Hm so I realize I most definitely have not posted in like a month. Sorry about that! I slightly forgot about the blog entirely :) I only have two weeks left of bible school here at The Crossing in Geraldine seeing as we will finish semester 2 in 2 weeks time. Everyone else except Amber, Ben, Jordan and I will return for the third semester which is another 6 weeks. We are going to head up to end with another 6 week program at the Capernwray facility on the north island. We are going to be doing something I've mentioned previously called ABS. Just to refresh your memory ABS stands for Adventure Bible School. It is run by a man named Peter Bichan and we basically do a bunch of hiking and outdoor activities. It's like an outdoor bible school. Apparently it really keeps you on your toes because we never know what is going to happen next. I've heard that you are only told your schedule on a moment to moment basis. So they could tell us okay we are leaving to go on a tramp we're leaving in this amount of time be ready for it, and not even necessarily tell us how many days we will be gone for or what we are doing activity wise. Should be interesting haha I don't really know what to expect. It will probably be pretty physically and mentally challenging, that is for sure. But before I head up to ABS our entire school (all 15 of us woo!) has a 2 week break (well 17 days). I'm going to travel around the south island with JB,Bryan and Angela for the first 9 days and then go up to the north island for the last 8. A bunch of us are going to try to rent a beach house on the north island for the last 7 days of break and just hang out around there. Should be good good good. I also hope to go bungee jumping over break finally... but I will probably back out. Ah well at least I am thinking about even doing it, that should deserve some credit :)
Well well what else can I say. Just last night mostly everyone went to a Crusaders rugby game in Christchurch. It was the Canterbury Crusaders against South Africa. I think the South African team was called the Lions. People in New Zealand are pretty obsessed with rugby, just so you know. Honestly I don't think it is that great, but I am not a big sports person. It was cool to go though just to have the experience. At the beginning of the game they had a bunch of men ride into the field all decked out in medieval crusader outfits to some dramatic orchestra kind of music. That part was entertaining haha. And every time the Crusaders would score these torches all over the field would go up in huge flames. I don't remember what the score was, but the Crusaders won by a decent amount. Apparently the Crusaders are really good and they win a lot.
And one another piece of news. I am officially going on a missions trip to Fiji now for 6 weeks when I am done the ABS program! So I will not longer be home at the beginning of June, instead I will be home at the end of July. I am pretty excited to go, but it will definitely be a growing experience, I'll have to rely on God a lot. When we go there we are going to be living in a rural, village area so nothing near the city. We will be staying with a man named Pastor Tumasi (I may have spelled that wrong). He is the only Christian person in the area seeing as the main religion found there is Hinduism. We're going to be living basically across the street from a school while we are there so we will focus on helping them out. We will be painting the school, doing sports ministry, village evangelism, starting a sustainable gardening program, helping teach the kids, leading a Sunday school kind of thing, etc. There are only 5 of us students going: Joel, Jonas, Jordan, Robert and I. Our director Dale's entire family with his wife and two children will be there as well, along with Hanna and Jen (a missionary and previous student). I'll be the only girl there around my age, except Pastor Tumasi has a 16 year old daughter apparently. Ah well it will be good though.
Oh one other random thing. The stars here are absolutely gorgeous. The other night I have never seen stars so bright and so numerous in my life. I even saw 2 1/2 shooting stars (I saw the 3rd one out of the corner of my eye so I can't fully count it). Just thought that was important to mention =)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Ministry Week
So about a week ago I went with Jonas, Kelsey, Adam, Robert, Colin, Jordan, Sheryl and Dale to Dunedin for a ministry week. It was a lovely week we had a lot of fun together and got to help some people out. The night we arrived in Dunedin all of us put on a service at a church called St. Matthews. I shared my testimony (how I came to God and his work in my life), some of us shared something God that had been teaching them personally, we put on a skit and then Jordan did the main message of the night. Jordan did his message on Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I now live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. It was a good message and apparently the church put it up on facebook haha. Oh the wonders, we now hold facebook fame!
For our accommodation in Dunedin we were billeted out to various members of the church. Kelsey and I stayed together with two university students. We had the youngest billets who were quite lovely to have because we got along with them quite well and had some good conversations with them. Throughout the week we helped out various people who were in need of assistance. We did some maintenance at an elementary school, helped an elderly couple move homes, worked on the home of a man who has been struggling with disease and did landscaping at St. Matthews. It was some good practical work.
