So it's been about 4 months since winter set in here up in Michigan and I'm here to say that it is still going strong, although it was 40 degrees the other day! Despite the 2 feet of snow on the ground and the freezing temperatures, my last semester here at New Tribes Bible Institute has been going great! Currently I am taking two classes; the Pastoral Epistles, right now we're in 2nd Timothy, and the class of Daniel/Revelation. The school puts the books of Daniel and Revelation together because there is a lot of overlap as far as prophetic events and end times is concerned. Right now we're in Chapter 7 of Daniel discussing the vision of the different animals which represent different kingdoms of Gentiles. It is pretty interesting stuff!
Prison ministry has been going well too. I haven't been in to prison very much this semester, but I know from the teachers I have been talking with that the study of Galatians has been going very well, thank you for your prayers!! This semester for prison ministry I am basically doing administration tasks, such as setting up orientation for new student volunteers and printing off the teachers' hand out notes for that week. Seeing how I'm graduating in May, I also have been wanting all the new teachers to get experience and more time in prison so that when the other seniors and I graduate there will be a core of teachers to carry it on. So that means I could use prayer right now as I am starting to look at different people involved in prison ministry for someone(s) to take over coordinating next semester.
I've been learning a ton lately just through classes and my continual study of the Psalms, but perhaps the most recent thing came from my class on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I learned that the hope of the future with Christ is an appropriate motivation for godly living in the present. Paul wrote these two epistles to encourage and exhort this infant church to persevere to the end, especially in the midst of persecution. He accomplishes this goal by repeatedly pointing to the future to get them to see their need to walk consistently in the present. He encourages them with the doctrine of the Rapture, saying that believers are not destined to receive wrath, wrath being the wrath at Christ's Second Coming, but rather they were destined to be taken out of the world (salvation), this happening when they meet Christ in the air (1st Thess. 4:17). Something my teacher pointed out that is interesting to note is that every chapter of both Thessalonian epistles ends with a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming of Christ should motivate us to live in fellowship with Him now because we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ for rewards. But also Christ's coming brings encouragement because in the midst of trials and persecutions, we must not give up but hold confidently to the fact that Christ is coming, and he will establish justice and peace when he sets up his Kingdom. Christ's Coming and the Rapture are incredible in that they are appropriate motivations the apostle Paul used to exhort a sense of sobriety in his audience but also bring encouragement in the midst of difficult circumstances. What bearing does Christ's Coming have on your life right now?
I love you guys and appreciate your prayers and support, they are invaluable. Thank you for being my prayer supporters and if there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know! Also if you think you know of someone who would like to receive my blog updates please don't hesitate to pass my information on to them or give them my email!
Here are some prayer requests:
1. The summer: Job, car, place to stay as I will most likely be heading to Pennsylvania for the summer and work around their, spend time with my girlfriend, her family and her church.
2. My relationship with God: Pray that I would continue to trust him and walk by faith all the while making decisions in line with His Word. Pray that I would continue to send my roots down into him and send them deep.
3. My work in the prison ministry and youth group, that somehow, some way, people would be impacted through my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment