As you know, I'm taking the Perspectives class at my church. Our readings this last week dealt with the idea that instead of seeing the Bible as a collection of a bunch of different stories, we should see it as one whole story- the story of God revealing Himself to people, giving them the privilege of taking His name to the nations, and seeking worshippers from every nation. Throughout the entire Bible this theme can be seen.
God called Abraham in Genesis 12, saying that He would bless Abraham but that Abraham would also be a blessing. God's gracious blessing was to go out to the other nations through the people who would come from Abraham, the nation of Israel. God chose the people of Israel to be a witness of His name to all of the peoples around them.
When Solomon built the temple, he prayed that it would be a place for people to come to learn more about God. 2 Chronicles 6:32-33 records part of Solomon's prayer of dedication: "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm- when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name" (NIV).
Many times in the Psalms, the idea of the peoples giving praise to God comes out. Psalm 67 is just one example: "May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth" (verses 3-4, NIV).
Skipping way ahead to the end of the Bible, Revelation gives us a beautiful picture of the "end" of the story, when God reigns with His people who have believed in His name and who will worship Him for eternity.
The idea of this theme weaving it's way and encompassing the whole Bible has been on my heart as I've tried to ponder and comprehend it all. I just want to share one particular way this has really struck me. I have been reading through the Bible in the Message version in this new year, and I have been in the book of Leviticus lately. I was really struggling to understand why the book was in the Bible, what significance some of the rules and regulations had for me, and how this fit in with the idea of God's plan for His creation. I have always heard that we learn that God cares about details, and I think that's true, but it seemed like there should be more than that. This morning I read the following in chapter twenty two, verses thirty-two and thirty-three: "Don't desecrate my holy name. I insist on being treated with holy reverence among the people of Israel. I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God" (The Message). So God gave these specific rules to the Israelites in order for them to be set apart and holy. Set apart from what? The nations around them, who probably were practicing many of the sinful things that God forbid the Israelites from doing. They were to be different from the nations around them in order to honor God's name, but also by setting themselves apart they were to set an example for the other nations and draw them to knowing God themselves. Even the laws that seem meaningless to me had the ultimate purpose of the fame of the Lord and the saving of the nations.
I'm not sure I have this all figured out yet, but I guess that is part of the journey! Please feel free to share your own thoughts and check back in for more of mine.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
First Day of School
No matter how many years I have been in school, the first day is always very nerve wracking for me, but exciting at the same time. I have now started 34 semesters if you count Kindergarten on, make that 35 with the dawn of spring semester 2010. If you just look at my college days, I have probably seen about 30-35 syllabi, those lovely packets of paper that lay out for you the number of pages you will be required to read and write and other projects you'll have to do. Often these give you a bit of a snapshot of what the semester is going to look like: stressful, light, or downright ugly. Of course, if you were in one of my business classes the syllabus was kind of a waste of paper because all they put was the name of the course, overall objectives, and contact information, not very telling. No matter how many "first days" I've had, I always manage to get overwhelmed when I look at all that is before me.
My second semester of graduate school is no exception. Because of the holiday on Monday, classes officially started on Tuesday of this week. My class on campus actually started on Thursday, but I was able to view the syllabus and schedule ahead of time and get a flavor for the course, along with some assigned reading that we have to do BEFORE we came for the first class time. As I read the syllabi for the first time, I kept reminding myself that all of these papers and projects don't need to be completed at once, but they are spread out over the whole semester. It took me about 3 times of reading everything to finally feel like I could handle all that is coming. And you know, it will all work out (it has for the past 34 semesters). I need to take each assignment one at a time, be diligent in keeping up with my reading, and just be a good student the way that I have the past 18 years.
I do think I will enjoy my classes once I get into them. My online class is called Christians in Pluralistic World. This class looks at the many religions in the world both from an ideological standpoint and the day-to-day issues of the religion, and then also discusses how we as Christians can respond and dialogue with people from each different religion. As part of the class we have to do a roundtable paper where we take a particular view of a religion and describe and discuss to the point that a person from that religion would say, "Yes, that's what I believe". So it might be how Muslims view Jesus Christ, or something like that. There are only 2 books for the class, and we had to just read the introduction to the one this week but I think it will be really interesting. I especially like that the author will look at the day-to-day aspect of peoples' lives, and how their religion at home might be different from the facts that we normally study.
Once I got to my class on campus, Intro to Missiology, I also decided I will really like it! My professor was actually one the professors that my bosses, Kent and Erika, had when they were at Southwestern Seminary and Erika worked for Dr. Anderson for awhile. He is in his 80s but is still going strong, teaching adjunctly at a number of different colleges in the US and around the world. He was a pastor for about 10 years, then served as a missionary in Argentina, and after coming back to the states has been a professor for over 30 years. He also has a great sense of humor, which will make the class fun. We will be looking at the history and strategy and so forth of missions, so I know Dr. Anderson will have plenty of stories.
