressive dinner to be hosted by our local United Methodist Churches.  If you are looking for a local congregation to attend on Sunday mornings, this event is for you.  You will have an opportunity to see what each one is like, and even get to meet the pastors.  This is great for finding a church family at college that is similar to the one you visit when you are home.

 

Here is our schedule:

 

5:00 pm – Meet at the Wesley Foundation (1355 College St.)

 

5:30 pm – State Street UMC (appetizers)

 

6:15 pm – St. James UMC (soup & salad)

 

7:00 pm – Broadway UMC (main course)

 

7:45 pm – Christ UMC (dessert)

 

8:30 pm – Faith UMC (coffee)

 

If you need more information or would like to meet up with us later on in the evening (and need to know where we are) please call me at 270-779-7639.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

 

Sami

 

 

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list serve please go to http://lists.wku.edu/mailman/listinfo/wesley

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Don't Be a Flip-Top Head! Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Hey!  Hope everyone is having a great day.  What about this weather?  Isn’t it nice to have a break from the heat?  Fall is definitely in the air! 

 

This week we have so much going on.  Tonight is worship at 6:30pm in our chapel.  Come and enjoy the musical stylings of Kyle and Justine.  It is truly a sweet experience.  Just the thing to unwind from a hectic schedule, to experience a peaceful oasis in the midst of college craziness.  Tonight’s message focuses on experiencing the power of God’s love.  Come and be blessed.

 

Thursday night we will have free food and a program, again at 6:30pm.  We will discuss the faith challenges and conflicts, as well as how to survive them, and even thrive through them.

 

TAILGATING ANYONE?  Parent’s Weekend is coming up and there has been some talk about tailgating together before the big game this Saturday.  E-MAIL ME and let me know if you are interested!

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Today in University Experience we were talking about active learning.  Probably the greatest challenge in the learning process is interacting with knowledge in such a way that it becomes meaningful, so that it is not immediately forgotten once the test is over.  I shared with the students the analogy of the flip-top head from Reach toothbrush commercials.  Reach toothbrush commercials basically say that other toothbrush manufacturers design their toothbrushes as if everyone brushing their teeth has a flip-top head (kind of like a pez dispenser).  Instead Reach angles its brushes to fit real mouths.

 

Many educational experiences are like this as well.  They are based on the assumption that learning takes place by depositing knowledge into the open and waiting head, and once the transfer is finished, then learning is complete.  Those who advocate active learning however say that students need to interact with the knowledge base in a meaningful way in order to really learn.  It is not enough to passively listen to and then recite back facts; students should engage the material in ways that connect to their own learning style so that the learning has a lasting impact.  I agree.

 

Especially in regards to faith.  My early church and youth group were all about learning and giving the right answers, but not so much about living them.  Sure we were admonished to do the right things, but there was no real engagement as to why this was important, what it looked like in my real broken life, and what life would be like if one did not.  To be fair, I’m not sure that developmentally I could have processed these kinds of questions then.  But at the same time, I don’t remember learning about the power of God in my life in a significant way until I went to college.  The Word just wasn’t becoming flesh for me.  It was still distant and unimportant.

 

I’m not sure what your experience with faith has been up to this point.  However, I want to challenge you to not simply be a flip-top head with regards to your faith.  Don’t simply accept the precepts of faith at face value, but plumb their depths, find out what it means to believe in your own unique circumstances.  If believers have held on to their faith in very challenging circumstances, what makes that possible?  Are you willing and able to have that kind of faith?  The kind that is tested in the craziness of your own life?  What does it look like for faith to become real?  For following Jesus to become a flesh and blood reality for you personally?  For Jesus to become incarnate in your unique circumstance?

 

Learning happens at every age and every stage.  I am constantly blown away by the way that the evidence of faith-learning reveals itself.  This morning my four year old was moved to pray for his cousin who had been feeling under the weather this past week.  So we stood in a circle and held hands:  me, my four year old son, and my twenty-two month old son.  And my oldest led us in a simple prayer.  It was powerful.  I also remember a friend of mine from my last church who went on her first foreign mission trip while in her eighties.  Then I remember a gentleman who in retirement had a splendid moment of faith commitment that changed his entire life.  And then there are countless college students who have accepted the invitation to allow God into every part of their lives and have been profoundly transformed by it. 

