Some of us have had some levels of contact through assorted social media venues since the site went down last year. But that isn't true for all of us. And some of us (*raises hand*) had been out of touch since plenty before that. So it seems like it wouldn't be an awful idea to have a thread where we just share what's been going on in our lives over the course of the past year.
Well, for myself, one major thing is that I'm a lot closer to earning my MDiv: after my current class, I've got one last philosophy of religion class, which I'll be taking online from home. Shouldn't be much of a challenge, which will give me time to do more reading on my own in other subjects in the meantime.
God willing, I'll begin pastoring a church sometime this year - I submitted the first half of the paperwork a few days ago, and I just need to wrap up my licensure application.
During last summer, I went with a missions team to Kenya for a few weeks. It was life-changing. I preached through a translator at a church in the slums of Nairobi to a gathering of Kenyan pastors; I shared my testimony with a church of Maasai believers on the savannah; I had a very personal encounter with a baboon; I talked with other Kenyan pastors about the challenges of ministry and the needs of the Kenyan church; and I spent several days in an isolated village visiting believers in their homes and teaching orphaned children. I rose every morning to pray under a banana tree, and it was a wonderful place to meet with God before the activities of the day began.
I've had a number of other fascinating opportunities, such as listening to excellent preachers, eating lunch with atheist philosopher of science Michael Ruse, and meeting C. S. Lewis' stepson.
I'm still keeping up my reading as best as I can, though the subject matter is a bit more inclusive of the practical and the devotional these days. Marginally. Got through 90 books in 2013, and there were a lot of quite edifying ones in there.
I've continued the discipline of keeping a detailed daily journal, which I started in February 2012. Still a number of blanks to fill in, but it's running to 2643 pages at the moment.
All in all, I'm trying to pursue a more balanced life. I'd like to think that, compared with who I was last year at this time, I'm more devout, more integrated between heart and mind, more prayerful, more patient, more gentle, and more loving. Not that that's necessarily saying much, given the point of reference for the comparison, but it's something.
How about you? What's been going on in your lives?
Well, for myself, one major thing is that I'm a lot closer to earning my MDiv: after my current class, I've got one last philosophy of religion class, which I'll be taking online from home. Shouldn't be much of a challenge, which will give me time to do more reading on my own in other subjects in the meantime.
God willing, I'll begin pastoring a church sometime this year - I submitted the first half of the paperwork a few days ago, and I just need to wrap up my licensure application.
During last summer, I went with a missions team to Kenya for a few weeks. It was life-changing. I preached through a translator at a church in the slums of Nairobi to a gathering of Kenyan pastors; I shared my testimony with a church of Maasai believers on the savannah; I had a very personal encounter with a baboon; I talked with other Kenyan pastors about the challenges of ministry and the needs of the Kenyan church; and I spent several days in an isolated village visiting believers in their homes and teaching orphaned children. I rose every morning to pray under a banana tree, and it was a wonderful place to meet with God before the activities of the day began.
I've had a number of other fascinating opportunities, such as listening to excellent preachers, eating lunch with atheist philosopher of science Michael Ruse, and meeting C. S. Lewis' stepson.
I'm still keeping up my reading as best as I can, though the subject matter is a bit more inclusive of the practical and the devotional these days. Marginally. Got through 90 books in 2013, and there were a lot of quite edifying ones in there.
I've continued the discipline of keeping a detailed daily journal, which I started in February 2012. Still a number of blanks to fill in, but it's running to 2643 pages at the moment.
All in all, I'm trying to pursue a more balanced life. I'd like to think that, compared with who I was last year at this time, I'm more devout, more integrated between heart and mind, more prayerful, more patient, more gentle, and more loving. Not that that's necessarily saying much, given the point of reference for the comparison, but it's something.
How about you? What's been going on in your lives?
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