Both parents and children being familiar with the phrase, "because ________ said to," I thought it would be a good jumping off point for a post on this oft neglected blog.
My classes this year have me working in Paul's letters quite a bit, which is something that I enjoy. However, I am teaching Hebrews for the first time and the study that I do to prepare for teaching Hebrews has been immensely valuable to me. In particular when the author of Hebrews says: "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory." (Hebrews 3:5-6).
The other thought that has been intertwining with the above is one that arose because of New Testament Theology class that I just taught in our Master's of Ministry program here at ABS. Since it was a theology class we spent a lot of time discussing Jesus, both as God and as a person. We were noting the importance of the Spirit in the baptism and temptation narratives in the Gospels.
So these two thoughts come together in my head about the feat that the author of Hebrews mentioned. Jesus being faithful as a son/the Son. What makes a faithful son? Without trying to be trite I offer Luke 22:42 as the answer to that question. If I were to paraphrase in Kentucky vernacular, "do what Dad says to do." That s what makes a faithful son. All this leads me to this further point, that human part of Jesus had to be convinced that God knew what he was doing. "Because Dad said to" had to be good enough for him. Some of us can get to this point with our human fathers even, but find it quite difficult to get there with our heavenly father.
Think about how much that title, that form of address, meant to Jesus. When he taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to call God father. Something that is ho-hum church language for us was a revolutionary new idea then. Hosea 11:1 and other passages of the Hebrew bible refer to Israel collectively as God's son, but to refer to God as your father, to be considered an individual son of God was a different thing entirely.
When we add to this the consistent teaching from Paul, that accepting Christ as Lord and Savior means a person is adopted into God's family, we should see that while it is a privilege to call God father, it is our privilege as believers. Amen.
So when my Dad told me I needed to update this blog, I quickly agreed with him. And not just because I knew he was right. Hopefully that attitude can translate spiritually.
So how goes the mission? I just extended my tourist visa this week. Hoping to apply for a missionary visa next week.
First semester here is officially over. Unbelievable, I know. I've graded most of my finals but I haven't calculated grades yet because I was preparing for that Master's class this week.
This year we had about 80 students first semester, we are hoping we pick up a few more for the second semester.
Preparation for the annual Christmas Choir Tour will begin in earnest when the students return on November 4th. (Really good news is that the arranger this year apparently knows what an actual bass line is; something that seemed elusive to the illustrious David T. Clydesdale.)
I'm still playing as much basketball as possible; I'm not really any better but I still like to play.
Favorite Filipino-English quote of the semester: "Sir, why do you off your hair? If you grow it out I will crush you!" (She meant have a crush on me.)
Filipino-English runner-up quote and third truest thing I've ever heard: "Lovers are blind." (Instead of "Love is blind").
So I'm still here, having fun, teaching the Bible, singing special music with the young adult group at Aparri Church, avoiding bagoong and balut, and trying to show people that God isn't the only one who cares about them.
I hope everyone back home is well. Since they are putting up Christmas decorations here I might as well go ahead and say "Merry Christmas" to you. Even though I wouldn't dare forget about Thanksgiving.
Regards and thanks,
Nick
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Returning toTransition
Another exciting experience with trans-pacific air travel has left me in my adopted home once again. I've been back in Aparri now for 3 weeks. Many things have happened already; I'll try and stick to some semblance of order in presenting them.
First, my flight to Asia from Detroit was delayed a mere 9 hours because of a mechanical issue with the plane. This was frustrating, but better than the alternative. We arrived in Japan and when we were ready to leave for Manila we were promptly delayed another 2 hours by computer problems. The end result being that I was supposed to arrive in Manila late Wednesday evening but didn't manage to arrive until Thursday afternoon. Though I did have enough time on the flights to watch "Lincoln" and "The Avengers" as well as the newest "Die Hard".
The Friday after I arrived I tried to implement my missionary visa that had been renewed and was told after waiting a mere 4 hours that I couldn't implement it and I would have to re-file for the visa. I was really excited about this because it meant I had a mere three weeks in the country to either file for a tourist extension or get all my paperwork together. I was also excited because this means a minimum of 3 trips to Manila all of which cost money and take time away from the classroom.
