I've completed my very first week in the winter break. Although, it seems like I've been here for longer, probably because I have kinda been here for longer (I was just gone for a month).
This week, Steve taught us about the book of Romans! Ooooooooh. It was really good. We aren't done it yet though, because Steve always takes more than one week to teach a book. Next week we're doing the rest of Romans and then Matt is teaching us about the book of Hebrews. Oooooooooh!
I've been learning a ton of stuff already, but surprisingly, it's actually not coming from the classes. The cook and I are doing a Bible reading plan. Basically, this plan splits the Bible into ten sections. I'm supposed to read ten chapters of the Bible a day, one chapter from each section. The sections are:
1) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
2) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
3) Romans, the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians
4) the Thessalonians, the Timothies, Titus, Philemon, James, the Peters, the Johns, Jude, Revelation
5) Job, Ecclesiates, Song of Solomon
6) Psalm
7) Proverbs
8) the History books (Joshua through Esther)
9) the Prophets (Isaiah through Malachi)
10) Acts
After you're done reading each section, you start over from the beginning of that sections. So as you read the Bible, all the sections and chapters start to wind together. In the end, you'll end up reading Acts and Proverbs A LOT. And they are really good books.
I actually started this plan before Christmas break, but I wasn't very diligent at home with reading my chapters. I've been doing significantly better whilst at school.
Anyway, what I want to tell you guys in this blog entry is that the simplest verses, that you've heard a thousand times before, can all of a sudden sound incredibly amazing to you. This happened to me this week.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
What astounds me about this verse is that it's so simple. What also amazes me is that the three things mentioned here all work together. In all circumstances, I need to give thanks, rejoice, and pray continually. A lot of people say that it is more difficult to do these three things during hard circumstances, but I beg to differ. For me, I find it harder to rejoice, give thanks, and pray continually when things are going good. When things are going good, I often forget about God's goodness. I become blinded by the mindset that I've got to this good place alone, when really I haven't. In fact, it's pretty impossible to come to a good place without God. I tell ya though, I have no problem getting myself into a bad place. I don't need help with that, ha.
Anyway, that's just one of the things I've learned through my reading of the Bible.
I've started to really get into books by Lee Strobel. I read his "The Case for Christ" book and absolutely loved it. I ordered two more of his books today from Amazon: "The Case for a Creator" and "The Case for the Real Jesus". I'm really excited to get them.
Last night, all of us got together in the main lounge, around the fireplace, and cooked bannock. That was super fun. It was all very cozy and stuff. Greg made this delightful chocolate spread to put on the cooked cannock. It was amazing!
Anyway, until next week!
