Whatever sin has touched and polluted, God will redeem and cleanse. If redemption does not go as far as the curse of sin, then God has failed. Whatever the extent of the consequences of sin, so must the extent of redemption be.
-Steven J. Lawson
Monday 24 January 2011
Sunday 23 January 2011
Satisfying Sunday
Ah, I feel like I've been fed today. We had Werner Gitt preach at church this morning, a scientist and writer. I bought two of his books and so far am quite encouraged by what I'm reading!
He also reiterated a point that I've heard mentioned a few times before and which I've been thinking a lot myself; that the church tends to have more believers who are scientists or mathematicians than those who study arts subjects. In maths and science the thinking generally tends to be based upon facts (or ought to be!) and this consequently structures the thinking that ensues. However, with the arts, if you even dare to come from the point of view that there is even just an inkling of, ooo dare I say it... absolute truth... then you're branded almost as an unworthy representative of the humanities department. Everything is quite free and easy concerning truth. In fact, the kind of philosophy of there being multiple truth and interpretation is rather glorified among the arts, whereas a more absolute fact seems to be the prized core of the sciences. This in turn makes it somehow more difficult for christians to stand for Christ in the humanities departments seeing as they are constantly intellectually persecuted.
As a language student I have often experienced in my seminars the constant battle against absolute truth, and a seemingly unhealthy desire for anything but a straight answer. I'm not saying that some texts are not ambiguous. Indeed some authors have written their plot lines with such intended complexity that often the reader is not meant to know what is really real or what is not, what is really right or what is really wrong. What I rather mean is that in the realm of text interpretation, there seems to be a kind of free for all in our universities. I have read some pretty weird and wonderful commentaries as well as some astoundingly brilliant ones on famous french and german literary works. It just almost seems to me that as long as you write with brilliance, so with a kind of intelligence that may not result in a reasonable answer but that displays that you have a knack with words and have read the works of every famous philisopher and can just about make worthy sense of them, then you'll have your work published. Ah, so this is perhaps turning into a rant about the arts... hey, I am an arts student so am perhaps more qualified to critise my own studies. Still, it's sad to see that there could be such an abundance of creative minds who could be working creatively for a creative God, but that due to their constant intellectual and consequent spiritual erosion, there are actually very few in the arts who are saved, let alone really standing for Christ in not just a fallen department, but a fallen society, a fallen world.
The rest of my day has been pretty good. There was another gathering of students at one of the church-owned student flats. Pizza was aplenty and conversation stimulating for a Sunday afternoon. A friend and I were discussing home schooling, the pros and cons and whether or not christians ought to send their children to state schools or not. If anyone has a particular opinion on this then please feel free to comment or to direct me to something that may be of interest.
I must say that having received my education from a local, state school I have seen both the benefits of social inclusion as well alternately just how very hard it is to be a christian as a teenager. God was very gracious in keeping me. In many ways, I think state schooling made me much more realistic about what standing for Christ really means than those I knew who attended church schools or who were home-schooled. I was one of only two christians, so far as I knew, in my year, with two christian teachers (who didn't teach me personally), my brother when he started high school and one other girl almost four years my junior in a school of over a thousand students. How surprised and how overjoyed I was to come to university and have the opportunity to be with christians every single day!! First year was amazing, really. Yet, I learned many valuable lessons about what it is to be different when I was at school though I was by no means an exemplary model Christian and often failed miserably. So, I'm undecided on the issue.
Friday, I went to see Black Swan. Very interesting film and so much to analyse! I only stopped dancing half way through first year and sort of regret it now seeing as I used to love ballet. Yes, you really do go onto the tip of your toes and yes, it is painful the first and second and third and potentially the next ten times until your feet get tougher and shoes are a wee bit softer. But it looks BEAUTIFUL! You just have messed up feet like mine and an uncontrollable urge to leap around the room doing pirouttes and rond de jambe and goodness knows what else when a wonderful ballet piece comes over the airwaves... And tap dancing is very cool- all of those rhythms! You thought those tap numbers in the black and white musicals were slightly old-fashioned right? Well, think again my friend, think again...
And with my reminiscing begins another week and a tune from Mike Oldfield – Harbinger. Playing the piano is Lang Lang, possibly one of the best pianists currently alive.
