Kontz Kronicle

Soren Sorely Sought Solidarity

2008-09-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

But, there is nothing new under the sun.

Recently reading Soren Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling” has got me thinking about postmodernism, truth and reality and why we seem to have such trouble defining them. Soren wasn’t too well liked in his day, maybe because like any good philosopher he questioned a lot of popular premises, but like a child reacting to a parent’s heavy hand, he utilized the premise he criticized.

In his preface to “ Fear and Trembling,” Soren seems to be frustrated with “the new generation” for beginning where every other generation ended up. (Most ancients began doubting and questioning after lives of self deprivation, study and seeking wisdom, whereas his peers began doubting and questioning without enduring the proper steps as did their elders. )Though building on another’s framework seems to be highly celebrated in business, politics, industry and family wealth, Soren keenly pointed out that there is then something lost in the sincerity of that henceforth achieved.

Privilege of doubting without the struggle of searching promotes devaluation of wisdom which turns healthy reverence into sinister criticism and careless dismissal much like Prince Charles and Harry expend the popularity of their envied lineage. Unfortunately, Soren himself popularized the same sort of trend with more dangerous tools than misplaced criticism or reckless squandering.......

Those are the tools of faith and fact, placed on the potter’s wheel of existentialism and postmodernism as effectually as Soren retold the story of Abraham and Isaac. Soren recapitulated the philosophy he criticized but more dangerously cloaked in the guise of reform. Most commonly known as a “fresh look,” a “fresh gospel,” or “a different light,” but “what happened to the days of John Adams when facts were known as “stubborn things?” Facts are stubborn things yet, for though we have left behind fact in pursuit of fiction and fantastic illusions of life, facts will stubbornly return to our reality or the reality of our children with the jealousy of a woman scorned, and we will not be able to ignore them.

This will be well illustrated in the current financial crisis. For while philosophies devoid of fact, and banknotes devoid of currency flirt with speculation, possibility, and human nature, the deficit of these are more patiently waiting their eager and painful revenge. Because like hard cash, facts cannot be at their core manipulated or corrupted. They can be temporarily inflated, uselessly tossed about, or denied, but there is a fortunate, created order that will set all things back in motion as they should be, and mankind will once more have a chance to seek Soren’s solidarity.

back in black

2008-03-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I am now back in the US after 6 months in Europe, and what a relief it is to be back! Not only because I am working again and get to see my fiancee often, but I forgot how free we are in America! If someone wants to do something here, they can, and though it has its disadvantages for the victims of hedonism, freedom is a blessing for the rest of us.

I am thinking about how to integrate the Christ-like principles I learned from life there into life here with a different mindset and practices. Like having to see how much I have depended on material possessions for my security and peace of mind. When the ability to affect the state of these things was lost by leaving the country, I had to trust in the Lord, and I realized how difficult it is.

I have also come to see how prosperous our culture is, and even myself. Though I have never lacked, I never saw myself as rich until I visited countries where poverty means something different. I think it would be more striking to visit southeast Asia or Africa.

I have also been convicted about the extreme waste that we as North Americans support for convenience sake. Though the Bible doesn't say too much about this, I can't help but feeling guilty for using so much and throwing away more. A friend of mine just started working for 1-800 GOT JUNK and he was telling me how much almost new stuff he sees ditched every day. I think it says something about a culture when we can hire people to not only deliver new things, but to also take away the things we don't want to trash them simply because there is an excess. It used to be that things were consumed when there was a want or need. Now, consummation is an addiction, maybe even an a god

Should Christians be setting different trends? Why?

2008-03-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

my camera is broken. sorry no more pictures of Holland and the Corrie Ten Boom Huis.....

I am excited to come back to America, but I am enjoying my 11 days in Holland. I am getting a lot of course work done for Tyndale, and having a great time with Ariel's family.

Les Sept Laux

2008-02-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

The last post's pictures were taken on the mountain in the far left of this first photo right above the guy's head. The French Alpes are beautiful and it has been a privilege to stay here for the past 6 months and traverse all over them.

Sort of bizarre seeing this here but really neat at the same time.

steel mills and toyotas

2008-02-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Grenoble- from the Bastille. What a view! I was wondering why I kept getting sick, but then I realized that it might have been that entire steel mill I breathed in. If you look closely you can see it floating around in the sky.
Harriet, Joram, Rebekah and I some others went up a mountain. It was quite a view also though I wouldn't recommend hiking in snow without snow shoes. There is also Mont Blanc (the tallest mountain in Europe) in the center of this photo.
I think this picture clearly shows the steel mill. It is between the tops of the mountains and the tops of the hills.
This might not look like much, and it wasn't much...room, that is. We were all four crammed into the back of a Toyota something. I think it was too skinny for production in America. Normally they tell you how many airbags they put in your car, but they were telling us how many cars they put into their airbags. WHAT?!?!?

spelling lesson

2008-02-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

I guess "Eiffel" is spelled like that and not this "Effiel."

I am embarrassed but this is what I get for learning a second language. I have forgotten the first, which is a problem because I can't write in the second yet either.

What is even more embarrassing is that I was corrected by someone for whom English is a third language.

Thanks Joram.

Chasing Shadows

2008-02-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about how we prefer suck on the wrapper of life than eat the candy God provides. When we are given an opportunity to store up candy for the future, we more often opt to chew the wrapper for taste right now. This sounds a bit ridiculous in this context, but we often do this in our spiritual life. God promises us every good thing that we could possibly want, but the attainment of these good things does not come 'til the future. Like the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our future inheritance in Heaven, God has given us shadows of future glory on earth. These come in the way of relationships, places, possessions, entertainment and food. All these things will be present in Heaven in some perfect way for us to enjoy in the presence of God, but attaining them requires present sacrifice and difficulty on earth. Because God is good, He has given us true joy in sacrifice and every spiritual blessing in earthly trials, but why do we settle for the shadows?

Why do we spend our energy searching out satisfaction in present relationships, entertainment, or possessions? These things are just shadows of our future hope and glory. My shadow tends to be the places I find myself. I like to make them comfortable, without stress or tension, and friendly. Sometimes God chooses to bless me with these things, but more often than not, I will have to wait 'til heaven to experience the perfect place. I can spend all my time trying to find or create or fix this shadow, but it will never work. Well, it might, but when life is dead and gone, I will have to forgo the words, "well done my good and faithful servant." Instead I would get, "Well done on the shadow chasing, you can now enter the shadow you chased......... the shadow of the blessing you would have obtained if you sought first My Kingdom." I know that I don't want to be caught chewing short-lived sweetness from a plastic wrapper when I am called on to enjoy it's contents.

ok, ok, I'll post pictures of Paris.and berlin

2008-02-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

ok, well i do do more things than just hang out here in Europe. This is a picture of me and a few young kids i was watching with Mike for a church event in Germany. Don't let their sweet little faces fool you- they were vicious. the three yr old in the pink could formulate sentences that would baffle Shakespeare.
Mike and I were posing on the red carpet when these Serbian girls asked to have their photos taken with us.

