Saturday, July 9, 2011
Neuschwanstein Castle (a.k.a. the Disney castle)
There Comes a Time
in every persons that he (yes, or she) has an encounter with God. what determines your life is how you answer that call.
i recently had one such encounter. if you want to know about it, you have to ask me personally..
i recently had one such encounter. if you want to know about it, you have to ask me personally..
Thursday, July 7, 2011
A Trust Exercise
last week we went to Germany and spent a week doing multiple things that i wont mention now, but basically seeing the other teams. the first night we arrived we had a team meeting and made some small talk. there was another guy in the castle that had been working there for 5 months already. he was, Francis a black guy from Nigeria. one of the guys started talking to him and found out that there was a lake neer by.
a little later that night after all the activities were done, we got all the guys together and discussed the possibilty of going to that lake. the male vote won out and we went to get directions from Francis. he was asleep when we found him but we woke him up and we wouldnt tell us directions unless we let him come with us. there was no way we could deny him. we rounded up some very abused, slightly working bikes and headed for the aqua.
the journey was long and we had two bikes malfunction by the end so one person had to ride on the back basket and another on the front handle bars. we were at the mercy of Francis. he took us through corn and wheat fields, on a highway and finally to the lake. the conversation on the way consisted of bike talk and Francis telling us how crazy he was.
my favorite part was the adrenaline rush of following a strange black man through the fields of a European country to a large lake (it ended up being an old quarry that collected rain water)
a little later that night after all the activities were done, we got all the guys together and discussed the possibilty of going to that lake. the male vote won out and we went to get directions from Francis. he was asleep when we found him but we woke him up and we wouldnt tell us directions unless we let him come with us. there was no way we could deny him. we rounded up some very abused, slightly working bikes and headed for the aqua.
the journey was long and we had two bikes malfunction by the end so one person had to ride on the back basket and another on the front handle bars. we were at the mercy of Francis. he took us through corn and wheat fields, on a highway and finally to the lake. the conversation on the way consisted of bike talk and Francis telling us how crazy he was.
my favorite part was the adrenaline rush of following a strange black man through the fields of a European country to a large lake (it ended up being an old quarry that collected rain water)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Patriotism
happy 4th by the way. we all woke up and said the Pledge of Allegiance with love and liberty at heart.
we had American burgers and Norwegian waffles to celebrate.
we had American burgers and Norwegian waffles to celebrate.
Jews for Jesus
i may not have talked about our hostel manager, Jørgen. he is norwegian. he younger than me. he is my boss.
he invited us to his house one night for a traditional Norwegian feast, compliments of his father, a professional chef. it was there that i was introduced to peanut ice cream. equivalent is Turkish Delight.
the guests were; six Americans, Jørgen, his brother and father, his fathers Latvian wife, that wifes two daughters, Jørgen's three roommates, and a Messianic Jew. and it is about this man that i write this story.
this man had been asked to dinner by Jørgen. he traveled the world preaching to Jews about Jesus being the real Messiah. after our meal we all gathered round the living room in circular seating. i found a seat directly opposite this man, and it was with me primarily that he had eye contact. he addressed us the same as if we were his normal audience. i became defensive at the presuppositions he had already given me but i listened to the amount of knowledge he could conjure....like a brain magician. we told him we went to a Christian school and that we were Christians. that took a fancy with him and he used that as a launching point into evangelism. he asked us if our school had a program to evangelize specifically to the Jewish people. we said 'no'. he said 'huh'.
he believed that the primary people group Christians should be helping is the Jews. to him it is our duty to help them because they had carried and written down our Old Testament for so many years, and without the Jews Christianity would not exist. at this point, i cannot negate him. but this leads into a long train. if you thank the Jews then you have to thank anyone that the Jews had contact with, then anyone else that shaped and changed those peoples history. if you follow this pattern than you have to thank everyone that ever lived. this point i am actually more comfortable with. you must be thankful to all past peoples for there contrubution to the formation of our current way of life rather than saying one specific society has superiority to gratitude. God may have chosen the Israelites to be the ones he fulfills the Gosepel from, but does that mean He had an inferior love for everyone else? to me that seems like no. somewhere in the Bible it talks about equality.
his main purpose in bringing up the Jewish people was that he wanted the ends times to come. he wanted all of Jerusalem (the Jewish race) to accept Christ and fulfill Scripture. the end time are coming.....again
i want to go to heaven but if postponing Jesus coming back means more people have the possibilty to accept Jesus than lets wait a few more generations.
the evening was filled with emotion and synapsis. i will not forget it. that guy spitted out Scripture like it was dragon fire, which i cant help but be respect. he was a kind hearted man that loves God, whom i cannot entirely agree with but im thankful for meeting. its good to make people think and question........or is it?
he invited us to his house one night for a traditional Norwegian feast, compliments of his father, a professional chef. it was there that i was introduced to peanut ice cream. equivalent is Turkish Delight.
the guests were; six Americans, Jørgen, his brother and father, his fathers Latvian wife, that wifes two daughters, Jørgen's three roommates, and a Messianic Jew. and it is about this man that i write this story.
this man had been asked to dinner by Jørgen. he traveled the world preaching to Jews about Jesus being the real Messiah. after our meal we all gathered round the living room in circular seating. i found a seat directly opposite this man, and it was with me primarily that he had eye contact. he addressed us the same as if we were his normal audience. i became defensive at the presuppositions he had already given me but i listened to the amount of knowledge he could conjure....like a brain magician. we told him we went to a Christian school and that we were Christians. that took a fancy with him and he used that as a launching point into evangelism. he asked us if our school had a program to evangelize specifically to the Jewish people. we said 'no'. he said 'huh'.
he believed that the primary people group Christians should be helping is the Jews. to him it is our duty to help them because they had carried and written down our Old Testament for so many years, and without the Jews Christianity would not exist. at this point, i cannot negate him. but this leads into a long train. if you thank the Jews then you have to thank anyone that the Jews had contact with, then anyone else that shaped and changed those peoples history. if you follow this pattern than you have to thank everyone that ever lived. this point i am actually more comfortable with. you must be thankful to all past peoples for there contrubution to the formation of our current way of life rather than saying one specific society has superiority to gratitude. God may have chosen the Israelites to be the ones he fulfills the Gosepel from, but does that mean He had an inferior love for everyone else? to me that seems like no. somewhere in the Bible it talks about equality.
his main purpose in bringing up the Jewish people was that he wanted the ends times to come. he wanted all of Jerusalem (the Jewish race) to accept Christ and fulfill Scripture. the end time are coming.....again
i want to go to heaven but if postponing Jesus coming back means more people have the possibilty to accept Jesus than lets wait a few more generations.
the evening was filled with emotion and synapsis. i will not forget it. that guy spitted out Scripture like it was dragon fire, which i cant help but be respect. he was a kind hearted man that loves God, whom i cannot entirely agree with but im thankful for meeting. its good to make people think and question........or is it?
Sunday, July 3, 2011
sorry folks it's been a while
things have kept me from writing.... mainly myself
geographical update:
from Poland we went to Bergen Norway. it took us a week to clean up and restore an 400 year old building that the local school uses as dormatories. we converted into a hostel and opened for business. after running it for a week went to Munich Germany to meet up with the other people from Wheaton. we stayed at a small catle in a small town in southern Germany. from there, we went back to Bergen and arrived early this morning, it is Sunday.
this is the preface to the many stories that have happened in the past couple weeks, i shall partake in the writing of several of those.
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