I'm in New Testament this semester. It's a G.E. class, the class is about 90% freshmen, and the professor is very VERY structured... but I love it. Minus the freshmen? Yes. Only kidding. We're going through the book of Mark right now and I decided to post some of what we are reading and my thoughts (mainly questions here).
Last night I read Mark 5-8 (NIV).
Mark 6:4-6 -- Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Why would Jesus be without honor in His hometown? Why in this one area did no one believe? It can't be just coincidence. My guess is that the people who lived there still saw Jesus as the little boy he once was. Could they not reconcile the little toddler they remembered with the man (healer, prophet, "Son of Man") that now stood before them?
Mark 6:14-29. I'm not going to post the passages just because they are long but this is where Herod has John the Baptist beheaded. Was anyone else confused by the placement of this story? It seems so random and like it was just tossed in the mix. What's the significance here?
Mark 7:6-8 -- He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
BAM! Jesus completely destroys the Pharisees (in a loving way? :). This is such a great passage and where I think we all need to be SO careful. It's so easy to fall into a pattern of worship that feels comfortable and completely leave out hearts out of the whole process.
Mark 7:14-23 -- Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
This must have been a complete SHOCKER to the Jews in that day. There are whole chapters in the Old Testament that are dedicated to ritual food preparation to make it "clean"... and here Jesus seems to say to forget about them. But don't the Jewish people still have foods that are considered to be "unclean" like pork? Or is that something different?
There are a lot more questions here than anything... but that's what I've been thinking about for the past couple of days. Let me know your thoughts. :)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
2010 Baby... 2010
The new year always comes with a new set of expectations. People thinking the year is going to be great, people thinking the year is going to suck, and people who think the world will end within the year so who really cares about anything.
Oh, what are my expectations you ask? Such a good question my cricket. My expectations for the year 2010 (said twenty-ten, thank you very much)... my expectations are high. I know there will be rough patches and times where it will feel like it would be impossible to get up and try again... but I will. And so will you.
There were no specific new year resolutions made for me this year. But here's what I've been doing and what I'd like to try.
1. As most of you know, I bought a guitar. Yep, it's lovely, blah blah blah. Too bad it hasn't had a good tune played on it yet! Teaching yourself the guitar is harder than I thought. Fortunately a good music teacher for the summer has been found (only $20 for a 30 minute lesson).
2. My longly-lusted-after plan of traveling around Holland/Europe this summer is unfortunately impossible. I need to take some summer school classes so senior year can be as chill as possible. However I still started learning how to speak Dutch. It's slow going but even the slow learning I'm doing gives me satisfaction that Spanish never could have given.
3. More activity. See the next bullet. This Christmas break wasn't horrible as far as activity goes.
4. What I've been doing/would like to do more of are (in no specific order)
- Raquetball (high energy activity... yes please!)
- Kickboxing (again... high energy plus music plus feeling like a badass. It's hard to resist)
- Trampoline jumping (no explanation needed0
- Surfing (yes, early in the morning. or early morning beach runs. The peacefulness/beauty is too much to pass up)
- Basketball (Good time, competition, talking about life, and making someone my HO, HOR, or HORS? I'm all for that action)
- Beach volleyball (It's volleyball)
- Dancing (real dancing, so I can learn how to dance like a black person)
5. Learn and memorize at least 10 "yo momma" jokes to be pulled out at random (but awesome) times.
6. Not just READING my Bible but reading for understanding. Reading for the hidden meaning, reading for a purpose, reading to TRY and understand God better, reading to form my own ideas. It's all deadly in a good way.
7. Eating better, blah blah blah. Here's the real plan: don't buy food that is CRAP for your body. Will I ever give up chocolate? That's a silly question. NO. But eating it less is alllllll good baby.
8. Keep up involvement with my friends’ lives. This semester is going to be much busier than last semester and it’s going to be very easy to not hang out with people because I have other things to do. Yes, I will have certain school obligations but good organization is key to make sure everything stays under control so I CAN hang out. Sophomore year will NOT be repeated.
