God is Jealous for Chapel Hill

I've come to the conclusion that I live in a pretty unique place. I say I live in Chapel Hill these days because it's where I attend school and spend the majority of my time.

It is a town of immense diversity. The people that call Chapel Hill home come from all walks of life. The university is the heart of the town and gives it vivacity in the school season. The university is one of prestige, which often leads to many intellectual thinkers. Chapel Hill beckons students, professors, scholars, researchers, doctors, and scientists from all over the world. Chapel Hill is also a part of Research Triangle Park which is home to some of the brightest people in the world... needless to say, it is an intellectual environment (more often than not, over my head). Chapel Hill is also in the south, so it has it's southern charm and it's traditional southern folk. It is a fairly wealthy town, yet there is also a large homeless population. It is a majority liberal town, but there is definitely a population of staunch conservatives. It simply, is diverse.

It is unique and there are all sorts of people here from all walks of life and I do truly love Chapel Hill.

There is nothing better than Carolina blue skies and game day.

The Bell Tower

The Old Well: a Carolina tradition

Sunsets never looked so good.

There is one thing that has saddened me over my four years here though and that is that God's heartbeat does not beat very strong here in the people of Chapel Hill. The open and intellectual mindsets have pushed Jesus to the side in many cases. Chapel Hill is home to one of the world's leading Biblical scholars who is also an atheist and it is a place where intellectual doubts run rampant and people question God because of all their intellectual doubts. There are several churches here in Chapel Hill from all denominations and some of them are truly life-giving churches and others have inevitably turned into Sunday morning fashion shows and life competitions. Do not get me wrong, there are many faithful and strong Christians in Chapel Hill, but they are most certainly in the minority. I live with some of the most passionate Christ-followers that I know, but still, Chapel Hill sometimes seems lifeless when in it comes to Jesus.

But it is slowly changing.

I have attended the Summit Church the past year and a half and have grown to truly love the mission of the church. The motto of the the Summit is "Love God. Love each other. Love our world." I feel the presence of the Lord when I am there and I have seen some amazing things come from the Summit. I feel blessed to be a part of that community.

I heard that Summit was launching a Chapel Hill campus at the beginning of the fall and was beyond excited. Come to find out, it had been in people's prayers for over four years. I had previously been driving 25 minutes to get to the Briar Creek campus in Durham and it was awesome to know that where I attend church would now be in the town I live.

East Chapel Hill High School was chosen as the meeting place location for the Summit in Chapel Hill. That is the school where I lead Young Life and spend multiple hours during the week with my high school friends. I could not have been more excited for the doors that were opening.

And this past weekend the Chapel Hill campus launched. There were two services on Sunday morning, one at 9AM and one at 11AM.

The Lord did many MIGHTY things that morning. More than 1,100 people attended church in both services combined. 1,100 people... individuals... hearing the gospel preached. There was one rather large, yet awesome problem to have: 200 people were turned away from the 9:00AM service because the auditorium's capacity was maxed out. Wow, God, thank You for bringing so many people out to hear Your word.

As all of the volunteers realized that people were not being able to attend the service we began to pray... praying that they would come back to the 11:00 service and they they would still feel loved and welcomed despite the predicament.

While we were praying all together one man prayed some words that rung so deep into my inner being that tears began streaming down my face. He prayed for East Chapel Hill High School and the students there. He prayed that Jesus would come alive in the hearts of the high schoolers that attend the school where the Summit is being held. He prayed for all of the high schoolers that I have been praying for since I got placed at East three and half years ago. And I cried when I heard that prayer being prayed because it was one that has been on my heart for so long and it was so comforting to have a man pray for those students when he is not even in ministry with them.

Worshiping the Lord and hearing the pastor preach in East Chapel Hill High School brought so many tears to my eyes. The Lord was doing MIGHTY things in that place.

And there was life in East Chapel Hill High School and there was life in Chapel Hill.

After church a girl that I know well at East and who attended the service texted me and said, "It's the first time I've felt God at East and the Lord has done so much." Praise Jesus!

The thing is... it is not about large numbers, or about the Summit, or about the pastor, or about all of the things that went into making church happen at a school...

It is about God. It is about the Lord who loves His people and who sent His Son to die on a cross to save them. It is about the gospel and the life that it gives. And it is about the individuals who get to hear about Jesus' immense love from them. 

My God, He is jealous for Chapel Hill. And so am I.