Throughout the week we also visited numerous different faiths: Muslim, Buddhist, Universalist and Baha’i. At first I thought somehow this could cause me to doubt my faith because of course those questions come to mind. What makes Christianity the truth? But the thing is as we talked to these different faiths it rather made me so much sure more than anything. The way that Jesus has been working in my life and the lives of those around me is so undeniable. He is the way, the truth, the life; the only way to God, the only truth amidst all these other messages, the only place we can find life meaning every other path ultimately leads to death. As much as I wish every path led to God, I can’t. It is a much more comfortable belief, but if I compromise that portion of scripture then scripture begins to lose its integrity in my life. It is wrong if I just choose pieces to believe and others to disregard.
One thing that didn’t make sense at all is that in most of these religions they would quote scripture to back up their beliefs than disregard other parts of scripture as a metaphor or not accurate. It seems to me that one should either accept all of scripture as truth or else it is all lies because it is ultimately all about Christ. Everyone kept saying “Oh Jesus is a great moral teacher” but nothing else.
As C.S. Lewis said “A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He’d either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he’s a poached egg – or else he’d be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse…. But don’t let us come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He hadn’t left that open to us. He didn’t intend to”.
For our accommodation in Dunedin we were billeted out to various members of the church. Kelsey and I stayed together with two university students. We had the youngest billets who were quite lovely to have because we got along with them quite well and had some good conversations with them. Throughout the week we helped out various people who were in need of assistance. We did some maintenance at an elementary school, helped an elderly couple move homes, worked on the home of a man who has been struggling with disease and did landscaping at St. Matthews. It was some good practical work.
Throughout the week we also visited numerous different faiths: Muslim, Buddhist, Universalist and Baha’i. At first I thought somehow this could cause me to doubt my faith because of course those questions come to mind. What makes Christianity the truth? But the thing is as we talked to these different faiths it rather made me so much sure more than anything. The way that Jesus has been working in my life and the lives of those around me is so undeniable. He is the way, the truth, the life; the only way to God, the only truth amidst all these other messages, the only place we can find life meaning every other path ultimately leads to death. As much as I wish every path led to God, I can’t. It is a much more comfortable belief, but if I compromise that portion of scripture then scripture begins to lose its integrity in my life. It is wrong if I just choose pieces to believe and others to disregard.
One thing that didn’t make sense at all is that in most of these religions they would quote scripture to back up their beliefs than disregard other parts of scripture as a metaphor or not accurate. It seems to me that one should either accept all of scripture as truth or else it is all lies because it is ultimately all about Christ. Everyone kept saying “Oh Jesus is a great moral teacher” but nothing else.
As C.S. Lewis said “A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He’d either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he’s a poached egg – or else he’d be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse…. But don’t let us come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He hadn’t left that open to us. He didn’t intend to”.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Will you be my valentine?
Valentines day down here at The Crossing did not go by unnoticed believe it or not! Both the boys and the girls had planned in advance a day for the others :)
Friday - Serenading us + chocolate = perfect
Early that week the boys left an invitation in our mailbox for a formal evening dining experience. All of us girls (Cam, Kelsey, Amber, Angela, Patti, Isabel, Sheryl and Hanna) got all dressed up and ready for whatever the guys had planned. We really had no idea honestly. When we walked downstairs altogether at 6pm Adam, Joel and Jonas were awaiting us at the entrance to the dining area all dressed up as fancy waiters haha. They had transformed an area of our house, which is normally a large room with the dining area on one side and the formal lounge on the other, into a smaller room. They pulled across a panel of wood which extended from the wall to make a smaller more secluded dining area. They pushed the tables together to make one, long central table. They decorated it with fancy table clothes, napkins and flowers. There were flowers all over the place actually. Our 3 waiters took turns escorting each of us individually to our seat and pushed in the chair for us. Shortly after they came around with sparkling red and white grape juice for us. Then we started to hear some lovely piano music in the background. On the other side of the pull-out wooden panels was our grand piano. Some of the boys took turns consistently playing our background music during our meal. This is what the menu consisted of: salad with an assortment of vegetables and mint dressing, a pallet cleanser (strawberry sorbet), for the main course we had couscous with this amazing sauce which I don't know what it was, chicken wrapped in bacon and for vegetables we had this warm spinach with cucumbers. And dessert of course included chocolate! We had this delicious chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top. And the best part happened during dessert. While we were eating dessert the middle wall dividing the room opened to reveal a chair. JB proceeded to come in and sing a song he wrote to us while he played his guitar. Robert and Joseph also wrote their own songs that they played for us. And Joseph and Colin also did a duet singing us Daughters by John Mayer. Serenading added a nice touch that is for sure, overall it was a lovely night.
