Bitter-sweet...

I never dreamed that I would be doing this,at this time, in this way...
yet I cling to the truth that God goodness is real, His faithfulness is enduring, His grace is sustaining.

Yes, it is Christmas--the most celebrated time of the year in which Christ's birth should be at the center of the cause for rejoicing--yet is it not the very fact of Christ's birth a part of the very reason we have hope in death? 1 Corinthians 15 makes clear the hope of the believer in Christ.

One person illustrated death as a ship leaving one port to arrive and be welcomed at another. Grandma said goodbye to those of us here on earth, but she was met and greeted by Another.

I love the words to the song "Finally Home" in which the author of it attempts to describe what it will be like to finally arrive in heaven:

"But just think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand, and finding it God's!
Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory, and finding it home!"

"But as it is written,

eye hath not seen,

nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man,

the things which God hath prepared fro them that love Him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit:

for the Spirit searcheth all things,

yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

but the spirit which is of God;

that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak,

not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;

comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:

for they are foolishness unto him:

neither can he know them,

because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things,

yet he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord,

that He may instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ."

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

Stop to ponder that for a little while and rejoice in the great truth upon which is expounds!

Perhaps a new post will help with the appearance of my blog. So many times I will think of something to write about on this blog, but then when I actually sit down to try to do make my incredibly fleeting thoughts into something a bit more concrete, well, such thoughts usually then take wing and fly away, leaving me staring at my computer screen. When this happens, well, my list of drafts only grows longer. However, let me assure you that the lack of posts on this blog does not indicate that my life has been hoo-hum, "give me some variety please!" or void of noteworthy events. Not at all!

Over the past several weeks, theology class has been delving into the deep (and sometimes it seems like almost drowning!) waters of the subject of salvation. One cannot get into such the incredibly amazing subject of the believer's salvation without also facing some of the controversial aspects of it. At times I wish I could just believe like a child, not having to know and understand the reasons for everything. How I wish I didn't always having to think that everything needs to fit logically into a comprehensive picture that makes sense to me. It is hard to resist leaning heavily on my tendency to require everything to be in "Steps 1, 2, 3" fashion and rather to trust God in those areas that don't totally make sense to me and take it by faith. I frequently have to remind myself that God is not trying to play games with His children: He does want us to understand His Word and all that He has done for us! I am incredibly thankful for the guiding and illuminating work of the Spirit in me Who is slowly, but surely, helping me to understand God's Word and the incredible truths that It contains.

Chafer's Systematic Theology, Vol. 3 had an incredible statement about salvation:

"Salvation is more than the continued existence of a good man:

it provides the most radical transformation,

the acquiring of infinite possessions,

and the entering into positions which are in the sphere of heaven and of God.

'And ye are complete in Him!' (Col. 2:10)." (Page 234)

Quote of the day:

This morning in theology class, concerning the chapter that we had just read in hamartiology about the Christian and the sin nature, Mr. Baxter said:

"This is heavy stuff; so is sin. So is spiritual growth and also the Christian life."

I could not agree more.

While details may be lacking, I want to shout to the whole world that it is so wonderful to be a child of God! There is nothing so sweet as being in fellowship with Him and having the joy and peace that only come from Him!

Because of the lack of a title...

Sooo, I started this post like three weeks ago and have worked on it a dozen times since then. I think that I just need to to click the "publish now" button, or it shall never get posted... :)

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Ahhh...Senior year at Cornerstone has proven already to be providing a plethora of new experiences, or perhaps they are more appropriately called blessings. Just the other day I was thinking of all the ways that God has blessed me, and the song "Count Your Blessings" came to mind.... Yes, God's blessings are numerous and I do not have much to complain about in life.

The lesson in Sunday school one of the first weeks that I was back at school was on trusting God. The timing could not have been better. (By the way, have you ever stopped to think about how God brings something into your life at just the time that you need it? It is pretty incredible sometimes!) Yes, I believe that the more a believer grows in his relationship with the Lord, the more he will trust in Him. A couple points were mentioned concerning reasons for why we so frequently fail to trust God.

Perhaps one of the reasons for our lack of trust is because it is an issue of time: whatever it is, we want it now and we are not willing to wait on the Lord to bring His plan to pass in His perfect timing. Or another aspect could be that we may have "the end" in mind and so flawlessly planned out that we fail to even think of trusting in the Lord to bring it to pass. It may also be that we so often fail to trust God because we have the idea that if we do give it over to Him, the end result may be drastically different from what we imagined it to be (which is all too often mistakenly equated with being an unpleasant thing . If only we could learn once and for all that God's ways are soo much better than ours...life would be so much easier.) Or perhaps a further reason, in all honesty, may be that we simply prefer to do things in our own way. To trust God would suggest a possible modification....

