I wish I had so much more tiem to write... I enjoy it so. But I'm facing Greek and Old Testament studying still ahead of me and it's already about 9pm. At least we're not in the double digits yet, right? Some updates I will share in breakneck speed and sadly without the fervor I'd like to put into them...
I met with the Moody Radio gentleman to "claim" my job. Last semester he said he would have at least the one shift open for me... I filled out the application and all was well. I even called him over summer to let him know I was still interested. As he turned the corner I greeted him with a smile only for him to say, "you must be here for my son...?" (in a puzzled way). I gathered myself and reminded him of our meeting last semester to which he said he had no openings and gave the job to a broadcasting major. It was difficult to contain my sinking sadness that rushed through me. He took down my info in case the guy fell through. I left the 8th floor of the Crowell building furstrated and scared. I convinced myself that my only option was to return to the job I had formerly and work as many hours as it took (prolly 30) and pray that God would provide before my grades suffered. I shared this plan in a study to group and they smakced me over the head with, "Joseph! You're taking Greek and Old Testament. You'd get like 3 hours of sleep a night!" Then one of the new guys on our floor said, "If you had something firm there would be no room for faith." Inside I was somewhat paralyzed by that statement... it was true. "Aww man, I thought. They're right." I prayed today as I walked to my old job. They eagerly accepted my return. I'll be working 4 days instead my original 5 over there... which is the same as last semester. I start back this Saturday. I may even get Produce primarily instead of Deli. I feel like the 10 spies who looked at the "giants" and ran while Caleb and Joshua trusted God. If I walk by sight, my bank account says I may only be here for one more year. If I walk by faith... whatever happens is because of God's sovereignty and I can trust in Him regardless. I know He's brought me here for a reason. For every Moody student accepted there were 2 students who were not. May I never forget that and give glory to God alone.
I also am enjoying the study of preaching. I'm ahead in that class and not any other! I even decided to ask the prof about my "big idea" for my sermon in PCM coming up in just over a week. He was helpful, but boy was I nervous... fumbling my words... experiencing anxiety memory loss... and accidentially hitting my glasses with my hand... I'm such a basket case.
My 4th grade teacher emailed me today saying she wanted to invite me over before I left. I didn't expect an email from her. I gave her a call over summer to update her on what's happening in my life.
I got my new driver's license in the mail today!! Let's look at it... oh good... the picture isn't horrible.
Honest thoughts: Will I learn to trust God as I should? When? How? Is it timidity? Is it anxiety? Is it worry? Is it a combination of those things? Worry is a lack of trusting Him. Oh Lord, how do I trust You?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Initial Shockwave
Well I've been through my first two days of class and have encountered all my classes at least once for the semester. I'll have spent a running total of $95 on textbooks... some from the bookstore and some from the used sale of students... others I'm still borrowing. Thank the Lord they aren't all that expensive this semester!
Christian Missions w/Naaman looks like it'll be a good class. It's one of the easier looking ones. I'll have to write about a missionary amongst a group of other mini-papers. I'm considering Tom Watson, the missionary our church supports, however I also need to evaluate my church's missions program separately so maybe I won't do him. I'll also be required to do a kind of evangelism activity in the city... looking forward to that. One of the textbooks for the class is a book of martyr stories, some of which are martyrs that graduated from Moody. The prof seems to be a good balance of humor and integrity. He has a Muslim background and a passion to reach that community.
Intro to Disciplemaking with Craigen was not too bad either. I imagine it won't be that hard. It involves a good number of evangelism activities outside of school. While the evangelism methods presented in the class are more focused on relational and "servant evangelism," I appreciated the prof covering some good ground and balance. He wasn't what I expected, while ultimate judgment is reserved for the end of course. I think at least one of the textbooks could have been better chosen though. One of the books is Permission Evangelism By Michael Simpson. It seems to be exactly what the title suggests. I've read through chapter one and have all kinds of writing and underlining in it already... I'm anticipating providing a thoughtful report on my response to the book as one of our assignments. It has some good comments, but the overall thrust is a bit man-centered and boy does the author seem to slam street preachers! It will be a "thorough" read for me I'm sure. It'll go on my shelf next to Becoming a Contagious Christian, which I believe was actually used here at the school before this book. Sigh... much work to do here. I look forward to the Way of The Master Season 3 watching parties I plan to hold when the DVDs arrive :)
Old Testament Survey with Marty is what I expected as NT last semester... a few long reading reports and tough quizzes. Praise God I finished reading the whole OT over summer!!!! So that's behind me now. The prof has begun to crack down on attendance and conduct in class though. Last semester it was quite difficult to stay awake in a 2 hour class like that one. Why do I fall sleep so much and in so many venues? He says if he catches a student sleeping, he'll kick them out of the class and they'll have to take a cut for that day. I understand his reasons and don't blame him, but this will certainly be a challenge for me nonetheless. I always make it there... but my brain may not be with me that whole time.
