Teaching

How you live your life today…

Posted by dsmith on February 22, 2010

Being a college student is a very unique stage of life. During your college years you are making your transition into adulthood, forming life-long relationships, and discovering yourself in new and exciting ways. When it comes to approaching God, many students share common thoughts about their spiritual journey. One of the most prevalent notions is that they will take advantage of their individual freedom in college and ‘get on track’ or ‘get right’ with God later on in life. Maybe you’ve thought to yourself, “Once I’m in the real world, or once I’m married, or once I have kids…then I’ll start worrying about my relationship with God, and then I’ll start dealing with my issues.”

Here’s a quote from this past Thursday’s Weekly Meeting that has the potential to change the way we view our present and our future:

“How you live your life today is how you will live your life, because your life is made up of days.”

Let this statement sink in. What if what the Bible says about Jesus is true?…What if you are more messed-up and rebellious than you realize?…What if you are more loved, wanted, and pursued than you can comprehend?…What if God’s wrath is true?…What if God’s grace is true?…What if Jesus’ death and resurrection really were the most significant events in all of eternity?…
What does that mean for your life today?

The Greatest Story Ever Told – Abraham

Posted by dsmith on January 6, 2010

I am sitting at a coffee shop….a regular occurrence…. studying for the current series of messages i am giving called ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told”- if you have not heard any of them, you can download on our podcast at: http://unccornerstone.mypodcast.com/index.html. That sounds self-gratifying to point you to messages that i have given, but i point you towards them because i have learned so much in preparation if nothing else.

I am presently reading about the life of Abraham as he will be the focus of the next message the first week of class.  I am reading and reflecting on the plan of God as history moves from Creation and Fall, now to the story of Redemption which begins immediately after the Fall as i have mentioned- we hide, God seeks is the story of the rest of the Bible!  I have to tell you that i am also listening to Cold Play and an interesting song came on as i was reading the book, ‘According to Plan’ by Graeme Goldsworthy.  It is hard not to be in a Melancholy mood listening to Cold Play of course and so i have to warn you that is where i am at.  In fact tears came to my eyes as i was reading about the great plan of God in Abraham’s life while listening to Chris Martin express the longings of life deeply felt.  Abraham points towards the one that will truly meet our greatest longings.  Yet the fact that the pursuit of our longings leads us away from ourselves and allows us to point to the one that is greater than us all the while freeing ourselves from they tyranny of self consumption!

Abraham was no one special.  His regular appearance in the Bible might lead us now to think that he was.  He had little to offer God.  In fact he messed it all up so many times.  Yet God brought him to the place where he trusted the plan of the Almighty in such heroic ways that he was ready to sacrifice his only son.  He had learned to live in obedience knowing that God had something great in store.  Again, while we might be tempted to proclaim Abraham’s greatness, it was not Abraham’s greatness, but God’s that lead him to this place.  It was a lonely place on a mountain side that served to unfold the ever expanding plan of God that would result in the glory and honor of His one son, Jesus himself!

The story of the Bible is truly the greatest story ever told.  It amazes me and leads me to worship and awe of the God who would reveal it to us in such a gracious and ever clearer way.  I promise you that if you see what God is doing, who God is, the story, Jesus Himself will change you as you are lead to worship.  As i write these thoughts i stand in awe of the task to help reveal the story to us that will indeed capture our hearts and minds.  But that thought brings me full circle.  It is God’s plan to reveal his glory and he will do it as He has been about doing since the creation of the world.  Who am i to think that i could hinder such progress.

Join us the rest of the year as we explore God’s revealing of Himself and pray for us as a movement that the story, the true story, would change us and cause us to be a blessing to the campus and the world.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Posted by dsmith on October 21, 2009

Those of you that have been regulars this year are probably familiar with the title of this blog.  If you have been regular but are not familiar, there is something wrong with my communication!  I just wanted to make a plug that though the series has been punctuated by other topics from guest speakers, we will return to the topic November 5 with a very important message about the Fall- ‘The Power of a Tree’.  I have said it over and over, but unless you understand the story line of the Bible, you will lose the impact of the individual stories, letters and other genres.  Putting everything back into the context of the whole story allows us to interpret the Bible correctly and indeed allows us to see the beauty of God’s great plan vs. looking at the Bible as a list of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’.  If you are interested in reading about the themes of the Bible, I highly recommend two short books- Christianity is Jewish by Edith Schaeffer and God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts.  See you after fall break!

Why Not to Get Involved

Posted by dsmith on September 9, 2009

So, hope all those of you new to UNC have had a good first several weeks on campus.  It can be an overwhelming time i know; trying to figure out class schedules, social calendars, all the sylabi, you can’t even understand your stats prof! It can be an exciting time, tiring time, energizing  and a lonely time all in the same day.  I hope that you have found Cornerstone a place where you can start to let down a bit and see a glimmer of hope of finding some people that you can be real with, grow with and perhaps share life with for years to come.  I have enjoyed meeting many of you and look forward to knowing many more of you on a personal level.

All that being said, i have a couple warnings for you about Cornerstone that i want to be honest with you about.

First- if you are expecting to find in us a perfect Christian group and will be disappointed some day if you find that we are not, then honestly, you might need to find another group.  We will fail you. I will fail you.  I will say something upfront that you do not like and perhaps we will not embrace you the way that you would deem perfect.  The staff and student leaders want so much for your best and to be a part of your growth both now and for a lifetime please know that from the start.  But every year, quite honestly, we find that we have failed someone or several people.  We are striving for our own growth and maturity and will continue to do so, but we will not be perfect so i warn you now.

Second- If you are one of the many people that has an idea that you are superior to the rest of the ‘lost’ campus because you have found ‘the truth’, then i would politely ask you to reconsider what you believe or else encourage you to find another group.  I indeed believe that there is true truth to be found and that I/we have arrived at some. However at the same time, i realize that i could never have found it without the incredible grace of one who would reveal it to me.  So instead of me finding it, He found me!  This roots out all superiority and self-righteousness and leaves me as a humble, broken, rescued person in constant need of God’s recurring grace.  The world has seen enough self-righteous hypocrites who look down on everyone who doesn’t have the same beliefs.  We want to be a group that holds fast to truth of the Gospel as revealed in the Bible as the one truth that will save us.  But the truth is embodied in a person, Christ and instead of puffing ourselves up with our superior knowledge, I believe he would have us pour ourselves out just as He did on the cross.  That is what i invite you to participate in with us….or else, i can give your name to some other groups who might want you….(i am not really a jerk, but honestly i am so tired of the above attitude that i am saying this pretty harshly)

Thirdly- We want people that are ready to be honest.  We want people that are ready to go deeper.  We want people who want more.  We want people that are tired of repeating the same answers that you don’t really believe. If that is what you want, then join us….again, if not…well i already said it.

I look forward to journeying with many of you along a section of your journeys.  It would probably blow you away if you could know now what is in store for you this next four years.  High times, low times, deep times and hopefully lots of laughter.  From the staff team of Cornerstone, know that we are praying for you and are asking God to do deep and rich things in your life that lead to peace and joy.  -Miles

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