Recent Lessons From God

Recently in the past month, God has taught me several lessons especially in the past two weeks. I thought I would share some of them for the benefit of others and to testify of the active working of God among us who believe. These aren’t profound lessons, but they are real, incarnate lessons that I’m learning with real situations in the past weeks.

• God calls us to live in wisdom, that is, to make wise choices and do them. This is in contrast to living as I feel, want, or desire though these emotions are a part of living in wisdom.
• God really does give wisdom to those who ask Him. (James 1)
• Manhood requires commitment and decision even when that calling doesn’t make sense in the outcome.
• Covenant love is better than lust, but requires devotion to Christ alone and commitment to pursue Christ supremely.
• God has called me to the kingdom of God and the local church not a specific ministry or movement (i.e. SGM, Acts 29 Network, SBC)
• I love the gospel and those who likewise love the gospel (i.e. SGM, Acts 29 Network, Gospel Coalition)
• No matter what I must pursuit Christ first and supremely; anything else is idolatry.

Cave Trip Report

My brother John, my uncle Bert, and I did some hardcore caving this last 4th of July weekend in Georgia. We left my place in Greenville around 6a and began the 4 1/2 drive to Rising Fawn, GA. On the way, we stopped at Wally World In Dalton, GA and picked up some last minute items as well as some lunch. We arrived at Sue’s Market in Rising Fawn around 12p and started unloading our caving gear. The hike up to Byers Cave is about 45 minutes long up Fox Mountain and down a deep valley. Since there is no trail to the cave, we had to bushwack it for part of the way until we found the cave which is about 50 ft. from the bottom of the valley floor. We were burning up from the hike, so we got into the cave as quickly as possible around 2:00p in order to cool down. The entrance tunnel is about a 300 ft. crawl opening up over a 10 ft. flowstone drop into the Lunch Room. We took a short break here to cool off and change the batteries in our LED headlamps before beginning the strenuous trek to the middle cave. The first two drops were a lot more wet and slick than last time, so they were kind of tricky to get down without either doing a faceplant or busting a tailbone. From there, we shimmed over a 4 ft. wide crack with a 30 foot drop. On the left side of the crack, you could see a small hole were other people had belly-crawled past the crack, but I think its easier to put your back against the top part of the crack and shuffle with your feet on the other side of the crack. Past the crack was sharp 90 degree bend opening up above a canyon. This is where we had to stop last time because we thought we might want to have some rope to help get down and up. So Bert rigged a rope, and we got to try our rappelling gear for the first time down this 20 ft. rock face into the narrow canyon bottom. We were stuck for awhile looking around for the continuation of the passage, but eventually John found a small crack at the bottom of the canyon that seemed to continue on. The crawl wasn’t too bad going in except for the first part which I had a hard time squeezing my hips and chest through. I guess this part is called Hitchcock’s Easy Crawl which continues as a belly-crawl for about 100 ft. Hitchcock’s put us right above the main borehole area of the middle cave right next to the register. We took the borehole to the left about half a mile and ended up in a large formation room. Apparently there is more passage that descends to the lower cave in this area but we didn’t find it. We went back to the register and went to the right past several scary pits. At the end was a nice formation area with several bacon ceiling formations. Here we discover the Rabbit Hole which really is a man-sized rabbit hole. John went down first and we ended up in a stream passage that had several smaller side passages. Downstream there was a small underground lake and it looked as if there was more passage beyond the lake but we didn’t press it to see. After exploring for awhile, we went back up the Rabbit Hole into the main borehole and decided to descend down a steep pit in the middle of the borehole which we dubbed the Slime Climb because of all the slick mud on it. The Slime Climb opened into about a 60 ft. drop with multiple shelves which had a stream at the bottom. We got our rappelling gear and descended down several ledges until we were near the stream passage. For there, we explored the stream passage which didn’t go to far upstream because a 25 ft. cliff with a waterfall block the way. Downstream another 15 ft. waterfall prevented us from exploring downstream too far. We could have rappelled further downstream but we didn’t have enough rope with us. I had a lot of trouble ascending back up the 60 ft. drop because we were just using a Prusik knot for safety and just climbing the ledges up. At this point my legs were starting to cramp from fatigue. We finally got up to the borehole passage and began our trip out of the cave. We were all really tired, so climbing out of the cave was quite the job. At one point in the cave just before the borehole, we had trouble getting back up a ledge because it had no good handholds or footholds and to make matters worse there was a crevice just below the ledge that dropped down 20 ft. Three of us were standing below the ledge above the crevice which just waiting for one of us to slip and take the plunge into the room 20 ft. below. I ended up boosting Bert up and then he held a handline and helped John and I up. Hitchcock’s Easy Crawl was definitely a lot harder crawling back and it really made my elbows hurt on the sharp rocks. We got back to the slippery slides and had a lot of difficulty getting back up them because of the lack of grip on the rock. Finally, we managed to crawl out of the cave at 1:00a, 11 hours in the cave.  Since there is no trail to the cave, we ended up bushwack in the dark almost the whole way back to the car which wouldn’t be so bad except there was a lot of poison ivy. We finally got back to the car and drove to Chattanooga to get a motel for the night. I just about fell asleep on the way back driving, but we finally found a Motel 6 at around 3:00a. Byer’s Cave was definitely worth the energy and time, but I think I can only handle all the adrenaline rushes and climbing and squeezing about once a month max. The next day we went to Rusty’s Cave which also is on Fox Mountain. Rusty’s has a 40 ft. entrance pit which was a lot of fun to repel down. Rusty’s also has a lot of good formations in it. Rusty’s also in mostly just walking and some scrambling over slick rocks which is a lot easier than Byers. We’ll definitely need to hit Rusty’s again since we ran out of time this trip. Anyway, the whole caving trip was a success and worthwhile. Its amazing to see God’s creation inside the earth! God really had no reason to create the beauty inside caves which most people never see except for the fact that God loves beautiful things!

