It's Ok To Be Weak

This past week has been another good one! We just got finished with our two lectures on 2^nd Corinthians and they were awesome. Last year, when I was a student, 2^nd Corinthians was the book that really changed the way that I view my relationship with God. Throughout the letter, Paul is showing that we all have weaknesses in our lives and within our ability to minister and love one another, but with those weaknesses we have an opportunity to invite God in and let Him do his thing and show off his power in our lives. In 2^nd Corinthians, Paul boasts about his weaknesses because that is where God is strong.

This really idea really rocked me to the core last year because I am someone who wants to get things done and do them to the best of my ability; and when things don’t go well I get frustrated and down on myself. 2^nd Corinthians showed me that I don’t always have to be strong and its ok if I am weak, because those weaknesses are an opportunity for God to manifest himself in my life. In my weakness God can give me the strength, courage and power to perform the task that he has given to me.

I remember sitting in lecture and just feeling this weight being lifted off my shoulders and feeling free from not always having to be perfect. The book of 2^nd Corinthians is one that I hold dear to my heart and I hope that you will take the time to read and let God comfort you in your weaknesses!

Spirituality

This past week, we had the amazing opportunity to Dawn Masucci come and teach us all about the book of 1 Corinthians. She came and totally rocked our world with her teaching! I think that what hit the class so hard, was the fact that 1 Corinthians is so applicable to the church today. We are struggling and going through some of the same things today, that the Corinthians were going through more than 1900 years ago. Its interesting because the book could really be called “1 American.”

The thing that really grabbed my attention was how Dawn showed that the book really presents the question: “What is spirituality?” Spirituality is not measured by what gifts God has blessed you with, or how the Holy Spirit manifests his power in you, but instead it is how you live out everyday. The choices that you make everyday, the simple ones, the complex ones and everything in between, is really what reveals your level of “spirituality.”

I think that this truth is important for those you believe that Jesus is Lord because it shows that every decision and choice that you make reflects how you see and what you think about Jesus’ work on the cross. It has really motivated me to think about and be intentional with my actions and to take every choice seriously. I have been motivated because my actions are just as important as my words when I display the truth of who Jesus is and how he has changed my life.

I have really loved sitting in the 1 Corinthians lectures and I think that it is a book that can really speak to us, if we let it.

Community

So we have just spent the past week on the book of Acts and the thought that I have had continually running through my head is idea of community. The book of Acts gives us such a good picture of what Godly community is supposed to look like. In the chapters following Pentecost it gives us a great example of the disciples of Christ living like the Church is suppose to live. They are all willing to help one another in any way that they can, there are people selling off their possessions and giving it to the Church in order to provide for their fellow man. I talks about how they were in fellowship with one another and that they ate together and talked about Jesus and the Scriptures.

I feel like what we see in the church of Acts is similar to the type of community that we have hear and I am so thankful for it! I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to live life and be in this community here. Its such a pleasure to be in a place where conversations about Jesus don’t have to be held in private, but that they are everywhere. This is something that I want to take with me, whenever I may leave, because I want Jesus to be talked about in my conversations. I want this because he is the most important person in the world and I want him to be made known. I also love how when someone is down here, everyone rallies around them in order to pick them up and comfort them. This is something that I can see the early church in Acts excelling at because of the love the book displays they had for one another.

The thing that I think I love the most about being here is the safe environment (spiritually) that we have. I love that I am really able to wrestle with the things that I am learning and really allow them to affect my life. I love the fact that I can talk with other staff members and “challenge” what they believe with what I believe and we can continue to have a dialogue as we both learn. This has been something that has really changed me over the past year and I am so thankful for it!

First One Down

It has been a frantic and crazy past couple of weeks up here and I am just now starting to breathe normally again after I have been on what feels like a full sprint. The sprint included reading rather large books, sitting at my computer for hours at a time, a trip to Matthews and then once again reading rather large books and sitting at my computer.

The past couple of weeks I have been frantically studying the book of Luke in order to give my first Big-Boy lecture. I have realized that I really enjoy the studying aspect of being a teacher. I really “geeked out” on all of the little details within the book of Luke and just really enjoyed comparing what one person thinks to another and then trying to come up with my own conclusions. But I have also realized that I can only do this for so long!

So to get a little break from all the studying, I made a trip to Matthew, NC to stay with the BuCrew aka Uncle Tim, Aunt Mary, Hannah, Julia, Victoria and Josh. I had a blast and probably consumed about 3 gallons worth of kettle corn popcorn. I was given the privilege of being UT’s spotter for his PA announcing at one of the local high schools and I think that I might have a career as a spotter if I turn out not so good at this teaching thing. I love my time in Matthews because it is just always so relaxing … especially when its football season!

Whenever I got back from Matthews it was time to hit the books again and I started writing and preparing my lecture on Luke. I got a little frustrated because I had so many thoughts but I couldn’t figure out which ones should be in my lecture and which ones I should leave out. Luckily for me I have a great group of fellow staff members that helped me out!

So ya … yesterday I gave my lecture on the book of Luke and I think that it went pretty well. You can listen to it here if you want. (Luke Lecture) I really just hope that the students learned something! I think that the book of Luke is so great and it really has impacted me as I studied for it and it really has given me a new outlook on the way that I look at those around me. I’m not better than anyone and I can’t look at them like I am because we are all on the same level within God’s kingdom!

Out Of The Starting Gate

We have successfully made it to our second week of school, the students noses are deeply in the Bible and everything is going well! The staff is really excited because the community has bonded quickly and it looks like we are going to have a great year. This past Saturday we took a break from our studies to go on the ESBS Annual Blueberry Picking Trip. The great part was that the weather was beautiful and we got to hike up on a mountain. The bad part was that there weren’t really that many blueberries to be found! We had come a little too late and everyone had snatched them all up.

We have already gone through the books of Philemon, Philippians and we are in the middle of Titus. There have already been some good truths that have been learned about God and about how we have been called to live. Its exciting for me because after last year and going through the program its allowing me to go more in depth with the text.

Next Monday the 29^th, I have my first big lecture on the Background to the New Testament. During the lecture I am going to hopefully be helping the students get into the mind of the people living in the Roman empire in the first century. I am really excited to be teaching this lecture because it was one of my favorites last year!

(Action shot on the mountain)

(Group Shot)