nearing the end

semesters are more akin to marathon’s than any other type of race…it doesn’t really matter how fast you can run, because only by the passing of much time will the end draw near. well, the end is drawing near and i hope i did not begin the final kick too early. i’m 3 assignments away from being done with all of my classes save one final exam and one greek exegetical paper. the exam will come in time (week after next), but the exegetical must begin asap. i’ll finish up these 3 assignments tomorrow, then begin the exegetical. i’ve already done one this semester…and it took me a little over the standard work week to complete…i’m hoping experience can shave off some of those hours…

God’s process

Numerous times in my life I have heard my dad say something to the effect: “God is taking you to (insert place) in order to teach you (or grow you in) something that cannot be taught as effectively anywhere else in the world.” This is akin to the common mission trip experience where you go to serve but find out that you are served by those you have gone to. Anyway, I am in agreement with dad. There are times in life when God has taken me places in order to teach me things that He didn’t want to teach me anywhere else in the world.

I was reminded of this as I was reading the journals of John Wesley. In 1735 he journeyed to the new America, Georgia in particular, in order to evangelize and minister to the Native Americans. Almost 3 years later he fled Georgia having never ministered to the Native Americans and was wrapped up in a controversy concerning a ministerial action, which put him in disfavor with the very community he was ministering to.  During his journey by sea to America, he often found himself questioning his faith while in the midst of a raging storm, when death seemed imminent.

“At night I was waked by the tossing of the ship and roaring of the wind, and plainly showed I was unfit, for I was unwilling to die.” (140)
“O how pure in heart must he be who would rejoice to appear before God at a moment’s warning!” (141)

By man’s standard, Wesley wasted years of his life. However, listen to his reflection as he was sailing back to England…

“It is now two years and almost four months since I left my native country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of Christianity. But what have I learned myself in the meantime? Why (what I the least of all suspected), that I who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God. I am not mad, though I thus speak, but I speak the words of truth and soberness; if haply some of those who still dream may awake, and see that as I am, so are they…The faith I want is, ‘a sure trust and confidence in God, that through the merits of Christ my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favour of God.’” (214-215)

Where is God taking you so that He may teach you that which He has seen fit to do only there?

Happenings

Baby Dr. Appointment
“Well, let’s see…I have good news for you (as the doc measures Mere’s belly). First, it is Friday…and second your baby will be less than 12 pounds”

I guess it is always good to know your upper limit

TAKS scores
Mere had 100% passing rate on the Math portion from her class (this does not include the special-ed kids whose scores are not part of the class reportings)
Go Mere!!

Baby News
Mere: “I looked over at these 2 pregnant girls and thought, ‘Man, they are so big (referring to their bellies) they can’t even sit with their legs closed anymore.’ Then I looked down and realized I was sitting the same way!”

Mere is at 31 weeks this week…so only 9 more to go!!! She is doing great (course a little tired). She has definitely started the pregnant waddle and often reminds me when I complain about how tired I am: “Well I made a human today…what did you do?!?”

 

In the Middle

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” – 1 Kings 18:21b

“Then he isn’t safe?…Safe?…Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

How close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control? When will we take our “deep water faith” out of the shallow end where our feet still touch…just in case God doesn’t actually show up and prove himself faithful? Where in our daily lives do we leave room for the power of God? When will we stop living our lives with the God we have created…the safe, tame God…and instead live our lives following the GOD WHO IS…

(Inspired by Somewhere in the Middle by Casting Crowns, C.S. Lewis, and Elijah)

Church History – Baptist Style

I am reading a short “book” (it is only 56 pages, so not sure that qualifies as a book) called The Trail of Blood by J. M. Carroll. It is really a series of Carroll’s lectures in which he supposedly traces the existence of the true church through history…the Baptist Church. His premise is that the “Baptist” tradition is the only tradition that remained true to the New Testament “marks” (doctrines) of the Church begun by Jesus. The introduction, written by Clarence Walker, explains the title of the book:

“This search for truth led him into many places…The history of Baptists, he discovered, was written in blood. They were the hated people of the Dark Ages. Their preachers and people were put into prison and untold numbers were put to death. The world has never seen anythying to compare with the suffering, the persecutions, heaped upon Baptists by the Catholic Hierarchy during the Dark Ages.” (2)

Carroll basically claims that those killed and persecuted for their faith, throughout all of church history, were a part of the true Church, the Baptist tradition. Convenient claim for the pity vote. It is fascinating the way he wriggles and manipulates history to support his premise…sad how blinded he is.

It is a great illustration of presuppositions clouding the evidence of history…I’m sorry Mr. Carroll, but the Baptist tradition is not the “true Church” as you exclusively call it, in terms of it being the Church, true to the New Testament church founded in Acts. You cannot, in fact, trace the Baptist tradition all the way back to Acts separate from the Catholic church, separate from the Reformation.

(For the record, I do believe the Baptist tradition is part of the big C – Church) 

Wha…no coffee?!?!?!

I could barely get the sentence out yesterday morning and I am still somewhat in shock. The storms came through…we had loud thunder and plenty-o-lightning, but no damaging wind or anything. All seemed well in our home…computers were alive, clocks had to be reset but were okay, no structural damage…so I went about my morning routine as usual. I retrieved the coffee filter, ground some beans….mmmmm the smell of fresh coffee…I drooled a little, put the grounds in the filter and that in the coffee maker. I wiped up my drool. I added water. I pushed the button….?? Yeah, nothing happened. I frantically pushed the button several more times (yes, it is logical that it will work on the 2nd or 3rd try!). AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Ahah! The outlet must be dead…storms = dead outlet. I plugged it in to the outlet I just used to grind the beans….?? AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I have nothing else to say. There are dark days ahead…

Youthgroup

I’m going back to the days of highschool…I’m going back to youth group! Wooohoooo! I am teaching biblestudy the next two weeks for the church I went to when I was in youth group. This is the same group I did the senior weekend with. Hope it goes well. The group includes high school and middle school…kinda a broad age range…so I’ve picked my target and hope the rest follow along

Tonight we are going to look at Ephesians 2:11-22…wondering where you have seen this recently…yeah, it is the passage that I just did my Greek exegetical paper on…gotta double dip! I’m calling the study “The Forgotten Truth of the Cross.” Main idea: the cross is more than getting us out of Hell, it is about someone, and it is about a relationship that is reconciled.

The New Part-Way-Through-Seminary-Late-Night-Brain-Dead-Student Translation

Day after day, hour after hour I toiled. The reference books stacked high on both sides, the computer screen making my eyes bleary, my fingers shaking from the caffeine-induced adrenaline…

Cansado…¡ay!…