New Year's Resolutions Anyone?

That exciting time of the year has come and gone again! The end of a year full of smiles, laughs, tears, and sadness is gone and a new one is just beginning. For a few years now, New Years means one thing more than almost any other thing - New Year's Resolutions.

I know New Year's Resolutions are not everyone's thing, but they're definitely my thing. I love thinking about the year that just went by and making new resolutions for the coming year based on what learned and what I want to do differently or the same. One of the resolutions I made for this coming year is to be more disciplined and intentional about these blog posts. I'm not going for anything crazy, I just want to write at least one post every week. Seeing as it is still early in the year I wanted to write about my New Year's Resolutions, how they help me, and how they might help you too (not mine, but your own if you decide to make some).

What are my New Year's Resolutions? Oh wouldn't you like to know! To be honest, a lot of them are rather personal and so I'm not going to share them here publicly, but it's not something I'm trying to keep secret, so feel free to ask! However, I will share that this year I have made 30 resolutions. I probably took the most time to think about them, and to write them down than I ever did before. They are all typed out and printed on nice thick paper for me to see every day. They are divided by category, all based on how I can better honor the Lord with my life. They involve God's glory in my heart, in my body, in my marriage, in my church, in my schooling, in my ministry, in my family, in my mind, and in my relationships. 

So what value and benefit do I see in taking so long to think of and to type these resolutions, all of which are destined to not be perfectly kept even this month? 

They Help Me THINK:
I think we could all do with a little bit more introspection. We very rarely make time to evaluate our day at work, our morning, our day, much less our entire year. And yet as December draws to an end, most people find themselves unusually introspective. For some reason the end of the year gives us a chance to be honest with ourselves about ourselves. "Maybe I do need to lose a lot of weight this year (though you if you had asked me a month ago I would have said no)". "Maybe I should make some more time to be with my kids". "I think it's about time I start reading the Bible more consistently". For myself, these past few week of introspection, of evaluating my time, my money, my thoughts, my struggles, my joys, my desires, and my family has been of great help. Regardless of the resolutions there has been a lot of thanksgiving in my life recently and a lot of pleading for change in my own heart for many things in the year to come.

They Help Me AIM:
For some people, making New Year's Resolutions is making a recipe for failure. "It's totally crazy for me to think that for the WHOLE YEAR I'll be able to get up at 6:00AM every day so I can stop being late for work and getting to read my Bible". It might be, it might not. "What's the point of saying I'll get all my homework done before 10:00PM since I know that it won't be the case every time?" I think a lot of us rightly ask, "What is the point of making a resolution you can't fully keep?" For some people not perfectly keeping their resolutions is synonymous with failure. For me, in the very least it gives me a clear view and a clear trajectory for where I want to go and what I want to do. Some of my resolutions are brand new, I just came up with them this year! I have never resolved to pray for my pastors and church leaders every single day - this will take some serious intentionality. These kind of resolutions will probably be the hardest to keep Others, I've had for a few years and I have slowly gotten more focused and disciplined and have truly learned the benefit of continuing to aim in that specific direction.

They Help Me With PURPOSE:
I have found that the fun and sometimes silly resolutions are the ones that fail the most. "I want to be able to count from 1-10 in 10 languages by the end of the year". Sure that sounds kinda fun, and it would be cool to say. The problem with resolutions like these is that they are weak - they lack any kind of proper motivation and purpose other than "just for kicks". Maybe you do see purpose in being able to count to 10 in multiple languages, if so that's great! But for most of us, that resolution is destined to fail. Why? Because resolutions stand and are lived based on purpose, motivation, and conviction. You need something STRONG to carry me through the year waking up at 6:00AM! You're going to need some serious motivation to get me going to the gym three times a week! For this reason thinking about WHY you want to do what you want to do is just as important. I decided this year to base all of my 2014 resolutions on Scripture (yes, even the one about learning Arabic this year). I have a verse that I am hoping carries me through my tendencies to not keep my resolutions.

Am I going to keep all of my resolutions perfectly every day this year? Absolutely not - and I know that. But even the process of coming up with them and thinking so deeply about my life has been tremendously helpful (regardless of how consistent I am in keeping them). I would therefore highly recommend looking at your life, evaluating your year, challenging yourself and committing to a few changes this year!

What about you, do you have any New Year's Resolutions? What's been your experience?

When Men (and Women) Are Told to "Act Like Men"

"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

-  1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Act Like Men.

These three words have created quite a buzz over the past couple of weeks, especially in Southern Ontario. A few months ago it was announced that a conference would take place in Hamilton, ON featuring Mark Driscoll, James MacDonald, Matt Chandler, and Greg Laurie - Act Like Men Conference. There was a lot of excitement in my circles about the conference and, sure enough, about 8,000 men gathered this weekend to worship and learn from these speakers on this issue.

Right at around the same time, another group of churches and individuals were feeling more and more uneasy about the conference and the message they felt it was trying to spread. They organized a counter-conference, also in Hamilton, with the goal of presenting different evangelical perspectives on gender roles and biblical masculinity. The Act Like Men? Broadening the Conversation on Men, Women and the Church was organized as an "anti gender discrimination" conference and held last weekend. Coincidentally, and in a totally unrelated manner, my pastor in Louisville (several hundred miles away from the ALM Buzz...) preached through 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 this morning, as the next text on our series on 1 Corinthians.

Needless to say, I have been thinking about these three words a lot over the past couple of weeks. For some people, these words have been a reason to gather with great anticipation and excitement with other men and worship. For others, these words have been almost offensive and discriminatory. (See blog posts by organizers and participates here and here) So what are we to make of this verse and these words? 

When Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth, he was indeed addressing the whole church - including the women. As Dr. Westfall rightly pointed out in "ALM?", from this passage, we gather that Paul wants women to "Act like men" too. So what did Paul have in mind when he told the church to "act like men"? In Paul's days, it was a male characteristic to be bold and courageous. Paul is not saying this view was the right view to have or the wrong view to have, it simply was the case. Paul is making an appeal for men and women in Corinth to not be afraid, to be strong. He adds to that, "be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be strengthened". It would have communicated a similar exhortation as someone saying "be watchful like a watchdog" or "be strong like a lion" today. It probably would not have been offensive to say such a thing to a woman or to a man. 

That seems to be what Paul had in mind, but there is much more baggage in these three words today. The concept of biblical masculinity has been distorted by being pushed too far off both ditches on the road. Some people have (quite pathetically) taken biblical masculinity to be synonymous with dominance, exploitation, and license for abuse. In other more subtle ways, biblical masculinity has been exclusively associated with meat, sports, and hunting. Men like myself who enjoy activities such as reading and playing violin have to raise our eyebrows and question this definition of manhood. On a more personal note, I think that some of the well-meaning people who have put so much energy into the "ALM? Conference" sought to take a stand against this kind of understanding of what it means to be a man. I would have too, except that I HIGHLY doubt that the ALM conference was organized to encourage this distortion. I did not attend the conference, but that is not the impression I get from the promo video:

"You're not going to sit on your death bed and think about how your business is doing or how much money you made. You're going to think about God and you're going to think about your family!"

- G. Laurie

"My church will be served by me. My wife will be loved by me. My family will be led by me!"

- M. Driscoll

"Let sound biblical theology call you again and again out of a life of compromise, out of a life of self, out of a life of short-sighted self-serving!"

- J. MacDonald.  

I could be wrong. But this conference was not organized to get guys to be more competitive. It was not organized to get men to play rougher sports or put away their origami. It is not calling men to grow more chest hair or to grunt more frequently. The speakers are looking to inspire husbands to love their wives. To inspire men to serve their churches. To inspire men to put away greed and self-fulfillment and think about their families. Is this really what is upsetting some people?

My guess is no. But then why so much resentment against these men and this conference?

Nurturing love (1 Thess 2:7) and courageous boldness are both characteristics that ought to be present in both Christian men and Christian women. Christ himself displayed both and if you and I are in Christ, these things are for us to display as well. However, some characteristics are best emulated in either males or females. There is no masculine parallel to a mother tenderly nursing and caring for her infant. Paul simply looked to that exemplary characteristic and sought to display it as well. Similarly, there's a time for toughness and courage, and Paul calls women to exercise this "manly" characteristic as well.

Jesus was a man. He demonstrated tremendous conviction, courage and boldness as he led his disciples, rebuked the Pharisees, and took the full wrath of God on the cross. He was a man. But this man also washed his disciples' feet, and did "spiritual laundry" in Ephesians 5:26-27. (thank you Dr. Westfall for pointing that out!) While it is true that Jesus and Paul displayed both stereotypical "male" characteristics and "female" characteristics, it is not as though God is doing away with his original creation of roles and gender in the New Testament.

Why an "Act Like Men" Conference? Again, I am not sure about all the details of the conference. However, it seems like the speakers and organizers are aware of a pattern of weakness, laziness, and ignorance in this area in men. Although both men and women are called to be courageous, to be strengthened, and to be watchful, this conference is simply gathering the men and trying to equip them to do just that as men, and not as women. Some find a conference about equipping men to lead their churches and to lead their families something that should be countered and opposed. Paul certainly did not shy away from specifically and distinctly calling men, husbands, and fathers to lead. Throughout the Scriptures, God has maintained and highlighted the distinct roles of men in women even when these are overlooked or distorted.
    

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" - separately and distinctly, in the image of God. 

For some more thoughts on these issues I recommend the following blog posts:
"When Men are Too 'Manly'" - James Dwyer
"1 Corinthians 16:13-14" - Ray Ortlund

My Great Commission Resurgence

The Great Commission and I go way back.

I was starting my undergrad and as I was learning about biochemistry, I also began to learn about the Great Commission. Jesus' famous last words in Matthew 28:18-20 were the core of what the "Cru" was about on campus. Campus for Christ (C4C) existed to fulfill the Great Commission beginning on our campus and going to all the nations. It was our mission, it was what we were about, and in my mind, it was what set us apart from other Christian groups I had been a part of. The idea of relying on the authority of Jesus as the strength to risk everything to go to all the nations and make disciples was radical. But this mission was one that I was willing to try - at least for those four years.

This former thinking of mine reveals my complete ignorance about the nature of the Christian life and the Great Commission. The call to risk it all and to "go outside the camp" (Hebrews 13) is not something that is or should be unique to any Christian group. It is not something that is meant to characterize any one particular church, para-church organization, or denomination. It is the one purpose and duty of the Christian - of all Christians. As my understanding of the Great Commission grew, my passion for missions increased and I was blessed to be a part of a few missionary trips in the summers. Slowly, my thinking adjusted and I began to see the broadness of the call. The call was not just for McMaster University and a certain group of Christians there. It was not one of the good options we had for four years before we all graduated and moved on to "real" life. The Great Commission is the real life, the real abundant life of the Christian.

Today, however, marked another significant milestone in my life and my role in the Christian Commission. It started with a great time of prayer and study of Romans 2. My heart was stirred deeply and distinctively as I was reminded of the pending judgment for all people. Later in the morning, I was blessed to hear Dr. Greenway, the new Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism, speak on "A Full Gospel Ministry". This, my friends, was an unbelievable sermon. My heart was deeply moved as I felt a resurgence of the Great Commission in my own heart. As I heard the words in 2 Cor 5:17-21, I once again considered the option of doing ministry overseas, of simply leaving everything behind and of realigning my life agenda with the agenda of a missionary that the Lord Jesus has already assigned to me. I left today's chapel service for the first time considering changing my concentration in seminary. Graduating from the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism would be an invaluable experience and undoubtedly a life-changing one. I left chapel knowing at least one thing - no student graduating from Southern Seminary (even from the school of Theology!) will graduate without being drenched with exhortation and encouragement on their role in the Great Commission and the reconciling of all peoples.

