Mary or Martha? by Danielle Buck

Hey there everyone! I'm Danielle. Nice to meet you. *shakes hands* I'm an English Education major and I'm graduating in May. I grew up in southern California and now I live in northern Nevada. I love the color green, hippos (but not green ones), all things Disney, and a tall extra hot 2 pump soy vanilla latte from Starbucks. Now you know. =)

Since OSL seems to like recommending books, I suppose I’ll jump on the “read this book” bandwagon. Over the past few weeks (when I can find time in addition to all of my required reading for classes), I’ve been going through Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. It uses the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 and talks about how, in a world of busyness and trying to accomplish everything, the thing that is most necessary is to sit at the feet of the Lord and have fellowship with Him.

^{Just as a point of reference, here’s the story...}

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

   ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

As a student leader, and especially as an RA, it is so easy to be Martha. There are students on our hall who need our help. There are events to plan, curfew checks to do, accountabilities to participate in, and a myriad of other things that pull our attention. A few weeks into the semester, we are running around the “kitchen” trying to get everything done. We get spread thin, and then burnout is well on it’s way. We turn into Martha in the kitchen, complaining to Jesus that we aren’t getting the help we deserve.

Now, service to the Lord isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, service should be an overflow of our relationship with the Lord. The problem comes when we lose sight of WHY we are serving and get caught up in being “busy for the Lord”. Joanna Weaver says that “Satan enjoys using our hectic schedules, stressed bodies, and emotional upsets in his efforts to put up barriers to our intimacy with God.” This is exactly what happened to Martha, and what has the potential to happen to us. We get so wrapped up in doing the work of the Lord, that we don’t even hear the Lord asking us to spend time at His feet.

One of the things that my RD always tells us is “The most important thing I will do today is spend time with the Lord.” As easy as it is to forget this, it is exactly what the Lord calls us to do, and precisely what Mary realized when Jesus showed up at her house. She knew there was work to be done, but she also knew that the thing that was most important was to take time out of her day to spend intimate time with the Lord.

May we serve the Lord with the strength and determination of Martha, but never forget to take time to sit at the feet of the Lord like Mary. <3

Cliché Christianity by Chris Deitsch

Me: Standing up on my soapbox

One of the most challenging verse in the Bible is in Daniel chapter 6 when it saw that Daniel went to his upper room and prayed to the Lord three times a day as was his custom. What did Daniel and his companions do the many times their lives were on the line? Daniel 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 we continually find them running to the Lord in prayer in there times of need. Paul is through in jail in the book of Acts and he and Silas start singing and praying. Jesus would sneak away from the disciples, even if it meant getting up early after a long night of ministry, to spend massive amounts of time with the Lord in prayer. Daniel read the prophet Jeremiah and it lead to a time of repentance in his heart.

You might say, where are you going with this? While standing on your soapbox, you are not making much sense.

I cannot tell you the number of students over the last few years who were in dry places with the Lord spoke with me or someone else about wanting to turn back to the Lord. In that conversation they make a statement. “I don’t want to cliché answers though!”

What are the cliché answers they are referring to? Read your Bible more and spend more time in prayer. They are tired of receiving the prescription for their complacency or sinful living being prayer and the Bible. They are looking for some quick fix; some new fresh method to rekindle the flame in their spiritual walk. They are looking for something more. Attend a conference, talks to this person, just come forward, or something else that they have never heard of that will transform everything. Don’t give them the cliché old traditional answer. We live in the new age of technology; Isn’t there a podcast I can listen to that will change everything?

And while there are some time a speaker or a lesson really says something that will change the perspective we have on our life and our relationship with Christ, there really is no substitute to simply spending large parts of our day reading. It is the substance that causes those in the hall of faith to earn that recognition and it is the action that sums up over a third of the record time of Jesus in the New Testament. 

