i wish i had the brain power for a more thorough update...but i don't. last week i taught 2 corinthians and the last 3 weeks were a whirlwind. it looks like the next 4are shaping up to be the same. if you think of it, i could use an extra dose or two of grace.
BUT
God has been SO faithful. and i am blessed to be able to walk this path knowing that he has called me, he is equipping me, and he will never leave my side. o praise him.
the message of 2 corinthians started hitting me way back in my country snacks days. i'd repeat 2 cor 12:9-10 on my way to work every day. i never get tired of hearing that God's power is made perfect in my weakness. what a hope.
i thought i'd give you a bit of a sneak preview of my 2 corinthians lecture through this "never-before-seen" footage of the super-apostles (mentioned by paul in 2 cor 11:5 and 12:11). i hope this video makes you wonder what in the world i'm doing and gets you into the book itself to try to figure it out:)
bless you, my friends.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
here's a few pictures
Well, my friends, it's been a while. Forgive me my fickleness. Hopefully a few pictures will be enough of a peace offering to placate you for the next several months:)
A simple plan to watch "Footloose" turned into a rescue mission. We were able to deliver the disc from the clutches of the DVD-eating machine. There was MUCH rejoicing (and dancing).
Just cuz we wanted to.
At the Christmas market after having our lips plumped by some amazing product by Beauti-Control (don't YOU want to host a party now???)
Nicole had the fabulous idea of getting us all to wear ugly sweaters to the Christmas market. What a bunch of kooks.
Staff Christmas Part: "Ugly Gift Exchange"
Jenn was the LUCKY recipient of a glove full of...dirt:)
This was my take-home treasure: "Floating Sensations: Water activated floating lights." Get this: over 120 hours of glowing time. And, the back of the box informs me that this translates into 240 half hour baths. Who knew!!??
A simple plan to watch "Footloose" turned into a rescue mission. We were able to deliver the disc from the clutches of the DVD-eating machine. There was MUCH rejoicing (and dancing).
Just cuz we wanted to.
At the Christmas market after having our lips plumped by some amazing product by Beauti-Control (don't YOU want to host a party now???)
Nicole had the fabulous idea of getting us all to wear ugly sweaters to the Christmas market. What a bunch of kooks.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
My life in pictures
Getting to know just who I'll be spending the next 9 months with (scary stuff:P)
I've said it once, and I'll say it again. When it comes to the largeness of creation,
a photo miserably fails to do it justice.
"Welcome to T.V. Night." This here's a cow-town.
Just two cowgirls and their Junior Mints. I wouldn't mess with them. 
Yep, these 'em my friends. 
A YWAM Thanksgiving dinner, family style.
Just a friendly game of "Pin the Football in the Endzone."
What?? Doesn't everyone play this at Thanksgiving? 
Lory Jean...don't look so worried! We'll still love you, even if you fumble the ball! 
A reminder:
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The road to Damascus
The experience of the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus dramatically changed his life forever. Before having it, Paul tells us about his conviction and zealous mission to persecute the church of Christ: "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities" (Acts 26:9-11). Or to take another angle, read what Paul writes about his confidence in his "pre-conversion" days in his letter to the Philippians: "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless" (3:4-6). In sum, Paul had all his ducks in a row. He knew what the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wanted from him, and he was fully committed to having it accomplished (or so he thought).
But something happened to Paul on that road to Damascus - something so incredible that it caused him to count as garbage all the brownie points he had earned according to the Law: "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:8-11).
Paul changed from the man at whose feet witnesses laid their garments before casting stones at Stephen (the first martyr) for testifying that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 7:58), to a man willing "even to die...for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13). Paul , who as to the Law had everything going for him (Phil 3:4-6), educated at the feet of the foremost rabbi of his generation (Acts 22:3), and so self-assured that he approached the high priest for letters allowing him to persecute believers in the synagogues at Damascus (Acts 9:1-2), became one whose greatest desire was to share in the sufferings of Christ so that he could learn to fully rely, not on himself, but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:9). He who could deliver oratories that would cause even Athenian Stoics and Epicureans to stop and listen (Acts 17:16-31) chose rather to deliver his testimony "in weakness and in fear and much trembling" dedicated to knowing nothing "except Jesus Christ and him crucified" so that the faith of his hearers "might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Cor 2:2-5).
So...what happened on that hot and dusty road to Damascus? How did one travelling to Damascus "still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (9:1) become one travelling from Damascus under the cover of night because his life was in danger due to bold proclamation of Jesus in the synagogues (9:20-25)!! WAIT A SEC...Paul preached Jesus in the very same synagogues he had purposed to use as centres to increase persecution against the Christians in Damascus??? Hold the phone!! What on earth could have possibly happened to effect such a dramatic change?
Paul met Jesus, that's what happened. And in that supernatural revelation, he came to see the mission that he thought was God-ordained was actually in opposition to the eternal purposes of God "set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him" (Ephesians 1:9-10).
Paul's life's mission, all the things he considered most important in preaching the gospel, his willingness to endure persecution and do things he never would have done as a "Pharisee of Pharisees" (such as become the apostle to the Gentiles - Rom 11:13), and his unrelenting defense of justification by faith and NOT by any works of the law (Gal 2:16) all stemmed from his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul encountered grace from the very One he had been persecuting with every fibre of his being. And it forever changed him, altering the course of his life, becoming the reason for everything he did from that point on.
What is your "road to Damascus"? How did you first encounter the living Christ as the One who has freed you from everything that following the Law was unable to free you from (Acts 13:39)? Has the grace that you experienced in that revelation of Christ impacted you in such a way that it has become the wellspring of all that you say and do? The reason you stay or go; the reason you speak or remain silent; but ABOVE ALL the reason you understand the primary calling of your life is that of a witness (Acts 1:8).