This is the famous Sony center. That big white thing is a roof that is situated over a bunch of skyscrapers. Pretty cool.
Paris
The Notre Dame Cathedral
Effiel Tower. Never ask someone to take your picture WITH THE EFFIEL TOWER and assume they are going to do a good job. And WHY is my spell corrector telling me that Effiel is not a word.
You won't see this shot in National Geographic. The Effiel tower is not as big as it looks.
The cool thing about Paris is that all the buildings are like this. And everyone wears black and doesn't talk to each other. So the black against the light stone and the erie silence is unnerving. I think they speak Spanish in Paris. I stopped for directions three times and every time they couldn't tell me anything because they only spoke Spanish. WHAT?!?!? NO COMPRENDO?

the series

2008-02-12T03:31:00.000-08:00

I decided to delete the two previous posts and abstain from posting the last post in this series. I just had this sneaking feeling that maybe someday when I will older and wiser I would disagree with what I had written.

It also might have something to do with the fact that I had a conversation with a guy who encouraged me not to be too hard on fellow Christians that are philosophically or doctrinally confused. I have a tendency to be quite vocal about my disagreements, but I agree that since we are on the same side, whether or not I agree it might be wise to let God sort out the balance.

I am getting ready to wind down these last two weeks here in Grenoble. I have been sick as a dog since Saturday, but hopefully I am coming down to the tail end of it. Being sick is making me more excited to go back to the US, and I am excited to get chances to work and rebuild my physical stamina.

Berlin vs. Paris

2008-02-12T03:03:00.000-08:00

I recently took a trip to St Etienne, Lyon, Berlin, and Paris. There weren't that many impressive things to show you pictures of in the other places, but Berlin was quite possibly the coolest place I have ever been outside of Banff(thank you Andrew). In order, there is a concentration camp, a gate that is really famous, the Berlin wall, and checkpoint Charlie with my friends Mike and Jesslyn. It was very sobering seeing the history of the Nazi and Soviet Regimes and it is thoroughly documented at each point of interest. After the three of us went to each place, it was a bit difficult to talk because of the atrocities committed there.
On a lighter note, it was great to hang out with Mike and Jesslyn. They are a neat couple and are excited to learn German and start making an impact for Christ there. We had a lot of neat German foods and we even got to visit the world premier of a film and stand on the red carpet.

I don't really have pictures to post from Paris. I wasn't as impressed with it. The architecture is unbelievable, and it was a cool place, but after about four hours there I visited a few friends and then took the next train back to Grenoble.

Swinging like Monkeys

2008-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

I was recently at a Bible study which had quite a culturally-progressive flavor. This culturally-progressive flavor allows for many ideas to circulate, often unchallenged, and this sometime results in heresy espoused. At this study, there were many important questions, opinions and truths thrown around, but little heresy suggested. This was surprising because of the increasingly popular tendency that not only fails to point out or condemn heresy but almost encourages its expression. As I see it, an ideal study according to our culture allows everyone to state their opinion and feel appreciated without condemning or putting one’s opinion over another. Not distinguishing between truth and error forgoes the uncomfortable necessity to claim absolute truth that would follow, and helps to avoid offense. Bible studies are finding it easier to meet these requirements, but this was ideal because it surpassed the minimum, and that is quite a rare thing in light of rising Biblical illiteracy. The convenience of this method allows people to take what they want or can, in a way conveniently non-condemning. They seem to be a perfect balance for those who have been Christians for 40 years, and those who aren’t even considering Christianity. No one is right or wrong, and everyone has a say. Therefore the non-Christian can be heard and the Christian also, and no one is the worse off for it. The problem apparent me is that not only is “no one worse off,” no one is the better off either. In the name of cultural relevance, everyone coming, choosing a passage and then discussing seems to be an improvement over the more distant sunday-school teacher trends. This ideally seems great- people will be able to distinguish between truth and error in their minds, and everyone will walk away owning their ideas. The reason it seems dangerously but inconspicuously unhealthy, is that it is a fairly new method and the weaknesses are almost imperceptible as of yet. But these trends are direct descendants of the modernist philosophy that grandfathered them, and are inherently flawed by the same cultural bias. Modernism would like to believe that everything can be established by foundation and method, and therefore the label of correct theological opinion goes to the most rational and intelligent among us. Those who have mastered enough Greek and Hebrew to be closest to the original Scripture, and those who know the correct exegetical method. So then if postmodernism has removed the method, which is exegesis, and the objectivity of knowledge, which in itself contains the need for knowing Scripture, and it removes the (modernist) solid foundation, which is the closeness to the Hebrew and Greek, than what is left? Opinions that gather around to discuss the Scriptures and go away personally inspired but not united in Faith, Lord or Baptism(Let alone other essential doctrines of the faith). This lack of unity and abandonment of useful doctrine and preparation is a handicapping weakness of the postmodern method. There are many Scriptures that contradict the self-glorifying, falsely seeming objectivity of the modernist, but there are many that would declare a foundation and method to be essential, and a plurality of perspectives(not interpretations) helpful and necessary, according to the New Testament. We must return to the cleansing affect of Scripture on our minds and hearts, so we can see in full view our biases and cultural weaknesses. It will not suffice to continue swinging blindly from one set of weaknesses to another, and all the while miss the blessing God has for us firmly rooted in the unifying effect of His truth. There are many truths to be overlooked without a proper study and method of exegesis, and on the other hand, there are many important truths and questions ignored if only one person has the ability to comment on the text. I would then postulate that though we might be gaining some ground in cultural sensitivity, we are losing more ground in what really matters, the uniting of God’s people around His truth.

ma fiancee et moi

2008-01-14T07:58:00.001-08:00

Here I am attempting to show you a bit of what happened for Ariel's proposal. The last picture is us outside the restaurant after getting engaged. My engagement gift to her was the wooden rose, a placard made with exotic woods from all over the world. The shading is done by burning each piece just so in hot sand. It took me three days to make it. The Puzzle was how I proposed to her. I took the pieces from the puzzle and gave them to all her family and some significant people in our lives here in Europe and then throughout Christmas, each person gave them to her in envelopes that she wasn't allowed to open of course. When we went out to the restaurant I could tell she was nervous so I asked her if she was worried I was going to propose to her that night. She said maybe so I pulled out the puzzle frame and all the envelopes containing the pieces and said, "here is a Christmas gift for you that will tell you when I'm going to propose so you don't have to be anxious anymore." The first two words she put together were, "marry me." After that, she had quite a good idea about when I was going to ask her. Then I gave her the ring box upside down and fumbled out a speech neither of us can remember- probably for the better. All that matters is she said yes, we just don't remember what, yet. Speaking of that, that ambiguity might be useful someday! The first picture is a picture of Ariel when we went ice skating in Geneva, Switzerland with the fountain in center ville and the Alps behind us. The second is the ring that came from the same jeweler as my late grandmother's. We are happy with it. Voila, that's the story according to me!

the object of our tolerance: ideas or people

2008-01-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

I find myself quite frequently asking questions about why people in a post-modern era are so lonely. If this is supposed to be the age of relationship, tolerance and cultural relativity, why is culture such a sensitive matter? Why is honest, committed relationship so rare? Why is tolerance so debated, misconstrued and barely functional?