After chapel, I also spent some time reading Russell Moore's essay, "Theology Bleeds" and David Platt's "Outside the Camp". My heart continued to be enlightened to the glory of the Christian call:

"One purpose: the glory of God. He has created us, He has commissioned us, and He has commanded us to devote our lives and our churches to His glory in all the world. This is our purpose." - D. Platt

Platt's essay pointed to the next missing piece in my understanding of the Great Commission. The mission is not just for all Christians, it is for me! It had become incredibly easy for me to see how everyone ELSE had to strap their boots on and get going on the Great Commission, while at the same time keeping my "future plans" of local church ministry untouched.

The people of God have always been tempted to retreat from the mission they were given. The Israelites were not confident in the conquering of Canaan, the persecuted Hebrews in the New Testament were holding back from their mission as well. We must realize that distractions, physical dangers, temptations to remain comfortable, and hesitancy to leave family have always been there. And they will never go away. It is so easy to be willing to obey a Jesus who does not call us to go to the hard places. It is so easy to be willing to obey a Jesus who looks like us, who values comfort like us, who is okay with us staying where we want. The problem with that god is that it is us and not the real Creator of the universe who's heart is for ALL people.

Today I recommitted my life the Great Commission. I have reprioritized the needs of the world and the calling given to me by God over my own comforts. Today I needed to repent. The spiritual noise and glitz in North America is unbelievably sedative to the Christian who is not waging war on the principalities of this world by intentionally living missionally and evangelistically.

Let us not be lulled, not any more. Let us join the Spirit birthed resurgence for the Great Commission. No spirit-dwelled husband, wife, student, office worker, lawyer, musician, or pastor will ever know what it means to abide in the one Who's heart has always been for all nations until they surrender their lives to that same heart and mission. No Christian will completely understand the gospel until they understand their duty in gospel ministry for all nations. It is only us who have been given the ministry of reconciliation. So let us go forth as ambassadors. May we live lives and die deaths of Christ commanded Great Commission.

The First Two Weeks of Classes and Syllabus Shock

Once again I find myself writing a lot later than I would have wanted to, although the title of this post probably gives a good hint as to why. We have now finished our second week of studies at Southern and I think I can finally say I am getting over Syllabus Shock.

 

I was in denial until the end of my first week, but I was finally able to admit it and self-diagnosed myself with a mild case of Syllabus Shock. Apparently it's pretty common around here, although I kind of chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the concept the first time I heard about it. 

 

Apparently there's something in that first week of classes that "infects" you as you look at your reading lists, papers and tests that are on their way to you faster than you can get ready for them, not to mention adjusting to a new neighbourhood and way of doing (and writing...) things, together with family, church, work, and ministry responsibilities and maintaining a solid foundation for what you're doing by prioritizing your time with the Lord, without failing to maintain communication with friends and family back home and...

 

It was a little overwhelming.

 

It really doesn't have THAT much to do with the syllabus, but those syllabi seem to jump-start the whole "condition".

 

With that said, these two weeks have been great. We're pretty well adjusted to our schedules and routines, but nothing is as set and clean and straightforward as the nice 8-4 jobs we were used to. We've done quite a bit of exploring although there's always more to do. There's so much that has happened that it's hard for me to really know what to say here to try and summarize things, but I decided to answer a few questions we've been getting a lot and some that I'm making up myself because they're relevant to our first weeks here in Louisville.

 

What's the weather like down there?

Hot. Just... hot. Every day it's over 30ᴼC from the time we leave our house (7:45AM) to the time we get home, whether that's at 1:00PM, 4:00PM, or 6:00PM. The humidity almost always makes it feel like its over 40ᴼC so things often feel very sticky. I don't really mind it too much, but Courtney is really looking forward to the fall.

 

What do you miss the most about Canada?

Family and church hands down. But also my puppy Champ and some Nestea-powder, which we haven't found here. We also haven't found good popcorn salt... I kind of miss being able to read the French side of the cereal labels. A Tim Hortons around here would also be nice...

 

What do you like the most about Louisville?

Lots of things. We both love the country feel in the city. It's probably well known that Courtney is a small-town girl and I'm more of a city guy and that's why Louisville is so great. There's lots of old neighbourhoods and houses with big trees and big yards, away from lots of traffic, but the downtown is only a few minutes away. It really is a beautiful city with some really amazing people. 

 

What's your apartment like?

I'll work on a post and dedicate a whole post to that :).

 

When are you coming/going back to Canada?

Keeping Proverbs 19:21 in mind, we really don't know. We are hoping to drive up for Christmas but at this point we're not sure of a trip before that.

 

What classes are you taking?

- Intro to Church History (this one is probably the most interesting)

- Greek (Μου αρέσει εκμάθηση της ελληνικής γλώσσας)

- Theology of the New Testament (I get to see Schreiner twice a week)

- Theology and Practice of Personal Evangelism (this one is probably impacting my life the most)

- Family and Leadership Ministry (I'm very glad Courtney and I are taking this one together)

 

How about that sohthern accent?

What accent? No, sometimes it doesn't even feel like we're living in the south (probably because we are in the northern-most part of the south). You do hear it a little, but not enough to get me to drop my "eh's". (And for the record, "you guys" is still better than "y'all")

 

Feel free to post any questions or thoughts or if you're curious about any aspect of our lives right now! I'll be working on something about our apartment and neighbourhood soon!