 

I have never been one to accept mediocre.  I always wanted to squeeze out of every moment the most life-juice it could produce.  I never wanted to be the one who lived with regret because I had failed to live.  So I challenge you with this:  Don’t be a flip-top faith head; be one who is willing to taste and see that the Lord is good in every area of your life.  Be the one who is willing to squeeze out every ounce of God-living from the moments God gives you.  Don’t settle for mediocre when your life can be the biggest adventure yet.  Allow Jesus to become flesh and blood real in you.

 

This is me trusting,

 

Sami

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

It's a New Day! Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Hope you are all having a great day!  We are finally past that first week of school blitz, and things are beginning to take on a routine.  Praise God!  It is awesome to be in a new school year!

 

Tonight we begin our Tuesday night worship services at 6:30pm.  We will start music early this evening about 6:20pm if you want to come by and enjoy some extra worship time.  One of our worship leaders has a meeting to go to, but still wanted to be able to praise God beforehand!

 

Thursday night we have a meal and program.  Free food is at 6:30pm and then we will spend some time experiencing the Prayer Labyrinth together.  Our theme for the year is “Journey Together.”  Come and find out what that means.  And if you don’t have a T-Shirt, we have one for you.  Also, since I forgot to do it at our Dessert Open House, we will have a drawing for the $100 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble!

 

So remember:

 

TUESDAY NIGHT—WORSHIP 6:30PM

THURSDAY NIGHT—FREE MEAL & PROGRAM 6:30PM

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

It is a new day at the Wesley Foundation in so many ways.  Certainly it is a new school year.  And we are doing some new things.  And there are DEFINITELY a lot of NEW FACES sharing life around here.  But I think the most significant new thing at the Wesley Foundation, is that there is a new move of God happening here, one that blows my socks off!  It is an exciting time; there are so many ways that God is doing a new and fresh thing.  Not only are there new people here, but there is also an excitement about being a part of something bigger than we could imagine.   And it keeps surprising us!

 

It is like the work that goes in to nurturing a young fruit tree.  There are years of planting, watering, fertilizing, and pruning, and then one day . . . . there is fruit.  How cool is that!  The thing that I am learning right now in the midst of seeing so many answered prayers is that I still need God in the middle of my answers.  Of course we know to pray when we are faced with questions, and every moment we are calling out to God for help.  But I am stunned by the bigger need for God that comes with the fulfillment of the promise.  Of course it takes faith to wait for the promise, but I am stunned by the bigger faith it takes live in the realized promise.  Of course God’s people needed Him so much in the Wilderness, when they literally relied upon His provision daily for food.  But OH HOW THEY NEEDED HIM when they entered the promised-land and daily fought the temptation to believe they were self-sufficient.

 

So many of you are freshman, and you are living in the promise of college.  This is the reward of years of toil and expectation, straining for something that seemed so out of reach.  For years you have lived at home under someone else’s authority, and now you can buy whatever kind of toothpaste you want as well as eat cereal as your main meal no matter the time of day.  The freedom is astonishing.  This stage of accomplishment is one which will shape so much of your life to come.  In so many ways, you have arrived.

 

I want to challenge you at this new stage of promise to go deeper into the heart of the Promise Giver.  As we are entrusted with new freedom and greater responsibility, we need Him more, not less.  These are the days when the choice to follow becomes more crucial.  I believe it is because it is more your own choice than ever.  It is not your parent’s, not your youth director’s, not your guidance counselor’s, not your brother’s or your sister’s; the choices to follow God and choose Him first is more your own because there is no one in close proximity that demands you make a choice they can live with.  You are now living on your own. 

 

As we enter a new stage of ministry here at the Wesley Foundation, it could be so easy to take human credit for the God thing that is happening.  But I am abundantly clear that God is the One who doing this new thing.  I sure want to cooperate, but I never want to take credit for what the Spirit of God has done.  As we begin this journey together, I invite and challenge you to draw closer to God who walks with you, who is your Promise Giver, and your Promise Fulfiller.  As you begin your college journey with Him, you will be blown away by the great things He can do.  I want you to experience all of Him that He can give you.  It is such an awesome ride.  And all of us here at Wesley would love to share it with you!