Saturday - Blindfolds and Beef pretty much explains it all.
The next night on Saturday we pretended to start supper like normally .We rang the bell for dinner, everyone came and sat down and we prayed, but what happened next was quite different. Each of the girls got out a blindfold and tied one around each of the boy’s heads thus they were now lacking the ability to see. They were so confused, but really excited at the same time. We took two by two, still blindfolded, to the van until we crammed all 12 of them in there. Hanna proceeded to drive them around in circles for twenty minutes. The idea was to make them think we were taking them somewhere, but just come back to the school in the end. They were blindfolded so they would not be aware they were driving in circles or that they were just coming back to school. During this drive it gave all of us girls time to set up the student lounge, moving around chairs, table clothes and organizing it buffet style. It was quite entertaining for us to guide the boys around and watch their reactions as they returned from the twenty minute drive. Some of them figured out that we were back at home, but it was still pretty funny. We made them keep their blindfolds on until we sat them down in their specific seat in the student lounge. And sometimes when we were leading them we were distracted with other blind people yelling at us therefore some of the guys walked into things and hurt themselves. Sorry guys! When we removed the blindfolds they were all pretty excited about how we set up the student lounge and also for the meal to come. Our menu was as follows: nachos nachos nachos with many toppings, steak with Patti’s “awesome sauce” roasted garlic potatoes and then for dessert we made them ice cream sundaes with chocolate and caramel sauce, lollies, whipped cream, etc. After the first course (nachos) we also each brought in each boy’s favorite drink (i.e. coke, milk, peachee) so they could enjoy it with the steak. We left them alone the whole time except to give them more food or clean up their dishes. At the very end we came in and read them a satirical poem from all of us. They seemed pretty happy by the end of it, and both the guys and the girls got a lovely Valentine’s Day meal so mission accomplished.
Friday - Serenading us + chocolate = perfect
Early that week the boys left an invitation in our mailbox for a formal evening dining experience. All of us girls (Cam, Kelsey, Amber, Angela, Patti, Isabel, Sheryl and Hanna) got all dressed up and ready for whatever the guys had planned. We really had no idea honestly. When we walked downstairs altogether at 6pm Adam, Joel and Jonas were awaiting us at the entrance to the dining area all dressed up as fancy waiters haha. They had transformed an area of our house, which is normally a large room with the dining area on one side and the formal lounge on the other, into a smaller room. They pulled across a panel of wood which extended from the wall to make a smaller more secluded dining area. They pushed the tables together to make one, long central table. They decorated it with fancy table clothes, napkins and flowers. There were flowers all over the place actually. Our 3 waiters took turns escorting each of us individually to our seat and pushed in the chair for us. Shortly after they came around with sparkling red and white grape juice for us. Then we started to hear some lovely piano music in the background. On the other side of the pull-out wooden panels was our grand piano. Some of the boys took turns consistently playing our background music during our meal. This is what the menu consisted of: salad with an assortment of vegetables and mint dressing, a pallet cleanser (strawberry sorbet), for the main course we had couscous with this amazing sauce which I don't know what it was, chicken wrapped in bacon and for vegetables we had this warm spinach with cucumbers. And dessert of course included chocolate! We had this delicious chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top. And the best part happened during dessert. While we were eating dessert the middle wall dividing the room opened to reveal a chair. JB proceeded to come in and sing a song he wrote to us while he played his guitar. Robert and Joseph also wrote their own songs that they played for us. And Joseph and Colin also did a duet singing us Daughters by John Mayer. Serenading added a nice touch that is for sure, overall it was a lovely night.
Saturday - Blindfolds and Beef pretty much explains it all.