 

Recounting the Story of Our Move

Well, we are here, we made it!

 

It's been a very busy week and I would have really liked to post something earlier on, but I guess one week is not too bad. The whole experience of packing, moving, and getting here was an adventure in and of itself, and it deserves it's own post. I will write something, hopefully tomorrow, about our first few days here.

 

It all started with the pickup of the truck. We had booked our 17' foot truck (we went for the bigger of the two options we were considering: the 14' and the 17') well in advance over a month ago. We had heard and read stories about people not getting what they had asked for or not getting what they wanted in time so we called and confirmed our order early in the week to make sure we were going to be able to get our 17' truck at 8:30AM so we could start loading ASAP. The lady was very kind and assured us that everything was okay and sent an e-mail confirmation about our order, the pickup location, and the pickup time.

 

Courtney and I went to pick up the truck at 8:20AM on Thursday morning (this was last week...) and after waiting about half an hour in line (I don't mind having to wait in lines too much) we finally got to talk to the rental rep who informed us that they did not have a truck for us. Again, he was also very polite and told us that they only had the 14' if we wanted to switch to that one instead. The customer that had the truck we booked was supposed to return it by 11:30AM that morning. The thing was that we didn't know for sure if they were going to return it in time. He tried calling the customer but no one picked up, he checked all the locations in the area to see if there was a 17' truck in the area that we could borrow - nothing. They only had ONE 20' truck at a different location and that was it. I was already not feeling super excited about having to drive what seemed to me like a HUGE 17-foot truck for 9 hours on the interstate, the idea of having to get a bigger one and having to pay more for gas wasn't too appealing. He did say that we would get a deal on the gas though. We decided that we were going to wait until 11:30 and see whether our truck came in or not. By the time we left, my mom and brothers were already at our place waiting for us so we could start loading. Courtney's parents were on their way.

 

The morning came and went and we got a call at around noon saying that the truck never came but that they did have a 20' that had arrived at their facility that we could take. We needed a truck so we decided to go for it. After another 45 minutes in line and a bit of a stressful morning, we had a truck, got a discount, and we were ready to start loading! It took a couple of hours but we JUST managed to fit all of our stuff into the bigger truck and had everything piled pretty much to the top - it would not have fit on the 17-footer!

 

We spent that night in New Hamburg and got up early the next morning to start driving. My parents and brother met us in the morning and we started the caravan to Kentucky. Departure time - 3:30AM.

 

The truck ended up being quite fun and easy to drive and we made it to the border with no problems. It was the shortest crossing time we'd had so we were just hoping that the inspection and the actual crossing was going to go well. And it did... except for the fact that I wasn't able to open the lock we decided to put in the truck that morning. I didn't have the code for it and even after frantically texting Courtney's dad for it, we still weren't able to open. We as in myself and the other 3 border-patrol officers. In the end they ended up cutting the lock, were very polite and kind, and let us go through no problem!

 

After a few stops to get gas, some coffees, and a quick lunch stop, we finally got to what would be our new apartment at around 3:30PM (12 hours later - a record long drive!). By then, we are all quite tired and the idea of unloading things was not too appealing. However, we knew that it wouldn't be as nice not to have a bed to sleep in, and we would have to go buy another lock for the truck if we didn't unload before it got dark. We ended up giving the unloading a go and with the help of our neighbors (about 5 of them) we were completely unloaded in an hour!

 

Our next-door neighbours are a married couple from Indiana and they were moving in when we got here. He is starting his M.Div. as well at Southern and they had one little guy who is turning 1 this month. It was great to see and meet our neighbours the first day and get a sense of how nice the community around here was going to be.

 

After talking to our neighbours about their move too, we found out that they had the exact same problem with the truck as us. They ordered a certain size for a certain time, and when they got there it wasn't available. They ended up going with the bigger truck, and much like us, they wouldn't have been able to fit their stuff if they had gotten the truck they wanted, when they wanted it. The way the trucks ended up working out reminded us again of the Lord's sovereignty and favour in our move. Also the fact that although both Thursday and Friday were supposed to be rain-days in Mississauga and Louisville, and we didn't get rained on at all, really encouraged us and gave more reason to thank God for a safe and smooth trip :).

We're Moving Next Week! - Update

We are now starting our last weekend in Mississauga before the big move. These past couple of weeks have been wonderful - wonderfully relaxing and wonderfully busy. We've been able to enjoy one week of relaxation at the cottage with Courtney's family and one week of rest and relaxation at Blue Mountain with my family. Also, now that we are both done work, there's been a lot of "TO DO's" that need to be checked off and of course some packing that needs to get started.

We've been able to enjoy great times with our families and friends and have been very, very encouraged and blessed by all the support and help we have received from so many of our friends. A lot of people have been wondering where we are at with the moving process and if we are "all set for the move". I thought it might be fun to write a little post with some updates with how we are doing, where we are at with our "TO DO's" and what still needs to get done. So, if you're interested, enjoy!

 

THINGS IN LOUISVILLE:

Most of the things that need to be set up in Louisville are set up. We have our courses picked, everything school related is on track, we only need to buy our books - 24 books for me and 16 for Courtney (we'll be sharing 13 of them though so it's really only 27 we need to get...) *gulp*. Once we get to Louisville we'll be importing our car, getting a Kentucky license plate, applying for a Kentucky Driver's License (which requires a written and a road test...) and Kentucky Driver's Insurance. We also need to get our renter's insurance and our internet set up. Finally, we'll be looking to get new cell phone numbers as soon as possible.

 

TRAVELING THINGS:

Most of our traveling documents are also ready. I had to apply for an urgent passport renewal earlier this week since it expires next year. Because we are applying for a 3-year visa, our passports cannot expire prior to the expected date of our return to Canada (Spring 2016). We will be going and having our visa interview on Monday (you can be praying for that...) which will make the actual trip down next Thursday a lot smoother when we have our truck full and don't have to stop at the border for the interview. We also have our moving truck booked and will have some help for our loading day (next Thursday).

