Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Porridge
I made poridge yesterday from memory! And it turned out pretty decently!! Today, I will attempt to make pancakes (the recepe that Micheal and Amber made on the last day of school) and Hokey Pokey. It should be fun!
Monday, December 21, 2009
I made it home!
After 24 hours in the air, I am finally home! I watched way too many movies, slept a bit, and had some good conversations with the people next to me. I got a little miracle in Sydney: the flight was full and it was looking as if I would be spending the night in Australia but at the last minute, I got on the flight. Not only that, but there was an empty seat beside Cara so for the longest portion of the flight, we got to sit together!
I got back in time for the big Christmas meal with my dad`s side of the family and have been enjoying spending time with my siblings.
I got back in time for the big Christmas meal with my dad`s side of the family and have been enjoying spending time with my siblings.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Week 13
Last week of school before Christmas break!!!
The week started off really good with quiet day on Monday. Basically, we were all dropped off at the Waihi gorge with only our Bibles, pens, journals, and lunches (and a warm blanket) and we were told to spread out so that we couldn’t see any of the other students and then to spend the day with Jesus. I was slightly disappointed when I came home because I was expecting much more. The way Dale had talked it up it sounded as if every year, students came back with huge revelations, but I didn’t have any. Upon reflection and looking back over my notes, however, I did find that I had learned quite a bit. Most of the day was spent just being reminded of what I have been learning all year at the Crossing. I read through the first six chapters of Romans and found there the entire truth of victorious Christian living. It was good to get it from the scriptures rather than from various teachers. I think that discovering it for myself really helped my understanding.
I also read through a portion of Judges and came across a portion I had never read before. It spoke about when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River (after the forty years of wandering). God told the priests carrying the arc of the covenant to step into the river. The minute their feet touched the water, the flow was stopped and the water was held back further down the river and so the Israelites were able to cross on dry land. This made me realize that even when it seems like I am walking into an explosive situation, God is between me and the water. Although the Israelites were ‘lucky’ because they could see the symbol of the presence of God between them and the water, Jesus does say in John 21:29 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I can have complete assurance that if God calls me into a situation, He will see me through!
On Tuesday night, we watched the Nativity Story for family night. It was a really good presentation of the events! I find that I understand Christmas so much better now that I have spent a semester at The Crossing. One thing that struck me was when the wise men placed their gifts by the manger saying “for the King of kings,” and “for the High Priest of High Priests.” All three wise men were very ornately dressed and they had five camels well loaded with stuff. It made me realize the inadequacy of the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Really the only thing I can bring before such a King is my life, anything less seems trivial to me. Of course, life isn’t an easy thing to give up, but that’s the best part! With His life in me, Christ is the power by which I can give Christ everything. As weird as it sounds, Christ has given me everything so that I can give Him everything.
Since we had no DVD lectures this week, the classes that these lectures would usually take up were used to pack and clean. The house has been transformed as we put stuff away and give it one last thorough cleaning before the break. Since the guys will be changing rooms after the break, they had to empty everything out of their rooms and put it all in storage. I am really thankful that all the girls are in one room because it means that we can leave stuff in drawers and closets, we just needed to get everything put away so that nothing was visible.
On Thursday night, we had a talent show and a white elephant gift exchange. I was really surprised by some of the items in the talent show! Dale demonstrated some of his amazing guitar skills; Joel and Jonas danced to ‘Girls just want to have fun’ (they were dressed in dresses they borrowed from Kelsey and Amber so it was kind of creepy...); Ben and Robert each read a poem they had written; Ben, Robert, and Bryan played two songs (one of which was written by Ben. Bryan used a plastic bucket as a drum and played amazingly!); Amber, Kelsey, and Sheryl read a poem about life at the crossing (packed with awesome memories!); and Colin and Joseph sang a song.
There was also a Te Mapua ‘Oscar Awards Ceremony’ I could have attended on Thursday night, but arranging transportation would have been too difficult L. Te Mapua will be hosting another camp over New Years so that the at risk children will be out of their homes and in a safe and loving environment when they are most vulnerable, so you can be praying for these children as they hear the message of the gospel and are cared for in a way that some of them will never experience in their own homes.
On Friday morning, Amber and Michael made pancakes for everyone for brekkie (that’s what the Kiwi’s call breakfast). I helped flip. And then everyone cleaned and emptied rooms and as I write, students are moving suitcases downstairs and a few students have already left. Cara’s and my bus leaves at 3:20 this afternoon for Christchurch. I will be staying at the Sudima hotel for the night and then heading for the airport at 4:30am tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Sydney (which leaves at 7:00am). I am so excited to come home!