 

Blessings,

 

Sami

 

 

To change your options or unsubscribe go to:

 

http://lists.wku.edu/mailman/listinfo/wesley

 

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Work Day at Wesley--Let's spruce up for our new students!

 

Dear Friends,

 

It is the time of year when students begin to prepare to make their way to the hill.  And it is the time of year when we begin to prepare to welcome them.  Please join with us as we make our buildings and grounds a warm and welcoming place for our new students.  Join us for our:

 

Annual Wesley Work Day

Saturday, August 2^nd 2008

8am – 2pm

RSVP:  sami.wilson@wku.edu or 270-779-7639

 

Come prepared to have a great time as we work together!  We will order Pizza for lunch!

 

Blessings,

 

Sami

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Everyone Gets A Rose--Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

The end of the semester is upon us!  Important information following all these exclamation points!!!!!!!

 

Tonight is our Senior Worship service!  Come and help us pray and commission our seniors as we bless them and send them forth!  Dinner at 6:30pm.  Worship at 7:30pm.  Faith’s Praise Band coming!  Also we will be electing officers tonight!!!!

 

Next week Monday through Thursday:  Free Lunch at the Wesley!!!!! Come and eat your fill, bring a friend!!!!

 

Sunday 6:30pm Ladies Tea Party, my house—

 

Tuesday 6:30pm Men’s Cookout, my house—

 

Next Thursday, Senior Banquet!!!!  Come and roast our Seniors!  Free food, we’re having it catered.  Let me know if you plan on being there!

 

Okay, enough announcements.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Tuesday night I watched “The Bachelor.”  I don’t regularly watch the show because I hate the truth, or rather un-truth, that it represents.  It sets up a scenario where a person is sent one message one minute (i.e. you are a person of worth, I love you) and a totally different message the next (I’m sorry but you have to go, you are not the one I’m looking for).  The “bachelor” the other night had to make a choice between three women, only two could stay and continue on; one would have to go.  All the messages being sent to all three could very well indicate, “you are the girl for me.”  Even pet names of affection were given freely to all.  And yet one young woman was sent away.  His words to her were, “Everything I have ever said to you was true.”  And her response was cold and disbelieving.  Of course it was.  She had been set up to believe she was the one whom he was “falling for.”  She took a chance and opened up her heart, making herself emotionally vulnerable in a way that she rarely did with anyone.  (And don’t get me started on the way physical intimacy and vulnerability is treated on the show!)  And then she was rejected.  Of course she felt betrayed and lied to.  She was.  She was led to believe that something significant and enduring had passed between them. But really it had not.  She got sent home.

 

Now in all honesty, that’s just how the game is set up.  The bachelor was simply abiding by rules that all of them knew existed from the beginning.  I even felt a tiny bit sorry for him (but not much) when he said that he was losing someone he cared about.  I just hate the outcome; I hate the rules; and I hate how this is the way the world works.

 

Notice I said the world, not God.  God doesn’t work this way.  In God’s economy, everyone gets a rose.  No one is sent home.  No one is rejected and turned away.  Every person is a beloved child in His eyes.  Everyone is invited to be His bride, the Bride of Christ.  Everyone has a place in His heart and a place in His home.  Everyone has an opportunity to be a member of the Body of Christ.  Everyone gets a rose.

 

Compare if you would the relationships presented in pop culture with the relationships described in the following passage:

 

There are certain personal attitudes and feelings that contribute to creative relationships with others.  They include, for one thing, warm acceptance and understanding in stead of rejection or hostility.  Even when we disagree with or regret the action of another, we can emphasize “I still love you,” instead of “You really were a fool.”  When disagreement is called for, we can be honest and open instead of masked and hidden.  Instead of remaining silent, we can speak out when a different position needs to be expressed.  But such a reaction can be held within a framework of basic support for the other.  We can help others feel that we are still on their side when it comes to appreciating and encouraging them as persons.

