bittersweet times

I've had a really great time in Brisbane.

I've loved spending big chunks and little chunks of time with people, both family and friends.

But the last few days have been bittersweet.  I realised that I will have to say goodbye to these lovely friends again.  Pangs of sadness gripped my heart.  In some ways it is easier to stay away.  Seeing everyone again makes it harder to leave.  It reminds of all that I leave behind.  It reopens the door of grief.

But even though it is harder to go again once I see everyone, I wouldn't trade those times.  They bring lots of laughter and many hugs.

That's what I miss most, being able to sit in the lounge room to together and drink tea, chatting for hours, but much more than that I miss the hugs.  I really miss the hugs.

long time no see

Hello again blog!

Long time no see, especially considering exams, training and Brisbane catch ups happened :-)

Only one life, 'twill soon be past

My friend Jess shared this poem a while ago.  As I read it again today I thought I'd share it with you too.

“Two little lines I heard one day, Travelling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervour burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say “’twas worth it all”;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”

- C.T. Studd

learning learning

Exams provide good motivation for learning.

Learning on my own is good.

Learning with and from others is also good.

Such a profound post! :-)

good stuff from Greek

Doing stuff in another language is good for making you notice little things along the way (because you're going so slowly!).

One thing I just noticed in Mark 10:15 is the emphatic statement of Jesus.

(my rendition) "Truly I say to youse, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child will definitely not enter it."

For those in the know, it is an emphatic future negative subjunctive construction :-).  It makes for a pretty big statement.  It means "no way Jose"!.

so many languages!

There are so many languages spoken by people in the world!

I'm finding it enough work just dealing with a few. 

But I'm glad that God knows them all (no sweat), and that He's calling people from all people groups to worship Him!

looking back at church history

I've really enjoyed church history this semester...even more than I thought I would. :-)

It's been great to see Christians in other times wrestling to figure out what it means to be a Christian.

We've been looking at early church history from 70-451AD.  A lot happened in this time!!  It was very formative.  The church was expanding.  The church was being persecuted.  The church was figuring out how to do church.  The collection of authoritative writing was being recognised and developed.

As some people expressed their opinions others thought, "I don't think you've got that quite right."  So then over time orthodoxy developed and heresies were combatted.

Looking back at this history now, almost 2000 years later, it can be easy to criticise, but I've been really grateful for our lecturer encouraging us to be sympathetic to people as we read about them.  Generally they had good aims.  They may have come up with something we consider to be incorrect, but they may have had good intentions when they came up with their explanation.  We also have the benefit of 2000 years of reflection on Christianity, whereas they were pioneers.

warning: exam study reflections

Warning: I'm studying for exams at the moment, so I might inflict some thoughts on you as I process them...

the blessing of Christian community

It is a wonderful thing that when God saves an individual, He saves them into a community.

The church isn't like a club you just go along to, but it is a small, local expression of the worldwide church that God has gathered and united to His Son.

The gathering of God's people proclaims His wisdom to the rulers, power and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph 3:10).  Wow.

That is huge.  But we also experience the blessing of being part of a new family.  For those who are without family, or estranged from family, there is a new family for them to be part of.

I'm really thankful for the Christian community as I reflect upon moving here to Sydney.  Almost instantly I got plugged in and had opportunities to meet people and make friends.  If I hadn't been part of the Christian community, it would have been much more difficult to make Sydney home.  I feel sorry for those who have to work hard to meet new friends because they aren't part of a great network like the Christian community.

a story about great service

Most of the time when we talk about customer service, we are complaining about poor service we've received.  I know I'm guilty of that.

But today I have a good customer service story for you.

A friend and I were shopping at Woolworths Burwood, doing an epic shop as we were catering for a large weekend away gathering.  We managed to load up 2.5 trolleys.  Epic.  One of the staff members saw us wrangling the trolleys and helped us to get to a register.  She then helped the guy to scan and pack all of the items.  Then she got not 1, but 3 guys to help us take the stuff up to the car and unload it.  Awesome!  We were blown away.

