Guest posting!!! Whaaaaat??

I know... I haven't blogged in forever. As usual... I'm disappointed in myself. You have no idea all the potential posts that have flitted through my mind and all the attempts I have even started. Buuuuut, it just hasn't happened.

HOWEVER

I am guest posting today over at Insight for Living's blog "LifeTrac"! I interned at Insight Canada and wrote a few posts for them, the first of which is up today. Head on over there and read it if you are interested; perhaps read a few more and explore their website.

Insight for Living Canada is an awesome ministry of Chuck Swindoll. The staff are an amazing group of people set on reaching people through the truth of God's Word. I encourage you to check them out. They have an American ministry as well for all my friends in the USA.

Oh generation...

Jeremiah. A book of calamity, disaster, great sorrow and distress. A book of judgement. A rebellious, wicked nation that "had it all" and a just, perfect God that, though spurned again and again, still yearns for His people. What would it be like to be Jeremiah, a prophet of God, commanded to speak His truth to a perverse, unyielding generation? To put aside fear and believe God's word: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you..." (Jer. 1: 5). Would I have the courage to trust God's promise: "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you...behold, I have put My words in your mouth...and they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you..." (Jer. 1:8-9, 19).

But it was more than just the command to preach and speak for God. The words Jeremiah was commanded to say, were hard words. How did it feel to tell others of their impending doom? To give a message of despair and judgement to your own people? For there is very little hope in Jeremiah's words. There wasn't much hope left for Judah at this time, a treacherous, evil nation full of people who were "walking according to the stubbornness of [their] own evil heart[s]" (Jer. 16:12).

As I read through Jeremiah, feeling his despair and gloom, I am struck by how much this nation reminds me of my own generation, of the people who live in our world today.

"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" - Jer. 2:13

We have indeed turned to our own ways. We have relied on our own strength, built our own "cisterns" so to speak: profitable careers, life insurance, social status. Material things which can profit us nothing. They offer only a superficial safety while we turn our backs on the One who can truly save us. And we don't even see it. This generation is blind to the truth of their situation. Everyone feels assured in their own strength.

"Yet you said, 'I am innocent; surely His anger is turned away from me.'" (Jer. 2:35)

People don't see their sin. They don't believe in a just God who must mete out judgement. They believe only in a loving God of forgiveness, if they believe in one at all. And God is loving, more than that, God is love! But I think we do not truly understand love, and for sure, we don't comprehend true justice and even more, we cannot fathom how justice and love and mercy can all coexist in perfection in God. And so we try to clean ourselves up as best we can and hope it is good enough.

"'Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before me,' declares the Lord God" (Jer. 2:22)

But it's not. Yet there is still hope. For God, in His justice, is also merciful and welcomes us to return. If Israel was given this hope, surely we have it too. In Christ, we can be made new and nothing is too big for Him to forgive.

 "Return, faithless Israel...I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious...I will not be angry forever...Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness..." (Jer. 3:12, 22)

God can heal it. And just as Israel was surely judged, so was she brought back. God did restore His people and He can restore us as well.

"Oh generation, heed the Word of the Lord..." (Jer. 2:31)

Prepare to Believe

It's impossible to really describe a walk through the creation museum. All the emotions you feel as you take step after step through it...it's hard to describe. It's like walking through our world and yet not - more like standing helplessly watching it revolve around you. It's like being a part of our history but not - more just watching from the outside. The exhibits come alive and it feels like it's you that is frozen in one state. I don't know how I appeared on the outside but my heart was in turmoil as the minutes turned to hours and I was drawn through the different scenes. Slowly I began to see. Slowly I began to understand. Slowly I saw our world, our history, through different eyes.

This is one of the very first exhibits you see and when I looked up at it and read the two quotes, it really hit me hard how pathetic we are. Descartes' famous line looks so weak next to God. With all our knowledge, our stacks of books, our years of searching, mankind is still so far from understanding. We are helpless to explain our purpose, our very existence. And yet we have such a high opinion of ourselves. We think we have accomplished so much. "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (James 4:14 emphasis added). In contrast God says"...I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me" (Isaiah 44:6); "...I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone" (Isaiah 44:24); I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God...that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these" (Isaiah 45: 5-7)

The questions resonate deep inside because we've all asked at least on of them at some point in our lives. Taking the time to stand and take in the devastation that follows from the wrong starting point really helps you to appreciate the hope presented by the truth.

This exhibit displays some of the ways God brought His Word together

Satan has been attacking God's Word since the beginning, since the garden. He questions God's truthfulness, God's authority; he tries to get us to doubt and many times he succeeds. Just read through a few of the attacks on Scripture throughout history and you will be astounded at how the evil one has made this such a priority. After all, if we doubt God's Word, how can we trust the God who wrote it?