I arrived in Aparri and found out that the girls had kicked me out of the mission house and that I would be living in the new Men's Dorm here on campus. The building isn't quite complete, but it's been comfortable so far and I'm a lot closer to the basketball court, although I'm farther from the office. Since I have no furniture (I'm trying to wait it out because furniture is part of the building contract), I still haven't technically unpacked my bag.
I was late coming back because I stayed in the States for a convention, this meant that I was already behind in my classes and so we've been playing catch-up. Basically I've had two weeks of class and mid-terms are next week. We've also had a few scheduling conflicts where classes had to be moved so that students planning on graduating could take everything they needed.
The city of Aparri is mostly on the East side of the Cagayan river valley, but part of the municipality is on the West side of the river, and I'd never been there until a few weeks ago when I attended an Aparri chapter men's fellowship hosted by the Backiling Church of Christ. The highlight of the trip was taking a boat across the river/estuary instead of riding 75 minutes in a car to go all the way around. This boat was built for Filipinos and I could just barely get in the boat because it had a very short roof over the seating area. I was completely bent over and had my knees bent as well and still could barely fit in this boat. It was really amusing for the folks at the west side landing who got to watch me unfold myself out of that boat.
It's apparently a rule of nature that I have to get hit in the face playing basketball shortly after my arrival in the Philippines. That's three years in a row now. I got hit in the eye and lost a brand new contact. Awesome.
It has been enjoyable getting to know the new students, I'm still trying to learn all the names. We have several new students this year and last night was their talent night. They did a good job with their presentations and I'll hopefully have some pictures up soon. I also got to see some ladies who graduated last year at the talent program. That was nice too.
Other than that I've been trying to keep up with my lessons and grading as well as organizing and supervising my student assistants. I've also been playing in the basketball league the students organized which has been fun. Streetball is enjoyable but I like an organized game once in a while; and hopefully the students will play better in organized games now.
I'm still impressed with God's faithfulness; he's so faithful it's embarrassing some times how worried I was about something.
Keep praying for me, I need it.
Nick
First, my flight to Asia from Detroit was delayed a mere 9 hours because of a mechanical issue with the plane. This was frustrating, but better than the alternative. We arrived in Japan and when we were ready to leave for Manila we were promptly delayed another 2 hours by computer problems. The end result being that I was supposed to arrive in Manila late Wednesday evening but didn't manage to arrive until Thursday afternoon. Though I did have enough time on the flights to watch "Lincoln" and "The Avengers" as well as the newest "Die Hard".
The Friday after I arrived I tried to implement my missionary visa that had been renewed and was told after waiting a mere 4 hours that I couldn't implement it and I would have to re-file for the visa. I was really excited about this because it meant I had a mere three weeks in the country to either file for a tourist extension or get all my paperwork together. I was also excited because this means a minimum of 3 trips to Manila all of which cost money and take time away from the classroom.
I arrived in Aparri and found out that the girls had kicked me out of the mission house and that I would be living in the new Men's Dorm here on campus. The building isn't quite complete, but it's been comfortable so far and I'm a lot closer to the basketball court, although I'm farther from the office. Since I have no furniture (I'm trying to wait it out because furniture is part of the building contract), I still haven't technically unpacked my bag.
I was late coming back because I stayed in the States for a convention, this meant that I was already behind in my classes and so we've been playing catch-up. Basically I've had two weeks of class and mid-terms are next week. We've also had a few scheduling conflicts where classes had to be moved so that students planning on graduating could take everything they needed.
The city of Aparri is mostly on the East side of the Cagayan river valley, but part of the municipality is on the West side of the river, and I'd never been there until a few weeks ago when I attended an Aparri chapter men's fellowship hosted by the Backiling Church of Christ. The highlight of the trip was taking a boat across the river/estuary instead of riding 75 minutes in a car to go all the way around. This boat was built for Filipinos and I could just barely get in the boat because it had a very short roof over the seating area. I was completely bent over and had my knees bent as well and still could barely fit in this boat. It was really amusing for the folks at the west side landing who got to watch me unfold myself out of that boat.
It's apparently a rule of nature that I have to get hit in the face playing basketball shortly after my arrival in the Philippines. That's three years in a row now. I got hit in the eye and lost a brand new contact. Awesome.
