Filthy Rich

“If 100 people represented the world’s population, 53 of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4000 a month, you automatically make 100 times more than the average person on this planet? Which is more messed up, that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don’t think we’re rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves ‘broke’ or ‘poor?’ We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich.”

-Francis Chan

Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will now throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”   -God

Picture of the Gospel through Isaac

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham’s faith when He commands him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Abraham shows his complete faith in God by obeying Him (crazy, I know). Imagine this scene. Abraham and Isaac are walking together up the mountain, preparing for the burnt offering. Isaac carries the wood, and Abraham carries the fire and the knife. Abraham is thinking he’s about to sacrifice his only son, and Isaac has no idea. He asks his dad, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7) Can you imagine that as a dad?! He takes Isaac, binds his hands and feet, places him on the altar, and draws his knife to pierce his heart. I can’t imagine what Abraham must have been thinking in that moment! But then, an angel appears and stops him. Abraham feared God to the point that he wouldn’t withhold his only son. The angel says, “Do not lay a hand on the boy! Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son.” (v. 12) A ram then appears behind him, entangled in the brush by his horns. He offers the ram as the burnt offering in the place of Isaac. God accepted the animal substitute. In the same way, true judgment demands that we die. The judgment must be executed. But Jesus Christ was the substitute offering. He died so that we don’t have to die! Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. 

The Hiss of the Serpent

Satan injects into the minds of people today so many “ifs.” 

            IF you live a good life…

            IF you do what is right…

            IF you go to church…

            IF you work for the benefit of others…

But the Bible teaches that “ifs” are not enough to meet God’s requirements for salvation. Our good works and intentions are not enough. Jesus said, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7). Only when we turn to Christ in faith and trust, confessing our sins to Him and seeking His forgiveness, can we be assured of our salvation. Satan will do all in His power to make us trust ourselves instead of Christ. But only Christ can save us- and He will, if we will commit our lives to Him and trust His work on the cross for our salvation. The hiss of the serpent is the “if” of death.

-Billy Graham

Corroborative Evidence

So I’ve been reading the book, “The Case for Christ,” by Lee Strobel, and read something just now that I just have to share.  So the book is written by this guy who used to be an Atheist, and didn’t believe in God’s existence. He was a journalist and investigator. When his wife became a Christian and he noticed crazy changes in her life, he decided to investigate the claims of Jesus extremely thoroughly. He interviewed people from all over, and gathered all kinds of different evidence in order to find out more about who this Jesus guy is. By the end of his work, he had come to faith in Jesus. Anyway, where I am in the book right now, he is interviewing scholarly people in order to find “corroboration” evidence for the Gospels. In other words, he wants evidence that proves the truths presented about the life of Jesus from sources outside the Bible. There are tons of different ancient historians who discuss the life of Jesus and the His followers, along with the spread of Christianity. There are so many cool things about all of the “corroborative evidence” and the way they line up with what is written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but I just want to quote one that really stood out to me.  For the rest of the good stuff, you gotta read the book yourself  ;)

The Bible claims that at the time of Jesus’ death, the sky turned black  Many people are skeptical of the passages in the New Testament when the Gospel writers say that the earth turned dark during the time that Jesus hung on the cross. As Strobel writes, “Wasn’t this merely a literary device to stress the significance of the Crucifixion, and not a reference to an actual historical occurrence?” 

Two different historians provide “corroborative evidence” of this fact.  The first is a historian named Thallus who wrote a history of the eastern Mediterranean world in A.D. 52, and talks about an “eclipse” happening on that day. The next is a Greek author from Caria, named Phlegon, who wrote a chronology soon after 137 A.D. As Strobel put it:

            “He reported that in the fourth year of the 202^nd Olympiad (i.e. 33 A.D.) there was ‘the greatest eclipse of the sun’ and that ‘it became night in the sixth hour of the day (i.e. noon) so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.’”

Soooo… this phenomenon was evidently visible in Rome, Athens, and other Mediterranean cities, and there is non-biblical evidence to attest to this darkness that occurred at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.  Wow.  So cool.  The book provides so many examples of interesting things like this, that prove the Bible’s validity. I’m not finished with it yet, but up to page 87 I give my stamp of approval, and I would highly recommend reading it!  J

Styria, Austria

May 5, 2012

Today I went with a group of 15 international students to this amazing waterfall in Styria. I rode in Matthus’s car, with people from all different countries. He is from Slovakia, then we had Tugba from Turkey, a guy from India, a girl from Latvia, and me repping the US. From the other cars, we had a few from Austria, two girls from France, a guy from Czech Republic, and a few more that I’m not sure where they are from.  But point of the story is…. oh helloooo diversity!  So neat. All day long I asked people about their home countries, and what it’s like there. I seriously love learning about all the different cultures!