Greek Grammar I with Gray is still a wild card. It's his first semester teaching Greek so it'll be hard to tell how he'll work out. The first class got me worried because he said we didn't have to worry because if we didn't know Greek, "I don't know it either... we'll learn this together. They just threw me into this. ...well that's partly true." Flashing red lights in my head heated until the bulbs broke! Today was better though. It's apparent that the real learning in the class will come from personal study anyway (1-3 hours per night)... as many of the Greek classes seem to be. I'm just glad we don't have ONLY the textbook. The Croy textbook is not good for self-study without any worksheets, supplemental instruction, or someone saying the pronunciations out loud. The class meets for an hour 4 days a week. I still have 5 chapters and practice exercises to do tonight!
Communication of Biblical Truth (first Preaching class) with Koessler will almost surely be my favorite class. Who would have guessed, eh? I hear he's a tough critic for constructive criticism... but that's good as long as I have the right spirit about me as I hear the feedback. He's got a sense of humor about him too. He said someone once was relaying a rumor they heard to him. They told him, "I heard you make the men and women in your class cry." He said "that's not true... I've never made a woman in my class cry." About 40% of the class is teaching us about preaching theory and content... the rest is spent preaching or listening to another student preach and evaluating.
PCM starts September 7th so I'll continue preaching at the Retirement Home. I've prepared a tentative list of the passage divisions to be able to finish the book of Galatians in the next 13 weeks I preach there. God has blessed me with about a month to begin formulating outlines and marinating in the texts of my upcoming sermons. We also get a new guy in our team who is also a Pastoral major. Maybe he and I can share the preaching load a bit! I haven't met him yet. There's still formal meetings and information distribution from the school this week.
Christian Missions w/Naaman looks like it'll be a good class. It's one of the easier looking ones. I'll have to write about a missionary amongst a group of other mini-papers. I'm considering Tom Watson, the missionary our church supports, however I also need to evaluate my church's missions program separately so maybe I won't do him. I'll also be required to do a kind of evangelism activity in the city... looking forward to that. One of the textbooks for the class is a book of martyr stories, some of which are martyrs that graduated from Moody. The prof seems to be a good balance of humor and integrity. He has a Muslim background and a passion to reach that community.
Intro to Disciplemaking with Craigen was not too bad either. I imagine it won't be that hard. It involves a good number of evangelism activities outside of school. While the evangelism methods presented in the class are more focused on relational and "servant evangelism," I appreciated the prof covering some good ground and balance. He wasn't what I expected, while ultimate judgment is reserved for the end of course. I think at least one of the textbooks could have been better chosen though. One of the books is Permission Evangelism By Michael Simpson. It seems to be exactly what the title suggests. I've read through chapter one and have all kinds of writing and underlining in it already... I'm anticipating providing a thoughtful report on my response to the book as one of our assignments. It has some good comments, but the overall thrust is a bit man-centered and boy does the author seem to slam street preachers! It will be a "thorough" read for me I'm sure. It'll go on my shelf next to Becoming a Contagious Christian, which I believe was actually used here at the school before this book. Sigh... much work to do here. I look forward to the Way of The Master Season 3 watching parties I plan to hold when the DVDs arrive :)
Old Testament Survey with Marty is what I expected as NT last semester... a few long reading reports and tough quizzes. Praise God I finished reading the whole OT over summer!!!! So that's behind me now. The prof has begun to crack down on attendance and conduct in class though. Last semester it was quite difficult to stay awake in a 2 hour class like that one. Why do I fall sleep so much and in so many venues? He says if he catches a student sleeping, he'll kick them out of the class and they'll have to take a cut for that day. I understand his reasons and don't blame him, but this will certainly be a challenge for me nonetheless. I always make it there... but my brain may not be with me that whole time.
Greek Grammar I with Gray is still a wild card. It's his first semester teaching Greek so it'll be hard to tell how he'll work out. The first class got me worried because he said we didn't have to worry because if we didn't know Greek, "I don't know it either... we'll learn this together. They just threw me into this. ...well that's partly true." Flashing red lights in my head heated until the bulbs broke! Today was better though. It's apparent that the real learning in the class will come from personal study anyway (1-3 hours per night)... as many of the Greek classes seem to be. I'm just glad we don't have ONLY the textbook. The Croy textbook is not good for self-study without any worksheets, supplemental instruction, or someone saying the pronunciations out loud. The class meets for an hour 4 days a week. I still have 5 chapters and practice exercises to do tonight!
Communication of Biblical Truth (first Preaching class) with Koessler will almost surely be my favorite class. Who would have guessed, eh? I hear he's a tough critic for constructive criticism... but that's good as long as I have the right spirit about me as I hear the feedback. He's got a sense of humor about him too. He said someone once was relaying a rumor they heard to him. They told him, "I heard you make the men and women in your class cry." He said "that's not true... I've never made a woman in my class cry." About 40% of the class is teaching us about preaching theory and content... the rest is spent preaching or listening to another student preach and evaluating.