Reject God and our world falls apart. Walking through the hopelessness and destruction caused by a life in rebellion against God was depressing and humbling. We are truly, wandering in purposelessness without Christ.

After this dark room of sad reality, you leave our present world, walking through a dark tunnel filled with blinking stars and start right at the beginning...

Adam naming the animals in Eden

Pure innocent bliss. The garden is beautiful, the music is soothing. Everything is perfect, unique and good. I love this exhibit because it just shows the two amazing created beings, living in pure joy and yet above them the snake is watching, planning, waiting. Satan is never absent. He is ever ready to make a move and destroy.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

The contrast from this quiet place of happiness and peace into the dark, bleak rooms following is an amazing portrayal of the devastation caused by sin. You begin to walk in a subtle descent as the perfect world dissolves into one of terror and violence. I shuddered inside as I walked past angry animals, Abel's murder, a room accosting me with images and sounds of fighting,and  bombs,and  floods, sickness, anger, jealousy...black black sin. My heart ached and I felt tears welling up.

And then the ark. The beautiful yet tragic story floods my heart with sadness but also hope. Righteous judgement is placed alongside unwarranted grace. The contrast in this miniature display is clear. I stood studying the tiny desperate people, startled at the detail added to each one. They were real human beings who rejected God and faced His wrath. And I can't help but think how it is really no different today. Are you on the ark, safe from destruction? Or clinging to the rocks, facing impending doom? 

And then...the new start. A new, clean world. The jagged mountains, a testimony of the past destruction, all around them, Noah and his family praise God among the flowers. What a devastating truth must have hit them as they walked out of the ark. The only human beings alive on the whole earth, nothing familiar, starting over by themselves.

Yet, it's sad to think that it wasn't long before mankind again rebelled collectively at Babel. And then imagine the grief of separation; the fear in all the confusion, the anger, the resentment, as man is scattered around the globe.

Will we ever get it?

The walk-thru exhibits end with a short but convicting film of the life of Christ, the Lamb of God, the Last Adam. And I walked out quiet. Contemplating all I had seen and read and felt. It was overwhelming. Not only amazingly well put together and detailed and beautiful, but if you let it, a walk through the museum will touch your heart and teach you truths in a way you've never known them before.

I really can't tell you any thing more. I mean, I could go on and on but really, you must visit this place yourself to understand. Even if you've grown up in a Christian home and think you know all the answers, all stories, all the true history...go. You will be glad you did. You will be encouraged in your faith, strengthened in the truth, and emboldened to share.

And even if you have never touched Bible, never stepped inside a church...go. Just check it out. What can it hurt? I must warn you though, if you go, prepare...to believe.

They believed what????

So I have been researching a lot lately for the Ancient Man book and come across everything from the fascinating to the disturbing to the creepy-McCreeps! From diabolical religious practices to uncanny resemblances to the Bible these ancient religions and myths I've been studying are constantly throwing me for a loop.

Check out this excerpt from an ancient Hindi manuscript:

Let us meditate on God, His glorious attributes, who is the basis of everything in this universes as its Creator, who is fit to be worshiped as Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and self existent conscious being, who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind and purifies and sharpens the intellect

I cannot help but be astounded by this description of a god so similar to the One true God! Hinduism does not currently recognize a single concept of god but more the supreme god manifests himself in many ways. Seeing this knowledge of the true attributes of God in ancient religions really gets you thinking.

Or this ancient Egyptian hymn to Amen-Ra:

Adoration be to Thee, O Maker of the gods, who hast stretched out the heavens and founded the earth!...Lord of eternity, maker of the everlastingness...creator of light...He heareth the prayer  of the oppressed one, he is kind of heart to him that calleth upon him, he delivereth the timid man from the oppressor

I am reminded of the Psalms:

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me of my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer - Psalm 4:1

Even the gruesome human sacrifices of the Aztec people have the roots in the misinterpretation of some interesting spiritual allegories:

My well loved and tender son...know and understand that thy house is not here...This house wherein thou art born is but a nest, an inn at which thou has arrived, thy entry into this world; here dost thou bud and flower...thy true home is another

I am reminded that God calls us to live in this world but our true home is with Him:

If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. - John 15:19

For our citizenship is in heaven... - Philippians 3:20 

Another tradition from Teotihuacan (ancient Aztec city) states:

When we die, truly we die not because we will live, we will rise, we will continue living, we will awaken...

