Courage Journal #15

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Mr. Winn Challenged the teachers with this today...will I have courage to change the things I can? I hope so! This is the last journal I will write for this year's courage journals. Peace be with you!

-Tharp-

Courage Journal #14

Do you thirst after God? I mean, do you really feel parched, empty, dehydrated without Him in your life? Can you live without Him or do you have to be filled to get through your day? Are you just playing make believe, or is your relationship real?


It's time for a wake up call. If you say it, live it. If you need it, then take it. If you thirst, then drink deeply from the Word of God. If you don't, quit pretending. Life is too short to play games forever. I thirst.

Mark 8:36

Courage Journal #13

June 5th, 1989. A man in China demonstrates his willingness to die for democracy after a pro-democracy protest was broken up in Tienanmen Square. He showed incredible courage by standing up for what he believed in and did so in a non-violent manner.

The "tank man," as he has become known, disappeared after this and was never been heard from again. Most believe the secret police dragged him off and executed him. To this day, his name is a mystery...and yet, he was named as one of the most influential men of the 20th Century.

What is incredible about this story to me is that this man did not stand up for attention. He did not care if he became famous, and we have no idea who he was. In spite of this, he did the right thing and is still remembered today. What a powerful story!

When I turn this story upon my own life, I wonder if I would be willing to stand in front of a tank and do nothing but speak truth for my faith. If Christianity became illegal and CSCS destroyed, would I still proclaim the Gospel without fear? If the churches were destroyed and Christians arrested or killed, would I still share the love of Christ with my neighbors? I believe so...in fact, I know so!

What really hits me in the face is this question: Would I be willing to do it knowing that no one would ever hear my story or care that I died? Or would I die for my faith because I believed it would make a profound impact on the world? I hope I learn to trust God even more and that my courage would be based in Him and not myself!

-Tharp-

Journal #12

This picture is: A. Awesome. B. Totally weird. And C. Fits with my courage journal. So enjoy!

This weekend I had the courage to admit I was going about something in the wrong way. I would love to share the details, but am unable to at the moment. Suffice it to say that sometimes God has to smack you upside the head for you to realize you need a heart change. It takes courage to admit you are wrong and move on, in the right direction. I made some heart changes at the retreat this weekend, so praise the Lord!

-Tharp-

Courage Journal #11

Tonight I drove up to Victor, Colorado for the Village X retreat I will be speaking at. Between Cripple Creek and Victor, there were some pretty intense roads to drive on. I have driven some pretty intense four-wheeling roads before and have also driven from Alaska to Colorado (through Canada) and was never nervous about the driving. For some reason, trying to get to Victor on time and in the dark made the mountain driving feel treacherous. It also did not know exactly which road we would need to turn on so it made the atmosphere in the car tense.

I was also feeling stressed about the retreat, homework I would have to get done, and had some school issues on my mind. Needless to say, I was feeling restless. Do you know what I'm talking about? When you feel like your stomach is in knots and there is no specific reason; you just feel nervous!

I did not show good courage in the midst of this situation. I should have had the "spiritual guts" to give it over to God and trust that all the details would work out (which they did). Instead, I just stayed nervous and acted tense. Prayer is one of the most calming things a Christian can do, especially if he means it! But instead of doing what God has called me to do when stressed, which is talk to Him, I just tried to deal with it on my own! I pray that next time I would make the right choice and let go of my anxiety!

-Tharp-

Courage Journal #10

First off, this is an incredible picture. Can you imagine being in the crow's nest of the first ship right as you realize "oh no, this is not good!" Actually, the picture kind of freaks me out!

The reason I chose this picture is because it fits with my theme for tonight: Trusting God, even when it hurts. I think sometimes, when we are in the tough situations of life, we feel like the ships in the picture. We know in our heads that trusting God is the right idea, but when we look at the cliff we have a hard time trusting in our hearts.

There is a major problem with this outlook. When we are in a difficult situation in life feeling like we are heading for a cliff, we are heading towards a cliff. And the scary thing is we might be headed off the edge. That is the reality of life. In a fallen world, we should expect these things to happen.

So what is the issue? Instead of worrying about the situation of life, we need to be more concerned with our outlook or perspective on the situation. If I am going towards a cliff and I know there is nothing I can do to stop it, will I freak out, cry uncontrollably, get angry, or have a peace that surpasses all understanding? This is where our faith comes into play in an incredible way. When the rubber hits the road, do we truly trust God, even if what happens might be painful?

I hope and pray that I would continue to trust God. That He would be my strength and my shield. That regardless of what comes my way, I would seek after Him and know that He is sovereign and has a perfect plan for all things!

-Tharp-
Romans 8:28

Courage Journal #9

Sometimes courage is all about having the confidence to go out on a limb and do something no one else will do. I believe a lot of people have great ideas...in fact, I have one friend who has hundred of incredible, world-changing ideas. His big problem, however, is that he never does anything with them.

Tonight I got together with a bunch of guys from my church who are in the young married's group I lead. We were just hanging out when someone brought up this great idea for developing better leadership in church circles. The problem is that if no one is willing to do anything with the idea it will die and the conversation was wasted.

I am going to do something about this. I am going to have the courage to take it to the pastoral staff and suggest it. I believe it is a good idea and is important enough that it needs to be heard. This particular idea is not all that revolutionary or scary to share, but I hope thinking about this inspires me to act in other situations as well.

-Tharp-