PCM starts September 7th so I'll continue preaching at the Retirement Home. I've prepared a tentative list of the passage divisions to be able to finish the book of Galatians in the next 13 weeks I preach there. God has blessed me with about a month to begin formulating outlines and marinating in the texts of my upcoming sermons. We also get a new guy in our team who is also a Pastoral major. Maybe he and I can share the preaching load a bit! I haven't met him yet. There's still formal meetings and information distribution from the school this week.
I'm trying to stay on top of my reading so far... which is easy without working. Still no clear word on my job with the Radio station... the guy I needed tot alk to Monday will be back Wednesday (tomorrow) so I still need to talk with him and prayerfully... Lord willing... get more hours than the initial plan. I know the other job is still waiting to hear from me though. Man I also found out that I'd need a brand new pair of white-soled shoes if I wanna work out in the gym here! I walked all the way to the gym dressed and ready to start up again only to come back to my room and drop the whole thing :( It was rather disappointing. Oh hey, can you believe I'll be 24 years old in less than a month?!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Back... physically.
I'm back at college and classes start tomorrow morning. I'm all moved in. I've said some of my hellos and had a few reunions. When I shift locations it's nearly two different worlds. At home I found myself forgetting what days we didn't have chapel and a lot of people's names. Now that I'm back I feel kinda awkward too. I'm somewhat in default work mode... kinda unemotional as I get re-oriented. I forgot a couple things at home and seem to have lost a textbook I'll need for this semester. My new roommate is cool though... I knew who it would be. Two street preachers in one room can't go wrong, right? We have some pretty different ideas and principles in how we do things though. I still have much to do to prepare for the semester... finish buying books, pickup my transportation pass, straighten out a financial thing, get a job status, and possibly make a doctor's appointment.
As I look at the semester ahead of me and anticipate the workload and what lies ahead, I want to just go head first. I want to be more disciplined than before, I wanna ATTEMPT to incorporate working out, and I wanna meet the newbies to the school (cuz I no longer am one! :)). I hear all the new freshmen on the sister floor look like they're all 14. That'll be interesting.
This semester's schedule not including work or working out...
Old Testament Survey (Lecture) TuTh 11:00AM - 12:50PM
Greek Grammar I (Lecture) MTuWF 1:00PM - 1:50PM
Introduction to Disciplemaking (Lecture) MW 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Christian Missions (Lecture) MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Communication of Biblical Trut (Lecture) TuTh 8:00AM - 9:15AM
(16 hours)
As I understand it... that means 2 easy classes, 2 pretty hard classes, and one less hard class
As I look at the semester ahead of me and anticipate the workload and what lies ahead, I want to just go head first. I want to be more disciplined than before, I wanna ATTEMPT to incorporate working out, and I wanna meet the newbies to the school (cuz I no longer am one! :)). I hear all the new freshmen on the sister floor look like they're all 14. That'll be interesting.
This semester's schedule not including work or working out...
Old Testament Survey (Lecture) TuTh 11:00AM - 12:50PM
Greek Grammar I (Lecture) MTuWF 1:00PM - 1:50PM
Introduction to Disciplemaking (Lecture) MW 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Christian Missions (Lecture) MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Communication of Biblical Trut (Lecture) TuTh 8:00AM - 9:15AM
(16 hours)
As I understand it... that means 2 easy classes, 2 pretty hard classes, and one less hard class
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sleepy Day
It's a rainy day today and will be for the next couple days. That means they are also sleepy days. I wanna take a nap, but I prolly won't. This way I'll sleep better tonight. I have less than a week left before arriving back on campus at Moody. I'm waiting with great anticipation at the semester ahead. It will surely be a busy one. What I'm not eager for is dealing with the confusion about my school bill... I thankfully decided to take a look at it recently and I'm glad I did. Somehow I have a remaining balance from last semester of $2,000. I sent an email to ask about this and they said it was true and that the payment plan also needed to be payed for at $35. They said the deadline for this was two days later... how often am I able to check my email while here? By the time I checked it... time was up. They said the system would knock me out of the payment plan and I'd have to pay it all up front (including the $5,200 total Fall bill). Needless to say... this is not desirable.
I'm kinda frustrated here because I'd assumed if I registered for the payment plan the money would automatically be subtracted from my account... like it should be if you say that's what you want??! I'm already registered for classes so I don't know what's going on here. They've yet to write me back about it. If I have to pay it all up front though, I would certainly have to trust God next semester and likely work myself to death. Lord... umm... I'm trying to trust Ya here.
I taught Sunday school yesterday with the last lesson on Jehovah's Witnesses. I reviewed some of the common passages the JW's twist and shared some exegetical insights. For the most part the truth was seen within a few verses from the one they were distorting. Context is still king. I love the quote: "A text without a context is a pre-text for a proof-text." I also discussed the details of how they start a conversation with you as they come door to door then gave a few approaches on how to respond and witness back to the witnesses. We had most of the high school group and all of the junior high in one room. It was a large group. Partway through I had to speed it up due to time and as I did so I realized that I had forgotten the nervousness of not having regurlarly taught this group and my excitement about the truth I was sharing matched the speed I was teaching. The youth were hooked and interested. I wasn't disoriented as the class ended and I praise God that He used me to help those kids and teens articulate God's truth. I'm continually amazed at what God does and how He does it.