I am deeply convicted by these questions. And right now I can only respond by praying, "Lord, would you increase my understanding of what you have done in my life. More and more may my "road to Damascus" become the reason why I open my mouth to proclaim your name. May I never use the excuse of persecution, fear of man, apathy, personal weakness and belief in my ability to earn my own merit, rather may a greater revelation of you translate into a greater passion to bear witness to you. Amen."
But something happened to Paul on that road to Damascus - something so incredible that it caused him to count as garbage all the brownie points he had earned according to the Law: "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:8-11).
Paul changed from the man at whose feet witnesses laid their garments before casting stones at Stephen (the first martyr) for testifying that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 7:58), to a man willing "even to die...for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13). Paul , who as to the Law had everything going for him (Phil 3:4-6), educated at the feet of the foremost rabbi of his generation (Acts 22:3), and so self-assured that he approached the high priest for letters allowing him to persecute believers in the synagogues at Damascus (Acts 9:1-2), became one whose greatest desire was to share in the sufferings of Christ so that he could learn to fully rely, not on himself, but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:9). He who could deliver oratories that would cause even Athenian Stoics and Epicureans to stop and listen (Acts 17:16-31) chose rather to deliver his testimony "in weakness and in fear and much trembling" dedicated to knowing nothing "except Jesus Christ and him crucified" so that the faith of his hearers "might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Cor 2:2-5).
So...what happened on that hot and dusty road to Damascus? How did one travelling to Damascus "still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (9:1) become one travelling from Damascus under the cover of night because his life was in danger due to bold proclamation of Jesus in the synagogues (9:20-25)!! WAIT A SEC...Paul preached Jesus in the very same synagogues he had purposed to use as centres to increase persecution against the Christians in Damascus??? Hold the phone!! What on earth could have possibly happened to effect such a dramatic change?
Paul met Jesus, that's what happened. And in that supernatural revelation, he came to see the mission that he thought was God-ordained was actually in opposition to the eternal purposes of God "set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him" (Ephesians 1:9-10).
Paul's life's mission, all the things he considered most important in preaching the gospel, his willingness to endure persecution and do things he never would have done as a "Pharisee of Pharisees" (such as become the apostle to the Gentiles - Rom 11:13), and his unrelenting defense of justification by faith and NOT by any works of the law (Gal 2:16) all stemmed from his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul encountered grace from the very One he had been persecuting with every fibre of his being. And it forever changed him, altering the course of his life, becoming the reason for everything he did from that point on.
What is your "road to Damascus"? How did you first encounter the living Christ as the One who has freed you from everything that following the Law was unable to free you from (Acts 13:39)? Has the grace that you experienced in that revelation of Christ impacted you in such a way that it has become the wellspring of all that you say and do? The reason you stay or go; the reason you speak or remain silent; but ABOVE ALL the reason you understand the primary calling of your life is that of a witness (Acts 1:8).
I am deeply convicted by these questions. And right now I can only respond by praying, "Lord, would you increase my understanding of what you have done in my life. More and more may my "road to Damascus" become the reason why I open my mouth to proclaim your name. May I never use the excuse of persecution, fear of man, apathy, personal weakness and belief in my ability to earn my own merit, rather may a greater revelation of you translate into a greater passion to bear witness to you. Amen."
Monday, September 14, 2009
Today's the day!
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Parallelism was a technique oft-used by Hebrew poets and a defining feature of the biblical Psalms and Proverbs. The technique relates two lines of the psalm/proverb in some way, often helping to bring greater understanding to what the poet was trying to convey. Identifying parallelisms are useful in highlighting application, still relevant millennia after composition.
In synonymous parallelisms, the second line essentially repeats the first line using different words that have the same meaning. For example:
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:2)
A synthetic parallelism uses the second line to add to or explain the first. This type of parallelism can appear in a variety of combinations Some might include question-answer, proposition-conclusion, or situation-consequence. You'll notice this type of parallelism if you are left with the inclination to ask the question "Why?" after the first line. For example:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff,they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
When the second line is a contrast to the first, an antithetic parallelism is being used:
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
An emblematic parallelism uses the first line to illustrate the message using a figure of speech; the second clarifies with a more literal explanation or brings the metaphor to its application.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
I say all that to say again:
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
So....what kind of parallelism is being used by this psalmist? What then is the implication/application for your life today?
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Parallelism was a technique oft-used by Hebrew poets and a defining feature of the biblical Psalms and Proverbs. The technique relates two lines of the psalm/proverb in some way, often helping to bring greater understanding to what the poet was trying to convey. Identifying parallelisms are useful in highlighting application, still relevant millennia after composition.
In synonymous parallelisms, the second line essentially repeats the first line using different words that have the same meaning. For example:
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:2)
A synthetic parallelism uses the second line to add to or explain the first. This type of parallelism can appear in a variety of combinations Some might include question-answer, proposition-conclusion, or situation-consequence. You'll notice this type of parallelism if you are left with the inclination to ask the question "Why?" after the first line. For example:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff,they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
When the second line is a contrast to the first, an antithetic parallelism is being used:
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
An emblematic parallelism uses the first line to illustrate the message using a figure of speech; the second clarifies with a more literal explanation or brings the metaphor to its application.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
I say all that to say again:
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
So....what kind of parallelism is being used by this psalmist? What then is the implication/application for your life today?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
prayer request
Sleep has not been sweet lately. Unfortunately I have not yet mastered the subtle art of the stilling of the brain - which is apparently a necessary step in the whole "falling asleep" process. If you think of it, I'd appreciate prayer.
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