The VOICE Conference > the VOICE staff blog > faith

Seasons

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Rowan Gillson

A wise man once stated,”For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” God Himself recorded these words in the Bible, even as he put stars in the sky “for signs and for seasons.”

Fall is a glorious time in NW Oregon. The days are warm, the nights are cool, and the colors of the trees are fantastic. But with the coming of fall also comes the rain. Slowly but surely the weeks fill with more and more rain until we have transitioned to the winter showers that seemingly last for weeks on end.

Seasons of life happen too, when you’re a kid, you cannot wait to be an adult. When you are in highschool, you feel like it is going to last forever. College provides another change of seasons. Dating relationships are just for a season. This or that job is yet another season. We like songs for a season, foods for a season, clothes for a season, and even friends for a season.

I tend to hang on to seasons too long, finding my identity and my comfort not in God, but in the temporary things of whatever season I find myself. Seasons are good and natural, created by God and an important part of our lives, but our lives, and our God, are much bigger than any one season we go through.

Enjoy the season you’re in. Live it to the fullest. Thank God for it. Move on well when the seasons change. Let God be the one in whom you find your identity, comfort and delight, and remember that He will be with you in each new season you enter.

The Pulse of Sacrifice

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Katie Pleckham

“Jesus loves me this I know,
for the Bible tells me so,
little ones to Him belong,
they are weak but He is strong.”

Last time I wrote for the blog, I had recently taken on the challenge of learning to love by the measure given in 2 Corinthians 13:4-8; little did I know how greatly I would experience being loved firsthand by Jesus Christ. His love truly exceeds anything one could write about His being patient, kind, or selfless.

He has held and comforted me as I sobbed my eyes out. He’s been patient through my countless questions and complaints of not understanding His Plan. His love gave me hope as I’ve been reminded of His promises – and there are so many for you and I! Read His word – you’ll find them too! He works ALL things together for His glory! Love is the pulse of sacrifice – and ultimately the reason that He gave His life for you and I.

Remember that little tune “Jesus Loves Me”? What a great reminder of belonging to God! I’m definitely a weakling, but, my God, no, OUR God is so strong!!

He longs to be your Savior, Comforter, Restorer, Healer, Father, and so much more. Are you reveling in how much Our God loves you? Look at Arianna’s face in the picture – she is smiling and giggling because of her parents’ love for her. That is exactly what she should be like with Christ’s love!

Remember, It’s not just a Sunday School song… It’s the truth. He loves you. Dearly.

What’s Stirring You Up?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Wes Dudley

“Many people will spend the summer occupied with fishing and politics. In fishing you use a worm, and in politics a worm uses you.” -unknown

Well, it’s election season here in the US, and emotions seem to be running high, just like every other election year. It is fascinating to observe how politics quite often brings out the worst in many people. The political jokes start flying around, the other party and person that you disagree with gets demonized, and many people can’t stop thinking about how the world will end if the other guy wins the election.

I can’t help but wonder, as I’ve observed the madness of this election season, that many of us Christians really are consumed with the wrong things. Do elections matter? Oh, you had better believe that they do. Does God care who gets elected? Considering the references in Scripture about government, it would be foolish to say that God doesn’t care. Yet my struggle comes down to how obsessed God’s people are with the election process and the final outcome.

So what’s the big deal? Isaiah 64:7 says “There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You.” Many of us Christians (myself included) get “stirred up” quite easily. Our heart gets pumping, our energy skyrockets, and our mind races when it comes to numerous topics – especially elections. We stir ourselves up with so much, but are we stirring ourselves up to take hold of our King? Most people who know me will agree that I am one who gets passionate about various subjects – and in many ways, that’s not a bad thing. The problem occurs, however, when that passion takes over and we get so consumed with a particular interest that we put off striving to live out the Greatest Commandments: to love our God with our whole hearts and to love our fellow citizens. I can’t help but wonder if God’s people lived like He is real in every way, then how might the political landscape be transformed in ways that it never has before?

Unspoken, or Forgotten?

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Tim Chen

“So, Tim, why are you doing this?”

I was telling my Mom about some of the ideas I had for the short musical contest that I had signed up for, when she turned around to look at me to ask the question. It was a simple enough question, and yet I found it a little irritating. To me, it implied that she thought something was wrong, that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

“Well, on the one hand, I’m following the advice that another composer gave me: I need to write more often, give myself more deadlines. Also, doing this will give me experience writing a short musical in Chinese, and I’ll be able to get in contact with other people in Taiwan who are interested in musicals, so more people can find out about my work. Why are you asking?”

Mom raised her eyebrows and replied, “I just thought that the main purpose should be to glorify God.”

I flushed, slightly embarrassed that I forgot to mention something so important, but I quickly defended myself, “Oh, of course that’s the main reason! I just took it for granted that you would know it’s the unspoken reason for why I’m writing this musical, so I didn’t even bother mentioning it.”

