What’s crackalackin Vessels,

I am not perfect there are many times I have failed in obedience to God’s will, but today was not one of those days.

The free will I have as a human being did very little in my work for Christ.  The hardest part of starting a fire is creating a strong spark.  After the spark catches the only thing to do is keep it burning.  God provided every spark for every action I have done for his glory. I was only strong enough to keep the fire going through prayer and devotion. Today, I felt more than a spark from God. I felt like I was harnessing the fire of his kingdom.

In the first few weeks attending Appalachian State University;  there was a hate preacher that frequently practiced his freedom of speech on campus. After Sydney and I began to meet, she expressed her urge to make a sign so we could sit and show the students Jesus’s love. The next time we met we created two signs. Sydney’s sign had bold letters with the phrase “He would love first” to capture the spectators’ eyes.  My sign had scripture written out and mentions other scriptures for a biblical basis.  

It has been a little over a month since we had initially made those signs. This week Sydney decided to visit home. Today the hate preacher was back. Sydney wasn’t here to fight alongside me. I was equipped with faith and the Holy Spirit. If I didn’t go out there I would be ignoring God’s will.

God used me in a spiritual war today on my college campus.

The word “war” has a very negative connotation for a very good reason.  Words I associate with war include; fighting, hurt, death, loss, long, and dark.  War is never something an individual desires for one’s gain.  War is two collective purposes clashing until one meets defeat.  Everyone on this earth is part of a bigger war and many don’t even realize it.  This is spiritual warfare.  Before today, I had only experienced spiritual warfare in my human heart.  I had human desires that God did not desire for me and the Holy Spirit was there to fight for my faith.  God has kept me strong in faith through this.  

My recent biblical studies have been driven by my longing for scriptural and theological understanding.  I had read stories of disciples receiving gifts to spread the gospel, but today the stories came to life as I witnessed myself being equipped. The first aspect of today’s spiritual war was within myself. My human heart battled the Holy Spirit’s pulling by heightening my anxiety.  I have not felt this level of anxiety since before I knew Jesus. The defeat of this anxiety came in the midst of my pronouncing of the Hebrew word, “yirah”. 

Let me explain; I have never spoken a word of Hebrew in my life. When I read the bible aloud in small groups I trip over simple English.  I took two years of Spanish in High School, and still, barley know “Hola, Come Estas?” Which is probably spelled wrong.  

The word came when the man began to command every student to fear God because of their eternal life in hell.  He read scriptures about our command as Christ-followers to fear God.  Then “Yirah”  slipped out in a steady voice no longer wavered by anxiety.  Through my voice, God said “this Hebrew word is oftentimes translated to fear but it actually means; reverence and respect, having yirah for the Lord is the motivating factor in the Christian ministry” 

This brings me to the second level of spiritual warfare I experienced. That was much bigger than myself.  For the first time, I felt like a weapon of Christ.  I did things I have never done before. My physical body was wracked with anxiety, but my soul was on fire for the Lord.  The Lord used my fire. He gave me the words to say and the ability to say them. When the hate preacher challenged my theology, I flipped to scripture after scripture after scripture as if I knew what to say to questions he had yet to ask. I knew the Bible like the back of my hand– in a way I have never known it before. 

My peers listened to me in a way they never have. 

Little did they know they weren’t even listening to me.

 I wasn’t finding scripture.

 I wasn’t speaking the truth. 

God was the doer in every single one of my actions for his glory.

Students approached me with respect. Some fellow believers on campus give me thumbs up,  nods,  fist pumps,  and one read scripture for me when anxiety closed my throat. The other students that approached me did not know Jesus. They didn’t yell at me like they did the hate preacher. They recognized my passion for God and respected me for it. None of them committed their life to Christ in front of my eyes, but I could see the spark in their future. I knew they recognized my passion by their confused struck faces. Most of the looks I got we’re ones of wondering. Wondering why a student; whom they didn’t even know the name of, would share personal experiences for a God who they thought hated them.  

When I was done I joined my friend’s under a nearby tree. I went straight to prayer. I praised God for my strengths. I prayed that nothing I did was for my own Glory. 

