Annointing

Hello Everyone!!
For those of you interested: my week of training to become an RA has officially ended. After going through a week of camping, seminars, times of worship, lack of sufficient sleep, many blessed times, and being commissioned and anointed, I'm finally beginning to feel prepared for the position of leadership and partnership God has called me to this coming school year.
When I came back to Iowa to begin my training for RA, I was wanting to trust God with my concerns about being an RA, but still wasn't certain what his vision was for me in the lives of these young women, or for me in general; and I was afraid and nervous of what was to come. I think nervousness for what is to come is natural, (one of my high school teachers told me that if you don't get nervous about something, then you probably don't care about it too much. I think there is some truth to that.) The problem was that my fear was leading to anxiety and lack of trust in God to do what was best. Thankfully, over the course of this week, God conquered that fear with love and care by his Holy Spirit moving both through other people, and not. He encouraged me by my peers, and through his word spoken through different vessels throughout the week.
Also, now that I have gained practical information for this coming week, I feel better prepared to meet the different challenges I may face this coming year (though I pray many of the things I have been prepared for will be absent from this wing, floor, building, and campus.)
The thing that I felt most prepared and encouraged me this week happened last night (Thursday the 20th of August.) All Resident Life Staff took part in a commissioning service.
I will not try to explain everything that went on there, because I can't. I can explain the setting in which we worshiped in song, prayer, and in being reminded symbolically of our being anointed by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. I cannot explain how the Spirit moved amongst and through those there, I cannot explain the hearts lifted in devotion and in unity to worship the Lord; only God almighty knows the mystery of these things.
Hands were laid upon those called forth in the name of the Lord,
Foreheads glistened with oil of frankincense and myrrh,
Prayers, hearts, and hands were lifted high.
Thank you, Father. Thank you.

Needless to say, not many wanted to wash their foreheads after our ceremony. Praise God that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times, because he has been poured out upon our entering into the family of God through Jesus Christ. The oil is a symbol of what God has already done. Praise him! Praise the Lord Most High!! He is worthy of all we have to offer.

Two Words that Cannot be Understood by Man: God's Love

All my life I've been hearing that the most important relationship I can have is one with Jesus Christ. It's true, it's through Christ that I am saved, that I have been redeemed, that sin no longer has power over me; that I am in Christ, and he is in me. For years I've known this in my mind, but I've been wondering, what does a relationship with Christ look like? What fruits are born of this joyous unity?
For so long (I know I'm only 20, but it seems like so long) I've been reading scripture trying to understand what it means, trying to understand what all these letters that make up words, that make up sentences, that make up verses and statements from the mouth of our God, what do they mean? I've reasoned and logicised, and have come to the conclusion that I don't understand. At least now I understand that I don't understand. What does one do when they don't understand? Well, if you're like me, proud, you don't ask for help. you go round and round stubbornly fixed on figuring it out. There has to be an answer and I have to find it! And then we do! Or so we think.

But that's not the answer at all.

I think, I don't know, but I think, that when we think that we have the answer we can be no farther away from truly knowing it. I think that when we think we finally understand God, then that is when we are most greatly mistaken. I think that the one thing we can be completely sure of in understanding God, is that we, as sinful human beings, will never be able to grasp the mind, or see into the heart of our God on our own. We have assuredness in the Holy Spirit and in God's Holy Word that every word in it is true. I believe that. I believe that through scholarly studies of scripture we can come to understand God better, and better understand what he is saying to us, but you can be a scholar of the Bible and remain unsaved and have no relationship with Christ.
It is not until we come to Christ, lay down our lives and previously formed conceptions, and say that we don't understand the great Creator of the Universe, that we acknowledge his mysetery and grandieur, and that we don't understand his love, or what it means to love him, or see into his heart; it is when we acknowledge that we were afraid to stand in the presence and the glory of the Holy King who is above all because we don't deserve to be able to, but claiming the grace that God has lavished on us in his Son, Jesus Christ.
It is because of God's great love, and Christ's mediating and loving sacrifice that we can even think of entering the throne in which God the Father, and his Son sit. This is a great love that we cannot understand. While we were sinners, while we hated him, Christ died for us. To forgive us, to save us, to restore us to a loving personal, intimate relationship with our awesome Creator God - a relationship that he originally designed for us with him.
Our God is bind boggling.
Our God is mysterious.
Our God cannot be understood by the minds of men.
Our God cannot sin.
Our God will never stop loving.