As I turned back to work on the musical, the question continued to gnaw away at me. Was I really doing it for the glory of God? Or had I become completely focused on writing this musical for my own potential gain and benefit?

Soli Deo Gloria, S.D.G. written by Georg Friedrich Händel

A few hundred years ago, the term “Soli Deo gloria” was written by composers such as Bach and Handel on many of their music compositions. It is the Latin phrase meaning “Glory to God alone.” It was a reminder for themselves – and everyone in the future who would read their manuscripts – that the purpose of their music was to bring glory to God. I’m also discovering the importance of constantly reminding myself that the purpose of my work should be to glorify God.

Practically speaking, what does it look like when a musical is written with the purpose of glorifying God? I’m still learning, but one thing I know: often I am focused on just the final product, when God should be glorified throughout the entire process. That means constantly reminding myself and everyone I’m working with WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.

Most importantly, God should be glorified not only through the musical, but in EVERYTHING that I do.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
I Corinthians 10:31

To 怕怕 or Not To 怕怕

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Karen Kallberg

A few weeks ago, Arianna started saying, “怕怕” (“pa-pa”) first for any number of noises that scared her, and now for any excuse to get me to hold her. Some sounds– like our washer buzzing– can be a little alarming, but other sounds– like the quiet horn on my iPod announcing I had just received an email– are really no big deal.

Since she can’t communicate very well yet, I’ve had to figure out what was real fear and what was imagined, what she should be afraid of and what she shouldn’t. Most of the time, I would say, “Don’t be afraid, that’s just an airplane.” Other times, however, I found myself saying, “Don’t be afraid, Mommy’s right here.”

Watching Arianna go through this stage has made me think through my own fears—fear of losing my family, fear of uncertainty or insecurity, fear of what others might think of me… I’m realizing that if I really believe that God is real (and that He is “right here” with me), then some of my fears are unfounded.

Think about it—if I really believe that God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), then I can rest in the reality that He has a purpose for everything that happens in my life—good or bad—and that He will give me the grace to go through it (2 Corinthians 12:9).

If I really believe that God provides for those who seek Him (Matthew 6), then my security should be in Him and not in my own ability (or my husband’s) to provide.

If I believe that God is my Creator and my Redeemer and that I owe Him my very life (Romans 5:8), how can the opinion of man matter when the God of the universe cares enough to have a relationship with me?

So when you find yourself feeling afraid or worried, take a minute to assess whether that fear is grounded in a right understanding of who God is.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV)

The Right Motivation for Doing the Right Thing

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Luke Kallberg

Our vision is to live out God’s reality – “God is real; live like it!” But what does that mean? We believe that God’s reality has implications for the choices we make in every part of life – if God is real, then there is a best way to live and think. But this can be taken three different ways. Many Christians, many Basic Seminar attendees, end up thinking that life is a search for the behaviors that God wants us to carry out, and if we do those behaviors, then we’re living like God is real. I’m realizing that it’s easy for our message to sound that way, and to many students, it probably has. But it’s wrong. I’ll call it the “do the right thing” message.

Matthew 7:22 describes some people on judgment day who did the right things:

“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name!'”

These were people who did all the behaviors that would make sense if they believed in God’s reality. The next verse records Jesus’ chilling answer to these good people:

“Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

So it turns out that “doing the right thing” isn’t enough. Why does Jesus reject them? He doesn’t know them. They don’t have a relationship with him.

Living like God is real is something entirely different from making lists of appropriate behaviors. Jesus Christ is the kind of God toward whom the most important behavior is to build a relationship with him as a person. And it turns out that that relationship will give us the motivation to do the various behaviors that God’s reality implies. I’ll call this the “have a relationship with Jesus that motivates you to do the right thing” message. I mean, why in the world would a college student care what the Bible says about sex before marriage? There’s a lot of motivation to do it! Why would he or she say ‘no’? Why should a teenager living at home think that God has anything to do with his or her internet usage? That kind of God seems pretty invasive, and is easy to react to. We can make lists of what God wants us to do in different parts of life, but they are worthless unless we have the right reason for following them. If the God of the Bible is real, then the right way to live is in a close personal relationship with him. The right behaviors are really just good manners toward a God that we know in a close personal relationship. I hope that we can emphasize this more in the future at VOICE.

Living like God is real isn’t doing the right thing: it’s having the right motivation for doing the right thing.

Loving His Voice

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Celia Anderson

A few days ago I was hiking through the woods with my family. As we walked, we passed a father and his little son on the trail. The father was sharing something with his son and the little boy was listening with shining eyes. The boy could not have been older than six or seven, but every part of his being was enthralled by his father’s words. He was so eager to hear that he walked as closely to his father as he could and kept looking up into his daddy’s face. As they passed, I realized that the father was saying something important: he was sharing a vision, a dream, that he had for his son.