Satan was going to do everything he could to manipulate my human heart to stop the spread of the Gospel. Although War has a negative connotation, the victor of any war will tell you that it was a good thing. The Bible tells us that God has already won the war. Jesus defeated death.   We as Christians are fighting a spiritual battle on Earth, that we are the victor of already.  No matter the strategy of Satan or the depth of a wound he inflicts upon us, he will never win. I got my sign and I walked out there. The entire time I stood there I fought two urges;  one being to yell at the hate preacher, and the other to stay completely silent.  Both would have aided Satan and yet, I chose neither. The shortcomings of my human nature are nothing in comparison to the miracles of God.

We fight the spiritual warfare in our human hearts daily, which gives the ability to find joy because of our faith in Christ Jesus. There’s bigger spiritual warfare going on in the world, on a larger scale. Every person is a warrior in this.  The Warriors that fight for God can take heart because the victory has already been won. When Believers go to battle as Warriors for Christ not only are they equipped in the armor of God, but their faith in God will equip them as they go. Every Warrior has their own strengths and gifts, but only Warriors who are able to trust fully in the power of God to equip them will become the sharpest swords. 

 Spiritual warfare is everywhere but this war isn’t scary. We’ve already won.  

May the Spirit equip you,

A Vessel

Photo taken by my roommate and cheerleader; Shania.

Hey everyone! Today, I want to talk about something that we all might need to hear right now. There’s a lot of hate going on in the world, and I know it’s easy to participate in it. We all have different opinions, and it’s easy to get angered when someone disagrees. I had been struggling with that for a while. I struggled with turning the other cheek when others did or said things that offended me. I especially struggled with it after moving away from my small hometown where virtually everyone, at least it seems, has the same opinions. It was easy for me to say that God lived in me because it’s easier to be kind when you believe the same thing someone else does. Then, I went to college.

1 John 4: 7-17 explains what God living in us truly is. If you have your bible, I really encourage you to read this passage before you continue reading this post because John explains it so much better than I ever could. To me, there are three points that John makes. First, God loves us. He proved this by sending his only son to die to forgive us of our sins. Now, we are no longer separated from God by our sin. Second, we have to believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, so the Holy Spirit can live in us. Third, since the Holy Spirit now lives in us, we have God’s love in our hearts. Therefore, we are called to not only love God, but to love all of his children. Since Jesus fulfilled the old law, we now live by these two commandments that Jesus tells us in Matthew 22: 37-39: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

It was hard for me to adjust to being in a new environment. I was frustrated and anxious as I watched so many people around me be hateful toward others. Those are the very same people that preach love everyone and accept everyone, but the minute someone believes differently than they do, they immediately curse them and persecute them. Their hypocrisy frustrated me for a while, but I finally realized that God has put me exactly where he needs me to be. We, as followers of Jesus, are the light of the world, and the world could use a little light right now.  Remember that God doesn’t give us the spirit of hatred and fear. He has given us the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. So, from one vessel to another, I challenge you to be the light that can guide others out of the darkness.

Go in peace and serve the Lord, 

A vessel

Other helpful passages along with the ones I used: Galatians 5, Ephesians 2&5, Colossians 3, 1 John 4&5, Romans 12, Matthew 22