The next night on Saturday we pretended to start supper like normally .We rang the bell for dinner, everyone came and sat down and we prayed, but what happened next was quite different. Each of the girls got out a blindfold and tied one around each of the boy’s heads thus they were now lacking the ability to see. They were so confused, but really excited at the same time. We took two by two, still blindfolded, to the van until we crammed all 12 of them in there. Hanna proceeded to drive them around in circles for twenty minutes. The idea was to make them think we were taking them somewhere, but just come back to the school in the end. They were blindfolded so they would not be aware they were driving in circles or that they were just coming back to school. During this drive it gave all of us girls time to set up the student lounge, moving around chairs, table clothes and organizing it buffet style. It was quite entertaining for us to guide the boys around and watch their reactions as they returned from the twenty minute drive. Some of them figured out that we were back at home, but it was still pretty funny. We made them keep their blindfolds on until we sat them down in their specific seat in the student lounge. And sometimes when we were leading them we were distracted with other blind people yelling at us therefore some of the guys walked into things and hurt themselves. Sorry guys! When we removed the blindfolds they were all pretty excited about how we set up the student lounge and also for the meal to come. Our menu was as follows: nachos nachos nachos with many toppings, steak with Patti’s “awesome sauce” roasted garlic potatoes and then for dessert we made them ice cream sundaes with chocolate and caramel sauce, lollies, whipped cream, etc. After the first course (nachos) we also each brought in each boy’s favorite drink (i.e. coke, milk, peachee) so they could enjoy it with the steak. We left them alone the whole time except to give them more food or clean up their dishes. At the very end we came in and read them a satirical poem from all of us. They seemed pretty happy by the end of it, and both the guys and the girls got a lovely Valentine’s Day meal so mission accomplished.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I had the most lovely day yesterday on Saturday. The youth group decided to go boating that day and they invited whoever wanted to come from The Crossing to come. Only Joel, Joseph, Jonas and I ended up going though. Others had to work to repay a car lent to them and some just didn't want to go. We drove about half an hour to this beautiful little lake that had some gorgeous mountain scenery in its background. The beginning of the day it was quite overcast and cloudy as the guys went wake boarding and some kids from youth went water skiing. A girl from the church actually hurt herself trying to water ski and ended up having to go the hospital to get x-rays. We didn't see it happen though because it occurred right before we got there. There were about 20-25 of us in total and we had about 3 boats going. We had about 4 tubes as well (which they call biscuits here, weird hey?) 2 double tubes and 2 single tubes. We started to tube after lunch time and at that point the sun had come out in full force, it was about 27 degrees I think. And I most definitely got a little sunburnt but not too bad actually. We got to go for really long times since we would have 3 boats going. I usually went with a girl from the church named Rachel in a double tube and at the same time in a single tube beside us Tanya would be going. It was heaps of fun and overall a really good day. It is weird going tubing in February though hey? We spent about 5 hours at the lake and on the way back we stopped in Geraldine for ice cream. It was good stuff.
Yes I just thought I would share that small update with you all, and I also found out for the ministry week we are doing from the 14-19 I will be going to Dunedin. We are being split up into two groups as one is going to Christchurch and the other is going to Dunedin. The cool thing is I have never been to Dunedin so that's sweet because I have been to Christchurch many times. Oh and in Dunedin is also the steepest street in the world, I shall have to go see that haha.
Much Love
Yes I just thought I would share that small update with you all, and I also found out for the ministry week we are doing from the 14-19 I will be going to Dunedin. We are being split up into two groups as one is going to Christchurch and the other is going to Dunedin. The cool thing is I have never been to Dunedin so that's sweet because I have been to Christchurch many times. Oh and in Dunedin is also the steepest street in the world, I shall have to go see that haha.
Much Love
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Streets of Timaru
Ok so today we did something that I was extremely skeptical about: street evangelism. It’s basically where you go up to random people on the streets and start talking to them leading the conversation to God, what they believe about it, what you believe about it, etc. At first I was like are you kidding me? How ridiculous and forced is it for us to go up to these random people and speak to them about God. I was thinking that would be pretty much just be crazy, and that if you do that you’re one of those people who tries to force Christianity upon other people. We had someone who has done a lot of street ministry like this named Roy who came in and talked to us about it beforehand. He definitely changed my view of it. It is more so just going up to people and speaking to them in an easygoing way as you normally would and then integrating God into the conversation. Just to see what they believe and then share with them how God has impacted your life, and the truth of Jesus.
Of course most people still would probably think that sounds a little out there and forceful, but it isn’t unless you make it that way. How can I not share the incredible way God has worked and is working in my life, in my heart? How can I keep the most precious thing in my life to myself? I wish everyone could understand that God is the strength, love and redemption so many are desperately seeking in their lives. I wish people could understand it is so much more than a religion, or an opinion or a system. I wish people could understand it is not something just aimlessly believed, but that it is a living relationship. I can’t keep His truth all to myself.