What great service! [ps - I have written to Woolworths to commend her for her efforts]

She really went above and beyond the call of duty.

However, even more amazing is the service of Jesus.  Even though He is the ruler of the world, He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).  Even more wow-factor.

reading the Bible in big chunks

This semester we've been going through parts of Luke's account of the life of Jesus with our kids in Scripture class.  Last week we looked at Luke 18:18-30 about the rich ruler who came to Jesus and asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?".  Jesus told him that keeping the commandments was not sufficient; that he had to sell his stuff and give it to the poor and then follow him.  But he didn't want to do it.  The cost was too great. Jesus then remarked, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Naturally, the disciples wondered if anyone could be saved in light of this. “What is impossible with men is possible with God”, Jesus said.

Great words.  God can even save rich people.  He can change even the hardest hearts.

The wonderful thing that I noticed today is in Luke 19 (the next chapter).

Many of us will be familar with the tree-climbing Zacchaeus, but what struck me today is that he is a rich man.  He is a living example of what Jesus said.  God made the impossible happen.  He saved Zacchaeus.   “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (v9-10)

It's a good thing to read big chunks of the Bible to see the development of ideas.  In the Gospels it is particularly good to think about them as narratives and to ask the question "why is this story here?"

the awesome just injustice

In doctrine class today we started to explore the topic of justification by faith.

Lots of the time was spent looking at these verse below.

Before this section Paul has made a very persuasive case that everyone stands guilty and condemned before God.  But this is the section of great hope.  The explanation of how God made it possible to forgive guilty people but still uphold justice.  Amazing!

The Bible, Romans 3:19-31

"Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law,  so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgement.  For no one will be justified  in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed — attested by the Law and the Prophets ​— that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ,  to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation  through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.  God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law?  By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law  of faith.  For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God for Jews only? Is He not also for Gentiles? Yes, for Gentiles too,  since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law."

music and emotions

Last night I had a great time at the concert of the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra.

Being there made me ponder how much music impacts our emotions. 

When the music was fast-paced and intense it grabbed my attention and made me watch intently.  I was tense, waiting for action.

Some sections were robust, cheerful and rejoicing, making me feel as if there was cause for celebration. 

Other sections were soft and mellow, making me feel calm and reflective. 

It was amazing how much my feelings changed along with the mood of the music.  It was powerful!

These particular musical items were all from movies.  This is a particularly useful case in point.  The soundtrack to a movie is so vital to taking the audience on the journey.

What's a piece of music that really stirs your emotions?

small things made big

I went for a lovely bike ride yesterday and enjoyed taking some shots with a macro attachment for my camera lens.

Here is a selection:

Perception of Knowledge of College Students

It's a funny thing being at Bible College (or any learning institution for that matter).  In particular I'm thinking of the incongruity between your perception of your knowledge and others' perceptions.

People think that I know more about the Bible and other stuff now.  That is true.  But at the same I'm beginning to realise more and more how limited my knowledge is.  I've been confronted with realms of thought which I haven't even considered before.

the wonder of the internet

Last week I wanted to create a worksheet for the kids in my Scripture class.

Knowing that they enjoy wordsearches, I thought it would be good to include one on there.

But how to make one quickly?

Enter Google.

Search for "create word search"

And hey presto, here are many websites to help you make a word search, with plenty of control over what words to put in, word direction and puzzle size.

Thanks God for the internet :-)

census night - what has happened in the last 5 years?

I just filled in my census form.

I wonder what we will learn from the census.  What things have changed in our society?

Even just thinking about my own life in the past 5 years a lot has changed.

• I have lived in 6 different places
• I have been a student, worked as a checkout chick, an engineer, a trainer, a church worker, and now gone back to being a student again!
• I have been part of 3 church families
• I have been to 10 countries outside Australia
• I have owned 2 cars
• My parents have separated

Wow!!

That's a lot of change!

What's happened for you in the last 5 years?

yay for Greek

Yesterday I was getting frustrated trying to absorb lots of info about my topic for church history.