The week started off really good with quiet day on Monday. Basically, we were all dropped off at the Waihi gorge with only our Bibles, pens, journals, and lunches (and a warm blanket) and we were told to spread out so that we couldn’t see any of the other students and then to spend the day with Jesus. I was slightly disappointed when I came home because I was expecting much more. The way Dale had talked it up it sounded as if every year, students came back with huge revelations, but I didn’t have any. Upon reflection and looking back over my notes, however, I did find that I had learned quite a bit. Most of the day was spent just being reminded of what I have been learning all year at the Crossing. I read through the first six chapters of Romans and found there the entire truth of victorious Christian living. It was good to get it from the scriptures rather than from various teachers. I think that discovering it for myself really helped my understanding.
I also read through a portion of Judges and came across a portion I had never read before. It spoke about when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River (after the forty years of wandering). God told the priests carrying the arc of the covenant to step into the river. The minute their feet touched the water, the flow was stopped and the water was held back further down the river and so the Israelites were able to cross on dry land. This made me realize that even when it seems like I am walking into an explosive situation, God is between me and the water. Although the Israelites were ‘lucky’ because they could see the symbol of the presence of God between them and the water, Jesus does say in John 21:29 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I can have complete assurance that if God calls me into a situation, He will see me through!
On Tuesday night, we watched the Nativity Story for family night. It was a really good presentation of the events! I find that I understand Christmas so much better now that I have spent a semester at The Crossing. One thing that struck me was when the wise men placed their gifts by the manger saying “for the King of kings,” and “for the High Priest of High Priests.” All three wise men were very ornately dressed and they had five camels well loaded with stuff. It made me realize the inadequacy of the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Really the only thing I can bring before such a King is my life, anything less seems trivial to me. Of course, life isn’t an easy thing to give up, but that’s the best part! With His life in me, Christ is the power by which I can give Christ everything. As weird as it sounds, Christ has given me everything so that I can give Him everything.
Since we had no DVD lectures this week, the classes that these lectures would usually take up were used to pack and clean. The house has been transformed as we put stuff away and give it one last thorough cleaning before the break. Since the guys will be changing rooms after the break, they had to empty everything out of their rooms and put it all in storage. I am really thankful that all the girls are in one room because it means that we can leave stuff in drawers and closets, we just needed to get everything put away so that nothing was visible.
On Thursday night, we had a talent show and a white elephant gift exchange. I was really surprised by some of the items in the talent show! Dale demonstrated some of his amazing guitar skills; Joel and Jonas danced to ‘Girls just want to have fun’ (they were dressed in dresses they borrowed from Kelsey and Amber so it was kind of creepy...); Ben and Robert each read a poem they had written; Ben, Robert, and Bryan played two songs (one of which was written by Ben. Bryan used a plastic bucket as a drum and played amazingly!); Amber, Kelsey, and Sheryl read a poem about life at the crossing (packed with awesome memories!); and Colin and Joseph sang a song.
There was also a Te Mapua ‘Oscar Awards Ceremony’ I could have attended on Thursday night, but arranging transportation would have been too difficult L. Te Mapua will be hosting another camp over New Years so that the at risk children will be out of their homes and in a safe and loving environment when they are most vulnerable, so you can be praying for these children as they hear the message of the gospel and are cared for in a way that some of them will never experience in their own homes.
On Friday morning, Amber and Michael made pancakes for everyone for brekkie (that’s what the Kiwi’s call breakfast). I helped flip. And then everyone cleaned and emptied rooms and as I write, students are moving suitcases downstairs and a few students have already left. Cara’s and my bus leaves at 3:20 this afternoon for Christchurch. I will be staying at the Sudima hotel for the night and then heading for the airport at 4:30am tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Sydney (which leaves at 7:00am). I am so excited to come home!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Journal for weeks 12 and 13
Hey! Here are my journal entries for both week 12 and week 13. I added the last three paragraphs this afternoon (pertaining to class this morning)...
- Christ came to live in me and through me. I have been so focussed on the ‘through me’ aspect that I have been neglecting the ‘in me’ part. God has been reminding me that I need to allow Him to fill me up with Himself, with His love, His faithfulness, and all that He is before He can use me to reach others. He needs to become my only focus.
- Jesus used four ‘steps’ in discipling his disciples: evangelizing, establishing, equipping, and extending. He taught them in a hands-on way, not just telling them what to do but showing them and letting them do what He had asked of them. This is the same method that I can use to disciple younger Christians. But first, I need to go deeper with God, without worrying about the breadth of my ministry because as I draw near to God, He will deal with it.
