The first guy was Brett Yohn, the Christian Challenge director from the University of Nebraska. He is super awesome and so easy to talk to! He had four tips for living with purpose and the fun thing was that he introduced every one of them with clips from Lord of the Rings!!
In order for us to live with purpose we have to...
1) Enter in, idea of entering into people's lives and not staying content being in our holy huddles. The clip he showed was from Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo brought the ring to the Elf council and everyone was trying to figure out what to do with it when Frodo decides to "enter into" the story of the ring and take it himself. He didn't just sit back and let the others figure out what to do with the ring, but he took it upon himself to get involved in the saga of the ring's fate.
- Brett talked about how living the Christian life is a daily commitment and that we need to leave the confines of our homes and pursue relationships with those around me. He made the analogy of our lives being like a castle, where we could just chill with being by ourselves and be fine, but how we need to let down the drawbridge and enter into people's lives.
-- Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham, when he was 75, to uproot himself and his family and way of life and travel to the promised land.
-- Isaiah 49:5-6, "And now the LORD says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength— he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
--Psalm 2:8, "Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession."
--John 1:14, Jesus entered into human history and changed the course of this world forever, and if even He did that, and we are called to follow His example, we should get involved with people too!
2) Journey With, clip from Fellowship again, at the end, when Frodo tries to leave without Sam and Sam is determined to go and journey with Frodo no matter where that may lead them.
- Brett's point was that the Christian walk is not an individual sport, it's a team and a community and to find common interests/ground with others. He mentioned that whenever the apostles went out in the New Testament they usually went with teams, not alone. (Acts 3:1-6)
3) Impacted By, clip from The Two Towers, when Frodo and Sam are walking together and Sam asks whether or not people will tell stories about them to their kids and he mentions Frodo as being the hero to the story. Frodo then points out that Sam would be just as great a character as Frodo and how that reveals they both impacted each other.
- Brett talked about how we need to identify with the joys and sorrows of each other, how we need to not give up on each other.
-- 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, how we are called to share with people the message of reconciliation to Christ
- Brett mentioned that a deadly growth-killer is judging others, however, and how living by rules only and judging people is toxic because it leads to guilt and avoidance.
-- John 11:32-35, Jesus was so involved in people's lives that their pain became His pain
4) To Breathe Life Into, clip from Return of the King, when Frodo and Sam are on Mount Doom and Frodo can't go any further, Sam then decides to carry him to the top
- Brett talked about how we need to invest in a life-giving way to others and how we can only breathe out what we breathe in. When we attempt to live in the Spirit of God He will breathe life into us and into the lives of people we are trying to reach for Him.
- One thing I really liked that Brett asked was why don't people enter in, journey with and impact each other? Is it because we don't know about it?? NO! It's because doing these four steps costs too much!
Just because it's always fun to have pictures too, here are a few :)
This is the bus ride over, our seats were red and yellow, and yes, we also watched Aladdin :)
I called this one "the rise of man"
Picture of Lindsay and I as we were at the Garden of the Gods!! :)
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