NEXT 2009

Meeting Jesus again was the theme of Next ‘09. I attended the Next conference in Baltimore this last weekend with about forty people from my home church. It was great to get to know the people from my church better over the weekend as well as meet believers from other local churches. Baltimore is a really cool city with an incredible harbor and really expensive seafood (the Rusty Scupper got me). I thoroughly enjoyed the trip!

The preaching and music were definitely the highlight of Next ‘09. I think I reach my overload point for the conference about 20 minutes into D.A. Carson’s teaching of John 1. Wow! The rest of the conference I’ll have to slowly absorb as I go back and listen to the mp3s. I’ve never had much exposure to this kind of true Christianity before, so it was incredible to see the awesome, holy, Living God we serve! The beauty of the conference is the sharing of community as the body of Christ. Each morning we gathered together in groups of about 100 and shared devotions with a community group leader who also was the pastor of a local church. Thanks Matt Rawlings, my pastor, for leading our community group! We then broken into smaller groups of about 8-10 people for about 30-40 minutes and shared how the Spirit was working in our hearts and seeking to make the messages applicable to our daily lives. The one truth that I learned from the whole conference and desire to apply is that theology/doctrine and passion/emotion should be inseparable. Josh Harris touched on this idea in his message about the preeminence of Christ on Saturday night, and the whole conference conveyed this reality both through the great music and the manner of preaching.

I don’t think I can properly summarize the teaching of God’s Word in one blog post, but Jesus was the person that all the preaching was focused upon. Josh Harris demanded that Christ be the rightfully preeminent God over all. D.A. Carson preached about the Word who encompasses all that God is in His incarnation, the revelation of God to us. Kevin DeYoung declared Jesus the Christ in contrast to pop Jesus. C.J. Mayheny powerfully proclaimed Jesus the crushed sacrifice, bearing the terrible wrath of God toward us. Sinclair Ferguson exposed the glories and weight of the resurrection and the overwhelming hope we have because Jesus, our 2nd Adam, inaugurated the new world order both now and in the future. Pastor Ferguson finished the conference by exhorting us to remember and eagerly await the triumphant, loud return of Jesus the Christ. He said that for believers to not daily remember the return of Christ is almost apostasy. Wow, I learned so much through each of these men about my Jesus!