 

FINANCIAL THINGS:

It is actually unbelievable to me what God has chosen to provide for us financially. I would have NEVER thought that we would be leaving for Louisville in the financial situation we are in. We by no means have extra money that we don't know what do with, but instead the Lord has chosen to provide for our daily and short-term needs financially and with the faith that we need to continue to look to Him for what will need tomorrow. For example, we were very happy when we received notice that we had both received a scholarship for $1600 for our first year of studies! I also received an offer of employment for a job on campus that I'll be starting in 2 weeks! Things like these have kept our spirits up and our eyes on the Lord. Our family and friends have also been a huge, huge blessing in this area by offering meals, giving gifts, and just encouraging us in trusting and looking to the Lord for our needs.

SPIRITUAL THINGS:
Spiritually, these past couple of weeks have been great because of all the "time" we have. I haven't had this much time to spend in the Word in and prayer in a long time and although there have been many hours that could have been better spent lately, I've really been enjoying spending time in the Psalms and in prayer every morning. Whether it is packing, running errands, or spending time with friends and family, our eyes and minds have been on the leading of the Lord. These past couple of weeks have been very exciting and busy, but there has also been significant times of sadness and tears as the date of the move gets closer and closer.

Aside from this, we have began our packing (as you can see in the picture) and we're making good progress on it. I'm feeling very, very excited about the move, about starting school and about starting this new chapter in our lives. I am going to miss our family so much, our friends, our church, our small group, our city, our ministry here, and everything that is so familiar. At the same time the Lord has so much more refining to do in us and for the next couple of years this work will be done in unfamiliar territory away from our church, family, and friends - and it will be AWESOME.  

The Journey to Finding an Apartment in Louisville - The Decision

I previously wrote about our trip down to Kentucky a few weeks ago. After looking at a few apartments, Courtney and I needed to decide between two different options. For more details on the two options, you can read my post here.

 

We decided we would spend a week in intentional prayer and see where the Lord would lead us and hopefully one of us would feel inclined to change our minds on the apartment we would apply for. For myself, there were a series of events over the two weeks following our trip that have taught me a lot about making important decisions, about trusting the Lord in prayer, about trusting the leading of the Holy Spirit, and about the beauty of a life not lived for myself. Here are the situations that acted as definitive steps on our way to our decision.

 

PRAYING – NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS:

The very first thing that I believe lead to peace and clarity in our decision is a prayer we prayed together the first night we got back home. Just before we fell asleep we closed our eyes and we prayed, “God, we look to you for wisdom and guidance in this decision. Please allow our hearts and minds to be open to what you will lead us to, give us strength to be honest with each other about where we feel you are leading us individually, and give us sensitivity to not ignore your leading”. As soon as I said “Amen” I automatically sensed “you should apply to the first apartment”. It was real, it was there, but it was just a feeling, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

 

THE WORD – ELIJAH’s UNCOMFORTABLE JOURNEY:

We started a series at Harvest looking at the life of Elijah starting in Chapter 17. The first Sunday after we got back Robbie preached on 1 Kings 17:8-16 on a message titled “Walking in the Will of God”. One of the points Robbie made was that the will of God involves the test of believing. Both Elijah and the widow were tested in their faith for the Lord. Robbie made the point that contributing to the kingdom of God is always better than contributing to the kingdom of self. Spiritual maturity involves growing in generous giving, sacrificial giving, cheerful giving, and faithful giving.

 

COUNSEL – LIVES LIVED FOR THE LORD

It was at around this time that I began looking into Christian biographies. One of the biographies I heard our first week back was the biography of Charles Simeon. I saw and heard about this man with whom the Lord walked for many years. I saw the faith that the Lord gave him to endure trials, to not avoid suffering, and to remain faithful in the calling he sensed for his life. He endured so much suffering, so much disease, so many deaths in his family, so much discouragement, so much affliction, so much discomfort, so much alienation, so much hatred, and so much loneliness. When asked, after 49 hard years of ministry he was asked by one of his friends how he had surmounted persecution and outlasted all the great prejudice against him. He answered, “My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ’s sake”. That line stuck with me. We indeed must not mind a little suffering, and we must certainly not mind a good dose of discomfort. I was inspired to have such a loose grip on material possessions and on personal comfort and instead to have a strong vision and desire for the gospel, for ministry, for sacrifice.

 

SACRIFICE – NOT MY KINGOM BUT HIS KINGDOM

One of the things Courtney and I both knew would probably have to happen if we were to choose the second apartment, is that we would probably have to stop our sponsorship of our two little kids through Compassion Canada. By choosing to stop the sponsorship of Yulianis and Lincon, we would essentially have the $100/month that we would need to make things work at the second apartment. After days of prayer, hearing about Elijah, hearing about, a pool and a nice balcony didn’t seem as desirable as a ministering to people that might have never heard about Jesus. It didn’t seem adequate or right for us to stop sending money to our two sponsor kids who are being fed with the Gospel , with love, and with daily necessities in Colombia through Compassion Canada so that we could enjoy what would be a more comfortable and glamorous place. I began to see that this decision was not about us, but like everything else in our lives, it was about the Lord.

