Happy Easter!
His resurrection is so cool. Because of His resurrection, we can be raised up into new life. And new life is sweet!
Have a great Resurrection Sunday, everyone!!!
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Good Friday
I found this while reading last night.
Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
For GEW, we had to look at verses 19 and 20 and find a word or phrase that was significant. We were supposed to mediate on that one phrase and just contemplate it to see how it was speaking to us.
For the first time last night I noticed specifically the part of verse 20 that refers to Christ making peace through His blood. I've always understood that His blood was shed to reconcile us to Him, but I never thought of it as making peace.
If the very culmination of Jesus' ministy was His death on the cross, and if the shedding of His blood made peace, then Jesus' whole life goal was not just to reconcile us, but to make peace in the process. I focus too much on just the repent and follow Christ part of His ministry. Jesus taught love to all, the relief of oppression, and, at the very heart of His life, MAKING PEACE.
There are so many conflicts between members of the Church and other members who may possess minor theological differences, and there are also too many situations where the Church goes on the offensive against unbelievers, acting hostile and not making peace.
I really need to work on being more peaceful and resolving conflicts rather than starting or throwing myself into the middle of them. All Christians are part of the Body of Christ, so we shouldn't be fighting each other at every corner if someone believes in infant baptism or a post-Trib rapture. This fighting with each other is not what Christ worked to establish. He promoted peace His entire life, and so should we.
When I think of Good Friday and the crucifixion, I don't normally envision the situation bringing forth peace (especially after seeing the Passion). But, Christ's sacrifice was the ULTIMATE peace making act of His ministry. I need to pray and try to work harder to emulate that part of Christ's life just as much as the other aspects of His ministry.
Enjoy your Easter, everyone, and never forget what He did for you. That's such an awesome picture of the greatest love. It's all about Him!
Peace.
Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
For GEW, we had to look at verses 19 and 20 and find a word or phrase that was significant. We were supposed to mediate on that one phrase and just contemplate it to see how it was speaking to us.
For the first time last night I noticed specifically the part of verse 20 that refers to Christ making peace through His blood. I've always understood that His blood was shed to reconcile us to Him, but I never thought of it as making peace.
If the very culmination of Jesus' ministy was His death on the cross, and if the shedding of His blood made peace, then Jesus' whole life goal was not just to reconcile us, but to make peace in the process. I focus too much on just the repent and follow Christ part of His ministry. Jesus taught love to all, the relief of oppression, and, at the very heart of His life, MAKING PEACE.
There are so many conflicts between members of the Church and other members who may possess minor theological differences, and there are also too many situations where the Church goes on the offensive against unbelievers, acting hostile and not making peace.
I really need to work on being more peaceful and resolving conflicts rather than starting or throwing myself into the middle of them. All Christians are part of the Body of Christ, so we shouldn't be fighting each other at every corner if someone believes in infant baptism or a post-Trib rapture. This fighting with each other is not what Christ worked to establish. He promoted peace His entire life, and so should we.
When I think of Good Friday and the crucifixion, I don't normally envision the situation bringing forth peace (especially after seeing the Passion). But, Christ's sacrifice was the ULTIMATE peace making act of His ministry. I need to pray and try to work harder to emulate that part of Christ's life just as much as the other aspects of His ministry.
Enjoy your Easter, everyone, and never forget what He did for you. That's such an awesome picture of the greatest love. It's all about Him!
Peace.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Cheese is the Answer for Everything...
The title of this post is just an example of what happens when you don't hear right.
Today, some friends from youth group and I volunteered at Skyline Chili to help raise funds for our upcoming missions trip. It was a pretty fun time, and we raised a fair amount.
Anyway, back to the cheese. I was walking back from refilling a drink or something when I heard Sarah say "What color are your socks? Cheese." "What's your favorite color? Cheese" etc. David Mann and I heard wrong, because she wasn't saying that cheese is the answer for every question; she was really saying that Jesus is the answer for every question they ask in church.
There's a lesson in this somewhere. I'll let you know when I find it.
By The Tree is a great band that I would recommend. I borrowed their CD, Hold You High, and it's pretty awesome.
I went to Shiloh on Saturday at Spring Lake CRC. It's an alternate worship service aimed at younger people on Saturday nights. It was cool worshipping in a different setting than I'm used to at my church. People can worship in so many different ways, and God hears it all. God's cool!
Happy Palm Sunday!