He also reiterated a point that I've heard mentioned a few times before and which I've been thinking a lot myself; that the church tends to have more believers who are scientists or mathematicians than those who study arts subjects. In maths and science the thinking generally tends to be based upon facts (or ought to be!) and this consequently structures the thinking that ensues. However, with the arts, if you even dare to come from the point of view that there is even just an inkling of, ooo dare I say it... absolute truth... then you're branded almost as an unworthy representative of the humanities department. Everything is quite free and easy concerning truth. In fact, the kind of philosophy of there being multiple truth and interpretation is rather glorified among the arts, whereas a more absolute fact seems to be the prized core of the sciences. This in turn makes it somehow more difficult for christians to stand for Christ in the humanities departments seeing as they are constantly intellectually persecuted.
As a language student I have often experienced in my seminars the constant battle against absolute truth, and a seemingly unhealthy desire for anything but a straight answer. I'm not saying that some texts are not ambiguous. Indeed some authors have written their plot lines with such intended complexity that often the reader is not meant to know what is really real or what is not, what is really right or what is really wrong. What I rather mean is that in the realm of text interpretation, there seems to be a kind of free for all in our universities. I have read some pretty weird and wonderful commentaries as well as some astoundingly brilliant ones on famous french and german literary works. It just almost seems to me that as long as you write with brilliance, so with a kind of intelligence that may not result in a reasonable answer but that displays that you have a knack with words and have read the works of every famous philisopher and can just about make worthy sense of them, then you'll have your work published. Ah, so this is perhaps turning into a rant about the arts... hey, I am an arts student so am perhaps more qualified to critise my own studies. Still, it's sad to see that there could be such an abundance of creative minds who could be working creatively for a creative God, but that due to their constant intellectual and consequent spiritual erosion, there are actually very few in the arts who are saved, let alone really standing for Christ in not just a fallen department, but a fallen society, a fallen world.
The rest of my day has been pretty good. There was another gathering of students at one of the church-owned student flats. Pizza was aplenty and conversation stimulating for a Sunday afternoon. A friend and I were discussing home schooling, the pros and cons and whether or not christians ought to send their children to state schools or not. If anyone has a particular opinion on this then please feel free to comment or to direct me to something that may be of interest.
I must say that having received my education from a local, state school I have seen both the benefits of social inclusion as well alternately just how very hard it is to be a christian as a teenager. God was very gracious in keeping me. In many ways, I think state schooling made me much more realistic about what standing for Christ really means than those I knew who attended church schools or who were home-schooled. I was one of only two christians, so far as I knew, in my year, with two christian teachers (who didn't teach me personally), my brother when he started high school and one other girl almost four years my junior in a school of over a thousand students. How surprised and how overjoyed I was to come to university and have the opportunity to be with christians every single day!! First year was amazing, really. Yet, I learned many valuable lessons about what it is to be different when I was at school though I was by no means an exemplary model Christian and often failed miserably. So, I'm undecided on the issue.
Friday, I went to see Black Swan. Very interesting film and so much to analyse! I only stopped dancing half way through first year and sort of regret it now seeing as I used to love ballet. Yes, you really do go onto the tip of your toes and yes, it is painful the first and second and third and potentially the next ten times until your feet get tougher and shoes are a wee bit softer. But it looks BEAUTIFUL! You just have messed up feet like mine and an uncontrollable urge to leap around the room doing pirouttes and rond de jambe and goodness knows what else when a wonderful ballet piece comes over the airwaves... And tap dancing is very cool- all of those rhythms! You thought those tap numbers in the black and white musicals were slightly old-fashioned right? Well, think again my friend, think again...
And with my reminiscing begins another week and a tune from Mike Oldfield – Harbinger. Playing the piano is Lang Lang, possibly one of the best pianists currently alive.
Monday 17 January 2011
I ask myself why am I still sitting at my laptop at 11.40pm on a Monday evening reading up on english grammar and scouting the web for suitable exercises... oh, because I'm suddently faced with a rather large mountain of preparation for the next weeks' classes and am kind of a... well... perfectionist, as well as a terrible decision maker and top-class procrastinator. Plus, I quite frankly can't say 'no'. Quite possibly the worst combination ever.