For some reason, as I have been writing this, the second verse of the song Satisfied keeps running through my mind, even though it doesn't really talk about trusting...perhaps it is because of the mindset of looking to Him instead of around me that the words communicate:

Feeding on the husks around me, till my strength was almost gone,

Longed my soul for something better, only still to hunger on.

Hallelujah! I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved!

Jesus satisfies my longings -- Thru His blood I now am saved."

As has been alluded to, somewhat, in one of my previous posts, I am very thankful for the way that God continues to work in my life, that He is not done with me yet, that there remains posted in my life a "construction zone" sign because of His continual work to conform me to His image! Unfortunately, it's not always very fun to be experiencing God's work zones... (The results are definitely worth it, however!)

I'm Still Alive :)

I am not feeling at all motivated to write much here, but figured perhaps you all would like to have an update on my life right now... :)

I am back in KS [for one more week.] August the 19th I head up to South Dakota to start my senior year at Cornerstone! Wahoo! I cannot wait to get back to school, to see friends and catch up from the summer, to once again dig into God's Word in a classroom setting, to [hopefully] get some colder weather soon, to have homework once again, to see how God is going to work in this coming year, and on the list of things I'm looking forward to could go. Yes, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I am excited about getting back to school!

My summer in Brazil was nothing short of amazing. To be honest, I had my ideas of how it was supposed to be, but of course God's ways are higher than mine, so it turned out a little differently than I expected. If you were to ask me what exactly my plans had been for the summer, I probably would have a hard time detailing the specifics to you ; If you were to then ask me how the summer was different than I had expected, you might get a few more specifics. However, either way, it is still somewhat difficult to express right now how God worked in my life over the last two and a half months. Yes, I suppose I am being somewhat [or rather!] vague and ambiguous [I guess I kind of enjoy doing that], but in one thing I will be specific: God is incredibly good! Don't ever doubt it.

. . .and the [unwelcome] countdown is coming close to an end:

8 days left with family and friends in this land that I call home.

Jesus Loves the Little Children

This past week I had the opportunity of participate in the VBS here. About fifty kids came each day--some of them were from Christian families, but many of them were not. They learned about the life of Moses and the Gospel was shared. Pray for these kids to respond to what they learned throughout the week!

Venicius with the devotional book he won for memorizing all of the verses. He was one of the kids who seemed to always be disrupting class, but when he got the book, he was looking through it very intently.

A few of the kids while they waited for VBS to start...

Game time

Vitória--isn't she cute?

Prize-time with Charliane!

"Pick me, pick me!"

Jaime sharing the Gospel. No decisions were made, as far as I know, but God's Word still went out.

Waiting to say their verses...

Carla, still working on her verse.

Sometimes simply showing you care makes the biggest impact.

Reminded...

The One Who fed Elijah with the ravens,

Who made the ax-head to float,

Who brought about a miraculous multiplication of the widow's oil,

Who heard Hannah's prayer,

Who calmed the raging waves of the sea, and

Who fed the five thousand,

is the One who cares even for the little birds of the air, and of Whom is it declared that "He cares for you."

It is He who is "the same yesterday, and today , and forever." The God who brought about such events in the lives of those in the Bible is the same God today--testimony after testimony declare His faithfulness throughout the ages. I personally have experienced His faithfulness and tender care. Why did I allow myself to doubt and wonder even just a little bit? He is immutable.

Once again, God today reminded me in a small, yet very definite way that even in the little things, He sees me and cares for me. I can trust Him, for He is almighty, unchangeable God. Yes, at the very moment of His reminding me of this fundamental truth, the song "Almighty, Unchangeable God" was playing... I don't think it was a coincidence.

In case you have not discovered this for yourself, we have an awesome God!

Moments from Priscilla School, Part 2

Ummm... this picture doesn't begin to do justice to how beautiful the moon was the last night of Priscilla School!

Of course, it's always better when there's food! :)

Silver Lake Bible Camp

I love this spot... :)

Helena and Melissa: Free time couldn't be better spent than swinging in the hammock and talking!

Girl-time--Nayanie, Magna, and Adriana (one of the teachers and also an ABI graduate)

Good-bye camp...

My favorite little sister!

Before the rest of the world woke up:

There nothing quite like getting up early and spending time with God at "my spot"when it is just me, God, my Bible and journal, and the birds. :)

Yuri, Adriana and Germano's son: one of the two cute guys running around camp all week...

...and here's the other one: Mikaias, Wellington and Lidia's son.

Nayanie and Melissa...

Cramming the last three years into two months...

God is good.