- With all the great men and woman of the scripture, we find they were all great people of prayer, “Without God, I cannot, and without prayer, God will not.” I realized this week that I have not been spending enough time in prayer. This needs to be my main priority and I need to give God my best time.
- Just as everything I will ever be was genetically present at the moment I was conceived in my mother’s womb, everything I will ever be as a Christian was placed in my when I accepted Jesus as my saviour. He has given me a new identity, but it will take time and effort to grow into all God wants me to be. I therefore need to be diligent about spending time with my creator and getting to know my saviour. My fleshly self is a sinful descendant of Adam, but my spiritual self died on the cross with Christ and therefore I now live, but “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20) My future has also changed. The future of the flesh is uncertain, but my new self is filled with certain because my hope lies in the fact that I am a joint heir with Christ!
- The Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible. But Jesus will do the impossible through me if I will obey. His direction always guarantees His provision. Everything Christ did was to enable us to live or His glory.
- “Unless we give real content to the wrath of God, unless we hold that men really deserve to have God visit upon them the painful consequences of their wrongdoing, we empty God’s forgiveness of its meaning” (Leon Morris). Jesus died once for all to pay the penalty for my sin (dealing with my ‘disease’) and He rose again to give me new life (dealing with my state of spiritual death) and with it the power to live by faith. By understanding who I have become (a new creation and daughter of the King!), sin looses its appeal.
- Upon conversion, the Holy Spirit transformed me, made me set apart, and sealed me. Now, the Holy Spirit is continuing to work in me by teaching me, empowering me to do what He asks, and leading me. He also intercedes for me when I don’t know how to pray, He is communicating to the Father on my behalf.
- I need to live in complete dependency on God. I still reside in a sinful body which will take over if I allow sin to reign. So I need to keep my relationship with God as my first priority because it is only by His strength in me that I can “not carry out the desires of the flesh”(Gal 5:16).
- Christ came to live in me and through me. I have been so focussed on the ‘through me’ aspect that I have been neglecting the ‘in me’ part. God has been reminding me that I need to allow Him to fill me up with Himself, with His love, His faithfulness, and all that He is before He can use me to reach others. He needs to become my only focus.
- Jesus used four ‘steps’ in discipling his disciples: evangelizing, establishing, equipping, and extending. He taught them in a hands-on way, not just telling them what to do but showing them and letting them do what He had asked of them. This is the same method that I can use to disciple younger Christians. But first, I need to go deeper with God, without worrying about the breadth of my ministry because as I draw near to God, He will deal with it.
- With all the great men and woman of the scripture, we find they were all great people of prayer, “Without God, I cannot, and without prayer, God will not.” I realized this week that I have not been spending enough time in prayer. This needs to be my main priority and I need to give God my best time.
- Just as everything I will ever be was genetically present at the moment I was conceived in my mother’s womb, everything I will ever be as a Christian was placed in my when I accepted Jesus as my saviour. He has given me a new identity, but it will take time and effort to grow into all God wants me to be. I therefore need to be diligent about spending time with my creator and getting to know my saviour. My fleshly self is a sinful descendant of Adam, but my spiritual self died on the cross with Christ and therefore I now live, but “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20) My future has also changed. The future of the flesh is uncertain, but my new self is filled with certain because my hope lies in the fact that I am a joint heir with Christ!
- The Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible. But Jesus will do the impossible through me if I will obey. His direction always guarantees His provision. Everything Christ did was to enable us to live or His glory.
- “Unless we give real content to the wrath of God, unless we hold that men really deserve to have God visit upon them the painful consequences of their wrongdoing, we empty God’s forgiveness of its meaning” (Leon Morris). Jesus died once for all to pay the penalty for my sin (dealing with my ‘disease’) and He rose again to give me new life (dealing with my state of spiritual death) and with it the power to live by faith. By understanding who I have become (a new creation and daughter of the King!), sin looses its appeal.
- My motivation for living as Christ would have me live needs to be simply because I love Him, not to try to earn acceptance, otherwise this is legalism. My power to live as Christ would have me live needs to come from Christ Himself indwelling me, otherwise I am doing it on my own power and am enslaved to the law.
- Upon conversion, the Holy Spirit transformed me, made me set apart, and sealed me. Now, the Holy Spirit is continuing to work in me by teaching me, empowering me to do what He asks, and leading me. He also intercedes for me when I don’t know how to pray, He is communicating to the Father on my behalf.
- I need to live in complete dependency on God. I still reside in a sinful body which will take over if I allow sin to reign. So I need to keep my relationship with God as my first priority because it is only by His strength in me that I can “not carry out the desires of the flesh”(Gal 5:16).