A bunch of us went out and a lot of us had some really good conversations with people that really touched the hearts of some. We had a debriefing in which we talked about our 2 hour experience on the streets of Timaru. Some of us talked about the people we encountered who shared their doubts about God, their past hurtful encounters with other Christians and mix-matched beliefs regarding who Jesus truly was. A lot of us also talked about the people who just would dismiss you at the first note of God. Some people just run away from it at all costs, which can be understandable depending on their experiences. I was paired up with Adam and we pretty much got rejected a lot haha, but we didn’t really take it personally. They aren’t rejecting us really, they are rejecting God. Usually I feel like I would take something like that personally, but I feel like God enabled me in such a way that I did not. I feel like overall from the experience I learned to be more bold, people may reject you, but hey that’s to be expected as a Christian for the Bible itself makes this quite known to us.
Yet I find it so hard to understand how some refuse to acknowledge or search for God. If this is all there is in this life truly then how pitiful an existence is this? That one day you will perish, you remain non-existent forever and if you will be extremely lucky if someone 100 years after you’ve died might know who you were. If we don’t have God, we truly have nothing.
Fortunately God isn’t simply wishful thinking.
Of course most people still would probably think that sounds a little out there and forceful, but it isn’t unless you make it that way. How can I not share the incredible way God has worked and is working in my life, in my heart? How can I keep the most precious thing in my life to myself? I wish everyone could understand that God is the strength, love and redemption so many are desperately seeking in their lives. I wish people could understand it is so much more than a religion, or an opinion or a system. I wish people could understand it is not something just aimlessly believed, but that it is a living relationship. I can’t keep His truth all to myself.
A bunch of us went out and a lot of us had some really good conversations with people that really touched the hearts of some. We had a debriefing in which we talked about our 2 hour experience on the streets of Timaru. Some of us talked about the people we encountered who shared their doubts about God, their past hurtful encounters with other Christians and mix-matched beliefs regarding who Jesus truly was. A lot of us also talked about the people who just would dismiss you at the first note of God. Some people just run away from it at all costs, which can be understandable depending on their experiences. I was paired up with Adam and we pretty much got rejected a lot haha, but we didn’t really take it personally. They aren’t rejecting us really, they are rejecting God. Usually I feel like I would take something like that personally, but I feel like God enabled me in such a way that I did not. I feel like overall from the experience I learned to be more bold, people may reject you, but hey that’s to be expected as a Christian for the Bible itself makes this quite known to us.
Yet I find it so hard to understand how some refuse to acknowledge or search for God. If this is all there is in this life truly then how pitiful an existence is this? That one day you will perish, you remain non-existent forever and if you will be extremely lucky if someone 100 years after you’ve died might know who you were. If we don’t have God, we truly have nothing.
Fortunately God isn’t simply wishful thinking.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Rangitata, Parachute & The Heart
Hey :) I hope you are all doing well. Let me just update you on some of the highlights of the past couple weeks! Last weekend 8 of us from the crossing (Amber, Kelsey, Joel, Michael, Bryan, Sheryl, Angela and I) decided we would experience Rangitata Rafting, so we went white water rafting for about four hours down the Rangitata River. It was a pretty awesome experience I would say. I shall put up some pictures up in the near future because while we were rafting they had a photographer going down the river to get some lovely action shots of us. Some of them are quite entertaining actually haha. The water varied from class 2 to class 5 on a scale of difficulty. Class 5 is the highest level for rapids, but the rapids progressed gradually from 2 to 5 most of the time, and they usually came in sections. For example, you would be a clam spot go through some rapids, get to a calmer spot, go to some rapids, etc. So it wasn’t a constant bombardment of crazy water the whole time. Also halfway through the rafting experience we went cliff diving which was pretty cool as well, the highest point which we jumped from was only 11metres, but I’ve never done it before so it was scary enough for me. It has inspired me to want to go bungee jumping now though so I am going to see if a bunch of us can take a car up to Queenstown some random weekend.
That was last weekend, and this weekend I actually flew up to the north island to Auckland then driving to Hamilton with Kelsey and Bryan and we went to something called Parachute. Parachute is basically this huge Christian music festival with over 130 bands and 30,000 people. It was pretty rad to say the least; we actually ended up staying with Bryan’s friends JJ and Alex in their tent for the weekend. There were actually areas reserved for tenting since the fee to tent was included in ticket prices so it was basically like a huge village of tents everywhere you looked. The first day we got there (Saturday) it was ridiculously hot around 27 I think. The next day on Sunday it poured rain so much, there actually was a bit of flooding because it was raining so hard. Some of the walkways were up to our knees in water, tents were flooded, signs were floating around. It was because the festival is right by this creek called Mystery Creek and it must have overflowed into the surrounding area. It was still bearable though and everyone seemed to stay. I will put up some of our pictures from Parachute sometime soon as well! Some of my favorite headlining acts were Leeland, Switchfoot, Parachute Band and Hillsong United. The very last band was Hillsong United at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday night and it was so amazing. Previous to their show the rain had cleared up for quite awhile, but soon after they came on it started pouring ridiculously. It was so cool though to worship in the rain like that and to me it just added a whole new element to me. I love rain, it just seem to be such a purifying thing to me.