Our God adores you.
He delights in you.
Our God may seem too good to be true - but nothing has ever been truer or greater.
Our God invites us into him, and he comes into us; to surrender our lives to him, and be changed in a frightening and glorious way; to be blown away by all of who he is, yet to come to understand him better than we ever have each day; to be loved, adored, shaped, prodded, disciplined, and through all this, restored. It's easy to lose sight of in the busyness of the day, in the sorrow and the pain, in the confusion; but he remains in the midst of it all, and in his patient love, he waits for us to come to him once more, after searching for every other way - we finally turn back and realized again that he is what we have needed, what our hearts have been longing for, and it is he, in HIS love, who has turned our hearts back to him.
If you are looking for a mystery, then look no further. The more we come to understand our Great God, the more we realize that we have never really understood him well at all. The more we come to know, the more we realize how little we really knew. The more he shows us our sin and blindness to him, and the more he shows us his grace - the more boggled our minds become.
It's a wonderful confusion.
Praise the Lord almighty for his wondrous and sovereign reign and love over all.
Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

To My Fellow Doubters of God's Power to Heal Miraculously

You may be a bit confused my title. Notice I put "To My Fellow Doubters." Miraculous healing isn't something often talked about in Christian circles. If it is talked about it is often within the context of the Gospels of the New Testament, but to talk about miraculous healing in the context of today causes most people to turn on their skeptics radar. Don't get me wrong; I believe in the Yahweh, the Lord of all, and I believe that he healed thousands, and I believe that, yeah, he's miraculously healed people in this day and age. Of course - he's the Great Physician, he can do all things, right? There's just no way he could do something like this for me or anyone close to me, it just doesn't happen.
Now, most of us won't admit that this is our attitude: we believe that God is all powerful - but do we really trust him and believe that he will heal us if we sincerely ask him to in prayer? In all honesty, I didn't. And I ashamedly admit that I still struggle with doubting God in this. I have a story, a true story, to share with you. You may choose to believe it, or disregard it, but please, do not doubt the awesome healing power, adn the goodness, faithfulness, and grace of our Awesome God.

As some of you know, my intramural indoor soccer team, of which I was the goalee won the college championship game this past winter. In order to get to the championship ga,me, you need to go through the semi-finals, in both these games, you face the more difficult and talented teams in the "league" if you will. For all of you non-goalee's or non-soccer players out there, it can be a very rough and physical job. There's a lot of diving on the ground, getting a rather large, fast moving objectile kicked at you can be rather painful; even for a young person. As you can imagine, it was very hard on my body - all my joints were sore - but my back in particular was giving me a lot of trouble after our last semi-final game.
It was sore all the time, and always irritated. Sitting in hard chairs hurt, especially for long periods of time (like classes). I couldn't sit in one position for very long (an even shorter amount of time than normal.) It was painful, and it wasn't going away. It continued for about two weeks at the same rate - not terrible, but definitely hurting, sore, and there. Massages felt good, but they didn't really help.

One day, after Jesse and I met with Pastor Rod as we do every other Monday, we were sitting and talking. He asked me how I was doing - and I told him that my back was still hurting. The conversation turned to talking about healing, and whether we really have faith in God's healing capibilities in our lives. We talked about the passage in Mark 9 where the loving father of the boy with the unclean spirit said to Jesus, "I do believe, overcome my unbelief." And we prayed that God would come in to our hearts and overcome our unbelief. And then Jesse laid his hand on my back and prayed that God would heal my back right then and there, claiming that he knew Yahweh was able to do so.
I tried to pray that prayer with him wholeheartedly, but honestly, I was still skeptical. I didn't think God would do it. I wanted him to overcome my unbelief, but I still didn't expect him to heal me.
I am grateful for the faith that God gave Jesse, and I am grateful for God's faithfulness and mercy.
After Jesse prayed for me, right after has asked that God would heal me, I didn't feel any more pain in my back. I thought it was just a fluke - that after I got up and started moving around, the pain would return. We did get up - and I walked and stretched my back, twisted from side to side, still no pain. I said, "Jesse, I don't feel any more pain. It's gone." I still couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that God had just done exactly what we asked him to do in faith - especially because I was still doubting. God, in his grace, healed me even in my doubt. The pain was gone! All that was left was kind of a relaxed, almost numb feeling.