 This seems to come back to the concept of eternal life after death which we are promised through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain - Philippians 1:21

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 6:23 

Somehow these ancient religions knew something of the truth. Of course, this study of ancient man gives a lot of evidence as to this fact. The book we are writing clearly outlines how Noah would have handed down the truths of God to his children and their children and so on but as the generations go on, things are bound to become distorted. Especially with the rebellion at Babel and the subsequent dispersion of peoples around the globe. It would be impossible for the truth to remain intact without divine intervention as God did with the nation of Israel. Even then, that chosen nation fell into sin and rebellion of God. However it is still awe-inspiring that the most obscure religion, the most diabolical, the most bizarre, has some concept of the truth. For truly, there is nothing new under the sun and as Pastor Don teaches at the Bible College, "Satan can't create, he can only pervert". Indeed Satan has avidly perverted God's message to the nations but there is still some truth left. It brings to mind the verse in Acts when Barnabas and Paul spoke to the people at Lystra:

"In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." (14:16-17)

Truly mankind is without excuse yet we continually "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). How great and terrible will be the day God judges the earth for our rebellion.

Find your inner woman 15: the writer...editor...organizy person...

So, as it is my third day into my new occupation, I figured it's about time I wrote about it. That's write (hehe)...I have begun work on THE BOOK. (We were discussing last night, to our sudden dissatisfied realization, that the book has no title...I mean, we can't just call it THE ANCIENT MAN BOOK - THAT would be sure to draw readers! Unfortunately however, the whole project has been unofficially named just that: the Ancient Man Project, sometimes abbreviated AM - which I've always found confusing because that immediately makes me think we are working on a morning project... HEY we could call Pastor Don the AMPM...the ancient man project manager...okay, maybe not... Sooooo until further notice, I will continue to refer to the...project...as the ancient man book.)

ANYWAYS, as I said, it is my third day in and I am having a blast. I mean, it's not exactly the kind of summer day in the sun most people envision as a party (there's no warm sand squishing between my toes, no cool water to float around in, no beach balls or sunscreen or rock and roll or barbequed hot dogs or chips) but the joy of working on something I am passionate about keeps me high all day. (And I still get to relax with friends in the sun... when we all aren't working, and I've already been out to the rodeo...watching Annie's little ones, and up to the lake...where we all got eaten by monster hordes of mosquitoes, and my chillaxin music makes my working hours basically a party and a half.) Really, I suppose a lot of people would not find this type of summer exactly to their liking but it has so far been a huge blessing to me. I am praising God each day for bringing me out here, for surrounding me with so many great people and entrusting me with a project in which I can serve Him the best I can.

Back to the project, I have started off with Pastor Don's (PD) stuff, basically the first section of the book which explains the premise of our research and the biblical base that we are basing our study off of. I've had the enjoyable challenge of figuring out how to organize, rewrite, and edit ten pages of fascinating work. What is my job in this project exactly? Well, it's hard to explain. See, I'm not really a researcher (though I did have to do a little research before writing the preface as...neither I or PDknew what exactly one writes in a preface) and I'm not exactly a writer (as I'm really just taking other people's work and reorganizing or editing it) but I'm not really an editor (because I'm doing way too much additional writing and research)... Basically, I do whatever comes along. If the writing is already done by a member of the team, I just go through it so it flows with everything else; if the writing needs to be done, I write from scratch; if we need more research, I engage in some Googling. The team calls me "wordsmith" which is an shorter, easier title to explain I suppose but seems a bit exaggerated (it refers to an expert in the use of words or a person skilled in the use of words) but I suppose with God guiding me, I can embrace this job of wordsmithing, knowing He is the ultimate Wordsmith out there!

I'm finding it both exhausting and exhilarating and I've only just started! It is a little daunting...okay, let me be completely honest...a LOT daunting, rather terrifying actually, to think of all the stuff that's got to be done but I don't really let myself do that. I'm taking this one step at a time because that's all I can do. I've almost finished my first run through of PD's work and I think it's given me a really good understanding of what he wants this book to look like. I'm really excited to see the rest and get started working it all together. I really think God is going to use this book for His purposes and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

Please continue to pray for me and the whole team as the summer progresses and the book comes together. We really want this to reflect the truth of Scripture and to be a great resource (and wake-up call) for Christians. It is evident that God is doing most the work here and we are all just blessed to be tools in His hands.

Until next time, I remain yours,
          
            Wordsmith, tool of the Master

He said, she said, they said...whatever

The age of the earth - a hotly debated subject, perhaps so much so that the main issue has been overlooked and forgotten. Did you know that many Christians believe the earth is millions of years old?It is no wonder since the church has neglected to speak about this issue, leaving indoctrination open to the secular world of educators. Even many Christian institutions teach millions of years and even evolution. They do not understand (or perhaps they do) that this directly contradicts Scripture. What do you believe? Have you ever thought about the issue? Do you realize the significance of your view of the origin of the planet?