Even now I do not want to forget the image of that little boy’s shining eyes. Do I listen to my heavenly Father’s voice with the same excited attention? Do I walk as closely as I can so as not to miss a word? Have I caught the vision that He has for my life? Is every fiber of my being bent on hearing and obeying Him? Sadly, I am often not like that little boy: I stumble through my devotions, try to walk as closely to the “line” between right and wrong as I can, and push His vision for me to the side, while focusing my energies on the things I enjoy.

Our heavenly Father’s main vision for every Christian is to live like He is real and like His Gospel is powerful. The Lord will direct each person to accomplish that vision in different ways. Do you love to hear His voice? Have you caught the specific vision He has for you? If you do not know what it is, ask Him! Then be like that little boy and treasure your Father’s every word. Let’s humble ourselves as little children, like Jesus told His disciples, and listen to our heavenly Father’s voice as if we can’t get enough.

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11

What has Jesus done for you?

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Joel Feig

This past month I had the privilege to be part of the VOICE conference. As most of you know, sports activities at VOICE can be quite competitive at times. One afternoon at the Northwoods, I joined in a game of capture the flag. The game was going along rather well until I discovered I am not as fast or as coordinated as I previously imagined. This discovery was introduced to me through a full speed, literal head-on collision with a student. After crashing to the ground and rolling a few times, I eventually began to regain my senses enough to ensure I was in fact, still alive. As I lay on the ground watching the last few scenes of my life flash before my eyes, I prayed that the pain in my leg did not indicate a broken leg, and that my face was not bleeding too much. Thankfully, all that was required was a bandage and a few painkillers.

The next day or so, we had a church service in the tower. Going up that many stairs was a bit difficult as I tried to disguise the pain and act normal. As I sat in my chair, I was thinking about how much my body hurt, and frustrated at myself for not being able to avoid the collision. About that time, David L. began our worship service by reading Isa. 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” When I heard that verse, the insignificance of my minor pains almost caused me to laugh at myself. At the same time, I had a tiny realization of the incredible physical and spiritual pain Jesus went through on the cross to pay the penalty required for my sins. The significance of Christ’s willing sacrifice out of love for me nearly brought me to tears. I had previously watched movies depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, read the Biblical account, and even heard testimony from medical professionals describing the intense physical pain Jesus went through on the cross, but at that moment the physical suffering of Jesus became real to me.

In living my life in a relationship with a real God, do my actions match my words? As imitators of Christ, we should be willing to love others the same way Jesus loved us. He was willing to suffer incomprehensible pain on my behalf, and yet I am often not willing to suffer embarrassment or rejection from others to stand for what I believe. This experience helped me to realize that nothing should hinder me from the responsibility I have of sharing the love of God with others that they too may know Jesus Christ personally.

Be bold to tell others what God has done in your life!

A Meaningful Summer

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Rachel Hung

Hi Everyone! This week’s post comes from my sister Rebecca, a 2007 V2 student, and recently graduated from university in England. Here are her thoughts…

At the beginning of this summer, I tried to have a perfect schedule lined up. It had to be productive and contain at least one exciting event of considerable length. And as happens every year, about half my plans fell through. So rather than tour Chile for a month or work for an English opera company, I’ve been spending my time back in Asia doing familiar things.

To an unbiased outside viewer, I’ve still been able to take some great trips and meet some amazing people. But because it wasn’t what I hoped, I found it hard to be completely invested in what I was doing. I was a transitory visitor, and I passed through each week without fully being present.

As I was internally whining over my empty ten day slot in August, God asked me, “Why don’t you care about the days I HAVE filled for you?” Even as I went on two mission trips to China and helped host multiple guests with my family, I carried out every task without giving of my emotions. Though physically there, I was always mentally in the future.

Like the beginning of First Corinthians 13 says, if we perform all these great things, but have no love, it means nothing. It’s easy to be busy with tasks, but harder to care about those you are serving. So for me, showing love means living in my present, investing in wherever I am, whatever I’m doing. What does it mean for you to have love?

Security is a Wonderful Thing

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Rowan Gillson

What makes you feel secure?

I’ve been thinking a lot about stability and security lately. The truth is, I’ve been feeling a lack of both of them! My wife and I have been traveling a lot, we own our own business, and we’ve been trying to buy a house for months. All of that tends to remove the normal things that we look to for stability and security. As a woman, not knowing where we’re going to live is pretty hard on my wife. As a man, running my own business on a very tight budget is pretty stressful for me. As a couple, it can be a challenge to maintain our relationship with each other when we’re spending a lot of time taking care of our staff and students at photography workshops. All told, our lives have felt a little bit like an earthquake recently!

The conclusion that I have come to is that I am really grateful for things that are secure. Even though life has been stressful, never once have I doubted the Goodness of God, or the salvation that He has freely given me. A lot of other things depend on me doing something, or filling out the right form, or booking a ticket at the right time. Salvation is out of my hands… I have been adopted into God’s family, and it is now His job to ensure my eternal security. And that gives me Hope!