It was so nice to ride in a car! You don’t realize how much of a luxury it is until you don’t have one anymore. (Oh how I miss Black Beauty). But just having the windows rolled down, and some music playing, knowing that you’re going directly to your destination- you don’t have to worry about missing your stop, not having to worry about anything getting stolen, not having to worry about tickets, or times of departure… wow that was so nice!  Traveling by car is awesome.

So we got there, met up with the group, and started our hike. No one really knew exactly what we were going to see, how amazing it would be. We hiked up, up, up the mountain, passing small waterfalls and going over bridges. It was so beautiful! Then, we got to a middle ground, where you could pay 3 Euro’s to go to the top. I didn’t know what to expect at all, but on up we went. We climbed onto a wooden “ladder,” headed up the mountain. Turns out that was the first “ladder” out of 190 ladders!  They were small and steep, nailed together with planks of wood and wooden railings. We went over the tops of the waterfalls, across rivers and streams, and meandered our way upward on 190 ladders. It was absolutely incredible!  We stopped to eat about halfway up, and then continued our journey. It was so green, with tall trees and water everywhere.

At the top, we stopped at a little Austrian pub type thing where they sell food and drinks and beer. We ran into some other international students from Spain, which was kind of fun. I talked with the guy from India for a while, and was intrigued by what life is like there. He is Hindu, and was telling me about their beliefs. They have hundreds of different gods, like the God of Knowledge and the God of Money and the God of Creation. Each family worships a particular god based on your ancestry. They believe in “karma” and good things happening to good people. He was telling me that when he finds money on the ground, he picks it up and kisses it, because it represents the God of Money. So not kissing it would be disrespecting the god, and could also cause him to not continue to be blessed with money. It’s so interesting to hear about different beliefs. Apparently, he also played ping pong for his university. Not sure how good you have to be to make the ping pong team, but I’m thinking the kid’s probably a pretty decent pong player. He also said he comes to Hafnerreigel to play with some of the men here who play in the evenings. So yeah, I’m sure you can put two and two together- I CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY HIM IN PING PONG!  It’s going to be great. 

Well, that’s all for now. I’m back at Haffy for a half hour or so before I meet up with Christoph (a guy I met at church) and Stina to go for a bike ride. I’m actually exhausted from hiking all day, and don’t feel like biking at all. But I don’t want to bail on Christoph, so come on little leggies- you can do it!  Just a little two-hour bike ride more and I’ll let you rest all eight hours that I sleep tonight!  J

Sending all my Love,

Lyndsey

New Home: Hafnerreigel

So I went on this three-week trip in April, and then came back to Graz without a place to live after being forced to move out of my dorm at the end of March. When I came back, I didn’t know where I wanted to live, or where God wanted me to live. The first night, I stayed in my friend Carmen’s room, but the other people at Leechgasse didn’t like me staying there if I don’t live there. I didn’t feel welcome at all, so I stayed with my friend Tugba the next night. She lives in Hafnerreigel, the terrible dorms across from the city jail, the dorms that are being torn down in June. I tried to find other dorms to live in, with my old roommate, Melissa. We went from dorm to dorm, asking if they had open rooms, and finding out pricing. We found a few decent dorms, one with a pretty good price of 230 Euros per month, and that could be moved into the next morning. The only problem was that there was only one room available, and both of us needed a room. So I let Melissa have it. Long story short, I knew I would end up at Haffy, as much as I tried to run away from it.

So I finally surrendered the fight, and here I am- moved into Hafnerreigel, the dorm that’s the joke of the city.  

While traveling, the biggest thing I learned is this:

It’s not about where you are, it’s about who you’re with.

Coming back to Graz and talking about my travels, people kept asking me what I’d learned. Discussing my travel companions and repeating that to them continued to make it more and more clear to me that I should move to Hafnerreigel. It’s not about how nice the dorms are, it’s about who I’m with there. I’d rather live with an amazing girl in a total dump, than live in the Ritz Carlton with no one who I enjoy spending time with.

Then, I ran into my next problem.  Should I pay rent? The guy who owns the dorms has been very mean to me and to my friend Stina since we’ve been here. The biggest thing that he did to really offend me is to lie straight to my face. When I was forced to move out of my room because of the bed bugs, he told me that no one would be living in that room this semester as they continued to try to eliminate the bed bug problem without allowing it to spread.  When I got back to Graz after Spring Break, however, they had moved a new guy into my old room. Supposedly, this guy was also being bitten. It was so dishonest, and such a blatant lie told straight to my face, it really made me mad.  There are a lot of people who live at Hafnerreigel for free, and get away with it. It would be very easy to copy the key, and just move my stuff in. Nobody checks the rooms. I could save about $500. That’s what those dorm owners deserve anyway, for what they’ve done to me! Right?  Wrong…

 I had to pray about my ability to love him, because I was beginning to harbor bitterness in my heart, and I don’t want that!