In John 15, Jesus said that I am the vine and you are the branches. He challenges believers to abide in him and he already abides in us. He says if we do that we will bear much fruit. But then he makes a real tough statement that many of us do not really believe. He says, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

So if reading your Bible more and spending more time in prayer is cliché Christianity, then I guess I am cliché. But that’s ok because I am in the company of such a great cloud of witnesses!

Me: Getting down off my soapbox

Chris Deitsch is an Associate Director at the Office of Student Leadership, and the pastor of Prayer Leaders. He is originally from Kentucky and enjoys hunting and spending time with his wife. 

There is no middle way

by: Andrew Butler

I heard a sermon this weekend in which the pastor referenced an argument originally made by C. S. Lewis, and I was so affected that I feel obligated to reproduce it for the benefit of others.

“There was a man born among these Jews who claimed to be, or to be the son of, or to be ‘one with’, the Something which is at once the awful hunter of nature and the giver of the moral law. The claim is so shocking—a paradox, and even a horror, which we may easily be lulled into taking too lightly—that only two views of this man are possible. Either he was a raving lunatic of an unusually abominable type, or else He was, and is, precisely what He said. There is no middle way. If the records make the first hypothesis unacceptable, you must submit to the second. And if you do that, all else that is claimed by Christians becomes credible—that this Man, having been killed, was yet alive, and that His death, in some manner incomprehensible to human thought, has effected a real change in our relations to the ‘awful’ and ‘righteous’ Lord, and a change in our favour.”

Furthermore…

“If any message from the core of reality ever were to reach us, we should expect to find in it just that unexpectedness, that willful, dramatic anfractuosity which we find in the Christian faith. It has the master touch—the rough, male taste of reality, not made by us, or, indeed, for us, but hitting us in the face.”

Let us not take this truth too lightly. He is exactly what He said He is. “There is no middle way.” Our relations to the awful and righteous Lord have been changed in our favor. Let us rejoice in that fact. It is my prayer, hope and desire (Paul’s as well: Ephesians 1:15-23) that we will allow the simple nature of the gospel to renew us, refresh us, and reinvigorate us always and forever. 

 I am from Kansas. I love reading, writing, and thinking. I plan on going to law school. Jesus is my satisfaction, validation, affirmation, and chief supply of affection.

Back to life: Blog edition

by Lexie Daché

I have to admit, when people ask me my favorite thing about being an RA at Liberty, the answer can easily change based on the week, my mood, my latest conquest and struggle. While my commitment to the position is unwavering, my feelings easily fluctuate. However, there’s one area that’s always positive and always encouraging (yes, just like Christian radio) and that is RA class.

Each leadership position is required to attend a weekly class, and my love of these meetings has grown over time as I’ve transitioned from Prayer Leader to SLD to RA. This past Tuesday in RA class, Danny Lamonte, the director of Resident Assistants and Resident Directors, made the accurate comparison of Liberty and church camp, and titled the lesson "Back to Life." We joked about common church camp experiences, and I laughed with the girls at my table about how my first “relationship” came out of middle school church camp. You won’t be surprised to hear that just like Danny’s personal account, the romance didn’t last past the time our bus pulled back up to the church... and back to life.

            On a serious note, a challenge and lesson coming out of church camp was the mission to not lose heart. I remember reading 2 Corinthians 4:1 while in high school, which says, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” But even though this verse sounds clear, it’s not easily carried out, which is shown in the life of any student attempting the nearly impossible task of maintaining summer camp momentum.

            In high school, I lost heart post camp pretty drastically. But because of God’s mercy, my story doesn’t stop there. However, now that I’m older and wiser, does this mean I’ve got the act of “taking heart” down? Not at all! I am not shy to share that this is a personal struggle, but something that keeps me going is the one part of this verse that was missing for me in high school, and that is the ministry. The RA ministry is given to me through God’s mercy. Ministry keeps me going because I constantly need the reminder that it’s not all about me, and when I act otherwise, I am asking for exhaustion. But the Lord gives mercy to those who are fulfilling His calling, and carrying out His ministry. This is definitely something to cling to as we try and take heart, even when the time feels like “post summer camp.”