Besides the worship through preaching and music, a couple of other highlights were the spontaneous prayer meetings throughout the conference. Prayer seemed like the air of Next ‘09. I can’t really describe it except to say that it was just as natural as taking a breath of air. I was really impacted and humbled when Josh Harris brought up on stage a group of about a dozen men and women who came to the conference just to pray for us. They didn’t attend any of the sessions, but they just prayed in a room for us the whole time. The leader of the group told us that when Josh interrupted them to come to the stage that they were praying in Ezekiel about God putting flesh on dead bones and the Spirit of God breathing life into dead bodies! A related highlight was after Kevin DeYoung’s powerful sermon about Jesus the Christ. Josh had all the pastors and their wives come to the front and invited all those who wanted prayer to come pray. As we sang, many came and many just sat in their chairs. My heart was really softened between songs when I heard a young man weeping aloud up front in response to the Word of God and the Spirit. After that night, it seemed that there was a different sense about the conference.

Thank you Jesus for meeting us and revealing your love to us. This song I sing at the top of my lungs from the bottom of my heart:

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

All I Have Is Christ By Jordan Kauflin

a Memory

Wednesday, March 31, 2004, six friends were traveling back from Wednesday night church. In northern Wisconsin, spring comes late and the snow was still piled like a guardrail on the side of the roads. That Wednesday was a beautiful day; the frozen tundra had begun to thaw. Those six friends left to minister at their church that Wednesday night like every Wednesday and Sunday. Some helped with the youth group and some helped with the kids ministry. They laughed and talked and enjoyed each others company on the hour ride back from their church. Of course by now, darkness shroud the landscape and the icy fingers of winter grasped the frozen woods of Northland. A couple of miles from campus and they would be back into the grind of college life. But the spring day and the winter night spread patches of black ice upon the roadways. Talk and laughter filled the van then suddenly the van fishtailed a little, and a second later screams and horror filled the van lying on its side. The front passenger sat dangling, hanging by a seat-belt with his arm pressed against the cold glass which was now pressed against the black, cold pavement. Death was in front of all the friends eyes as the van violently jerked and skidded to a abrupt stop. Life seemed so fragile and brief. Whom have I in heaven but you and their is none upon the earth I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart… Only God could help those six friends now. Four friends crawled out unharmed from the van and two friends lie silent. Two friends who seconds ago were talking and laughing were no longer talking and laughing. The four friends waited to hear the report on their two silent friends in the van… One silent friend saw Jesus face to face that night. The other silent friend awoke a couple of days later to the shining face of Jesus. Two friends who ministered grace to others at church and to those in the van never would see Thursday, April 1st, and breath springtime again in this broken world. One silent friend planned to minister in China after graduation in a couple of weeks. Instead, Jesus redeemed several people at the memorial through this friends death. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit… The other silent friend planned to minister at home after graduation in a couple of weeks as well. 

5 years have passed since that accident on the back roads of northern Wisconsin. New memories are created and new relationships have been forged. Old feelings and hurts have been healed and Jesus still is good. The four friends have long since parted paths. Two of the four friends later began dating and eventually married a couple of years ago. Those two continue to minister grace along the life-path that is given them, and indeed Jesus has changed them since 5 years ago. The third of the four friends also continues to minister with the gifts given and spreads the cheer of grace to all. Also the third friend is now in a wonderful relationship with someone who seems to be made just for them. Time will tell what great things Jesus will do through them. The fourth of the four friends is me. I am the fourth friend who walked away unhurt from the van that cold spring night 5 years ago. Why did Jesus spared my life and not my two friends? I don’t know… I am now in a great place beyond what I could imagine 5 years ago! I hope I always remember that life is fragile and precious and especially that life is about Jesus my saviour and king. I’ll always remember you, my two friends who worship and talk with Jesus face to face, on your anniversary day, March 31st. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 