Anyways those were my highlights for the past two weeks! Other than that we have just been learning as usual, hanging out together, and enjoying the sun when it comes around. I shall start updating more often again now that I am back on track with schedules and what not. I suppose I shall let you know a little bit more about what I have been learning this last little while. Werner Schreiber has been teaching us lately; he is one of our more usual teachers as this is at least the third time he has been teaching us. Werner’s favorite topic to teach about the condition of the heart and he usually integrates it into most of his teachings. We’ve been going through 2 Corinthians these past few days in which Paul is proving to the Corinthians that he was a true apostle of Christ when others were saying he was not.
The Corinthians were very well off and reflected much of the Western Society we live in today that is focused on individualism, materialism, the value of appearances, etc. In the culture we live in image is everything and as long as the outside looks good then everything is good. The outside needs to match the inside or else Christianity ends up looking like an empty shell devoid of any genuine meaning as there must be a balance of relationship and application. If someone sees a person act in two different ways i.e. in a church setting and then completely different at home, it just makes someone think Christianity must be a lie, that it isn’t legitimate. As Paul says, “We can say with honest confidence and clear conscience that we have been honest and sincere in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own earthly wisdom. That is how we have acted toward everyone and especially toward you”. Paul is laying out to the Corinthians that other “false apostles” who have been accusing him of being a fake have no grounds as he, inside and out, reflects integrity of the work Christ has done in his life.
Paul reflects a deep concern and love throughout his letter and by doing so reflects the mark of a true apostle of Christ. When Paul expresses his love it is a manifestation of Christ, as selfless love is Christ’s love. Human love is conditional, divine love does what human love never can: “love your enemies”. As Paul says “[T]he only letters of recommendation we need (to prove our authenticity) is you yourselves! Your lives are a letter written in our hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you”. People who have been really changed and transformed are a stamp of authenticity as the lives of people Paul worked with were changed. The written code and law of religion is unable to change the heart. Many religions have a tablet of stone (written code or law), but if your heart is not changed the tablet is not real. You only find new ways to cover up what is in your heart, pushing it back.
When talking about the human heart in this sense it means the real person, the real inner being behind everything we do. It is referred to repeatedly in scripture. This condition of our heart is often hidden from us, but there are moments of difficulty, whether small or large, in which God tests us. The natural reaction that stirs up within us is a revelation of what is truly in our heart whether it be anger, jealously, insecurity, etc. When you put something under pressure that is when the contents will come out, when the real person will come out. Is it Christ who comes out in these situations for us? For Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13: 5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is in you, it means you have failed the test”.
Of course this does not mean that we are to be perfect, but as God gradually reveals the condition of our hearts as he tests us and then we can learn from Him about areas he needs to work within us. As Werner often jokes if God were to completely reveal our hearts to us all at once we would probably be completely overwhelmed and have something along the lines of a heart attack.
The world today is all about compromise, all paths are right, all are possible, etc. Yet we shouldn’t get stuck on religious issues, rather LIFE issues. No religion in the world can change the human heart because that is the living God’s domain. All have the inability to change the heart. A change beyond the ability of mere psychology, education, etc. but truly changing the heart, not hiding it. There is no religion comparable to the relationship of the living God. Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship with the living God.
Yup, so that is just even a small taste of what I have been learning about. Quite marginal actually, but I just thought I could give you all a more thorough example of some things I have learned here. It’s just some things Werner has been teaching us through 2 Corinthians and how it can be applied to our lives today.
I am going to bed though so goodnight :) It’s probably about 3 a.m. back home so you’re probably asleep as I post this. So sweet dreams!
