Salutations! It has been 6 days since I deleted my facebook and I couldn't be happier. The only problem I have now is what to do with all these 10? spare hours a week. Check the link above for 60+ pictures of Laidlaw/Kinetic Junior High/Piha Beach/Auckland etc.
Summer is upon me and I'm on the search for work. A promising full time job at a outdoor gear store fell short and your prayers for work would be awesome. I'm beginning the process of working to save $6200 USD for next semesters classes that start March 1st. In my 3rd semester at Laidlaw I will be studying: Hebrew, Ways of Knowing, Theology of Suffering and Hope, and Biblical Interpretation.
On Thursday I will be attending the U2 concert at Mt. Smart in Auckland and I have a hitch-hiking trip in the works to cruise towards Wellington (bottom of the North Island). Thank you for all the prayers and support, as I stated in a previous entry, I will be updating here more frequently now.
His,
Piper
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Summer Time.
As of Saturday night at 11:42 pm, I'm finished for the semester at Laidlaw Bible College with 2 more years to go in my bachelor of theology degree. Exams went well and all projects have been handed in. Thank you for the prayers and support over the previous (nearly) 11 months- this last year has been hugely transformative to my life.
I had been planning to secretly return to the states on Dec. 24th after attending my friends wedding in Guatemala, but after being voted on to student leadership at the college next year I realized that I would not have the finances to do both. My plan was to go to Guatemala by selling my bike etc and then on return take the semester off from Laidlaw if needed to pay for school. Now I must ensure that I have the $$ to attend school next semester as I'm committed to serving the student body with all that I have next year... maybe God will bless me through the lottery : )
Not to get weird on anyone here, but I have also taken a vow (of sorts) to not pursue relationships outside of friendship with the opposite sex for the year duration of my student leadership commitment. I think this will allow me to serve with integrity.
Another quick order of business is that I'm deleting my Facebook tomorrow night, my reasoning being found within these email conversations between friends of mine because of this announcement:
----------------------------------------Email 1------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have noticed in self reflection that facebook has actually shaped my world in ways that could be unhealthy. I'm ready to move on, tired of the dumb poses for photos and trivialized relationships- seriously, who has 1300 friends? I don't. Don't hear me say I'm hating on the whole thing, but for me, I'm hungry to experience life in it's fullest again, detached from a computer screen.----
----------------------------------------Email 2
I have been kicking this around for awhile. I don't think it's possible to maintain meaningful relationship with all the people I have ever met ever. I found myself checking FB much to often, wanting to get instant gratification/affirmation from friends. To be honest, I would do things (good things, not bad) because I knew the photo would end up online. I crave genuine, passionate, God given life experiences that flow organically, not simply because I seek recognition for anything. I want depth, and the ability again to live in the moment and cherish the people I'm around. In other words I want to be fully present where I am.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you everyone for journeying with me. I will be far more active on here now with article posting+ pictures etc.
May God bless you in your journey, in the joy and pain.
His,
Piper
I had been planning to secretly return to the states on Dec. 24th after attending my friends wedding in Guatemala, but after being voted on to student leadership at the college next year I realized that I would not have the finances to do both. My plan was to go to Guatemala by selling my bike etc and then on return take the semester off from Laidlaw if needed to pay for school. Now I must ensure that I have the $$ to attend school next semester as I'm committed to serving the student body with all that I have next year... maybe God will bless me through the lottery : )
Not to get weird on anyone here, but I have also taken a vow (of sorts) to not pursue relationships outside of friendship with the opposite sex for the year duration of my student leadership commitment. I think this will allow me to serve with integrity.
Another quick order of business is that I'm deleting my Facebook tomorrow night, my reasoning being found within these email conversations between friends of mine because of this announcement:
----------------------------------------Email 1------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have noticed in self reflection that facebook has actually shaped my world in ways that could be unhealthy. I'm ready to move on, tired of the dumb poses for photos and trivialized relationships- seriously, who has 1300 friends? I don't. Don't hear me say I'm hating on the whole thing, but for me, I'm hungry to experience life in it's fullest again, detached from a computer screen.----
----------------------------------------Email 2
I have been kicking this around for awhile. I don't think it's possible to maintain meaningful relationship with all the people I have ever met ever. I found myself checking FB much to often, wanting to get instant gratification/affirmation from friends. To be honest, I would do things (good things, not bad) because I knew the photo would end up online. I crave genuine, passionate, God given life experiences that flow organically, not simply because I seek recognition for anything. I want depth, and the ability again to live in the moment and cherish the people I'm around. In other words I want to be fully present where I am.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you everyone for journeying with me. I will be far more active on here now with article posting+ pictures etc.
