Tuesday 16th Update

Hello! Hey you guys, just wanted to say the past few days have been really stressful for me, I've just been feeling upset about myself, and Christ has already given me tools to self-examine, and basically the cause is that I base my self-worth in things like photography skills and my positive attributes. I act like they make me so great, that I get absorbed into them and pay more and more attention to them until it becomes an idol. It's what I live for, day to day. But I've been depressed the past few days because I can see that others really care about this city, genuinely, and aren't faking it. I've faced the realization that I don't care about a lot of these people (lack of compassion) and I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Now, whenever I have an issue like this, God always throws something in my face like a quote or a book or something that answers my dilemna exactly. The answer came in the form of "Questioning Evangelism" by Randy Newman. There's a whole chapter about how as Christians, often we just don't care about people. We might say to ourselves, well, they deserve Hell for this reason or that reason. However, God is described in the book of Jonah as being concerned about Nineveh as being a "great city" worthy of pursuing, despite its evil. The solution, according to Newman's book, is to pray for compassion. I'm doing that this week, and afterwards. Please pray for me, that I might care enough for this city that I have an impact. That what I do is for God and not for my own confidence in my own ability and human effort (read Galatians and you'll understand my drift). The proper order: Pray, get peace, then get results. Not: pray, get results, then get peace. You see, it is not about us. Do not wait for God to "come through for you" in the one way you expect and want and prefer. He has His own plans, and they are more than adequate for changing the world. READ Habbakuk 2:3.