It has been enjoyable getting to know the new students, I'm still trying to learn all the names. We have several new students this year and last night was their talent night. They did a good job with their presentations and I'll hopefully have some pictures up soon. I also got to see some ladies who graduated last year at the talent program. That was nice too.
Other than that I've been trying to keep up with my lessons and grading as well as organizing and supervising my student assistants. I've also been playing in the basketball league the students organized which has been fun. Streetball is enjoyable but I like an organized game once in a while; and hopefully the students will play better in organized games now.
I'm still impressed with God's faithfulness; he's so faithful it's embarrassing some times how worried I was about something.
Keep praying for me, I need it.
Nick
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Playoff Hockey
"It's the most wonderful time of the yeaaarrrrrrrr!" Lord Stanley's Cup is once again up for grabs and this makes me tremendously happy. Few things are more exciting that playoff ice hockey. But it isn't just that. My birthday is also approaching, the approach of my birthday means the Kentucky Derby is simultaneously approaching, one of my favorite events. When the University of Louisville marching band plays "My Old Kentucky Home," I know where home is.
These events are fun and enjoyable, more importantly the events themselves represent good memories: past times where fun and enjoyment played prominent roles. One of the things that I've always enjoyed about ice hockey, and especially the playoffs is the amount of commitment that is necessary to win the Stanley Cup. Guys are expected to play injured, and they do unless they don't have movement in a limb or something equally serious. The playoff beard is also a wonderful tradition that I enjoy. If you don't know about playoff beards, many hockey players believe that it is bad luck to shave, and so they won't shave until their team is eliminated from the playoffs or wins the Stanley Cup.
Let's think about this playoff beard idea. Every morning, a player growing a playoff beard makes a decision not to shave. Every morning a decision has to be made to continue in something. Ladies might be unaware that the worst part of growing a beard is the first week or ten days. Your face itches constantly and there is an adjustment period to your changing face. But it gets easier to deal with. Growing a beard is a lot like christian life. Starting can be difficult, and there are times when it is easier, times when it is more difficult. Each requires a daily decision to continue in the activity.
This daily decision to continue, we call this faithfulness. Paul had this to say in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:
If we died with him, we will also live with him.
12 If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.
God is faithful, even if we are not. This has been foremost in my thoughts recently. I go through times where I feel unfaithful because I worry about things that God has taken care of. Things where I've seen His faithfulness before. Even though I'm unfaithful, God is still growing his beard. And this is wonderful. I hope that I can understand this more and more deeply.
God is faithful: I've been home a few weeks and I've already seen so many wonderful people that I hadn't seen in a long time.
God is faithful: I've seen most of my family and friends.
God is faithful: I have a job.
God is faithful: I have a car to drive.
God is faithful: I keep hearing from people and churches that are excited to support me.
God is faithful: I have the opportunity to go to so many different churches to talk about the Philippines.
God is faithful: I get to visit Dairy Queen and have an Oreo blizzard as often as I want.
God is faithful: I've had a chance to visit all of my favorite restaurants.
God is faithful in many other ways, some more significant and some less, but the point is the same: God is still growing the beard, he's still faithful.
I miss my Filipino friends, but I'm having a great time here at home. It's been great spending time in Bracken County.
Nick
These events are fun and enjoyable, more importantly the events themselves represent good memories: past times where fun and enjoyment played prominent roles. One of the things that I've always enjoyed about ice hockey, and especially the playoffs is the amount of commitment that is necessary to win the Stanley Cup. Guys are expected to play injured, and they do unless they don't have movement in a limb or something equally serious. The playoff beard is also a wonderful tradition that I enjoy. If you don't know about playoff beards, many hockey players believe that it is bad luck to shave, and so they won't shave until their team is eliminated from the playoffs or wins the Stanley Cup.
Let's think about this playoff beard idea. Every morning, a player growing a playoff beard makes a decision not to shave. Every morning a decision has to be made to continue in something. Ladies might be unaware that the worst part of growing a beard is the first week or ten days. Your face itches constantly and there is an adjustment period to your changing face. But it gets easier to deal with. Growing a beard is a lot like christian life. Starting can be difficult, and there are times when it is easier, times when it is more difficult. Each requires a daily decision to continue in the activity.
This daily decision to continue, we call this faithfulness. Paul had this to say in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:
If we died with him, we will also live with him.