           

Lastly, the RA and SLD teams have been awesome in getting involved with leadership hash tags. If you’ve missed it, check out this week’s: #LUcommUnity and #VisionSLD. Similarly, I’d love to hear your feedback from those of you reading this blog! So answer me this...  

What is your favorite part of your ministry this week?

How have you seen God’s mercies through your ministry?

...also feel free to tweet it out. I'm sure it's not long before the PL hashtag is far outnumbering the RA's and SLD's. 

Lexie is a first year RA on the Hill and treats the RA twitter hash tag like her personal account. She's known to get really cheesy in her blog posts, but refuses to apologize... You can find her being friends with her leadership team and watching cat videos. Recommendations are always welcome. 

Do you ever feel like a freshman? by Lexie Dache

It’s official – OSL is back!  …Not that OSL ever left, but in the last couple days, there has been a resurgence of student leaders on campus. New RA’s landed on Thursday, and returners marched in Sunday. The Reber Thomas was overrun with badges Monday morning as we bonded over required breakfast, and blamed brother dorms for drinking the last cup of coffee.

            As a new RA, I’ve appreciated the extra days reacclimating to Lynchburg. I got to be the first and only one to move into my dorm, spending that first night wide awake with excitement and nerves. My stomach felt the same as it had as a freshman, except this time I thank the Holy Spirit for my adrenaline induced energy, instead of the case of Monster energy drinks I thought was a good idea during freshman week. Just like a freshman, I spent all my free time socializing and then was literally stunned by the silence that met me on my dorm when I returned late at night (but this time, late means 9 pm). Was everyone else hanging out somewhere? Was I the odd one out for being back? Were there other girls in their rooms thinking the same thing as me? This week, I still wondered if I was the only one alone, a question that haunted me as a freshman, except this time around the feelings were fleeting.

            It’s good to look back, especially starting the RA process, and remember the specific highs and lows from freshman year. That’s one of the most special and crucial things about RA’s, SLD’s, and most Prayer Leader’s… we’ve been there. We made that drive to school on move-in day, and though there are many different forms that journey can take (fighting, crying, laughing, screaming, or completely silent), we’ve still taken that path. We showed up, unsure of the future. I have yet to meet an OSL student who arrived with scheduled semesters of their rise from prayer group member to RA. We’ve dealt with uncertainty.  We changed our major, or contemplated it at least. We sorted out expectations, dealing with those that remain unmet, and blown away by experiences that surpassed anything imaginable.

            I’ve learned that some feelings many freshman experience for the first time are staples of life.  They will resurface. Some days we’ll question if we’re alone, if we’re in over our head. We’ll wonder why God brought us here. We’ll wait in expectation for the start of something new, or we’ll feel overwhelmed with the pressure of the situation. The biggest difference between being hit with those thoughts fresh out of high school and now is that when my mind starts going into overdrive with concerns, I can look back on the last two years of living through those worries. I look back and see how God provided, how I wasn’t alone, how He put me in the right place, in His timing, and equipped me for every scary new situation he brought me through.

            So wherever you are this semester – still at home, on campus, preparing for your first semester at Liberty, or your last, take inventory of your feelings. Reflect on times you felt like that before, remembering how God brought you through. Be empathetic to those going through those experiences for the first time. Let the familiarity of concerns remind you to praise God for His faithfulness, and trust Him to lead you through this next season.

The Pursit

For most of my blog posts, I find myself scavenging the internet, wandering through blogs of women in ministry, trying to find inspiration. I read incredible story after story, and can’t help but ask God why I don’t get to experience moments like them. I’ve become obsessed with stories; I lie in wait for a good one, waiting around for God to speak to me through the written account of other people’s experiences.


