“The place of redemption is the place where God appears weakest. Where God appears weakest, He is doing the most: This point is the culmination of irony and the paradox. Jesus never looked more incompetent from a human perspective than when He was hanging on the cross, yet He was never doing more from a divine perspective than at that same moment.”
I read this in my text for my Church History class. This is not a direct quote from the protestant reformer, but it is the author’s paraphrase of one of Martin Luther’s thoughts.
I found it incredibly interesting.
It’s deep, but I understand it, and I agree.
It left me pondering other moments in history as well. Is it possible that in the moments that God seems incompetent from a human perspective, he is actually accomplishing the most? An intriguing thought that I will continue to ponder.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Psalms and Proverbs
This is my second post today, but I just wanted to share this. As I was reading through the Old Testament last spring, I wrote down my favorite Psalms and Proverbs.
Psalms:
37
51
96
100
103
121
138
139
145
146
148
Proverbs:
1:7 3:5-6 4:23-27 6:16-19 7:21-27 10:17
11:4 11:24-25 12:1 12:16 14:21 20:19 21:23
22:1 25:21-22 28:9 28:27 31:8-9
Lamentations 3:19-24
Psalms:
37
51
96
100
103
121
138
139
145
146
148
Proverbs:
1:7 3:5-6 4:23-27 6:16-19 7:21-27 10:17
11:4 11:24-25 12:1 12:16 14:21 20:19 21:23
22:1 25:21-22 28:9 28:27 31:8-9
Lamentations 3:19-24
sick of sick
Happy Saturday
I never really get a weekend because most of my homework is due on Mondays.
Today is really hard for me. Being sick is really starting to wear on me mentally. I wish it would just go away. I've had this cough now for 2 months, and I thought I was over this latest cold, but I went to bed with a fever last night and woke up with a sore throat. I'm trying to accomplish so much this semester, and being constantly physically attacked is making it so much harder.
I had to miss my friends birthday party today.
I'm trying to get homework done, but I can't focus with a headache and stuffy nose.
It's frustrating when the doctor says "get some rest". Thanks doc, I've been sick for 2 months and that's all you got?
I went to the college kick-off at my new church last night and it was a lot of fun. I think I'm going to really like it there.
When I got out of my car in front of my house last night, these two black guys walked by and asked if I'd give them a ride to the 7/11. I said sure, why not. Turns out they are new to the area and don't have any friends. One of them is coming over sometime so I can help him with his math homework. This is why living in the city is cooler than living in the woods.
I never really get a weekend because most of my homework is due on Mondays.
Today is really hard for me. Being sick is really starting to wear on me mentally. I wish it would just go away. I've had this cough now for 2 months, and I thought I was over this latest cold, but I went to bed with a fever last night and woke up with a sore throat. I'm trying to accomplish so much this semester, and being constantly physically attacked is making it so much harder.
I had to miss my friends birthday party today.
I'm trying to get homework done, but I can't focus with a headache and stuffy nose.
It's frustrating when the doctor says "get some rest". Thanks doc, I've been sick for 2 months and that's all you got?
I went to the college kick-off at my new church last night and it was a lot of fun. I think I'm going to really like it there.
When I got out of my car in front of my house last night, these two black guys walked by and asked if I'd give them a ride to the 7/11. I said sure, why not. Turns out they are new to the area and don't have any friends. One of them is coming over sometime so I can help him with his math homework. This is why living in the city is cooler than living in the woods.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Making friends
I was really expecting my classmates at GRCC to be really lame. It's just the stereotype of community college students that I had. I mean, everyone at West Shore fit the description. As it turns out, I think my classmates are really cool. Maybe it won't be so hard to meet new friends outside of camp people (no offense camp people, but I need to get out more).
On the same note of meeting new friends, Kris and I went to Berkley Hills Wesleyan Church last Sunday and we both loved it. I'm pretty sure that I'm done searching for a church down here. Everyone says that "church shopping" is so hard. Every time I've done it, I've found where I want to go on the first or second try. I thought it was funny that we met a bunch of Kuyper students there. Kuyper is a reformed college (which is opposite of Wesleyan). Just a little humor for my day. The church is less than a mile from my house, so I'm really excited about living right in the neighborhood of my church. I think driving 30 minutes to church defeats part of the purpose of church.