12 If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.
God is faithful, even if we are not. This has been foremost in my thoughts recently. I go through times where I feel unfaithful because I worry about things that God has taken care of. Things where I've seen His faithfulness before. Even though I'm unfaithful, God is still growing his beard. And this is wonderful. I hope that I can understand this more and more deeply.
God is faithful: I've been home a few weeks and I've already seen so many wonderful people that I hadn't seen in a long time.
God is faithful: I've seen most of my family and friends.
God is faithful: I have a job.
God is faithful: I have a car to drive.
God is faithful: I keep hearing from people and churches that are excited to support me.
God is faithful: I have the opportunity to go to so many different churches to talk about the Philippines.
God is faithful: I get to visit Dairy Queen and have an Oreo blizzard as often as I want.
God is faithful: I've had a chance to visit all of my favorite restaurants.
God is faithful in many other ways, some more significant and some less, but the point is the same: God is still growing the beard, he's still faithful.
I miss my Filipino friends, but I'm having a great time here at home. It's been great spending time in Bracken County.
Nick
Friday, February 8, 2013
Acting Like You Care About Love
As Valentine's day approaches (and more importantly, my mother's birthday) there is a distinct increase in the number of times that you hear the word "love." Of course this increase in frequency doesn't mean that people understand what they're saying or why they're saying it. Most often, they say it because they feel like they should. This has long been one of the more foolish reasons to do anything; but foolishness rarely deters people. We're very good at being foolish and are constantly inventing new ways to prove it.
The generality and overall lack of clarity that comes with the English word "love"has been oft lamented, and rightfully so. Greek, as I'm sure you've heard at least once from the pulpit, has four different words that are translated as love. Of those four, one (storgé) only exists in a technical, lexical sense in Ancient Greek and is rarely used; it's negative form is more common and means something like unnatural love or affection. One, (phile-o) refers to love one feels toward family and friends. Another (eros) refers mostly to romantic love and sexual attraction, although it can be used to mean love stronger than (phile-o). The last, of course, is the famous (agapé) and it is used by the New Testament writers to describe God's love for us. Because of this it is often described as self-sacrificial love or deep emotion.
Greek, despite what you may have heard, is not a perfect language (it has twelve inflections of the number one). However, in this particular case it has provided a much more specific set of ideas for what love is. In English we have to play the guessing game with the word. Does love = affection? Preference? Enjoyment? Attraction? Appreciation? Care? Desire? Possession? All of these words contain some of the ideas that form the referent for the English word love. So, native English speakers, let me encourage you to be clear. English is a wonderful language when used correctly; namely by taking advantage of the fact that there are about ten words for every idea. English often has the perfect word to describe what you mean, but you may have to work a little to find it. When you do find it, you can communicate that idea with precise clarity. Clarity in language is something that I have come to appreciate more and more as I live in a society and culture where it isn't guaranteed to me and, as often as not, shouldn't really be expected.
Finally then, wherefore love? The Christian understanding of love is founded on the bedrock of the character of the Living God. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:15-18, 1 John 3:11, and 1 John 4:7-21 explain to us more specifically what is expected of us regarding this idea of "love," and that list isn't exhaustive by any means. The most common theme from the Biblical testimony about love is that it is expressed in more than words. This is why we can believe each other when we say "I love you," because we've seen the proof in actions. So don't just say you care about love; act like it.
The school year here in the Philippines is winding down. Graduation for Aparri Bible Seminary is approximately a month away. We also have our Inter-Seminary Fellowship quickly approaching. That's always enjoyable and this year the fellowship is at Philippine College of Ministry in Baguio. Baguio is in the mountains and has one of the more enjoyable climates anywhere. Definitely looking forward to it. Other than that we're wrapping up our school year; finishing assignments and trying to make sure we cover enough material etc.
Before you know it I'll be back in that beautiful Bluegrass; something I'm very much looking forward to.
Grace to you all,
Nick
The generality and overall lack of clarity that comes with the English word "love"has been oft lamented, and rightfully so. Greek, as I'm sure you've heard at least once from the pulpit, has four different words that are translated as love. Of those four, one (storgé) only exists in a technical, lexical sense in Ancient Greek and is rarely used; it's negative form is more common and means something like unnatural love or affection. One, (phile-o) refers to love one feels toward family and friends. Another (eros) refers mostly to romantic love and sexual attraction, although it can be used to mean love stronger than (phile-o). The last, of course, is the famous (agapé) and it is used by the New Testament writers to describe God's love for us. Because of this it is often described as self-sacrificial love or deep emotion.
