Monthly Archives: January 2006

about 10 days ago we were living through a pretty cold spell whilst in Korea, one day during a wait on a sidewalk somewhere for something I stood with my face to the sunshine, enjoying the warmth it brought my cold face, it was such a good feeling…

today is epiphany, the day on which a part of the church celebrates the arrival of light, the coming of the three wise men or the 12th day of Christmas… when one examines the news, one sees the darkness that exists in the world… but we do not have to live alone in the darkness… we have the light offered to us… Paul said to the Ephesians: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (4:14) oh that I would stay in the light… to feel the comfort of the Son in this cold world

on the way back to school from a quick run to burger king i heard that “Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is clinging to life after a massive stroke that is likely to create a huge vacuum in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process.” this caused me to pause and think… how is it that this man has such a big influence on a “peace process”… is this peace that is being sought so fragile that the life of this one human endangers it?… the answer of course is yes, the “peace” between these warring peoples is fragile because there is so much distrust and hatred… a far cry from Real peace…

then I thought about one of the paper topics my students are choosing from: “The Concept of Peace in Romans” and the Real, lasting peace that God offers…

my buddy JR’s blog yesterday talked about this a bit … check him out at the link to the right but I think the NIV Study Bible has a good synopsis in its note on Rom. 5:1, it says… “peace with God. Not merely a subjective feeling (peace of mind) but primarily an objective status, a new relationship with God: Once we were his enemies, but now we are his friends…” My pal Mark really likes to emphasize this friendship with God aspect in his life and work, his blog is on the right too. This friendship is a result of PEACE… peace with God, a major emphasis in Paul’s letters…

Paul the Jew knew what it meant to be at war with God, looing to satify him with the keeping of the Law, he learned through the peace with God that came with following Jesus that peace beats war anytime. Peace in the middle east may not be something we see in our lifetime, the peace process is interupted by car bombs, death of politicians, etc, but the peace with God that is offered to each of us individually is not interupted by anything… real peace, it is so good to have it

My friend Mark in Hungary wrote an interesting blog about learning language and using it there… it’s at utazni.com

you know how sleepy you get when you haven’t…. slept…. fo… a wh..ile… zzzzzzzz

so i have ridden trains appraoching 300 kph and in a few hours I board a plane which will land before it takes off… isnt travel cool?

so happy new year… last night was a cool cultural experience with family… 20 of us gathered in an apartment for hangin out and dinner, we saw the new year arrive and then watched the aqncient Korean bell rung 33 times,,, coulndnt get much sleep so i was first up, showered and out for a walk, saw the sun rise over the mountains of Kyung Ju, Korea.. a great sight…
Finished reading Lion, Witch and Wardrobe on the train today just in time to see Narnia tonight. At dinner my girls asked if I thought Lewis would approve, I said yes, I think they were very true to the story and the message. I was pleased. They also kept it non-gory in the battle and death scenes, Lewis would approve of that too… Narnis IS for kids you know.

Mark Newell has posted some good thoughts on the new year on his blog… check it out

http://utazni.com/

happy new year travelers