Hey all! Here's another update from yours truly!
Now I understand that though the project days are probably the meat and potatoes of what the LT program stands for, I must also say just how important the main session days are that we have as well. Every monday and thursday night, all of the LT students and staff again reconvene for teaching, training, and building in community. The nights consist of a main message teaching from different pastors around the country, worship through music and prayer, and announcements about what is going to be coming next. We have a speaker that comes and talks both times each week, equaling ten total speakers over the course of 20 sessions in 10 weeks. Simple math right? :)
Here's the deal that each speaker has to follow: the monday sessions require the speakers to speak about a certain parable that Jesus used in his teachings to his disciples and the nations that he traveled to. Basically, they have to narrate and describe STORIES that Jesus used to illustrate what he was trying to communicate to his followers.
"Those who have ears, let them hear."
The thursday night sessions are very much the same thing: a message, worship, prayer, and announcements. However, on these nights, the speakers must talk about a different main idea. This one is a little more lax and the pastors have a little more freedom to give insight into our lives. The rule is that it has to be something that they would want to give to us as helpful knowledge in deepening our walk with the Lord all the days of our lives.
To kick of LT 2013, the first week had Mr. Jim Pace take the reins. He is the head pastor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, otherwise known simply as Virginia Tech.
Some particular skills that Jim has when he speaks is he is very animated almost the entire time. He loves to engage with his audiences by walking among them and using his body to illustrate his ideas more clearly. He's also known for his "crystal ball", something that he likes to use when illustrating most of those same ideas. Literally, it's like one hand is holding the bottom of the sphere and the other one is waving around it on top, as to see into the future.
But seriously though, he's one awesome man of God and super devoted to his job, his family, his students he leads at NLCF, and most of all: Jesus.
Week one Jim spoke on the Parable of the Sower. Essentially, the story behind the words is the importance of grasping the Word of the Lord and using it to spread to others in the nations. Jim did a good job of showing that no matter what, we as followers have to remain true to the faith that we have in Christ: that he will overcome the trials of our everyday lives and allow us the opportunity to be the seed that gets planted and reaps a harvest (sharing our faith) with others who have yet to receive that seed.
Enter project day here. (This description can be found in the previous post: LT 2013 Project Day #1)
On thursday, after a good slow day at work, Jim returned to speak about something that he found very important to share with us as up-and-coming leaders. The message was titled "Acquiring Wisdom." The passage that he focused on was over the beginning of the book of James.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
This was the most important verse Jim wanted us to see.
The bottom line is this: wisdom does NOT mean answers. Wisdom means wisdom.
Wisdom isn't smarts. Wisdom means to have experience, knowledge, and good judgement.
Something that was communicated to us was just how much God cares about building us all up. God doesn't leave us hanging. He teaches us about perseverance through reliance in Him for the answers that we seek.
"God isn't slow, he just wants to build something stronger in us that isn't quick answers."
"If God gave us everything we needed instantly, then he wouldn't be as awesome as He is."
Jim's bottom line was this:
Wisdom is attained through perseverance in trials, faith/expectation that will speak and we will understand, and reflection to see all that God has done.
God really spoke out through Jim this week. A lot of the things that he spoke was definitely things that we needed to hear. The beauty of God's story is that eventually we will see the ending to the story he is writing. But before we get there, we are going to have to see everything that is in between. God will speak out to us. We just have to hang in there.
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