Nothing is different about this blog post. I developed an entire page of quotes and ideas, concepts, connections, and object lessons all provided by strangers who’s personal lives I follow secretly from the safety of my computer screen (hey, they put it out there!). As I prayed for God to allow me to make something original, I was reminded of a quote from my favorite movie… I’m not sure what my audience demographic out here is, but hopefully most of you are familiar with the 90’s classic Never Been Kissed. Nearing the climax of this typical yet timeless chick flick, Drew Barrymore’s character, Josie Grosie Josie Geller says, “Somebody once said, to write well, you have to write what you know. Well, this is what I know…”

So what do I know? After spending two years at the most exciting and largest evangelical Christian university in the world, you would think I’d be able to make some strong self-evaluation or a cohesive statement of lessons learned. At this point, my OSL blog posts have revealed enough about my tendency to get lost in introspection, but I still have a hard time pulling out concrete conclusions.

Even though I’m a communications major, I often find myself struggling to communicate things clearly. This week, I went to lunch with the leader of my upcoming mission’s trip and two other girls from the team. My leader asked me, “What’s something about your life that’s different now than from before you knew Christ?” This isn’t a complicated question; it’s not even that hard, but I think I failed at properly answering. There are plenty of answers that would suffice, and I chose to talk about the difference in my friendships. When I was in high school, I constantly craved deeper relationships, but the more I pursued them in the wrong context, the less connected I felt. At Liberty, things are different. I am constantly blown away by the friendships I’ve developed, and I know that is because they are rooted in Christ. However, my answer came out in a way that worried our leader. He told me to be careful not to be so focused on the people, relationships, environment, and culture. Yes, it’s awesome to have Christian friends at Liberty, but what happens when I’m back in my home environment? Will I adapt to those changes by doing whatever it takes to find a connection?

I didn’t know how to take his observation. I was embarrassed. I immediately got defensive and explained that of course my friendships went deeper because of the outflow of my relationship with the Lord, and it’s been a journey to arrive here. My freshman year involved a limited number of friends as I started seeking after the Lord more on my own, and learned what I needed in my friendships. My leader responded with saying he didn’t doubt my heart (or my salvation), but just wanted to point out what could possibly be a hindrance.

I’ve been replaying that conversation a lot, realizing that what upset me most was that my answer was ambiguous. I look up to this him as a man strong in the Lord, and believe him able to see things with discerning spiritual eyes. I was disappointed with myself, that my response left him questioning Christ’s involvement. My pride was stirred and demanded, “Doesn’t he know that I’m spiritual? I mean, I’m an SLD for goodness sake! Doesn’t that say enough?”

The answer is no. Positions and titles don’t change anything. Being a Liberty student doesn’t mean anything. Tweeting scripture and hanging verses in my dorm room doesn’t make a difference.

His comment doesn’t make me doubt what the Lord has done in my life, because I know the change and sanctification that has taken place. I know that the difference goes beyond my friendships or environment… but this was a reminder to make sure that I’m living out that change as an overflow of the work in my heart. I love taking inventory of all the blessings that come from life in Christ, especially the ones that come in human forms. However, I never want to lose sight of the main thing. I don’t want to let the blessings distract me from the blesser. My relationship with the Lord isn’t defined in the body of Christ, but in Christ himself. My leader encouraged me to spend some quality, one-on-one fellowship time with God, without the distractions of other people. That time ended up being so sweet and humbling.

So often, I seek inspiration in the people around me, but God’s been reminding me that inspiration comes from Him alone. In closing, let’s address the elephant in the room, which is finals and summer fast approaching. I’m being challenged to keep Christ the center of my thoughts, keeping my eyes fixed on Him regardless of my environment. It’s something we can all remember, especially as our surroundings change for a season. I encourage you to reflect on the change the Lord has done in your life, and let that inspire you to keep your eyes fixed on Christ. Our situations change and our time is short, but He is outside of time and space, and remains the same.

-Lexie Dache