 

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT – WHEN I ABIDED MOST IN CHRIST

Despite all of these things, for most of the two weeks after we got back, I really wanted to live in the second apartment and was kind of hoping that Courtney would change her mind. At work, I would be thinking about how nice it would be to have a pool to relax in during the hot summer, and to read and to study. I thought about how nice it would be to have the nice patio. I thought about how hard it would be to have such a tiny kitchen. I just thought about how nice it would be to live in the second apartment. This is what I thought about, most of the time. However, this is not what I thought after a deep time of prayer, this is not what I thought after worshiping the Lord and hearing his Word preached on Sunday, this is not what I thought after spending time learning about the life of Charles Simeon. When I felt like I was leaning the least on my own understanding, when I felt like was trusting the most in the Lord, when I felt like I was acknowledging most his purposes and his desires, I thought about how great it would be to live in the first apartment.

 

When I thought about all these things, it seemed clear to me that if the Holy Spirit does in fact lead the people of God, this is very likely the way He does that. We ended up applying to the first apartment after being convinced that this was the right thing for us to do at this point.

The Journey to finding an Apartment in Louisville - The Options

It is about time to write of the journey that the Lord has taken us on in finding, applying for, and finalizing the details of where we will be living once we move to Louisville. This little piece of the journey has been, for me, one of the most encouraging and blessed parts of our journey so far. I have learned much about myself, about my wife, and about our God and how He is looking to work in our lives even now, manifesting his guidance through the Holy Spirit and His unchanging Word.

Prior to going down to Louisville a couple of weeks ago, we wanted to narrow down the search of apartments we had found online to a number that we might be able to actually go on see during the weekend (maybe 3 or 4) without overwhelming ourselves. After filtering our findings more by the budget that we had and by location (close to campus) we ended up with one apartment. We were going to go down and just look at the one apartment.

That seemed fine up until the night before we were leaving. All of a sudden we started having our doubts - "Are we REALLY going to drive 9 hours to look at ONE apartment?". In a bit of a panic, we loosened up our criteria and came up with a list of 4 that we would go see. That weekend we went and looked at the four apartments on our second list and left to come back home with a big decision on our hands.

 

OPTION #1:

 

 

The first apartment (the only one we were originally going to see) is in an older complex in a very quiet and green neighbourhood. There are lots of trees around, nice paths and a little park in the complex (all things that attracted Courtney to this option right off the bat). It is a 20 minute walk from campus and would be a good option if we were to have different class and work schedules. It is relatively inexpensive, as it is only available for low-income families. The 2-bedroom option we were looking at would be enough space for us, although the kitchen is tiny (one-person-in-the-kitchen-at-a-time kind of kitchen). We walked around and saw some of the immigrant families and kids that lived in the complex, which reminds us of the community where we live now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPTION #2:

The second apartment we were considering is a newer complex about 13 minutes away from campus in good traffic. This one caught my attention right off the bat. The grounds were wonderfully kept, the buildings looked newer, and the person who helped us and showed us around was very likeable, helpful, and courteous. It also had a really nice pool! The model apartment that we looked was VERY nice and we were both very impressed. It had a really nice kitchen, great walkout patio, nice windows, and great space. The price of this second option was a little higher (by almost $100/month) than the first option, but it still seemed manageable and worth the consideration.

 

 

There was much to consider, much thinking to be done, and much prayer to do. Courtney was leaning more towards the first option while I was very happy to apply for the second apartment. Overall, our trip ended up being productive and now we just needed to make a decision.

One Year Later - The Seminary Impossibilities Seem Bigger, But Our God Seems Greater Still

This weekend, Courtney and I had the opportunity to drive back to Louisville on our second trip to the city and the seminary to take a second look at what our life might look like in just a few months.

 

So many things have changed since we came down for the first time last year. A year ago, we were only beginning to think about going to seminary at all, Courtney had no desire to do more studying, we had not applied, everything - absolutely EVERYTHING was new and almost overwhelming to think about.
 

Over the past couple of months since getting accepted, there has been little break from googling apartments in the area, selecting courses, figuring out finances, thinking about moving trucks, praying for guidance, applying for visas, looking at health insurance, organizing paperwork, praying for faith, looking for jobs and applying for jobs, applying for scholarships. There always seems to be something we need to work on, have to submit, or should start looking at. It's amazing to think that although we have almost none of the same questions we had last year (Are we called to seminary? Is it feasable to move to Kentucky? Would we get accepted?) the impossibility of this journey is so much more evident - the impossibility of this journey without the Lord.

 

Our thinking from the beginning has always been the same - this is crazy, and unless the Lord guides and directs every one of the ten thousand steps required for this, it will never happen. All it takes is 1 door to close and we would have no choice but to stay in Canada. What we see one year later is that our God has been with us and has done a massive work of faith in our hearts. Looking back at how far we have come fills us with faith in an unfathomably strong and loving God who cares deeply for us. This faith strengthens us to carry forward to honour the Lord through the thousands of questions and uncertainties.

 

The Lord has also done a massive work of humility in our hearts. This humility keeps us from letting go of the Lord's hand as we get closer and closer to the end of the beginning of this journey. His mercy in humbling our hearts keeps us from thinking that we can fill out paperwork without the Holy Spirit, that we will have the finances needed outside of the generous hand of the Lord, that we will have the sanity and holiness to continue to strengthen our marriage without the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In some ways the question marks in our life have only gotten bigger and multiplied. And yet, Jesus has revealed Himself able and willing to carry His weak and immature children through the purifying fires of trials and uncertainties to open our eyes to see His glory more fully and more clearly.

 

The irony of it all that the more the Lord walks us on this path, and opens doors for us in this life, the more that we love Him and the less we care about this life and this path. The more the Lord is providing and blessing our lives right now, the more I long to be with Him in glory. The more the Gospel becomes my life, the more I want to run on greener pastures, the more we want to drink from sweeter waters. My soul is getting restless for the place where we belong, I can't wait to join the angels and sing to Jesus - forever.  

 

 

How Should Baptism Weekends Affect Our Lives and Ministries?

