Oldie but a Goodie!

 Habakkuk and Nahum aren’t exactly the first two names people think of when choosing names for their children. However at the Institute this week we learned about them and the rest of the Old Testament prophets and after learning about them I think more people should consider those names. They were men who loved the Lord. All the prophets were called by God to proclaim a message and we learn something different from each of them.

            A general theme of the prophets is one of repentance and restoration. To me that is a picture of Christ’s relationship towards us. God desires for us to repent so he can restore us to be in a relationship with him that will be perfected in Heaven. The prophets’ messages also point to Christ in the fact that some of their prophecies relate to Christ’s first and second coming. They have double fulfillment. For example Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end”.  The first part refers to his birth then when it speaks about the eternal government that refers to when Jesus returns to the Earth. Other prophecies are directed at their own time frame or events that will affect a nation. Jonah had a message for Nineveh, yet it still points Christ.

            Jonah is an Old Testament prophet that many are familiar with. Most people know he ran from God, but do we realize why? He did not want to go share the Good News with the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and they were known as a wicked people. Jonah did not want to go there because he knew that the people would repent and receive salvation. He did not think the wicked people of Assyria deserved salvation. He eventually goes to Nineveh and the people repent. The Lord shows Jonah that he has compassion for all his people. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9. The message of Jonah is that salvation is from the Lord.

            The story of Jonah reminds me that the Lord calls us to difficult things but disobeying him is sin. Don’t rebel against God. He is a compassionate God, but he is also a God of wrath. Whatever he calls us to do he will give us the strength to get through.

            Habakkuk is prophet that many are not familiar with. The purpose of Habakkuk is to record his conversation with the Lord about the problem of evil in the world. His message is for Judah and he is the last pre-exilic prophet for Judah. In chapter three his prayer to God for Judah is “in wrath remember mercy”. This Old Testament book points to Christ and shows his faithfulness. He does not forget about his followers in the hard times. We learn how to pursue God from Habakkuk. The outline of Habakkuk is he questions, listens, and then prays. Many times we question God and then we don’t listen or pray. We want answers but are not willing to search or be patient for them.

            These past few weeks studying the Old Testament prophets has given me a new desire to dive in the Word. I was convicted about not knowing a lot about the Old Testament prophets because I’ve been walking with the Lord since childhood. Also I can learn more about the Lord through studying the prophets.

JESUS FREAK

There is an old DC TALK song with the lyrics, “People say I’m strange. Does it make me a stranger that my best friend was born was born in a manger?” Being Christmas time we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus born in a manger. A common phrase heard during the holidays is “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I agree with that statement, but I want to take it one step further and say “Jesus is the reason for life”. Jesus is the reason I’m alive and who I’m living for. I remember being in middle school and desiring to be known as the Jesus Freak. I had the boldness to live out my faith in actions and words. I think when I got into high school I was either focused more on showing Christ with actions, but scared to share my faith through words or I would have the words, but not the actions to back them up. My love for Christ should permeate my whole lifestyle. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” Luke 18:17.

We learned about evangelism this week at the Institute. It is something that God calls us to do. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. We also took a look at the different methods of evangelizing. I love to share the Gospel with people I’ve gotten to walk through life with. That’s why I was a Young leader during college. Every Monday Night a Young Life leader would share a part of the Gospel or information about Christ. I got to build relationships with the girls and tell them about Jesus. I enjoyed writing engaging talks about the Gospel and trying to make analogies that they could connect with. Through sharing the Gospel as a Young Life leader I learned that allowing them to see that our lives reflected what we spoke about had the greatest impact. Showing them that as Young Life leaders we weren’t only “Christian” at Young Life Club or at church, but we lived it out every day intrigued them.