It has been said over and over again by many men wiser than myself that one of the fundamental tenets of postmodernism is tolerance. This tolerance then should allow relationship to flourish without cultural, ideological differences threatening to disintegrate the ideal social relationship. The difficulty with this tenet is that the content and definition of tolerance has changed in the past 20 years. It has changed from tolerance of people, and has increasingly become centered on the ideas of people. At a first glance this has nothing to do with the moral, relational breakdown in society at large, but I believe it has everything to do with it.

Think about the most relational man who ever walked the face of the earth, Jesus. He was completely tolerant of the most ignorant, backstabbing thieves; one of whom dared to trade the life of not only the Son of God, but of a respected and followed religious leader, for a few pieces of silver. Jesus did not even refuse his kiss as he was betrayed. What an example of selfless tolerance and true love for humanity! But than why did Jesus storm through the temple with a whip driving out the hypocrites and thieves who were trading their integrity for a few pieces of silver? I believe it is because though all men are created equal, all ideas and “truths” are not. Think of how Jesus could eat dinner with the scum of the earth, a gesture that not even the kindest of religious leaders would have initiated, and also call them for repentance because they were destined for hell.

This does not fit with the postmodern ideal of tolerance. However, I believe this is a better tolerance, for it allows for true honest, committed relationship. The other kind of tolerance does not, however, for it is a tolerance based on ideas, not people. People must listen to another’s ideas because it is wrong to say they are wrong. Therefore, there are a few billion liars in the world who think the others’ ideas are crazy and cannot say so. Indeed, their ideas are crazy, for they have never been challenged with a measure of refining truth, for it is not polite to do so. So then if an identity rests in this shared, shallow shell of one’s ideas, to challenge one’s ideas is to challenge their identity. One the other hand, if one’s identity were to rest in their person, and ideas could be discussed and freely challenged as in Jesus’ model of tolerance, it would be an act of a honest, committed relationship to challenge the ideas of another.

I think that most people can sense this truth deep down inside, and it is a cause for loneliness that no one truly cares about what they think. This indeed is not surprising, for people cannot care about what they cannot adopt as their own, and they cannot adopt as their own those ideas with which they are not at liberty to disagree with more convincing proofs. They cannot disagree for it is inappropriate to challenge the ideas of another, no matter how obvious the fallacy. I think what is even more striking then these observations, is the fact that this false, degraded thinking has permeated the church more than we can know. I also believe we will be feeling the fall-out of this deceit sooner and more forcefully than could be imagined.

In the French Alps 1

2008-01-08T03:01:00.001-08:00

These are a few pictures from the past week in the French Alps with Ariel and her family. It was a neat time to have my French family come up and join us for two days as well. You can see them in the third picture from the bottom. It was a great time hanging out and the complicated language barriers made for the beginnings of several new languages I think. It was an awesome mix of English, Dutch and French, though and our common bond in Christ made the whole thing a great experience and encouragement for everyone. It was great as well to do some snowboarding as you can see, and also to get engaged to my new fiancee, Ariel. I will do another post about that later. In fact, I have several post ready that I am still working on, so sorry for the wait. The second pic from the bottom is a pic of me and Ariel on top of the Alps with the tallest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc in the background. It was so high, we both got a bit sick on the way up, but the 2 mile ski down was totally worth it. The bottom picture is our engagement photo! We both feel it captures a bit of our personality, though Ariel's mom thinks I look dead in pictures because my eyes are always half closed. Sorry guys, those baby blues aren't on display today. Ariel's a real beauty though isn't she? The first pic is her bros and sis. They are a neat family. The second pic is me and Ariel and her dad getting ready to try breaking our necks snowboarding. It is really tough even for a young guy like me, but I am very impressed with how well her dad did and he stuck with it the whole day. The third pic is Ariel and her parents in a little vacation town in the Alps. It really was a blessing to spend the time surrounded by God's creation with the opportunity to get to know her family more. More to come..........soon.

cool happenings

2007-12-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

So,

there were a couple things that happened the past couple days that really showed the presence of God so I wanted to share them.

The other day I had a meeting with a young aspiring missionary in France, and I had prayed that morning God would give me an opportunity to spread His love. I didn't know that Nicolas had prayed the same. As we were eating lunch in one of the university restaurants an Iranian girl came and sat next to us. After a bit she started talking to us and we talked for about an hour. Nicolas was able to give her a gospel of John and she said she would come to the Feu for a Bible study. She seemed interested in talking about spiritual things. This was a clear answer to prayer and a great encouragement.

I have also missed a very important meeting for being allowed to stay in France. As most of the world knows, even if you follow all the rules, dealing with the authorities is at the least volatile. I was quite gutted that I missed this meeting and I have attributed it to the fact that I mixed up the dates and times that I was given. This is not too difficult to accomplish seeing that there were 5 different dates and times, they were all in French and all the dates and times are written differently than I have ever seen. I prayed a lot about it, but pretty much everyone I talked to said it wasn't likely I would escape this problem without some consequences. However, I went down to the controlle medicale today and was bumped to the front of the line, and was out with all my paper work in less than 15 minutes. If you have never lived here, you can't understand how much of a miracle this is. Also, the fact that I didn't have to strip down was quite a blessing too. I hate doing that for medical visits. Praise God. He is good even in small things.

Another thought. The probability of the theory of evolution can be comparable to the chances of Homer Simpson building the Eiffel Tower by himself, even if he was given 3 million years. Not very probable.

paix a le monde

"I'll have an order of answers, without the contradictions, please."

2007-12-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

A few important things about life;

If someone claims to have the answers, they’re not in the habit of asking themselves real questions.

If someone claims to have unlocked one of the mysteries that has plagued mankind for thousands of years, they probably misunderstood the mystery.

If a store claims that they have the highest quality for the lowest price, its probably because they have a well-deserved reputation for poor quality and high prices.

If a restaurant wants to make you smile, it might be because after eating their food, smiling isn’t the first thing on your mind.

If someone is too eager to be your friend, it is probable they see something in it for themselves.

If someone claims they can give you the world, it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg, and if it doesn’t, it will cost you your soul.

If you want to be rich, you must be willing to be poor, and care for other things more than money.

If you want to be happy, happiness is not the road to being happy.

If you really want to do something, walk away while you can.

If there is ever a choice, the hardest, most uncomfortable, most unnatural thing to do is usually the best.

But we are surprised when being a Christian is hard. When following Christ causes us to do things in ways and at times when we are least accustomed to it, when the best thing for us is the hardest thing to do, and often we cannot do for ourselves, that when we want to gain life we must first lose it. That when we want to have joy and peace and true love, it must be that we stop pursuing joy in what we discern, peace in what we can understand and love in the subtle sentiments of this world. We are surprised when the most important relationship we can enter into, is by far the most difficult, but at the same time one we cannot and would not initiate.