There's a lot more. But this post is long enough already.
Let me just say... this semester is going to be busy. And fun. And hard (that’s what she said). And the best one ever.
Oh, what are my expectations you ask? Such a good question my cricket. My expectations for the year 2010 (said twenty-ten, thank you very much)... my expectations are high. I know there will be rough patches and times where it will feel like it would be impossible to get up and try again... but I will. And so will you.
There were no specific new year resolutions made for me this year. But here's what I've been doing and what I'd like to try.
1. As most of you know, I bought a guitar. Yep, it's lovely, blah blah blah. Too bad it hasn't had a good tune played on it yet! Teaching yourself the guitar is harder than I thought. Fortunately a good music teacher for the summer has been found (only $20 for a 30 minute lesson).
2. My longly-lusted-after plan of traveling around Holland/Europe this summer is unfortunately impossible. I need to take some summer school classes so senior year can be as chill as possible. However I still started learning how to speak Dutch. It's slow going but even the slow learning I'm doing gives me satisfaction that Spanish never could have given.
3. More activity. See the next bullet. This Christmas break wasn't horrible as far as activity goes.
4. What I've been doing/would like to do more of are (in no specific order)
- Raquetball (high energy activity... yes please!)
- Kickboxing (again... high energy plus music plus feeling like a badass. It's hard to resist)
- Trampoline jumping (no explanation needed0
- Surfing (yes, early in the morning. or early morning beach runs. The peacefulness/beauty is too much to pass up)
- Basketball (Good time, competition, talking about life, and making someone my HO, HOR, or HORS? I'm all for that action)
- Beach volleyball (It's volleyball)
- Dancing (real dancing, so I can learn how to dance like a black person)
5. Learn and memorize at least 10 "yo momma" jokes to be pulled out at random (but awesome) times.
6. Not just READING my Bible but reading for understanding. Reading for the hidden meaning, reading for a purpose, reading to TRY and understand God better, reading to form my own ideas. It's all deadly in a good way.
7. Eating better, blah blah blah. Here's the real plan: don't buy food that is CRAP for your body. Will I ever give up chocolate? That's a silly question. NO. But eating it less is alllllll good baby.
8. Keep up involvement with my friends’ lives. This semester is going to be much busier than last semester and it’s going to be very easy to not hang out with people because I have other things to do. Yes, I will have certain school obligations but good organization is key to make sure everything stays under control so I CAN hang out. Sophomore year will NOT be repeated.
There's a lot more. But this post is long enough already.
Let me just say... this semester is going to be busy. And fun. And hard (that’s what she said). And the best one ever.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Break
It's finally time to dust the cobwebs off this blog, kick start the engine, and get it crankin' again.
A nice overview:
School
- Last semester was hands down the best semester I have had yet. There were still rough patches and areas that I wasn't happy with, but for the most part it was great. And that will continue this semester.
- The more time I spend in the ICU the more I love it and my clinical instructor/professor said I had all the qualities of an ICU nurse. However my specialty is still undecided.
- Can anyone say first semester of all A's??!?!?!?!?!
Friends
- Since volleyball wasn't consuming my life like it had for the first two years, finally some new friends came along.
- Those friends mentioned previously ^ are bomb-diggity, a ton of fun to hang out with, and excellent listeners/advice-givers, shoulders to cry on, etc.
- Game/movie nights/hang out times during Christmas break = SOOOOO GOOOOOOD.
- David... soooooooooo good :) I was honestly never into the mushy-gushy oh-my-boyfriend-is-so-amazing crap (and I'm apologizing now)... but he is amazing. You don't want to hear me gush. Trust me.
- One of my roommates (that I was close to) is going to Malta for spring semester, which of course meant a teary goodbye at the airport.
- There were definitely some roommate issues last semester and I'm pretty sure they will continue this semester. PLEASE pray for patient and wisdom for my house (in SD). We will need lots of help.