Another time I got to share about Jesus was due to having a friendships with a few girls. I served at a church in England for a semester of my college senior year. Each week I was a volunteer leader for a program called Girl Guides, which is similar to our Girl Scouts. I had quickly bonded with two twelve year old girls. After a few weeks of getting to know them and being silly with them at game time they began to open up. When I asked them about how their days went, they would tell me the good points and their struggles. Then one day they commented on the ring I always wore. I told them it was my purity ring. They didn’t understand what that was. I then explained that the ring was given to me by my parents and symbolized the promise to my parents and God that I was going to wait until marriage to have sex. They had somewhat shocked and confused faces. They were even more shocked when I told them I was twenty-one. That made me sad that they were shocked that someone my age had been able to remain pure. They asked me why. I then got to share with them how Jesus was the Lord of my life and I lived my life for him. I learned from that experience that I shouldn’t look at person’s age and doubt that they will be able to understand the Gospel. Also that by showing I cared about them they begin to care about me. Another thing was that innocence is a hard quality for children to maintain in today’s culture.

My last experience I want to share about is one that goes more along the lines of what I picture evangelism to be. The term evangelism usually makes me nervous and involves thoughts of approaching random strangers. The good thing is God will use any means necessary to spread the Good News about the freedom found through Jesus’ death and resurrection. One place I do love talking to random people is on an airplane. I enjoy making friends with the people sitting beside me. Before I got on one of my flights a friend prayed over me that I would get the opportunity to share the Gospel three times within the day. God answers prayers my friends. I sat next to a girl who was nearly the same age as me. We were flying to Spain so we had lots of time to talk. She ended up sharing that she had just broken up with her boyfriend of a long time because she was a Christian and he was a Muslim. She knew that she didn’t want to raise kids under two different religions and that if they married it would probably end in a divorce. I was impressed by that mature decision but gathered from the rest of the conversation that she was struggling with walking with the Lord and having strong faith. I got to share my life story about how I'd grown in the Lord and also how obeying the Lord was of ultimate importance to me, but not always the easiest for me to obey. From this I learned if you ask for opportunities you have to be willing to take them because the Lord will provide. Also by sharing your beliefs and life story you can challenge others to dig deeper and search for truth.

Church History = HOMERUN!

     At the Institute we have the opportunity of having our staff also being our teachers certain weeks. Chad Hampsch taught this week over Church History. He is Vice President of Operations at the Kanakuk Institute. Another fun fact is that his wife, Cat, is my small group leader and they are expecting their third child! This week was a refresher course of my Christianity History class I took at Dallas Baptist. History is a subject I enjoy, but there is a plethora of information and I have a difficult time remembering what event or person goes with which time period.

      One individual I learned about was William Ashley “Billy” Sunday. He lived from 1862-1935. For eight years he was a professional baseball player for teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He set records for stealing bases and became the first player to run the bases in fourteen seconds. He left the world of professional baseball to take a position in ministry. His salary as a baseball player was $400 a month when the average worker of the day made $480 a year! The ministry position he took paid him $84 a month. Later baseball teams offered him $500 a month and even $2000 a month. However Sunday chose to stay faithful to where God had called him. At one point he was even offered $1,000,000 to be in the movies, but declined to continue evangelizing. I think this goes to show that money can’t buy happiness. He became a follower of Jesus Christ through the outreach of Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Harry Monroe from the PGM was out preaching on the street when Sunday heard the message and gave his life to Christ. Street evangelism puts me outside my comfort zone, but I’m thankful that there are people who have the boldness to proclaim God anywhere and everywhere. Side note that is one way you could be praying for me, that God gives me boldness in my life.

      Sunday passed away at age 73 due to a heart attack. Today he is known for his powerful and enthusiastic evangelism and passion for Christ. Christ gave him talent and success in the world of sports and ministry. I wonder what his baseball buddies said about his conversion and decision to leave the world of professional sports. I wonder if it impacted any of them to follow Christ. Today it encourages me that there are men like Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and my brothers who are in the sports world living for Christ. Looking at Sunday’s life showed me that we all will leave a legacy. I want my legacy to be similar to his in the idea that I followed God’s calling and was passionate about serving him even if it contradicted how the world’s ideas of living. I learned that God can reach people in any way he chooses. If it is street evangelism, a sermon on TV, a dream, or through a friendship he will bring people to him. But God is looking for faithful servants to make his name famous. Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (NIV). Also it says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (NIV). I’m carrying the banner for the Lord’s name. “Ain’t it a fine life carrying the banner through it all?” Newsies anyone?

"Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King!"

