Apr/110
Winding Down
Well, the end of our senior semester here at NTBI is quickly approaching! Classes are busy and will continue to be right up until they end in mid-May. Jim and I are working on getting our applications completed for the next phase of training, the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Missouri. We plan to get started at the MTC this coming August after spending the Summer in Texas.
Last week was our Spring Break, so we drove with the Riepma, Martinez, and Weichert families out to Niagara Falls and had a great time together.
While we were there, Hudson had his first birthday! We got back about the same time that Hudson’s Grandad and Keeb arrived from Texas, and we had a wonderful weekend with them. Since they left yesterday morning, Hudson has been missing his playmates!
Mar/110
Exciting Akolet Update!
Some of you may already receive the updates from Adam and Julie Martin who are in the Akolet tribe of PNG. They and their partners, the Warners, are a couple of weeks away from finishing a three-month teaching about the message of the Bible, and already Akolets are putting the final pieces together and becoming believers! Here is this week's INCREDIBLE update from the Martins:
http://www.martinpng.com/2011/03/huge-news.html
Mar/112
The Gospel
Jan/110
Delicious Cake
Photo courtesy of http://www.martinpng.com
I mentioned in an earlier post that NTM missionaries have begun teaching chronologically through the Bible in the Akolet tribe of Papua New Guinea. They started on January 4th, and have taught 5 days a week for about an hour each day. If you have not already done it, I'd encourage you to check out their blog or sign up for email updates so that you can follow the progress and pray with me that God would do an amazing work in the hearts of the Akolet, and that he would give those missionaries the energy and endurance to work faithfully to the end.
In just these few short weeks, we are already able to see how God's word is challenging the Akolet to examine their worldview and think about what is true. I have read several great quotes from the men and women attending the teaching, but there is one I especially wanted to share. Gelio was asked by Ryan (one of the missionaries) to tell him what he thought of the teaching so far. This was his response:
"Ryan, it's like this. Remember that cake you gave me one time? This teaching is like that cake. I've never tasted anything like it, and it is so delicious."
If you're interested in reading more, check out these links:
Jan/110
Humble Reformation
I recently read an excellent post by Dustin Neeley on the Resurgence blog called Justification by Theology (thanks Nathan), which honestly, I have been waiting for for some time now. I have become increasingly weary of the way the "reformed" label gets appended to so much of our vernacular in a way that almost seems prideful.
To be clear, I have very few problems with reformed theology, and I would not dare to single out the reformed camp as the only one susceptible to theological pride.
And I do not think that it is pride to identify oneself with a particular theology. But I do think that we are more than capable of trying to wear our reformed theology like it is a badge of honor. We operate as though we have God's special approval (after all, we probably have a higher view of God than everyone else anyway - I'm being silly, but stick with me). And since we are so confident in our theology, it is a simple thing for us to slip into the habit identifying ourselves first as Reformed, instead of as Christian. There is so much good about reformed doctrine, but as Dustin Neeley so aptly stated, we are not justified by our theology.
Paul lamented that he could not refer to the church in Corinth as spiritual, but worldly, because they disregarded the unity of the church, instead choosing factions and claiming "I follow Paul" or "I follow Apollos" (1 Corinthians 3). Can we be guilty of the same when we try to distinguish ourselves by our theology instead of seeking to be unified under the gospel of Christ?
Of course we must continue to study God's word and strive for sound theology, but let us also keep theology in it's proper place. We can come to a deep understanding of the incredible truths of God through careful study and systematic understanding of the Bible, but we can not stand before the righteous God on the merits of a system. We will stand in Christ or we will not stand at all.
So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).