Well, I'm back at school.  Part of me is happy and yet most of me just wants to go home.  That's okay.  It seems that only infrequently do what we want and what we get coincide.  Faith is knowing that God will look after His children and that everything works out for a reason. 

Today in church my pastor spoke about how we should not look at Christianity as a duty, but rather as a response out of love.  While I agree with that assesment, I also think that there is a real part of the Christian life that is duty.  If we were truely conformed to the image of God, then we could do things with the single minded purpose of honoring God.  As we are fallen however, sometimes we just have to do the right thing because it is the right thing.  Even if we don't want to at all.  Sometimes you just have to buck up and remember to live in the light of what is true (the gospel of hope) and not in the light of our circumstances.

on a lighter note...  Can anyone give me a good exegetical understanding of believers baptism?  As I currently attend a PCA church, I understand the case for infant baptism, but I am still trying to understand believers baptism before I prayerfully decide where I stand on the question.

grace and peace to you

Hello everyone!  It's a beautiful day here in Rochester - perfect for this night's activity of a real Viennese Ball!  This event has consistently been a highlight of my year since comming to Eastman.  A real orchestra and chorus, from the University of Rochester, performs and everyone dresses to the nines and dances waltzes and polkas all night.  I consider it my training for the day when I officially become a prince.  You may laugh, but I know it's comming.  My first plan to bring about said outcome, is to rescue a fair maiden from some yonder top-most tower.  Those maiden's trapped in towers always turn out to be princesses.  With any luck she would see to condescend to make all the necessary arraingments for my coronation. 

Although, if I had the choice, I think I would prefer to be Harry Potter.  I mean, he may not be a prince, but everything he does seems to turn to gold.  Also, I took an on-line test to see which house I would be a part of in the books.  I am happy to say I was a Gryffindor.  How cool is that?!?!?!?!  I was somewhat afeared I would be placed in the Ravenclaw house, but happily the fear was unwarranted and Gryffindor it was.

grace and peace

It's strange how well my Sunday school lessons are paralleling the lessons I am learning in my own life.  This week the lesson is about how we should strive to "avoid folish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition..." (a gold star if you can name the verse). I frequently think that other people address issues in their lives the same way I do.  This simply is not the case and if I want to have any sort of relationship with people who differ from me, I need to learn to address issues of dispute on their terms.  I recognize the need for all parties involved in a dispute to take the time to learn to speak the same language, but so frequently I strive to teach the other party/parties my language instead of trying to learn their's.  Perhaps there should be a healthy struggle in them and in me to try to mutually learn each other's languages, but if I am to be effective in my desire to edify others in the pursuit of God and His holiness, or for that matter to have any meaningful relationships at all, I need to learn to communicate more effectively.  Recently I listened to a sermon preached by John MacArthur Jr.  In the introduction to the sermon the man speaking was relating his experiences with John and his ministry.  The one that had the most profound impression on him was when a woman approached him with a book of promises and said, "oh, if you would autograph this the spirit will bless me a thousandfold."  John signed the book.  The man who was giving the introduction to him turned to him to protest, thinking it was more of this charismatic hogwash.  John replied, "you must lead the flock gently."  goodness.  I always struggle with myself to try to understand if something is right, frequently becoming quite mean to myself if I see a hole in my thinking, and it doesn't occur to me that others don't function that way.  I also forget that there are more ways to communicate than my characteristic directness.  My mom has always told me, even though it has been obscured with my only-child-ness, that people really aren't intressted in what I have to say, they want to talk about themselves.  I just expect that if people want to talk about themselves or discuss something they will.  However, that is a bad attitude because I am afeared it comes across as lack of intrest in my case.  If you have a moment, I would appreciate prayers to learn to be sensitive to other people and to not be so concerned with myself.

humbly yours-

Another day, another day.  The pastor of the church I am attending gave a sermon a few weeks ago that has had a great impact on me.  He is in the middle of a sermon series on the book of Jonah.  The point he was trying to convey was that we should be continually confessing our sins.  He told a story of a man who watched Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, and then proceeded to confess to having murdered his wife.  Then, when the case went to court, he plead not guilty.  The moral was that not only should we confess our sins continually in words, but we should also live with the honest reality of them continually in our minds.  We should never reach the point where we feel "at ease in Zion," but rather we should remember our sins and live in humility.  It is quite a tall order to be continually striving to mirror Christ by accepting our duties as His followers and be consumed with a passion for His holiness while, simultaneously, living in the reality of our depravity.  And yet, those two realities together create such a feeling of hope as I run to the cross and experience the marvelous forgiveness of being clothed in Christ's righteousness.

In other news, my Harry Potter costume was a huge success.  People in various states of inebriation we able to clearly discern my identity.  Honestly, I think it was the wand that gave it away because the scare on my head, created by stage paint, began to smear quite early on in the evening.  My rather enthusiastic and probably not-all-together-above-reproach dancing didn't do anything to slow down the demise of the scare either.  Oh well, what fun is life without a little craziness once in a while?  hmm... maybe I should think about that depravity comment some more...

grace and peace

Alright sportsfans, here's a question on for which you can chew.  hmmm... that sounds a little silly... well, perhaps I should provide some background for the question first.  I and several friends, who are also artists, have gotten together to study a book called, "walking on water: reflections on faith and art" by Madeleine L'Engle.  As this is not the sort of book I would choose to read on my own, I thought it would be a good stretch for me and a wonderful opportunity for fellowship with other Christians at this most liberal of institutions.  At our last meeting we only really discussed the book for the first few minutes, after that it merely became a springboard for conversation about the full spectrum of possibly devicive topics in Christianity.  I was intrigued by what this discussion revealed about the nature of the group.  It seemed to me that the gospel of the substitutionary death and resurection of Christ for the purpose of redeeming His utterly fallen people back to Himself so that He may view the travail of His soul and be satisfied, was not something we all had in common.  Now, I knew from the get-go that there were major differences in the make-up of our group, but I had no idea that we differed on something so fundamental to the Christian faith.  I mean, unless we wax into postmodernism where words have no meaning, to say you are a Christian means you affirm certain doctrines.  Am I wrong in saying this?  While I think that a call to the venerable Dr. Caylor may be needed to help sort out some of the questions that were raised, the one question to which I could not think of a suitable response was the question of why it seems that Christianity is consistently associated with the wealthy, powerful, and white civilizations.  The only thing I could think of to say is, it's not!  I mean, maybe I am just being idealistic, but I always thought that the true christians in any era, were the ones despised by the masses, forced to flee, and cubbie-holed so that they weren't a threat.  I would love comments and prayers as to what would be a good way to keep the dialogue open and still remain firm.

grace and peace