Management

So, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks!  We didn’t have any classes last week because we were given the week to visit any college campus of our choice.  Of course, my friends Jamie, Emily, and I took this as an opportunity to visit as many of our friends as possible.  We started off by making the five-hour drive to Stillwater, Oklahoma to visit Oklahoma State University (but mostly our friend, mentor, and favorite camp counselor, Laurel Wilson).  We had a great time not just road-tripping, touring campus, experiencing homecoming, and mostly catching up and talking about life.  We left Friday morning to head back to Branson.  We stayed the night back in our dorms, and left bright and early the next day for Fayetteville to visit the University of Arkansas (home to many of our Kanakuk friends).  I ended up loving the town of Fayetteville, along with the school itself.  Overall, last week was super fun, but also super busy/exhausting. 

            This week started out with another Mystery Monday.  We played a game called “Bigger or Better”.  We were each given a small red paperclip, and given instructions to go out into the community to make trades for things that are bigger and better than the item we have.   My group took the red paperclip to an office building and traded it for a t-shirt; we traded the t-shirt for a wooden puzzle, the puzzle for a pizza stone, and the pizza stone for a super old-school calculator, and the calculator for one of those big bouncy balls with a handle.  We traded the ball for a campfire grill.  At our last stop, we offered our grill up for a trade, and the woman, obviously a hoarder, told us we could take anything out of her garage, AND keep our grill.  We grabbed a giant drink fountain, and as we walked back towards our car, we walked past a small pen containing two dogs; a puppy and its mom.  The owner explained to us that they had been looking for a suitable home for the dogs, and since we had explained all about Kanakuk Link Year, she told us that we could take the puppy home with us.  I, being a dog LOVER, was ready to pick up the dog and take it home to live with me in my dorm. Thankfully, my sweet family group was there to talk me out of it before I got in trouble.  J We took our grill and our fountain back to campus to see how everyone else had done.  Although we didn’t win, we had a great time with this fun game.  

            We were privileged to hear from two of our very own this week- Adam Donyes, and Adam Martin.  Donyes started out Tuesday morning by talking about time management.  He read the parable of the talents from Luke chapter 19, and discussed how it is important to use the gifts that God has blessed us with, whether they are big or small.  He started snapping.  Every two seconds, someone, somewhere dies… where’s the urgency? At any time, any breath we take could be our last.  We may not know it’s coming, but our lives could end at anytime.  What are we doing with our time that will leave an eternal impact on our lives? We waste so much time on things like twitter, Facebook, or even unfruitful relationships with friends.  We agree to do so many things we don’t have time for just because we can’t say ‘no’ to people.  We can’t prioritize our schedules to get important things done.  We waste time waiting for God to come to us.  The bible considers people who poorly manage their time to be fools.  We make time for the things that are important to us.  Think about it.  In the past week, you have probably made plenty time to talk to your friends, get things done for work or school, and maybe even be a part of a team or club or group of some kind.   How much time have you made for God?  What does that show you about the priorities in your life?  What is important to you? Adam Donyes shared an illustration of this with us. 

A man once approached a spiritual guru of sorts, and asked him to teach him how to be successful.  “Meet me on the beach tomorrow morning at 6:00, and I will teach you the key to success.” the Guru responded.  The next day, the man came dressed in business attire, ready to learn the key to success.  “Walk out into the water.” The guru instructed.  As the man waded into the water, the guru encouraged him to go out deeper and deeper into the ocean.  The guru went with him.  Once they got up to their cores in the water, the guru took the man, and held him underneath the water.  He held him there for a while as he struggled to get up, to get air, to breathe.  Finally, the guru brought the man up.  As he gasped for air, he said to the man, “as soon as you learn to want Christ as bad as you want to breathe, things will begin to change.”

We will make time for the things that are important to us.  How badly do you want to breathe?  That breath may be your last.  How badly do you want Christ? C.S. Lewis once said, “The future is something which everyone reaches at a rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”  What are we doing to manage our time?  How are we working to promote our future, both on Earth and in Eternity?

On Tuesday, Adam Martin shared with us about the importance of managing money.  He started out by stating that our spending habits, as students, should NOT be like that of our parents.  We are STUDENTS.  Most of us do not support ourselves; we receive enough money to get by from our parents.  We are financially dependent on someone else, and we should not take that for granted.   If, growing up, we ate out at restaurants three times a week; we should not expect to do the same thing now that we are on our own.  We feel as though we are entitled to these things, because that’s what we grew up around.  We need to learn to be smart with our blessings, especially our finances.  He taught us about the different types of accounts you can hold, types of investments, and ways to stay out of debt.  He taught us how to use an online tool, called Mint.com.  It is a website designed to help manage all different accounts and bills in one place.  We learned a lot of very applicable information about banking, and spending money wisely. 