We praised God, and hugged, me still not really believing what had just happened to me. Jesse was so excited, telling almost everyone we saw that we knew about it. He shared it with different people, even when I wasn't with him. I am ashamed to admit that I was not eager to share my experience with others. What if the pain came back? What if they didn't believe me? - As you can see I still wasn't trusting God, or believing in his power - and while I was in that state - I couldn't thank God for what he had done. I was almost ashamed of what God had done in my life, yet ashamed with myself that I could not bring myself to tell others about God's amazing grace and love demonstrated in my life through this healing.

Praise the Lord! I do believe. Christ has overcome my unbelief in this situation and is building my trust in other situations like it. I will share - not because I want to build myself up or make myself look like an "Amazing Christian!" No - I want to show how humbled I am, and how amazing God is that even in my unbelief, he healed me. I cannot deny that fact. I don't want to deny that fact any more. I desire that he be brought glory through this testimony, however small it may seem. May our thinking this act small, show how great he is that he would care about even the small things in our lives! May it testify to his amazing love and grace! May it show those who do not believe that there is definitely a God and he is good.

I am not claiming that every time we ask God in prayer to bring healing to us or to a loved one, that he will heal them immediately. He doesn't always work this way. Sometimes he calls us to persevere through the pain, trusting in and relying on his grace to bring us through and closer to him. Sometimes he chooses to work through the gifted hands of physicians. Sometimes, injury or illness leads to death. I cannot claim to know why God works the way he does in different situations. One thing, though, is certain, he will be glorified in each one. His plans and his ways are not that of man - they are much better, they are perfect.
Present your requests before God, ask that he will overcome your unbelief, but ask - most of all - that his will be done, and that whatever brings him most glory will be done. I'm humbled and amazed that he would bring glory to himself through not only healing me, but also saving me from MY sin. An amazing, perfect God, is glorified in redeeming us from the sins that we commit against him.
Hallelujah!

Hmmmm.

This has been an interesting week. I've been staying with Katiegrace Youngsma and Robin Seifert since last week Friday. It's been very different to be in a home again. I almost don't know what to do with myself. At the same time, I've stayed very busy these past couple of days, trying to be helpful and a blessing.
Going in to the situation and place that I am now, I was expecting something completely different. I thought that I would be hanging out with Robin and Kim, her sister, because I knew them best, and I'd see KG in passing, have polite conversation, maybe grow to be better friends with her, and seek to bless her in any way I could.
Well, only part of that ended up happening. As usual, my plans and God's plans for me are very different. Basically the exact opposite has happened. I only saw Robin and Kim in passing - as they were always dashing around doing something. I don't think I've ever seen two people so busy. They are now on a train headed for Washington. I may see them when I get back, I may not.
I had the blessing of spending time with KG's family who came out for graduation instead. Her parents Betsy and Milton are fun, different, and caring. They are from Massachussets, were Betsy spends her time being a librarian, and when she isn't doing that she is home cooking on a huge old fashioned cast iron stove, knitting, quilting and cleaning. She knit me a pair of wool mittens from yarn made from their neighbors sheep's wool. She even knits her own socks. She's a very gifted woman and she made me laugh. She also took care of me when I was sick, which I am so grateful for. So KG's family and I sat around and discussed church politics, cleaned, played with Daisy (there 11 year old black lab), and talked about life. I've gotten to know KG better, which has been good. The first memory I have of her was when she was a freshman and I was a JR in high school visiting Dordt. She was standing above Andrew Friend, dangling an open pocket knife above him with two fingers. Not the happiest memory. She's matured since then, is very passionate about recycling and taking care of the planet, and living sparingly. She doesn't like that she has so much stuff, and is looking to get rid of it. We had a very good conversation about homosexuality and homosexualism (the tendencies and the practice), and talked a little about prayer; both of which were enlightening and affirming for me, and I hope for her too.
We played with legos the other night, have shared meals, and I've cleaned her house for her when she's not here. I do want to show my gratitude to her for her hospitality and graciousness towards me this week. God has blessed me greatly through it. As always - he's shown me that his ways are best.
Also this week I was expecting to be able to spend more time with a Mr. Jesse Groenewold who I haven't seen for more than a total of an hour and a half, I think, in the past 4 days. I do miss him, but God is teaching me patience, and to pray for him more often than I would if we were together, and is making me value the time that we do have together, and preparing me for this summer. I need to depend on God first, to love him most, and to provide for me, and for Jesse. He is good and faithful and trustworthy always.
This week has not been a typical one. It's had challenges, unexpected twists and turns, goofiness, joys, hard work, and thinking and praying.
This day has been wonderful and relaxing, other than cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and doing some laundry, I was able to sleep in, do some writing and thinking, and hopefully some reading and Jesse time are to come, Lord willing. Not a bad day at all.
Praise God in all things! Rejoice in him always!!! This world, this day, our lives, our possessions, our money, our everything belongs to him. What a great comfort this is - and to know that he loves us and will never leave or forsake us, and that he disciplines those he loves. Ahhhh, life with the Lord.