Priscilla School

Before leaving Brazil in 2008, I had the privilege of completing the first level of Priscilla School, which is for girls and ladies who are involved with teaching Sunday School and other such programs in the local church. While the main focus is that of learning how to teach, classes such as an overview of books of the Bible and a brief introduction to Bible doctrines are among the various other topics that are covered during this nine-year-long course.

This past week was Priscilla School at Silver Lake Bible Camp, and I was asked to help with the music session in the evening, which was a new experience for me.

Here are a few pictures to document the week:

Everyone together, working on a song.

Leila with the finished product after some rather frustrating moments with the yarn: a Wordless Book "glove"

Working on the Wordless Book glove

Uh-hem...the music teacher attempting to teach a little bit of music theory

Dona Isabel, one of the teachers, who also finished all nine years of Priscilla School

I enjoyed visiting with Rachel a little bit...she is very sweet and pleasant.

Dona Seloni, our cook for the week!

The first-level students in "Evangelizing Children" class.

The final level students studying Major Prophets with Wellington, an Antioch Bible Institute graduate.

The evening session was everyone all together with Lidia, Wellington's wife, sharing about spiritual gifts.

Janielly and Leila--homework time!

Rayla working on homework for Bible study methods... She was the one who asked me one evening whether the US had a sun or not. I'll let you figure out why she would ask such a question...

Simple, yet difficult

Proverbs 9:10

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:

and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

It seems as if life is constantly about understanding concerning this situation or seeking wisdom for that decision which we must make at some point or another. When it comes to acquiring wisdom and understanding for life, the recipe, if it could be called such, can't get much more specific than this verse!

(In thinking about how clear-cut this verse makes it [which is how I like things!] and then wondering why it seems so difficult in my own life, I believe the challenge, personally, comes not in having the mental knowledge of what is required for the end result of wisdom and understanding, but rather in the actual acquiring of the very "ingredients"--the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of the Holy! Once again, I am forced to come back to the fact that life revolves around God and knowing Him!)

"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You

There is no greater thing

You're my All

You're the best

You're my Joy,

my righteousness

And I love You Lord."

Life is all about Him--knowing Him and making Him known. Without Christ at the center of it all, life is worthless and in vain.

A Day Together

This past Sunday, Melissa and I were able to spend the day with most of the girls in the Sunday School class that I have the privilege of teaching...it was really good to be able to just hang out with them in a casual setting. Be praying for Talia, Mayele, Karine, Ana Paula, and Larissa: Behind each smiling face is a story.

Larissa

Yes, we tried to play volleyball...I think we got more practice running after the ball instead.

(Myself, Talia, Mayele, Melissa, and Karine)

Samuel (Ana Paula's little brother) wanted to play too... Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Ana Paula.

Mayele's adorable niece, Ana Livia.

Girls + chocolate cake = lots of laughter!

Our God continues to be faithful!

Karine (left) and Talia (right)

To think about...

Question # 1: Why is it that, more often than not, the way we act and the things we do are determined by the people we are with and place we find ourselves at the moment?

Question # 2: What determines ministry?

To Live as They did...

So I've been doing a lot of thinking: as of the last few days, one of the things that has been giving me some "food for thought" has been the subject of faith. I have been reading through the book of Hebrews during my devotions, and one of the most well-known chapters of this book is the chapter on faith, chapter 11. Reading this chapter has made me ponder a little this fundamental aspect of the Christian life. Maybe I think too much in concise definitions and clear-cut distinctions, but I guess one question in particular comes to mind as I mull over the application of faith in my own life: "What is the difference between a life characterized by true faith, as in the examples of the great heroes we read about in Hebrews, and a life marked by repeated acts of what could be called 'leaps into the darkness'?"

My Bible had a note that helped me to begin to understand the difference:

"The essence of faith consists in receiving what God has revealed, and may be defined as that trust in the God of the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, which receives Him as Saviour and Lord, and impels to loving obedience and good works (John 1.12; Jas. 2.14-26)...."

Faith in the believer's life is such an incredible thing; a jewel with many facets. It would be really cool to do an in-depth study of it....

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

The more touristy side of things...

We spent two days at the beach this week--just having time together as a family.

Of course, what else would we wear?

It has been a long time since I have walked on the beach...

Need I comment?

From the top of the sand dune.

Of course, we're only missing one person: Patrice!

This little guy was the cause for quite the experience (thanks Jared for your willing contribution!)

Breakfast and some more serious conversation at the cute little hotel that we had all to ourselves.

I really like this picture :)

We don't exactly have this in South Dakota.

Jared--complying with the adults in the group. :)

Teaching a new game: Catan!! I think there are a couple more Catan fans!