Sanctuary

noun
A sacred place, such as a church, in which fugitives formerly were immune to arrest.
Immunity to arrest afforded by a sanctuary.
A place of refuge or asylum.

"For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." Psalm 27:5

But yet we sing, “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary.” Prepare ME to be a sanctuary. Prepare me that I might be good enough for you. Now, sometimes that’s right. But yet, HE is our sanctuary. He is our sanctuary, where we run when the world is crashing in on us, when everyone is out to get us, we run to him and we have sanctuary in him!

He will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle. He will keep me safe in his dwelling.

Sanctuary.

Desperate

I'm a grad student. I'm human. My life at present is learning the intersection of those things, and how grace is large enough for both.

I am attempting to learn what it means to follow Jesus radically. Which, I'm hoping, is a hard thing for anyone. Unfortunately, I'm also attempting to learn what it means to be a scientist, specifically at the graduate level, which, it seems, is hard for anyone.

But He has called me to both, at least for the time being. That might change in 5 months, or in 5 years. Or it may never. I don't know.

I am desperate for the understanding--the kind that sinks deep into your soul, into your bones, that grace is large enough for me. For I am human. Both following Jesus radically and pursuing academia demand that which is superhuman. I am human. Jesus, I need you.

Too Sacred?

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)
We have defiled ourselves. We have stained ourselves and made ourselves unclean, and yet we act so righteous...

"All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people....who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me, for I am too sacred for you!'" (Isaiah 65:2,5)

Keep away...I am too sacred for you. Too sacred for You. Too sacred for You?

Oh LORD, what have we done?

Urbana 2009 sans detail

My well. He came to my well.

They'll know we are Christians by our love. Not our facebook profiles.

Worship out of truth.

We haven't been given an idiot-proof map. We need to trust. And even if we had, we'd still screw it up.

Praise defeats the evil one.

Sinned? Flee to him.

Prayers are not about getting answers.

If we can be challenged to appreciate other ethnic groups' worship style, why not be challenged to appreciate other styles within our own white worship style? CCM (ie, Hillsong), country, rap, gospel, metal, rock.

Limits.

Dancing shoes.