This weekend, our worship service ended with the testimonies of some believers in our church who had decided to follow Jesus in obedience by getting baptized. That is, because they had repented of their sins and they had been given a new life in Christ, they wanted to continue in obedience by sharing  in front of their entire church family how they came to understand and have faith in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. They would do this through being baptized as an outward declaration of what had happened in their souls (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:12).
 

Baptism, as described and taught in the New Testament, is the outward declaration of an inner reality. This inner reality is the reality of a life that has been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20), has been buried with Christ (Rom 6:4), and has been raised in Christ as a new creation (Col 2:12, 2 Cor 5:17). These three realities describe what happens at salvation when a person surrenders his or her life by repenting of their sins and chooses to receive the forgiveness purchased by the blood of Jesus on the cross.

There were, however, numerous Christians in our church who came to worship this weekend who had not been baptized yet as believers and had no intention of doing so. Through the Word of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, dozens of people spontaneously decided that this weekend was the weekend to get baptized. As a result, this weekend we heard the stories of 105 people who had committed their lives to obeying the Lord and who finally submitted to His desire for them to declare it publicly through baptism.

 

So, what do you and I do as a lovers and disciples of Jesus Christ after witnessing the miracle of spiritual regeneration as proclaimed in baptism testimonies? What are we to think when we see dozens of children, youth, adults, and elderly people stand up front of hundreds of people, many of them in tears, sharing from their hearts the wonderful things the Lord has done in their lives starting with the new life they received through faith? What should your heart and my heart feel after seeing the salvation of God yet again? How should a baptism weekend like this one change our lives and the way we do ministry?

 

First of all, we need to remember that baptisms are only exciting, because salvation is exciting. Believer's baptism is so much more exciting and thrilling than infant baptism because salvation precedes believer's baptism. There is something real and awesome that has occurred that can be celebrated in believers' baptisms. So, as we look to celebrate this weekend, what we are really celebrating is the mercy of God that results in the salvation of those who give their lives up for the sake of following Jesus.

 

Baptisms should change our lives and ministries because baptisms represent the fulfilling of our mission as Christians, as the universal Church. Our success in life is measured by the depth and authenticity of our love for God and for other people. This love is demonstrated as we lay down our agendas, desires, and lives for the sake of our God and His people. Jesus instructed his disciples to love their God and love His people by going and making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything he commanded them (Matt 28:18-20).

Going to the nations, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey the commandments of God are the delight of Christians who are seeking to live an obedient and God glorifying lives. Witnessing the testimonies of those being baptized should first of all fill our hearts with great joy. There is joy in seeing people who have been rescued from drugs, alcohol, self-hate, misery, depression, pride, lust, and ultimately, death (Acts 15:3). There is also gratitude expressed through smiles, tears, and applause to our merciful, faithful and AWESOME God.

This joy and gratitude changes our lives by giving us strength and encouragement as we run the race of the Christian life. Joy in salvation is the fruit of our labour that fuels us and allows us to persevere through our sacrificial gospel-centered, mission-focused walk. Joy in seeing the work of God helps to strengthen the hope that we have in the promises of God (Rom 15:13) and allows us to delight not only in what the Lord has done or is doing, but also in what He will do. The baptisms we witness should also act as a great mirror into the inner realities that took place in our souls as Christians. For many of us, our death, burial, and resurrection took place many years ago, and we tend to forget what that was like - we forget the enslavement of sin, we forget the overwhelming joy of finally seeing Jesus Christ, we forget the humility that is natural when we look at the cross. Baptisms help us to reflect and remember the joy of the miracle of our own salvation.

Baptism weekends should also impact our ministries. Our ministry is the glory of God in the spreading of the good news of the gospel. The joy we feel from hearing the testimonies of salvation should increase our urgency and zeal for our mission (Acts 12:14). This joy also serves to counter-balance the weight of our afflictions and struggles in the mission for world evangelism. For me, the joy in seeing one life saved and transformed is enough to get me through the fear and anxiety of reflecting the light of the gospel to ten others around me.

The people who were baptized this weekend were someone's parents, someone's neighbours, someone's friends, someone's coworkers, someone's brothers. This baptism service helped to encourage me to live in such a way that I would one day see my neighbours, my friends, my coworkers, my brothers declaring the glory of God - perhaps at our next baptism service.

Reformatting the Blog

I've spent quite a bit of time over the past couple of days learning more about HTML and the different things that Blogger allows you to do on my blog. For those of you who have blogs, or enjoy reading blogs, you know that having a good template and format is important. I admit that I am still a big newb to me and I still have a lot to learn about blogging (right now, I'm thinking that length of posts is something I need to work on...) but I've taken some time and tried to work on the blog itself, which is why I haven't been posting anything recently.

 

So what is it I've been working on? If you can't tell, that's a good thing. The biggest thing I've been working on is the combination of the blogs. I had been working with multiple blogs that were all interconnected - when you clicked on "DAILY WALK" or "SEMINARY" on the tabs, it would actually take you to an entirely different blog not connected to the previous one at all. My biggest problem with that was the inability for the blogger archive to display posts from all 5 blogs, and the inability for followers to be able to follow all the categories in all 5 blogs by just following once.

In order to get all the pages I wanted on the same blog, I had to somehow link pages that would contain categorized blogs without going to a completely different blog altogether. This was not something that Blogger allowed you to do too easily and required me to learn a little bit about the HTML coding that dictates the template of the blog itself.

I have also added the Bible-verse display feature when hovering over a reference. There were times when I wanted the verse to be visible but in an attempt to work on reducing the length of my posts, I didn't feel like including the entire verse. This little gadget allowed me to have my cake and eat it too in terms of having the verses I wanted without taking up room on the post.

I'll still be looking for ways to continually improve the appearance of the blog as well as improve the quality (and length...) of the posts. If you are blogging on Blogger (or are thinking about starting), I'd like to hear from you about your blog formatting frustrations, solutions, tips, or questions. Thanks again for reading (and following...)!

