Unity

I've been thinking a lot about unity lately, partially because I see a lot of division around me, and partly because this is the recent topic in theology. Ephesians 4:3-6 says "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Therefore my Question has been over and over why are we so divided? The more I thought about this, read scripture verses, and studied this topic the more I began to realize we are humans. In theology we talk about matters of dogma, which are essential to salvation, and then doctrine, which is what congregations personally believe. Bottom line is were all going to slightly differ on what we believe, and there will never be complete unity of thought on earth. However, I am by no means stating we should then have all of our own separate churches, and never come together due to disagreements. Like I said before we all hold these matters of dogma that can unite us all. In other words we all believe the Gospel message so as churches we need to start to set aside our differences and become unified. We are not supposed to be separate bodies of believers unified in our own separate churches, we are to be one unified body of believers. That means churches should come together to serve the community, or have worship services together, and well there's so much more. Millard Erickson said "we are to realize that the church of Jesus Christ is ONE church. All who are related to the one Savior and Lord are indeed part of the same spiritual body," he goes on further to say "Christians of all types should work together whenever possible. If no essential point of doctrine or practice is compromised they should join forces." After all when we are unified we will have a much more powerful witness (John 17:21).

So yes this is what I like to think about late at night, and this is what I am currently praying for. I want us all to come together so we can expand the Kingdom of Heaven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmTeN6zLJYs
Also when thinking about unity Flower City Work Camp came to mind. Once a year all the youth from churches in Rochester get together to serve community. This is a clear example of Unity :)

20 reasons why I love Rochester

Last week I listed why I love Malone so much, and as I sit in my wonderful house in Rochester I thought to myself man I also really love this place. So just to make sure no one thinks I could love Malone more then Rochester here are my 20 reasons why I love this place

1. My youth group. These kids are awesome. I love them so very much.
2. I have such an amazing family. (Numbers 3 through 6 are why my family members are amazing
3. My dad is such a man of God, and I couldn't ask for a better father. He's one of my best friends :)
4. My mom is such a lovely lady who has a servants heart. She loves people, and people love her.
5. My big brother and little sister are hilarious. We like to spend a lot of time together.
6. I'm pretty sure no one has cooler Aunts and Uncles and cousins then me.
7. The friends I have here constantly show me what it means to love others deeply.
8. Garbage plates: I so wish we had these in ohio.
9. I always thought we had the lamest beach ever, then I went to Ohio. Now I go to the beach all the time, and its a great place to be.
10. Summer nights are the best here. I have friends that I love to be around, and we just like to simply sit outside and enjoy the warm weather.
11 Theres some cool playgrounds here in the area.
12. MDT parties will always be the best in Rochester.
13. My bed in the comfiest bed of life at home. I have such a hard time parting with it when I go back to school.
14. The holy Spirit is moving here, and a revival is about to happen.
15. I like my house. It smells good.
16. I have so much fun whenever I come home.
17. WEGMANS
18. Abbotts ice cream is delicious.
19. There are a lot more places to go on adventures in Rochester then Canton.
20. Downtown Rochester as in tfh downtown, javas, ice skating outside, and spot coffee are some of my favorite places to go.

The end.

20 reasons why I love Malone

These are 20 reasons why I love my school (disclaimer: they are not in any certain order)

1. The campus is beautiful all year. :)
2. Celebration. We have the most wonderful student led worship service, where hearts and lives are being transformed.
3. The school of theology (my department) is like one big happy family.
4. The professors in the school of theology are really cool.
5. Peanut butter cup ice cream is served in the cafeteria.
6. The Quads, and the track mats are awesome to lay out on in the warm weather.
7. I have so many friends here who desire to radically live for Jesus, and are really encouraging me in my faith walk.
8. Boys always hold the door open for girls (dating or not).
9. Boys are the definition of a gentleman here. It doesn't surprise me when my car door is always opened for me, or when a guy goes above and beyond to show a girl respect.
10. It's at Malone where I finally came to realize how much God loves me.
11. Mountain Dew Bible Study.
12. I live in Blossom Hall. Probably the greatest dorm building ever known to man.
13. People share the same excitement for just about everything as me. For instance on any regular day we all get pumped that we can run around barefoot, or that there is good food in the cafeteria.
14. Speaking of cafeteria we really do have some delectable food served to us on a regular basis.
15. We have a football team. I like football.
16. Theres so much joy here.
17. The amount of hills at Malone makes walking to class a workout. Therefore I don't ever need to go to the gym.
18. So many edifying conversations. We don't just have to be in class or Bible Study for this to happen. Actually my life is consumed by good conversations at Malone
19. The ocho, my college experience class is the tightest college experience class ever. I love them all.
20. I never ever find myself bored here.


So there you have it. This is the place to be, and I'm so glad God put Malone university into my life! :)

Guess what

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

For the past week my mind keeps going back to this verse. I am to love like He loves me, and I think I'm not doing the greatest job. I can be judgmental, unforgiving, and just simply unloving at times. If I want to be an imitator of Christ, I better start putting this into action.

