Westminster and Election vs. Free Will

Alrighty readers. So in the lovely city of Clinton, SC most of us involved in Campus Outreach, the on campus ministry I'm involved in, attend a local Presbyterian church called Westminster. At the beginning of last school year, as a freshman, I church hopped a little to try and find a new "church home." I attended Westminster all of last year for the sole purpose because all of my friends attended that church, not really sure if I liked the pastor or even how I felt about some of the denominational beliefs such as election vs. what my baptist church at home believes, free will. If you are not familiar with these terms, the most common belief of baptists is that a person decides of their own accord to accept Christ into their heart as their Lord and Savior, sounds logical right? The most common belief of Presbyterians is election, or that God elects those who come into His kingdom. The controversy of this is the thought that God would "choose" some over others to call Him Lord. In Sunday School today we talked about this. The Sunday School lesson simply laid out why Presbyterians believe this, and although we talked about it in a lesson last school year today it finally clicked! The lesson was based on a passage in Ephesians that begins with the author stating that we were "dead in our trespasses". The Word tells us that God is completely sovereign over everything, a friend last year once told me that her freshman year she explored this topic and now states the question 'If God is completely sovereign over EVERYTHING, why wouldn't He be sovereign over salvation?' I guess another way to pose that is 'why WOULDN'T He be sovereign over salvation?' And, the passage in Ephesians states that without Christ we are "dead in our trespasses". Now the word 'dead' is there for a reason, the author didn't just throw it in there to see how he liked the sound of it. He really means that we were so consumed with our sin that it's like being physically dead. I thought to myself the characteristics of being dead, go with me here. Think about it, a dead person cannot do ANYTHING. They're dead. And when you're dead, you can't make yourself alive. When you're dead in your trespasses, you can't make yourself alive in Christ. If you're dead, how can you call out to God and accept Him as a decision of your own free will? It has to be Christ that calls you to Him, that frees you from sin, gives you life in Him.

Today I realized that the pastor at this church, fondly referred to as PJ by PC students, is very knowledgeable and I liked what he preaches about and the way that he develops his topics. One of those situations where you don't realize how much you're learning until a situation poses itself and you actually use it.

A PC Fave: The Gallon Challenge

So blogfans, last night I participated in the annual Gallon Challenge. Although this is a fave event for us, there are many other college students who love a good Gallon Challenge. The goal in the Gallon Challenge is to drink an entire gallon of milk within one hour AND keep it down! This feat is much harder than I imagined. Although I did not throw up, I also did not get down the whole gallon within the hour! But, here are some highlights from the contest:

Liz looks excited!

Edith looks a little scared!

still drinking!

zaxbys cup! represent!

I'm a little nervous but ready to go!

For highlights of last year's gallon challenge check out Ashton's experience at Life in the Smyth Lane 'Gallon Challenge'!

Just Beginning Sophomore Year!

Sophomore year has already gotten off to a great start! I am so excited about this year. I really feel like here, in college, I am beginning to make great friends that I will have for the rest of my life and I love that feeling!

Zaxby's

So, a funny little story about this summer: Upon our last couple of days in myrtle beach and at Zaxby's, my roommates and I were thinking back to when we first started applying for jobs. None of us had prayed about it, and we all had hoped to get a cushy job at Ocean Creek, a hotel and resort, or at Wal-Mart. Sure they had busy days but they also had days where they did absolutley nothing. We threw in a fast food restaurant for the heck of it because we had to choose 3 places. We applied to Zaxby's, Wendy's and Wal-Mart. Little did all of us know we would be getting a not so cushy job at Zaxby's.
When we went for our interviews we were asked our preference in where we would like to work. Me, Katlyn and Chelsea all requested to work up front while Mary and Lindsay requested to work in the kitchen. We arrive for our first day of work and discover that this was not the case anymore. The manager had decided that Chelsea, Lindsay and Mary would be working up front and Katlyn and I would be working in the kitchen. Boy was I shocked/terrified/worried and so many other things. I just knew this was not going to be good. And I still felt that way after the first day: Memorial Day, which meant we were super busy and there was a million people working and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or how to do what I was supposed to be doing. After a couple of days and finally some training, I began to feel slightly more comfortable in my job but there was a new problem: our coworker. We all were sure she hated us. Whenever we asked her a question she would give us looks that made us feel dumb, she never wanted to talk to us, she intimidated us more than I knew someone could intimidate me! But, little did I know that God is faithful and his plans are perfect. By the end of the summer I loved working in the kitchen, I had a hard job but I loved it. And our intimidating coworker grew to like us! I even got to share with her our last few days. Now I am just trying to trust that God is still faithful and his plans are still perfect since we had to leave so soon after getting to share with her and building our relationship. I have seen God begin a good work in her and I am praying that he will finish it. My prayer is to trust that maybe we were only meant to plant the seed and not to water it, but whatever the case may be I pray that God puts other laborers for Him in her path, that I can continue this relationship with her, and that one day I will see that she calls Him Lord.