ON SELLING OUR CAR

A few weeks ago, Courtney's parents asked us if we would had considered getting a new car. The one we had at the time was great and we were very happy with it, but the reality was that it probably wasn't going to get us through our years pounding up and down the interstate to Kentucky. We told them we hadn't really thought about it and it wasn't really in our budget to get a new car at the time. They then told us that they were willing to gift us their current car for whatever we were able to sell ours for! It was a huge gesture of generosity and love. We put up our car up for sale at the beginning of the month with the hope of selling it quick. So off we went with Kijiji and Autotrader!

Neither of us had ever sold a car before, and unsurprisingly, there were quite a few things we learned in terms of processes, legalities, sales, and how to honour the Lord through it all - in the end, it was a good (though trying) learning experience. Here’s some of the lessons I took away:
 

It pays (literally) to take good care of your car - get on it!

I’m not big on cars. My father-in-law, brother-in-law and I enjoy going to the International Car Show in Toronto each year, but aside from that and trying to take care of my own car, I don’t have much interest in cars. I can definitely appreciate a nice car when I see one, but I don’t dream of big engines or low fuel economy. Along with that, I also don’t know very much about cars and aside from a basic understanding of what to do in a few emergency situations, I am pretty useless. (If anyone has read “Humility” by CJ. Mahaney, you might remember one of the opening chapters describing the extent of his mechanic skills – I can sort of identify).

My father-in-law, on the other hand, really knows how to take care of his vehicles. He's one of those Q-tip cleaners, where the dashboard of his vehicle would be a perfectly usable eating surface and should you have to dig beneath a seat to find a dropped item, your hand would emerge dust, crumb, and odour free. Since he was the original owner of the car that we just sold, and the owner of the one we just received, we have GREATLY benefited from the way he takes care of his vehicles. The good stewardship of our old car helped us sell it for much more than other cars of the same age and model. It was very encouraging to see just how far non-lazy, intentional, preventative car maintenance went!

It can be tempting to freak out - fight it!

There are so many things that can go wrong with driving, owning, and selling a car. Every scrape and squeal that can cause you to make a trip to the mechanic can end up costing a whole lot of money. We were very fortunate that we never had to do anything to our old car other than fill up on gas and change the oil, and patch a few tires. As soon as we put it up for sale, though, our problems started. We quickly became good friends (out of necessity) with our trusted mechanic as we ended up spending almost $1000 on the car the week we put it up for sale. This very sudden hike in the "car maintenance" part of our budget took us both by surprise. Since we only own one car, simple tasks like getting to work suddenly became complicated (my parents really helped with that though!). We also grappled with the question of "what is the right thing to do - get this fixed, or just cross our fingers that the buyer won't ask about it"? It all seems so silly now (as it often does...). The Lord blesses faith, and continues to provide us with our daily bread. We hope to hold more firm to the promised goodness of the statues of the Lord and be less swayed by stress the next time around!

It can be tempting to lie - don't!

There are so many opportunities to lie in the sale of a car - it is so easy to omit information, be deceitful, and to right out lie. It's easy to answer questions like "does the car have any accident history?", or "have you had the breaks replaced recently?". But when you get asked questions like "how long do you think these tires will last?", do you admit that they're pretty much done and that they probably won't last through the summer? Maybe the hardest question of all to be asked is, "is there anything else I should know about that I am not asking?". Two of the things the Lord hates are a lying tongue and a false witness that breathes out lies (Proverbs 6:16-19). It's in situations like these that our integrity, our honesty, and our willingness to reflect to purity and the integrity of the Lord is put to the test. By God's grace, we had the money and the integrity to pay for the tweaks our car needed to be in tip-top shape, and the courage to answer the buyer's questions honestly.

Two things I found helpful in maintaining integrity are:

1. Maintain a clear conscience - Knowing that there was nothing wrong with the car and having a clean conscience that we were selling a car we would otherwise have been very happy buying ourselves, protected us from the temptation to be deceitful. Even if there had been some problems with the car, the Lord calls us to complete honesty and transparency.
2. Fear the Lord  - If the fear of man (who can choose to buy or not buy) becomes greater than the fear of God, we will compromise our integrity over a few bucks or over avoiding an honest (and likely awkward) conversation.

It can be an opportunity to give (TAKE IT)

In the end, we found a buyer who was very happy to pay what we were looking for for the car despite the specks of rust, the low tire tread, and the faint break squeaks (all of which he quickly noticed and commented on). The man was very honest and open, but very knowledgeable and keen, which is why we were amazed that he was still willing to pay what we wanted for the car. For us, this was a confirmation of God's faithfulness when we choose to live in His ways.

When closing the deal, the buyer mentioned that he lived about an hour away and was wondering if we would be willing to drive the car to his place as part of the deal. We told him it would be hard for us to do that (being that we only have one vehicle and commitments nearly every night of the week) so he finally agreed to pick up the car. A few days later, he called back to see if there was any chance we would reconsider and drop it off at his house, as that would be a huge help to him and his family. This was not part of the deal we had made though, and Courtney and I were under no compulsion or pressure to take a few hours out of our evening to do this to save him a few bucks. We decided (semi-reluctantly, but with a clear conscience) to do him this favour, and "give" to him in this way. It wouldn't have been wrong for us to stay put on the original deal, but it was a blessing to him for us to do this and he drove us home afterwards. We ended up having a meaningful conversation with this near stranger and did not regret our decision. It is very hard to do favours and to "give", especially in business deals when it costs us something. As Christians though, if we are to count others as more important than ourselves (Phil 2:3), and if we are going to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matt 22:39), we will find ways to be selfless and to give of ourselves to others.