The Nursing School Story

I have no idea what I’m going to do. This is what I was thinking when I graduated with my MA this past May 08. I actually graduated with the intention of moving up to Virginia Beach and attending Central Baptist Theological Seminary; but a couple of weeks after graduation, I really didn’t have any desire to continue my education at CBTS partially because I really wanted to go up to TEDS or SBTS . Unfortunately, it’s expensive to attend such a school and rightful so (you get what you pay for). I have lots of education but no job skills, so I’m stuck working low-wage/skill jobs with an MA.

I continued to think about it and consulted my parents because I’ve seen and known lots of people who have a bible college and even seminary education who are working low-wage/skill jobs and struggling to provide for their family, which is great if God has directed their life-path this way. But God gave me the gift of singleness for now, and I intend to make full use of it. I’m at a point in my life where I am free to pursue wholeheartedly just about any opportunity available. Someday I’d love to do cross-cultural ministry, so I wanted to pursue an opportunity that enhances my ability to serve cross-culturally. Yet I also wanted to pursue something that is flexible and will provide for my family wherever God directs me. Another factor is that I’ve always loved science since I was a kid. In fact, I think science is in my DNA – just look at my family.

So God was orchestrating all these thoughts and desires in my mind this last summer, and I decided to pursue the field of nursing. Nursing is not as intensive and as commitment demanding as an MD yet at the same time basic medical skills are learned, which I presume will be greatly beneficial in a third-world country. Also male nurses are in high demand all over the country, so job security and availability is extremely high. I thought I could go to Greenville Tech and finish their ASN in a year or two and then continue my life; but when I applied to Greenville Tech, I found that they were not going to accept my undergrad degree or credits because NBBC is nationally accredited not regionally accredited (an issue that I could rant on and on about). I also discovered that the nursing program at GTech is very competitive, and it was going to take at least 3 years to finish. The lady at GTech in charge of transfer students recommended I apply to the USC Upstate BSN program. I was not happy with GTech, but I talked to a nursing adviser at USC Upstate, and she thought I could get into the nursing program at USC Upstate starting Fall 09. God seemed to be directing me to earn an actually better degree in the same amount of time. I had some prereq classes to take at GTech and then I would transfer Fall 09 to USC Upstate. I put my application by the Dec 08 deadline for the fall program, and USC Upstate said they would let me know if I was accepted in the program by March 09 – this month. 

In December, my brother, a full-ride scholarship student in the MD program at the Medical University of SC, thought I should apply to his med school nursing program; MUSC apparently has an accelerated BSN program. I really didn’t consider his idea until late December because if I couldn’t get into GTech there was no way I was going to get into a competitive accelerated nursing program at a medical university. Anyway, I thought it was worth a fools try and submitted my transcripts. The application for MUSC is actually more than just your name and address and some questions like every school I’d previously applied to (NBBC, BJU, GTech, USC Upstate). I had to write an essay and send in a resume and provide three references that actually had to write something. I then submitted the MUSC application by the Feb 1 deadline. Meanwhile, USC Upstate had me submit a background check and had opened an email account for me, yet I still hadn’t heard if they accepted me into the nursing program. 