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Week 12
Our main lecturer this week is Lincoln Badger. He is a really good teacher with a passion for the material he is speaking on. He often goes off on tangents but even these are relevant to our Christian walk. We have also been listening to a DVD lecture by Sonny Westbrook called “How much can Jesus do.” So the focus of the week has been mostly on Jesus (not that that is different from any other week... :P).
This week has been fairly busy since our second Bible study was due. Many students spent most afternoons researching, looking up Greek words, and digging into God’s word. I am so glad to be learning how do create a Bible study. It’s not easy, but it’s such a valuable tool and it is allowing us to learn for ourselves from God’s word rather than always relying on our teachers and pastors to ‘feed’ us.
On Tuesday, I got my first bingo. Basically, if you are the only girl at a table with all guys or the only guy at a table with all girls, you have to stand up on your chair and yell bingo. Sheryl is pretty good at getting bingos and Dale has gotten one or two. Just another way the students here at The Crossing have fun...
Wednesday workday was really fun! I went to the Epp’s with Jordan and Jonas. We got tons of ivy and weeds pulled out and we started laying down hay to prevent new weeds from coming up. It was tough work and I got stabbed by several rose thorns, but iwas really rewarding to see the difference! And the best this about workday is that we get pudding (that’s the Kiwi word for desert) after tea!
After Wednesday tea, Cam and I went out for what has become our regular after-tea walk. It was super fun because we got to walk in the rain! We’ve had tons of good conversations and tons of laughs. On Tuesday, Cam and I started skipping/running/laughing/spinning our way down the drive on our way out for our walk. Apparently, Lincoln (our teacher for the week) watched us go by and then turned to Jordan and asked “What is that?” and “Is that a common occurrence?” Needless to say, I thought this was quite funny! As one of the students here pointed out, being willing to do stuff you would never be seen doing with people who weren’t your friends, to be crazy, and do wacky stuff with people can break down barriers and create stronger friendships. And besides, it is so much fun to run/skip/etc down the drive and let out some pent up energy and insanity!
On Friday, after a sumptuous Mexican meal put on by the staff, we had our last girl/guy night of the semester. The guys stayed at The Crossing and played a night game outdoors that seems to resemble capture the flag. The girls went to the Epps for our final “secret sister revealing party.” We each tried to guess who our secret sister was and then we revealed who ours was. I guessed right: Patti! But Sheryl didn’t guess that I was her secret sister. Just in case I forgot to explain what that was in a previous post, I will do so now. Basically, towards the beginning of the semester, we all filled out a sheet indicating out favourite candy, color, bible passages, etc, as well as specific items we would like prayer for over the course of the semester. The sheets were then distributed so that we each had someone else’s sheet and then we were to pray specifically for our secret sister throughout the semester. We also gave our secret sister notes and small gifts to encourage her and remind her that we were praying for her. It was tons of fun!
When we got back to the crossing, we decided to play an awesome game of sardines. It was so dark that there were areas in the house where I actually couldn’t see me hand in front of my face! And since we had rearranged the dinning room for the Mexican dinner, I ran into quite a few chairs on my way through. I ended up going to bed at midnight...
On Saturday, a bunch of us were planning on going white water rafting but since the water level was too high, it was cancelled. Instead, we went to castle hill. Our first stop was at a spot with tons of huge rocks. We climbed over, around, and through the rocks, exploring and playing tag. The wind was insane so at times I actually had to sit down to keep from being blown over! Afterwards, we went to a stream that ran through a cave. We followed the stream through the cave and out to the other side of the mountain, wading through water that was sometimes waist high, climbing down tiny waterfalls, scaling rocks all in complete darkness (we did have head torches, that is flashlights). At one point, I lost a crock while climbing down a small waterfall (I missed the memo indicating that we needed good shoes...) but it floated down stream and caught up with me about five minutes later. Unfortunately, I got the other crock stuck between two rocks shortly thereafter and the straps broke so I spent the majority of the walk with only one shoe. We were told to dress warmly (togs, that is swimsuits, with a long sleeve shirt and/or sweater) so I was expecting it to be really cold but it turned out not to be that bad! Once we got out at the other end, we went swimming in the river. We had a blast trying to fight our way against the flow trying to get up the river (as Joel said as he struggled against the flow “I’m a Christian!”). We would also climb along the bank and the get into the river further up and then let ourselves be pulled by the current down to the ‘pool’. The whole day was soooooooooooo much fun!
The day was very well finished with a hilarious game of volleyball. My coordination wasn’t very good though (probably because of my late night combined with an exhausting day...).
This week has been fairly busy since our second Bible study was due. Many students spent most afternoons researching, looking up Greek words, and digging into God’s word. I am so glad to be learning how do create a Bible study. It’s not easy, but it’s such a valuable tool and it is allowing us to learn for ourselves from God’s word rather than always relying on our teachers and pastors to ‘feed’ us.
