Urbana day 2

Morning bible study was on Luke 5. I love this passage and having different people have inputs let me see different things.

Morning session was about Jesus seeing our most urgent need is healing of sins. Ate lunch at java plus.

First seminar was "gods heart for the poor," which exactly what I want to learn about and get out of urbana, but I found it kind of boring and fell asleep.

Second seminar, the one I decided to go to was cancelled (it was one by a cs guy), so I went to the urban poverty track instead. Good decision. It was a good panel discussion on how the panel members had lived out social justice e in their own way. Unfortunately, I don't think "learned" it (more on the quotation marks later), but one quote stuck in my mind by the man sitting in front of me.

I shared why I came to urbana, how I want to see gods heart for the marginalized and poor and he simply said this.
"Tim Keller says that if you don't know a poor person then you probably don't know Jesus."

Maybe a bit extreme but this hit me like a brick wall. All Jesus did was hangout with. "Poor" people in his ministry on earth. Yet I lack this empathy and this devotion to the poor.

Ate dinner without any AAIV or wcec people, instead met a kid named David Kim who was from SoCal but went to a liberal arts college in Maine. Had a small dinner conversation and went along pure way.

Chai ling spoke at night about her passion for fixing china ever since she was a college student. This slowly brought her to Christ, who taught her much about the suffering she went through and now gives her a passion for the oppressed woman of china and rape victims.

David Platt was the main speaker and spoke on the tough passage in Luke 9. The passage talks about the extreme costs about what it takes to follow Jesus. He tells us to stop watering the word down, and simply acknowledge that god is not this North American god we comfortably gift wrap but a dangerous god in the bible, that's tells everyone to leave everything.

He pointed to house churches in china, who all they wanted was to learn gods word. And that is all they needed. He denounced the North American need to make church so interesting with massive r budgets and programs, when all we really need to fulfill us is Jesus. The house church he taught at figured it out.

We choose Jesus because he is worth all these things. Not because it is hard but because there is a reason why Jesus is greater than your parents, your dreams.

At night, I skipped the AAIV talk for roommate huddle with Dan Eddie and billy. We all had different reasons why we are here.

I'm reminded of pastor peter's quote, can we trust god enough to live in his mystery? To trust that he is good but no entirely know his plan? Do we trust him?

If anything, I've realized how blessed I am to have been able to attend northwestern.

I'm typing this from my iPhone, so forgive me for spelling and grammar mistakes. Goodnight.