Thursday morning, Donyes was up again.  This time he talked about managing ourselves.  He told us that Discipline is the key to managing self.  Three different types of discipline will be important as we learn to manage ourselves, inward, outward, and corporate. 

Inward discipline is a combination of meditation, prayer, fasting and studying.  Meditation is the act of thinking, praying and studying scripture in a way that allows the Lord to speak to you through it.  Nowhere in the bible does it say to memorize scripture, but rather to meditate on it.  John Piper, a famous Christian author, once said “How anyone could walk through this devil ruled world without a sword in their hand is beyond me.”  Scripture is our defense.  We meditate on it so that when we do face trials, we can combat them with the truth that we know through God’s word.  Prayer is our spiritual communication with God.  It allows us to have a constant, personal relationship with our Creator and Savior.  People often view God as being far off in the distance, and call on him only when we need him.  The reality is that we are called to pray continually, without ceasing.  God created us, and seeks a personal relationship with every one of us.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the spirit.”  Do not QUENCH the spirit.  The Holy Spirit is inside of us.  It is aching to shine through our lives, to consume our hearts, to be on the throne of our lives.  We cannot quench it by limiting its power to the times when WE think WE need it.  Fasting is an act of removing idols from our lives.  Although this was biblically limited to food, historically, it was their most precious thing, their only really unnecessary possession.  Today, we have computers, iPods, iPhones, television, weekly shopping sprees, sports teams, clubs, and all kinds of other things that we use or do on a regular basis that are completely unnecessary.  Fasting nowadays could be from Internet, social medias, television; anything that we put as an idol before God. Studying is important because it is impossible for us to renew our minds without this discipline.  Romans 12:1-2 says “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Adam told us that God loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to let us stay this way. 

            Outward disciplines include simplicity, solitude, submission, and service.  Simplicity is important especially when it comes to our egos.  We, as sinful and egotistical creatures often think that we are good enough on our own, that we don’t need to listen to God’s word, or ask him for forgiveness. THAT is why we are called to have a child-like faith.  Children do not have an ego.  Solitude is important to allow ourselves to hear God.  The enemy HATES solitude.  He knows that that is our time to hear from God, and it makes him MAD.  He will do anything to take that time away from us.  Submission to God promotes humility.  It decreases the pride in our lives by admitting that we are fully submitted to God.  Pride is the root of all sin.  Yes, Eve’s disobedience to God in the garden caused the fall of mankind, but if it hadn’t been for Lucifer’s pride in thinking that he was better than God as an angel, Eve would never have even been tempted.  Service is the act of serving God through serving others.  It keeps our heart in check, and shows us how to be more Christ-Like. 

            Corporate discipline includes confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.  Confession will help to prevent future sins.  When even the smallest of sins are confessed, they can prevent greater sins from growing.  Sin will spread and grow at uncontrollable rates if it goes un-confessed.  Worship is the act of professing our love for God, and showing reverence for his power.  Guidance from those who have gone before us is necessary to help us to grow, and help prevent us from making bad decisions.  Seeking wise counsel in difficult situations will help us to grow.  Finally, when we remind ourselves of the Gospel daily, and remember exactly what Jesus went through for us as he died on the cross, we find a reason to celebrate daily.

            This week was a great week of growth through learning about how to manage these different aspects of my life.  I am sure that this information will be relevant to me for the rest of my life. 

 “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:19-20

"Does God Exist?"

I am constantly impressed by the time I spend in Branson.  You know?  To someone my age, Branson, Missouri doesn’t sound like the most exciting place to live… It tends to have a certain reputation of Southern Red-Necks, and elderly tourists.  After being here for a solid three weeks, I would have to agree… There really aren’t very many young families around.  Nonetheless, we ‘yearlings,’ as the older students studying at the Kanakuk Institute (also on campus) call us, have found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves.  From going to see movies and shows, late night sonic runs, and finding all kinds of fun places to hang out, we certainly have found plenty of ways to stay busy. 

