the Main thing I learned this summer.

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God.

…Galatians 3:3

For the first 5 weeks of my summer project in Chicago the group I was with studied the book of Galatians. We studied it in small groups on Tuesday nights, a speaker spoke on it at our large group meetings on Wednesday nights, and my staff discipler and I usually discussed it throughout the week during our one-on-one time. If God sent me to Chicago for nothing else, it was to learn this.

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A protestant distinction between justification and sanctification:

justification – the act of pronouncing righteous, justification, acquittal (accomplished by faith in Jesus Christ because of His death on the cross for our sins; Romans 3, Gal. 2:16, 3:11, 5:4)

sanctification – the course of life befitting those so separated [to God]; the separation of the believer from evil things and ways (Romans 15:16, 1 Thes. 4:1-8, 2 Thes. 2:13); an on-going process

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I think I understood fairly well before this time that it was by God’s grace that I had been saved. It was not by my doing and there was nothing I could do to deserve it. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, my sins are atoned for as I place my trust in Christ.

As I read the Bible over the past 7 years or so, I read the calls to be holy as God is holy and to pursue righteousness. I’m sure my motives were pure at times, but at other times I was motivated by legalism and a desire to please people (usually Christians) or gain others’ approval (usually spiritual leaders of mine). I would fall into condemnation if I didn’t think I was doing a “good enough” job at being holy and it would often lead me to strive harder (sometimes in my own strength, sometimes asking for God’s).

I would never profess that I thought I could make myself holy, but my actions (or rather the motives behind them) and my disappointment when I “failed” showed that I was looking to myself to carry out this work of sanctification.

As we read through Galatians over and over this summer and as my loving leaders and peers encouraged me in Truth, God opened my eyes to the way I was living similar to the way the Galatians had been living.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–which is really no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-7a).

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? … Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? (3:2, 5)

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God–or rather are known by God–how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? (4:8,9)

The law I was living under was not the Judaic law, but my heart was similar to those in Galatia at that time. I was enslaved by works. I realized that I was not “saved” (or justified) by works, but I was acting like I could be sanctified by them.

The gospel of salvation was still about what only Jesus could do, but the “gospel” of becoming holy had become about what I (Joy) could do.

What God was showing me (over and over) this summer was that THE GOSPEL IS NOT ABOUT ME. What JESUS did defines who I am…and what He continues to do in my life defines who I am.

I needed grace THEN and I need grace NOW.

Does God still call us to holiness? Yes. Does He still want us to be conformed to His image? Yes, BUUTTTT it is the work of His Spirit that does that, not the work of myflesh. The fruits of the SPIRIT are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). That’s not my fruit…those aren’t my workings. Putting on a facade of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness…etc. doesn’t cut it. Trying to be really nice doesn’t cut it. Trying to produce it on my own results in frustration and pride. Allowing the Spirit to produce it in me points to my loving Savior-the author AND perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:2).

It’s freeing, you know? We can freely preach the gospel as it’s not pointing to us…it’s pointing to Christ.

Soooo….thank you Lord for drilling that in my heart. I know there’s still more, but thank you for the work you’ve begun and have continued and…

CHICAGO SUMMER PROJECT UPDATE I

I realize that I have about 9 weeks of a packed summer project to update people on, so I will start with a broad overview of the trip to give a general idea of what took place. I will then proceed to little by little go deep into what I learned, share specific stories, and so on (these will come on later days). : )

The summer project I did with Campus Crusade for Christ in Chicago is a leadership development project. (For more info re: the summer projects that take place across the United States and around the world, you can go to http://gosummerproject.com) The goal of the projects is to reach out to the people in the cities we go to and meanwhile learn what it means to be a leader in Christian ministry and a follower of Christ at home, on your campus, and in your workplace.

