Well still on holidays. Cept at the moment I'm in Wingham with Meg and her family. Having a jolly good ol' time. Going to her work Christmans party tonight. Should be fun.
Still listening to Driscoll sermons and playing freecell but also enjoying Winterbirth and Romans. Read through the first half of the book and now reading a chapter at a time and then going through it more slowly and taking notes. Tis worthwhile because I'm now understanding what Paul is getting at. It also means that I am remembering what I am reading and it has a greater impact on me. So Romans up to chapter 4 can be summarised as follows (keep in mind this is my amateurish attempt) God shows no favoritism and so all people will be judged according to their deeds, First the Jew then the Gentile, the promises will be inherited by those who have faith in God for it will be credited to them as righteousness with Abraham as our example First the Jew then also for the Gentile. Faith in Jesus Christ alone saves, He is our Good News.
Oh and it's hot and humid here. Still haven't seen Australia but pleased that Mr. Jackman is hosting the Oscars and that Heath got nominated for Best Supporting Actor in The Dark Night. Go Heath.
Saturday, December 13
Tuesday, December 2
Shift in Lifestyle
Well I've been on holidays for over a week now.
Last week involved writing material for Ernie's Big Night for a talk that went well. Only positive feedback so far and will debrief with Tom later this week about it. As for the night itself it was a good night. Fun was had, Jesus was preached, and people were encouraged as a result. The way the talk worked exactly was me and Tom doing a tag-team with me essentially giving my testimony in my first three segments while Tom assumed the role of Zaccheus and spoke about who Zaccheus was to develop the character and then bring him to the point where he meets Jesus. From that point we spoke about their encounter - me narrating inc. talking about Jesus and what happened in their encounter and what this means for the audience.
As for this week. Well I have managed to land myself to a couple of jobs. The first one is holiday work. Just working for my old boss at another cafe he owns in the area. Good people to work with. Thoroughly enjoyed their company, and this place is better than the last cafe for a place to be working at at least because of the aesthetics of the place. Simply an easier working space. But also me being me I get excited about the prospect of being amongst non-Christians and getting to preach Jesus. I have to place a serious leash on myself so I don't go hammer-n-tong and try to convert everyone there. Managed that yesterday. Had a great time just chatting to one of the girls there and got to make coffee all day. It was a good day. And helpful money made too.
The other job is the Student Minister position I now have at my church of the past 7 years where I will be working at the high school I attended for six years. It'll be good. I am excited about it and I thoroughly look forward to working with many good and godly and talented people next year as I step into paid ministry for the first time. Evangelism. Hmmm... Lord make me a better evangelist.
Been listening to Mark Driscoll lately. He's got some fantastic material. Such a talented speaker and uncompromisingly honest. I listened to his sermon on Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Man that was hard. Went for an hour and fifteen minutes and was just heavy as can be for the whole time. It was tough. But good. God does not get you around problems, He gets you through them. Punctuate all prayers and requests with "Your will be done".
Last night was brilliant. Went from work stinking of coffee at 5:45 to the leaders meeting at 6 for ernie, and didn't get home till 11. It was fantastic. Had the leaders meeting that went till 8 I think. Washed up in which time I managed to get Nathan a couple time with the t-towel tied with the special knot I learned in Canada. We then sat down in the comfy chairs again some of us epuipped with cups of tea where I did I very cheeky thing by drinking tea out of Stephen's Fuller Seminary mug. Bad form really. But then again I've always been a pot stirrer. Sometimes paid the price. Got beat up once for calling Jack Johnson crap. Then after this we all gathered around Tom's computer and went through 41 pages of the fail blog. www.failblog.org
Looking forward to community lunch tomorrow, the debrief and more work.
Last week involved writing material for Ernie's Big Night for a talk that went well. Only positive feedback so far and will debrief with Tom later this week about it. As for the night itself it was a good night. Fun was had, Jesus was preached, and people were encouraged as a result. The way the talk worked exactly was me and Tom doing a tag-team with me essentially giving my testimony in my first three segments while Tom assumed the role of Zaccheus and spoke about who Zaccheus was to develop the character and then bring him to the point where he meets Jesus. From that point we spoke about their encounter - me narrating inc. talking about Jesus and what happened in their encounter and what this means for the audience.
As for this week. Well I have managed to land myself to a couple of jobs. The first one is holiday work. Just working for my old boss at another cafe he owns in the area. Good people to work with. Thoroughly enjoyed their company, and this place is better than the last cafe for a place to be working at at least because of the aesthetics of the place. Simply an easier working space. But also me being me I get excited about the prospect of being amongst non-Christians and getting to preach Jesus. I have to place a serious leash on myself so I don't go hammer-n-tong and try to convert everyone there. Managed that yesterday. Had a great time just chatting to one of the girls there and got to make coffee all day. It was a good day. And helpful money made too.
The other job is the Student Minister position I now have at my church of the past 7 years where I will be working at the high school I attended for six years. It'll be good. I am excited about it and I thoroughly look forward to working with many good and godly and talented people next year as I step into paid ministry for the first time. Evangelism. Hmmm... Lord make me a better evangelist.