That was last weekend, and this weekend I actually flew up to the north island to Auckland then driving to Hamilton with Kelsey and Bryan and we went to something called Parachute. Parachute is basically this huge Christian music festival with over 130 bands and 30,000 people. It was pretty rad to say the least; we actually ended up staying with Bryan’s friends JJ and Alex in their tent for the weekend. There were actually areas reserved for tenting since the fee to tent was included in ticket prices so it was basically like a huge village of tents everywhere you looked. The first day we got there (Saturday) it was ridiculously hot around 27 I think. The next day on Sunday it poured rain so much, there actually was a bit of flooding because it was raining so hard. Some of the walkways were up to our knees in water, tents were flooded, signs were floating around. It was because the festival is right by this creek called Mystery Creek and it must have overflowed into the surrounding area. It was still bearable though and everyone seemed to stay. I will put up some of our pictures from Parachute sometime soon as well! Some of my favorite headlining acts were Leeland, Switchfoot, Parachute Band and Hillsong United. The very last band was Hillsong United at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday night and it was so amazing. Previous to their show the rain had cleared up for quite awhile, but soon after they came on it started pouring ridiculously. It was so cool though to worship in the rain like that and to me it just added a whole new element to me. I love rain, it just seem to be such a purifying thing to me.
Anyways those were my highlights for the past two weeks! Other than that we have just been learning as usual, hanging out together, and enjoying the sun when it comes around. I shall start updating more often again now that I am back on track with schedules and what not. I suppose I shall let you know a little bit more about what I have been learning this last little while. Werner Schreiber has been teaching us lately; he is one of our more usual teachers as this is at least the third time he has been teaching us. Werner’s favorite topic to teach about the condition of the heart and he usually integrates it into most of his teachings. We’ve been going through 2 Corinthians these past few days in which Paul is proving to the Corinthians that he was a true apostle of Christ when others were saying he was not.
The Corinthians were very well off and reflected much of the Western Society we live in today that is focused on individualism, materialism, the value of appearances, etc. In the culture we live in image is everything and as long as the outside looks good then everything is good. The outside needs to match the inside or else Christianity ends up looking like an empty shell devoid of any genuine meaning as there must be a balance of relationship and application. If someone sees a person act in two different ways i.e. in a church setting and then completely different at home, it just makes someone think Christianity must be a lie, that it isn’t legitimate. As Paul says, “We can say with honest confidence and clear conscience that we have been honest and sincere in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own earthly wisdom. That is how we have acted toward everyone and especially toward you”. Paul is laying out to the Corinthians that other “false apostles” who have been accusing him of being a fake have no grounds as he, inside and out, reflects integrity of the work Christ has done in his life.
Paul reflects a deep concern and love throughout his letter and by doing so reflects the mark of a true apostle of Christ. When Paul expresses his love it is a manifestation of Christ, as selfless love is Christ’s love. Human love is conditional, divine love does what human love never can: “love your enemies”. As Paul says “[T]he only letters of recommendation we need (to prove our authenticity) is you yourselves! Your lives are a letter written in our hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you”. People who have been really changed and transformed are a stamp of authenticity as the lives of people Paul worked with were changed. The written code and law of religion is unable to change the heart. Many religions have a tablet of stone (written code or law), but if your heart is not changed the tablet is not real. You only find new ways to cover up what is in your heart, pushing it back.
When talking about the human heart in this sense it means the real person, the real inner being behind everything we do. It is referred to repeatedly in scripture. This condition of our heart is often hidden from us, but there are moments of difficulty, whether small or large, in which God tests us. The natural reaction that stirs up within us is a revelation of what is truly in our heart whether it be anger, jealously, insecurity, etc. When you put something under pressure that is when the contents will come out, when the real person will come out. Is it Christ who comes out in these situations for us? For Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13: 5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is in you, it means you have failed the test”.
Of course this does not mean that we are to be perfect, but as God gradually reveals the condition of our hearts as he tests us and then we can learn from Him about areas he needs to work within us. As Werner often jokes if God were to completely reveal our hearts to us all at once we would probably be completely overwhelmed and have something along the lines of a heart attack.
The world today is all about compromise, all paths are right, all are possible, etc. Yet we shouldn’t get stuck on religious issues, rather LIFE issues. No religion in the world can change the human heart because that is the living God’s domain. All have the inability to change the heart. A change beyond the ability of mere psychology, education, etc. but truly changing the heart, not hiding it. There is no religion comparable to the relationship of the living God. Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship with the living God.
Yup, so that is just even a small taste of what I have been learning about. Quite marginal actually, but I just thought I could give you all a more thorough example of some things I have learned here. It’s just some things Werner has been teaching us through 2 Corinthians and how it can be applied to our lives today.
