I'm so bad at making post titles

The conference is over... 'twas amazingly wonderful; I think the most powerful message was from Hebrews 12:12-17, focusing on our response to God's discipline; how rejecting it leads progressively to discouragement, dislocation, bitterness, profane living, and disqualification for the prize. It was a very convicting message that really made me think about how I respond when God disciplines me - do I seek with joy what it is He's teaching me? Or do I harden my heart and just try to get through it on my own? I'd like to say the first, but it's not always true of me...

I really really really want classes to start, but I suppose Monday will come quickly enough. Just for the record, reading my econ textbook so far, it looks like this will be pretty easy considering what I already learned in my high school econ class with mom and Mr. G. Yay for easy classes!!!

**end of post proper, the following is for those who would like to read my response to a very good comment brought up on my last post**

Perspicacious onlooker - Thank you for discussing thoughtfully this idea. When you say that Christians are not slaves of Christ, that we have nothing but choices and that our relationship is more characterized by a parent-child relationship, there are a few problems with that. First of all, in Romans 10, one aspect of saving faith is to proclaim that Christ is Lord. The greek for Lord there is kurios, and it means one who has power, ownership, and right to command. It is similar to the word despotes - absolute ruler. Both are used of Jesus in the New Testament many times. Now, no one can be kurios of nothing - a ruler implies there is one ruled over, an owner implies that there is one owned. If Christ is called Lord more than He is called Savior, it implies that He rules over something abosultely - and that would be us. Secondly, used almost 150 times in the New Testament is the word doulos - slave. Now, the speaker who was talking last night pointed out that even though almost all translations translate this word as servant or bond-servant when talking about our relationship to God, when talking about inanimate things (like being slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin) or about specific people who were slaves, they translate it as slave. No Greek scholar will contest that this word means anything but slave; an authoritative dictionary on the greek language says that the word is so unequivically slave that it is unnecessary to even trace the usage. It means slave and nothign else. So lots of the places where we get the idea we're God's servants - the Greek literally says we're His slaves. When Christ says in John 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you," the context indicates that He's not releasing them from slavery - the assumption is that they are slaves, and that doesn't change, but they are made special slaves, companion slaves, who knwo the bigger picture. Romans 6:22 includes a part "Now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God..." No matter how we try to get around it, we are the slaves of Christ.

Yes, we have choices, but we don't have options - a slave can choose whether to obey or disobey his master, but the choice is between doign his master's will and being a slave in rebellion. Yes, we are children of God, but we are slaves who have been called friends who have been adopted as sons. It's a progression starting on the foundation of being Christ's slave, and the privilege God gives us in Christ of relationship with Him builds from there. We may be encouraged to obey God because we know He has our eternal good at heart, but we MUST obey because He is Lord, true surrender to the Lord of all has no true choices besides obedience vs. rebellion, faithfulness vs. idolatry, and because at the bottom line of Christianity is the fact that, redeemed and enabled by grace, we exist to do the will of the Father. If you don't agree with that, take a look at Matthew 7:21, John 14:23, John 14:12 and John 8:28, John 15:10, and Romans chapter 6.
All right, a friend jsut called and needs me, so I suppose this post is over...

Hmmm?

Well most of these posts are long and kind of boring so I am going to try and spice it up by making some short and sweet.

Also, sorry that photos are not up, I always forget to take photos when I am out.

So the tid-bit of humor for now...(drum role please)...

I don't really know.

Ahhh...? Its cold up here and this weekend is a three day weekend because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.

Okay, so don't mix orange juice and yogurt and vitamins and then go to the gym early in the morning. It does not benefit your system. Also, don't go running in the early morning with only a sweat shirt on. Have at least a windbreaker and hat.