Part 3

Another misunderstanding is why Christian leaders feel that they have to make church and the gospel look “attractive” to those in the world today, instead of letting the gospel stand on its own. God doesn’t need us to defend him, or make him look attractive, he wants to use us to share his love with the world. The Word is alive and active, God is always moving, and he is not limited by us, he doesn’t NEED us to move others, in fact if we are not with God, if we are trying to obstruct him or the gospel or any of his children, then we are in for a huge awakening, and not a pleasant one. We will be blown away by the truth, falling to our knees and shielding our faces because of his awesome power and glory, and if we still refuse to acknowledge him as Lord, we CANNOT stand against him. To think one can stand against the awesome power of God is damning. At the same time, if God is for us who can be against us? If we are his children, and we walk with him, desiring for his will to be done and seeking his kingdom, then no one can stop us either. That doesn’t mean we can go around, pushing people around, trying to force them to succumb to the power of God. The Gospel preached in the Word is one of truth, yes, but also one of love and peace.
As hard as you try, you cannot force someone to become a Christian, that moving of the heart can be inspired by the Holy Spirit - by God, and no one else. Threatening with death and damnation didn’t work in the Crusades, and it won’t work now. Christianity is not meant to be a threat. It is not for human beings to judge others actions or condemn them to the fiery pits of hell. It is for Christians to share with others the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel, and leave the rest up to God’s powerful moving of the Holy Spirit. God alone is Holy and just, he alone can judge perfectly. He gives us his word to hold ourselves and each other accountable by his holy standard, and even that is impossible without his amazing grace. He transforms us with his love, and his word is alive and active, his law one of love, but also conviction.
It is clear: something needs to change in the lives of those who claim to love, fear, and revere the Lord. Now - we are laughed at because we are inconsistent and unloving even amongst ourselves, when we should be laughed at because of our radical living out the will of Christ Jesus and living to inspire others to do the same.

Part 2

The Parents of Individuals. Have youth received the rearing up in the Word that is necessary to live a life in Christ? In Deuteronomy 6, parents are told to impress the Lord’s commandments upon their children. So, are parents rising to the challenge? Have our children received the guidance and wisdom and discipline that will help them to stand firm against the things of this world without being dragged into them? Have they been instructed in putting on the full armor of God? To fight the dark powers of this world rather than other human beings created in God’s image, no matter color of skin. A young child needs assistance when learning to dress himself. A student needs to be instructed so he may attest to the truth. An aborigine from Australia thrown into the bustling culture in the United States of America would be lost and confused indeed. Are we preparing our young people to stand out against the dark powers of this world? Or are we showing them by the way we live that its okay to conform to its ungodly standards, deceiving them into thinking there will be no consequence? Because there will be consequences and they are devastating. Children are addicted to drugs and alcohol at young ages, are involved in gangs and drug and territory wars, and are dying every day at the hands of other children. Why is this happening? Out of desperation to be loved the cut themselves, rip their hair out, contemplate suicide, and allow themselves to be sexually abused because they are in need of the love of a Savior, yet they are ignored even by those who are called to care most. Are we introducing them to Christ at an early age and raising them in obedience to the word so that they may grow into a personal relationship with him, claiming the promise given to them in baptism? Are we revealing to them the true identity that they have in Christ? Christian parents are called by God to love their children and raise them in the Word, so that they children will not stray from it when they grow to maturity and begin to make more decisions for themselves. This is their highest calling as parents, should they choose to accept it. It may be difficult, but it will bring greater joy than is imaginable.
Satan - Master deceiver and liar. If you think you have him and his ways figured out, you’d better take a second look, because he has many tricks and has had thousands of years of practice in executing them. The only thing you can count on is that he will be deceitful, and in a most appealing way. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows exactly which buttons to push that will set us off in which ever way. In Scripture it says he disguises himself as an angel of light. It is only by God’s instruction and guidance in his word that we can recognize his attempts to lead God’s children away from the straight and narrow path. We need to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God. It was with scripture that Christ refuted the devil when he was tempted in the wilderness as accounted in Matthew 4; and in Ephesians 6, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is the only offensive and defensive weapon we are given in order to take our stand against the devil’s schemes, along with the rest of the full armor of God.
The Youth of today no longer know what it means to truly fear God and his almighty, authoritative word. They have been raised in too liberal of a manner are allowed to do what they want, when they want to do it, at any cost to anyone else, as long as they get what they want. They no longer know what it means to live a life of service and love for God and for others. This is the result of the fallen corrupt nature of man; but Christ gives hope for a righteous life.
What can we do, as true followers of Christ, to remedy this situation? How can we help them to regain their identity in Christ? First off, we can lead by example. Model our lives after that of Christ, and in doing so, be a witness to those around who are in need of the life giving news of the gospel. This modeling, of course, is possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit, living in us, enabling us to see God’s will, and just as importantly, do God’s will, as a result of the salvation we receive in Christ Jesus through his death on the cross. In order to determine God’s will for us in our lives, we must look to his Holy, active, and infallible word, of which he, not man, is the final authority. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we must also hold each other accountable according to God’s word, gently rebuking when in the wrong, and lovingly instructing when uncertain, and humbly saying “I don‘t know“ when we are unsure of the answer.