On Tuesday, I got my first bingo. Basically, if you are the only girl at a table with all guys or the only guy at a table with all girls, you have to stand up on your chair and yell bingo. Sheryl is pretty good at getting bingos and Dale has gotten one or two. Just another way the students here at The Crossing have fun...
Wednesday workday was really fun! I went to the Epp’s with Jordan and Jonas. We got tons of ivy and weeds pulled out and we started laying down hay to prevent new weeds from coming up. It was tough work and I got stabbed by several rose thorns, but iwas really rewarding to see the difference! And the best this about workday is that we get pudding (that’s the Kiwi word for desert) after tea!
After Wednesday tea, Cam and I went out for what has become our regular after-tea walk. It was super fun because we got to walk in the rain! We’ve had tons of good conversations and tons of laughs. On Tuesday, Cam and I started skipping/running/laughing/spinning our way down the drive on our way out for our walk. Apparently, Lincoln (our teacher for the week) watched us go by and then turned to Jordan and asked “What is that?” and “Is that a common occurrence?” Needless to say, I thought this was quite funny! As one of the students here pointed out, being willing to do stuff you would never be seen doing with people who weren’t your friends, to be crazy, and do wacky stuff with people can break down barriers and create stronger friendships. And besides, it is so much fun to run/skip/etc down the drive and let out some pent up energy and insanity!
On Friday, after a sumptuous Mexican meal put on by the staff, we had our last girl/guy night of the semester. The guys stayed at The Crossing and played a night game outdoors that seems to resemble capture the flag. The girls went to the Epps for our final “secret sister revealing party.” We each tried to guess who our secret sister was and then we revealed who ours was. I guessed right: Patti! But Sheryl didn’t guess that I was her secret sister. Just in case I forgot to explain what that was in a previous post, I will do so now. Basically, towards the beginning of the semester, we all filled out a sheet indicating out favourite candy, color, bible passages, etc, as well as specific items we would like prayer for over the course of the semester. The sheets were then distributed so that we each had someone else’s sheet and then we were to pray specifically for our secret sister throughout the semester. We also gave our secret sister notes and small gifts to encourage her and remind her that we were praying for her. It was tons of fun!
When we got back to the crossing, we decided to play an awesome game of sardines. It was so dark that there were areas in the house where I actually couldn’t see me hand in front of my face! And since we had rearranged the dinning room for the Mexican dinner, I ran into quite a few chairs on my way through. I ended up going to bed at midnight...
On Saturday, a bunch of us were planning on going white water rafting but since the water level was too high, it was cancelled. Instead, we went to castle hill. Our first stop was at a spot with tons of huge rocks. We climbed over, around, and through the rocks, exploring and playing tag. The wind was insane so at times I actually had to sit down to keep from being blown over! Afterwards, we went to a stream that ran through a cave. We followed the stream through the cave and out to the other side of the mountain, wading through water that was sometimes waist high, climbing down tiny waterfalls, scaling rocks all in complete darkness (we did have head torches, that is flashlights). At one point, I lost a crock while climbing down a small waterfall (I missed the memo indicating that we needed good shoes...) but it floated down stream and caught up with me about five minutes later. Unfortunately, I got the other crock stuck between two rocks shortly thereafter and the straps broke so I spent the majority of the walk with only one shoe. We were told to dress warmly (togs, that is swimsuits, with a long sleeve shirt and/or sweater) so I was expecting it to be really cold but it turned out not to be that bad! Once we got out at the other end, we went swimming in the river. We had a blast trying to fight our way against the flow trying to get up the river (as Joel said as he struggled against the flow “I’m a Christian!”). We would also climb along the bank and the get into the river further up and then let ourselves be pulled by the current down to the ‘pool’. The whole day was soooooooooooo much fun!
The day was very well finished with a hilarious game of volleyball. My coordination wasn’t very good though (probably because of my late night combined with an exhausting day...).
Monday, December 7, 2009
Just for Fun!
Two activities that the students at the Crossing enjoy are the sheep beep shuffle and cow running. Here are the rules of the games:
Sheep beep shuffle
You will need: a car with a working horn and a field of sheep.
Number of players: Minimum 1, maximum equivalent to the number of seatbelts available in the car (plus or minus 2 depending on the moral standards of the driver).
Rules: As player 1 drives by a sheep field, he/she honks the horn. Now watch as all the sheep in the field go running in the opposite direction. Repeat for each pasture passed for extra added fun.
Provides plenty of entertainment and lots of laughs for all passengers in the car!
