Mud Pies

Once upon a time there was a little boy. This little boy loved to play with mud. Unfortunately, his mother did not like him to play with mud because then she had the difficult task of cleaning him off. One day she offered him a deal: she’d take him to the beach for a day if he would leave off playing with mud that day.

The little boy thought about his mom’s offer. Regretfully, he had no idea what the beach really was. He’d heard of sand: that it was nice. He’d heard of the ocean: that it was beautiful and satisfying to look at and play in. The more he thought about it though, the more he wanted to play with mud. Mud was familiar, he’d been playing with it all of his life. He just couldn’t imagine how spending a day at the beach could make up for playing with the pleasant mud. So he refused his mother’s offer. As delightful as a day at the beach could be, he would rather stick with the familiar—and dirty—mud.

We bear many similarities to this little boy. While we could put away our lives of self-centeredness and pursue eternal rewards, we cannot seem to imagine what more life could hold, and so stay with what is comfortable. C.S. Lewis phrases it this way, “Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Thoughts on an important topic

Holiness is an uncommon word these days. I mean, think about it—when was the last time that, in the middle of a casual conversation, the other party said, “You know, I’m just all about pursuing holiness.” What is holiness anyway? According to one source I found, holiness is, “a purity of the heart, undefiled and separate from sin.” Why is holiness so unpopular?

Holiness is unpopular because it requires denying one’s desires. Doing wrong has its pleasures, and mankind likes to enjoy them when he can. Romans 12:1 is a call to holiness. Paul says, “I appeal to you brothers… to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” To sacrifice something is very difficult, especially if the sacrifice is you. To sacrifice another person is hard, to sacrifice a loved one harder, but your own self? That is one of the most difficult things you can do.

So then, we realize that it is hard to be holy because of our desire to save ourselves. Yet we are still called to be holy. God says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). So why are we called to holiness? Because of God’s holiness. God is pure in heart, undefiled, and separate from sin; we should be also. As Christians, we are sons of God (1 Jn. 3:1) and are called to behave as sons of God (1 Jn. 2:29). As sons, and heirs of the grace of God, we are to be holy, sanctified, set apart for His service.

However hard we may try, we can never be completely holy. We cannot, of our own accord, set aside sin and pursue right living. Paul relates this struggle, even as a Christian, in Romans 7:19, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Later he exclaims, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The conclusion? “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25) Practically speaking, how often do you want to do the right thing, yet find a battle within, unable to do what you should?

As holy as we may be, we can never earn God’s favor by holiness, nor can we merit salvation through good deeds. As God says in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued in my faithfulness to you.” God’s love does not depend on what we do, but on His character. Romans 5:8 states “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This demonstrates that even while we were in rebellion to God, He loved us.

However unappealing the idea of holiness may be, we are still called to it and must answer the call. We were bought with a price; therefore, we must glorify God with our bodies as well as our hearts, being pure, undefiled, and separate from sin.

The Rest of the Semester

After Specialization, we settled in at Camp Bighorn for a couple weeks. The first week I had Spiritual Formation classes, going through the Beta Series with Neil Anderson via videos. Second week I started a leadership class which continued on campus after we returned to Prairie. That concluded our time in the States.

October 16th we returned to Prairie. I rode with Krysti in her truck and we drove through part of Glacier National Park. 'Twas pleasant.

Back at Prairie, classes started up in earnest. I took Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Leadership Foundations, and Pauline Epistles I (including Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians), along with more Spiritual Formation and the internship (with staff meetings).

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Now I'm home! I arrived Saturday, leaving the land of ice and snow called Alberta and returning to WA. So far, things are good. Maybe I'll post some pictures from the last couple months... maybe not. =)

Rotations and Specialization

After the rafting and camping trip, we settled into doing skills rotations and then specialization. I led the ministry rotation and specialization.

For rotation, we went to Missoula, Montana, touring different ministries in the city and learning about what they do. I don't have a lot of pictures from that, but here's the debrief circle at a coffee shop in Missoula:


For specialization, we went to Spokane, Washington, and helped out at two homeless ministries: Cup of Cool Water, which is a place for homeless youths to drop in and get help; and City Gate, which is a church that runs a drop-in place for homeless and low-income people of all ages. If you want to see a little more about their ministries, check out their websites: www.thecitygatespokane.org and www.cupofcoolwater.org.

Here are some pictures from specialization:

Outside of CCW:


Skeeter:


Different people's tags:


A painting at CCW:


Cool people who volunteered at CCW:



A prank we pulled:


Hanging out at CCW:


A cool mural we posed next to:


At the City Gate:



Walking through Spokane:


My team:

Montana!

On August 31st, 2009, we traveled down to Montana to begin our adventures outside of the classroom. Two days after arriving we left on a rafting trip, quite similar to the one last year. The difference was that our time outdoors didn't end with the rafting trip, but continued straight into a camping after that. In total, we spent 9 nights outdoors. To put that in perspective, we had 10 days without showers, toilets, stoves, houses, tents (we had tarps), and many other luxuries which we normally enjoy. Here are some pictures from that time:

Before taking off, we loaded things up:


Then we got our picture taken by a tree:


Going through a rapid:


Waiting to jump off a cliff:


At the end, we got our picture taken by the van:


Alyssa and me in the van on our way to the camp site:


The shelter that all 17 girls stayed in:


Wilderness First Aid Class!


We did some initiatives... Jordan and I working on MISdirecting Jon:


The entire group, after rafting AND camping:

I'm Back!

Well, it's been ages since I posted anything on here. I'll be updating you all with what I've been doing and pictures soon, but until then thought I'd post what is of primary importance in my life. Because I sometimes fail for the best words to say things with, I thought I'd say it all in quotes:

- Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
- Genesis 2:7, “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
- 1 John 4:7-8, “Love is from God… God is love.”
- Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
- Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.”
- Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.”
- 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord… is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
- 1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
- John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
- Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
- 1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Life Goes On

So yes, life does go on. I continue to do things and stay busy. =)

The students arrived a little over a week ago. I spent one Saturday moving people into the dorm, passing out paperwork, collecting paperwork, and trying to explain why there was a steady stream of water coming down into the hallway. The dorm had a little roof problem, caused by the wind ripping off a large portion of the roof... and thus we had rainwater dripping from the 5th floor all the way to the 1st.

Since the students arrived, I have continued to try to collect paperwork, get ready for Montana, and worked on developing relationships with the students. It's busy, but good.

In less than a week (the 31st), we travel down to Montana, then head out on a rafting trip (the 2nd).