Then I worked on my translation homework for Greek.

It was so much more straight forward.  Go figure. 

Having a more enjoyable time reading Greek than English!  Weird, but amazing to think how far I've come thus far.

post-script

sorry that the previous post isn't quite a feast for the senses due to formatting limitations :-(

I'd already messed around enough to get the photos in there...

Time to enjoy the gift of sleep :-)

Enjoying God’s beautiful world with my senses

God made this world.

More than that, He made it beautiful.  Not just functional, but beautiful.  Not just nice, but exceedingly and extravagantly wonderful.

What wonderful things for our eyes to see!! I was reminded of the gift of sight when I was out exploring Manly on a gorgeous sunny day and saw 3 vision-impaired people.

And yet He bestows more on us; wonderful things to eat and drink too!

And then there are the other senses: touch, hearing, smell.  What a bounty of delights God has made for us!

As a loving Father, God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Jesus in Matthew 5:45).

What love!

What in God's beautiful world has made you smile lately?


[Creation by God.  Photos by Kirst.]

going back to college ... YAY!!

I'm am super excited about going back to College today!!

Never mind the fact that I hadn't even thought about getting myself ready (you know with notebooks, looking at the syllabus etc) until last night...

Since then I've been full of enthusiasm :-)

Even after going to the gym this morning I've been jumping up and down excitedly (just little jumps though ... compared to my jumping when I hearing of someone deciding to follow Jesus)

Gosh my sentences have gone haywire :-(  must be too much excitement ... (and not a lot of time!)

Firstly I'm excited to see everyone again, particularly the other resos.

Secondly, I'm excited to be learning new things (but on the flipside, this may lead to info-overload which scares me a little).

Thirdly, I'm looking forward to being reminded of the gospel again and again, and being filled with amazement and joy again and again.

Time to head off to class...! :-)

the fatherhood of God

I've been thinking for the past year or so about the fatherhood of God.

All of us have got a father.  We might know them really well or not at all.  We might be really close or really distant from them.  They might be alive or not.  Have you thought about how your relationship with your physical / earthly dad might affect your relationship with your heavenly father (God)?

In the Bible, God reveals Himself to us as our heavenly Father.  Indeed that is how Jesus taught us to address God: "Our father in heaven...".  What an amazing thing, to call the creator of the universe 'father'!

However, when we use the word 'father' for God we naturally bring some of our own associations with that word.  These then impact how we think of God as our father.

When I was introduced to this idea last year it got me thinking.  I love my Dad.  He and Mum have provided for me very well.  But I've struggled to feel close to Dad.  Similarly, I find it difficult to really feel and know the love that God has for me.  I know it intellectually, I can tell you Bible verses about it, I may even know some Greek and Hebrew about it, but in my heart I still feel uncertain of His love and worry that He will reject me.  My heart and my head tell me different things.

So where to from here?

1. Pray.  Any lasting change needs to start from the heart not actions.  Thankfully, God is in the change business and has equipped us to change.  It is His Spirit living in our hearts which allows us to cry out "Abba, Father" (Gal 4:6, Rom 8:15).  He is the one who can transform us.
2. Dwell on the truth.  God is not the same as our earthly Dad.  "[God] did not spare His own son but gave him up for us all, how will He not graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:32).  Consider the picture of God in the Bible.  He is loving and generous beyond belief!
3. Experience the love of others.  One other thing which my counsellor said would be helpful is to have positive experiences of love from others in order to help illustrate (in a tiny way) God's love.  This helps to show me that I am loveable, and helps me to feel loved.

I'm making headway on my journey.  I pray that you too will be able to embrace the love that your heavenly Father has for you.

almost done with exams ...

:-)

exam time self-centredness

Some things in life make it really easy to focus just on yourself and your own situation.  Things like sickness, suffering, a newborn baby ... just to name a few.  My thing at the moment is assessment.

My natural instinct at this time is to hole up in a cave, study and not think about anyone else.  To put it bluntly, to become entirely self-centred.