I watched Invictus last night. I would just like to say that I think it is stupid that we do not learn about this kind of stuff in public school. All they care about in public school is American history (it builds patriotism after all). We never learned about foreign issues and world history. The story behind that movie is incredible. If I could choose to have witnessed one sporting event in history, it would have been that.
I'm guessing that we don't talk about Nelson Mandela in American schools because he is famous for criticizing the US saying "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care."
But I would have to agree with him.
On the same note of meeting new friends, Kris and I went to Berkley Hills Wesleyan Church last Sunday and we both loved it. I'm pretty sure that I'm done searching for a church down here. Everyone says that "church shopping" is so hard. Every time I've done it, I've found where I want to go on the first or second try. I thought it was funny that we met a bunch of Kuyper students there. Kuyper is a reformed college (which is opposite of Wesleyan). Just a little humor for my day. The church is less than a mile from my house, so I'm really excited about living right in the neighborhood of my church. I think driving 30 minutes to church defeats part of the purpose of church.
I watched Invictus last night. I would just like to say that I think it is stupid that we do not learn about this kind of stuff in public school. All they care about in public school is American history (it builds patriotism after all). We never learned about foreign issues and world history. The story behind that movie is incredible. If I could choose to have witnessed one sporting event in history, it would have been that.
I'm guessing that we don't talk about Nelson Mandela in American schools because he is famous for criticizing the US saying "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care."
But I would have to agree with him.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9/11
Today is September 11th, if you didn't already know.
This day is a little weird.
All year we fight and bicker as a country
but then on this day people forget about it
as we come together and remember our common enemy
We set aside a couple minutes on this day to pray
for the families of those who've lost
It sounds all well and good, but it's so fake
Tomorrow we will forget again
Tomorrow we will begin fighting and bickering again
and what about the other tragedies?
did we stop to remember the 2000 people who died in Katrina?
did we pray for their families?
do we even remember the date that it happened? (Aug 29th)
How about the 200,000 people that died from the Tsunami?
or the 200,000 people that died in Haiti last January
are we going to stop and remember them?
Probably not
So why 9/11?
Because behind 9/11 is the enemy, an actual tangible foe
Someone we can retaliate against.
we can't take revenge on a hurricane or an earthquake.
If we can come together against a common enemy we build patriotism.
and every good tax paying, ball park loving, consumeristic American loves their patriotism.
But what if we're told to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt 5:43,44)?
This day is a little weird.
All year we fight and bicker as a country
but then on this day people forget about it
as we come together and remember our common enemy
We set aside a couple minutes on this day to pray
for the families of those who've lost
It sounds all well and good, but it's so fake
Tomorrow we will forget again
Tomorrow we will begin fighting and bickering again
and what about the other tragedies?
did we stop to remember the 2000 people who died in Katrina?
did we pray for their families?
do we even remember the date that it happened? (Aug 29th)
How about the 200,000 people that died from the Tsunami?
or the 200,000 people that died in Haiti last January
are we going to stop and remember them?
Probably not
So why 9/11?
Because behind 9/11 is the enemy, an actual tangible foe
Someone we can retaliate against.
we can't take revenge on a hurricane or an earthquake.
If we can come together against a common enemy we build patriotism.
and every good tax paying, ball park loving, consumeristic American loves their patriotism.
But what if we're told to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt 5:43,44)?
Friday, September 3, 2010
Stormy Stormy night, and improvement on Van Gogh
Well, all of my classes are underway. It's going to be very difficult, but I think I'm going to make it. I just have to work on my priorities.
Roommate life is going well. The roomies are finally getting busy so they are less of a distraction. When none of them had classes, I was having a difficult time getting work done. My largest concern at the moment is that, with my insane amount of school work, keeping up with spiritual disciplines is increasingly difficult. So I would appreciate your prayers in this area. I can already begin to see my lack of getting into the Word and prayer affecting my thoughts and decisions.
