Entries from December 2005 ↓

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional has been a source of encouragement and thought-provoking wisdom for me over the past 5 years or so. There was a time when I read it consistently, but now I look back to it every once and a while. The other day I read the morning devotional and was struck by what he had to say.

“The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case? Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and like the withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me of outward joys. But can I honestly assert that when bodily comforts have been few, and my surroundings have been rather adverse to grace than at all helpful to it, I have still held fast my integrity? then have I hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The rush cannot grow without mire, but plants of the Lord’s right hand planting can and do flourish even in the year of drought. A godly man often grows best when his worldly circumstances decay. He who follows Christ for his bag is a Judas; they who follow for loaves and fishes are children of the devil; but they who attend him out of love to himself are his own beloved ones. Lord, let me find my life in thee, and not in the mire of this world’s favor or gain.”

If there is one thing that I have noticed while being back in the United States is the ability of the world to have a grip on a believer’s life. While I was in Israel my eyes were opened to how much people in the US are accustomed to submitting to comfort and ease. We don’t understand hardship and trials because we have surrounded us with things that allow us to avoid them. The biggest thing that we may encounter is a long line at the grocery store or too much homework to do. Never do we have to deal with the government arresting you because of your faith or waking up in a one room house with your six children all asking you where the next meal is coming from and yet most of the world lives like that. I must be willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of Christ my Savior who suffered to the point of death out of obedience to the Father. Suffering is good and we can persevere through it, not for our sake, but for Christ. We can be obedient in the same way, for we live by the same Spirit that Jesus did while He was on this earth.

I am sitting in a comfortable carpeted room with Christmas music playing and lights strung around the room. I thought it appropriate to update all of my readers on the status of my body and brain after a mentally straining last week in Israel and two days of traveling.

The last days of IBEX FAO5 We said our last good-bye’s on Saturday night and then drove to the airport. We had to go through some of the most careful security that I have ever seen. They scan your entire luggage and open it up and take everything out to search it. This meant that all the dirty laundry that we had accumulated over the last week was sprawled out in front of the Israeli security personnel. We all eventually got on the flight and fell asleep, cutting our flight from Tel Aviv to Newark to only a couple of hours. We landed in 30 degree weather in New Jersey, stayed a couple of hours and then boarded another plane to take us to Los Angeles. It was hard to say good-bye to all of the people that I had spent so much time with over the last 4 months. I am excited to see what God does with the 33 people who were at IBEX in the fall of 2005. I am praying that we all will be obedient to the word of God for the love of God.

Do I miss Israel? Yeah, I do. It is hard to be with the same people so long and to grow to love them so much and then suddenly drop the relationship all together. I also miss the land. There was something special about being in the land of our God and seeing where it is that His people have dwelt for thousands of years. I will miss learning so much about the Bible. I didn’t know that there was so much that I didn’t know about the Bible and I don’t think I will ever be so excited to learn so much. God displayed His love by allowing me to learn so much about Him and to grow in my love for Him. I can only give all honor glory and praise to Him for what I experienced and how my life was changed. I would be nice to go back some day.

Am I glad to be back? Well, the way I look at it is that God placed me in that season of life for a time and now that time is over. For a couple of months I was given the opportunity to dwell in the land of Israel and I don’t regret one minute of it, but it is nice to be back in familiar territory. I have enjoyed spending time with friends, especially Grant, who is so faithful to challenge me and encourage me from the word of God. It is nice to get some variety in the food too. I had Mexican food last night and American cereal and bagels this morning. There are so many things in the US that make things easy. We live in a society where things are so readily accessible that we rely on it in order to exist. I will be really happy when I see my family and friends in Washington finally after 4 months of separation.

What has changed? I see things totally different now; not everything, but many things. I was surprised at how much I notice American wealth and greed since being back. After seeing poverty in Egypt and the lack of American comfort in Israel, it is hard to come back and just live like everything used to be. My heart and life are changed forever and I will never see things differently, or so I hope. I read my Bible so differently now, with such a better understanding of the geography and the land in which it happened. God has also allowed me to worship Him in a deeper, more intimate way because of what showed me while in Israel. He is God of the nations, the One who orchestrates all of the actions of the nations desires that His gospel be spread abroad. Why is it that so many American Christians think that the US is the only place to go and they don’t even consider foreign missions? These are just few of my thoughts.

Anyways, I am caught up on my sleep and I am enjoying spending time with Charissa and Grant down here. It has been nice seeing some IBEXers as well.

Hey everyone back in America. I am flying back today. My heart is both sad for leaving this amazing place and yet I want to see everyone back home. We are going into church this morning and then we will be going into the Old City of Jerusalem for the last time. I know that it will be kind of hard to leave, but I know that it what God has planned.

Last night was our year-end show. We had skits, games, and slideshows. I edited video from all through out the semester and put it together into about an hour’s worth of footage. I stayed up all Thursday night and Friday, in order to complete it, but in the end everything turned out and God was shown good once again. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I was pleased with the response. May God be glorified through the memories that were made.

Well, I love you all and will, Lord-willing, see you all shortly. May your affections of Christ burn within today.

Just to give you all an update on how I am doing over here, I am in the middle of finals week. We are happy for the end of our hard class to finally be here, but it also sad to think that we are leaving Israel in 4 days. I am right now just coming up for a breath of air before I plunge down once again into my books for the long haul that will carry me through my last final tomorrow. If you guys think of it, I would appreciate any prayer on my behalf. The finals are the hardest that I have ever taken and I can do well on them, but it just takes a lot of time.

I have also voluntarily taken under my wing the task of editing over 30 hours of video from the semester before Friday morning at 8am. Although a lot is already put together and ready for showing, there is still much to be done. I am glad that I am able to use my video editing talents for other people, but I will strain myself to my physical limits to get it done.

God is so good and He once again is proving Himself to be faithful. He has pulled me through so much this semester and He will do it once again. I know that when I am weak, then He is strong and nothing is too difficult for Him. He has given amazing amounts of strength despite my low amounts of sleep. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Praise God for His goodness to me, a sinner.

See you all soon!

I have been deeply affect this semester by my Land & Bible professor. He is also the student life coordinator and thus I get lots of time with him. I also do work study for him. I have learned a lot through watching his life and hearing of how he works out his salvation in fear and trembling. I have been privileged to get to know Todd so well and I thank God for his impact on my life.

We have a semester scrapbook that we have compiled, with a page done by each student and staff. This picture is the page that I did for the book.