But is this how God would have us deal with these situations?  Does the call to love my neighbour suddenly stop taking effect because I'm busy?  I think not.

Naturally in times of great busyness, and particularly if we are incapacitated in some way, our capacity to serve others will be diminished.  Therefore, we should use wisdom to figure out how we can serve others, even in these difficult times.

God has called us to be part of His Kingdom.  And in His kingdom, serving others is revered.  Let us live in light of this kingdom, serving others not just ourselves.

been too busy to blog

things like study, especially close to exam time, seem to have that effect!

coupling up

The world continues to pair up around me.

Yet here I still am.

Just me.

Please Father help me to be content and fruitful for your kingdom all the days of my life.

accepted through Christ

At this time of assessment and exams I've been getting tense. :-(

But at the same time some of the reading I've been doing has been delightfully refreshing.  

I've been reminded that it is possible to do theological study in a secular manner.  Therefore I've been encouraged to rejoice, pray and share with others to combat this.  

I've also been reminded that whether I do poorly or well, this does not contribute to my standing before God.  I am accepted through the blood of Jesus alone.  And if I'm accepted by God, nothing else matters.  What other people think of me pales in comparison.  I have been accepted by the King who rules eternity.  But I have nothing to boast in.  Christ has done this on my behalf.

Have you accepted God's acceptance of you through Christ?

reflecting

reflecting is much less fun and spontaneous when you're getting assessed on it :-(

The book of Ruth

I've been looking at the book of Ruth in the Bible tonight, in preparation for teaching the kids in Scripture/SRE/RE tomorrow.

It's been a lovely reminder of God's care for us shown through His gracious provision of laws that are good for us.

note to self

Note to self:  exams and assignments really are good for me despite the stress, because they motivate me to learn lots!

Equip conference

I had a lovely time at Equip with ladies from church and Sarah and just a few others ;-)

The Bible talks were from 2 Peter 1 & 2.

In the first talk, Dani showed us that we are to remember the gospel.  This is preventative medicine to stop us from forgetting.

In the second talk Carmelina showed us that the gospel is under threat.  False teachers are around and they pose a threat to people.  Therefore, we are to guard the gospel by knowing it really well and being willing to stand against false teaching.

So speaking of knowing the gospel really well, I'd better get my head and heart in the Bible now... :-)

so much to be thankful for!

I had such a great day today!

• Beautiful sunshine-lit clouds in the crisp autumn air
• Lovely red and yellow leaves
• Not feeling "pummelled" by language classes
• Grabbing bargain clothes and shoes
• Fruitful lunch conversation
• Lovely study buddy and chai times
• Reflecting on the loveliness of today

:-)

missionary life isn't always rosy

I went to a Wycliffe coffee and dessert night on Friday.  It was really great to meet other people who are interested in being bible translators themselves or supporting that work in another way.

But what struck me most was the candid sharing from a couple who are serving the Lord in Cameroon on a Bible translation project.  They are here on furlough after having been over there for 3 years.  It's been a tough slog for them.  They are still in the language learning phase, which is proving frustratingly difficult.  The guy was finding it a particular challenge to his pride.  For most of his life he has been well-educated and well thought of, but now he's at the bottom of the pile so to speak, and can't communicate very deeply with people.  As I think about myself, I think I would struggle with that too.  Another thing which I hadn't thought of stemming from that communication problem is loneliness.  Thankfully as a married couple they have each other, but there is a single girl working about 5 hours away who must get incredibly lonely if she can't communicate well with people there or have another person speaking her native language.

The lady shared how she's been struggling with contentment.  She fully believes in living like the people they're ministering to, but is struggling to live that out.  For her, the biggest struggle is the food.  They have a lady who cooks food for them (it seems like they've been kind of adopted into a family area there, and the head woman is responsible for cooking for everyone in that area).  But C doesn't like the food.  And she hates the monotony of the same food all the time.

I think sometimes I romanticise the idea of mission work overseas, so it was refreshing and sobering to hear them speak about their real life experiences. Through it all God has been sustaining them; teaching them persevere and grow in contentment.