March comes around and I haven’t heard from either school. My prayers are intensifying, and I’ve asked for prayer from some of my peers. Maybe God is directing my life into something different. I believe God’s will for us sometimes looks like a jagged line with u-turns and twists. If I don’t get into nursing school, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I am very thankful that God has directed me to stay in Greenville this last fall and winter because they have been some of the best times of my life, and I’ve made several dear friends this past fall and winter. I never would have gotten involved in the great church I’m in and worked my awesome job at Home Depot and rubbed shoulders with my peers at GTech. God has used all these to revitalize my life in every area this last fall and winter for which I’m extremely thankful. Anyway, I got a letter from USC Upstate last week and right away my dad called me. I told him to go ahead and open it to see what it was about, so he did. It was my email account information. Are you kidding me?! I still didn’t know! This last Monday (3/9) I called MUSC to find out the status of my application. I guess I would find out for sure what MUSC thought of my credentials. The lady told me MUSC had reviewed my credentials, and they were offering me a seat in the accelerated nursing program starting August 24! Wow! I was blown away! I haven’t really announced it because I wanted to wait until I got the official letter; I got the official letter on Thursday; and sure enough, I’m in the accelerated program if I finish my prereqs. 

It is amazing to see how God takes my weak steps of faith and does above what I can ask or think. God closed the door on my plans to pursue the associates in nursing at GTech, but now I’m looking forward to what he is going to do in the future. I’m sad that I’m probably not going to be at my church for much longer than this summer, but there is a community of grace where I’m going. I’m not sure yet specifically which local community although I have some ideas. Anyway, that’s my nursing school story….

The Root of Bitterness

I’m amazed at the penetrating power of the holy Scriptures and it’s relevance for my life today. I was recently challenged by a brother in Christ at my church to take all the knowledge I’ve learned about theology and learn to actually know God. I say this not to boast but to show my foolishness; but I’ve study theology in the classroom for six years, done my daily devotions faithfully, read multiple systematic theologies, memorized entire books of the bible, and learned to read Greek fluently and Hebrew with help. Yet these are nothing if I do not actually know God, which I can say confidently that I really don’t know God well. The last couple of years and especially in the last several months, I’ve been really struggling with bitterness in my life.

So in light of the exhortation that my brother at church gave to me, I decided to meditate upon Hebrews 12:15 this fine Sunday afternoon, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” Wow! I got more than I bargained for in this passage! When I fail to obtain or grasp the grace of God, I’ve opened myself up for a ‘root of bitterness’ to possibly come into my life. The first part of verse 15 gives the idea of carefully watching or “looking diligently” implying that this is a real danger that I need to watch out for in my everyday life. Watch out for what? That I don’t fail to grasp the grace of God. Calvin comments that this grace is not something we need to earn but rather as Christ gives us this exhortation to strive for his grace, he at the same time gives us the ability and desire to obtain the grace of God.

When I’ve fostered sin in my life, I’ve failed to grasp onto the grace God has proved. I’ve not carefully watched my life. St. Chrysostom preached about the ‘root of bitterness’: “And with good reason did he call sin ‘bitter’: for truly nothing is more bitter than sin, and they know it, who after they have committed it pine away under their conscience, who endure much bitterness. For being exceedingly bitter, it perverts the reasoning faculty itself. Such is the nature of what is bitter: it is unprofitable. And well said he, ‘root of bitterness.’ He said not, ‘bitter,’ but ‘of bitterness.’ For it is possible that a bitter root might bear sweet fruits; but it is not possible that a root and fountain and foundation of bitterness, should ever bear sweet fruit; for all is bitter, it has nothing sweet, all are bitter, all unpleasant, all full of hatred and abomination.” Whoa! That gives a lot more depth to my struggle with bitterness in the last couple of years and the last couple of months! My bitterness is a product of my sin, the root! I always thought my bitterness toward certain issues I’ve experienced was the actual main sin I was struggling with. “No”, God says. My bitterness toward whatever is not the fault of anyone or any situation that I’ve been in. It stems from my lack to grasp the grace of God and instead nurture sin in my life.

