Alright, so I ended up not doing the fraternity thing. I’m still on good terms with the people in the fraternity, but won’t be a part of it. There were some things involved with the pledging process that I just wasn’t going to do. The cool thing though is that I got to stand up for my convictions and I talked briefly with a couple of the guys about why I wasn’t comfortable with continuing. I think that being able to do that was pretty cool. God can definitely use even the little bit of time that I was there and regardless of anything else I know that I feel more confident about the ways that I would respond when I have to stand up for my faith.

I'm kind of excited at the moment because I just received a phone call telling me that the Theta Tau engineering fraternity at ASU is extending a bid to me.
Today, around noon, I left my apartment and was planning on grabbing something to eat and then studying at the library afterward. Within a couple of minutes I ran into my friend Carl Catedral who was going to stop by my apartment on his way to a PASA BBQ. We ended up going to the BBQ at Daley Park and I saw my old physics lab partner, so I walked over to say hi. It turns out that his fraternity was having a BBQ right next to the PASA BBQ and it just happened to be the last rush event for the semester. I ended up hanging around for awhile and decided to rush at the last minute.

It was interesting because some of the people in the fraternity were people that God had put on my heart from time to time over the past couple of years, but I had no idea who they were. All I knew was that they were people I walked by on campus and that I felt prompted to pray for them later.

It looks like this is going to be an interesting semester. I thought I was just going to go to the library today, but I ended up getting a bid for a fraternity. Who knows whats going to happen tomorrow.
Pray that I will be able to rely on God's strength and give all the glory to Him.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (all verses are from the ESV) Some of my friends and I have been reading through the book of Matthew. I am personally focusing mainly on Matthew 5:3-12 and have been learning quite a bit. I don't think that any of the Beatitudes are possible without humility. Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mat 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Mat 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Mat 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Mat 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Mat 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Mat 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mat 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Mat 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Verses 3 and 5 seem to be juxtapositions. The poor in spirit, those who are of humble means spiritually, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are meek (the Greek root apparently means humble) will inherit the earth. Both verses speak of humility. As far as I can tell these verses are saying that the humble currently have the kingdom of heaven and will also have the earth as an inheritance. Let me know if you disagree with me, but I think that from the place of humility and recognizing that without Christ you have nothing it becomes possible to hunger and thirst and hunger for righteousness, to have mercy, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, and to faithfully endure persecution on Christ's account. I'm not entirely sure how mourning fits in there, but it is important to be broken before God in repentance and can be powerful in intercession. Recently God has been taking me through some of the areas of my life where I'm not humble and places where I have false humility. I also have a tendency to get depressed and angry/frustrated about things and I've been realizing that a lot of that is tied to some of the pride issues in my heart, even though there are also some wounds that have irritated the situation. There is definitely a lot to learn from these few verses. I want for them to really become a part of my life and thankfully I'll have to be dependent on God to really see that happen.