cool happenings

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."

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?

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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!

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.....

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

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???

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

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

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

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???

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

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.

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.

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?!?!?!"

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

mijn vriendin

France

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.