Were you always wondering how and when to use that or which in a sentence? Here's the answer (apparently). Riveting stuff, eh.
I'm actually preparing a series of lessons for a student who I've just started giving extra (on-the-quiet) english lessons to who, in a class of 28, doesn't really get the attention she needs in order to improve. It's quite ridiculous really that any class should be so big for a college. I can't help feel it's something that gets overlooked in the media when we hear about Germany. We're always told about how Germany is one of the wealthiest nations in the West, for which reason she is now bailing out half of Europe, and is still 'in there' with regard to industry, technology and car manufacture.
Yet, in a country that so apparently seems to have everything straight, there is so much poverty. Many of the students I help teach are from difficult families, either live on their own or pay a substantial amount of rent to their parents, must work in order to pay for their studies and some are only just beginning to get their mouths and minds around german let alone tackling english. When most of these students leave college I daresay they'll have a better chance at getting a suitable job because they will have had to have worked hard, but for some, especially for those who have given up because they feel it's like flogging a dead horse, what will await them when they leave the relatively safe and encompassing boundaries of state education?
You can see this on the streets here too. Göttingen is a university town. It's brimming with potentially brilliant minds, countless plaques and statues attributed to famous scientists, writers, poets, philosophers, with a huge emphasis on culture as being accessible to all given that there are many free cultural events happening every month. Whatever kind of music you like, you can find it here, whatever politics you're in support of, whatever religion, creed or doctrine you sign up to, you can probably find it here. To the world, Germany has it all. Rich, powerful, making something of itself.
Then you look at it through the gospel lens.
How different it then is... and how much it needs praying for.
Were you always wondering how and when to use that or which in a sentence? Here's the answer (apparently). Riveting stuff, eh.
I'm actually preparing a series of lessons for a student who I've just started giving extra (on-the-quiet) english lessons to who, in a class of 28, doesn't really get the attention she needs in order to improve. It's quite ridiculous really that any class should be so big for a college. I can't help feel it's something that gets overlooked in the media when we hear about Germany. We're always told about how Germany is one of the wealthiest nations in the West, for which reason she is now bailing out half of Europe, and is still 'in there' with regard to industry, technology and car manufacture.
Yet, in a country that so apparently seems to have everything straight, there is so much poverty. Many of the students I help teach are from difficult families, either live on their own or pay a substantial amount of rent to their parents, must work in order to pay for their studies and some are only just beginning to get their mouths and minds around german let alone tackling english. When most of these students leave college I daresay they'll have a better chance at getting a suitable job because they will have had to have worked hard, but for some, especially for those who have given up because they feel it's like flogging a dead horse, what will await them when they leave the relatively safe and encompassing boundaries of state education?
You can see this on the streets here too. Göttingen is a university town. It's brimming with potentially brilliant minds, countless plaques and statues attributed to famous scientists, writers, poets, philosophers, with a huge emphasis on culture as being accessible to all given that there are many free cultural events happening every month. Whatever kind of music you like, you can find it here, whatever politics you're in support of, whatever religion, creed or doctrine you sign up to, you can probably find it here. To the world, Germany has it all. Rich, powerful, making something of itself.
Then you look at it through the gospel lens.
How different it then is... and how much it needs praying for.
Help Even the Unrighteous Poor
Helping the poor is not as easy, nor even always as rewarding as we may think it is. Too often we approach it with a kind of superiority as if the person we are helping ought simply to be grateful for whatever we give to them out of our own abundance. Think again. See the poor as God sees the poor and it will soon remind you of the weave, knit and thread of the gospel: grace.
'I have found that helping the unrighteous poor is perhaps also the best way to remind myself of the gospel by which I am saved. I did not receive mercy because I deserved it. Jesus Christ did not give his life for me because I was a good person. No, I was his enemy and full of sin when he died for me. I never did and never will earn his grace. Grace is always unmerited. So when I see how the unrighteous poor respond with bitterness to my acts of kindness, I am reminded of my own spiritual condition. Even now, I often fail to thank God for his continuous and abundant grace towards me. Thank God for the gospel by which I am being saved!
