This is the concluding section of my Personal and Corporate Outreach exam. It's a summay of the Good News about Jesus, and how I see my role in sharing it.
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Jesus is the King, and He is putting to right all that is wrong in the world. The pain we see, the injustice, the tears, the destruction – one day He will make all things right. We can find favour – more than that – we can be known intimately and loved deeply and become a cherished son or daughter of the very one who created us. We can be healed of our shared human weakness and join Jesus in his task in bringing God’s wisdom, glory, and new birth to the world.
One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the King. People from every nation, tribe, language and people will gather around His throne and recognize who He really is, and they won’t be able to help but burst out into song. Harmony among all the peoples of the earth, enjoying a brand new creation with no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain.
It’s coming, and we see glimpses of it in our world if we look, but we’re not there yet. There are groups of people who are not yet represented in that great multitude because they haven’t heard of the one who is their King, the one who loves them, the one who wants to heal them and bring them into community with Himself.
How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone teaching them? And how can anyone teach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
It is because of this that I want to go to Kenya. To the Rendille people, who aren’t yet adequately represented in that great multitude. These beautiful people, created and loved so much by God, don’t yet know their loving King. How can they call on the one they have not heard of? Who will go if not me? I am not special. I am not gifted. I am just willing.
Oh Lord, let my feet be beautiful!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
New Year, New Adventures!
2013 seems like it's full of promise, and I can't wait to see what it will bring! New friends as I continue to settle in to my new city and new church, new lessons as I start out a new term, new things to see and do and try in my first prairie (foothills?) winter... I'm looking forward to it!
2012 was crazy. The first half and the last half could not have been more different. Terrible descending to awful, and then exciting rising to awesome (with a whole lot of prayer and crying and working things through in between)! Oy vey!
Classes last term went well, and I learned SO much! (I also learned that my friends and profs are right - five masters classes is insane!). I'll have to work out some major themes that came out of the term at some point, but for now: I took Leadership, Interpreting Scripture, Letters of Paul, Into to Theology, and Evangelism and Discipleship. It was most definitely a full term, but I don't regret it! (My low level anxiety as I look at my classes this term, however, might have something to do with the fact that I now know what I'm getting myself into! Last term I was just blissfully ignorant!)
On the roster for this term: Intro to New Testament, Cross-Cultural Church Planting, Missions in Global Perspective, Cultural Anthropology, and maybe Expository Preaching. I really want to take that one, but I have to leave myself time to breathe, work, and keep doing my AIM prepwork and communication, too! EEKS! We'll see how it goes! And I want to get back into photography and blogging again! I've so missed my creative outlets... I'm a little rusty in both, but definitely want to dive back in! Who knows, I might even find some West Coast Swing in all this, too! (er... in all my spare time!)
2013, bring it on!
2012 was crazy. The first half and the last half could not have been more different. Terrible descending to awful, and then exciting rising to awesome (with a whole lot of prayer and crying and working things through in between)! Oy vey!
Classes last term went well, and I learned SO much! (I also learned that my friends and profs are right - five masters classes is insane!). I'll have to work out some major themes that came out of the term at some point, but for now: I took Leadership, Interpreting Scripture, Letters of Paul, Into to Theology, and Evangelism and Discipleship. It was most definitely a full term, but I don't regret it! (My low level anxiety as I look at my classes this term, however, might have something to do with the fact that I now know what I'm getting myself into! Last term I was just blissfully ignorant!)
On the roster for this term: Intro to New Testament, Cross-Cultural Church Planting, Missions in Global Perspective, Cultural Anthropology, and maybe Expository Preaching. I really want to take that one, but I have to leave myself time to breathe, work, and keep doing my AIM prepwork and communication, too! EEKS! We'll see how it goes! And I want to get back into photography and blogging again! I've so missed my creative outlets... I'm a little rusty in both, but definitely want to dive back in! Who knows, I might even find some West Coast Swing in all this, too! (er... in all my spare time!)
2013, bring it on!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
The Rink
They were hidden until the very last minute. Just as I rounded the corner I was struck with a scene that took my breath away. A half dozen giant trees, winter bare and snow-covered, were glowing with hundreds of strings of lights, casting out the evening darkness all around the newest skating rink in town. A foot of snow covered the park, the trees, the lagoon, but one section was cleared away to make a rink. As I walked down the path, the chill in the air and the scrape of blades on ice welcomed me to my new experience of a true Canadian winter.
No zambonis here! Keeping an eye out for rough patches and taking care not to wobble too much, my skates hit the ice for a beautiful winter evening. Cold toes soon warmed as I skated round the rink, and when fingers were chilled, some hot cocoa warmed them up before another round on the ice.
A new snowfall and a rising wind signaled the end of the evening. One more lap around the ice, one more look at the snowy scene around me, and it was time to head home. A beautiful night, indeed!