I haven’t accurately interpreted this passage because this passage was written not to individual believers but  to the covenant community composed of redeemed individuals from all walks of life and background. This adds a completely new and, frankly, exciting dimension to the truth contained in verse 15. We as a covenant community are to see that no one in the community fails to obtain the grace of God. This is what my brother in Christ did for me this last week. Why? So that sin does not infect any individual in the community resulting in a source of bitter fruit that in turn defiles others in the community. My bitterness has to my shame and grief affected others in the covenant community that I share in. It affects the way I respond to others and the way I think of others. I’ve gotten sleepy and failed to grasp the grace of God and nurtured sin,  my own ‘root of bitterness.’ But praise YHWH for the grace he gives and the forgiveness and the resurrection life I now share in with the covenant community. Wow! I can’t tell you the weight lifted off my soul! God, help me not fail to obtain your grace. Thank you for the community of grace you’ve place me in!

Does God Answer Prayer?

Aivtei/te kai. doqh,setai u`mi/n(

zhtei/te kai. eu`rh,sete(

krou,ete kai. avnoigh,setai u`mi/n\

pa/j ga.r o` aivtw/n lamba,nei

kai. o` zhtw/n eu`ri,skei

kai. tw/| krou,onti avnoigh,setaiÅ

Ask and it will be given to you,

Seek and you will find,

Knock and it will be opened to you;

for all who ask receive,

and the seeker finds

and to the one knocking it is opened.

(Matthew 7:7-8)

I read this passage a couple of days ago while reading through my GNT. I didn’t think too much about it because the passage seems to indicate that God is anxious to give when asked; but through my own experience and knowing the experience of others, I know that many of my prayers are not answered for reasons that I perplex me. I suppose the explanation in James 4 probably is the main reason my prayers go unanswered – I don’t really need what I’m asking for. In fact, I rarely ever need anything physically which is probably why I don’t see God answering in tangible, empirical yet supernatural ways. I suppose my greatest needs are spiritual and non-material which are also subjective and hard to determine if God really answered.

Anyway, I found out the other day that I needed an expensive graphing calculator for one of my math classes this semester. Last semester, I borrowed my brother’s TI-83 which worked great, but my class this semester requires a TI-89 which can do a lot more like symbolic equations, derivatives, and three-dimension functions among other things. Basically, it’s an expensive, souped-up calculator that works in ways I’ll never need or understand, but I still need some of it’s special functions for my class. A brand new TI-89 costs around $140-$150 and a used one goes for $70-$110.

I decided to go around town and shop the different pawnshops in hopes of finding a good used TI-89. When I was leaving the house, I prayed, “God, help me find ones of these calculators that’s in good condition for $30 or so. That would be a real answer to prayer, God.” At the time, I didn’t realize how much they cost new so I didn’t think that $30 was really that cheap, but I quickly found out that TI-89 are rare used, and expensive. Today, I went into a thrift store to see if they had any TI-89s, and really I didn’t expect to find something like that at a thrift store, but on my way out I did happen to notice a graphing calculator locked up behind the counter. I fully expected it to be a TI-83 because they are a very common model, but I couldn’t see what model it was, so I asked the lady if I could look at it. Imagine my surprise when I opened the case and found it was a TI-89 in good condition for $29. Of course I promptly thanked God and purchased my answer to prayer.

mo,nw| qew/| swth/ri h`mw/n dia. VIhsou/ Cristou/ tou/ kuri,ou h`mw/n do,xa megalwsu,nh kra,toj kai. evxousi,a pro. panto.j tou/ aivw/noj kai. nu/n kai. eivj pa,ntaj tou.j aivw/naj( avmh,n

New Year’s Goal: Build a Rock-Mite

I thought I would throw a fun, lightweight goal into the mix – my Geek Goal.

I have to confess that I have a major part of my life that I keep secret. In fact outside of my family, those who supposedly know me probably don’t know what I’m about to reveal or at least the extent that it consumes my life. I have an avid passion for science especially when it comes to astronomy, chemistry, and electronics. When people ask what I’m interested in, I don’t usually tell them that I have a major interest in science because then the stereotype of “geek/nerd” gets pinned on. It’s not fair, but science is not cool. You probably won’t ever catch me talking about my passions in science unless your a family member or a geek.