We must see our service to the poor through this gospel lens. Actually, our ability to help those who don’t deserve it is an indicator as to whether or not we have actually received the mercy and grace of God ourselves. As Jesus says in Luke 6:32-33 and 35-36:
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. . . . But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and you reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.'
Joel Brooks, from The Gospel Coalition.
Sunday 16 January 2011
Dear Future Husbands | thoughts from the women of andalasia: Wise Thoughts From Kids
I recently stumbled across this blog and had a good laugh at what some children apparently said about love. Not sure it's all true mind you... Some comments are quite telling, others just, well, amusing...
Dear Future Husbands | thoughts from the women of andalasia: Wise Thoughts From Kids:
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
"If it's your mother, you can kiss her anytime. But if it's a new person, you have to ask permission."
-Roger, age 6
"I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when 'Dinosaurs' is on television."
-Jill, age 6
Dear Future Husbands | thoughts from the women of andalasia: Wise Thoughts From Kids:
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
-Roger, age 6
CONFIDENTIAL OPINIONS ABOUT LOVE
"I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when 'Dinosaurs' is on television."
-Jill, age 6
HOW TO MAKE LOVE ENDURE
"Don't say you love somebody and then change your mind ... Love isn't like picking what movie you want to watch."ON THE ROLE OF BEAUTY AND HANDSOMENESS IN LOVE
-Christine, age 9
"Beauty is skin deep. But how rich you are can last a long time."
Saturday 15 January 2011
"Contentment is the inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God's disposal in every condition." ―Jeremiah Burroughs
Read the rest here.
Read the rest here.
Friday 14 January 2011
First week back. RIP mein wonderschönes Fahrrad!
I'm having a funny time of it at the moment. I almost feel like a new person as if my eyes have been the most open this week to God's goodness than at any time over the last two months.
On Tuesday night I spent the evening with two christian friends, eating together and sharing just how much God has done in our lives. It was such a wonderful time of encouragement which I believe the Lord used to show me all of the good things that I had previously failed to see. To read the psalms together, pray together and just be built up as the three of us shared more of what was really on our hearts was, to me, such a privilege and a massive blessing. It was like God was saying 'See! Look at the friends I've given you. Look at how sinful the three of you are, but look at how I am making you purer in heart and mind day by day.' For a while I thought I didn't have real friends here with whom I could really share problems with and so I hid a lot of distress and discouragement away and tried to deal with it myself, all the while becoming more and more frustrated by the thought that no one really knew who I was or how I was feeling! However, I think those last couple of months had to be the way they were so that God could graciously make me see more clearly, more positively and certainly with far more thankfulness at what He has done and still is doing.
Wednesday, I was at an Allianz Gebetsabend -inter-church prayer meeting- that was part of a week of different Allianz meetings going on in Göttingen. It was run by the SMD (equivalent CU) and so mostly attracted students from the other christian groups in the university. Nevertheless, it was great to pray with others for Göttingen, for the university, government, persecuted christians in places such as Iran and Laos as well as to be reminded by our speaker of the importance of being persistant in prayer.
On Thursday I finished work at 9.30am (whoop!) and trotted off to a friend's house for a spot of breakfast that ended up turning into a six hour munch marathon with numerous cups of tea and coffee as we talked and talked and talked...
Right now, the guys who may be reading this will be thinking, 'aha! And now we have proof that all girls do is talk!'
Well, we were just on fire... talking about God's plan for the nations to be saved, missions and missionaries, evangelism, how to encourage our church and the other churches in the area, how and what to do concerning the needy people in Göttingen who are without the gospel, Israel, how our minds affect our hearts and how important knowledge and wisdom from God is.... quality stuff really that ended with prayer and a solemn decision to order some gospel tracts and spend some time distributing literature in Göttingen together, aiming to try and engage people in conversation. It became apparent that we have both had burdens on our hearts for a while concerning the way evangelism is done by the local churches. Namely that gospel events are good and ought to be carried out but that the majority of people will never ever set foot in a church. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the lost will come to us and we just have to wait, but rather that we are given the command to 'go' and preach the good news of salvation to all people.