The song Simba sings in the Lion King testifies that he is ready for the privileges that come with being a King.  I wonder if the young cub realized the amount of responsibility that also came with being a king. This past week was spent looking at 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles analyzing the kings that reigned during the United Kingdom and the Divided Kingdom of Israel. The Kingdom era came right after the time Israel was ruled by Judges. The Kingdom era can divided into the United Kingdom and the Divided Kingdom. The United Kingdom lasted 120 years and the Divided Kingdom lasted 400 years.

During the Judges period Israel began to see that everyone around them had a king to rule them. Israel decided they wanted to be like their neighbors. They demanded a king. Moses back in Deuteronomy 17 predicted Israel would one day demand a king. The last judge, Samuel, was also the first prophet and he warned them that a king would take their daughters for cooks, take a tenth of their land, and take their best servants to be his servants. Nevertheless they refused to listen. 1 Samuel 8:7 says, “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them’” (NASB). Samuel listened to the Lord and appointed Saul as the first king of the United Kingdom. Saul reigned for 40 years and is described as having “no heart for God”. Samuel would give him instructions from the Lord and Saul would partially obey. Partial obedience is disobedience. For disobeying His commands, the Lord removed the kingdom from him. 
Samuel was called to anoint the next king from the sons of Jesse. Samuel went out to the family of Jesse and saw the oldest son and thought surely he looked like a king. The Lord reminded Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for mans looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB). After going through seven of Jesse’s sons, Samuel had still not anointed one. Jesse then called David in from the fields, where he was tending sheep, and he was chosen to be the next king. Interestingly enough David was about 15 at the time and he didn’t become king until he was 30. David had great faith and patience at a young age. David reigned as king for 40 years and he had a whole heart for God. God called David a man after his own heart. However David was an adulterer and a murderer. This shows that God can use anyone who is willing to follow him.

The last ruler of the United Kingdom was Solomon, David’s son. Solomon is described as having a “half heart for God”. God commanded him to build the Temple and also used him to write two books of the Bible. His decline in faith was to due to his love for material possessions, military power, and women. He eventually turned his heart from God. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines, in total 1000! They turned his heart away to their foreign gods. So the Lord said to him, “Because you have done this and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you…” 1 Kings 11:11 (NASB).

After Solomon died his son, Rehoboam, took the throne. He was advised to rule less harshly than his father and in doing so guaranteed the loyalty from his people. However Rehoboam foolishly decided to establish a reign harsher than his father’s. This caused a split in the kingdom and thus the Northern and the Southern kingdoms are born. Rehoboam ruled the Southern kingdom which was called Judah and was made up of two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. The capital of Judah was Jerusalem. Judah had 20 kings and about eight of them were righteous.

The Northern Kingdom elected Jeroboam as king. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel. It consisted of the other 10 tribes. Israel had 19 kings and none were righteous. The capital of Israel was Samaria.

The end of the Divided Kingdom period came about when Assyria captured the Northern Kingdom and scattered the people. Also when Babylon, who had just conquered Assyria, came and captured the Southern Kingdom and took them into captivity. Then began the Exile era.

One thing I have learned about leadership from the Kingdom area is listen to God and serve the people. Saul had the kingdom ripped from him because he did not listen to God. God granted Solomon wisdom beyond measure, yet because of his lack of listening skills and obedience, split the kingdom. Also Rehoboam had no consideration for the people and was forced to rule two tribes instead of twelve. Treat people as you would want to be treated should always be a rule to follow. Ultimately listen to God before you listen to people, but always be a servant to others.

"Mawaige is what bwings us together today." -Princess Bride

There’s a whole lot of love in the Abbey household. The beauty of my family is that I’ve learned how to grow closer to people in the midst of conflict. I’ve watched my parents demonstrate a marriage that I will use as a model for mine if I ever get married. Then more recently my older brother married a fabulous woman and I can’t wait to get even more pointers from them. So I wish my family were at the Kanakuk Institute? Well yes, but the reason why I say this is because we learned about marriage and relationships this past week at the Institute. As wonderful as I’ve seen marriage can be, I also see how difficult it is to mold two people’s lives into one. So after hearing a whole week of lessons on relationships and marriage here are five things I learned about marriage. 