The secular world of uniformitarian thinkers has so influenced Christians and the church today that most don't even think about the conflicts of Scripture. But as Answers in Genesis and Ken Ham so strongly emphasize, the Bible is clear as to the age of the earth and creation not evolution was the process by which everything came into being. A literal reading of Genesis describes creation in six, 24-hour days, not separated or stretched out by millions of years. Further, the account of the Biblical flood is clearly global and destroyed the planet, reforming into what we see today. By reinterpreting these accounts to mean something different, we are undermining the authority, inerrancy and infallibility of God's word. Doing this to the first book of the inspired work of God destroys the rest of His words as well including those of the hope of salvation.

Without a literal Adam, created perfect, and the original sin, bringing with it the effects of death, suffering and degradation of the universe, the redemptive story of the rest of Scripture doesn't make sense. By incorporating millions of years of death and decay into the Bible, we are redefining God and rejecting His very words. What are you believing? You can't ignore this issue. You must take a stand. Will you believe the fallible ideas of man simply because the majority says it is "science"? Or will you believe the perfect word of the God who created it all, was there from before time and will one day provide all the answers? Don't try to make excuses. There are only two starting points: God's word or man's word. Which will you choose?

Seeing more clearly

I fear I may have forgotten how to write in my long absence...so do forgive me if this post comes out rather awkwardly. As to the last two weeks I spent on the road on our geology trip, I hesitate to really into the details as it could take awhile. It is hard summing up something that impacted me in so many ways and to describe all the amazing things I saw. I will try to be brief, for I can't just ignore the whole trip - there is too much importance in it.

We traveled from Jackson through Colorado, Utah and into Arizona to the Grand Canyon and then back up stopping at various places along the way (Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Bryce Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam, and Zion National Park to name a few). We were studying the geology of the Grand Staircase and fossil evidences given to us all over the region with the bias of Biblical glasses. Indeed, I am not ashamed to admit we all had out Biblical glasses securely fixed to our eyes as we viewed various landscapes. As Christians, it would be foolish to look at the world around us without the influence of the Bible. (As I have been learning in this week's class with Ken Ham, we can't throw away our "starting point" - God's word, or we are left with only the starting point of the secular world - millions of years and evolution - EVERYONE has a bias). What we saw through these glasses amazed us and strengthened our faith and convictions and encouraged us to stand ever more securely on the authority of the Bible.

We saw landscapes like the Grand Canyon which were carved by water - large amounts of water! We saw layers and layers of sediments at places like Colorado National Monument and Canyonlands that could NOT have been put down slowly (no sign of erosion, spread over such huge regions etc). We saw things like desert varnish on canyon walls, caused by manganese in the sandstone - manganese that cannot be accounted for by the trace elements in the atmosphere but more probably came from volcanism on the sea floor during the flood and mixed with the mud which turned into the stone we see today. We saw "cave art" depicting mammoths and dinosaurs proving that mankind actually saw and lived with these creatures. I could go on and on.

Mammoth drawing

Colorado National Monument

Throughout the trip, our professor continually impressed upon us the importance to STAND FIRM on the Bible. No matter what "science" comes up with today to explain things or discredit Christianity, we can have assurance in God's word. As Ken Ham has pointed out in his class - God is the only one that knows everything, so when we debate about origins or the flood of Noah's day or dinosaurs etc, by standing firm on the Bible, even if we can't answer all the questions, we have assurance that God is the ultimate authority on it all anyways so we don't need to back down. God can answer and will answer it all in time and those who have rejected Him, WILL know the truth and submit.

I will put some more pictures on the photos page if you are interested in seeing some more.

Things get scary

Evidently I have been working too long on this week's paper. It brings to mind the odd things which occurred during the writing of last week's paper...

I have this odd habit of making bizarre and apparently slightly scary noises after I have been sitting for a long time especially in deep concentration or exertion of the brain (hence, not reading a novel which I can do for a whole day with no negative side-effects other than a sore butt...these issues arise in activities more like, writing essays, researching etc). So last week I spent probably over 4 hours straight just researching, organizing and writing my paper on Hebrews 6:4-6 (which is like the MOST CONTROVERSIAL PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE). Suffice to say, it was VERY exhausting and though I enjoy this type of thing, I got bored. As such, I have the natural impulse to relieve the pressure of boredom building up in my very being by making outlandish noises. These could start off as over-exaggerated sighs, highish pitched squeally -type things, or rapid breathing. Last week, when I emitted one of these bizarre sounds (rapid breathing in this case), Natalie looked up from her study, gave me a weird look then broke out laughing telling me I sounded like I was in labor...well, I suppose I was laboring pretty hard but I don't think that's what she meant. It was quite amusing to the both of us and the laughter was a good break from study.