One of my favorite things about link year is the weekends.  This Saturday, I woke up early (9:30) to have a Skype date with two of my dearest friends from home.  It was soo great to catch up with them!  I think that it was after that call that I realized just how much I really do miss home.  I never thought I would, but I think I am finally realizing that this is my life now… I’m not just away at summer camp for a month… But I really won’t ever be home for more than a few weeks at a time ever again.  It’s a harsh wake up call to the real world.  

Sunday was spent checking out a few new churches, relaxing and catching up on sleep. Oh, and don’t forget soccer practice… Now, I know what you’re thinking… Claire sucks at sports… Who is she kidding? Well, you thought right.  I just filled in to even out the teams for a scrimmage.  Here at the link year, we have got quite the intermural soccer team.  We are one of the few English-Speaking teams in the Branson RecPlex Adult Soccer League.  That’s right.  Our sweet team of 10 18-year-old boys, and 2 girls hardly stands a chance against these full grown, fully Hispanic men.  The team plays every Tuesday and Thursday night at 10:30… Why so late? That’s the time the Mexican restaurants close down… No joke. Anyways…  

Our precious little link year family has become quite the support group along the sidelines.  The father-like coach, Chad, loves nothing more than seeing his children run up and down the field to make the goals.  Momma Mo, our supportive, but sometimes overbearing mother, always knows exactly what each player should be doing, and isn’t afraid to tell them.  The rest of us gather around to cheer on our siblings, and really just confuse the other teams’ fans.  It’s a blast.  Plus, since the games are always so late, we get to miss curfew.  It’s a win-win.  J

Mystery Monday this week was different from any other we have had so far, but in a really good way.  This week we were challenged to slow down, and figure out how to form a rhythm with God.  We were given several questions to ponder, sent out over all of the Kanakuk property and given about two hours to spend time being real with God.  It was really good to step back and really reflect on life, and realize how important that time with the Lord really is. 

On Tuesday, our speaker for the week, Jonathan Morrow, was a little late getting in to Branson.  Thankfully, the Link Year staff is always prepared with some bit of knowledge to share with us at any moment.  This particular day, we got to hear some powerful words from the mouth of Adam Donyes.  Let me tell you… whether he’s talking about God or Dogs, this man is one PASSIONATE speaker.  Anything he talks about conveys some sort of message, and he always, ALWAYS points directly to scripture.  If I could gain half of his knowledge, well, I would be pretty darn smart. 

Donyes talked about what the bible says about God’s will.  He gave us five points that are shown throughout scripture to be God’s will for all of his followers:

               1.     We are created to be in relationship.   Genesis 2:18

               2.     We should be thankful in all circumstances.   Psalm 103:10

               3.     We should be transformed by renewing our minds in Christ.  Romans 12:2

               4.     We should constantly be going through sanctification.  1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

               5.     We should always Maximize the Moments we are given.   Ephesians 5:15-17

It was so interesting to me to hear that these five simple things are willed to EVERYONE through God’s word.  So often we find ourselves wondering why God created us or what he wants us to do, and here we have a perfect roadmap laid out before us. 

Jonathan Morrow took over right after our morning break.  For our first session, he talked about how important it is to truly understand Christianity in order to develop a Christian worldview.  He discussed with us the differences in different types of truths.  We learned that there are two types of truth; objective, and subjective.  Objective truths are things that can be observed and proven through facts in the external world.  Subjective truths are different for everyone; things like personal taste, preference, or opinion.  We also learned that truths are different than beliefs, because not every single belief can be true (For instance, I may believe that Santa Clause is real, and others may believe he is not.  Both of these beliefs cannot be true, because they contradict each other).  It was a really interesting insight into the best ways to go about talking to someone who may have different beliefs than I do. 

Wednesday morning, we jumped right into things in class.  Jonathan asked us a fairly standard ‘slogan’ question.  Does God exist?  This question really challenged me, and helped me come to the realization that I had just always assumed he did, because that was what I was told growing up.  But what evidence do we have of God? 

This was one of my favorite things to learn about, especially because Jonathan was really good at showing us sources outside of the bible that could point scientifically to the existence of God, and his son Jesus Christ.  After all, if you’re going to talk to a non-believer about the existence of God, referencing the bible probably won’t get you very far. 

It came down to the age-old argument between science and Christianity.  We discussed that science is derived from a Christian worldview.  Scientists believe that the universe is reasonable and logical.  How could this be true with out an all-knowing, all-powerful God?  The real argument comes down to Christianity and Naturalism.  Naturalism is an idea that all that exists is explainable solely by appealing to physics, chemistry, biology, and genetics.  