1. Marriage is not for my own happiness. That is a lie of the world. Marriage is for the purpose of sanctification. Christ created marriage and it is to make us more like Christ. It is glimpse of the Trinity, a perfect, harmonious relationship filled with unconditional love. Our marriage needs to be covered in Christ.  

2. Don’t marry potential, marry proven. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Marriage is a covenant. The two become one flesh the Bible says. How can one flesh be separated back into two? Therefore I need to marry someone who is running after the Lord so when we meet up we can continue to run after the Lord together. 


3. Husbands and wives have different strengths and weaknesses. Husbands need to submit to their wife's strengths and protect her weaknesses. Wives submit to their husband's strengths and protect his weaknesses.  The goal is to balance each other and work together. 


4. Communication is a necessary part of marriage. Good communication takes place when we choose to make our primary goal understanding rather than being understood. Both husband and wife need to initiate conversation and listen intently. The conversations must go beyond surface level. Honesty in all areas. NO SECRETS! Yes, there will be tough conversations but working through them is way to become stronger as a couple.


5. Put your spouse before your children. Children need to see a marriage done right. Parents need to show kids how they should love and treat their future spouse. Also what it looks like to raise kids together. Never forget why you fell in love with your spouse. Take time for just the two of you, such as going on a walk, a weekend away, or a date night, because when the kids leave it's back to just you two. 


Next I decided to see what God had to say about marriages. 

In Genesis 24 Isaac marries Rebekah. One positive thing I see in this relationship is that God is sought before the relationship even begins. The servant, even though not searching for his own wife, still sees the importance in seeking God before seeking the woman for Isaac. The servant asks to take Rebekah back with him to meet Isaac. Rebekah is obedient and respectful. For me the response would have been, “Ok you bring Isaac here first to prove that he’s real and to see if we get along. I mean it is the rest of my life we are talking about!”  Rebekah trusts God that she is supposed to marry Isaac. Then Isaac also shows obedience and takes her as his wife.  Then when they realize Rebekah is barren they pray about it. They take their problems to the Lord. They eventually have two sons, twins. However there were negatives in their marriage. On a trip to Egypt Isaac lies and says Rebekah is his sister, to protect his life. The Pharaoh is not happy because he wanted to marry her. Also the Isaac and Rebekah play favorites. Esau is his father’s pride and joy and Jacob is the apple oaf his mother’s eye. God says to show no favoritism (Romans 2:11). 

So the moral of this story is to be truthful and have integrity in all situations, even when you think you are in a tough situation. Also love your kids equally. Kids are blessed with different talents and abilities, but a parent should show love to all their kids. Another lesson is pray for your spouse before you are married, even before you’ve met.  In a marriage I would want to copy Isaac and Rebekah by taking everything to God in prayer. Also they were on the same page in the obedience to marry one another. Being in agreement, in the important issues, with your spouse seems to be a essential idea.

Another marriage in the Bible is the one of Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke 1. Luke 1:6 says, “They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord”.  I pray that if I ever get married that this verse could also be said about me and my husband. They are also a childless couple and the Lord blessed them. Elizabeth praises the Lord when she finds out she is going to have a child. Then when Zacharias and Elizabeth finally have their son they are obedient in naming him John, despite the public’s opinion to name him Zacharias. However a negative to this marriage is that Zacharias did not believe the angel when he said that Zacharias and Elizabeth would have child. Therefore Zacharias becomes mute until his son is born 


From this story, I learned that people close to you will describe and remember your marriage. A healthy, godly marriage leaves an impact. Also that the Lord is ultimately in control if you have children or not, and that could be through either pregnancy or adoption. And lastly as a couple or an individual we must trust in the Almighty God, because there are consequences for unbelief. Remember God can restore.

Fertilizer

Today was a good day in the Show Me State. This morning Karen Chancey taught us a lesson in Bible Overview. Man, we even had hand motions that went along with it. We are only in Exodus after 3 hours. Great stuff! She was helping us grow in our knowledge and hunger for the Word. The Institute is fertilizer for us. It is helping us grow closer to God by teaching us about Him and His Word. We also watched this fascinating video about how Christ is portrayed in the Passover Feast. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVolBDlWloQ

Now it is about 35min but it taught me so much, because I knew slim, hardly anything, a half hatched goose egg, about the Jewish custom of Passover. I encourage you to watch it when you have time. I do love a good youtube video.

