Prayer

What better place to study for a midterm than on a blog? 

From the book - The Essence of the New Testament:  A Survey By Elmer L. Towns & Ben Gutierrez

Luke is the most prayerful Gospel:  He (Luke) shows Jesus in prayer more than any of the other Gospels.

• Jesus prayed at His baptism
• all night before selecting the 12 apostles
• over the fish and loves before feeding 5000
• before announcing His coming death to the disciples
• at His transfigureation
• when the 70 returned from their mission
• just before the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray
• in Gethsemane before his arrest
• and twice on the cross he prayed

How much do I want to be like Jesus?

 Not only did Jesus give us his example in prayer He also exhorts His followers to pray:

• for their enemies
• for workers to be sent into God's harvest field
• for needed things
• always
• to avoid tempation

Excitement

 

It's always good when you can feel the excitement in the air and have joy in your heart!

We all need things to look forward too!   

I've heard people rejoicing because of the Fall weather.   I'm thinking, "But it's so cold".  But then also hear people complaining because a few stores have a few items out for Christmas already.  Now, I'm rejoicing!  Call me strange but I plan to have 3 months of Christmas.  Yes, that's me you see at LifeWay Christian Store admiring the Christmas display!   I'm pretty sure that since it is now October I can begin enjoying Christmas in earnest.   Oh yes, I have not had a real true American Christmas Season in 6 years so I'm going to enjoy the whole process.  

• The decorations
• The songs
• The anticipation 
• The Santa at the Mall (I promise I won't sit on his lap)
• The candles/smells of cinnamon and other Christmasy things
• The greenery
• Window shopping
• Fun toys (in stores only/I can't afford to bring them home) 
• Christmas Programs
• Christmas Dramas 

Oh yes, I am going to bask in the joy of Christmas for 3 whole months!   

And amid my selfish enjoyment of All Things Christmas I hope to learn more about the true meaning of Christmas.     



Merry Christmas EVERYONE!!!

The Covenant

Traditional Jewish Engagement/Wedding - (as it was described to me)

A man decides he wants to get married.   He then goes to the girl's father and they discuss the bride price.  After the price has been set they take a cup of wine, when it touches the lips the deal is sealed.   The groom agrees to the bride price and he drinks.   Then he turns to the girl and says "this is the cup of my covenant, will you agree to the deal."   

The cup touches her lips and the deal is sealed.  

She is promised to him.  

He is promised to her.

Then they part ways.  He goes to his fathers house to prepare a place for his bride.   The whole extended family would be living in the same courtyard.  Each son who marries adds a room to his father's house for his wife.   

Meanwhile the bride is in her own home preparing herself for her grooms arrival.   She stops all other plans and begins in earnest to prepare to be a wife.   She learns from her mother, her aunts, and the other married ladies the things that she needs to know for her future marriage.  She is busy preparing herself for that great day when the groom will come and get her. All the while she will be totally faithful to him.  

Into this culture - enter JESUS.   

Luke 22:20 - Jesus took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant" 
(remember, what this means in the Jewish culture?)

Luke 22:42 - Jesus prayed; "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will , but yours be done" (he had made a commitment, he would keep it)

John 14:1-3 - Jesus says; "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."  

(according to the Jewish customs this sounds a whole lot like a marriage proposal followed by the preparations that need to take place)  

And now...
While the groom has gone to his Father's house to make preparations for his bride, What is the bride doing? 

Stop Doing List

Here's a "Stop doing list" from Phil Cook

1. Stop avoiding responsibility     "Own It"
2. Stop multitasking                      "Focus"
3. Stop talking                              
4. Stop complaining                      (How much time do we spend complaining to people who can't fix the problem?)
5. Stop working randomly             (Find your most productive time and use it.)
6. Stop ignoring your story
• your past
• your family
• what makes you different? 
• what makes you stand out? 
• what makes you, you? 

If you can tap into who you are it will transform what you do!   

The WORD

 
On the book of John...

Why the use of the word "Word" to refer to Jesus Christ?

Here is a key Old Testament passage to understanding God's "Word".  

Isaiah 55:10-11
As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, So is my word that goes out from my mouth:  it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.   
  
What does this tell us about The Word? 

1. It is sent from God
2. It will accomplish what it was sent for
3. It always returns with a message of accomplisment

In the Old Testament God sent his word to guide his people. 
In the New Testament Jesus came to us as God's word.   

On Thinking...

I do a lot of thinking from time to time.   I often even think that I should organize my thoughts enough that I could actually write them down.   Having been accused of being a bit ADHD I just never get thoughts that organized.

So here's my favorite thinking subjects.   Maybe someday when I feel inspired to write I'll come back and expound.

Human Trafficking - Modern Day Slavery
Orphan Justice
Cultural Studies
Cross Cultural Workers
Lack of Care for Cross Cultural Workers
Community and the need to live within it -  what does that look like?  Does the church provide it?

Radical Living  - What does it look like in the life of ME?
And putting Speaking of Jesus by Carl Medearis into practice.   What does that look like?

And there's so much that could be said about all the above subjects....

ADHD kicking in....I must go................

To Learn...

The desire to learn is upon me.  

I've had 4 days of class and I'm so excited about more.   It's best though if I don't think about it in years but rather in moments...days...and the joy of learning more.  

Random things I've learned...
It's so simple really.  I've spent a lifetime trying to remember what was created on which day of creation and wonder of wonders it now all makes sense.  I could tell you what was made on each of those 6 days.  It's really quite simple to keep it all in order.

And the the Israelites when leaving Egypt.   They had the mindset of slaves.  Well duh, of course they did that's all this generation had known.   Slavery!  
Now to get their thinking from the thought patterns of a slave to believing that they are truly God's chosen people.  
And what about me - Do I simply think of myself as a "sinner saved by grace"?  or do I think of myself as a saint?  

Learning simple things....

It makes me happy! 

2 Things.... & 3rdly

Have you ever read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn?  
Have you ever watched Hotel Rwanda?  

And 3rdly... Why do I mention these 2 things together?  

Half the Sky is about turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide.
Hotel Rwanda is about the fighting between the Huto and the Tutsi tribes in Rwanda.    And I'll eventually get to the 3rdly thing if you allow me enough time.  

So if we're in agreement that women do indeed "hold up half the sky" as the Chinese proverb says, and if we have read the reports and know that many places in this world women are not viewed as equals, what are we going to do about it?  

Now for Hotel Rwanda, the one scene that has stuck in my head ever since that night Bethann and I sat down to watch this movie has been where the Hotel Manager was all excited because the American reporter was able to show some footage of the horror around them on the worldwide news.  

Now he thought they will be able to get some outside help.  

But the reporters response was--- that help was not necessarily on the way.   The people probably looked up from their dinner, saw the news said, "Wow, that's horrible" and went right back to eating. 

Culture Shock

What's Culture shock?   Surely there is nothing about our beautiful American culture that is shocking.  Or is there?   

I can only imagine what it would be like for someone to set foot on American soil for the very first time.  Take someone from a hot tropical climate and have them enter JFK airport in Mid December.   
Upon entering the airport there would be the shock of the hugeness of it all.   They have just left a country with a small 3 terminal airport where they walked across the air field to climb a shaky little stairway into an the massive airplane that would take them across the ocean.  
Although they were the top English speaker in their school it's shocking for them to realize that there are many different versions of English and not everyone who speaks English actually sound the same.  If you can actually get a native English speaker to speak slowly enough there's still a good chance that the accent they speak with is different than the one learned in school.  The hugeness of the airport and the mobs of people whom they can't understand is SHOCKING.  Loneliness is overwhelming and they're thinking...if only I could turn around run back into that big machine that just dropped me in this foreign place and go back to the familiar...But the crowds keep pushing them forward. 
Then after waiting in long lines and finally finally getting all the papers stamped and the freedom to exit those airport doors they are hit with a huge blast of freezing air.  The short sleeves and flip flops just aren't working any more.  A whole new life is laying before them. 