In church, we talked about Holy week, and it's just so overwhelming to really think about what Jesus did. He totally and completely humbled Himself just to walk this earth, but He went further. He died a horrible, painful death that He didn't deserve so I could receive the most amazing gift of all time that I don't deserve. If Jesus can wash Judas' feet, forgive those who flogged Him, and forgive me for being unfaithful to Him, why do I have such a hard time loving those around me?
So, do I have anything else to post about? Cheese.
If you didn't get that above line, it's OK, I forgive you.
Today, some friends from youth group and I volunteered at Skyline Chili to help raise funds for our upcoming missions trip. It was a pretty fun time, and we raised a fair amount.
Anyway, back to the cheese. I was walking back from refilling a drink or something when I heard Sarah say "What color are your socks? Cheese." "What's your favorite color? Cheese" etc. David Mann and I heard wrong, because she wasn't saying that cheese is the answer for every question; she was really saying that Jesus is the answer for every question they ask in church.
There's a lesson in this somewhere. I'll let you know when I find it.
By The Tree is a great band that I would recommend. I borrowed their CD, Hold You High, and it's pretty awesome.
I went to Shiloh on Saturday at Spring Lake CRC. It's an alternate worship service aimed at younger people on Saturday nights. It was cool worshipping in a different setting than I'm used to at my church. People can worship in so many different ways, and God hears it all. God's cool!
Happy Palm Sunday!
In church, we talked about Holy week, and it's just so overwhelming to really think about what Jesus did. He totally and completely humbled Himself just to walk this earth, but He went further. He died a horrible, painful death that He didn't deserve so I could receive the most amazing gift of all time that I don't deserve. If Jesus can wash Judas' feet, forgive those who flogged Him, and forgive me for being unfaithful to Him, why do I have such a hard time loving those around me?
So, do I have anything else to post about? Cheese.
If you didn't get that above line, it's OK, I forgive you.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Strange Coincidences? I think not...
Yesterday, at lunch Jeremy and I went to Fazoli's and we pondered what would happen if the breadstick lady gave 3 breadsticks to a table of 2 on purpose to watch them fight. Alas, it happened. Someone who appeared to still be new on the job gave us three breadsticks and after she walked away Jeremy challenged me to arm wrestle. It was funny.
Then, we were talking about Survivor memories and Michael L. and Toney singing Evanescence songs when "The Reason Is You" came on in the background music. Later that same song played during our Bible Study at Fireside.
There are some other weird things that have been happening lately, so I'm going to have to agree with Ladius (Jeremy) on this one. The Matrix is falling apart. I'm expecting to be unplugged and woken up without any hair in one of those little pod things within the month.
Then, we were talking about Survivor memories and Michael L. and Toney singing Evanescence songs when "The Reason Is You" came on in the background music. Later that same song played during our Bible Study at Fireside.
There are some other weird things that have been happening lately, so I'm going to have to agree with Ladius (Jeremy) on this one. The Matrix is falling apart. I'm expecting to be unplugged and woken up without any hair in one of those little pod things within the month.
Monday, March 14, 2005
All Hail 3 Hour Lunch!!!
It's Block Scheduling week here at MSHS. That means that today we have 2 hr-classes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hours. The 44 minute lunch is either in the middle of 2nd hour or at the end of 2nd hour. But, my second hour is Independent Study, so I have from now until 12:50 to do NOTHING!
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Blog Police
I was a little worried after my last post that the Blog Police were reading it.
What are the Blog Police?
They're a special division of the CIA that monitor blogs for threats to national security. They scan thousands of blogs everyday for keywords like "terrorist," "bomb," "Al Qaeda," "break into Grand Haven High School," etc.
As I fell asleep last night, I wondered if they'd read my blog and reported my claims to break into GHHS to the authorities. They could have also easily figured out which teacher had a daughter named Sarah who spells her last name K-E-U-R. Then GHHS would've gone into lockdown today and Sarah, Mrs. Keur, and I would have spent years in some terrorist prison with the 6 of diamonds and the 8 of clubs from the Iraq deck of cards.
To clear my worries, I have to know: Did GH go into lockdown today? If they did, then I guess my blog has a little more readership than I thought.
I ended up not being able to visit GH today because I don't have too much gas right now, I forgot I had already agreed to meet some friends at Fireside today, and my mom got called in to sub at Calvary in the afternoon.
Well, I gotta go to church in a few minutes.
Terrorist of Suburbia signing off.
What are the Blog Police?
They're a special division of the CIA that monitor blogs for threats to national security. They scan thousands of blogs everyday for keywords like "terrorist," "bomb," "Al Qaeda," "break into Grand Haven High School," etc.