So today, I have only been working steady for about an hour and a half and I just suddenly "buzzed" really obnoxiously through my lips, expelling a huge burst of pent up air and energy that has been suppressed by this increasingly boring paper. This time there were a few more people in the bunkhouse and I heard immediately, "WHAT WAS THAT!?!?" One friend said it sounded like a bear's stomach rumbling. Another said, "I wasn't thinking that...but I won't mention what I thought it sounded like..." After more laughter, Natalie said it wasn't as bad as the labor pains so I guess that's something...

Bibles, commentaries, notes computer...ahhhhh!!!!

Because I have evidently grown too bored to work on my paper, I decided to take a break and post this. Unfortunately, I don't feel any more energized to continue for the next 45 minutes till dinner...I think it has something to do with staring at this annoying (but incredibly and unfortunately useful) glowing screen in front of me. These outburst don't tend to occur when I do such intense study by hand...I say it again: I was born in the wrong era.

A Wholly Holy Equipping

For class we had an assignment to write a devotion from Hebrews, something that we had learned or just really struck us this week. So I thought I'd share mine with you. 

Hebrews 13:20-21:

Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

A more fitting benediction to Hebrews could not be stated. A book full of fearsome warnings, confusing controversies and strong exhortations, Hebrews can leave a believer floundering in despair. There is such an emphasis throughout the book on faith, endurance and spiritual maturity, I feel completely inadequate to the task set before me; the responsibilities of being a child of God. Do I have the ability to pay close enough attention to what I have heard, enough to keep from drifting away (2:1)? Can I be diligent enough to enter God's rest (4:11)? Do I have enough confidence to draw near to the “throne of grace, that [I] may receive mercy” (4:16)? Am I mature enough to discern good and evil (5:14)? Am I able to hold fast without wavering (10:23)? Do I have “faith to the preserving of the soul (10:39)? Do I have the endurance to run the race (12:1)? To most of these questions I cannot answer yes with certainty but for the knowledge that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

Yet of even more assurance, this benediction convinces me that God gives me the equipment to make it happen. It brings such encouragement to know that we have a powerful God who does not leave us out there alone for if so, no one could be saved. As Hebrews states: “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6) and faith itself is a gift from God, nothing of my own efforts. To know that I can pray, ask and receive from Him, the ability to live rightly is a miracle. My God, who created the world, bestows us with blessings, loves us even as sinners, provides a way of salvation through the blood covenant and raising His Son from the dead is surely capable of providing me with the means to live a life pleasing to Him.

Not only is this God powerful enough to raise the dead, He even provided us with such a Shepherd as His Son. A Shepherd who is also our “high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). Indeed, I will gladly, whole-heartedly, thankfully be a sheep guided by this Shepherd and equipped by God. For in this position I have full assurance that through Jesus, I have “every good thing to do His will...that which is pleasing in His sight” (Hebrews 13:21). God working in me makes it possible for me to please Him and bring Him glory. How grateful I am that this is possible for I would surely fail on my own.

“To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

The Little Horn, the Prince to Come, the Beast, the Man of Lawlessness...aka the antichrist

So, no body told me what they wanted to hear about so I'm just gonna pick a topic. Seriously, you all have no idea how hard it is to just randomly blog about something that I am learning. We are getting so much information stuffed into our brains - IT'S EXHAUSTING!

So I have decided to enlighten you all about the career of the Antichrist (as interpreted by my professor). I never realized how many names this man has in scripture and how many places he is described and prophesied about!

He begins as the "little horn" as described in Daniel, and takes over revived Rome, probably before the tribulation (Daniel's 70th week) starts. Then now in power, he makes a covenant with Israel for 7 years. This signifies the beginning of the 70th Week. Isaiah calls this covenant a "covenant with death". You'd think, with all this warning, the Jews of that time would be a little suspicious at such a covenant! but they are going to do it or nothing else is gonna happen! So, now as Israel enjoys her "protection", the "Prince to Come" wages war with the nations of the world and manages to take them all over except Moab, Edom and Ammon (present day Jordan, east of Israel). This military career takes place during the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. Then the antichrist is assassinated (which isn't surprising as he would have lots of enemies after taking over the world) and he goes into the abyss (which is bizarre). He is then resurrected and commits the Abomination of Desolation (setting his image in the temple) and goes back on his covenant with Israel, stopping the sacrifices and the false prophet forces all to get the mark of the beast and worship his image or die. This begins the beast's religious career as he wars against all who practice a religion other than his (includes Muslims, Jews, believers, Hindus etc). At this time the remnant of Jews in Judea flee to the wilderness, miraculously being saved from the antichrist and are nourished for 3 1/2 years. Finally the Beast launches his campaign of Armageddon (which is not a battle but a series of steps AND there is no actually fighting in Armageddon - it is a base camp for the antichrist's armies). As the armies of the beast threaten the remnant, Christ returns, "the stone cut without hands" prophesied in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, destroys the antichrist's kingdom and he and the false prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire (the first beings to be put there).