Greek, despite what you may have heard, is not a perfect language (it has twelve inflections of the number one). However, in this particular case it has provided a much more specific set of ideas for what love is. In English we have to play the guessing game with the word. Does love = affection? Preference? Enjoyment? Attraction? Appreciation? Care? Desire? Possession? All of these words contain some of the ideas that form the referent for the English word love. So, native English speakers, let me encourage you to be clear. English is a wonderful language when used correctly; namely by taking advantage of the fact that there are about ten words for every idea. English often has the perfect word to describe what you mean, but you may have to work a little to find it. When you do find it, you can communicate that idea with precise clarity. Clarity in language is something that I have come to appreciate more and more as I live in a society and culture where it isn't guaranteed to me and, as often as not, shouldn't really be expected.
Finally then, wherefore love? The Christian understanding of love is founded on the bedrock of the character of the Living God. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:15-18, 1 John 3:11, and 1 John 4:7-21 explain to us more specifically what is expected of us regarding this idea of "love," and that list isn't exhaustive by any means. The most common theme from the Biblical testimony about love is that it is expressed in more than words. This is why we can believe each other when we say "I love you," because we've seen the proof in actions. So don't just say you care about love; act like it.
The school year here in the Philippines is winding down. Graduation for Aparri Bible Seminary is approximately a month away. We also have our Inter-Seminary Fellowship quickly approaching. That's always enjoyable and this year the fellowship is at Philippine College of Ministry in Baguio. Baguio is in the mountains and has one of the more enjoyable climates anywhere. Definitely looking forward to it. Other than that we're wrapping up our school year; finishing assignments and trying to make sure we cover enough material etc.
Before you know it I'll be back in that beautiful Bluegrass; something I'm very much looking forward to.
Grace to you all,
Nick
Friday, January 4, 2013
New Year's Thoughts Etc.
Late December always seems to be a good time to reflect and think about all the things that have happened; as well as think about the future. While we were traveling what seemed like endless kilometers during choir tour I thought about quite a few things that applied to the Christmas season as well as the New Year.
Before we get to my musings, let's talk about more important things like what's happened and what is going to happen. The big December event here at Aparri Bible Seminary is the Christmas cantata presented at Aparri Church of Christ and the subsequent tour where a smaller group of students travels to some supporting churches to present the cantata in some other venues. This semester ABS has 75 students enrolled and 73 of them participated in the presentation at Aparri C of C. The smaller traveling group consisted of 22 students plus some additional support staff. 10 additional shows were presented at various point in Northern Luzon. This year's choir shows and tour were a wonderful success with minimal vehicular trouble and maximum audience appreciation. The largest audience on the tour was the 1500+ students of Ballesteros National High School: Ballesteros, Cagayan.
My youngest colleague on the ABS faculty; Sir Kenneth (who was one of my students last year) had the honor of being the featured speaker for this year's tour as well as the driver for the seminary equipment van. Ken actually got his driver's license the day we left, so the whole driving thing is still fairly new to him, Word is he still enjoys driving; so good for him.
This very week classes resumed after Christmas break. Midterms are actually next week which seems impossible; but the semester rolls along whether you consent or not. The next big event on the seminary calendar is the Inter-Seminary Fellowship that will take place in February in Baguio City. That should be exciting. Graduation is scheduled for mid March. The semester will soon be over; no doubt about it. That. of course. means a return to the States for me shortly after. I'm looking forward to that. My only request/hope is that I arrange next year's visa before I leave for minimum hassle.
Which brings me to my next point. I'm hoping to return the Philippines and Aparri Bible Seminary for the next school year, that of course means that those supporting churches will have to step up again, Lord willing. I don't know how long I will have this ministry; but the only thing I'm sure of now is that until I hear different, I'm supposed to be here. So I'm proceeding on that premise.