Been listening to Mark Driscoll lately. He's got some fantastic material. Such a talented speaker and uncompromisingly honest. I listened to his sermon on Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Man that was hard. Went for an hour and fifteen minutes and was just heavy as can be for the whole time. It was tough. But good. God does not get you around problems, He gets you through them. Punctuate all prayers and requests with "Your will be done".
Last night was brilliant. Went from work stinking of coffee at 5:45 to the leaders meeting at 6 for ernie, and didn't get home till 11. It was fantastic. Had the leaders meeting that went till 8 I think. Washed up in which time I managed to get Nathan a couple time with the t-towel tied with the special knot I learned in Canada. We then sat down in the comfy chairs again some of us epuipped with cups of tea where I did I very cheeky thing by drinking tea out of Stephen's Fuller Seminary mug. Bad form really. But then again I've always been a pot stirrer. Sometimes paid the price. Got beat up once for calling Jack Johnson crap. Then after this we all gathered around Tom's computer and went through 41 pages of the fail blog. www.failblog.org
Looking forward to community lunch tomorrow, the debrief and more work.
Wednesday, November 19
More Greek
I think the world has stopped spinning. At least that's what I perceive at the moment being stuck in mountains of Greek that I am trying to sort through. Not much else seems to exist at the moment. Having said that I am making progress. Have translated practice sentences and parsed words all for practice. Hell I was even parsing words like πεπιστευκαμεν which is derived from the word πιστευω and is in the prefect tense, 1st person, is plural, in the active voice and indicative mood. And I understand it. These are all good signs for Friday morning. None-the-less it remains Greek and as a result I'm not confident and stressing out because I would really like to finish the year on a good note, especially in Greek because it has been a year of a lot of hard work and so far I've managed HD's. To bomb out in the final exam of the year would be very disappointing. I'm about to move onto the subjunctive mood. Urgh.
Monday, November 17
The end is near
Well I'm coming to the end of my time at College. I have one exam to go after having done three already. OT, NT, and Evangelism Principles. Just Greek to go.
At the end of this week I also move all of my stuff out of my little shoebox here and I move back home because I simply don't have the money to continue live here. Sigh. It shall be a shame. The guys here are all top blokes and have been so much fun to hang out with and live with all year. I shall miss the rounds of Urban Terror - I was just getting good... Most of the guys including myself from Top Floor will be moving off anyway - so even if I stayed it wouldn't be the same. In any case moving home will be good, and necessary for various reasons like work and church involvement.
In other things 2009 is shaping up to be a good year. I thoroughly look forward to the more intense theological subjects and implementing all the things that I have learnt this year including exegeting John and 1 Corinthians from the original Greek. I think it is fantastic that God continues to transform me into the man he wants me to be. And that includes the raging nerd that continues to come alive. Fortunately I have Meg to keep me from becoming too much of a pretentious git. I also look forward to everything else that happens next year as things really begin to develop and grow from thing that have happened this year. Things were new this year and last year, but as I have really put roots down by the grace of God things now are growing and developing.
I also look forward to the family holiday in January which will now be attended by 4 McClouds, 2 Bennetts and 1 Smith. Quite the change from last year which had 5 McClouds, and 1 Bennett. Yay Holidays! I'm almost there!
At the end of this week I also move all of my stuff out of my little shoebox here and I move back home because I simply don't have the money to continue live here. Sigh. It shall be a shame. The guys here are all top blokes and have been so much fun to hang out with and live with all year. I shall miss the rounds of Urban Terror - I was just getting good... Most of the guys including myself from Top Floor will be moving off anyway - so even if I stayed it wouldn't be the same. In any case moving home will be good, and necessary for various reasons like work and church involvement.
In other things 2009 is shaping up to be a good year. I thoroughly look forward to the more intense theological subjects and implementing all the things that I have learnt this year including exegeting John and 1 Corinthians from the original Greek. I think it is fantastic that God continues to transform me into the man he wants me to be. And that includes the raging nerd that continues to come alive. Fortunately I have Meg to keep me from becoming too much of a pretentious git. I also look forward to everything else that happens next year as things really begin to develop and grow from thing that have happened this year. Things were new this year and last year, but as I have really put roots down by the grace of God things now are growing and developing.
I also look forward to the family holiday in January which will now be attended by 4 McClouds, 2 Bennetts and 1 Smith. Quite the change from last year which had 5 McClouds, and 1 Bennett. Yay Holidays! I'm almost there!
Wednesday, November 12
First one for a while
It's good to look back on the blog posts of old which concerned the Soul Edge trip. Good times and good memories there.
At the moment two exams have been completed. OT & NT. I passed them. I know that much. So that's a positive. When I started I was aiming very high. I wanted to do an honors year, and get a distinction average and be really smart. My aspirations are no longer that high. Although the HD average I have for Greek at the moment is nothing to sulk about. I just wish I was better at English.... *sigh*
Well I have an exam Friday morning that I am not yet prepared for so I have got to get back to the study and stop procrastinating.
At the moment two exams have been completed. OT & NT. I passed them. I know that much. So that's a positive. When I started I was aiming very high. I wanted to do an honors year, and get a distinction average and be really smart. My aspirations are no longer that high. Although the HD average I have for Greek at the moment is nothing to sulk about. I just wish I was better at English.... *sigh*
Well I have an exam Friday morning that I am not yet prepared for so I have got to get back to the study and stop procrastinating.
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