We try and try and try to find away to make it better, to fix ourselves, and to better prepare ourselves, but He says though we must “be better,” “be fixed,” and “be prepared,” if we do it as we can, none of the above will happen. Unfortunately, as often as we are fooled by the subtle inconsistencies of the above, we are often fooled into thinking that our earthly and daily tasks take precedence over the one relationship that is more important than live itself. This is because the Author of this relationship is the Author of life, more directly, the Author of our life, both physical and spiritual, and is the Author who wrote the story of our salvation and then became its chief benefactor, investor, and servant. But the Author of our story has asked for a few minutes to sit and chat with us, so we can understand His purpose, and He can prepare us for the role, and explain its privileges, frustrations, demands and blessings. But we prefer to ask the bystanders, sometimes people who don’t even know the author. We search Google, the world, our minds hearts, feelings and friends, movies and music and books and schools, but when it comes down to it, He sits in the place where all the above do not know and cannot understand, and He waits for our heart. He waits for us to run to His refuge, His salvation, His restoration. “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Great is the Lord, and abundant in power, His understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble, but casts down the wicked…..” Psalms 147: 10,11,5,6

Lumpy and You and..... Who's in Control here anyway?

2007-12-06T01:28:00.000-08:00

Imagine for a moment you are a potter, and you create bowls from talking clay. Quite the niche you would have in today’s market, I should think. And while we are imagining things, imagine that the clay has limited ability to create itself into things, but generally these things aren’t very good. Even when it can manage to create itself into something good for the clay’s standards, it seems quite miserable sitting on a shelf next to cutlery, sculptures and vessels fit for a palace.

One day, as you are preparing a sticky hunk of clay, you notice the clay trying to shape itself into a bedpan. “Lumpy,’ you say, “We have already talked about this. Remember what happens to bedpans? I thought you wanted to be a fountain on the front lawn of the White House?” Lumpy replies, “Oh, well I thought that I could help you, I was wondering where you were because I didn’t see you, and I just really, really, really want to help.” You reply, “Well that’s nice you want to help, but your aren't worth anything unless I create it. Without my skill, you would either get ditched or you would end up codswallop. The one thing you can do is to relax and loosen up. Then I can make you into something glorious.”

I think your relationship with lumpy is somewhat like our relationship with God, only we are the clay and He is the potter. Why is it so difficult for us to be still and know He is God? Why is it so difficult to take time and humility to be shaped by His Word and Spirit? Why are we so busy doing things that are contributing to who we are, but not who God wants us to be?

I get the feeling that we want to become ready for God to use us. We want to get rid of certain sins, and we want to accomplish certain objectives, and then we will be ready for God to shape and mold us. The problem is, that by the time this happens, we have already been shaped and molded. We have been shaped by the perceptions of man who looks on the outward rather than God who desires the heart. We have been molded by the flesh, when God desires we are molded by His Words and Spirit, all the while our flesh being stripped away.

God desires that we come to Him now, with a broken and contrite heart, and find our refuge, our shape, our usefulness in Him. While we are busy preparing ourselves, He is silently waiting for us to realize the fact that no amount of preparation can ready us for being broken. No amount of effort can reverse our simple nature, it is purely the work of God in life that can prepare us for the glory in store.

But how can He work in our life if we don’t allow Him time in our schedules, our minds, and our heart? How is a potter to work without His tools? And how is clay to be shaped if it has grown hard?

The problem is, we don't want to lose control, because if we lose control of who we become, we could become anything! Well not anything............ but if we aren't reading our Bible we wouldn't know that.....................

dwell and destroy

2007-12-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hope my musings can exhort and encourage you.

I have been realizing more and more how the mind set on the flesh is death. I tend to be the kind of person who can think everything through and through(unfortunately this is often after a deed is done or a word is said) and I can even think things through to the point of mental exhaustion. I think I get some kind of mental satisfaction in mulling over my sins and making myself mentally pay for them. I like to think about the way they have hindered my relation with God, are obstructing love for others, and setting harmful trends for the future. In this over-thinking of things, I spend a lot of time and energy focused on myself. I think that is easy to justify when I think about it from a human perspective. After all, I am reminding myself of the consequences of selfishness and pride so I can remember not to do it again. I think Pascal talked about this as negative reinforcement. It is easy to justify this as better preparing and reviewing myself for a better future and less sin. At this point I can't help but stop and chuckle at myself because it sounds amusing to hear myself say this. This reasoning sounds even more than amusing when reviewed in light of truth. God says that the mind set on the flesh is death, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If I am setting my mind on the flesh so that I can better my flesh, I should give up while I'm not more behind. God is telling us to be innocent of evil and the ways of the world. When we dwell on our sinful flesh and our evil ways, I think it is like giving more airtime to a presidential candidate- they'll take anything. Though He tells us to not be ignorant of the schemes of the devil, there is a difference between being the young wandering fool in Proverbs and being "wise to the world" and living in the power of flesh and reason(this is pride, really). It is also interesting that in Jesus' prayer for His people, He prays that God would sanctify them in the truth of His Word. I think it is notable that He doesn't pray for the Spirit's power so that results driven Americans could sanctify themselves. Another principle stressed in Paul's writings is that the mind set on the Spirit is life, righteousness and peace. It would seem to me then, that my natural desire to dwell on and destroy the flesh is a harmful one. I need to turn my mind, heart, will and strength towards the Word and humbling myself to listen to the Spirit using it to cleanse my heart and mind. As Paul says, why after beginning by grace, do I think that I can continue in the flesh? As the French say, "c'est marche pas."

an undefinite lie, but who's lie is it anyway?

2007-12-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

If God could pray for us, what would He pray? What is it that we need more than anything? There are a lot of books written about the “main things” of the Christian life, but what does God have to say? If He could express His will for us, what few words would He use? John 17

I have been bothered recently because of some of the partial lies that are circulating through the “Christian arsenal of clichés.” One of these partial lies is that “people don’t care to know until they know we care.” The Bible says that this saying is true, but in a different way than it is used. This is often used in encouraging people to be timid and hesitant to share their faith. It is used to encourage people to wait until spiritually dead people become less spiritually dead and are ready to hear the hard truth that they are completely dead to the only source of true life. How can dead people become less spiritually dead without life? Where is their life apart from Christ? Where is the knowledge of Christ apart from His Words? How are His Words heard without a preacher? The reason I call this cliché a partial lie is because there is actually some truth to it. If I were to tell someone about the abundant life I have found in the love of Christ but at the same time I was taking a nap in a coffin, I wouldn’t be able to be convincing, even if I were Bill Clinton. The problem is that most of us are taking naps in spiritual coffins. We are living in the power of the flesh every day, wondering why the watching world thinks we are annoying gongs and clanging cymbals. Romans says that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is righteousness, joy and peace. Galatians tells us that the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our life is life and joy and peace and righteousness. Where is their life apart from the Spirit? Where is the Spirit apart from the Word? The problem is where our obedience lies. Too many times it lies in the flesh, to the desires and hungers of the flesh. If we have any doubt about this, we can just compare the time we spend with God to the time we spend in gratifying the desires of the flesh. When we learn to love the Lord, when we learn to love His Word and His presence, than the world will know that we care. When we tell the world we love the Lord and His light and life, but we walk in the flesh and its death and darkness, we lie and the truth is not in us. This isn't really a post about preaching the Gospel, its just that the fruit of what we do reveals a whole bunch of what we are.