Cow Running
You will need: a field and plenty of cows
Number of players: 1 to everyone
Rules: As players approach the cows, they say “hey cow!” and clap their hands or make noise to attract the cows’ attention. Once the attention of the cows has been obtained, players run along the fence. Glory is earned according to the number of cows that run towards players and follow players along the fence. Extra glory can be earned if any player approaches the fence and touches a cow, provided that this does not take too much time so as to slow down the rest of the players who want to continue walking.
A wonderful game for children of all ages!
Sheep beep shuffle
You will need: a car with a working horn and a field of sheep.
Number of players: Minimum 1, maximum equivalent to the number of seatbelts available in the car (plus or minus 2 depending on the moral standards of the driver).
Rules: As player 1 drives by a sheep field, he/she honks the horn. Now watch as all the sheep in the field go running in the opposite direction. Repeat for each pasture passed for extra added fun.
Provides plenty of entertainment and lots of laughs for all passengers in the car!
Cow Running
You will need: a field and plenty of cows
Number of players: 1 to everyone
Rules: As players approach the cows, they say “hey cow!” and clap their hands or make noise to attract the cows’ attention. Once the attention of the cows has been obtained, players run along the fence. Glory is earned according to the number of cows that run towards players and follow players along the fence. Extra glory can be earned if any player approaches the fence and touches a cow, provided that this does not take too much time so as to slow down the rest of the players who want to continue walking.
A wonderful game for children of all ages!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Did you know?
Did you know (#3) that the Moa, a bird that resemble the ostrich but is much, much larger, was found only in New Zealand until it too was hunted to extinction by the Maori. The Moa could resembled a dinosaur because of feet with three talons and the fact that it couldn’t fly.
Did you know (#4) that the Kia is a parrot native to New Zealand that will dive at hikers and steal objects from backpacks or huts?
Did you know (#4) that the Kia is a parrot native to New Zealand that will dive at hikers and steal objects from backpacks or huts?
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Week 11
Two more weeks till Christmas break!
To give you an idea of the other students I am staying with here at the crossing, here are some links to their blogs. I would highly recommend checking out Adam’s blog, especially the guest post by Jordan Lee.
Adam’s blog: http://www.newzealandspiritparade.blogspot.com/
Cara’s blog: http://www.caraleekiwi.blogspot.com/
On Monday, Hobart (our dishwasher) broke which made lunch cleanup (my daily duty for the next three weeks) slightly more difficult. But the quality of Sheryl’s cooking was in no way diminished by the “hardships with Hobart” as Joel put it. Hobart is feeling much better now to the relief of all of the concerned students.
Our teacher this week, Lew Meyers (teaching on apologetics), has a really dry sense of humour so we have been quite enjoying his jokes! I think the final count on Wednesday was 49 jokes in four classes! And I think the total at the end of the week was somewhere around 90 (that we managed to pick up on, and that was only in class, not during meals and morning tea)! He mentioned that, if at all possible, it is a very good idea to become friends with an undertaker... because they will be the last ones to let you down. When discussing demons, he made sure to remind us always to make sure you pay your fees... otherwise you might be repossessed. He also told us about his sister who married an Aussie (and Australian). He would have preferred a human, but that’s ok (the NZ/Australian jokes can be quite funny!). And one more: A mother skunk had two sons, In and Out. And sometimes In was out and Out was in. And sometimes In was in and Out was out. But she always knew which was which, do you know how? Because In-stinked!
We also had a DVD lecture by the director of the Capernwray school in BC. He taught on the book of Deuteronomy. I though he was really interesting and it was quite neat to hear that he had a testimony quite similar to my own!
I have been trying to run every second (or third or fourth) day. It’s been tons of fun and I have actually noticed an improvement! Cara and Cam often invite me to join them on their runs.
We had workday on Thursday this week since it was raining on Wednesday. I got to trim rosebushes again! Joseph was trimming the big hedge and so I got to climb up on top of it. The branches are so dense and thick that I could actually walk around on top of the hedge! Although Robert, who climbed up with me, did fall through once or twice :P. Apparently (and I will have to try this some time), it is possible to scale the hedge directly without using a ladder!
I have spent quite a bit of time this week working on a Bible study on Titus 2:11-15 which is due next Friday. I am having much less difficulty on this Bible study than I was having on my first!