I face a busy week. The packing part is not what I'm talking about. Currently I work 32 hours, have 2 meetings with friends before I leave, plan to help someone move, gotta fix this school bill thing, wanna schedule a doctor's visit, gonna visit my mom, and who knows what else in between. One of those meetings is with a former co-worker who isn't a Christian that I've been talking with for some time. Our conversations have been fruitful every time and I appreciate how I see God drawing him. Please pray for those conversations.
After the last blog entry I feel I should clarify something as I was asked to. My ex-girlffriend read my blog and felt it would be right to call me, explain a few things, and give an update. This was a call I was surprised to get but it left me with a bit of relief and also got me thinking... as I suppose it would have anyway. She called to say there was bitterness, but there isn't anymore. It had been dealt with for a couple weeks now. I didn't know that when I wrote the entry. It's interesting how God works. It turned out we were both praying about and for eachother individually for some time now. God really has been working on hearts. For this I can only praise Him more and know that He is good. I feel also that clarification is needed on my part. Some may read that entry and see it as gossip, slander, or a sob story from a victim. None of these things were my intention. The entry was simply an expression of my felt perceptions. I was being openly honest about how I felt. That's where it ends. That's it. That's all. Consider this illustration: There's a counseling meeting between two people... one says to the other "you are always angry at me." The other says, "Why would you say that? I don't feel angry at you." The counselor then says to person B, "For person A your anger toward them is real and exists for one reason or another. The solution won't come though by arguing over whether or not you are angry, but rather why they perceive you as angry and if anything they're perceiving is valid... it needs to be worked out. That needs to be dealt with and understood before reconciliation can happen." Usually by the time they've reached the counselor, whatever relationship the two had is almost completely dissolved. A perception and miscommunication or no communication can simply explode into further steps and create more and more drama.
I say all that to say I believe this is similar to what happened here. For those who read this, please don't give me more or less credit for anything, don't eisegete or read anything into what I'm saying :/
I throw my hands up in surrender.
I'm kinda frustrated here because I'd assumed if I registered for the payment plan the money would automatically be subtracted from my account... like it should be if you say that's what you want??! I'm already registered for classes so I don't know what's going on here. They've yet to write me back about it. If I have to pay it all up front though, I would certainly have to trust God next semester and likely work myself to death. Lord... umm... I'm trying to trust Ya here.
I taught Sunday school yesterday with the last lesson on Jehovah's Witnesses. I reviewed some of the common passages the JW's twist and shared some exegetical insights. For the most part the truth was seen within a few verses from the one they were distorting. Context is still king. I love the quote: "A text without a context is a pre-text for a proof-text." I also discussed the details of how they start a conversation with you as they come door to door then gave a few approaches on how to respond and witness back to the witnesses. We had most of the high school group and all of the junior high in one room. It was a large group. Partway through I had to speed it up due to time and as I did so I realized that I had forgotten the nervousness of not having regurlarly taught this group and my excitement about the truth I was sharing matched the speed I was teaching. The youth were hooked and interested. I wasn't disoriented as the class ended and I praise God that He used me to help those kids and teens articulate God's truth. I'm continually amazed at what God does and how He does it.
I face a busy week. The packing part is not what I'm talking about. Currently I work 32 hours, have 2 meetings with friends before I leave, plan to help someone move, gotta fix this school bill thing, wanna schedule a doctor's visit, gonna visit my mom, and who knows what else in between. One of those meetings is with a former co-worker who isn't a Christian that I've been talking with for some time. Our conversations have been fruitful every time and I appreciate how I see God drawing him. Please pray for those conversations.
After the last blog entry I feel I should clarify something as I was asked to. My ex-girlffriend read my blog and felt it would be right to call me, explain a few things, and give an update. This was a call I was surprised to get but it left me with a bit of relief and also got me thinking... as I suppose it would have anyway. She called to say there was bitterness, but there isn't anymore. It had been dealt with for a couple weeks now. I didn't know that when I wrote the entry. It's interesting how God works. It turned out we were both praying about and for eachother individually for some time now. God really has been working on hearts. For this I can only praise Him more and know that He is good. I feel also that clarification is needed on my part. Some may read that entry and see it as gossip, slander, or a sob story from a victim. None of these things were my intention. The entry was simply an expression of my felt perceptions. I was being openly honest about how I felt. That's where it ends. That's it. That's all. Consider this illustration: There's a counseling meeting between two people... one says to the other "you are always angry at me." The other says, "Why would you say that? I don't feel angry at you." The counselor then says to person B, "For person A your anger toward them is real and exists for one reason or another. The solution won't come though by arguing over whether or not you are angry, but rather why they perceive you as angry and if anything they're perceiving is valid... it needs to be worked out. That needs to be dealt with and understood before reconciliation can happen." Usually by the time they've reached the counselor, whatever relationship the two had is almost completely dissolved. A perception and miscommunication or no communication can simply explode into further steps and create more and more drama.
