Life update.

It's always been hard for me to answer the question "How's life?" because I usually don't know where to start. But today I simply can say that I'm content. I just came back from Access, a youth ministry friday night deal we have back at my home church in Houston and it's just ... encouraging. I love the gospel. I love being around other people who love it too. I love being shaped by fellow guys that stand in it, are stretched by it, and are being sanctified through it. One of the younger middle schoolers was leading worship and he's not the most gifted singer but just as he was leading, I was surrounded by people I love who were clapping, raising their hands and shouting the lyrics of how faithful God's been and is. A bro to the left of me was so exuberant in shouting praise to God that he started repeating the chorus where the worship leader didn't and it was hilarious. There was lots of laughter in worship tonight. Some of my closest friends at Baylor were there today for it too so it was that much more awesome. It so happened that it was a lot of the praise team from AFC there so we ended up jamming for awhile :), and by the end of it people from so many networks of mine were just singing together and praising Jesus Christ and I was just kinda taking it in and smiling (though maybe my demeanor was blank).

Life is hard. The narrow road always will be. The cost of following Jesus is something I keep seeing as serious business. Like ... "lose your life for my sake," "those who love father or mother more than me are not worthy of me" serious. And collide that with just who Jon Lau is ... and produces an incredibly ugly mess. But in between the constant battle against sin, there are subtle things where God whispers to me "see that? ya i know you're a mess. look at what I'm doing. Get in on this. Come to me, and I will bind you up son." There's so much to be said about life and what's going on but I can't but see that God's doing something bigger. I chatted with my dad for a while the other night and honestly, I disagree on A LOT of things but it just got me thinking big picture. Like God's redeeming plan in history big. And I'm freakin excited about not only my part to play in this grand scheme of history but my peers. Of course there are tons of crap to be wary of but God is raising up God-fearing, scripture-loving, disciples of Christ. And for that I'm grateful.

I think 90% of my blogs are always heavily internal and harshly self-examining but I can't help but see that though that stuff is important, maybe I need to take a second to just breathe, trust that GOD, not Jon Lau, is holding the universe together at this very moment, and listen to what He's saying. I want to get in on this. I want Jesus. Nothing else will satisfy. If you stumble upon this and actually read this, would you partner with me in getting on your knees and face and plead for God to glorify His name mightily? Would you implore God, for His namesake, to make some noise? I'm not sure where you're at right now with your walk with God, or what your context looks like but I think there's a unified, deep deep hunger for what this Christianity really is ... I can feel it. I can see it in the eyes of my peers. I'm not sure why but it's just there even when I'm not looking for it. God, shout how awesome You are. My prayer is that You'd rescue sinners ...

I'm grateful that I can honestly say that I rejoice when You are seen as worthy of worship ... When You are seen as supreme. Thank You for saving me Jesus. I was hopeless. I can't believe and am humbled that You call me to be a minister of reconciliation, You making Your appeal through me.

Glorify Your name Jesus.
-Jon