The Chicago Summer Project that I participated in had a *campus ministry* focus, so a main goal of the project was to partner with the Campus Crusade ministries on campuses in Chicago to reach out to the vast number of students in the city.  Some campuses already have Christian movements, so the goal on these campuses was to help boost their ministry. For campuses that do not have Christian movements, we sought to find Christians on these campuses who have a heart to reach the other students on their campus for Christ and get them hooked up with existing Campus Crusade ministries in Chicago.

Here are some logistics of the trip:

Dates June 5th to August 9th

• June 5th to July 9th with staff (about 75 people, including staff children! : ))

most of the project on UIC's lawn

• July 10th to August 9th without staff (32 students; eek, if God can use us…)

just the students

Staff info

• About 30 full-time staff members with Campus Crusade (also some Campus Crusade interns, volunteer staff…they’re all staff to me : ))
• 8 of these full-time staffers were with a part of Campus Crusade that’s called Faculty Commons whose focus on the college campuses is to reach out to professors. That excites me. : ) (A website with more information on this is http://clm.org; their heart is to reach the faculty in order to reach more students).
• 1 of the full-time staffers that was with us this summer, Marilyn Adamson, is the creator of a website called EveryStudent.com that has articles that address questions about Christianity and other life issues. It was awesome to hear Marilyn’s heart behind this online ministry and to hear stories about people who have accepted Christ after reading through articles about what it means to know God personally, accept Jesus Christ as Savior, etc. (I recommend this website even if the person isn’t a student. The articles aren’t too long and there are lots of different topics addressed.)
• States represented by the staffers: California, Florida, Georgia (lots of UGA-ers), Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indianer.
• The staff did an awesome job of preparing us students for the second 1/2 of project when they wouldn’t be there. They led with humility and were committed to our spiritual growth. I was so0o0o0o inspired by their transparency and willingness to admit their struggles. They didn’t pretend to be superstars and I think it’s really affected me in the way that I lead: to be okay with not being perfect…etc.

just staff...night before they left : (

Student info

• There were 32 students who stayed for the entire project
• Ages ranged from 18 to 23
• States represented: Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana (multiples from Ball State, IU, Michigan State, BGSU and Miami-Ohio)
• I will have lots more to say about these wonderful students, but some snapshots: they were all stretched, they all stepped out in faith and trusted God in ways they hadn’t before, and they were all wonderful encouragers to the other students on project!

one Project Fun night at the beach

A typical week

Monday: Work or look for jobs during the day; Go to Re:Charge at night (a time of learning and equipping in the Word for just the people on Chicago Summer Project)

Tuesday: Work or look for jobs during the day; Go to Action Group at night (the students were split up into small groups that ate together and then studied the Bible…the first 1/2 of project we studied the book of Galatians [sooo good])

my Bible study the first 1/2 or project

Wednesday: Work or look for jobs during the day; Go to a cook-out and then to Re:Late (a large group meeting similar to most Campus Crusade meetings on campus composed of times of worship, fellowship, and teaching of the Word; we were encouraged to invite co-workers and students we met on campus to these meetings)

Thursday: Work or look for jobs during the day; usually a free night to do laundry, hang out, catch up on reading, etc.
***Students took one day off from work out of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to go on campus; students would meet one-on-one with their staff or student “discipler” and then go talk to students on campus or advertise for an event coming up***

Friday: Work or look for jobs during the day; usually a free night

Saturday: Free day during the day; outreach in the community at night (Millenium Park, the Thomspon Center, the El, the Magnificent Mile…more stories to come : ))

Sunday: Go to our respective churches in the morning (we were split up into 4 church groups); afternoon free time; Impact Group at night (one guys’ Bible study was paired up with one ladies’ Bible study that had dinner together and hung out) followed by Project Fun (hmmm some kind of fun activity that we did all together ooorrrr “extended time alone with the Lord”, depending on the week; more details to come)

my Impact Group the second 1/2 (so no staff : ()

OOOooookay. I will stop here for now.  More detailed information to come!!! (including the inside scoop on my job that I adored)

Each day I’ve been realizing more and more how much God taught me on this trip and the ways He has changed me. Thank you for your prayers and support!

–* Joy