A Heart for Missions

The quickly approaching Cross Conference I'll be attending with many others my age from around the country has my mind racing with this phrase, "a heart for missions." What is meant by this? Who has it? Well that can be summed up easily: As followers of Christ we are all called to serve him and in doing that we are to share his gospel and expand his kingdom. You may be asking, "If we are all called to serve him and share, does this mean we should all have a heart for missions?" And the answer is, drum roll please... (I am ferociously tapping on my lap at the moment, just picture it in your head) YES! It is yes. We should all have a heart for missions because if it is in fact filled with Christ and his love then we should be wanting to serve his greater call upon our lives. 

Now, I am not meaning by this that we all should be selling our stuff, raising the money, and purchasing plane tickets to fly off to the nearest foreign country with people groups needing to be reached, but to realize that we are called to aid in this mission in whatever ways we are able. We can reach people in our communities that do not know Christ, if we have the funds we can support those that feel the call to go overseas to reach those people groups, or we could go ourselves. There are many ways to get involved but there is one crucial thing we all must participate in if we are to reach these people for Christ: prayer. 

We all must be in prayer for the people serving (which in case you haven't figured it out by now is us all) and the ways we can reach and serve those around us. God will reveal to us how we are able to aid in this. But let us go to him, so we he may reveal to us and open the opportunities for his spirit to work through us in reaching those that have not heard or believed and for his spirit to be softening the hearts of those people so they may hear and respond. 

I recently received an email from Cross con about praying for workers. Though this has been on my heart for awhile, it’s what lead me to writing this. There are 2.9 billion people without access to the gospel and Jesus commands us to pray. So I encourage you, as I was encouraged even more by this call to be praying for workers. Be praying that God may rise up people to go and reach these people groups and be in prayer for how you might be able to serve in this mission where you are if you are not called to go. I ask also that you be in prayer for this conference that thousands of college students from all around are attending that God might raise us up to go and help fulfill his mission and that he will do incredible things through this conference for his glory!

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21

Peace in the Holiday Madness

 Here I am in the middle of my fifth holiday season in the retail life at Old Navy (I refer to it as holiday season because of all the craziness that is involved from November to January. I'm not leaving out Christmas, trust me I make sure every customer is left with the words, "Merry Christmas" from my lips.). This year as I began, I was honestly not excited at all for what was to come. I feel like I've been placed in this apathetic mindset of not being excited for Christmas and all it has to bring, because of what I deal with when I enter the treacherous mall doors (if you have worked retail you would understand), and the overly materialistic society we live in.

Then on my way to the war zone in my car one day, "O Holy Night" came on my shuffle and as I began to sing along (be glad you weren't listening so your hearing is safe) I began to really listen to the words. I've heard this hymn so many times throughout my lifetime, but I was just paying extra close attention I guess this particular time. It began to soften and humble me as I was listening and singing. I started to think upon the night that Christ was born, though I wasn't there, but about the excitement of the coming savior that everyone must have felt and that we still feel today and something that I have lost somewhat this year. 

Then I reached the part of the song, "His law is love and His gospel is peace," and began to just revel in that and the peace found in Christ. Though I was working retail in this craziness of secular Christmas, I had peace in Christ and I recognized I should be preparing for the celebration of his coming.  I should be showing his love to my customers, no matter what they say to me (like telling me to take tips on how to do my job), and maybe help them realize why we celebrate this season of giving and what ultimate gift was actually given to us all if we come to know and understand it. So as we all enter into the final week before Christmas, let's relax and enjoy Christ's peace in our lives and understand how we may be able to calm the madness of the holiday season by focusing on him from whom it comes. 

What do you mean by prisoner again?

This semester, my i-Team has been going through the book of Ephesians and it has been eye-opening in many ways. God has been surpassing my knowledge (like blowing my mind, but back in Bible times so we're trying to bring it back. Ephesians 3:19 for reference). This has been done on a weekly basis, but something that has stuck out to me is Paul's use of the word "prisoner" to describe himself time and time again. Not just in this letter but in many others, like Philemon which I recently just completed. The reason it does is because of what follows it, "of Christ." He sees himself as a prisoner of Christ. It got me thinking. Do we view our lives as this?

Let me explain what I mean. Paul was currently in prison while writing most of these letters and so he was a prisoner. But it's for the fact that he views himself as a prisoner for Christ, that though he's in prison it is ultimately for Christ's purposes. His life is Christ's so if he is in prison it is for him. This just surpasses my knowledge (Used it again...caught on yet?) that even in that state and suffering he continued to serve in the way he did, advance the kingdom of God and hold accountable those teaching around the world.

Because of the recurring thought around this, I have been reexamining my outlook on things. Am I viewing my present circumstances the way I should be? That Christ has brought me here for a reason? Though I don't believe I'm in a period of suffering at the moment, I should still be devoting my life daily to Christ for what He has done for me and the grace given to me undeservedly. We should, as Paul did, view our lives in whatever circumstances for Christ and serve Him through it all, sharing the love and grace He has given to us to those around that have not known this yet. Are you living as a prisoner of Christ?

Just Astounding

Just bear with me, because my inner nerd/science geek is about to come out fully.