Boaring speeches.

2007-12-03T07:58:00.001-08:00

I like this picture. When I was here I felt that I could jump off the rock, fall about a mile, and roll down the grassy meadow, through some snow, some trees, and perhaps land on a nice wild boar preparing his boaring speech after which I could continue my wild tumble into the Isere river and perhaps the momentum would carry me all the way home. Not. Quite the view though. Sorry it has taken me so long to blog. There have been a lot of important things taking up my time. Some of you have asked me to blog about specific details. I'm afraid that is not possible here, but please feel free to email me and I would be happy to fill you in. Thanks for being a patient audience.

Idea post

2007-11-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

Soo...... right now is a bit of a dry spell for me in writing. What do you think I should write about?

On another note, I was at a cathedral the other day, and a man turned to me, shook my hand and said "paix du Christ." I thought he was introducing himself, so I replied, "Jon." The person on my left then turned to me and said "paix du Christ." Then I crawled into a hymn book.

there is no title for this one

2007-11-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

There isn't much I can say about this. "Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!"

http://heritage.stsci.edu/gallery/gallery.html

p.s. possibly the coolest thing i have ever found on the internet is the "stumble upon" button on mozilla firefox.

On A Lion, a Lamb, and an Ipod

2007-11-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am struck with our utter dependence on the Lord. What a blessing it is to want nothing other than to do the will of our Father. I speak as if I know this personally, but I confess that I do not. I have tasted of it though, and the taste is sweeter than the sweetest fleeting aroma of sin, or the fattening of our pride by indulging the flesh. It is impossible to get our minds around, for the fellowship of the Trinity is not an experience of the intelligent, the worthy, or the capable. It is that which is initiated, prepared, enabled and blessed by the One who commands it, but limited by our seeming unlimited ability to squelch it. This fellowship begins in the mind, with the truth of the Scripture that has the power to bend the neck of the proud, capture the attention of the distracted, still the hands of the occupied, and satisfy the craving of the starving. It continues as the Holy Spirit uses this Scripture to pierce to the inner parts of the soul and divides us to our core. It separates the sin and the saint in us, so to speak. It, at the same time, stirs the soul for righteousness in praise to God, and humbles us in view of our despicable lust for evil. This is the beginning to fellowship with the Creator of the universe, and as we practice bending our knees and hearts the presence of our King, He gradually changes us from the inside out. We learn what the Psalmist meant when he said that his soul waits for the Lord in the early watches of the morning. We learn what he meant when he said the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life. We find the joy only to be found in that communion with Christ. Unfortunately though, we often rob ourselves of this opportunity. We take the tools out of the hands of the Savior for we are too busy and have many other priorities. What a terrible injustice, that the Savior and Lord of our life stands and knocks at the door of our heart, and we prefer to flirt with the kingdom of darkness! We have a grave need for holiness, but I fear that the Father of Lights and the King of Glory cannot as much co-habit our heart with the pleasure of the world, as can a lamb enter the cage of a lion and not be instantly devoured. The thing is, Christ often does not fight, for He is a humble and patient King. He does not often speak over the noise of our ipod, and He does not compete with the devil for our time. He shows up in the still and the quiet places, when we decidedly shut out the pollution and noise of the world, so our hearts might be conformed by the renewing of our minds by the Word. The Word that can soften the hardest of hearts, break the chains of sin, death and sadness, set the captive free and strengthen the feeblest of minds. A great man of God once said, "Its not black marks on white pages, ya know, its the living Jesus." Even as I write this, my heart is burdened beyond words because we fail to give the the Living Jesus a proper place in our hearts and minds. He stands at the door and knocks.........

finally...what you've all been waiting for! my opinion!

2007-11-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

I am writing this to clear up a common misconception. That misconception is that I like to hear myself think, which is why I write this blog. FALSE. I write this blog because I think you like to hear me think. Just kidding. I write this blog because I want your feedback, arguments, agreements and disagreements. There are many things on which I am opinionated, there are a few things on which I have strong opinions. One of my stronger opinions is that you should respond. Especially when you disagree or agree- which is all the time.

thoughts on Christ.....

2007-11-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking recently that we serve the most unselfish of all Beings. It might be easy, without becoming educated in the Scripture, for us to think there is something odd about a perfect God who longs for our glory. This might be caused by the fact that we wouldn’t have the wisdom to remain humble with that kind of power. However, God in His infinite power and ability and purpose, allowed Himself to be humbled by His own Creation. He allowed Himself to be beat with the hands that He created. He designed the strength and the sharpness of the thorns driven into His brow, and the tree on which He hung. Christ did this because He loved the world, not for love of self. For what really did this accomplish? This one act of kindness and righteousness did what a thousand acts of sin could not reverse, for it redirected the flood of God’s wrath onto His own Son and in Him was absorbed our rightful penalty. What more, the inheritance that was originally Christ’s is now ours in Him. We are now fellow heirs along side of Christ. We are promised recipients of life in fellowship with the Creator of the Universe. We are brought into fellowship with God though His Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We are able to come boldly before the throne of God, with our requests and frustrations, and He hears them and answers us. And now, the hands that would once pin their Savior to a tree are now raised in Worship. The tree, on which we would have hung our Lord, is used to make a dwelling for His people. And though we ignore Him as we live and die, we fail to speak with Him as He wishes, and listen to His Words as we need, and follow His perfect will as He has commanded, He is all the while preparing a place for us. He is pleading our cause before God, and preparing a mansion that we might live and fellowship for all eternity, in spite of our desire to build our own earthly mansions. Unfortunately, however, we treat His Words like they are science to be tested, we treat His sacrifice as if its something that can be bartered for 3 hours per week in Church. We treat His Holy Spirit like an Ipod which we can turn on for a few minutes when we need some good advice. We care more for our opinions on God’s Word than for our obedience to it. We care more to discuss it than to read it. We treat our refuge in Christ like the first aid kit in the back of our car. We pull it out only in extreme cases and use sparingly, preferring to make do in our own help. No, Christ is not the selfish one in this relationship. Praise God we are in a personal relationship with an infinitely gracious God who sends to Heaven people deserving hell.