May God bless you in your journey, in the joy and pain.
His,
Piper
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Pictures speak a thousand words.
Today my beard was shaved in a church raffle to raise funds for the Junior High students service trip to Fiji. This was the "before" photo. $325 (edit 11/15/2010) was raised and I want to thank everyone that participated in this cause... and no, despite popular belief, is the answer to the pervading question as to whether I own a volley ball named "Wilson."
Thank you to everyone who prayed for my sermon prep/delivery. It went well and I received encouraging feedback on how it impacted individual people. What a joy it is to open up and teach Gods word.
This week has been a struggle to get school work done, and now I'm 3 days out from my first of two exams. I opted to take a security job protecting a fireworks stand for Guy Fawkes Day (look it up on wikipedia, it's to bizarre/borderline sadistic to explain). The location of the stand was on the church property, being contracted out by a private fireworks company. This company hired me to guard it at $100 a night, to simply sleep outside of it. Long story short, I had an eventful night come Tuesday at 4am when 3 or so men tried to break into it... God kept me safe, but I didn't get much sleep that night or the rest of the week. I start school tomorrow $400 richer, but behind in my work. Goodnight everyone, it's 11:35pm and I'm heading to bed, where I belong.
In Christ,
Piper
Monday, October 25, 2010
Service.
Today, I received word that I was elected by a group of my peers to student leadership in the 2011 Laidlaw school year. I'm tremendously humbled by this opportunity to serve the student body and my heart is for growing this community of believers. The first thing I did was get on my knees and ask the Lord to consume my heart and ask for his guidance. Thank you to all that have been praying for me faithfully.
The role will entail working with and supporting the men and womens student presidents as we work with faculty and staff to bring more of Christ's likeness into our community of faith. The schools principle (Dr. Rod Thompson, a phenomenal man with a incredible vision) will be directly over-seeing the student leaders and mentoring this group. My understanding as of right now is that I will be partnered with a professor that will be the person I'm accountable to. This next year will be a tremendous time of being stretched and grown and I'm incredibly excited to journey with my peers through the joys and struggles that life brings. My specific role within the 10 leader body will be tailored to suit my skill set and passions and will most likely entail pastoral care+ community activities.
Thank you for all the support and for journeying with me over the course of my life. I believe being a leader is in being a servant. When Jesus talked about the "least of these," he was talking about the disciples so I must lower my self importance (which is different than lowering your self-worth) and serve my heart out. My focus is on Christ alone (where else should I go?) and I feel the weeks+ leading up to this day have prepared me to be a more focused and intentional servant. To God be all the glory-
HIS,
David
-Please pray for my sermon prep and delivery on the 7th of November at Avondale Baptist Church as well as the road leading to service in Fiji next year with ABC's junior highers. Also for finances.
The role will entail working with and supporting the men and womens student presidents as we work with faculty and staff to bring more of Christ's likeness into our community of faith. The schools principle (Dr. Rod Thompson, a phenomenal man with a incredible vision) will be directly over-seeing the student leaders and mentoring this group. My understanding as of right now is that I will be partnered with a professor that will be the person I'm accountable to. This next year will be a tremendous time of being stretched and grown and I'm incredibly excited to journey with my peers through the joys and struggles that life brings. My specific role within the 10 leader body will be tailored to suit my skill set and passions and will most likely entail pastoral care+ community activities.
Thank you for all the support and for journeying with me over the course of my life. I believe being a leader is in being a servant. When Jesus talked about the "least of these," he was talking about the disciples so I must lower my self importance (which is different than lowering your self-worth) and serve my heart out. My focus is on Christ alone (where else should I go?) and I feel the weeks+ leading up to this day have prepared me to be a more focused and intentional servant. To God be all the glory-
HIS,
David
-Please pray for my sermon prep and delivery on the 7th of November at Avondale Baptist Church as well as the road leading to service in Fiji next year with ABC's junior highers. Also for finances.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Promise Keeper weekend.
Above: International students dinner party.
Prayer requests:
My friend Sean Saffold is going hard for Christ serving in Myamar/Burma and has become very sick. I have very little details other than the email I received from his mother today.