I am going to bed though so goodnight :) It’s probably about 3 a.m. back home so you’re probably asleep as I post this. So sweet dreams!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Open My Eyes So I May Behold Wondrous Things
Guess what? I’m blogging again! Seeing as I am now back at The Crossing from my month long Christmas break I decided I would resume posting on The Geraldine Scene as well. I had a good Christmas break hanging out with the friends and family that I love. By going home I have been reminded of the huge blessing God has given me by putting such amazing people in my life.
Flying back to New Zealand I flew from Saskatoon to Toronto to L.A. to Auckland to Christchurch, basically many hours of flying (about 22 in total). It was pretty uneventful this time on the way back, which is good uneventful = not very many problems.
The next day after I had arrived in New Zealand, after spending the night in a hotel, I took a bus from Christchurch Airport to Geraldine. When the bus pulled up to the airport I was standing there with my luggage and all of sudden something just sprung onto me! Then I realized it was Michael from school, he was on the same bus I was taking. It was so good to see someone from The Crossing.
Eventually we all met up at the school and there were many hugs and joyful shouting as people slowly trickled back home. It’s good to be back in this house with everyone who we’ve become so accustomed to being around. The majority of those here who spent the break travelling around New Zealand were quite happy to be back in a stationary place, traveling can get quite exhausting and frustrating it seems. Everyone had a relatively good break though haha good stories from everyone and we shared all about the things God has taught us while we were away from the school.
Today Dale just went over some orientation stuff again and we also finally have the new Joel who just arrived yesterday who couldn’t be with us last semester, but will be joining us for this one. Since we already have a Joel in the house we have since officially named him JB. Just to make things easier you know?
We also had a DVD lecture today from Russell Kelfer and it was called “Open my eyes so that I might behold wondrous things”. That is a quote from Psalm 119 and it’s in regards to reading God’s word. Russell talked about how we have lost the once profound awe and respect held for the Bible as we so often take it for granted with a passive mentality. Do we not realize the power and majesty we hold when we hold the Bible, the word of the living, almighty, powerful God in our hands? Is it not even a miracle that such a God would speak to us; us who, even to be generous, in the big picture are mere specks of dust in the wind? (yes I stole a cliche song lyric haha) Basically he talked about how we need to readjust our perception, it was a good lecture.
Today we also picked a bunch of the plums from the trees in our front yard and they were absolutely delicious. We probably ate more than we picked actually. Anyways though, I am glad to be back here : ) it is lovely to be with everyone again. This upcoming weekend I am going white-water rafting which should be heaps of fun.
I hope you are all doing well!
Flying back to New Zealand I flew from Saskatoon to Toronto to L.A. to Auckland to Christchurch, basically many hours of flying (about 22 in total). It was pretty uneventful this time on the way back, which is good uneventful = not very many problems.
The next day after I had arrived in New Zealand, after spending the night in a hotel, I took a bus from Christchurch Airport to Geraldine. When the bus pulled up to the airport I was standing there with my luggage and all of sudden something just sprung onto me! Then I realized it was Michael from school, he was on the same bus I was taking. It was so good to see someone from The Crossing.
Eventually we all met up at the school and there were many hugs and joyful shouting as people slowly trickled back home. It’s good to be back in this house with everyone who we’ve become so accustomed to being around. The majority of those here who spent the break travelling around New Zealand were quite happy to be back in a stationary place, traveling can get quite exhausting and frustrating it seems. Everyone had a relatively good break though haha good stories from everyone and we shared all about the things God has taught us while we were away from the school.
Today Dale just went over some orientation stuff again and we also finally have the new Joel who just arrived yesterday who couldn’t be with us last semester, but will be joining us for this one. Since we already have a Joel in the house we have since officially named him JB. Just to make things easier you know?
We also had a DVD lecture today from Russell Kelfer and it was called “Open my eyes so that I might behold wondrous things”. That is a quote from Psalm 119 and it’s in regards to reading God’s word. Russell talked about how we have lost the once profound awe and respect held for the Bible as we so often take it for granted with a passive mentality. Do we not realize the power and majesty we hold when we hold the Bible, the word of the living, almighty, powerful God in our hands? Is it not even a miracle that such a God would speak to us; us who, even to be generous, in the big picture are mere specks of dust in the wind? (yes I stole a cliche song lyric haha) Basically he talked about how we need to readjust our perception, it was a good lecture.
Today we also picked a bunch of the plums from the trees in our front yard and they were absolutely delicious. We probably ate more than we picked actually. Anyways though, I am glad to be back here : ) it is lovely to be with everyone again. This upcoming weekend I am going white-water rafting which should be heaps of fun.
I hope you are all doing well!
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