I say all that to say I believe this is similar to what happened here. For those who read this, please don't give me more or less credit for anything, don't eisegete or read anything into what I'm saying :/
I throw my hands up in surrender.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Transparency and more
Last post I wanted to say more, but my sister had some difficulties I had to attend to and I couldn't think real well to write. I'm less than 2 weeks away from heading back up to school. I'm looking forward to it and have a lot to do when I get there. I need to square things away with my new job (that I'm confident in getting) and call the old one. I hear the old one has already gone through their turnover and is needing help again. It's good to know that's an option even though the income is small. I also tentatively need to make a doctor's appointment I should've made last semester.
I taught Sunday school beginning with the history and general information about Jehovah's Witnesses. Because it was the first Sunday resuming Sunday school, many of the youth were out and the junior high kids were sent into my room. I think they enjoyed it, however most of it was pure information which can get dry. We didn't have time to get into any of the Scripture. That will be for next week. I'm also about halfway through the Watchtower publication "What Does The Bible Really Teach?" I requested a copy from the Brooklyn headquaters because I don't have a copy at my house here in Texas. I'll also then discuss how to approach JWs and how they will approach us (from my personal experience). It will certainly be the more enjoyable and easier lesson from my standpoint. I'm going to teach the youth the first 3 rules of interpretation. These rules almost always solve interpretation problems... 1. Context, 2. Context, 3. Context. Consider yourself enlightened :)
This summer has been an interesting one for sure. This is especially true about the end of it. It feels like it's gone pretty fast though. Since I've finished the Old Testament, I've been focusing my time on preparing to teach, relaxing a bit with Jake 2.0 and Ben 10 Alien Force, and spending some time with my friends... with a little witnessing here and there. In continuing my blog trend of transparency I venture to share a few thoughts and struggles from life...
It's truly been a blessing to be there for ym friend through his breakup as he was certainly there for me. Thank the Lord for the mercy of His children. God is teaching me even as I am there for someone else. I also have been in a battle to try and help my mom. Over the years it's been more than a struggle to honor my mother and figure out what that means in my situation. My mom has been out of a steady job for a long time. Recently my work had a job fair. I told her about it that day and I'm afraid she lied to me about going. Again I spoke with managers at work who were excited to meet her. I thought she would come in yesterday and I call her to find out that she probably just woke up in the mid afternoon after staying up all night for days in a row. She got a job working at a holiday oriented store and said she wanted to work at both places. That job is obviously seasonal and won't give her what she needs, yet she can't even show up to meet with the managers and fill out an application at my work. She practically has to walk in and a make a phone call or two and she has the job. Her food stamps were recently reduced and my sister lives with her. Her only income is child support and her parents (who are about out of money) I'm thinking of my sister's well-being. As I pray for the situation, I am quickly reminded that of more importance is the eternity of my family. Jobs are temporal... souls are not. May our prayers be focused on the eternal as well as the temporal.
As I spend time with my friend, I also reflect back on my own breakup experience. It's interesting how two guys can "compare notes" in a humorous and yet enjoyable way. It's awesome to have brothers in Christ. As I reflect on the past in light of the present, I can confidently say that after over a year I thank the Lord that His grace has allowed me to continue in life and school with joy in my heart and a rest in His sovereignty that while wavering at times... has still been there. There are still unanswered questions as there always seem to be. I wonder if those were answered... would that put more confidence in my own knowledge isntead of God's control and care? Maybe that's my answer. It's been brought to my attention that even saying hello to my ex-girlfriend bothers her. I suppose this makes sense considering the reluctant responses to those greetings and the overall ignoring of my existence in person... lol. I suppose even trying to be kind is trying for too much. I knew it would be easier for me to ignore and avoid, so I wanted to go outside of my own comfort zone and practice an attitude of kindness regardless of reciprocation or mental noise. This would be the more daunting task I reasoned. So the courage brought out the good morning's, hey's, and how are you's.
In my mind as I thought about this I was immediately reminded of Proverbs 25:21-22, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you." Little did I know this was exactly what was being felt. This feeling is not an intentional one on the part of the person who causes it, rather it's a natural result of showing the attitude toward someone they would not expect from you... the fact that it's the exact opposite of what they expect is what bothers them. The verse also says the Lord will reward you for doing so. For a time I was affirmed in my head that I was on the right path... my motives were pure in showing kindness and the Word of God was playing out as it says it would, right? Then we have this idea of honoring the wishes of the person whom you broke up with...
If she desires no communication, am I to honor that? What about this verse? I learned in Hermeneutics that Proverbs are general truths that don't direct every single individual circumstance in life. As I look again at this proverb, I think twice. Does it apply? Am I in the wrong here? Still not sure. It's interesting to sit back outside myself and watch all this take place. Is this what it all really looks like?