Eph 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”

I was so tempted by this, that I had looked into copying the key, and told the “city registration” that I was moving back to the US so that I would not be technically registered at any dorm.  I could save $500, think of what I could do with that money… the dorms deserve it anyway for the way they’ve treated me… no one will ever find out… so many people do it…  the lies so easily get into your head and you start to justify a decision that you know, deep down, is wrong.

After a few days of thinking about, and going back and forth about it, I had an intimate morning with God. A few specific verses really spoke to me:

           

Daniel 7:9-10, 14 “…the Ancient of Days took his seat. 
His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. 
His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze… A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him… all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

            Revelation 4:8 “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

            Who is this God we serve?!  He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!  A river of fire flows from before Him! All nations and people of every language will worship Him.  Is it $500 worth anything in comparison to this holy God?  Absolutely not.  I was getting so caught up in the things of this world. Money- can use it to eat well, to travel, for entertainment… but none of these things should be anything in my life when I compare them to the joy that comes from God!

            Philippians 4:8 ”What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

            Even the things in this world that are the best of the best, all the money and glory and fame and power, that the world has to offer- Paul says that they are nothing but rubbish in comparison with Jesus Christ. Nothing else really matters! The things of this world are so temporary, yet they so easily entangle us in their grasp.

            God really showed His faithfulness to me as I started praying that He would help me to build convictions about the matter. I asked Him to help me not even question it anymore, whether or not I would try to live for free, and to focus my mind back onto Him. Literally right as I’m praying for these things, Tugba walks in the door. She asks me if I’ve talked to the owner of the dorms yet, and I tell her no. She says that she was just downstairs, and he is there in his office, so I can go talk to him right now. He only has two office hours per week, so I thought it was perfect- I’d go right away. God made it so easy for me to choose Him, by providing me with a path to honesty right then and there, as I was developing a conviction on the matter.

            1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, and will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with every temptation, He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.”

            Talk about God providing me with a way of escape from the temptation!  He made it crystal clear. He is so faithful!  Anyway, I went and talked to the owner of the dorms, and got officially moved in. I can’t even describe the weight lifted off my shoulders, the guilt and fear that was gone.  

            We serve a God who is Holy, Holy, Holy, and who requires everything of us. There’s no partial surrender. If you’ve surrendered your life to Christ, that means that every aspect of your life is controlled by Him. Even when it hurts a little, even when you have to make some major sacrifices. We are loved and owned and held securely by the Creator of the Universe- that alone should dominate our lives.

Venitian Goodbyes

Well I’m on the bus to Klagenfurt. It’s such a relief to be in this seat, I thought I’d never make it! This morning was a little rough, saying bye to my mom. It was so wonderful being with her and Caroline this week!  I think I realize just how much she loves me. She flew all the way to Austria to spend a week with me! She brought me all my clothes and shoes I need for the summer, along with other requests like Crystal Light and peanut butter. She left me her deodorant and her toothpaste. She would give me the shirt off her back if I needed it (or wanted it, for that matter, because I’m sure it would be a stylin’ shirt). I’m such a lucky girl. We got up at 3:45, and left for the boat dock at 4:30 to catch their 4:50 boat. We lugged the suitcases through the dark alleyways while it was raining. I cried when I had to say bye. It was the perfect movie set for a sad goodbye- her and Caroline getting on the boat, and me standing on the dock, crying, in the rain, as the boat takes off. I walked back to our hotel room, but couldn’t sleep. I cried for a while more, had a little pity party I guess. Should have had balloons and a cake and some streamers because the pity party definitely lasted a little while. I laid down for a while, and then went to get some breakfast. That wasn’t good either, sitting alone I wasn’t very hungry. But we’ve been gorging on the hotels’ free breakfasts, and I promised Mom and Caroline I’d eat enough for the three of us. I came back upstairs, and found my mom’s cheater glasses that she left, and got sad again. I’m definitely a little homesick. But being with my mom this week really made me realize how much I love her. She is one of the most selfless people I know, and would do anything in the world for me. I hope that some day I have enough money that I can treat her to a second mother daughter trip. Can’t promise that we’ll stay in resorts like Lake Garda, but I would love to be able to do that some day. We had so much fun all week, just laughing and going with the flow and seeing where life takes us. Mom and Caroline are both spontaneous, and that makes traveling so fun. I seriously hope that I’m as cool as they are when I’m fifty!

Our first night in Venice, we went to a nice dinner and explored the city a little bit. Then, yesterday was our full day. We ate our usual amazing breakfast, and then ventured out. The weather was nice for most of the day. We did some serious shopping, trying to find the perfect souvenirs for all of our friends and family at the best prices. It’s so touristy, you have to be careful when you shop. They can really get ya! But we bought some beautiful scarves, glass beads and necklaces, postcards, Venitian masks, a hat, and some t-shirts and Italia jackets. Quite the shopping day!  We went into a cathedral, which was beautiful. The highlight, of course, was the gondola ride! Our gondola driver was a pretty cute guy, lived in Venice his whole life. He would use the oar, and sometimes push off the buildings with his foot, to take us through the canals. Caroline got the best picture of him doing the foot thing. We shared our boat with a couple from Germany, so it worked out pretty well since we could split the cost.  We did a little more shopping in the main square. We walked into a store with a lot of different glass. Up on the wall, my eyes went straight to this amazing clock. It was glass, with a tree and a sun and all differenet colors, and it had a swinging pendulum. I wanted it so bad, but it was 49 Euro’s, so it was immediately off limits. Caroline said she was buying some little piece of glass for her sister, and Mom and I walked outside. I had no idea what was going on, but Caroline was actually buying me the clock!  Soon after, we went back to our hotel, and Caroline told me she had something for me from St Louis. I was so confused, but I opened the little package. Inside, there were two more things wrapped up: the clock and the pendulum!!!  I couldn’t believe it!  Her and Mom were really sneaky, I had no idea!  I seriously love this clock, and will think of her and of our trip whenever I see it up on my wall. It’s gonna look so good when I hang it up!  I can’t wait. A little later, we went to a really nice dinner, which we called The Last Supper. It was delicious, but very sad. I’m sure going to miss the way we’ve been eating all week. It’s definitely going to be a tough transition for me back to my way of life as a student. No more fancy pancy hotels, no more towel warmers, no more maids, no more free breakfast buffets, no more robes and slippers. Back to Graz, where I don’t have a room.  Shizaa. But what an amazing week it has been.

So back to this morning- I checked out of the hotel and took the boat to the train station. I thought I had plenty of time, got to the train station about 45 minutes early. I lug my suitcase up the stairs and try to figure out where to go. But then I realized I’m not taking a train, I’m taking a bus. Uh oh. So I asked information where the bus station is, because my ticket said “Venizia San Lucia,” which is where I was. I couldn’t be too far away, right? She told me to go outside and turn right. So I did, thinking it would be easy to spot when I got outside. I clunk, clunk, clunk the suitcase down the stairs, and follow a group of people. I walked for a while but there was no bus station in sight- just boats and tourists and masks and scarves and glass. Then I started getting nervous. So I went back to the train station, to get clearer directions. I asked a different guy this time. He looked at my ticket, and told me there was no way I was going to make my bus. It left in 20 minutes, and the bus station was about 40 minutes away. He told me that the bus stops at another station after San Lucia, which is Venezia Mestre. The train goes there too, and the train is faster. So I could take a train and try to beat the bus there, then get on at the next stop. Crap.  So off I go, and get onto a train toward Milan. I didn’t have a train ticket, and the conductor wouldn’t let me on, understandably. I was trying to explain to him my dilemma, and how the other guy told me I could go, but he hardly spoke English, and the train was closing its doors to leave. I started crying, and he let me on. Step one- get on the train… check! I got off at Mestre like I was supposed to, and flashbacks started hitting me left and right of my time alone there at 2 am waiting for my train to Vienna, freezing cold, with the creepy guys begging me for money. But I go straight to information, and ask them where to go for the bus. The lady sends me across the street. So I find a bus and ask the bus driver, but he doesn’t speak English. I show him my ticket, and he points to a blue bus down the street. I go there, and there is no driver. So I go to the bus next to it, and ask him, and he sends me back to the first guy. So I go back, and he points the other way. So off I go, frantically trying to figure it out. It was 11:37, and the bus was supposed to leave Mestre at 11:40. So now I’m in panic mode, and tears are building up behind my eyes a little bit. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME?! I ask another guy, and he points back to the blue bus with no driver. I’m freakin out. I ask some people on the street, but they don’t even try to answer me. So rude. Then, on the opposite side of the street, I see an OBB bus pull up. I’m pretty far away, but I recognize the logo, so I start running to it. Cars are coming, but I jet across the street anyway. No time to wait for a crosswalk- sorry Charlie. I’m pulling my huge suitcase and running on the street toward the bus. The driver closes the door to pull away, but I run up to it and flag him down. Finally, the right bus, just in the knick of time.  I get on the bus, sweaty, hair blown in the wind and stringy, and out of breath, but I make it on. Wowie zowie. Now I have to get to Klagenfurt, then change buses to make it back to Graz. Here we gooooo!