One person may look at this and say..."My life is over."  
Another person may say..."What an adventure.  My life is just beginning." 

And Angela when experiencing reverse culture shock might say.   "My life is over" followed by "Life is an amazing adventure, wow, my life is just beginning".   
 
      

Good Intentions...

...look how far they've gotten me. 

I have such good intentions.  I often think now I should write about that, or this, or that other thing.  I really do intend to...later when it's more convenient.  

I have good stories to tell.
Good books to debate.
Good complaints (is that an oxymoron) to throw out there.  (while I'm on the complaint idea, may I mention that Americans are some of the best complainers I have met in my travels.  I used to be the best and then I returned to the states and realized I have competition.)

So many good ideas.  (I'm a bit ADD when it comes to ideas) They are indeed all good ideas but we all know that not all good ideas actually work.

So many things to write about so why not start tomorrow!

Resolution 2012

So do I have New Years Resolutions?   Hmmm, what did I resolve to do in 2012?  
I do know the year ended up being a whole lot different than I would've planned for it to be. It's been a busy year, a year of growth, some pain, some joy, some disappointments, some changed plans and a lots of emotions.   Wow, it's been quite a year!   
Thank you Jesus for the year 2012! 

As far as resolutions...not sure if I wrote much down in the line of resolves for last year but the the biggest goal I had that I carried around in my mind for the year was to READ MORE:   Pretty sure I succeeded.  I even kept track of the books I read.  So just for the record let it be know that in 2012 I successfully read:

1. God in a Brothel  - by Daniel Walker
2. I'll Cross the River - by C. Hope Flinchbaugh
3. Jonathan Goforth - by Geoff & Janet Benge
4. 97 - Random thoughts about life, love and relationships -by Justin Lookadoo
5. Preparing to be a Help Meet - by Debi and Michael Pearl
6. Amy Carmichael - by Geoff and Janet Benge
7. The Beauty Book - by Nancy Rue
8. Silent Tears - A journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage - by Kay Bratt
9. Castaway Kid - by R.B Mitchell
10. Choosing to SEE - by Mary Beth Chapman
11. A Time for Peace - by Barbara Cameron
12. Bo's Cafe - by John Lynch, Bill Thrall & Bruce McNicol
13. How to Get a Date Worth Keeping - by Dr. Henry Cloud
14. His Needs, Her Needs - by Willard F. Harley Jr.  
15. Changes that Heal - by Dr.  Henry Cloud
16. By Ones & By Twos - Jeanie Lockerbie Stephenson
17. Five Little Questions - by Dannah Gresh
18. All She Ever Wanted - By Lynn Austin
19. I Have to be Perfect - by Timothy L. Sanford
20. Only 13 (The True Story of Lon) - by Derek Kent, Julia Manzanares
21. Healing the Wounds of Trama (How the Church can Help) - by Margaret Hill, Harriet Hill, Richard Bagge and Pat Miersa
22. The Great Buddhist Stories - by Omnibus
23. My Prince Will Come - by Sheri Rose Shepherd
24. Grace Givers - by David Jeremiah
25. Spiritual Journeys of Success - Today's Christian Woman Magazine
26. TrueFaced - by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and John Lynch
27. How to Be a Best Friend Forever: Making and Keeping Lifetime Relationships - by John Townsend
28. Single:  The Jesus Model - by Heather Wraight
29. Inside Out - by Larry Crabb
30. Today is Your Best Day - by Roy Lessin
31. Take the Risk - by Dr. Ben Carson
32. Shattered Vows - by Debra Laaser

And I almost finished A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans before 2012 ended.  

So 32 books in 12 months.   That's not so bad.  

Why read more?
 Because reading can make you smarter!

What's my favorite book from the previous list?
I think I'll have to say TrueFaced.  Pretty sure it's a must read for 2013 as well.
Changes that Heal is a pretty close runner up. 

And now it's 2013.  
What's gonna be new in 2013?