So yes I have a challenge for myself, and all of you. Lets just be more loving.

Just hear my heart for a minute

This is what has been on my heart lately.

1. If the Gospel isn't transforming others around us, can we really say that it has transformed ourselves?

2. Why as college students do we often say that we can't go to a worship service or church or prayer because we have hw? Seriously if we spent the time we spend on facebook and youtube doing our hw, and if we prioritized right this wouldn't be an issue. And since when do we have to find time for God in our schedule? Something isn't right.

3. We should stop praying for safety and start praying for boldness.

4. I want to read my Bible till I can't read anymore. I want to constantly be on my knees in prayer. I just want to know God more and more. All I want to do is spend time with Him, or talk to others about him.

5. Grace- I know for me personally God has been reminding me of His grace towards me lately, and how I in return need to show grace to others.

"Hallelujah I’m caving in. Hallelujah I’m in love again. Hallelujah I’m a wretched man. Hallelujah Every breath is a second chance."

My school is better then yours.

Yep. Thats right. If you think you have a cool school you should reconsider. Malone University beats out any school hands down. Well maybe not in academics, but the spiritual life, and community, professors, and students are wonderful. Now you should ask yourself "Rachel why do you love your school so much all of a sudden?" And now is where I explain.

Something is happening at Malone.

People are starting to take action. God is capturing the hearts of so many of us. We are becoming Unified in Christ. The Holy Spirit is moving. A Revival is happening. So many of my peers and I are sick of just talking about things, getting hyped up, but then a few days later letting it die down. Sure we can't go back to Acts, but we are taking the early church, and applying to our lives today. We are no longer satisfied with today's comfortable Christian living. Just as Francis Chan said "Life is too short. I don't just want to speak about Jesus; I want to know Jesus. I want to be Jesus to people."

Last night we got together for a three hour service where we had some lovely worship time, that wasn't based on emotions at all. Then I had the privilege to speak, and let me tell you it was definitely God's words not my own. After we had a group discussion, and it was neat to see how unified we were becoming in the Spirit. The same things were on all our hearts, and when one person would speak almost immediately another would respond with "thats what I was just about to say!" Then we closed in prayer, which sadly I had to leave early from, because of lame lame lame homework.

I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the nest few days, weeks, months etc. All I know is that God is good, and like I said before malone is one sweet place to be right now.

I need a break. Therefore I will blog.

Ok so last weekend (actually that's a false statement more like last thursday till monday morning) I decided to go home to Rochester. It had been a month since I saw all my wonderful family, and friends, so at the spur of the moment I bought a train ticket and headed home. My journey started at 3 in the morning with my best friend Erin Joy Broderick. We drove to the train station, and made it to there with 30 minutes to spare. Unfortunately we both have a habit of never knowing where we are, and even though we found the train station, we could not find the train. Yes I know its pathetic, but we are both just directionally challenged. Anyways I got on the train thankfully, and for four and a half hours I felt super independent, in addition to really really cool. At 9:50 in the morning I landed in Rochester, and the surprises began. If you don't know me, then you should know that I thoroughly enjoy surprises. I have thrown countless surprise parties, because they are just that great. Funny story the person I was the most excited to surprise was my little sister, and her reaction was "what are you doing here." I know I was really disappointed, but in the end I got to spend a lot of quality time with her. Elisabeth has wisdom beyond her years, and she's one of the few 16 year olds I know who are truly trying to be more like Christ. (side note she also has twitter now, you should follow her.)

Now as much as I know you would love to know every little detail about my freaking awesome adventure back home, I will just settle for my favorite

1. Friday night was the youth group lock-in. I love these kids so much, and I really dislike being far away from them. I want to disciple all of them, and to simply be there for them, but for some odd reason I am here in Ohio. Why, I don't know, and the more I think about it, the more I become confused why I and so many others strongly believe this is where I am supposed to be. Anyways there was 100 kids, and I had the privilege of sitting down and talking to several one on one, and I was amazed at how much they had grown in their faith in the last couple months. I'm pretty sure God is about to do great things at Hope Sr. High Youth group! Well the theme was persecuted church and we played a game where the kids had to find the hidden church, but if they were caught they were put into jail, and then they were interrogated. My initial thought was this was going to be a successful way of driving 100 kids away from the church, but in the end each youth learned the importance of making their faith real, and living it out. Cool story: After I was interrogated I decided to go back to jail, because a couple of kids were singing God is so good. It sounded beautiful, and at one point a guard came out and told the kids to shut up, however they only sang louder. Actually the more the guard yelled the louder they sang. I began to shake as I realized the Holy Spirit's presence in our "jail room", and cry, because of how my youth were living out their faith. It's funny, because often those who have had the greatest impact on my life have been younger then me. 1 Timothy 4:12 is so right.


Alright enough typing for me. I feel like I just wrote an essay. Not cool.


WEll now it's tuesday night and I finally need some rest. Goodnight.