Honest thoughts:
Is it really ever possible to have a vibrant friendship with someone you once intimately shared life with? Who really is who's enemy and why? How and why can some hold bitterness so strong for so long? Why do I have to hear about these things from 3rd parties? Oh yeah, I don't need to worry about these things anymore. I'm free of obligation, right? I can operate in daily life, but I'm afraid I won't be able to shake this lack of clear reconciliation and presence of clear bitterness. Therefore I continue to do the only thing I can do... pray and ignore the clock.
"leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." Matthew 5:24
I taught Sunday school beginning with the history and general information about Jehovah's Witnesses. Because it was the first Sunday resuming Sunday school, many of the youth were out and the junior high kids were sent into my room. I think they enjoyed it, however most of it was pure information which can get dry. We didn't have time to get into any of the Scripture. That will be for next week. I'm also about halfway through the Watchtower publication "What Does The Bible Really Teach?" I requested a copy from the Brooklyn headquaters because I don't have a copy at my house here in Texas. I'll also then discuss how to approach JWs and how they will approach us (from my personal experience). It will certainly be the more enjoyable and easier lesson from my standpoint. I'm going to teach the youth the first 3 rules of interpretation. These rules almost always solve interpretation problems... 1. Context, 2. Context, 3. Context. Consider yourself enlightened :)
This summer has been an interesting one for sure. This is especially true about the end of it. It feels like it's gone pretty fast though. Since I've finished the Old Testament, I've been focusing my time on preparing to teach, relaxing a bit with Jake 2.0 and Ben 10 Alien Force, and spending some time with my friends... with a little witnessing here and there. In continuing my blog trend of transparency I venture to share a few thoughts and struggles from life...
It's truly been a blessing to be there for ym friend through his breakup as he was certainly there for me. Thank the Lord for the mercy of His children. God is teaching me even as I am there for someone else. I also have been in a battle to try and help my mom. Over the years it's been more than a struggle to honor my mother and figure out what that means in my situation. My mom has been out of a steady job for a long time. Recently my work had a job fair. I told her about it that day and I'm afraid she lied to me about going. Again I spoke with managers at work who were excited to meet her. I thought she would come in yesterday and I call her to find out that she probably just woke up in the mid afternoon after staying up all night for days in a row. She got a job working at a holiday oriented store and said she wanted to work at both places. That job is obviously seasonal and won't give her what she needs, yet she can't even show up to meet with the managers and fill out an application at my work. She practically has to walk in and a make a phone call or two and she has the job. Her food stamps were recently reduced and my sister lives with her. Her only income is child support and her parents (who are about out of money) I'm thinking of my sister's well-being. As I pray for the situation, I am quickly reminded that of more importance is the eternity of my family. Jobs are temporal... souls are not. May our prayers be focused on the eternal as well as the temporal.
As I spend time with my friend, I also reflect back on my own breakup experience. It's interesting how two guys can "compare notes" in a humorous and yet enjoyable way. It's awesome to have brothers in Christ. As I reflect on the past in light of the present, I can confidently say that after over a year I thank the Lord that His grace has allowed me to continue in life and school with joy in my heart and a rest in His sovereignty that while wavering at times... has still been there. There are still unanswered questions as there always seem to be. I wonder if those were answered... would that put more confidence in my own knowledge isntead of God's control and care? Maybe that's my answer. It's been brought to my attention that even saying hello to my ex-girlfriend bothers her. I suppose this makes sense considering the reluctant responses to those greetings and the overall ignoring of my existence in person... lol. I suppose even trying to be kind is trying for too much. I knew it would be easier for me to ignore and avoid, so I wanted to go outside of my own comfort zone and practice an attitude of kindness regardless of reciprocation or mental noise. This would be the more daunting task I reasoned. So the courage brought out the good morning's, hey's, and how are you's.
In my mind as I thought about this I was immediately reminded of Proverbs 25:21-22, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you." Little did I know this was exactly what was being felt. This feeling is not an intentional one on the part of the person who causes it, rather it's a natural result of showing the attitude toward someone they would not expect from you... the fact that it's the exact opposite of what they expect is what bothers them. The verse also says the Lord will reward you for doing so. For a time I was affirmed in my head that I was on the right path... my motives were pure in showing kindness and the Word of God was playing out as it says it would, right? Then we have this idea of honoring the wishes of the person whom you broke up with...
If she desires no communication, am I to honor that? What about this verse? I learned in Hermeneutics that Proverbs are general truths that don't direct every single individual circumstance in life. As I look again at this proverb, I think twice. Does it apply? Am I in the wrong here? Still not sure. It's interesting to sit back outside myself and watch all this take place. Is this what it all really looks like?
Honest thoughts:
Is it really ever possible to have a vibrant friendship with someone you once intimately shared life with? Who really is who's enemy and why? How and why can some hold bitterness so strong for so long? Why do I have to hear about these things from 3rd parties? Oh yeah, I don't need to worry about these things anymore. I'm free of obligation, right? I can operate in daily life, but I'm afraid I won't be able to shake this lack of clear reconciliation and presence of clear bitterness. Therefore I continue to do the only thing I can do... pray and ignore the clock.
"leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." Matthew 5:24
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Updates and Jehovah's (False) Witnesses
I have about 2 and a half weeks left until school resumes. I can thankfully say I've finished reading the Old Testament over the summer!!! It's been a busy summer. I get to teach the youth this Sunday about Jehovah's Witnesses. Here are my notes...
Jehovah’s Witnesses Week 1
Using Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin
-What do you remember from last time? What is the crowning heresy of the JW’s?
-Pg.48 summary points and…
-They will never salute the flag, will never recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and will never serve in the army. They don’t celebrate Christmas because they deny the incarnation of Jesus Christ. They don’t celebrate Easter because they deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus died on a stake… not a cross.
-pg.49-59 (C.T. Russell and Judge Rutherford)
-pg.50-51: the Finished Mystery and Russell’s divorce
-pg.54-55: Russell doesn’t know Greek
-pg.57: The Bible is not enough
-Excerpt from pg.68-69
-Discuss how they “study” the Bible vs an exegetical commentary
-No Bibles at Jonestown and Catholics murdering early translators
-Early in ministry, Russell said Christ would return in the flesh in the year 1874.
-(False prophecy) He changed his calculations to the year 1914.
-(False Prophecy) Russell then redefined the 2nd Coming to mean that Jesus returned in 1914 as an invisible spirit to help set up the organization.
-pg.104: Awake magazine mission statement changed?
-Russell died on Oct. 31st, 1916 (Halloween night)
-In 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over the organization.
-To increase membership, he said that only 144,000 people would be able to enter heaven.
-In 1935 it went over 144,000.
-Rutherford saved the day with a new revelation that said all the people who joined before 1935 would go to heaven and everyone who joined after 1935, would stay on earth to live in a “new paradise.”
-He said Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would return in the flesh between 1925 and 1929.
-He built a large mansion in San Deigo, California for them to live when they returned.
- (False prophecy) Rutherford lived in the mansion himself until he died in 1942.
-In 1942, Nathan H. Knorr
-In 1966, he said Armageddon and the end of the age would occur in 1975.
-(False prophecy) Fast Facts on False Teachings: “In 1976 and 77 over a million JW left the Watchtower deeply disillusioned with the organization that claimed to be the voice of God on earth, but had proven again and again to be a false prophet.”
-Knorr died in 1977.
-Biblical test for foretelling prophets? Deut. 18:20-22
-Now the leadership is a group called the “Governing Body” presided over by the president
-Read pg. 67 *highlighted*
-In 2001, only one-sixth of total membership was in the U.S.
-Titles:
-Heavenly/Spiritual/Anointed class (only ones who can partake of annual communion and includes those born in 1914)
-Publishers (1200 yearly hours in “studying” or witnessing with others)
-Pioneers (next step up)
-Congregation (a group of witnesses meeting)
-Kingdom hall (not a church – they will correct you)
-Weekly meetings (5 expected of them):
-Public Talk (Sunday service-singing, discussion of watchtower material)
-Watchtower study (immediate follow-up Q&A)
-Theocratic Ministry School (evangelism training – Thursday nights)
-Service meeting (follows ministry training)
-Book Study (not sure what “book” means)
-New World Translation
-It was completed in 1961. There have been 4 revisions… last in 1984.
-Describe… purple cover one is better (“God is giving us new revelation all the time”)
-Disfellowshipping/Excommunication
-Read pg.67 (bottom)-68
-story of the guy on sixscreensofthewatchtower.com
-his daughter refused to see him
-In Christianity the goal is what? Restoration, not guilt
-Scripture Distortions
-Col. 1:15? (“firstborn of all creation”)
-Preeminence… Christ is superior to all of creation (compare Jeremiah 31:9)
-v.16 = He is Creator (also John 1:3), v.17 = He is Sustainer (Hebrews 1:3)
-1 Cor. 11:3?, prayer of John 17? John 5:19? (see… Jesus and God are not the same)
-John 5:23 = They’re worthy of the same honor
-What is the doctrine of the Trinity? 3 distinct persons, one SUBSTANCE
-Father wills, Son carries out, Spirit provides the power
-Heb. 1:5-6? (they translate it “obeisance” respect?)
-Heb. 1:8 = The Father calls Christ God
-Hebrews 1 teaches the supremecy and sufficiency of Christ
-Rev. 7:4? (The 144,000) -duh
-Lev. 17:10? (No blood transfusions?)
-John 1:1 (the infamous “a god” translation)
-Word order is different in Greek: “and God was the Word (the subject).” We know that "the Word" is the subject because it has the definite article, and we translate it accordingly: "and the Word was God." The word order tells us that Jesus Christ has all the divine attributes that the Father has; lack of the article tells us that Jesus Christ is not the Father. As Martin Luther said, the lack of the article is against Sabellianism; the word order is against Arianism.
-To state this another way, look at how the different Greek constructions would be rendered:
"and the Word was the God" (i.e., the Father; Sabellianism).
