sin

i was just at the most seriously amazing weekend of my life thus far. part of this could have been hearing john piper IN PERSON and then meeting him, or maybe it was spending time listening and learning about sin, or maybe it was driving around socal with my norcal friends and making silly jokes. well, it was most definitely ALL OF THE ABOVE! some things i learned this weekend:

• -john piper and jonanthan edwards are amazing. it rocks my world that God chooses to use people in such ways!
• -my attitude sucks so often and thus reflects on my actions. i'm such a control freak and i want things to be how i envision them. NEWS FLASH: ain't happenin girlie.
• -God can use and actual ordains sin for His glory. i don't think this means that He delights in it or that He causing it, but He must allow it happen because He is sovereign and satan is not.
• -my friends are amazing. despite my moodiness, they put up with me and love me. thanks
• -john macaurthur, to put it lightly, did not rock my socks. politics should not be preached from the pulpit. dude, johnny mac, i got it! kill the earth and the bible is not meant for nonchristians! any other points that are actually related to God that you'd like to teach?
• -driving in cars with boys is not like the movie and is, in fact, often boring. at least you learn that the asymmetry or symmetry of oak trees is a mathematical masterpiece and a reflection of God's glory
• -we shouldn't just learn cute little words from the bible, but sentences. here are a few: colossians 1:16, ephesians 1:4-6, psalm 42:5, 11. random though those verses may seem, they are glorious when when thinks/dwells on sin and then, moreover, on the glory of Christ!
• -enfield rocks my world!
  
• -i have a lot to learn about battling sin, but am confident that Christ is working in me to will and to act according to His good purpose and, ultimately, His glory according to His grace!

random thoughts put together, but again, it's hard to synthesize such a weekend. to download/listen to the sermons, go here.

oh yea, that's us with john piper. our shirts say "i'm down with grandpa john on the front" and the back says "God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him in the midst of loss, not prosperity." expect to see that around school next year. ;)