For those of you who don’t already know, I am currently living in Branson doing something called the Kanakuk Institute. In short, I’m being equipped for a lifetime of ministry. To expand on that a little, I’m going to class Monday through Thursday, 8-12:30 and learning all sorts of amazing things and then Friday mornings we have Precept Bible Study and then Timothy groups (small groups). I’m so excited to have the opportunity to take a year out of my life to study God’s Word, but what really excites me is that we aren’t just learning but we’re putting into practice the things we learn through different internships with churches or other ministries. We’ve talked a lot about how knowledge without action means nothing, so I’m excited to be a part of something where we have to practice what we preach and to get to do it with a ministry that has already played a major role in helping me be the person I am today.
Today started the first day of the third week of being here. The first week was a lot of orientation and fellowshipping and getting to know those in the community with whom we will be spending the next 8 months or so. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be in this community where we all have the same priorities in that we want to seek God first and foremost. It was also really cool to see God answer so many prayers in that first week. I like to be in control and so I was nervous going into the Institute where there were so many things that were out of my control, but God has provided continually since I’ve been here. He has provided my host family, my campus job, my internship, my Timothy group leader, and so many other things.
Last Monday was our first day of real classes and we were honored to have David Llawson come and teach us how to inductively study our Bible. It is so cool to see the way that the Bible connects and how the Old Testament is the foundation for the New Testament. So often I feel like the study of the Old Testament is overlooked so I cannot wait to get to do a study of Abraham for our Precepts study. Then Thursday and Friday we had Bob Cornuke come and he told us of all his adventures of searching for Paul’s shipwreck, Mt. Sinai, Noah’s Ark, and the Ark of the Covenant. Not only did he share all these things with us, but he taught us the important of not believing tradition for tradition’s sake but making sure they line up with the Word of God. If you’re interested in that type of stuff, I strongly suggest you look him up, he never claims to be 100% right but he has some pretty interesting theories that will make you think and if you’re like me, want to travel.
Last week also was the start of campus jobs and this Sunday was the official start of our internships although many of us started our internships on Wednesday of last week. I am doing my internship with the Children’s Ministry at First Baptist Church Forsyth. I love my internship already. I am helping with Children’s church at two different times on Sunday mornings and will even be getting to teach some at the first service of children’s church. Wednesday nights I am helping out with AWANA where I am with 3rd and 4th graders. Plus, FBC Forsyth really seems to be doing things right and I’m excited to be a part of church here that really puts God first and is reaching out to the community around them. My campus job is to babysit kids whose moms lead a Timothy group so that the moms can spend one-on-one time with their girls without having to worry about their kids. This is really exciting for me because some of the kids I will be watching are the Hampsch kids who I babysat at kamp this summer and I love them like they are my own. Last week also was the first time that a lot of us got to hang out with our host families. We are blessed by families in the community taking us in and giving us a home away from home and I’m excited to say that the Hampsch family is my host family. I feel so truly blessed to be a part of their family for a little bit longer because they are absolutely amazing and I have already learned so much from the time I spent with them this summer.
So today was the beginning of week three, hard to believe. Today we were absolutely blessed to have Todd Wagner who is the pastor at Watermark Church in Dallas come and teach us. Oh my word, God used Todd to absolutely rock my world this morning, never mind that I was in tears for at least half of class because I was so convicted but also because of how amazing God is. There are so many things that Todd talked about that I’m not even sure where to begin, but what he wanted more than anything was for us to desire to fall in love with God’s Word. He said that the greatest Bible teachers aren’t the ones that make you think, they’re the ones that inspire you to love the God that they love. He also talked about how God is not looking for someone who knows theology, but someone who loves God and loves others. We did this really cool thing in class where we went to Psalm 19 and looked at the different titles for the Word of God, descriptions of the Word of God, and the benefits of the Word of God. Please just let me share with you some of the descriptions of the Word of God: perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, righteous altogether, more desirable than gold, and sweeter than honey. As cool as that is, the benefits of the Word of God may be even cooler: restoring the soul, making wise the simple, bringing joy to the heart, enlightening the eyes, enduring forever, warning servants, and there is great reward in keeping it. Why in the world would you not want to fall in love with that? Every day we are at war, we are in a spiritual battle but we need to be radical because we have the greatest Truth! Being radical is getting back to the root, believing that the Bible is true and living it out. Todd claims that the greatest evil in America is the dead and compromised church and I have to agree with him. We are called to love others, yes, but we are also called to stand for Truth. We have Truth and we need to share it, how selfish is it for us to keep it to ourselves?! We talk a lot about how everything in this world is to bring God glory, but I think that can often be misrepresented. Todd explained that God is not trying to establish His glory, but to reveal it, because if we know Him we will want nothing but Him and love must share itself! We don’t need more “Christian” leaders in the world, we need leaders are pursuing God wholeheartedly. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 talks about how the law is king, not the other way around. Proverbs 13:13 talks about how there is a law and we are required to follow it. We are not called to make more “Christians”, we are called to make disciples, people who follow God’s word because they love Him and people who are then going out and making more disciples.
I know I probably just rambled a lot, but I am just so excited about the things that I was convicted of today and in the previous two weeks. God has shown me my shortcomings, I know where I stumble often, and I know where my weaknesses are that the devil is so prone to use against me, but since I know these, I can ask God to help me fight them. God is my everything. Psalm 84:11 talks about how God is the sun and shield, our provider and protector. Yes, God has given me desires, but I can take heart in knowing that if I don’t have something, I don’t need it, because God is all I need. I had a good talk with my roommate last night about one of my greatest struggles and she was able to speak truth to my heart and challenge me and then she prayed with me. I want to be the person that God created me to be. I want to love His word the way that I once did and even more. I want to be faithful where I’m at. I want to be willing to let God use me to change the world for the cause of Christ. Please pray that God will help me to be those things and that He will continue to rock my world. Pray that I will not fall victim to the lies of the devil, but that I will take every thought captive. Pray that I will trust God to provide, despite my want to be in control. Pray that the financial support will come through. I know that this is where God has called me to and so I know He will provide. Thank you to all that have been praying for me and to those who have already supported me financially. Also if you’re interested in supporting me financially, just let me know and we can talk more about it. Please let me know how I can be praying for you and how I can support you where you are.
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