Again, it was a tremendous encouragement to me to find another christian girl who wanted to see God at work in Göttingen. I have to admit that I was surprised at myself to not only be agreeing to but suggesting that we go out and tract together! I remember being on MV a couple of summers ago, physically shaking and jumbling up my poor french as I attempted to give someone a christian leaflet -never really been that confident speaking languages, you may be surprised to hear- and yet this prayerful decision was one of the easiest and most joyful decisions I think I have ever made!
So, it's sort of funny really that after all that's happened over the last week that last night as I was on my way to Bible study, my bike should suddenly make a horrible, scratchy, clunking, chain warping noise and shudder to a halt just a few feet from my flat. Problem: the what-do-you-call-it that you can move to slacken the chain had completely sheared off and had sprung up into my bag wheel, there to be lodged, wrapped around chain and spoke and never to be moved...lovely. As it was dark and I couldn't see anyway I just had to chain my bike up and walk. I must admit, I was pretty puzzled as to why the metal should so suddenly decide to revolt and mangle the gears up, but I did have a chuckle about it. I found it rather amusing actually after so many encouragements that one of the few objects that is useful to me is now utterly immobile! At least I had the ability to laugh about the whole thing and be thankful that it didn't happen on the way to work or even worse, as I was heading down a rather steep mountain!
Please pray I'll be able to get something sorted out soon and not at too high a cost as I've been told that the repairs would cost at least 100 euros as this manufacturer of gears doesn't exist any more, which means that nearly all the gears, chain and gear-changer would have to be replaced...hehe, sounds familiar to a post I put up in October eh? Also, as I've borrowed the bike from my flatmate's colleague I need to check things over concerning the money with him. It seems that the bike was just old and was third-hand when it came to me, nevertheless I'd appreciate prayer for wisdom in knowing what to do.
So, the weekend is upon me once again. Lesson prep, japanese study, web-site design and cleaning await me tomorrow. Help! There must be something wrong with me...am I actually joyful about cleaning?
On Tuesday night I spent the evening with two christian friends, eating together and sharing just how much God has done in our lives. It was such a wonderful time of encouragement which I believe the Lord used to show me all of the good things that I had previously failed to see. To read the psalms together, pray together and just be built up as the three of us shared more of what was really on our hearts was, to me, such a privilege and a massive blessing. It was like God was saying 'See! Look at the friends I've given you. Look at how sinful the three of you are, but look at how I am making you purer in heart and mind day by day.' For a while I thought I didn't have real friends here with whom I could really share problems with and so I hid a lot of distress and discouragement away and tried to deal with it myself, all the while becoming more and more frustrated by the thought that no one really knew who I was or how I was feeling! However, I think those last couple of months had to be the way they were so that God could graciously make me see more clearly, more positively and certainly with far more thankfulness at what He has done and still is doing.
Wednesday, I was at an Allianz Gebetsabend -inter-church prayer meeting- that was part of a week of different Allianz meetings going on in Göttingen. It was run by the SMD (equivalent CU) and so mostly attracted students from the other christian groups in the university. Nevertheless, it was great to pray with others for Göttingen, for the university, government, persecuted christians in places such as Iran and Laos as well as to be reminded by our speaker of the importance of being persistant in prayer.
On Thursday I finished work at 9.30am (whoop!) and trotted off to a friend's house for a spot of breakfast that ended up turning into a six hour munch marathon with numerous cups of tea and coffee as we talked and talked and talked...
Right now, the guys who may be reading this will be thinking, 'aha! And now we have proof that all girls do is talk!'
Well, we were just on fire... talking about God's plan for the nations to be saved, missions and missionaries, evangelism, how to encourage our church and the other churches in the area, how and what to do concerning the needy people in Göttingen who are without the gospel, Israel, how our minds affect our hearts and how important knowledge and wisdom from God is.... quality stuff really that ended with prayer and a solemn decision to order some gospel tracts and spend some time distributing literature in Göttingen together, aiming to try and engage people in conversation. It became apparent that we have both had burdens on our hearts for a while concerning the way evangelism is done by the local churches. Namely that gospel events are good and ought to be carried out but that the majority of people will never ever set foot in a church. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the lost will come to us and we just have to wait, but rather that we are given the command to 'go' and preach the good news of salvation to all people.