Tiffany Manning who is serving in PNG is getting over her sickness, but both her Grandma/Grandpa in the states were in a car accident and need your prayer now for their collective surgeries. They are stable.
Myself Promise Keepers weekend, discernment for Church issues, studies, preaching.
---------------
Getting a day up at the mountain was quite enjoyable, it was nothing like Mt.Baker but the view from the top was stunning! Spear fishing didn't happen, I'm currently up to my ears in assignments, thank you for your continued support.
-Piper
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Spring Break.
Just a brief update on life. Last Sunday I preached at Carbon Cluster, a group of South African university aged students on "Radical Jesus" (Mark 2:13-17) and it was well received. God did some sweet stuff on my heart during that time for which I'm grateful. Thank you to all who prayed for me, I preach again at Laidlaw (for a grade) on Wednesday the 13th, then on November 7th at Avondale Baptist. These are sweet times for me as I love the study/crafting/delivering of Gods word. I want to thank Phil Koistra at IBC in Port Angeles for first teaching my about the process of crafting a sermon and introducing me to Baptist preacher Matt Chandler who outside of my parents/mentors has had the biggest influence on my walk with Christ.
I'm currently half way through a 2 week break. I was able to take 2 days off to due a couple decent cycling trips, bush runs (running through the hilly jungle) and train at my boxing gym. They say, "the man that works with his head wrests with his hands," and that is an understatement. I love the times of refreshment out in creation. Thursday and Friday though, I was back home in the library, where I will spend the majority of my next week. I have two notable projects due in the next month that are worth 45% each in their respective classes, as well as other minor ones. It's all out, full on, from now until the end of year one at School. I have been here in NZ now for 9 months and it only feels like a few days.
I start guitar lessons tomorrow, go snowboarding Tuesday (for the first time in nearly 1.5 years!), and then on Friday head to the 2 day Promise Keeper conference in Auckland. Within this week I might be spearfishing/snorkeling off of Goat Island (what a name!) mixed in with 35+ hours in the library.
Prayer requests:
-Student leadership possibility at Laidlaw.
-For my church, Avondale Baptist
-Next two preaching dates.
His,
Piper
I'm currently half way through a 2 week break. I was able to take 2 days off to due a couple decent cycling trips, bush runs (running through the hilly jungle) and train at my boxing gym. They say, "the man that works with his head wrests with his hands," and that is an understatement. I love the times of refreshment out in creation. Thursday and Friday though, I was back home in the library, where I will spend the majority of my next week. I have two notable projects due in the next month that are worth 45% each in their respective classes, as well as other minor ones. It's all out, full on, from now until the end of year one at School. I have been here in NZ now for 9 months and it only feels like a few days.
I start guitar lessons tomorrow, go snowboarding Tuesday (for the first time in nearly 1.5 years!), and then on Friday head to the 2 day Promise Keeper conference in Auckland. Within this week I might be spearfishing/snorkeling off of Goat Island (what a name!) mixed in with 35+ hours in the library.
Prayer requests:
-Student leadership possibility at Laidlaw.
-For my church, Avondale Baptist
-Next two preaching dates.
His,
Piper
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Reflecting on weeks past.
Two Wednesdays ago I heard the gospel message presented by a professor in a way that I had never heard before. He spoke of the way Jesus engaged a nameless woman in a crowd that had been suffering for years from a continual flow of blood. Not only did the Christ restore her physically but he gave her a new name: "daughter," reinterpreting the cold reality in which she had been living under . I could go on, but the moment has passed, and I couldn't recapture it here for you; but in this time, my heart was illuminated once again to the possibilities of how powerful the gospel is when unleashed in a diligent/creative way that is faithful to the text.
The following Sunday I had a incredible theological conversation with an elder at my church that set the stage for what was to occur later that night. At a Anglican church I attend in the city named St. Pauls, God again met me in a powerful way as I was communally worshipping through song as the name Yahweh was repeated again and again. Various scholars attest to the nature of the word 'Yahweh' in Hebrew as potentially being breath. Though this isn't implicit in the scriptures, it's consistent with Biblical Theology. When I came that night to St. Pauls, the previous week I had been meditating on the name Yahweh as I breathed in slowly the simple blessing of air he had given me (Psalm 150:6). While singing 'Yahweh' the presence of God through the Holy Spirit felt so close. Truly a sweet time, future thoughts of possible ministry flooded my mind, and even though I won't disclose it here (could have been just a passing thought, I will wait for it to be confirmed) it gave me a tremendous sense of passion and focus for what currently needs to be done.