As I fell asleep last night, I wondered if they'd read my blog and reported my claims to break into GHHS to the authorities. They could have also easily figured out which teacher had a daughter named Sarah who spells her last name K-E-U-R. Then GHHS would've gone into lockdown today and Sarah, Mrs. Keur, and I would have spent years in some terrorist prison with the 6 of diamonds and the 8 of clubs from the Iraq deck of cards.
To clear my worries, I have to know: Did GH go into lockdown today? If they did, then I guess my blog has a little more readership than I thought.
I ended up not being able to visit GH today because I don't have too much gas right now, I forgot I had already agreed to meet some friends at Fireside today, and my mom got called in to sub at Calvary in the afternoon.
Well, I gotta go to church in a few minutes.
Terrorist of Suburbia signing off.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
London Bridge is falling down...
I turned in my bridge the other day, only to see it snapped into pieces minutes later when a a few pounds were added. It was really light compared to some other ones in my class. It held a little over 16 times its weight, which so far has me in the middle of my class, which is fine. I'll probably end up with a B.
There's a half day tomorrow, so maybe I'll try to break into Grand Haven High School again. I think I can be smarter than the Rent-a-Cop that kicked me out last time.
Sarah, tell your mom that I might try to use her as an excuse to get a Visitor's pass.
I downloaded a program from the Internet last night called e-Sword. Jeremy recommended it to me, and it's pretty sweet. You download the program and then you can download different versions of the Bible. The program lets you take notes and save them by certain verses and compare different versions of the Bible. There are also Greek and Hebrew Bibles that let you look at the original meaning for better understanding. It's completely free, so check it out!
e-Sword
I also recommend the book Return to Reason by Kelly James Clark. I've got it on loan from Dave right now, and it's a really good book that talks about the debate over whether or not hard evidence is needed to prove or disprove the existence of God. It is rather balanced as it gives plenty of space to the viewpoint that the author is opposed to, that nothing can be believed without solid evidence. I'm almost done with it, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the theism v. atheism debate.
I just realized that I'm very ADD on my blog posts, I can't seem to stick with a single topic.
Oh well.
There's a half day tomorrow, so maybe I'll try to break into Grand Haven High School again. I think I can be smarter than the Rent-a-Cop that kicked me out last time.
Sarah, tell your mom that I might try to use her as an excuse to get a Visitor's pass.
I downloaded a program from the Internet last night called e-Sword. Jeremy recommended it to me, and it's pretty sweet. You download the program and then you can download different versions of the Bible. The program lets you take notes and save them by certain verses and compare different versions of the Bible. There are also Greek and Hebrew Bibles that let you look at the original meaning for better understanding. It's completely free, so check it out!
e-Sword
I also recommend the book Return to Reason by Kelly James Clark. I've got it on loan from Dave right now, and it's a really good book that talks about the debate over whether or not hard evidence is needed to prove or disprove the existence of God. It is rather balanced as it gives plenty of space to the viewpoint that the author is opposed to, that nothing can be believed without solid evidence. I'm almost done with it, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the theism v. atheism debate.
I just realized that I'm very ADD on my blog posts, I can't seem to stick with a single topic.
Oh well.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Mid-2nd Semester Crisis
All of a sudden, I'm seriously doubting that I should study Biology at college for the purposes of working in Genetics. I may be able to help find causes and consequently cures to diseases, but I feel like it's not really my passion. A few days ago, my plans were all set for a few years at GVSU and coming out with a career somehow involving Biology, but I realized that while I'm good at science and math, I don't think I like them enough to work with them full time.
What do I like? What is my passion?
I like discussing God. I like learning about God. I like studying God's Word alone and with others. I want to do something great for the Kingdom. But what?
I've no idea. I really need to just be still and know that He is God. When I first started thinking about all of this on Sunday night, that verse popped into my head immediately.
I was bought at a price. I am not my own. So, I guess I'm just going to sit back and let Him take control. I'll probably still end up going to GVSU next year because it's too late to go anywhere else, but I'm going to have to pray a lot before I make any final decisions.
What do I like? What is my passion?
I like discussing God. I like learning about God. I like studying God's Word alone and with others. I want to do something great for the Kingdom. But what?
I've no idea. I really need to just be still and know that He is God. When I first started thinking about all of this on Sunday night, that verse popped into my head immediately.
I was bought at a price. I am not my own. So, I guess I'm just going to sit back and let Him take control. I'll probably still end up going to GVSU next year because it's too late to go anywhere else, but I'm going to have to pray a lot before I make any final decisions.
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