Again, it was a tremendous encouragement to me to find another christian girl who wanted to see God at work in Göttingen. I have to admit that I was surprised at myself to not only be agreeing to but suggesting that we go out and tract together! I remember being on MV a couple of summers ago, physically shaking and jumbling up my poor french as I attempted to give someone a christian leaflet -never really been that confident speaking languages, you may be surprised to hear- and yet this prayerful decision was one of the easiest and most joyful decisions I think I have ever made!
So, it's sort of funny really that after all that's happened over the last week that last night as I was on my way to Bible study, my bike should suddenly make a horrible, scratchy, clunking, chain warping noise and shudder to a halt just a few feet from my flat. Problem: the what-do-you-call-it that you can move to slacken the chain had completely sheared off and had sprung up into my bag wheel, there to be lodged, wrapped around chain and spoke and never to be moved...lovely. As it was dark and I couldn't see anyway I just had to chain my bike up and walk. I must admit, I was pretty puzzled as to why the metal should so suddenly decide to revolt and mangle the gears up, but I did have a chuckle about it. I found it rather amusing actually after so many encouragements that one of the few objects that is useful to me is now utterly immobile! At least I had the ability to laugh about the whole thing and be thankful that it didn't happen on the way to work or even worse, as I was heading down a rather steep mountain!
Please pray I'll be able to get something sorted out soon and not at too high a cost as I've been told that the repairs would cost at least 100 euros as this manufacturer of gears doesn't exist any more, which means that nearly all the gears, chain and gear-changer would have to be replaced...hehe, sounds familiar to a post I put up in October eh? Also, as I've borrowed the bike from my flatmate's colleague I need to check things over concerning the money with him. It seems that the bike was just old and was third-hand when it came to me, nevertheless I'd appreciate prayer for wisdom in knowing what to do.
So, the weekend is upon me once again. Lesson prep, japanese study, web-site design and cleaning await me tomorrow. Help! There must be something wrong with me...am I actually joyful about cleaning?
Monday 10 January 2011
All That Thrills My Soul
Who can cheer the heart like Jesus,
By His presence all divine?
True and tender, pure and precious,
O how blest to call Him mine!
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see
Love of Christ so freely given,
Grace of God beyond degree,
Mercy higher than the heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea!
What a wonderful redemption!
Never can a mortal know
How my sin, tho red like crimson,
Can be whiter than the snow.
Every need His hand supplying,
Every good in Him I see;
On His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me.
By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing,
And forever and forever
Praise and glorify the King
Lyrics and Composer: Thoro Harris, 1931
-This hymn was in my head as I was cycling home at 9.30pm having spent about three hours with a friend and sharing the gospel with him. 'All that thrills my soul is Jesus'! He is the only One that can thrill my soul because He is truly more than life and more beautiful than all the world could offer. Proclaiming the gospel is thrilling and heals up more hurts, dispells more doubts, and feeds our souls more than we dare realise.
Having doubts? Share the gospel.
O how blessed to call Him mine!
By His presence all divine?
True and tender, pure and precious,
O how blest to call Him mine!
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see
Love of Christ so freely given,
Grace of God beyond degree,
Mercy higher than the heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea!
What a wonderful redemption!
Never can a mortal know
How my sin, tho red like crimson,
Can be whiter than the snow.
Every need His hand supplying,
Every good in Him I see;
On His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me.
By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing,
And forever and forever
Praise and glorify the King
Lyrics and Composer: Thoro Harris, 1931
-This hymn was in my head as I was cycling home at 9.30pm having spent about three hours with a friend and sharing the gospel with him. 'All that thrills my soul is Jesus'! He is the only One that can thrill my soul because He is truly more than life and more beautiful than all the world could offer. Proclaiming the gospel is thrilling and heals up more hurts, dispells more doubts, and feeds our souls more than we dare realise.
Having doubts? Share the gospel.
O how blessed to call Him mine!
Sunday 9 January 2011
Wintry Tales
My Christmas Creation! 
Der Nabel, Göttingen, with christmas lights and SNOW!
This is what they do to naughty children in Hameln, apart from having them whisked away by the Pied Piper that is...
Frost on the inside of the window at the top of one of the church towers in Hameln. There were quite a few steps to the top and it got narrower and more like climbing a ladder the higher my brother and I got!