The Wednesday after this God met me through study, early that morning. In the 6-8 weeks previous to that day I had been reading Augustine/Aquinas and books about them, including selective famous works by the two collectively. I was trying to grasp how our modern Evangelical theology had been shaped since (before) Christs death. Starting with Aristotle and Plato/Paul then working my way into modern times (Theological works stemming from Princeton etc). All of this came to a close around 7am that morning as I finished the final chapter on Biblical Authority by editor Jack Rogers. I want to aggressively attack, with some level of integrity, where a cultural context has been read into the content of scripture. The journey doesn't stop here, but God opened my eyes a little wider.
Now to bring everyone up to speed about my recent life in brief, I have been considering/praying about running for a position in pastoral care at Laidlaw, part of the student leadership body. Prayer in this area would be sweet. I was asked to preach to a cluster group on September 26th and I pray that God is with me through the entire crafting process. Please pray for me as well.
Areas for specific prayer:
To be brutally honest, this last week I was struggling with pride which I have since confessed to my accountability group and now... the world (wide web). I don't want any of it, I want more Christ in my life.
Prayer for future missions at Avondale Baptist Church to our neighbors in Fiji. Currently the pastor and I are pursuing what it would take to bring a group there.
Post-grad study in Jerusalem for Biblical Hebrew?
Preaching on the 26th and potentially October 10th.
More Christ in my life, with a greater passion for His words.
Student leadership. It would be neat for this opportunity to occur, but I would just as well be happy with not, if God has me elsewhere.
----------------------------------------------
May you be blessed and encouraged through this week as you focus in on God, meditating on his revealed words. I leave you with these, that are so close to my heart:
The following Sunday I had a incredible theological conversation with an elder at my church that set the stage for what was to occur later that night. At a Anglican church I attend in the city named St. Pauls, God again met me in a powerful way as I was communally worshipping through song as the name Yahweh was repeated again and again. Various scholars attest to the nature of the word 'Yahweh' in Hebrew as potentially being breath. Though this isn't implicit in the scriptures, it's consistent with Biblical Theology. When I came that night to St. Pauls, the previous week I had been meditating on the name Yahweh as I breathed in slowly the simple blessing of air he had given me (Psalm 150:6). While singing 'Yahweh' the presence of God through the Holy Spirit felt so close. Truly a sweet time, future thoughts of possible ministry flooded my mind, and even though I won't disclose it here (could have been just a passing thought, I will wait for it to be confirmed) it gave me a tremendous sense of passion and focus for what currently needs to be done.
The Wednesday after this God met me through study, early that morning. In the 6-8 weeks previous to that day I had been reading Augustine/Aquinas and books about them, including selective famous works by the two collectively. I was trying to grasp how our modern Evangelical theology had been shaped since (before) Christs death. Starting with Aristotle and Plato/Paul then working my way into modern times (Theological works stemming from Princeton etc). All of this came to a close around 7am that morning as I finished the final chapter on Biblical Authority by editor Jack Rogers. I want to aggressively attack, with some level of integrity, where a cultural context has been read into the content of scripture. The journey doesn't stop here, but God opened my eyes a little wider.
Now to bring everyone up to speed about my recent life in brief, I have been considering/praying about running for a position in pastoral care at Laidlaw, part of the student leadership body. Prayer in this area would be sweet. I was asked to preach to a cluster group on September 26th and I pray that God is with me through the entire crafting process. Please pray for me as well.
Areas for specific prayer:
To be brutally honest, this last week I was struggling with pride which I have since confessed to my accountability group and now... the world (wide web). I don't want any of it, I want more Christ in my life.
Prayer for future missions at Avondale Baptist Church to our neighbors in Fiji. Currently the pastor and I are pursuing what it would take to bring a group there.
Post-grad study in Jerusalem for Biblical Hebrew?
Preaching on the 26th and potentially October 10th.
More Christ in my life, with a greater passion for His words.
Student leadership. It would be neat for this opportunity to occur, but I would just as well be happy with not, if God has me elsewhere.
----------------------------------------------
May you be blessed and encouraged through this week as you focus in on God, meditating on his revealed words. I leave you with these, that are so close to my heart:
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.
His,
Piper
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)