[WARNING: rated M for Geek Speak]

Right now I’m dabbling in ham radio. I’ve actually flirted with ham radio for a long time. In fact, my callsign isKC0FML which I earned about 10 years ago. I put aside ham radio for several years during college and tried to develop interests in other areas, but it’s hard to kill an old flame. A couple of months ago, I dug up my my dual-band Icom HT (2m/70cm) and fell in love again. Right now, I have just a Technician license, but I’d like to upgrade to a General license sometime this year. A General license would give me privileges on the HF bands. This is where the Rock-Mite comes in. The Rock-Mite is a CW transceiver kit that operates on the 20m, 30m, 40m, or 80m bands. It uses a crystal, so it transmits and receives QRP on one frequency. In order to communicate via CW, I need to learn morse code which I’ve learn about half-way. I’m also in the process of dabbling around with general electronics because I think it would be really cool to homebrew a rig from scratch.

So as you can see there’s a really good reason I don’t usually talk about my science interests. Most people don’t care or don’t understand hence the label “geek/nerd” for those who talk about such things. Because of this, I pursue my passions in secret. Thankfully, I live in a family that loves science as much as I do. When I get home from work, I usually talk with my uncle, who does research for Clemson physics dept,  for a long time each night about different science topics such as the changing properties of water when exposed to the sunlight or the Bedini motor or his research projects. Anyway, the goal to build a Rock-Mite is just a fun goal that hopefully I can achieve in 2009; but if not, well, its not really a big deal.

TNX FOR QSO 73 N1XYZ de KC0FML K

(Okay, back to talking like a postmodern 20something.)

New Year’s Goal: Pray More

My spiritual goal for 2009 is to spend around 15 minutes each day in genuine prayer. I honestly would like  to pray more than 15 minutes; but remember, I’m trying to set realistic goals not lofty or pious goals. I know the great spiritual men of yesterday prayed a lot more; but my spiritual walk with God is not at that place yet; so instead of totally giving up on prayer, I’m going to try a small goal that hopefully will develop my relationship with God. I’m not really interested in doing a lot of spiritual exercises just for the sake of feeling holy or giving the impression either falsely to myself or to others that I’ve got my spiritual life together. I’m more interested in using this goal to further my relationship with Christ, so I know that some days I will miss this goal but that’s not the point.

Here’s Casting Crowns What If His People Prayed video with clips from Lord of the Rings.  I thought it was a creative, powerful combination.

New Year’s Goal: Read the GNT

I’m not sure where 2008 went, but 2009 is upon us and once again it is time to make goals for the new year. In the last couple of years, I’ve not made any goals or resolutions because I always miss my goals/resolutions, and I get frustrated because I’ve once again failed. So what better way to avoid failure than to not make any goals at all? I think my problem is that I’m not making realistic goals. I always made goals that were possible but not realistic for my situation in life. For example, a couple of years ago I made the goal that I would memorize a verse of the Scripture each day. Well, that is a possible goal but not a very realistic goal for me. Anyway, I thought that for 2009 I would make some goals that are realistic. I think goals are important because they help direct our lives and give us a purpose for the year. Personally, it seems that each year zooms by faster and faster and my life actually seems to have a definite feeling of finiteness.

I have made several goals for 2009. My Bible reading goal is to read through the Greek New Testament in a year. I actually started yesterday in order to give myself a head start. I’m following the schedule that was posted at the 2008 SBL in Boston. I’m planning just to use my Reader’s GNT and possibly a lexicon if needed. This might sound like a lofty goal but I’ve taken several semesters of Greek; and I really should be reading my GNT regularly; so this is a realistic goal for me personally.

2008 SBL GNT Reading Schedule

(By the way, reading the New Testament in Greek and translating it for my English thinking mind isn’t that much different than reading the ESV or NASB or other contemporary translations. In fact as a native English speaker, reading an English translation is often more profitable spiritually than reading the Greek NT. I really just would like to hone my Greek abilities and become more familiar with the GNT text.)