The River Weser running through Hameln.
A House on the Weser, Hameln.It's just (or rather was) so like Narnia.
Friday 7 January 2011
Knowing God is the Root of Loving God
The main reason that thinking and loving are connected is that we cannot love God without knowing God; and the way we know God is by the Spirit-enabled use of our minds. So to "love God with all your mind" means engaging all your powers of thought to know God as fully as possible in order to treasure him for all he is worth.
God is not honoured by groundless love. In fact, there is no such thing. If we do not know anything about God, there is nothing in our mind to awaken love. If love does not come from knowing God, there is no point calling it love for God. There may be some vague attraction in our heart or some unfocused gratitude in our soul, but if they do not arise from knowing God, they are not love for God.
John Piper, Think, (Illinios, USA. 2010) p.90
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Happy New Year! and a mish-mash of a post.
Apologies for not blogging for so long! And Happy New Year! To let you know, I returned to Göttingen late last night after travelling for 7 hours. A bit rubbish but it did give me time to start reading Piper's book 'Think'. Get it. It's good. (It's too late for an over-enthusiastic use of adjectives.)
Christmas was deeply refreshing, in more ways than one. I'll talk more on this maybe later, it will just suffice to say for the moment that I am truly grateful to God for understanding parents and the ability to be able to be so open and honest with them. Meeting up with old school friends was really great, plus I got to see a friend from uni who I hadn't seen since June. The usual christmas revelry ensued -of eating copious amounts of cake and chocolate that is... oh my bicycle how I have missed you! 2 weeks without cycling catches up on you quick!
2011: I'm hoping and praying for more wisdom and understanding; a higher cherishing of God's truth; a greater love for God and for those around me; a more sensitive heart and mind to the Spirit of God and His will.
Psalm 143 was a psalm I just had to pray through this christmas.
'I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.' vv 5-6
Even if your cynical mind tells you that you can find satisfaction elsewhere; even if you doubt that He can fill you up and satisfy you; even if your friends or family or Satan in some fashion or other tell you that there is no rhyme or reason to life, think on this: Your soul thirsts for God because you were made in, through and for Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High, the Living God Himself. There is a hole in our souls that is so deep that all our time on earth could not fill it. It can only be filled by the eternal God because our souls were fashioned with an eternal future in mind.
One thing I have learned this christmas is to continually stretch out my hands in prayer, to meditate on what my loving Lord has done for me for it is only in Him that there is a wholeness, a tangible reality and joy in living. What better way to enter the new year than to get down on your knees and to be honest with God about your heart, of its deceitfulness; its pride; its deep-seated fears; its objections to God's sovereign rule and will.
Give me Christ or else I die.
Christmas was deeply refreshing, in more ways than one. I'll talk more on this maybe later, it will just suffice to say for the moment that I am truly grateful to God for understanding parents and the ability to be able to be so open and honest with them. Meeting up with old school friends was really great, plus I got to see a friend from uni who I hadn't seen since June. The usual christmas revelry ensued -of eating copious amounts of cake and chocolate that is... oh my bicycle how I have missed you! 2 weeks without cycling catches up on you quick!
2011: I'm hoping and praying for more wisdom and understanding; a higher cherishing of God's truth; a greater love for God and for those around me; a more sensitive heart and mind to the Spirit of God and His will.
Psalm 143 was a psalm I just had to pray through this christmas.
'I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.' vv 5-6
Even if your cynical mind tells you that you can find satisfaction elsewhere; even if you doubt that He can fill you up and satisfy you; even if your friends or family or Satan in some fashion or other tell you that there is no rhyme or reason to life, think on this: Your soul thirsts for God because you were made in, through and for Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High, the Living God Himself. There is a hole in our souls that is so deep that all our time on earth could not fill it. It can only be filled by the eternal God because our souls were fashioned with an eternal future in mind.
One thing I have learned this christmas is to continually stretch out my hands in prayer, to meditate on what my loving Lord has done for me for it is only in Him that there is a wholeness, a tangible reality and joy in living. What better way to enter the new year than to get down on your knees and to be honest with God about your heart, of its deceitfulness; its pride; its deep-seated fears; its objections to God's sovereign rule and will.
Give me Christ or else I die.
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