 

                                                                                                                                    From Liberation of Life by Harvey and Lois Seifert

 

Now I have spent too much of my life trying to please others, figure out the “hidden rules” of the relationship games, and playing by those rules as a way to guarantee acceptance.  Thankfully, God has delivered me from so many of those bad relationship habits.  But there is still that thing in me that hates messing up, because it’s still afraid of what it might cost me.  (Thankfully this reaction no longer rules my actions and decisions).  Recently I became aware of a choice I made that might not have been the wisest in God’s eyes.  If I had been aware of what I was doing at the time, I never would have made the decision.  But some things we just have to learn the hard way.  As I was praying about it this morning, the Lord plopped this passage down in front of me.  It was like He was saying, “if this is how humans are supposed to behave with one another, don’t you think you can trust me to have at least this response to your mistakes, and then more?”

 

So consider this word of good news my friends.  God is all about having a creative and life-giving relationship with you.  With Him you WILL find warm acceptance and understanding, NOT rejection or hostility.  Even when He disagrees with us, or regrets our actions, He WILL emphasize “I still love you, instead of “you really were a fool.”  And when disagreement is called for, we can trust Him to be honest and open with us instead of masked and hidden.  He WILL reveal truth in a way we will get!  And instead of remaining silent, we can trust Him to speak out when a different position needs to be expressed.  But even when He has to disagree with us, or even discipline us, we can be sure that we are still held within a framework of basic support.  We can trust that He WILL help us FEEL that He is still ON OUR SIDE when it comes to appreciating us and encouraging us as persons.

 

How powerful and day transforming is that?!  I’m glad to have the Lord as my “bachelor” anytime.  Let Him be yours.  You will never be sorry.  Oh, and one more thing.  Remember I said that “The Bachelor” way of life is how the world works?  Well yes, it does.  But always remember, God is has overcome the world.  He rules it.  And He ultimately wins.  So it is with much love for each of you that I’m still . . .

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Keep on keepin on! Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Hey! Hey! Hey!  It’s Sami Wilson, the crazy campus minister in your life.  J  Hope you have had a chance to enjoy the good weather.  It’s been beautiful. 

 

Tonight is our big Guitar Hero extravaganza.  We are having it at the Wesley instead of South Lawn, because of impending rain.  But there will still be lots of food, lots of fun, and since we are having it here, more board games, Mr. Bucket, as well as Ping Pong.  Oh Yeah!  We will fire up the grill at 5pm and go until at least 10pm.

 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!  Due to the One Campaign’s concert next Tuesday night, we will be having the Ladies Tea Party on Sunday, May 4^th, at 6:30pm at my house.  Ladies, you are all invited.  Please let me know if you plan on attending, and how many guests you want to bring so I can have enough food.

 

Guy’s Cookout is the Tuesday of Finals week at my house at 6:30pm.  Just so you don’t feel left out guys, I’m planning on making BBQ ribs as well as gourmet burgers.  Let me know if you are going to be there.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

This morning the scripture my devotional book offered was this: 

 

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.  Romans 5:1-5

 

As I read this and pondered it, several people dear and close to my heart came to mind.  One of them is a student who has faced many adversities through the years, both inner turmoil and outer obstacles.  So many times this young person was tempted to give up and quit.  Yet this student is still here.  Another person is a dear family member who is in an unfair and frustrating situation, yet continues to give excellence back, refusing to compromise character in retaliation.  Another I can name is a young person who has not always made the best choices, but now, even while living with the consequences of past mistakes, has been consistently seeking wise counsel and prayer help, calling out first to the Lord.  I believe that each of these individuals are God’s boast in Jesus Christ, because in a world that continually sets an example of bailing out of tough situations, these have instead decided to hang tough with God.  They are the living testaments to this scripture.  The suffering that they are enduring is producing character within them that will produce the hope that reveals God’s glory.

 

Two things.  First, God is looking for people through whom He can reveal His glory to our broken world.  What makes this kind of complicated is that we live in a culture that is all about stealing glory.  (Some examples that come to mind:  being on the job and taking credit for someone else’s work;  athletes who resort to unnatural resources to increase their athletic skill and prowess; students that feel enormous pressure to succeed and are daily tempted to plagiarize or use someone else’s ideas as their own.)  The other thing that makes this kind of complicated is that God chooses to reveal His glory through human beings, who, as we have seen, face great temptations to make themselves look better than they are.  Unless these vessels have deep character, the story of God’s glory gets misplaced, and the story of hope that a broken world needs to hear is lost.  Second, God wants to be absolutely sure that the glory He wants to reveal is recognized by our broken world as glorious, a real beacon of undeniable hope.  Again, our culture is powerfully incredulous.  We are taught to question everything and believe nothing.  When God moves, He wants His powerful imprint to be obvious, for onlookers to really be moved closer to a saving relationship with Him instead of standing back with arms folded, dubious of whether anything significant has really happened.