And there you have it folks! A brief overview of this scary person who is going to rule the earth. The man who has pretty much been fictionalized by media, the apocalyptic 666, Satan incarnate. He could be alive today - Satan is ready at any time to reveal him as soon as the "restrainer" is "taken out of the way" (2 Thessalonians 2: 7).  Somehow, this Prince to Come, a Roman will rise from inconspicuousness to full authority over the revived Roman Empire and eventually dictator of the world. How does this happen? How does the world with all her nuclear warheads and weapons of mass destruction allow herself to be overtaken!?! It is only explained by his intelligence, diplomacy, deception  and cunning. Perhaps, he will come as a hero during a time of great distress and unrest - we know the Rapture must occur before the 70th Week so perhaps this aids the beast in his take over of the world. Who knows - only God, and how thankful I am that He does! It is so hard to study this powerful man and yet realize that all his authority is given to him because God allows it. God is in complete control and in fact ordaining all of this to happen as part of His judgement of the earth. So much destruction but in the end - HE WINS!

So let it be written...so let it be done

Sooo, we have started studying the prophetic books and I have to say, I'm having a blast. I wish I could just transport you all here so you could sit in on this class. It is so fascinating and inspiring and a little frightening. But, I can't transport you here and as such I must try my best to give you the highlights (but really, everything is a highlight so...that doesn't really work). So, I'm just gonna start in and go wherever my fingers take me.

There are different approaches for interpreting prophecy, mainly: preterist, historical, idealist and futurist. Most people take a historical approach viewing prophetic events in Scripture as a panorama of church history and being in the process of being fulfilled but in reality, the view that takes Scripture at face value and doesn't allegorize anything is the futurist view. We are studying with a futurist approach because we all believe that the Bible IS truth and has complete authority. We want to avoid allegory and man's interpretive ideas influencing the meaning so a futurist view sees prophetic events described in the Bible as coming to pass some time in the future and being fulfilled precisely as described.

Studying Daniel was completely crazy! The visions God gives King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel are so accurate and it is fascinating to figure them out because many of them have been fulfilled. This just displays God's power and purpose and His promise to fulfill what he says he will do. Even though most of the prophecies are kind of scary, they really give us reassurance because we know the end and because we have seen so many fulfilled, we can trust that God will do what He says He will do...just make sure you are ready, that's all I have to say!

So in Daniel, there are prophecies of the four world kingdoms to come, starting in 605 BC and yet to be completed. Babylon is depicted as the head of gold in Nebby's vision and a beast like a lion in Daniel's. (Interesting point: in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, the kingdoms are depicted as a man would see them, glittering with glory and power but in Daniel's vision, we see the kingdom's through God's eyes, as beasts of destruction.) The next kingdom prophesied was Medo-Persia which was depicted as the silver arms and a beast like a bear. Moreover, the bear is limping which depicted that the Persians were more powerful than the Medes. Greece was the next kingdom prophesized as the belly and thighs of bronze and the beast like a leopard with four heads. The four heads depict the four dynasties which emerged as part of the Greek kingdom. Even more exciting is that Alexander the Great is even described in this prophecy! He is described as a goat with one horn who goes about conquering and at the height of his power he is broken and replaced by four others - his generals. I am just so amazed at the detail of these prophecies and how we can see them all working themselves out just like God said. The final kingdom is Rome, prophesized as the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay as well as the beast which is impossible to describe - just dreadful and terrifying. According to the Bible, this kingdom is still in place but it is not united yet - BUT IT WILL BE so watch Europe because this has been attempted so many times and some time in the future, the Empire will come together - pieced together by treaties into ten divisions and from this kingdom, the antichrist will rise!

Okay that was a lot of crazy info and I dunno if any of you can even get anything from it, my mind just kind of threw up onto the screen...but hey, that's where my fingers took me...so we're just gonna leave it.

As a side note, I am having such a great time with all my notes. I think I have too many highlighter colours because I am just kind of obsessed with using them all and colour-coordinating all my notes and such and they all look so beautiful! They make me giddy and really hyper! (but I have to admit, it's a little exhausting keeping up with our professor and doing all this colour coordinating!)