On Sunday, we went into Timaru to attend the Life Church and in the afternoon, we helped out at the “Christmas Carol Cafe” put on by the Life Church. I read Isaiah 9:6 in French (they had several people reading different passages in different languages to emphasize the fact the message of the gospel is a global message). Robert, Colin, and Michael sang a few songs with Joseph on the guitar, Cam on the piano, and Bryan on the drums. It was beautiful! It’s really cool to hear the musical talent here at The Crossing! The entire event was really well done (although it was kind of weird at one point when Santa and Jesus were dancing on the stage together for the final song :P). What struck me most was that it wasn’t just a manger scene story, but they actually told the entire story, from Jesus’ birth to death to resurrection! What a good reminder that this season is not about a cute baby in a warm cozy stable but about the Son of God who came down to restore His name and to restore His creation to Himself for His glory!
On Saturday evening, after some encouraging, I went out to join the girls who were dancing on the road a little ways from the school (don’t worry, we stopped and got off the road long before the cars got close). It was wacky and fun and we laughed a lot!
I finally got a picture up of the awesome gang here at The Crossing in the header for my blog (sorry about the wierd colours, I have yet to find a color that is legible for the title). Just in case you were wondering, the people in the picture from left to right are (top row): Joseph, Dale Michael, Adam, Jordan, Colin, Joel, Jonas, Robert, Ben and Bryan. The second row, from left to right: Cam, Patti, Justus, Sheryl, Hanna, Isabelle, Kelsey, Cara, Amber, and me.
To give you an idea of the other students I am staying with here at the crossing, here are some links to their blogs. I would highly recommend checking out Adam’s blog, especially the guest post by Jordan Lee.
Adam’s blog: http://www.newzealandspiritparade.blogspot.com/
Cara’s blog: http://www.caraleekiwi.blogspot.com/
On Monday, Hobart (our dishwasher) broke which made lunch cleanup (my daily duty for the next three weeks) slightly more difficult. But the quality of Sheryl’s cooking was in no way diminished by the “hardships with Hobart” as Joel put it. Hobart is feeling much better now to the relief of all of the concerned students.
Our teacher this week, Lew Meyers (teaching on apologetics), has a really dry sense of humour so we have been quite enjoying his jokes! I think the final count on Wednesday was 49 jokes in four classes! And I think the total at the end of the week was somewhere around 90 (that we managed to pick up on, and that was only in class, not during meals and morning tea)! He mentioned that, if at all possible, it is a very good idea to become friends with an undertaker... because they will be the last ones to let you down. When discussing demons, he made sure to remind us always to make sure you pay your fees... otherwise you might be repossessed. He also told us about his sister who married an Aussie (and Australian). He would have preferred a human, but that’s ok (the NZ/Australian jokes can be quite funny!). And one more: A mother skunk had two sons, In and Out. And sometimes In was out and Out was in. And sometimes In was in and Out was out. But she always knew which was which, do you know how? Because In-stinked!
We also had a DVD lecture by the director of the Capernwray school in BC. He taught on the book of Deuteronomy. I though he was really interesting and it was quite neat to hear that he had a testimony quite similar to my own!
I have been trying to run every second (or third or fourth) day. It’s been tons of fun and I have actually noticed an improvement! Cara and Cam often invite me to join them on their runs.
We had workday on Thursday this week since it was raining on Wednesday. I got to trim rosebushes again! Joseph was trimming the big hedge and so I got to climb up on top of it. The branches are so dense and thick that I could actually walk around on top of the hedge! Although Robert, who climbed up with me, did fall through once or twice :P. Apparently (and I will have to try this some time), it is possible to scale the hedge directly without using a ladder!
I have spent quite a bit of time this week working on a Bible study on Titus 2:11-15 which is due next Friday. I am having much less difficulty on this Bible study than I was having on my first!
On Sunday, we went into Timaru to attend the Life Church and in the afternoon, we helped out at the “Christmas Carol Cafe” put on by the Life Church. I read Isaiah 9:6 in French (they had several people reading different passages in different languages to emphasize the fact the message of the gospel is a global message). Robert, Colin, and Michael sang a few songs with Joseph on the guitar, Cam on the piano, and Bryan on the drums. It was beautiful! It’s really cool to hear the musical talent here at The Crossing! The entire event was really well done (although it was kind of weird at one point when Santa and Jesus were dancing on the stage together for the final song :P). What struck me most was that it wasn’t just a manger scene story, but they actually told the entire story, from Jesus’ birth to death to resurrection! What a good reminder that this season is not about a cute baby in a warm cozy stable but about the Son of God who came down to restore His name and to restore His creation to Himself for His glory!
On Saturday evening, after some encouraging, I went out to join the girls who were dancing on the road a little ways from the school (don’t worry, we stopped and got off the road long before the cars got close). It was wacky and fun and we laughed a lot!
