Thinking Differently

Into the second week of class, it is a minute till 0700,  and I am sitting here, typing this, already dressed in a shirt and tie for class.  (Lavender shirt, white tie, in case you were curious). The reason being is I have to set off to  Council Hall (My classroom) and set up everything for my tech work assignment. I have to do this a half hour before class starts , hence, why I am already dressed.

The time has gone well with me, the first class was Discipleship with Dr. Joe Jordan, and it was great to dig into a core part of Christian living, and he challenged all of us second year to pick a first year student and disciple him. So I picked up a guy named Steve Cartwright, from the Bahamas, and am discipling him. It is really amazing so far, I am having to dig into changing my life in order to appropriately dig into his.

This week we have servant leadership, which is all about leading under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and as a doulos or bond-slave of Christ.

Today is our fist Chancellor’s Chapel of the year. Yipee. Not really.

Ok. Now that my non WOLBI readers are confused, my life has been going well, and my classes are good and quite educational/ life-changing.

I recently, under the generous contibution of a long-time friend of the family and supporter of my parents was able to buy a new computer. I have a gorgeous iMac 17″. It has been a hassel trying to get information off of my crashed harddrive from my now mostly defunt iBook G4, but I think I managed to salvage everything important. I hope. In any case, the data is gone now, forever.

Zach, and others that know me well, will find this funny. I installed Windows on my Mac. Soley for the novelty and the ability to play games, but Windows nontheless. All due to the wonder of the Intel processors and a program called Boot Camp. Thanks Apple for bringing it all home. Think Different indeed.

Which was also interesting, I found a commercial on google video the other day from 1984, in which Apple introduces a new computer. This chick with a sledgehammer runs up to a video screen playing a clip of Big Brother, and she destroys it while the announcer says something like, “Apple, we will make 1984 not like 1984.”

Anyway, I have to go now, it is time for my Quite Time with God, and then the day.

Grace and Peace to you.

I Guess its about time to post.

Well, I spent two awesome weeks in Virginia, land of my birth. My most excellent second set of adopted parents, the Bieleks, were kind enough to open their home to my brother and I for the time spent. (Big thanks to Nate for letting me ride down and back with him!).

I got to go second hand shopping and picked up a nice orange dress shirt and a nicer purple one, and only for a couple bucks too! I also bought some warm non-cotten socks for an eye ahead to Snow Camp. A few incidentals, and I am ready for Second Year at the Word of Life Bible Institute.

Whohoo.

I have changed dorms over last year. For some of you this won’t mean anything, but I have moved from Turkey to Hungary (room 24). So far I have met one of my roommates, a cool guy named Matt, who hails from the state of Maine. We actually ran out to WalMart this morning. He is trying out for the basketball team, so he is practicing alot.

I got my room all unpacked and put together, looks really nice and homey, even.

My time is spent not doing anything really of consequence, which I figure is all ok, because soon I will have more school than I want to think about. And work assignments. And ministry. And stuff. You know, college things, being responsible, being crazy.

I really feel ready for second year, and cannot wait to see what God will do and teach me.

My big prayer requests are that 1) God will clearly guide concerning what I do after this year and 2) that God will provide for this year as He did for last year. My earthly rescources are limited, but I know that “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills”, as the expression goes.

So, have fun, and keep smiling.

Peace and grace to you.

well, actually, though I can understand the sentiments of my Ent friend Treebeard who uttered those words, Psalm One has something else to say,

“How blessed is the man…his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” (verses 1a and 2-3)

This is how my summer could be described: total dependence on God. 100%-no holds barred-hardcore-reckless-faith in the Almighty dependence on God. Many times throughout the summer, almost every day in fact, I would begin with a prayer to God that went something like this, “God, I have no idea what I am doing. I don’t know how to handle my guys, how to help them. Lord, I need You do to it though me because I can’t. I need Your wisdom and strength.” And what is simply amazing to me is God did exactly what I asked. He was there for me, He helped me. I really shouldn’t be surprised, because my favorite passage of scripture promises this,

“For the Lord GOD helps me, therefore, I am not disgraced; therefore, I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them.” (verses 7 and 9)

“The Lord God helps me…”  That help, I discovered, is a minute by minute help. Like a belayer at the bottom of a climbing tower, God is letting out just a little more rope as I need it, as I climb a little higher. God is my anchor point, my security against falling, but He is also my help. He gives me rope, and tells me which grips I need to reach for and not let go of.

I don’t remember any more the number of kids I was able to lead to the Lord, or how many I opened God’s Word with and gave them hope. I don’t remember all the names or faces, but I know God worked in a great way through me. The only reason that was possible is that I was willing. Honestly, at the beginning of the summer, I did not want to be a counselor. I thought it was a mistake, but I was willing to do it anyway, and God blessed mightly.

During the summer I had the opportunity to go through the book Gripped by the Greatness of God  by James MacDonald. This book explored the God I serve through mighty passages from the book of Isaiah. As I read this book and sought the face of my God, I learned and grew much, in understanding and also practical living. Most powerful to me was the section on my identity in God. I am His child and He has gone to extreme lengths to bless me. (see Isaiah 43 too long to reproduce here) I was totally blown away. The confidence of a true understanding of this concept is phenomenal. I would highly recommend the reading of Isaiah in coordination with this book; if you truly seek God, He will reveal Himself and it will leave you different.

Most heartbreaking was the rough lives many of the guys I met had. Sometimes I did not want them to go home. I shed many a tear over a camper and really had to trust God. Sometimes even after pouring into a guy, he did not want to change. In those situations there was only one comfort,

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:10-12)

So there it is, my summer was amazing, I cannot wait for the school year and summer next. I truly left the summer “with shouts of joy”  and peace. God was so good and awesome I cannot help but praise Him.

God is God, and I serve Him.

Hello There.

I am sitting borrowing a friend’s computer watching the end of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Once that finishes we will pop in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith for the “end” of the story.

In other news I am bidding on some software on Ebay that will help me in recovery of data from my downed computer. The auction ends in 2 hours and 13 minutes and I am currently the highest bidder.

Well, I guess an update on what has been happening in my life is in order. Since I last wrote I have graduated from the first year program at Word of Life. I have decided to do a second year at the Bible Institute. In between I have four weeks of break.

The first week I worked as part of the summer work program at the Ranch. Our job was to begin the process of returning the campus to school standards after a summer of being a camp. We moved alot of metal bunks and stored them, and I worked shampooing carpets in dorms.

After that I went and stayed with Phil Martin, a WOL chef, and then Nate and I made a long drive from New York to Virginia, land of my birth. We are staying with second set of parents, the Bieleks. I have spent the time relaxing, watching Pretender episodes, and eating good home cooking. After this time is up I will head back and stay with Phil for about a week, and then start school again.

I have had the chance to share meals with some good friends and have refreshing talks. Its been awesome.

Currently, we are having massive rain from a tropical storm. I feel like I am on Kamino its raining so much, or back home in PNG during rainy season. Aah, I love storms.

My second post, sometime today, will give a recap of the summer, what I felt God was doing in my life through it. Stay Tuned.