Leave a comment as to what you would like to hear about, or more about and I'll post about it next.

The Worth of the Word

Opening my Bible is a whole new experience after last week. Every time I casually flip through the pages, I am suddenly struck with the fact that I have God's WORD in my hands - in my own language - in multiple versions and translations, whatever colour I want, with notes, without notes - goodness, you can even choose who WRITES the notes! And yet, my fellow Christians did not have this, some still do not. I know it is a common topic and realization for Christians to come to - this love and appreciation of Scripture, but I wonder if it really truly sticks. I mean, perhaps it is so commonly talked about because it happens so often in each of our lives. I mean, I know I have had this realization before, why am I having it again? It must be that I have again fallen into a complacency; taking my Bible for granted. I pray that now that I have names, faces, and a time line of the events which have blessed me with the unfathomable blessing of reading God's word, I will never play down it's value.

I think of Jerome and his work on the Vulgate. How appalled he would be at what became of his efforts to give man the word! That the church would raise this Latin translation to such a high elevation that all others were banned is frightening. Yet it shows how prized the Scriptures were - how holy they were considered. Unfortunately we must remember not to worship the words themselves but the God behind the words - the voice, the power.

Then there is Wycliffe, one of my personal heroes. He was a scholar, a teacher and a writer. He never backed down from preaching and writing the truth. He wasn't afraid of confrontation because he had discovered God's word. His life is a perfect example of the effects of God's word, truth in man's lives. He lost all fear of man and lived only to serve God. I am amazed at his efforts and success to translate the Bible and get it out to people - all without a printing press! Would that I had such zeal and perseverance!

Then we have Martin Luther, that great and unforgettable name. Living "sola scriptura". Defining his faith in his 95 Theses and passionately defending his case. I can identify with his ache for the truth to be heard, that change come to the Church. I see issues, stagnancy in our churches today and I feel his God-given passion to instigate change.

William Tyndale lived the life of an outlaw, giving up every comfort and safety, all in an effort to get the Bible in English to the people of England. He also was not afraid to speak the truth even to kings! By his efforts the common people of England received God's word. They treasured every verse - giving loads of hay to simply borrow the Bible for a day. I cannot fathom that kind of love for the Word but I wish that I had it! Tyndale's life also encourages me that God has a plan for my life and that He can make it happen no matter the circumstances that I think are in the way. If it is His will, nothing can stop Him!

Finally, I must speak of groups like the Puritans and Anabaptists. They took everything back to the Bible. They lived the Word to the best of their ability. Today I think people put the Bible in the section of how to think, treat others...basically how to be a good person but these people - they saw applications for everything in life. The Bible was the handbook for every decision and every action. I am shamed because they probably new more Biblical applications than I do and they could barely get their hands on a Bible or meet to discuss it!

All these people have taught me (among other things) that God's Word is (1) holy, (2) true and defendable, (3) a cause of change, (4) precious, and (5) applicable. It is timeless and in it is the power to change lives. I pray that I never take it for granted and when I do, that I will continually be brought back to this awe and gratefulness. But most of all, that I would know God more fully through His Word, that He would become greater, more holy and more awesome to me with every verse I read.

Filling in the blanks

I feel like I have been lied to and cheated. I feel like I my past has been hidden from me and I have been living a shallow, fake life. The world, our culture today has tried and almost succeeded in stripping me of my history. I feel like I've been living an illegitimate life, betraying my own family!

These weeks of learning about Church History have opened my eyes to reality. Before coming here the extent of my knowledge about Christian history started with the Apostles, moved on to persecuted Christians in Rome and then jumped to me and my family today. Granted, I knew a few facts about the Reformation, Martin Luther etc. I'd heard of Wycliffe and Tyndale and knew about the Puritans and such but wow, now the gap is gone! I have filled in that huge hole I never even knew was there! Granted, there are still a lot of blanks but I don't feel so separate from those who began the faith. Moreover, I feel connected! I feel like I am part of a family - these were real people! My own brothers and sisters struggled and were persecuted, fought for their beliefs and were killed for them. People I am going to meet some day - people I am going to talk to gave me my Bible and paid for it with their lives! It makes me sad that I have never studied them before. I have always loved my family so much and now I feel that I have so many more people to love.

When I began this year, I was struck by the family atmosphere of the place and how all of my peers have become so close and precious to me, well that is how I am beginning to see all my Christian brothers and sisters in history. I think we have all really missed out, not getting to know them. I am angry at the way that my secular public school basically lied to me about history. Everything that happened was because of religious struggles and influences. (And I think today more world events than we realize are effected and influenced by that same thing.) It is unfair that we are not taught the truth. I pray that someday it will change but I think it is an impossible hope. I'm thinking it's really only gonna get worse.