I finally got a picture up of the awesome gang here at The Crossing in the header for my blog (sorry about the wierd colours, I have yet to find a color that is legible for the title). Just in case you were wondering, the people in the picture from left to right are (top row): Joseph, Dale Michael, Adam, Jordan, Colin, Joel, Jonas, Robert, Ben and Bryan. The second row, from left to right: Cam, Patti, Justus, Sheryl, Hanna, Isabelle, Kelsey, Cara, Amber, and me.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Journal for Week 11
I decided to be ahead of schedule this time and post my journal for this week early!
- The Israelites needed to keep their mountaintop experience with them after they left the wilderness and went into Canaan. They could not stay at the mountain forever, they had to move on, but they had to remember and put into practice everything they had learnt on the mountain. In the same way, my year at The Crossing is like my ‘mountain top experience.’ I need to remember and put into practice what I am learning here. Everything I am learning is of no use if it stays here, I need to apply it and live it.
- God is unchanging and this is an attribute unique to God. God never changes for me, rather I change for Him (and through Him). This means that He always feels the same towards me no mater what I do because I am covered by Christ’s righteousness! And therefore, I can take courage in the fact that God is constant.
- Through His covenant with Abraham, Abraham had all that God is and God had all that Abraham was. This means that, since I have been grafted onto the family of Abraham, I am also part of this covenant and I have all that God is and He has all that I am!
- If I am a true soldier of God, the devil will come against me. And he will likely come in the same way as The Rabshakeh came to the Israelites in Isaiah 36 by making me assume I am out of God’s will when in fact God wants me to run directly to Him. The devil may use a little bit of truth to deceive me so I need to know God’s word so that I can tell the truth from a lie or a part-truth.
- A Christian will not be perfect the day after they are converted. And yet, we tend to immediately put restrictions on new Christians of what they should and should not do. Instead, we need to trust that God will work out the good work He has begun.
- God doesn’t want me to be committed to Him because that implies that I am still in control. Instead, He wants me to surrender to His life in me. As a Christian, I should be identified by Christ in me, but too often, I identify myself by what I do and don’t do.
- I need to be focused on the character of Christ rather than on the giants in my life. Whether circumstances are easy or hard is irrelevant because with God, all things are possible! If I focus on the circumstance rather than on Christ, I will come to wrong conclusions about Christ.
- There are two attitudes that will keep me from entering Canaan (the fullness of life available in Christ): an “I can do it myself” attitude and a “can’t I just have a little bit of Egypt?” attitude.
- Learning about apologetics is important so that I will be able to properly answer questions and so that I can be sure of what I believe. But I have to remember that debates won’t convert people, but instead I need to live in a way that can only be explained by Christ in me.
- The Israelites needed to keep their mountaintop experience with them after they left the wilderness and went into Canaan. They could not stay at the mountain forever, they had to move on, but they had to remember and put into practice everything they had learnt on the mountain. In the same way, my year at The Crossing is like my ‘mountain top experience.’ I need to remember and put into practice what I am learning here. Everything I am learning is of no use if it stays here, I need to apply it and live it.
- God is unchanging and this is an attribute unique to God. God never changes for me, rather I change for Him (and through Him). This means that He always feels the same towards me no mater what I do because I am covered by Christ’s righteousness! And therefore, I can take courage in the fact that God is constant.
- Through His covenant with Abraham, Abraham had all that God is and God had all that Abraham was. This means that, since I have been grafted onto the family of Abraham, I am also part of this covenant and I have all that God is and He has all that I am!
- If I am a true soldier of God, the devil will come against me. And he will likely come in the same way as The Rabshakeh came to the Israelites in Isaiah 36 by making me assume I am out of God’s will when in fact God wants me to run directly to Him. The devil may use a little bit of truth to deceive me so I need to know God’s word so that I can tell the truth from a lie or a part-truth.
- A Christian will not be perfect the day after they are converted. And yet, we tend to immediately put restrictions on new Christians of what they should and should not do. Instead, we need to trust that God will work out the good work He has begun.
- God doesn’t want me to be committed to Him because that implies that I am still in control. Instead, He wants me to surrender to His life in me. As a Christian, I should be identified by Christ in me, but too often, I identify myself by what I do and don’t do.
- I need to be focused on the character of Christ rather than on the giants in my life. Whether circumstances are easy or hard is irrelevant because with God, all things are possible! If I focus on the circumstance rather than on Christ, I will come to wrong conclusions about Christ.
- There are two attitudes that will keep me from entering Canaan (the fullness of life available in Christ): an “I can do it myself” attitude and a “can’t I just have a little bit of Egypt?” attitude.
- Learning about apologetics is important so that I will be able to properly answer questions and so that I can be sure of what I believe. But I have to remember that debates won’t convert people, but instead I need to live in a way that can only be explained by Christ in me.
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