So I was listening to music on my way home (as is usual), and this song High Noon by Andrew Peterson came on. I stopped reading to really listen to the music and words, and while I don't plan on re-hashing the song, it had some profound statements. In the beginning of the song, Christ dies, and takes his last, shuddering breath on the cross. I had always pictured that moment, but a moment that I had never pictured was when the demons MUST have believed they had beaten this Christ, the one that had resisted them all of his life. They must have rejoiced, they must have reveled in his death. Demons rejoiced. But, thankfully, Jesus took another shuddering breath three days later, and the stone was rolled away, and sin was conquered. The shadows had been dispersed, and the battle was won. By our savior. And, unlike those demons, we don't revel in death, but rejoice in new life. However, as with my first post here, I still feel that we do not truly worship our savior as we should. I'm not saying that we should dance like crazy, or revel, but if you wanted to do so to demonstrate your gratitude to God, I certainly wouldn't stop you. And while I don't wish our model of worship to be demons, I feel as if I must point out that when demons were happy, they rejoiced. And we, as redeemed children of our God, rarely even raise our voices in a half-hearted song of praise. I just see something wrong there. So please, I emplore you, engage in true worship of your savior, and give him all you have to give this week, and always. Show him your appreciation of his dying for you with one shuddering breath, and conquering death with another.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Planning
So, long time no post. I'll get around to re-doing the layout eventually, but how do you like the background? Too much? Too busy? Let me know. Anywho, before I get to the main point of the post, I want to give you a little bit of my debate background. Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.
When I first entered debate, i wasn't really sure what to expect. Two people argueing is what tends to spring to mind when the word is mentioned. Rarely thought about are the hours of fore-planning, practicing, speaking drills, case writing, logical fallacies, resolutions, and research, to name a few things. Three years of debate drilled into my mind the importance of doing research, keeping from being fallacious, and planning for all possible turns of an arguement. While I am guilty of not excercising any of this when it comes to blogging, I plan on making it a point of finding a designated time to blog. Promise.
Now, aside from letting you know that I will make it a point to blog from now on by planning a time for it, I have something else I want to say. You might have guessed, but I'm talking about digging into your bible. It takes work! And if you don't plan a time to study it, odds are you'll read it as often as I blogged. You've got to plan a time, even if it is only a few moments here and there. Read it during lunch (just be careful not to drop food on your pages), before breakfast, or before bed. Whenever works for you, do it.
Next, if all you do is plan to read and then amble about your pages, you won't get much out of your time. You need to find something in the text that you read that can be applied to your life. If you have trouble with this, pick up a devotional book. Maybe even a study bible. A journal to write your thoughts on the verses. Whatever will make the time that you spend reading your bible more productive, make sure you do your best to try and have/do that thing.
Finally, you've got to make sure you have a translation of the bible that is both true to the original text as well as easy to understand. A long time favourite of mine is the New American Standard (NAS), but lately I've taken quite a shine to the English Standard Version (ESV). Without a translation that you can understand, you'll have quite a hard time discerning what the text is conveying. The concept isn't new. Ever struggled reading old English? Yeah. That's what reading the KJV is like. Not impossible, but not exactly easy either. And hey, even in the newer translations there are words you won't know the definitions of. Don't just skim over them, look them up! Not only will it give you a better chance of learning what the text means, you'll grow your vocabulary. Huzzah.
I know I already said finally, but I'm adding another point to this. And that point is that at some point, you'll get stuck. Have no clue what a passage means. That's fine! Pastors don't only exist during services or youth group. I'm sure they'd love to help you understand a passage you're having trouble understanding.
And so, at last, I am done writing. I hope you take something away from this, and while I didn't recite a memorable story quite like my friend Chris does over at his blog, I hope you'll remember what I said. And hey, maybe next time I'll even have a story for you.
Join me in planning, won't you?
When I first entered debate, i wasn't really sure what to expect. Two people argueing is what tends to spring to mind when the word is mentioned. Rarely thought about are the hours of fore-planning, practicing, speaking drills, case writing, logical fallacies, resolutions, and research, to name a few things. Three years of debate drilled into my mind the importance of doing research, keeping from being fallacious, and planning for all possible turns of an arguement. While I am guilty of not excercising any of this when it comes to blogging, I plan on making it a point of finding a designated time to blog. Promise.
Now, aside from letting you know that I will make it a point to blog from now on by planning a time for it, I have something else I want to say. You might have guessed, but I'm talking about digging into your bible. It takes work! And if you don't plan a time to study it, odds are you'll read it as often as I blogged. You've got to plan a time, even if it is only a few moments here and there. Read it during lunch (just be careful not to drop food on your pages), before breakfast, or before bed. Whenever works for you, do it.
Next, if all you do is plan to read and then amble about your pages, you won't get much out of your time. You need to find something in the text that you read that can be applied to your life. If you have trouble with this, pick up a devotional book. Maybe even a study bible. A journal to write your thoughts on the verses. Whatever will make the time that you spend reading your bible more productive, make sure you do your best to try and have/do that thing.
Finally, you've got to make sure you have a translation of the bible that is both true to the original text as well as easy to understand. A long time favourite of mine is the New American Standard (NAS), but lately I've taken quite a shine to the English Standard Version (ESV). Without a translation that you can understand, you'll have quite a hard time discerning what the text is conveying. The concept isn't new. Ever struggled reading old English? Yeah. That's what reading the KJV is like. Not impossible, but not exactly easy either. And hey, even in the newer translations there are words you won't know the definitions of. Don't just skim over them, look them up! Not only will it give you a better chance of learning what the text means, you'll grow your vocabulary. Huzzah.
I know I already said finally, but I'm adding another point to this. And that point is that at some point, you'll get stuck. Have no clue what a passage means. That's fine! Pastors don't only exist during services or youth group. I'm sure they'd love to help you understand a passage you're having trouble understanding.
And so, at last, I am done writing. I hope you take something away from this, and while I didn't recite a memorable story quite like my friend Chris does over at his blog, I hope you'll remember what I said. And hey, maybe next time I'll even have a story for you.
Join me in planning, won't you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)