Jonathan showed us how to use deductive reasoning to make an argument for the existence of God.      

          1.)  Whatever begins to exist has a cause

          2.)  The universe began to exist

          3.)  Therefore, the universe has a cause. 

Beginnings require beginners.

Next, we talked about proving design, and design by God.   God created a ‘just right’ universe.   We, living on earth, are inhabitants of a privileged planet.  There are over 10,000 galaxies, and ours is the only known one permitting life.  We have the right shaped galaxy, the right sized and aged sun, and perfect protective planets surrounding us.  Furthermore, our planet was created for discovery.  Think about it; even looking at pictures of planets across the universe, it is evident that Earth is the most diverse.  With thousands of miles, deep and wide, of sea and land, our planet was made to be discovered. 

Much like any piece of artwork needs an artist, and any cake needs a baker…

Designs require designers.   

Thursday, we talked about ‘The Moral Argument.” Again, using deductive reasoning, Jonathan helped us to prove that morals are a human nature given by God. 

1.)   If God does not exist, Objective moral values do not exist

2.)   Objective moral values do exist

3.)   Therefore, God exists.

Jonathan’s points have not only made me more confident in my own faith, but also really helped me to feel more confident in discussing these points with non-believers.

I could really go into a lot more detail with these points, but I already feel bad enough that poor Angel-Face Autumn Wang already has to read this monstrosity of a blog… Sorry Aut.  But if any of you have any questions about any of these things, I would love to give you more information!!! J  Thanks for reading guys! Love y’all!

" Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." - Ephesians 6:19-20

"Be Perfect"

This week we heard from Mike Aleckson.  He walked us through the bible, and gave us a general overview of scripture. 

He started out by having us read Matthew 5:48, which says... 

"You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 

Wow. Talk about pressure... Needless to say, we were all kind of intimidated by this guy who came in and told us that we should be perfect.   Obviously, as humans, we could never meet that expectation. Don't worry, he didn't expect us to. 

Mike began by making a timeline of scripture ranging from creation to the resurrection of man.  We plotted out some key points, such as the fall, the exodus, the exile of the Jewish people, and many other things up until the time of Christ.  I had never seen the bible presented this way, so it was really interesting to see everything chronologically.  

We talked about six major covenants that God made with man throughout the bible.  Mike taught us that a covenant is like a promise with rules that must be followed.  We talked about the Adamic covenant, which was between God and Adam, and gave Adam free reign over the garden of Eden, as long as they did not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the Noahic covenant which was made between Noah and God, and promised Noah that God would protect his family if he built a boat, and brought along with him and his family two of every creature on the far of the earth. Next came the abrahamic covenant, which promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations as long as he trusted God full heartedly. The mosaic covenant was God's agreement with Moses which promised him that if he listened to God's commands and stepped up to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he would e a treasured possession among all people.  The davidic covenant was God's promise to David (yes, like David and Goliath) that he would be the father of the kingly line, and that his offspring will reign forever.  This is the first prophecy of an eternal king, or messiah. (See 2 Samuel 7:12.. It's some pretty cool foreshadowing!) Finally, we learned about the New Covenant. This is the covenant that was made to ensure eternal life to those who believe in the name of the son of God.  That is why He sent his only son to die on the cross to pay the price of all of our sins.  

Wednesday, we talked about the importance of faith and works, and about the importance of having a balance of these two things.  As a Christian, you are filled with the spirit of The Lord, which will compel us to follow his word.  However, we still have to make the conschious effort to serve him daily. 

Today, on our final day with Mike Aleckson, we talked about how we can live in a way to further the kingdom between now and the coming of the Lord.  He pointed out ways we can user our future careers to serve him.  There are so many different ways to serve our Lord, that there is no excuse not to.

Mike finally explained to us the greek behind the word 'perfect' used in Matthew 5.  It comes from the greek word teleion, meaning fulfilled purpose.  When Jesus calls us to be perfect, he is truly calling us to live for our created purpose; HIM.  

 
Overall, this was a challenging week, of determining what I do and do not believe, as well as making choices for myself about several controversial issues.  I had never been challenged in this way, so it was definitely a great week of growth.  I look forward to digging deeper into scripture to learn for myself what the bible says about these things.  

" Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." - Ephesians 6:19-20

I appreciate all of your prayers for me, and I would love to know how I can be praying specifically for each of you!  Please let me know!  :)