 

I guess the reason that God uses suffering (please note that I did not say causes!) as a tool in revealing His glory is because people of every persuasion can relate to it, and none of us can easily recover from it.  So when God takes someone’s suffering and turns it around, everybody takes notice!  And when an individual chooses to allow suffering to transform their character, they build credibility with a skeptical world.

 

So what’s the “So What?”  Many of you reading this have big needs right now:  You are preparing to take finals.  You are struggling with difficulties at home and at work.  The 9 percent tuition hike that Western’s Board of Regents is approving today is less than good news.  You are deeply concerned and affected by relationships that are in trouble and seem to have no easy answers.  You are feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, and completely at a loss for how to deal with the stuff going on in your lives.  What you need is hope.  Real hope that things will get better, that you are not alone in dealing with your problems, and that you will be okay at the end of the day.  The good news is that God is real, and the hope He offers you is real too.  You are not alone.  And if you let Him have everything and follow the guidance He provides, things will get better.  And at the end of the day, you will be okay.  What’s more is that God will take your turmoil and turn it into a testimony that reveals His glory.  Not just the kind we can expect when we get to Heaven, but the kind that we get to see here in this lifetime.  The kind that is so undeniably glorious that even the biggest scoffers will have nothing to scoff about.

 

So be encouraged my friends, my dear ones.  Hang tough with God.  He will not leave you nor forsake you.  And when you give your everything to Him, He turns it into incredible sources of joy and celebration.  Just don’t give up.  Endure.  And let His good work in your difficulties transform you into a reflection of His goodness for all the world to see.  I’m still—

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

 

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Chin up! Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Hey there!

 

It’s gorgeous outside—Yay!!!!!!!!!  Tomorrow night we meet for free food at 6:30 and then we will have a mystery night!  It will be cool!  God is good!  Hope everyone got the message about Friday.  Free lunch at noon at the Wesley Foundation.  Come and share the way you see God moving in this ministry.  It will be fun!

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Every now and then I discover buried treasure.  God seems to surprise me with words spoken for “just a time as this.”  This morning in my quiet time, such a thing happened.  I was in my office in that quiet, holy space, sensing the presence of the Lord, when I noticed a book on my shelf.  It is one that I have not even looked at in years, certainly not in the time since I have been campus minister here.  I opened it up and read a piece, certainly not impressed, but then by chance turned to the cover.  Inside its front page was a hand-written note to the previous owner:

 

8-30-75

 

Dear Lou Ann—

 

Paul said “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness . . .  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses . . . for when I am weak then I am strong.” (II Cor. 12:9,10)  That’s a Mystery that each of us discovers in his own way.  God grant you faith to experience the real meaning of strength during this time when you must feel overwhelmed with weakness.  Chin up!  God loves you!

 

Barbara

 

Now I have no idea what the context of the message to Lou Ann was.  In 1975 I was three years old.  But I love the message.  I love the chipper quality in which it is given:  “Chin up! God loves you!”  I can only guess at the weakness that the recipient was struggling to overcome, the circumstances that caused it.  But I love the response to that circumstance that God delivers.  It is full of hope.  Instead of crawling into the pit too and somberly wondering how it will all get better, this comforter brings a bit of joy and humor to her words of encouragement.  That indeed whatever lies within, and certainly what lies ahead, is nothing that is able to steal the joy that is our birthright in the Lord.  In fact, the message is that in the place of our most poignant weakness God is getting ready to do His biggest work.  Well that’ll preach.

 

I want to encourage you today, my dear ones.  God is getting ready to do His biggest work in your life.  Just watch and see.  Chin up!  So that your eyes may be facing Him, ready to see His hand revealed.  Not focused on the pit you are in, downward cast so as to miss His hand of might and mercy at work.  Chin up!  God loves you!  And I do too—

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu