it's been a month?

hello all who read this blog.

So a month has already passed by since my last official day with CTI Music Ministries as a Full-time team member. Since then, the Lord's been revealing Himself to me in many ways. Even in the times of struggle and hardship, it's unmistakable that He is moving.

This past week, I had an opportunity to attend the Harvest retreat, put on by Servant's Ministry in Virginia. LOTS of crazy stuff happened during times of sharing, prayer, preaching of the word, and worship. I think the Lord's shown me a lot, not necessarily in a crazy, miraculous way like some of the students experienced, but in very odd, subtle ways.

One of the things that the Lord revealed was through the Washington Monument in D.C. There's a lot to say about this monument... but this kinda caught my eye. "Upon completion (officially opened in 1888), it became the world's tallest structure. The monument held this designation until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France"


So this monument was the standard of excellence for about a year. It's not even that great... the original proposed plot of land wasn't good enough and so they ended up putting it where it is, they ran out of money to build it and then couldn't get marble from the same quarry so the color is a little off. They also spent tons of money for an aluminum tip for it. But then the price for aluminum had plummeted two years later because a new way to process it was discovered. And this was before the monument was officially opened to the public.

So, imagine my surprise when the group of 7 other guys I was with would do everything to go see this monument. Here are some of the events that had occurred previously in the day and the day before:

• a few of us were sick with some cold or stomach flu.
• we had JUST finished a retreat, where we averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep a night.
• this was after a 16 hour drive from Florida to Virginia.
  
• we were dehydrated
• we ate to our heart's delight (and our stomach) the night before at a Korean meat buffet. imagine how college students take advantage of buffets. and how lack of bathrooms might make things. um. unpleasant.
  
• we had walked all around DC, non-stop, hitting up every monument and museum we could come across, from lunchtime around dinnertime.
  

So with all of that having happened, imagine what was running through my head when I heard stuff like:

• "I know we're tired and don't wanna walk more. but I'm willing to pay for bus fare. and I'll pay for you if you don't have cash"
• "Even though we're in DC and there's all this new, delicious food around, I'd rather eat somewhere really cheap and fast like McDonald's so we can go see it(the monuments) and leave on time for Orlando"

We eventually decided on walking from the restaurant we ate dinner to the Washington Monument, and then walking to the Lincoln Memorial as well. more walking.

So when we got to the memorial... this discolored, marble obelisk, shining high above the skyline of our nation's capitol, a feat of engineering that was at one point in time, great, now obsolete... imagine my surprise at the expressions of sheer joy on these guy's faces. "We're here! OMG! I can't believe we made it. Quick! Let's take pictures so we can remember this moment for years to come"

And as we took these pictures that are on this blog post (picture credits to Albert Kang), laughed, had a good time, took a minute to look back at the obscene amounts of miles we walked to get where we were, wipe the sweat from our brows, one question kept ringing in my head.

This sort of desire to see something. To experience something. To touch, taste, smell, etc. I see this all the time. Look around. People pay thousands of dollars to experience things as trivial as the best jello ever. People will work themselves to the bone to get that shiny new car. Or house. But why not when it comes to seeking the presence of the Lord?

There's another thing like the Washington Monument. An old Roman torture device, a couple pieces of blood-stained lumber.

When Christ died, the world viewed this as a huge utter failure. But that's not where the story ends, right? Christ defeated death and rose from the grave. The answer to life's problems... all out of an act of love for us.

I thought to myself, "When was the last time we approached the foot of the cross this way? And why does the mercy and grace of Jesus NOT MOVE people to loving action each and every day? Why is it that the only time we strive to see Christ is at spiritual functions like church services. or retreats. or small group meetings?"

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. " (1 Cor 1:18)

Friends, I want to encourage us to continue to go before the foot of the cross. Let's PURSUE after Christ, our first love, much like we are inclined to pursue after other things. And let's not stop there. Let's not forsake our first love for the things of this world. But let's seek after Him first.