Here is a response my 14 yr. old sister posted. Some very practical thoughts;
funny you should post that...lately i've been reflecting on how selfish we are, and especially myself. i think we(as human beings) can and do react in different ways to the truth that we are selfish, ugly humans who, in our finite minds, are consumed completely with self and self alone. our highest aspirations-be it for world peace or personal wealth, fame or power-are all to exalt this monster that is self. our greatest achievements and sacrifices are also the result of a consuming fire, spurred on by thoughts of admiration and love from others. in short, all we do is to satisfy whatever it is we crave in our depraved minds. i think that all, upon realizing this, are first driven to the brink of despair and hopelessness, which is also another manifestation of our selfishness. that is, until we turn to God. this knowledge, this...realization of what we truly are must come before any substantial spiritual growth may truly occur. we must see ourselves stripped of the pretenses, the smiles, the fake compassion and snivelling flattery(yes, harsh words, i know, but aren't they true?). we must see ourselves as God sees us. only when we see that, when we see our nothingness, shame and debasedness(yeah, i think i made that word up) spread out before God's holiness, and beg Him to do His perfect Work in us; that He would remove ourselves, and accomplish that through us which He has been patiently waiting to accomplish. when this happens, we can realize the full potential that God has for us. the full measure of His blessing and love. thought i'd just add this rather lengthy side-note.

on splints, pillows, indians, driving and George Bush

2007-11-12T08:07:00.001-08:00

In this picture is represented 7 nations; France, Germany, America, Lebanon, England, Switzerland, and South Africa. These are a few of the people that stayed in the mountains this weekend for retreat with the ministry. It was encouraging to experience many cultures but only one faith. Praise God for His Spirit. It's also really amusing to experience the stereotype of Americans. I think they think we use guns for everything. Shooting at out neighbors, our friends(thank you Dick Cheyney), harassing animals, fixing our cars, clearing traffic jams, mopping the floors, brushing our teeth, supporting our pillows, splints, revoking people's driver's licenses, painting the house, cleaning the windows. When they picture America, they picture West Philly at midnight but only with cowboys and indians and nuclear bombs and everyone driving a tank around in a cornfield being chased by robbers, jack bauer and listening to Metallica while trying to burn off all the worlds resources in one minute and find someone to sue for it. I am having a lot of fun with this stereotype though. Its amazing what the words, "you just wait until I call my uncle George Bush on you!" will do in a department store.
Seriously though, it has been challenging to think through some other views on this. There are some positive arguments for either side. I think I need to go shooting though and release some stress. WHAT!?!?!

christian evolution- closer than you think???

2007-11-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation with a French Christian today about evolution vs. creationism. They were arguing that Evolutionism is to be preferred over creationism or intelligent design because it better agrees with science. Irregardless of the accuracy of their argument, they have an important point. Let me explain: For most people there are several groups of things to be considered/reconciled in Christianity; faith, God, the Bible, opinion, philosophy, reason and science. For this person, science and opinion were the thing that dictating the others. We argued for about 40 minutes about the facts before I realized we were arguing the wrong subject. We weren't really in a discussion about evolution, in fact we weren't even in a discussion about truth. We were in a discussion about faith. Faith vs. science. You might be surprised that this lady believes evolution is true. You might even be surprised if I tell you that most of the French Christian community believes evolution over the teaching of the Scripture on Creation. In fact, you might be surprised if I tell you that this is what they teach priests in Jerusalem, or at what I found in a historic catholic church the other day (in a more prominent place than the pulpit)- a souvenir vending machine. You also might be surprised that I would say I don't believe we are any better off than these. Think of the last conversation regarding God, the Bible and Faith that you had. How many times did you hear the words, "I think.." How many times did you say the words "I think." This is the same error as people who interpret the Bible through the lens of Science, opinion, philosophy or reason. Bear with me for a moment; whenever we answer a question of importance with the words "I think" we are stealing the teeth from the Scripture and from the mouth of God Himself. That is not a position He has granted us. There is only one way to approach questions of faith and importance. This is in humility and faith, as prescribed by the Scriptures. This is an unpopular view for it leaves no room for that to which mankind turns most readily; opinion, philosophy, reason and science. The one pursuing faith, truth, wisdom and understanding through those means will never find it, but the one who pursues wisdom and understanding, faith and humility will find that and more, for in the Scripture lies all this and more. There is no room therein for lofty knowledge and opinion, eloquent philosophy and the reasoning of man, there is room only for a humble and contrite disposition, faith in God's work and Word. In this disposition is true power; power of faith, the power of the Holy Spirit in truth, power in humility that enables true wisdom. There is no place for opinion here. This is why we are in the same place as those believers who prefer evolution to creationism, for we would rather interpret the Scriptures, than have the Scriptures interpret themselves. We would rather come to the Scriptures with wisdom and understanding than come poor in spirit and leave rich in Christ. The problem is that faith in Christ and His Word does not buy the respect of the intelligent, the scientist and the noble. It places us with the weak, the feeble-minded, the simple and the naive; but that is exactly where Christ wants us. Therefore let us not find our answers in the wisdom of man, in the opinions of much knowledge, or in the wealth of science, but let us approach the Scriptures for in them is Life. Life that satisfies the deepest of craving of the poorest sinner but mystifies the proud and arrogant. Let us find our strength of knowledge in the refuge which God has built for us- the strength of His Word.
p.s. On a thought from a friend, I think it is wise for me to put a comment on this. The words "I think" communicate wisdom when discussing things that are not black and white in meaning, and when we are unsure of the interpretation. However, when relating as fact the words 'i think' we run into danger for there is little room for human opinion on matters about which the Bible has much to say.

je pose une(merci Joram) question

2007-11-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

In light of Jesus teaching, what is meant by Christians when they say, "accept Christ?" Does this paint an accurate portrait of salvation for one considering "the way?" why or why not?

I would find your feedback useful on this matter.

a bon week in Nice and Monaco

2007-11-02T14:42:00.001-07:00

Well for all of you that didn't know the Mediterranean was attached to France like myself, it is! And as God saw fit, it is where I ended up for a few days this week. I went with two Germans, two Canadians, and a Brit from la Feu. It was quite an experience complete with bagettes(a French essential), mountains, cheese, swimming in the Mediterranean with jellyfish, view finding, good christian love and fellowship, and circular conversations due to cultural differences. I learned that the British think butter and batter should be said identically, Germans can't understand me when I say "sting" like "stink" and that Canadians don't mind singing the American national anthem, though their's has better motions. It was a bon time and there was just something good about being able to swim in the Mediterranean with the jelly fish in November. Speaking of November, happy birthday Ariel!

Faire d'escalade

2007-10-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

c'est mon premier temp aller faire d'escalade. c'est un bon idee!
The view from above the clouds was certainly a blessing from God! I have also posted living proof that Chris Farley was in fact abducted by space martians and returned to us as a little girl. Sweet! I have been missing you Chris. French Language studies are making progress. I will find out today whether I have to stay in first grade or move to second. Actually, I passed with flying colors, but now there is just to determine if I am, in fact, smart enough to skip a level, or if all this cheese I'm eating is clogging my language learning brain cells. I heard that they actually speak French in Heaven. I know it is hard to believe, but they say its because you need all eternity to learn it.

mountains mountains...... snow???