La-de-dah

I'm back at school now. Classes don't start 'til Monday, but I've gotten all my books and started my Econ homework, since that looks like a hard class - a quiz and a paper due every week! Since on top of that I'm sharing the textbook with someone... I figured I'd better get going. :) Right now, we're doing a conference thingy where various speakers come in to talk. This year's theme is discipleship, and the talks have been really good - last night's was about the fact that Christ is Lord means that Christians are His slaves, not saved to fulfill their dreams, but to live His will. One convicting question that I've started to think about since is this: How would the way I share the Gospel be different if I was clear in my own heart and in what I say that I am preaching a call to slavery? Ouch.... Anyways, I'm kinda ready for classes to start, but life is good.... and books are expensive.

So?

So what defines happiness? Where do the beginnings flow from?

I was thinking about this recently. (Well, to be honest, I have only been thinking about it since I began typing this blog. No! That is not true, I have been thinking along the same lines since yesterday’s church service.)

On Sunday, the pastor of this church I went to gave a sermon on loving the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind. I was convicted during it and realized that even though I loved the Lord, there were things in my life that I was holding on to and not letting the Lord be apart of entirely. (Whoa! This is deep you might say. I would agree. Also, I don’t think I really want my whole spiritual life on the web for all to see. Who knows, one day I might be famous and write a book about it but if it were all on the web already then who would buy my book? Then I would starve and die and it would be the end.)

So, I had my first Chemistry lab today. I enjoyed it and it turns out I have a pretty good lab partner. He is a super senior (5th year student) and is double majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience. Compared to the chemistry class I had in high school with Mrs. K and Mr. G (no full names for security reasons) this course is not only easy but a very sad substitute. For the first week and a half, we have been discussing the factor label method. He is teaching us what were are doing, just how to plug and chug the numbers. Quite sad really. I just hope that the tests aren’t to difficult. This is more of a HS chem. class and I would definitely say that the one I took in HS was more like an upper division class here.

Psychology is not very enjoyable because the teacher just reads off a power point and it is boring. Also, right now all we are talking about is how gender has affected the history of psychology.

In calculus, we have begun to do derivatives. It is difficult but so much more interesting! All my math life has been learning the building blocks to higher math and now, we are doing something interesting. Finding slopes at exact points or the derivative of a graph, it is challenging but rewarding.

Oh! Dinner is calling. I missed lunch today because of classes so I am starving.
TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Last Day at Home

This is Ocelot posting, not Levi, for those who might be confused (note cool font color)...
Because I am still at home! It is my last day at home, and I don't feel like doing any of the laundry or packing I need to do. I almost finished all my New Testament homework for next semester, but I don't really feel like finishing that last little bit, either. Is it okay to be lazy on my last day home? I don't know. I am looking forward to this semester... seeing my school friends again, having a schedule, being busy. :) The classes I'm most looking forward to are Global Missions Prep and Art Components and Techniques for elementary teachers. (I'm sooo ready to start those methods courses yay!!) Classes will start Monday, and until then, my school has a conference thingy where Christian speakers and artists come in. This year's theme is discipleship, and it looks really good. Well, I'd best finish that NT homework, or I can expect to be swamped this semester (I will be anyway since I'm taking 21 units, not a lot of downtime expected). Adios!!

Sunday ( End of first week)

Sorry about the long times between posts. It has been very busy up here since I got back with school and friends and late nights and early mornings and working out and eating out and church and bible studies and worship times and classes and meals and sleeping and most importantly, worrying about non-important things.

So, today was absolutely beautiful. About 55 degrees and blue sky with some wisps of cloud and a light breeze. I went to church this morning with Will Peterson, a friend of mine.

I am happy to be back although this quarter will be more difficult than the last because of the more complicated and larger workload.

I have to admit, part of the reason for not posting as often is that I am unsure of how many people look at this. So with that uncertainty in mind, I am hesitant to spend my rather limited amount of time writing to nobody. (well, yo get the idea)

Anyhow, enjoy this new year, the year of change. Not only is this a leap year, but it is an even year and the year of presidential elections with is always uncertain.
So in this coming year, here is a resolution for you.

"Don't vote late, in two thousand and eight."