No zambonis here! Keeping an eye out for rough patches and taking care not to wobble too much, my skates hit the ice for a beautiful winter evening. Cold toes soon warmed as I skated round the rink, and when fingers were chilled, some hot cocoa warmed them up before another round on the ice.
A new snowfall and a rising wind signaled the end of the evening. One more lap around the ice, one more look at the snowy scene around me, and it was time to head home. A beautiful night, indeed!
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Good News/Bad News
Remember those good news/bad news stories? Here's mine:
It was early January, and my last night in Vancouver before heading back to Calgary after the Christmas holiday...
Good News: Went snowshoeing with Trudy on Sunday
Bad News: Now my foot really really hurts
Good News: Yay medical
Bad News: No internet at my brother's apartment where I've been staying the last few days.
Good News: Lots of cafes around, including ones whose wifi still works when they're closed late at night from my car parked outside
Bad news: Thought I'd done everything I needed to do online but realized as I was packing at 2am that I forgot one thing I needed.
Good News: I'll just drive back down the street 8-10 blocks to look it up. [I can tell the truth now - I was TOTALLY DYING to see if I had gotten a reply from Kevin. We hadn't met yet, but had been emailing back and forth for about a week...]
Bad News: Ended up with some emails and other things to deal with so I was there longer than I thought I'd be.
Good news: I had had a coffee later in the eve so wasn't really tired
Bad news: There's no 'your lights are on, dummy' buzzer in the car I'm using, so the battery drained and the car was dead (it went fast!)
Good news: It's the middle of the night, so not a big deal I'm parked in a handicapped spot and can leave it there while I walk back up to the apartment
Bad news: Remember I said my foot really hurts?
Good news: I just had a little bit left to do to pack and clean up so I finished up and called a cab to take me back down to the car and give it a jump. It's now 4:30am.
Bad news: Cabbie charges $20 for a jump so, despite the fact I'd tried it a dozen times already, I decided to try the car one more time
Good news: It STARTS!
Bad news: No sleep for me, off to the airport.
Good news: I'll have lots of time to read/sleep/do homework
Bad news: I realize all those extra hours will have to be paid for in the parking lot.
Good news: There's a Starbucks open nearby so I'll read/work there for a bit
Bad news: That coffee made my stomach really hurt!
Good news: Time to head to the airport, I've still got lots of time
Bad news: In all the chaos, I forgot I had my swiss army knife in my purse, so get called back out of security
Good news: There's a post office downstairs where I can mail it to myself for three bucks
Bad news: I'm getting rather grouchy. I've had no sleep, my foot hurts with every step, I have a case of coffee belly
Good news: No more issues as I go through security a second time.
Bad news: Let's hope there is no more bad news! (except that I made you read this long rambly thing!)
Good news: My very own bed, here I come!
It was early January, and my last night in Vancouver before heading back to Calgary after the Christmas holiday...
Good News: Went snowshoeing with Trudy on Sunday
Bad News: Now my foot really really hurts
Good News: Yay medical
Bad News: No internet at my brother's apartment where I've been staying the last few days.
Good News: Lots of cafes around, including ones whose wifi still works when they're closed late at night from my car parked outside
Bad news: Thought I'd done everything I needed to do online but realized as I was packing at 2am that I forgot one thing I needed.
Good News: I'll just drive back down the street 8-10 blocks to look it up. [I can tell the truth now - I was TOTALLY DYING to see if I had gotten a reply from Kevin. We hadn't met yet, but had been emailing back and forth for about a week...]
Bad News: Ended up with some emails and other things to deal with so I was there longer than I thought I'd be.
Good news: I had had a coffee later in the eve so wasn't really tired
Bad news: There's no 'your lights are on, dummy' buzzer in the car I'm using, so the battery drained and the car was dead (it went fast!)
Good news: It's the middle of the night, so not a big deal I'm parked in a handicapped spot and can leave it there while I walk back up to the apartment
Bad news: Remember I said my foot really hurts?
Good news: I just had a little bit left to do to pack and clean up so I finished up and called a cab to take me back down to the car and give it a jump. It's now 4:30am.
Bad news: Cabbie charges $20 for a jump so, despite the fact I'd tried it a dozen times already, I decided to try the car one more time
Good news: It STARTS!
Bad news: No sleep for me, off to the airport.
Good news: I'll have lots of time to read/sleep/do homework
Bad news: I realize all those extra hours will have to be paid for in the parking lot.
Good news: There's a Starbucks open nearby so I'll read/work there for a bit
Bad news: That coffee made my stomach really hurt!
Good news: Time to head to the airport, I've still got lots of time
Bad news: In all the chaos, I forgot I had my swiss army knife in my purse, so get called back out of security
Good news: There's a post office downstairs where I can mail it to myself for three bucks
Bad news: I'm getting rather grouchy. I've had no sleep, my foot hurts with every step, I have a case of coffee belly
Good news: No more issues as I go through security a second time.
Bad news: Let's hope there is no more bad news! (except that I made you read this long rambly thing!)
Good news: My very own bed, here I come!
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