2007-10-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

This was the best climb yet. We hiked at a killer pace up the mountain for three hours and took a bit of a nap at the top. It was gorgeous though chilly as you can see. When we woke up it was minus 5 c and we had to run down the mountain to keep warm. It was worth it though and it was an awesome time of viewing God's magnificant creation. I was wondering though on the way down why it got so cold. It was so bad I wanted to sing frosty the snow man and go to sleep in an italian pizzeria somewhere. All of a sudden this Frenchman comes trotting by us on the way down the mountain all decked out for Antartica and wearing a hat that says SKI on the top. I was like "VOILA!" clearly God thought this guy wanted to ski so He gave him the weather and the snow. Someone should talk to people who wear ski hats and gear on nice sunny days- it just ruins it for everyone. The second picture is of the guys I was hiking with. When I gave them Snickers they were overjoyed. The first picture is of the frozen grass.

manifestation

2007-10-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to witness the ultimate French debacle. A manifestation that crippled the public transport systems all over the country and some even affecting other parts in Europe. The workers are on strike to protest the government's reforms(and everyone I have talked to here is not pro-new president). It has been interesting to see the response of people to these manifestations and how they are handled, or not handled. Yesterday a few madmen organized a group of students to barricade the buildings and particularly the buildings with the keys so that no one could have class. That shut down the university for the day as well. It was really cool though because I got to stand and talk with fellow students for quite a while and even to talk about why I am here. I am finidng that foreign students are more willing to talk about God than the actual French natives. Hopefully tomorrow I will have pictures of a hiking excursion I will be joining.

2007-10-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

It's another beautiful day here in France. This story is in response to Andrew Cross's blog "close encouter with a tent" which can be found acrossky.blogspot.com.

Andrew and I went hiking in the mountains of Alberta, CA and while we were thrilled at the magnificent visage to please the senses, we had to be cautious of the much-feared, much-acclaimed Grizzly bear; weighing in at @ 2000 lbs and featuring paws and claws big enough to strike fear into the heart of even John Bunyan. We were a tandem group, which was actually illegal since bears were known to be in the area, and there was really no way to avoid the bears seeing that the area we chose is the number 1 spot for grizzly bears in the entire world. I am deathly afraid of bears. To top things off, there was food wrappers right outside out tent(thank you Andrew) and my hiking partner did not seem to be as worried as I. In fact, he was pure optimism impersonated. "Ah, don't worry about it, its a quick death anyway," was his attitude. I had the attitude; "I don't want to have to stumble 15 kilometers with one arm because a grizzly bear had the munchies. Anyway, we went to bed that night about dark and all night I kept hearing this sort of rooting around/ sort of rustling that I have mentally associated with imminent bear attack. I lay there, paralized in fear, wondering why it was taking the bear so long to follow the trail we so carelessly left him. After a few hours, when I was emotionally exhausted and could no longer force myself to be awake, I finally resigned myself to certain death, and having made my peace with God, I fell asleep. When I awoke in the morning, Andrew casually mentioned that for some reason whenever he uses the particular tent we were using, it always sounds like something is rooting around outside, but not to worry, its just the fabric. Thanks Andrew for not mentioning this earlier and allowing me to lose an extra 5 years off my life because of the mental trauma I endured.

2007-10-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon an old church and a convent from the 17th Century today as I was looking for a friend's pizza shop in the Italian quarter. I am struck by the rich history of the Church and the Gospel that can be found in France. But as I found today, the churches are nothing more than tourist stops and bulletin boards while folks stand by at the bus stop watching and yelling at the drunk puking on himself and begging for something to eat. I wonder if the guards that stand around in the old church (now museum) smoking all day ever wonder why a few men would risk everything to build such a magnificent meeting hall. I don't have to wonder quite as hard why that drunkard at the bus stop slurred to me about getting drunk so he could kill himself.

Formage de bleu

2007-10-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

The first picture is me doing the unthinkable- holding a package of moldy cheese. Its actually not bad at all. In fact, I might even say that I like it. First time I tried it I was repulsed and actually considered getting back on the plane to say the least. Second, I wasn't necessarily enchanted- more like getting a slip and slide for Christmas in Antartica, and third, fourth and fifth I actually enjoyed it- though not as much as a cold coke after a hard day's work. The second picture is playing fut with my Francais freres. The third is my host father and myself fashioning a roof for their shed. He is a godly, dedicated man and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from him. Hopefully more pictures of ministry at the Feu to come(i.e. the Christian concert and English nights). The Lord has provided more opportunities for me to learn than to share, so please pray for my contentment with that, and boldness to share when the times come. This next week is supposedly the breakthrough week for the so-called French language learning fog. Pray that the breakthrough comes swiftly and decisively like a hornet while sunbathing(though not quite as painful). Also if you could think of me and my lovely girlfriend who has so graciously loaned me to the Lord and moldy cheese for the year. I'm sure we could use prayer for strength and breath mints(for me)

Pictures of Grenoble

2007-10-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

These are a few pictures I was able to take the other day when I was waiting for my bus. French lessons are still at the same altitude, which is pretty far over my head. I started talking to a girl in French on the tram today after my friend took his stop, and she said, "its ok, I'm Canadian, we can talk in English. You're American right?" I responded, "how did you know?" Than I realized that 1. My jeans weren't painted on 2. I wasn't wearing a man purse 3. I didn't have an entire bottle of gel in my hair(no offense of course) 4. I was talking to the person next to me(an apparent taboo) 5. I had a camera 6. Apparently I have a severe accent 7. I said that I was an American. I think that's where she got me.

my first french email!!!

2007-10-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

so this is going to be my first email in French.

oooo vooo sweee suuuiiiiillllll. eeeehhh juu. jjjjjji laaahhhhh ooofffsweeee.

If that takes you more than a split second to read/say than you aren't going fast enough. That should be all one sound. That is the entire 119th Psalm BTW.

French class today was a bear. I didn't understand anything so I bought notecards to write down my feelings and then light on fire and flush down the toilet...Just Kidding! All you children under the age of 18 don't try this at home!

One nice thing about France is that if class is on break for 10 minutes and someone feels like going on break for the next week or even just an hour, no one cares or even says anything. The adverse can really be a pain when for instance my Scottish friend waited days for a key to his apartment which he subsequently couldn't move into. Pray for him, he has had a rough go of things with that and then the icing on the cake with Scotland getting there muscles pulverized by Argentina in the Rugby World Cup. Pray that God gives me a chance to witness.

The ssSwisssss Alpssss

2007-10-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

Mountains are a common theme in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 4 Moses says,
"the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.' And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice." Mountains are used as an illustration for the righteousness of God, a place of refuge, a place of hiding, the place where Moses fasted for the people of Israel when God wanted to destroy them. The place where God chose to reveal His deliverance for Elisha, the place with God associates His work, (See writings of David, Moses, Jesus, ect..) The Holiness of God's mountain is compared to the Holiness of God Himself, a symbol of blessing/ reprieve for the righteous in Isaiah. Many others which I have not the time to look up.