Now, to the musings about Christmas and the new year. Much of this was prompted by the theme of the cantata this year, "Voices of Christmas." The main point of the presentation was that regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in at Christmas; the point of Christmas is Jesus. That's nothing new to most of us; what really struck me was a particular piece of monologue from the presentation where an elderly lady described how Christmas was the quietest, loneliest day of her year because so much of her family had passed away or moved away.
Even though I'm not 75 years old I can relate to those statements. There is no doubt in my mind that Christmas is, for me, a lonely day. That doesn't mean that I wasn't able to celebrate; and this year was much better than last year as far as emotions about being away from home go. The fact, however, remains that most people want to be with their family on Christmas, and the best I could do was an hour of Skype.
This is one of the bare facts of what I do. If you're going to do mission work in the other hemisphere, you're going to have to deal with some separation. Everyone here does an admirable job of trying to include me, and I truly appreciate it, but it isn't the same. There are some people here that I am very close with that I genuinely love like family, but on Christmas once again, it isn't the same. This truth made me very receptive to the message of the cantata. Not just that Christmas is about Jesus; but also that even if present circumstances are not ideal, it doesn't (or perhaps shouldn't) change the things that are true about Christmas and the things that most of us love about Christmas. The idea as one of the songs from the cantata put it, was that the important parts of Christmas live inside us. The Christmas attitude is what (hopefully) distinguishes Christmas.
Romans 5:1-8 says this much better than I ever could. "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (New English Translation).
That right time began with a baby in a manger. This is the most basic reason for celebrating Christmas: "O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel . . ." The message of Luke 1:37, the accomplishments that began with Christmas; these are the source of what makes Christmas special. These truths are not effected by my being 8000 miles from my family.
So even though the time of Christmas seems a bit lonely, I hope that can continue to see the blessing that a simple, quiet Christmas provides. A chance to learn things about God and his word, a chance to improve attitudes and thoughts, a chance to let God make me better than I was.
It doesn't take a big stretch of the intellect to connect this to new things, like years for instance. The things that make Christmas a special time, are true of every single day a Christian has in fellowship with God through his indwelling Spirit. And so what's true of Dec. 25th is true of Jan. 4th and April 1st and Sept. 27th. Every day is a chance to learn things about God, to learn things about his word, to improve attitudes and thoughts, to let God make you better, to deepen your faith, to be more generous, to be more compassionate and on and on. As Pastor Roy said when the choir was in Delfin Albano: "Everyday is Christmas for a Christian!"
To conclude, you've probably heard most of this before; I'm certainly not claiming originality here. Perhaps this was a reminder you needed to hear, and that's enough for me.
"O come thou Dayspring, come and cheer; our spirits by thine advent here."
Before I end this post, I want to mention a few other things. One very nice thing about Christmas is that some of my friends who study or work in Manila are home for the holidays. I enjoyed seeing some folks I hadn't seen in a while and made a few new friends as well.
Also, last post I forgot to pass along my congratulations to my cousin Toni Beth and her husband Zach. They welcomed their first child into this world approximately 6 weeks ago, I'm very happy for them and wish young Liam the best.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing Louisville Cardinals who managed to share the Big East football championship, join the ACC, beat Kentucky in basketball and football, and make ESPN and lots of other analysts look foolish by winning the Sugar Bowl. It is an exciting time to be a Louisville fan. Jurich is the best Athletic Director in the country.
Happy New Year! I hope you are well.
Nick
Before we get to my musings, let's talk about more important things like what's happened and what is going to happen. The big December event here at Aparri Bible Seminary is the Christmas cantata presented at Aparri Church of Christ and the subsequent tour where a smaller group of students travels to some supporting churches to present the cantata in some other venues. This semester ABS has 75 students enrolled and 73 of them participated in the presentation at Aparri C of C. The smaller traveling group consisted of 22 students plus some additional support staff. 10 additional shows were presented at various point in Northern Luzon. This year's choir shows and tour were a wonderful success with minimal vehicular trouble and maximum audience appreciation. The largest audience on the tour was the 1500+ students of Ballesteros National High School: Ballesteros, Cagayan.
My youngest colleague on the ABS faculty; Sir Kenneth (who was one of my students last year) had the honor of being the featured speaker for this year's tour as well as the driver for the seminary equipment van. Ken actually got his driver's license the day we left, so the whole driving thing is still fairly new to him, Word is he still enjoys driving; so good for him.