So, even though I was a bit overwhelmed at first, like I normally am, I know that I just need to be diligent and soak up all I can this semester, and it will be just fine!
My second semester of graduate school is no exception. Because of the holiday on Monday, classes officially started on Tuesday of this week. My class on campus actually started on Thursday, but I was able to view the syllabus and schedule ahead of time and get a flavor for the course, along with some assigned reading that we have to do BEFORE we came for the first class time. As I read the syllabi for the first time, I kept reminding myself that all of these papers and projects don't need to be completed at once, but they are spread out over the whole semester. It took me about 3 times of reading everything to finally feel like I could handle all that is coming. And you know, it will all work out (it has for the past 34 semesters). I need to take each assignment one at a time, be diligent in keeping up with my reading, and just be a good student the way that I have the past 18 years.
I do think I will enjoy my classes once I get into them. My online class is called Christians in Pluralistic World. This class looks at the many religions in the world both from an ideological standpoint and the day-to-day issues of the religion, and then also discusses how we as Christians can respond and dialogue with people from each different religion. As part of the class we have to do a roundtable paper where we take a particular view of a religion and describe and discuss to the point that a person from that religion would say, "Yes, that's what I believe". So it might be how Muslims view Jesus Christ, or something like that. There are only 2 books for the class, and we had to just read the introduction to the one this week but I think it will be really interesting. I especially like that the author will look at the day-to-day aspect of peoples' lives, and how their religion at home might be different from the facts that we normally study.
Once I got to my class on campus, Intro to Missiology, I also decided I will really like it! My professor was actually one the professors that my bosses, Kent and Erika, had when they were at Southwestern Seminary and Erika worked for Dr. Anderson for awhile. He is in his 80s but is still going strong, teaching adjunctly at a number of different colleges in the US and around the world. He was a pastor for about 10 years, then served as a missionary in Argentina, and after coming back to the states has been a professor for over 30 years. He also has a great sense of humor, which will make the class fun. We will be looking at the history and strategy and so forth of missions, so I know Dr. Anderson will have plenty of stories.
So, even though I was a bit overwhelmed at first, like I normally am, I know that I just need to be diligent and soak up all I can this semester, and it will be just fine!
Monday, January 18, 2010
My Job
This last week we hosted a planning meeting for the Ethne group focused on Church Planting Movements, which was Tuesday through Thursday. Then we hosted our board of directors for their meeting Friday and Saturday. One of my favorite jobs as a part of my work with MUP is taking care of guests when they come- finding them housing and transportation, and then making sure they have everything they need including plenty of coffee, some snacks and treats, and water or pop or whatever. Here is our refreshment table, and a snapshot of my work with MUP. :) First, here is a picture of me and my messy desk from a busy week.
Perspectives
My church is offering the Perspectives course this semester and I am so excited to be taking it and exploring more about God's heart for missions! This is a 15-week course designed to help believers from all different backgrounds to look at the world the way that Christ does, and study the historical and cultural perspectives of missions as well as what God is doing today around the world.
There is a lot of reading for this course! It's all good stuff, but it takes a lot of time to read and digest what all God is saying through the different articles. Here are a few quotes that stuck out to me from the reading for this week, which all had to do with the theme "The Living God is a Missionary God".
From the article "Israel's Missionary Call" by Walter Kaiser
"Israel was to be God's missionary to the world- and so are we by virtue of our identity as Abraham's spiritual descendants".
One of the major points of the readings for this week had to do with God's pronouncement of blessing on Abraham in Genesis 12. The blessing of God was fulfilled immediately in Isaac and his descendants, and then the intermediate fulfillment came with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The ultimate fulfillment will come when Christ returns and the great multitude praises God for eternity.
From the article "Blessing as Transformation" by Sarita Gallagher and Steven Hawthorne
"To be God's blessing among all the peoples will require our utmost effort somehow blended with the exertion of God's miraculous, life-giving power."
We are a part of the blessing and promise God made to Abraham. Abraham's promise was that he would be the father of many nations, and this was both in the sense of children and grandchildren and so on, but also in the sense that Christians one day would be counted as part of the family of Abraham. We have the responsibility to share the good news of Christ as we grow the family of God.
Those are just a couple of thoughts from this last week's reading. Tonight is our first actual class session, and we will have a guy from the Traveling Team come and share. It should be excellent!
There is a lot of reading for this course! It's all good stuff, but it takes a lot of time to read and digest what all God is saying through the different articles. Here are a few quotes that stuck out to me from the reading for this week, which all had to do with the theme "The Living God is a Missionary God".