Family
- Some of you may or may not know that Liv has been having a lot of health/mental issues. She's been seeing a psychiatrist and doctors. She has a lot of OCD tendencies, separation issues, and weird health quirks (like a dry cough every 20 seconds that she can't seem to control, sore rib, stomach pains...). As of now it looks like her left sinus is completely blocked, which could explain many of her symptoms. The OCD stuff... my Mom had the same thing as a kid so we're just praying that she grows out of it. Prayers for Liv would be LOVELY!
- Praise the Lord! My mom just went through ACL surgery to repair a completely torn ACL and to repair both of her meniscus (menisci?). She's currently sitting in the recliner across from me.
- My Dad's business did well this past year. YAY!!!!
Jesus (pronounced Heh-Sooz, if that makes sense)
- I took a class this semester called Life of Holiness with Dr. Lodahl. It was one of the best classes I have taken at Point Loma. There was reading, quizzes, papers, and tests... but this class was mainly discussion. And discussion = AWESOME sauce. And this class wasn't afraid to talk about "taboo" topics and neither was the professor.
- More than ever I am convinced that almost nothing is black and white. There are SO MANY gray areas in this world. And thinking that doesn't make me a weak person.
- This will sound weird... but the Kingdom is here NOW. Which means that NOW is the time to act.
Next semester is coming up on Monday. NOOOOOOOO! Let's hope we survive!
GOOD LUCK!!
A nice overview:
School
- Last semester was hands down the best semester I have had yet. There were still rough patches and areas that I wasn't happy with, but for the most part it was great. And that will continue this semester.
- The more time I spend in the ICU the more I love it and my clinical instructor/professor said I had all the qualities of an ICU nurse. However my specialty is still undecided.
- Can anyone say first semester of all A's??!?!?!?!?!
Friends
- Since volleyball wasn't consuming my life like it had for the first two years, finally some new friends came along.
- Those friends mentioned previously ^ are bomb-diggity, a ton of fun to hang out with, and excellent listeners/advice-givers, shoulders to cry on, etc.
- Game/movie nights/hang out times during Christmas break = SOOOOO GOOOOOOD.
- David... soooooooooo good :) I was honestly never into the mushy-gushy oh-my-boyfriend-is-so-amazing crap (and I'm apologizing now)... but he is amazing. You don't want to hear me gush. Trust me.
- One of my roommates (that I was close to) is going to Malta for spring semester, which of course meant a teary goodbye at the airport.
- There were definitely some roommate issues last semester and I'm pretty sure they will continue this semester. PLEASE pray for patient and wisdom for my house (in SD). We will need lots of help.
Family
- Some of you may or may not know that Liv has been having a lot of health/mental issues. She's been seeing a psychiatrist and doctors. She has a lot of OCD tendencies, separation issues, and weird health quirks (like a dry cough every 20 seconds that she can't seem to control, sore rib, stomach pains...). As of now it looks like her left sinus is completely blocked, which could explain many of her symptoms. The OCD stuff... my Mom had the same thing as a kid so we're just praying that she grows out of it. Prayers for Liv would be LOVELY!
- Praise the Lord! My mom just went through ACL surgery to repair a completely torn ACL and to repair both of her meniscus (menisci?). She's currently sitting in the recliner across from me.
- My Dad's business did well this past year. YAY!!!!
Jesus (pronounced Heh-Sooz, if that makes sense)
- I took a class this semester called Life of Holiness with Dr. Lodahl. It was one of the best classes I have taken at Point Loma. There was reading, quizzes, papers, and tests... but this class was mainly discussion. And discussion = AWESOME sauce. And this class wasn't afraid to talk about "taboo" topics and neither was the professor.
- More than ever I am convinced that almost nothing is black and white. There are SO MANY gray areas in this world. And thinking that doesn't make me a weak person.
- This will sound weird... but the Kingdom is here NOW. Which means that NOW is the time to act.
Next semester is coming up on Monday. NOOOOOOOO! Let's hope we survive!
GOOD LUCK!!
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