"Christ"ianity

Hey Guys,

Recently, when examining my walk with the Lord, some things came to the forefront of my mind, some questions that completely define my faith, that are lost in my religion. 

1. Who is this Jesus guy, and what did He do?

The term Christianity has His name in it, but how much of our religion does not revolve around Him. We talk about Him, we believe in Him, but how often do we meditate on the very act that defines our faith. Our beautiful, innocent, loving God, came down to earth and experienced the most brutality of man possible, as well as the wrath of God against all of sin, for us. 

I know for me in my walk, I desire to lead others to Him, to meditate on His Word, to live my life with Him as the example, but I rarely just sit and meditate and break for the very act that gave me life. At times I live in condemnation because of the very sin that He broke for, saying my loving Savior didn't do enough. 

When I kneel at the foot of the Cross and bring everything I have before Him, I should break. When I am going through my day, I should be thanking God for the incredible gift of life that He gave me through His act on the Cross. 

So when going through this individual question, it leaves me with the desire to meditate on the person of Jesus, as well as the act of His death and resurrection. I want to learn to love as He loved. So, my prayer, is that my life, will not be about religion, but completely a "thank-you response" to my Savior for what He did to give me life.

Gracia y Paz

Luke

Freedom from Bondage

Hey guys,

I am now back in the country and have been for about 3 days. This trip was an amazing experience and I am already missing the guys like crazy. It has been culture shock coming back to the States and I really miss Latin America already. 

Today we went to Chapelgate Presbyterian, my families home church. Pastor Mike Khandjian, spoke on Galatians 4:8-20 and the freedom from the bondage of sin through Christ's eternal sacrifice. 

His analogy was that of a dog returning to its vomit, like we return to the bondage of our sin and do not accept the grace that God extends to us through His Son. As human beings we have the idea that we have to work, we have to earn grace and be "religious". We have the tendency to "keep score," and work at our own salvation. 

Its crazy how many times I find myself counting up my sin and "keeping score," to be a "good Christian." That in itself is bondage, I return back to the condemnation I once lived under and do not accept the freedom that Christ's blood brings. After this trip, I have found a spiritual lull, and have seen myself trying to work out of it. How much of a flawed mindset is that? John 10:10b says "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Life to the fullest is joy. Christ came to give us joy and happiness and freedom. How exciting is life with Christ? How amazing are 2nd, 3rd, and 900000th chances? Our God is so good and He rejoices in us living out the freedom He offers us. 

I am just going to leave you guys with a question to ponder. "Are you allowing God to give you life to the fullest, or are you putting yourself back in bondage by trying?" This is what I am praying through right now, "I want to allow the King of Kings to give me life, and life abundantly. 

Thank you guys so much for following my trip and reading my posts and most importantly for the prayers you guys have extended my way. 

Gracia y Paz.

Luke 

Last Day

Hey guys,

So today is our last day in Nicaragua. We are going into Diriamba for a period of time and then we have a game in Managua. In Nicaragua no teams wear a uniform, they all wear whatever and just play. Batting gloves are impossible to get down here and jerseys are rediculously cheap, so, for the whole trip we have been trading players batting gloves for jerseys. Today our whole team is wearing the jerseys that we traded for in our last game. We are going to look like a Nicaraguan team, no matching jerseys, everyone playing in something different.
Today is our last chance to share the Gospel with an opposing team. I am so excited to finish this trip on a high note. Pray for our effectiveness today and that we dont look forward to all our travel arrangements but take advantage of the divine appointments God puts in front of us.
This trip has been amazing. God has changed the lives of so many people including my own. I am so excited to see the work God continues to do in the lives of these players, our own included. This trip has been full of so many miracles and great times. I have seen God do amazing things and cant wait to see what God will do with the players on my team back on their own campuses. I have never seen more guys come together with great leadership qualities and a heart to serve. Being united with these guys has been something that I will remember for the rest of my life. I know a bunch of these guys will be my life long friends.
Thank you guys for following this trip and I will continue to post what God is doing in my life for a long time. Thank you so much for your prayers and support, it has been an amazing journey.
Gracia y Paz

Luke