From the article "Israel's Missionary Call" by Walter Kaiser
"Israel was to be God's missionary to the world- and so are we by virtue of our identity as Abraham's spiritual descendants".
One of the major points of the readings for this week had to do with God's pronouncement of blessing on Abraham in Genesis 12. The blessing of God was fulfilled immediately in Isaac and his descendants, and then the intermediate fulfillment came with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The ultimate fulfillment will come when Christ returns and the great multitude praises God for eternity.
From the article "Blessing as Transformation" by Sarita Gallagher and Steven Hawthorne
"To be God's blessing among all the peoples will require our utmost effort somehow blended with the exertion of God's miraculous, life-giving power."
We are a part of the blessing and promise God made to Abraham. Abraham's promise was that he would be the father of many nations, and this was both in the sense of children and grandchildren and so on, but also in the sense that Christians one day would be counted as part of the family of Abraham. We have the responsibility to share the good news of Christ as we grow the family of God.
Those are just a couple of thoughts from this last week's reading. Tonight is our first actual class session, and we will have a guy from the Traveling Team come and share. It should be excellent!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Christmas!
I am back in Texas after two weeks in Nebraska! Here are some of the highlights of my Christmas.
~ My family waited to decorate our Christmas tree until I arrived back on Sunday afternoon (the 20th). My aunt and uncle give my siblings and I an ornament each year until we turn 18. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to pull out each ornament and turn an ordinary pine tree into a piece of art.
~ The Christmas blizzard of 2009. The snow started on Wednesday and on Christmas day the wind made it a full-blown blizzard. In all of my 23 years my family has gone either to my dad's side or my mom's, but this year we were stuck at home. Even though the wind was howling outside and the visibility was limited, we were cozy inside and we enjoyed a leisurely Christmas day. We took our time opening presents, then played games, watched movies and just hung out the rest of the day.
~ After the storm was over my siblings and I braved the cold and went outside to explore the drifts! There were some pretty amazing ones and although we didn't last too long, we enjoyed climbing the tall ones and blasting through the small ones.
~ Tuesday night (the 29th) my sisters and I had a girls' night in our room. We munched on pizza bites, chips, and M & M's, sipped sparkling grape juice and watched "Julie and Julia" on Beth's laptop. We laughed and enjoyed some special sister time. Meanwhile, the brothers watched "Star Wars" in their room and Mom and Dad watched "Cheaper by the Dozen" in the living room.
~ Wednesday I road-tripped to Iowa to visit two of my college friends. I had so much fun catching up with these lovely ladies, and we got to enjoy some good pizza. I am thankful for good friendships from my college days that have continued even though we have gone in different directions.
~ Friday my family took me back to the airport. My siblings and I had fun playing "Would You Rather...", and my family enjoyed Valentino's buffet before I got dropped off. It's hard to say goodbye, but it was a special time at home. Even though I missed out on celebrating with both sides of our extended family because of the snow, it was still good to be with my immediate family.
~ My family waited to decorate our Christmas tree until I arrived back on Sunday afternoon (the 20th). My aunt and uncle give my siblings and I an ornament each year until we turn 18. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to pull out each ornament and turn an ordinary pine tree into a piece of art.
~ The Christmas blizzard of 2009. The snow started on Wednesday and on Christmas day the wind made it a full-blown blizzard. In all of my 23 years my family has gone either to my dad's side or my mom's, but this year we were stuck at home. Even though the wind was howling outside and the visibility was limited, we were cozy inside and we enjoyed a leisurely Christmas day. We took our time opening presents, then played games, watched movies and just hung out the rest of the day.
~ After the storm was over my siblings and I braved the cold and went outside to explore the drifts! There were some pretty amazing ones and although we didn't last too long, we enjoyed climbing the tall ones and blasting through the small ones.
~ Tuesday night (the 29th) my sisters and I had a girls' night in our room. We munched on pizza bites, chips, and M & M's, sipped sparkling grape juice and watched "Julie and Julia" on Beth's laptop. We laughed and enjoyed some special sister time. Meanwhile, the brothers watched "Star Wars" in their room and Mom and Dad watched "Cheaper by the Dozen" in the living room.
~ Wednesday I road-tripped to Iowa to visit two of my college friends. I had so much fun catching up with these lovely ladies, and we got to enjoy some good pizza. I am thankful for good friendships from my college days that have continued even though we have gone in different directions.
~ Friday my family took me back to the airport. My siblings and I had fun playing "Would You Rather...", and my family enjoyed Valentino's buffet before I got dropped off. It's hard to say goodbye, but it was a special time at home. Even though I missed out on celebrating with both sides of our extended family because of the snow, it was still good to be with my immediate family.
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