The Roman Road

It's a difficult one, that's for sure! We are only two days in but it feels like we've been at it for a month. The professor and Don and so many others have been talking about how difficult Romans is but I like what Lish said, "I never thought it was a hard book until this week!" more specifically today's class. So many different topics and ideas and intricate details of doctrine have been spread before us, it's hard to figure out which goes where. It's like a giant buffet of bizarre foreign food is in front of you, but you are high on a balcony looking down. Most of it looks good, some of it looks questionable and some if it is not even recognizable as food. Then there is someone with you pointing out each thing, explaining what it is, how it is made, all the ingredients and where it originated. It's hard to figure out which dish your helper is even pointing to, never-mind remembering all the details pertaining to each. Then once you get down there and get in line, you are madly trying to remember but you mostly just recall the familiar stuff and so there is a little bit of hesitation and panic when it comes to trying something new.

So I dunno if that illustration made ANY sense whatsoever to any of you but this Roman Road is a trek through steep valleys, wide spread oceans, rapid rivers, imposing mountains and the occasional grassy meadow. There are some parts that I've heard before and I'm enjoying having certain doctrines clarified but then there are parts that I've never before seen in the text and I'm gasping for air as I try to keep up. Mostly in class I just type, type, type. It's only really after dinner, during our group study time that I start to comprehend.

I am thanking God for this difficult class though because it is bringing groups of us together in study of His word. We are learning to work together, to listen to one another, to help and give time to one another and really, that is worth every tedious note I have to take in class. What better way to spend the hours than sitting around with good friends discussing justification, sanctification, glorification, condemnation, God's righteousness, human depravity, etc. That's why I'm in Bible school right?

Just who were you anyways?!?!?

When you think about the Bible, I'm sure there are some popular stories and people that automatically come to mind. People like Adam and Eve, Noah, Jonah, Daniel, David etc. We have lots of information about these people and we feel like we kinda know them but I've been wondering lately about the other people in the Bible, the ones we don't know much about. I want to know them more! Like, you know when you talk about heaven and seeing all these people and you get asked who you'd really like to meet? Well, I can't wait to meet the obscure people with only a few verses in the Bible. I mean, they must be important or they wouldn't be in there! And there are so many unfinished stories that I can't wait to hear fleshed out. I'll give you some examples:

Okay, so one I have been wondering about lately (seeing as it is Christmas time) is the wise men. I wonder if they will be in heaven. I mean, they came all that way to see the Savior, they must have believed He existed, so were they saved? If so, I'd love to hear their story! Like, what happened when they got home...where WAS home? Did they have families? Kids? How were their lives effected by seeing Jesus? Did they ever come back and search for Him later? Did they hear what happened?

Along those lines, what about the shepherds? How amazing would that be, to see all those angels, to see baby Jesus, to hear Mary and Joseph's story. I wonder how they lived the rest of their lives.

Another couple people I'd like to know more about would be Enoch and Methuselah. You hear so little about Enoch, but what was it like to "walk with God" and then suddenly he "was not". What a crazy life story! And Methuselah, wonder what he did all those years in his super long life!

And then there are the judges. Some of them we are given more information about but really, on the whole, we don't know much about them and I'd love to hear their life stories. For instance, Shamgar who as like one verse: "And after him (Ehud) came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel" Judges 3:31. Like...WHAAAT!?!? an oxgoad? really? Dude! I wanna know more!

And I'd like to know more about Boaz. What did they guy do before he met Ruth? How come he was like such a nice guy, during the brutal era of the Judges. What was their life like together?

And what about David's "mighty men"? How cool would it be to meet them!?!?

I'd also like to talk to all the people who were healed by Jesus. What must it have been like to be miraculously healed, by the Savior? To have faith and know that your daughter or servant has been given life, to see your friend raised from the dead, to walk again, to see, to be healed of leprosy, to be freed from the grasp of a demon. What about the little children that sat on His knee and were blessed. How did they live their lives?

Similarly, what about the one scribe who asks about the greatest commandment and "answered intelligently" (Mark 12:34)? Jesus said he was not far from the kingdom - did he make it? Did he believe?

And all the disciples that went out and preached and we don't have their stories, their testimonies. I can't wait to hear what happened to them, how they saw the Spirit work in other people's lives in those first years of the church.

I could go on forever probably. All these people that I want to meet and talk to, and one day, God willing, I will! It's weird how I feel this odd connection with them, though I don't know them, I know that we are family. Christ's family is vast and wonderful to be a part of. How blessed am I that God would choose me, that I have been saved and have become part of this family. Praise the Lord for His grace and love!