What’s crackalakin Vessels,

I, the writer of this blog post, am Holy.
Holiness, let’s talk about it. What does it mean to be holy and how did I just make a bold statement claiming to be holy? These are questions I did not have intentions of tackling in my devotion time recently. In fact, I find most times that I hear God’s answers; it’s to questions I have yet to even ask.
This answer began when I heard a statement made at a college ministry I am involved in. The statement was “nothing unholy can be in the presence of God.” I don’t remember who said it, what prompted it, or really any significant detail. I do remember wrestling with the phrase for multiple days after. It felt like something I had heard before– something generic. But God made it clear that I wouldn’t stop thinking about it until I dove headfirst into this statement’s depth.
My thought process began with the biblical history of God’s presence. Adam and Eve were in the physical presence of God…until sin. Satan was an angel in the presence of God…until sin. So, because God is holy; he can only be in the presence of holiness. The two biblical examples above were both holy until sin. That is still true today: every human being is created holy by God…until sin. This made me realize that it is physically impossible for God to be in the presence of sin. God is perfect and perfection is without sin. If we are to believe God is perfect, then the concept of sin is impossible in the holiness of God.
I however am far from perfect. I have sinned my whole life, sometimes completely ignorant of the sinful nature of my actions. But I stand by my first statement of holiness. This is because of a really cool guy you might’ve heard of before. This is the entire reason for Jesus! How is it possible to be in God’s presence without salvation? Easy, It’s not. In the Old Testament, there is a constant theme of the first Jews messing up, God making more laws, and sin.
God loves all of his children. I am not a parent (yet) but the feeling of being separated from your children and watching their choices cause them hurt and suffering is one I hope I never feel. God had to watch the human heart be grasped by sinful nature, causing him to become further and further from his children. I have an image of God weeping every time one of his children says no to salvation. He’s lost them forever to hell.
God is Holy. His wisdom is not able to be understood by humans. It is impossible to live a life of perfect holiness. God misses his children.
Jesus is God. He showed wisdom in parables. He lived a life clean from sin. He came and taught God’s wisdom to his children in a way to be understood. And then he died. He bleed and suffered a long death. He rose and defeated the grave.
Why? For our holiness. If we can be holy, then we can be in the presence of God. God desired to be in the presence of his children and that required a savior.
I, the writer of this blog post, am Holy. I am not perfect. I am a sinner. But I am Holy because I have salvation, wisdom, forgiveness, righteousness, and holiness through the teaching, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

May the Spirit fill you,
A Vessel.

Scripture: Matthew 13, Philippians 2:5-11

Welcome to twotypingvessels.com! We hope you see Christ in every word on this site. The goal of the blog postings is to be a vessel for Christ; hence the name. In less vague terms we want to share what God reveals to us as we experience college. We both attend Appalachian State University; a secular state school in North Carolina. We are in a phase of life thats proven to weaken most believers faith. We want to be a light to this generation because rather than a weaker faith we have seen growth in each other. We believe God is calling us to share this growth on this new platform.

So now you may question; What do they have to say about christianity that is unique? We learned we have unique things to share from getting to know each other. Our spiritual realizations we feel the need to share are very different. We are excited to bring two perspectives of the same God to light. The main point is that no matter who you are, where you come from, or who you desire to be; God wants to know and use you as a vessel.

Who are the typists who claim to be vessels? let us introduce ourselves:

Hi! I’m Sydney Farmer. I was born into a Catholic Church and by the age of eight began attending a Lutheran church that I still call my church home. Growing up, I always knew of Jesus but never pursed a personal relationship with him. Upon coming to ASU and meeting Lindsay, I had begun to hunger for deeper biblical knowledge and a relationship with Jesus. This has opened my eyes that there are many believers raised in the church missing the relational side of the christian faith. This inspired my now deeper devotion and writing that I hope will encourage others to do the same. As a student I am studying Marketing while balancing my faith, family and current dating relationship. I’m excited to share more my life and roller coaster of a faith as a writer on this blog.

Hey everyone, I’m Lindsay Peabody. Jesus met me where I was at the age of 15. He saved me from a purposeless life plagued with mental illness. I was blessed with Lifepointe Church to help me grow since then. This multisite nondenominational church equipped me with internships and mentors that helped me discern my calling into full-time ministry. As of now I am studying physics. Yeah, I’m not sure what God is doing with that either. I think I might be the only physics major at ASU with plans to attend seminary. Regardless of my organized mess of future plans, Gods voice has never been more clear. Meeting with Sydney has shown me the value in being present. Until recent I was focused on God’s will for my future which distracted me from what he was teaching me in the present. I can’t tell you what church position I’ll fill 10 years from now. I can’t tell you what seminary I’ll attend 3 years from now. I can’t tell you how my physics undergrad degree will fit with my spiritual gifts. I can tell you that right now that God is commanding Sydney and I to share what he whispers to us.

That sums us up in a nutshell! We are different and God has a unique plan for how he will use us to grow his kingdom. We are sure there will be lots more revealed as we write. Although we want you; the reader, to know the writers– we hope the message portrayed is always one that puts Christ above. We are only vessels for his kingdom.

“What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!” Matthew 10:27 NLT