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!
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