Faith. Hope. Love.

New year, new attempts to update the blog regularly? We shall see how long this lasts...

This morning, I was thinking about faith, hope and love.

So much of my job is about just that... having faith in the unseen and for the unknown; hoping beyond present reality, for what seems impossible by human means... and loving people and God in the midst of all of that. "Now these three remain, faith, hope, and love..." [1 Cor 13:13] In a nutshell, this is what ministry entails: faith, hope, and love.

... faith that God will act, is acting, and has acted on behalf of his people
... faith that God is who He says he is
... faith, for my students, when they find it impossible to believe for themselves
... hope for the transformation and wholeness of students that I interact with
... hope for things that are bigger than I can personally accomplish
... hope for the development, faith, gifts, and formation of my students
... hope for students who find themselves without hope
... love for who my students are presently, even as I hope for whom they will become
... love for my campus, even as I hope for redemption and transformation therein
... love for anyone I interact with, no matter how unlovable they feel, act, or seem

Faith. Hope. Love.

All of these require vision beyond our present tense. They require hope for that which is currently unrealized and perhaps impossible by human standards, faith for what is currently unseen and bigger than human comprehension, and love that runs deeper than just the situation at present and is beyond human capacity.

All three require transformation by God. None of them are possible on our own. Such is ministry. It cannot be based on our capacities. Otherwise, it will be shallow, limited, and kind of boring. We must be transformed before we have anything of real worth to offer in ministry.

So, that's my prayer for today: "God would you transform me? Would you give me your eyes to see today, seeing beyond what is in the present tense... seeing instead with faith, hope and love."