"Are you saved?"

During my time here at BCOM, I've been enjoying the unique experience of giving plasma. Enjoying, you may ask? Yes! Though needles don't really bother me, that's not really the extent of my enjoyment, rather it's in the unique and diverse people I meet there, in the luxury of getting off campus for awhile (as nice as it is, I really like a change of scenery!), and hanging out with my other friends who also give.

This past Sunday afternoon I went for my fifth time (yay for $50!!!) and was seated next to a guy dressed in the usual "gangsta garb" and who had a hood over his mouth (he looked kinda sick-- or at least like he wasn't enjoying giving plasma:). I smiled and said hi, asking him if he was okay but he didn't really seem to want to talk. So I got all hooked up and was about half way through the process when the same guy looked over at me and asked,

"Are you saved?"

Hey, I'll take that question any day!!!

"Yes, I am."
"For how long?" he intently asked.
"About fifteen years. Are you?"
He squirmed and gave a sort of painful smile then said no.
"I just saw the Bible you was reading and I was kinda curious. You know how those people downtown pass out all those, those...what do you call them?"
"Tracks?"
"Yeah, tracks-- they darn ALWAYS give them to me!"

He went on to tell me how God kept coming up in his life and how he was struggling with it. He knew that if he decided to be saved his life would have to change a lot. "I'd have to give up smoking, 'coz I smoke. I'd have to give up drinking, 'coz I drink. I'd have to give up sinning, 'coz, yeah, I sin. That'd be really hard. Really, really hard."

This guy was really counting the cost.

I could tell he'd really been thinking about it a lot, and he seemed in such a good place! His heart was soft and he was open, but it was very difficult for him. He asked where I went to church and said he hadn't been in a really long time. "I'm a little scared, ya kno'? I'm a sinner." I invited him to come to my church and verified that, yes, it is hard, but guess what? It's worth it!!!

And to sum it all up, his name is Mr. McKenzie, and the look on his face when I told him my name showed me that God used that too. The Hound of Heaven, the Jealous Lover, the Longing Father is after this man! PLEASE remember him in your prayers!!! God gave me a glimpse of the glory He would receive in this man's life, and family, we need to fight for this friend that our God is pursuing! Prayer is powerful, so on behalf of God's Kingdom may we beseech the Father for Mr. McKenzie's salvation.

P.S. Last week I sat next to another "gangsta'" named Chris. He's a student at a local university and was the loudest guy in the whole plasma place. hehe. He thought my name was pretty cool and told me that his "homeboy's" last name was McKenzie, and I'm pretty sure that the guy I met on Sunday was him!! God placed Chris on my heart to pray for, so please remember him as well! Salvation in Jesus' name!

Incomplacent Contentment

Today these eyes of mine beheld their first Minnesota snow flakes!!! They were just little flurries, but hey, it counts!

Even as winter rolls in, God continues to warm my heart as He sancifies me with His loving refiner's fire. Every week presents a new challege that builds on the old, and lately God has been teaching my heart who I am in Christ. This past week was a powerful one spiritually as God revealed to me all the idols that have been in my life. Many of these idols were deceiving, as they were good and praiseworthy things (like going on missions trips, giving gifts to people, playing sports...) but God showed me that I was using them to define who I was, and therefore was worshipping them and esteeming them above God. So what a powerful thing it was to confess, repent and renounce each of these idols as the Spirit led and then declare that my identity was no longer found in them, but in Jesus Christ alone! Though I didn't feel a whole lot, I know that much happened in the spiritual realm, and that day I realized that for the first time in my life I could say that Jesus was Lord of my life, that I worshipped Him alone, that I was in right-standing with God and was exactly where He wanted me to be. That was (and continues to be) so freeing! I feel as though finally I am ceasing my striving and resting in the place that God has me, all the while hungering and seeking after more. I believe I have found contentment and not complacency. I would really appreciate your prayers regarding revelation in my heart about who God says I am! If I'm not defined by being an athlete, an artist, a pastor's daughter, or a missionary (and so on), then what am I defined by? And more importantly, WHO am I defined by? And who really is that Who? :)

Thank you for your prayers!!!

--Kenzie