Then after class it was off to my campus job. Yep, I'm a working woman. Say hello to girl on the maintenance team. I do maintenance around the camp (Be proud Daddy!). I have some great bosses. One of them is named Ken. He is like the Grandfather away from home. He is always pouring Scripture into us and making some witty joke. He is a very humble man who loves to serve God. Today Kara and I got to walk a fertilizer cart around all the campus. We almost used the wrong fertilizer (I'm still learning ok!? haha). Ken picked me up on the John Deere mule and we went to correct the issue. During our ride he was talking about how he has been learning about prophecy these last few years and we discussed prophecy and people prophesying in today's time. It's going to be a great job.

Then I ended the day with a wonderful Skype conversation with some of my dearest friends, Melanie and Christine. Laughter and love are so intertwined into our conversations.



That's all for now!

Diving In

At the Kanakuk Institute I get the opportunity to dive into the Bible every day. Each week speakers are brought in to teach us in different subjects such as ministry, Bible study, history of Scripture, spiritual disciplines, and our great Creator.  For the first part of this week David Lawson and his wife BJ Lawson came to teach us about Inductive Bible Study. They both work for a company called Precept Ministries International whose goal is to establish people in God’s Word. For the purpose of teaching us Inductive Bible Study, David selected the book of Titus. We took one class and devoted it to looking deep into God’s message in Titus.   

While reading the Bible is still a valuable action, studying the Bible gives meaning and understanding to what you are reading. Inductive Bible Study uses only the Bible to teach about God. It doesn’t reach out to commentaries or articles, just simply the Word of God. It brings us to look at the grand picture of Scripture, but then zoom in to see details. Inductive Bible Study is important because we are learning what God said. The Christian faith is based on this book and the way to know its Author is to intensely study it. How can we be a follower of God if we don’t know His Word? Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (ESV). The Bible is a tool, a weapon. If we were a carpenter we would be expected to know how to use a hammer, saws, and a sander. A Christian should know their Bible, especially since it’s alive and protection against Satan, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” Ephesians 6:11 (NIV).

Some of the major areas of Inductive Bible Study are observation, interpretation, and application. In the area of observation we are going to ask six questions. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? We are looking for the author, recipients, purpose, and subject. We are simply examining what the text literally says and looking for the obvious.  In this phase we are at a bird’s eye view, just seeing the big details. David encouraged us to read the Titus two or three times through. We marked people, places, and events.  For example, whenever we saw “God” in the text we’d draw a triangle by the name and whenever we saw “Jesus” we’d draw a cross. We’d also go through and highlight key words or phrases that were repeated.  We used different colored pencils or pens so the markings would be easier to see. So possible a good incentive to do inductively studying is because you could buy some new colored pencils!

Interpretation is the next step in the study. We went back through to understand what it means. This is the stage where we used a concordance for cross referencing verses to see what other areas of the Bible said on the subject. It was similar to a treasure hunt. The Bible is a big treasure chest and every time you open it a new jewel or pearl emerges. With the key phrases we pondered why they were repeated and their importance. An important principle to remember is that context leads to proper interpretation. Context is defined as “the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning”. In the words of David, “Context rules!”

After class we had a lot of “head knowledge” but in order to for it to make a difference we had to apply it to our life. Application is an important step because it is the one that affects our actions. Our beliefs determine our behavior. By studying the Bible we see how believers are supposed to live and that we are commanded to practice that way of life, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” James 1:22 (NIV). We can say we are Christians all day long, but if our actions deny our words it will be hard for people to believe.

I know that while I’m at the Institute it will be easier to study the Word and apply it to my life. I’m in a community of believers and surrounded by people who are striving to live a life for Christ. My desire is that I can learn how to study inductively on my own, weave it into my daily life, and continue to do it for years to come. Treating it as homework is the wrong attitude. My God is a personal God and this is one way I can spend time with Him.

Our class as a whole is inductively studying the life of Abraham for the rest of the semester. We will come together each week to discuss what was revealed to us while studying. It’s going to be a time of growth and learning. Seventy-one students coming together to talk about how the God of the universe spoke to them. I’m pumped!