I have to say that I am excited for autumn. Summer is my favorite season, and I hate winter with a burning passion. This has been a very long and hot summer (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and I am excited about the prospect of wearing my hoodie and drinking hot chocolate. In a perfect world the seasons would go from summer to fall to spring. Sometimes I become sad in the fall because it reminds me that winter is coming.
Also, I absolutely love storms and I wish that I was on the east coast right now.
Roommate life is going well. The roomies are finally getting busy so they are less of a distraction. When none of them had classes, I was having a difficult time getting work done. My largest concern at the moment is that, with my insane amount of school work, keeping up with spiritual disciplines is increasingly difficult. So I would appreciate your prayers in this area. I can already begin to see my lack of getting into the Word and prayer affecting my thoughts and decisions.
I have to say that I am excited for autumn. Summer is my favorite season, and I hate winter with a burning passion. This has been a very long and hot summer (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and I am excited about the prospect of wearing my hoodie and drinking hot chocolate. In a perfect world the seasons would go from summer to fall to spring. Sometimes I become sad in the fall because it reminds me that winter is coming.
Also, I absolutely love storms and I wish that I was on the east coast right now.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
GR life begins again
Howdy.
My online classes started on Tuesday. It looks like it's going to be a lot of work, but so far no sign of big papers. I'm taking research writing at the CC, so that is going to be a big enough source of large papers. If you could continue to pray for my time management, I would appreciate it. It's not something that I am naturally good at, so it will take some work.
Last week was my "fun week" before I headed off to GR for school. Unfortunately, I was really down about some stuff right when the week started, and it sort of made the week less exciting. Thursday was a real pick-me-up, though, because I got to catch up with some old friends who had great reports of their walk with the Lord.
Now, I begin the process of searching for a church to attend in GR. I found what seems to be a nice Wesleyan church right down the road that I am going to check out. One of the things that I am looking for is proximity. I really want to find a church that is really close to where I am living. Driving 30 minutes or more to church is lame. Obviously, the church must have sound doctrine. I am also looking for a church that is abnormal. Normality is overrated. There are lots of things that could qualify for this. Maybe it's multicultural, maybe it's a house church, maybe they are just willing to think way outside the box when it comes to ministry, or maybe their worship service isn't your standard 3 songs, meet and greet, offering, sermon, another song to close and then leave.
I'm not going to leave a church because I'm not being "fed" adequately by the pastor, if I felt that way I would just listen to sermons from John Piper online. I'm looking for a church where I can connect, love people, be loved by people, and serve along side loving people in ministry.
My online classes started on Tuesday. It looks like it's going to be a lot of work, but so far no sign of big papers. I'm taking research writing at the CC, so that is going to be a big enough source of large papers. If you could continue to pray for my time management, I would appreciate it. It's not something that I am naturally good at, so it will take some work.
Last week was my "fun week" before I headed off to GR for school. Unfortunately, I was really down about some stuff right when the week started, and it sort of made the week less exciting. Thursday was a real pick-me-up, though, because I got to catch up with some old friends who had great reports of their walk with the Lord.
Now, I begin the process of searching for a church to attend in GR. I found what seems to be a nice Wesleyan church right down the road that I am going to check out. One of the things that I am looking for is proximity. I really want to find a church that is really close to where I am living. Driving 30 minutes or more to church is lame. Obviously, the church must have sound doctrine. I am also looking for a church that is abnormal. Normality is overrated. There are lots of things that could qualify for this. Maybe it's multicultural, maybe it's a house church, maybe they are just willing to think way outside the box when it comes to ministry, or maybe their worship service isn't your standard 3 songs, meet and greet, offering, sermon, another song to close and then leave.
I'm not going to leave a church because I'm not being "fed" adequately by the pastor, if I felt that way I would just listen to sermons from John Piper online. I'm looking for a church where I can connect, love people, be loved by people, and serve along side loving people in ministry.
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