This very week classes resumed after Christmas break. Midterms are actually next week which seems impossible; but the semester rolls along whether you consent or not. The next big event on the seminary calendar is the Inter-Seminary Fellowship that will take place in February in Baguio City. That should be exciting. Graduation is scheduled for mid March. The semester will soon be over; no doubt about it. That. of course. means a return to the States for me shortly after. I'm looking forward to that. My only request/hope is that I arrange next year's visa before I leave for minimum hassle.
Which brings me to my next point. I'm hoping to return the Philippines and Aparri Bible Seminary for the next school year, that of course means that those supporting churches will have to step up again, Lord willing. I don't know how long I will have this ministry; but the only thing I'm sure of now is that until I hear different, I'm supposed to be here. So I'm proceeding on that premise.
Now, to the musings about Christmas and the new year. Much of this was prompted by the theme of the cantata this year, "Voices of Christmas." The main point of the presentation was that regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in at Christmas; the point of Christmas is Jesus. That's nothing new to most of us; what really struck me was a particular piece of monologue from the presentation where an elderly lady described how Christmas was the quietest, loneliest day of her year because so much of her family had passed away or moved away.
Even though I'm not 75 years old I can relate to those statements. There is no doubt in my mind that Christmas is, for me, a lonely day. That doesn't mean that I wasn't able to celebrate; and this year was much better than last year as far as emotions about being away from home go. The fact, however, remains that most people want to be with their family on Christmas, and the best I could do was an hour of Skype.
This is one of the bare facts of what I do. If you're going to do mission work in the other hemisphere, you're going to have to deal with some separation. Everyone here does an admirable job of trying to include me, and I truly appreciate it, but it isn't the same. There are some people here that I am very close with that I genuinely love like family, but on Christmas once again, it isn't the same. This truth made me very receptive to the message of the cantata. Not just that Christmas is about Jesus; but also that even if present circumstances are not ideal, it doesn't (or perhaps shouldn't) change the things that are true about Christmas and the things that most of us love about Christmas. The idea as one of the songs from the cantata put it, was that the important parts of Christmas live inside us. The Christmas attitude is what (hopefully) distinguishes Christmas.
Romans 5:1-8 says this much better than I ever could. "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (New English Translation).
That right time began with a baby in a manger. This is the most basic reason for celebrating Christmas: "O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel . . ." The message of Luke 1:37, the accomplishments that began with Christmas; these are the source of what makes Christmas special. These truths are not effected by my being 8000 miles from my family.
So even though the time of Christmas seems a bit lonely, I hope that can continue to see the blessing that a simple, quiet Christmas provides. A chance to learn things about God and his word, a chance to improve attitudes and thoughts, a chance to let God make me better than I was.
It doesn't take a big stretch of the intellect to connect this to new things, like years for instance. The things that make Christmas a special time, are true of every single day a Christian has in fellowship with God through his indwelling Spirit. And so what's true of Dec. 25th is true of Jan. 4th and April 1st and Sept. 27th. Every day is a chance to learn things about God, to learn things about his word, to improve attitudes and thoughts, to let God make you better, to deepen your faith, to be more generous, to be more compassionate and on and on. As Pastor Roy said when the choir was in Delfin Albano: "Everyday is Christmas for a Christian!"
To conclude, you've probably heard most of this before; I'm certainly not claiming originality here. Perhaps this was a reminder you needed to hear, and that's enough for me.
"O come thou Dayspring, come and cheer; our spirits by thine advent here."
Before I end this post, I want to mention a few other things. One very nice thing about Christmas is that some of my friends who study or work in Manila are home for the holidays. I enjoyed seeing some folks I hadn't seen in a while and made a few new friends as well.
Also, last post I forgot to pass along my congratulations to my cousin Toni Beth and her husband Zach. They welcomed their first child into this world approximately 6 weeks ago, I'm very happy for them and wish young Liam the best.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing Louisville Cardinals who managed to share the Big East football championship, join the ACC, beat Kentucky in basketball and football, and make ESPN and lots of other analysts look foolish by winning the Sugar Bowl. It is an exciting time to be a Louisville fan. Jurich is the best Athletic Director in the country.
Happy New Year! I hope you are well.
Nick
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