Work in Progress: Part 1

What Do We as Youth in North America Define Ourselves By?
The following is an attempt to put fleeting thoughts of how young “Christian” (notice Christian is put in quotation marks) peoples define themselves while living in today’s culture. Is Christ truly at the center of their lives, or are their dreams of what they want their lives to be blinding them to God’s will? Do they claim to have faith yet lack the deeds that reflect that faith, as approached in the second chapter of James? Are they blind to their compromise with the pop culture today, rather than living sold out for the glory of our Abba, Father? Has life become about the grades one gets in school, the necessary spew of A’s printed across one’s report card? Or maybe its about how many points they scored in their last football or basketball game. Maybe it's how many boyfriends or girlfriends they've had. Or is it for that Spiritual high they get when they sing their heart out in worship and at retreats, but then being content to live a mediocre life, and failing to apply all that was instructed to them in the Word? Has devotion to Christ become something that is necessary because one can somehow earn his pleasure? Because that’s not what my Bible says. Devotion certainly isn’t out of self-glorification and what one gets out of it, but what one gives to God as a result of that devotion. It is not only out of duty and respect, but of love, fear, humility and loyalty as well. For who Christ was, is, and shall continue to be; not only what he has done. We should worship God for who he is in his righteousness, perfection, and majesty because he is deserving, not just because of what he can do for us. True devotion isn’t selfish, rather it is selfless. True love is sacrificial, giving of oneself for the bettering of or best interests of another. There is no greater love than this: a man lays down his life for his friends.

So where did we go so wrong? What has caused this confusion? Who is, may I ask, to blame for where we got so off track that we struggle to find our way back?
The Individual. Of course we need to take responsibility for our own actions. Who else can do so in all honesty? We must suffer the consequences that come with the decisions that we make: both good and bad. We are all sinners, and because of the sinful nature born of the fall, we seek after our own interests unless allowed to do otherwise by the grace of God. We have become lazy, unwilling to go the extra mile to make a difference and risk being looked down upon or persecuted. Don’t get me wrong, persecution isn’t what being a Christian is all about, but we cannot ignore the biblical account of Paul, Peter, and others who were persecuted for the life they lived for the sake of Christ and the truth of the gospel; not to mention our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of his beloved children. In living, it shouldn’t be our desire or motive to be persecuted, but we should acknowledge, and need to realize that when living in this world and not of it, we will be persecuted by those who are not of the light. Jesus is the word and light that shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not know him. Also, Christ says that we WILL have trouble, but to take heart because he has overcome the world. When the world agrees with us and the way we are living, you’d think we’d begin to wonder a little bit, what are we doing wrong? The way we live should reflect to others that we are set apart from this world. Within a few moments of meeting a Christian, or a few moments of talking with them, one should be able to tell that there is something different about them, something in their life that isn’t seen in the lives of those in and of the world: something like life given by the Holy Spirit living within. True life and hope for something more. Are we living that type of life? (I say we, because by God’s grace, I am included in those of whom are beloved and blessed to be called children of God. I hope and pray that my life and the way I love and live reflects that.) Are we living lives worthy of the calling “Children of God?”