The bottom three pictures are from my trip to Geneva with Woody today. It was a great time of fellowship and enjoying the splendor of God's Creation. In France, many believers if not most, believe in Evolution as the means of the earth coming into existence. What irony in view of such majesty! The first picture is another from our hike last week. The 2nd from bottom is one of Mount Blanc in the background, the tallest peak in all of Europe.

I had two conversations in French today. I stumbled through them, but I made it!!! What I don't understand is how I can say something seeming exactly like they say it and they look at me trying to figure out what on earth I'm saying. Then when I make myself into an amateur mime to try and act it out, they finally get and say OHHH! You mean _____ !!! And they say the exact same thing I just said the same way. I must be missing something. Maybe I'm not hissing my esssessss long enough. I appreciate your prayers for not only is starting from scratch a daunting task, it is especially hard when communication is limited if not impossible.

First French at La Feu

2007-10-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well today was my first conversation in French and it was at the La Feu, an Evangelical fellowship for University students. I was embarrased at how many times I had to ask the poor guy to slow down and repeat things, and at how many things he had to explain in English, but it was an exciting achievment. Language classes are going well, but they are very challenging and I am in a fog of sounds and da's and la's and le's and vous and vous etes, apostrophes and exceptions and pronouncing my "s" like a girl. It is an interesting experience. Thanks to you who prayed, I feel much better and feel that I am on the road to recovery. I give thanks first to God, and second to the "pain au chocolat" the French chocolate filled croissant. One more pastry I am sure will line the streets in Heaven.

Bon Nuit!

parle vous francais?

2007-10-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

It has been an instense first few days of class. We basically go over the same things all day long. Our professeurs do not speak much Anglais so we all just stare in bewilderment at them when they give instruction. It is a ver confusing way of learning, but whenever a concept is grasped it makes the victory that much sweeter. Pray for my boldness and clarity in proclaiming the Gospel and challenging my fellow students, especially as I have been sick and not much in the mood for conversation or anything else that requires not drooling on my pillow.

the day of the alpes, the chinese and knowing nothing

2007-10-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so basically this is my way of cheating out of a short novel. Woody took me up a peak today and as you can see, the view is breathtaking. It is at a place where three mountain ranges of the French Alpes converge and form a basin, which contains the town in which I live and the city of Grenoble. If you have really good eyes you can see the ski resort where the olympics were held a few years ago. Pray as I start classes tomorrow that I have the boldness and words to share the Good News with my classmates. Today I showed up for my exam amid hundreds of chinese and was waved into a room where I was interviewed by a French teacher and all I could do was laugh because I had absolutely NO idea what she was saying. After she realized what was going on, we both had a good laugh and she kicked me out with the words, "you know nothing. come back tomorrow." I then had some interesting conversation with Chinese students who think that French and English are identical. They kept trying to talk to me but I didn't know half of what they were saying because every other word was French, and they didn't understand what they were doing. I do have to say, though, it is quite the experience to have a conversation with 20 chinese people at once and not even know what they are saying......

Walnut capital of the world

2007-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

So I was told today that Grenoble is known as the walnut capital of the world. I went out walnut hunting and came back with a whole bag full of them. There were several little kids and old people that had got most of them on the ground, and I was walnut-hunting with two little French girls to whom I could not make an apology or an excuse for my lack of manhood that put me at a disadvantage to provide for the needs of such helpless babes, so I got the bright idea to climb up into the tree and do the unthinkable. I thought to myself, "why is no one else doing this? why settle for nasty rotten ones on the ground when you can pluck them waiting and ripe off the tree." Since I was giving myself an A+ for bright ideas I decided to shake the branch to knock down the ones I couldn't reach and well, gravity took care of the rest. The only problem was that I was nestled in branch underneath several hundred shaking walnuts unable to remove myself from their path. Suddenly, disadvantage to provide seemed glorious compared to utter stupidity with which I am now hoplessly labeled.

for the record, I miss you Ariel!!!

JLK

2007-09-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

The sun came out today and here is a picture of the mountains that i see when I step out my bedroom door. You know what this means, Andrew, we have some new peaks to conquer- and we can walk to them from my house! I just stood and stared at them every chance I got today. People probably thought I had smoked too much marijuana for breakfast or something. The view is worth the weird "you-smoke-too-much-marijuana-too-early-in-the-morning" looks.

Speaking of marijuana, I was telling my French family about the weeds I pulled in their yard this afternoon and their oldest son exclaims, "we have WEED?!?!?!"

2007-09-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

the first picture is me in my room. i am wearing my new french jacket because it snowed today.
the second is the town one over from where I live. Beautiful, eh? and yes, that is snow up on the mountain. the third is Woody Lewis, the man that I am interning with. He is a very cool guy, very patient and kind. It is a privilege to learn from him. We stopped at a little cafe here in Fontainille to get fat. the pastries here are unreal. Like buttery, chocolaty, goodness, packaged by angels in heaven...you get the picture.

Yesterday I went to La Feu, the ministry I will be working with, and stayed there for about seven hours meeting and trying to converse with students from the Ukraine, Canada, Germany, Singapore, France, America and Italy. It was an eye-opening experience and a humorous one as well. Take for instance the time I was standing in the kitchen talking to the guy who was preparing dinner and a girl walked in and towards me, leaning in as if she was trying to get something behind me. I instinctively leaned out of the way prompting her to almost fall over trying to kiss me on the cheek. Akward! When she caught her balance (slight hyperbole) she kissed me on both cheeks in her tradition and then walked out. I had just been introduced to the tradition I can't spell or pronounce in the most akward way possible. Until the next embarrasing incident, bonne voyage!

Jon

Ariel and I

2007-09-27T02:45:00.001-07:00

mijn vriendin

France

2007-09-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

Today is day three of the French adventure. I will be visiting la feu, the ministry I will be mainly working with. I am taking my French placement test for the universitairie on Monday, which I will probably fail. Today, just after the host family had left the house for the day, I recieved a phone call from the youngest boy's teacher saying he needed to be taken home as he was not feeling well. I called the dad at work, hoping to relay this message- here is the conversation;

me: "hello, Georges, i got a call from the school, your son is sick and needs to be brought home from school. i can get him if you tell me how to get there."

Georges: "repeat, please?"

me: "(repeat)"

Georges: "hold on"

Georges: (putting phone on speaker) "repeat please?"

me "reapeat"

Georges: " you want me to visit you?"

me: "no, you need to visit your son at school."

georges: "you need ride to school?"

me: "no, william needs ride from school."

georges: "ok, I come visit you in one hour"

me "no, your son is sick, he needs you to get him from school."

georges: "OH! You at universitairie! you want ride to house!"

me: "no, your Son! Sick!
(after about 10-20 minutes of this, other people interjecting comments in french)
georges: "OH! MY SON! SICK! i call teacher now."

me: confused

this is the language barrier. sort of like God talking to us. Repeating the same things over and over, but we already have our minds made up and we hear him affirming our thoughts. When we finally let go of our own assumptions and presuppositions and step into His realm, we understand what HE has been saying all along.