The Moon

I've always thought the the moon is an amazing analogy for the Christian life. When I was in eighth grade I even wrote a sort of poem to that effect. The moon by itself is a cold, dark thing. Yet, when it is fulfilling the purpose for which it was created (Genesis 1:15-16) it reflects the glory of the sun and gives light to the earth.

Likewise, when apart from God we are hopeless, helpless, condemned, slaves to sin, lost in darkness. Yet, out of His infinite grace and mercy He chooses to save us. Not only that, but then he chooses to use us: we have the job of reflecting the glory of the Son to a dark and sinful world.

However, sometimes in the life of the moon an event happens which decreases its effectiveness as a light-giver. Such an event happened last night: a lunar eclipse. During this event, the earth comes between the sun and the moon and casts its shadow over the moon.


You can, of course, still tell the difference between the moon and the rest of the night sky -- it doesn't get that dark. Nonetheless, its effectiveness is diminished.


The same thing can happen with Christians: we become enamored with the world. We let it come between ourselves and God. We find that the glory we are trying to reflect is sullied. Our witness is greatly lessened.




Fortunately for the moon, this shadowing only lasts a couple hours. Very shortly it is uncovered again and clearly reflecting all the sun's rays.


We followers of Christ, though, how long do we allow our lights to be overshadowed by our love of the world? Especially here in America where there are so many things to be distracted by, where materialism is rampant and sin is so often made to look so attractive. When will we again truly reflect the glory of the Son to a dying world?

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Baking fun

For our Renaissance Faire a couple weeks ago I spent some time on-line looking for a bread recipe that would look and taste somewhat authentic without taking days. Well, I didn't find much that would work for that, but I did find an interesting recipe for a sort of rustic/artesian bread that looked fairly easy, and since I've never been terribly good at artesian breads I thought I'd try it. The first time it turned out fairly well, though a little darker than I like. This second time I used a starter I just got going instead of yeast and added quite a bit more water than the first time.
Definitely not the best loaf of bread in the world, but it has a fairly open crumb and is chewier than I've managed before. So I'll have to try it again sometime.

Here are a couple sites (baking blogs!) that inspired me (the first includes the basic recipe, if anyone is interested).
http://www.breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

Jerusalem

Well, it's official -- I'm going to Jerusalem (Lord willing, of course!)

I enjoy teaching, but even before I started, there was always this thought in the back of my mind that someday I'd like to go back to school. For a variety of reasons (which I don't have to go into at the moment) I decided that this is probably the year. I consulted with my parents and began the process of applying to Jerusalem University College (JUC).

JUC is located on Mt. Zion, right outside the walls of the Old City. Can you blame me for being excited to study in such a location? My family went on a two-week tour with them when I was in high school, and I've wanted to go back ever since.(This is a view of the school from across the Hinnom Valley)

I received my acceptance letter a few weeks ago, and have spent that time making up my mind and informing the right people. It has been a hard and long decision. I will really miss my students and Petra. However, I am excited to take this next step and see what God has for me there.

This summer I'm planning to head back to Clydehurst for one more summer as a cook. I am supposed to arrive at the school on August 29th, and we'll go from there. You all are, of course, more than welcome to visit me. :)

If you want to know more about what I'll be doing over there you can check out the web page though it doesn't seem to be working at the moment, or you can just ask me. :)

Judging a man by his books

The other day I was looking at various bits and pieces of information about presidential candidates, and I found myself swayed for or against them by the books and movies they listed as their favorites. Perhaps that is an odd way to judge a person, but as I reflected, I realized that I often judge people based on the books, movies, and music they enjoy, and I think that its at least partially valid.

Let me back up a little and qualify what I mean by the word "judge." I do not mean to imply here that I attempt to consign people to hell simply because of the books and movies they enjoy. I do mean that I think you can learn a lot about the personality and character of someone if you know on what they feed their mind.

Allow me to make my case. I may be mistaken in saying that this is common in human experience, but I personally tend to enjoy books that I can relate to in some way -- perhaps the sense of humor, the experiences, the human relationships, or the way of looking at the world. Basically, it would come down to some similarity in world view, or possibly a similarity of what my world view would be if I thought like the author or character. This is not to say that I don't enjoy or learn from books with a completely different world view from my own; it is to say, however, that those books generally don't become my favorites. As I briefly look over my mental list of favorite books, a few examples come to mind:
"Pride and Prejudice" - I enjoyed this one in a large part because I could relate to Lizzy. She and Darcy were both honorable, and though they both had faults, they came to recognize them and attempted to mend them.
C. S. Lewis - He is a master "supposer" -- "suppose that the God of the Bible were to be at work in a world slightly different from ours... how would that look?" In doing so he enables us to understand God better.
John Donne - I don't claim to understand all of his poetry, but there are a few poems of his that I really enjoy as I have experience some of the same things he speaks of -- "Batter my heart, three-personed God."
"Passion and Purity" - this book, when I first read it, really helped open my eyes to a more Biblical understanding of how marriage (and relationships before marriage) should work.
"Let the Nations be Glad" - as a person interested in missions, this book also helped open my eyes to the purpose for missions-- ultimately, God's glory.

Looking back over what I have written, most of those books have Biblical themes or Biblical reasoning in one form or the other, which fits well, as my world-view is founded on the Bible. I think I could make a similar case for movies or music. What you choose to read, or watch, or listen to, especially if it becomes a favorite, that becomes a part of you and reflects who you are or who you want to be.

Therefore, I will continue to analyze people (including political candidates) at least partly in light of their books, movies, music, etc. I will strive to be careful in this analysis, though! And, I will strive to read the books, watch the movies, and listen to the music that will help me to become the kind of person that I wouldn't be afraid to vote for if election was based solely on those things.

Your Great Renown (by Eric Grover and Steve Cook)

Our hearts are longing for

The glory of the Lord
To be made known in all the Earth.
Lord let Your kingdom come,
Lord let Your will be done,
Yours is the greatest name of all!

We want to see the nations bow,We want to hear the rising sound
Of the worship that You deserve!We want this passion to abound,A burden for Your great renown
Yours is the greatest name of all.