"and the Word was a god"
(Arianism), "and the Word was God" (Orthodoxy). (Bill Mounce, teknia.com)
-Any comments from Matthew on this verse?
Jehovah’s Witnesses Week 1
Using Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin
-What do you remember from last time? What is the crowning heresy of the JW’s?
-Pg.48 summary points and…
-They will never salute the flag, will never recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and will never serve in the army. They don’t celebrate Christmas because they deny the incarnation of Jesus Christ. They don’t celebrate Easter because they deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus died on a stake… not a cross.
-pg.49-59 (C.T. Russell and Judge Rutherford)
-pg.50-51: the Finished Mystery and Russell’s divorce
-pg.54-55: Russell doesn’t know Greek
-pg.57: The Bible is not enough
-Excerpt from pg.68-69
-Discuss how they “study” the Bible vs an exegetical commentary
-No Bibles at Jonestown and Catholics murdering early translators
-Early in ministry, Russell said Christ would return in the flesh in the year 1874.
-(False prophecy) He changed his calculations to the year 1914.
-(False Prophecy) Russell then redefined the 2nd Coming to mean that Jesus returned in 1914 as an invisible spirit to help set up the organization.
-pg.104: Awake magazine mission statement changed?
-Russell died on Oct. 31st, 1916 (Halloween night)
-In 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over the organization.
-To increase membership, he said that only 144,000 people would be able to enter heaven.
-In 1935 it went over 144,000.
-Rutherford saved the day with a new revelation that said all the people who joined before 1935 would go to heaven and everyone who joined after 1935, would stay on earth to live in a “new paradise.”
-He said Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would return in the flesh between 1925 and 1929.
-He built a large mansion in San Deigo, California for them to live when they returned.
- (False prophecy) Rutherford lived in the mansion himself until he died in 1942.
-In 1942, Nathan H. Knorr
-In 1966, he said Armageddon and the end of the age would occur in 1975.
-(False prophecy) Fast Facts on False Teachings: “In 1976 and 77 over a million JW left the Watchtower deeply disillusioned with the organization that claimed to be the voice of God on earth, but had proven again and again to be a false prophet.”
-Knorr died in 1977.
-Biblical test for foretelling prophets? Deut. 18:20-22
-Now the leadership is a group called the “Governing Body” presided over by the president
-Read pg. 67 *highlighted*
-In 2001, only one-sixth of total membership was in the U.S.
-Titles:
-Heavenly/Spiritual/Anointed class (only ones who can partake of annual communion and includes those born in 1914)
-Publishers (1200 yearly hours in “studying” or witnessing with others)
-Pioneers (next step up)
-Congregation (a group of witnesses meeting)
-Kingdom hall (not a church – they will correct you)
-Weekly meetings (5 expected of them):
-Public Talk (Sunday service-singing, discussion of watchtower material)
-Watchtower study (immediate follow-up Q&A)
-Theocratic Ministry School (evangelism training – Thursday nights)
-Service meeting (follows ministry training)
-Book Study (not sure what “book” means)
-New World Translation
-It was completed in 1961. There have been 4 revisions… last in 1984.
-Describe… purple cover one is better (“God is giving us new revelation all the time”)
-Disfellowshipping/Excommunication
-Read pg.67 (bottom)-68
-story of the guy on sixscreensofthewatchtower.com
-his daughter refused to see him
-In Christianity the goal is what? Restoration, not guilt
-Scripture Distortions
-Col. 1:15? (“firstborn of all creation”)
-Preeminence… Christ is superior to all of creation (compare Jeremiah 31:9)
-v.16 = He is Creator (also John 1:3), v.17 = He is Sustainer (Hebrews 1:3)
-1 Cor. 11:3?, prayer of John 17? John 5:19? (see… Jesus and God are not the same)
-John 5:23 = They’re worthy of the same honor
-What is the doctrine of the Trinity? 3 distinct persons, one SUBSTANCE
-Father wills, Son carries out, Spirit provides the power
-Heb. 1:5-6? (they translate it “obeisance” respect?)
-Heb. 1:8 = The Father calls Christ God
-Hebrews 1 teaches the supremecy and sufficiency of Christ
-Rev. 7:4? (The 144,000) -duh
-Lev. 17:10? (No blood transfusions?)
-John 1:1 (the infamous “a god” translation)
-Word order is different in Greek: “and God was the Word (the subject).” We know that "the Word" is the subject because it has the definite article, and we translate it accordingly: "and the Word was God." The word order tells us that Jesus Christ has all the divine attributes that the Father has; lack of the article tells us that Jesus Christ is not the Father. As Martin Luther said, the lack of the article is against Sabellianism; the word order is against Arianism.
-To state this another way, look at how the different Greek constructions would be rendered:
"and the Word was the God" (i.e., the Father; Sabellianism).
"and the Word was a god"
(Arianism), "and the Word was God" (Orthodoxy). (Bill Mounce, teknia.com)
-Any comments from Matthew on this verse?
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