Being it's the fourth week of the semester, the tests have began to trickle in. Today was my first in my cell bio class (it went as well as a test can go) and I have spent the last few days heavily immersing myself in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and proteins and amino acids, etc. I also have been consuming large amounts of coffee with little sleep (as a matter of fact, I had my first experience with espresso shots and it was wonderful). But while I was studying, I was just amazed at the intricacy of the cell. I know I have studied it before, but it just floored me at the amount of detail is involved in the 10-100 micrometers of the animal cell. 

Have you ever just sat in awe, thinking, "Our God is just astounding!" The way He designed this little substance to do so much is just so awesome and cool. This is especially evident in how each part has their function and performs their tasks on their own because of the way God designed it. Even if you don't like science or don't understand a word I'm talking about, you must be amazed at the detail and design of each and every one of us down to the cell and the functions performed by it. These thoughts bring to mind this verse from Psalm 139:13 

"For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Thanks for bearing with me while my nerd side came out just a little, but I had to share with you the greatness of our God and His design of us! 

I Find Rest

I find rest in the incredible gift of knowing God is in control. Throughout the past year I have been switching career paths in my head. Going from one to another and thinking about possible outcomes. Therefore, in May I set a goal for myself to know what I want to do with the rest of my life by the end of Summer. Well... we've begun school again and I still don't know.

But, I am more content at this point in my life than I was entering school two years ago with a huge life plan set out. Though it's not turning out according to my plan,  I couldn't be more thankful with what God has blessed me with thus far in knowing where I'm headed. I know He has His desires for what my life will be and all I can do until they're revealed is just patiently serve and give all to Him daily. 

I recently finished a book by Kevin DeYoung called Just Do Something. It was a very enlightening and challenging read that caused me to open my eyes more into how to view God's will for my life. It is not your average "God's will is this for your life" book, as he will tell you flat out, but goes deeper into how your will should be to seek Him first and to serve Him. As he states, "The will of God for our lives is that we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (63).  It's just ironic that the entire theme of the camp I served as a counselor was "The Kingdom" followed by Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Our call or God's will for our lives is to seek Him first and serve Him in whatever ways we can with our lives. He's blessed us with gifts that can all be used towards His purpose for us and He will reveal that when needed. It's extremely comforting knowing that I am not in control and that He will lead me where I need to be for His will to be accomplished. As I continue on in my junior year, I look forward to seeing what I might do after college (a few options are Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, or Teaching in some way), but rest in the fact that God will reveal what I should do in His time and I will continue to serve Him while at this stage. 

Hit the Rewind

Gospel-centered, God glorifying, Christ exulting, truly remarkable growth in the lives of God's people. 

Those just scratch the surface of what this past week at Student Life Camp 2013 at Cedarville University was. It was a incredible opportunity to be able to serve alongside my mom as the counselors for our church this year. 

It was our first time being a part of Student Life camp and boy were our expectations exceeded!

When pulling into campus, it was pouring down the rain, and the camp staff were outside to meet us with umbrellas for everyone so we wouldn't get wet. THEN they even walked to meet mom and I when we went to move our cars into a different parking lot. They prayed with the kids about the week while we went to register and then prayed with us while registering. It was incredible to see their hearts so focused on God and their true servants hearts for the kids. 

 WE WERE THE FIRST TO ARRIVE!

Being it was on a college campus, though I thought I escaped dorm life/food after finishing my sophomore year, I was reintroduced again this week. But, the bright-side is that the beds were much more comfortable than Marshall's and the food wasn't half bad. (Mom really enjoyed having the ice cream options for almost every meal)

While there, you are split into different teams for the Rec time. We were a part of the BLUE CREW! Had a cheer created by our fearless leader, Chris, and battled against the RED RUMBLE, YELLOW SWARM, AND GREEN MACHINE. (Our cousins were a  part of the RED RUMBLE so needless to say the competition was heated) We held our own for the battles and won against the Spirit Staff once during the week but came into a close second the rest. But I think we were all real winners because we had one of the best songs to play on the last day of camp to cheer! Goes a little like this:

They experienced a rush of adrenaline

 

Ran a World Race! 

                                                        

And then got a little soaked!

  

And so did we! 

From the skits to the sermons, the team from Student Life preached the gospel and it was heard. Our students responded and it was awesome to see them grow in the word and in fellowship with one another. The theme for the week was centered on the Kingdom and one of the last nights they discussed how to live in the Kingdom. It was great to see how they spoke on what to do after camp and truly challenge the kids to stand out for their faith and share the gospel. 

It was also great to see our family around campus all week. My uncle's church's youth group came also to camp as we soon found out so we got to enjoy the experience with them as well (though they were the RED RUMBLE) 

 Who would have thought we'd wear the same shirt on the same day? 

We had an incredible week and I know all are looking forward to next year! If you want a more in-depth look at the week, check out this presentation I made for church this morning: 

http://prezi.com/nbeadkxrnzqj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Welcome

Where to begin... well my name is Jesse Horner and am going to be entering my Junior year at Marshall University. As you can see by the title of this blog that I am a pastor's kid born and raised. I am a follower of Christ and looking toward Him to see where my life will lead. I have been toying with the idea of beginning a blog about my life, thoughts, ideas, opinions and such things for awhile now and as you can see I've finally begun. I hope you enjoy what you read! For now I will leave you with this video one of my friends shared with me. Enjoy!