Discerning the Lies

Those of you who know me know that I am an opinionated person. Recently I've been thinking about this and about sharing my opinions, especially in regards to matters of Truth. Truth (note the capital T) is not an opinion. Truth cannot be altered, changed, or ignored. Truth, as set by an all-knowing, all-loving, all-wise Sovereign Holy God, is the bottom line. And He graciously gave us a direct line to knowing Truth--His Word.

In my recent travels, I spent some time at an airport bookstore. I picked up Rob Bell's book, Love Wins and began reading the first chapter. I barely got 2 pages in before he began to morph Truth into his own twisted interpretation. I felt myself getting nauseated and my heart rate increased as my disbelief turned to anger. I can understand how an unbeliever can misconstrue heavy Truth--an unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit to give understanding. I cannot, however, tolerate a redeemed believer who purposefully and intentionally twists the Truth of God's Word in order to be more popular with and accepted by the general public. Feeding twisted morsels of truth in order to draw them to the Savior is NOT how Christ intended His message to be spread.

Now, I will admit that I have not (yet) read the whole book. So, my beef right now is simply with Bell's assertion that God--as a loving God-- could not possibly have planned for all the unredeemed to suffer eternity in hell. Are we reading the same Bible, Mr. Bell? Is yours missing the entire book of Romans? God is indeed a loving God--He in fact IS love! But God is also a holy God, a just God, a God whose character and position cannot tolerate wickedness--it is an affront to His very nature. Because many people choose to ignore His love and forgiveness given through Christ on the cross, they choose the only other option--separation from this God who loves His children so much He allows them to CHOOSE. (This could lead me down another road to the discussion of Free Will and Predestination, but I've already touched on that once. Go here to read on that matter)

To return to the beginning, one of the things I realized today is that I do not have to stifle the Truth. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives me wisdom and the ability to discern Truth, as well as root out lies. And because that is no gray matter, I do not need to offer it up as my "opinion", so as to soften the blow for those who do not agree. Truth = Truth. Anything else is a perversion and deserves to be called out as such.

Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year!)

For those who haven't heard yet, I am planning to move back to the States after this school year. It's not because I don't like China or am sick of it or anything like that. In fact, the decision to move back to the States is harder than the decision to come to China was. Coming to China, I had a job and a place to live and an established community. Currently, I have passed up the chance to renew a contract here in China, but don't yet have a job in the States. To think that I don't yet have anything to return to makes me feel strangely...naked. My security has been stripped away, and I'm stepping out wearing only faith in a God who has promised to provide as I follow Him.

I have a plan, but nothing set in stone. A few years ago, God placed on my heart a dream to open some sort of educational business. Over the years, He has molded my heart and morphed the dream to focus more on people living as foreigners in America--specifically, Chinese immigrants and their children. After living in China for 4.5 years, I know how it feels to try to learn a new language and culture...I know what it's like to feel stupid all the time, no matter how hard you work to adjust. I want to help people going through this same exasperating transition.

Currently, my radar is set on Chicago. There is an organization already established there whose mission is to serve Chinese immigrant families and share the Gospel with them. I'll keep you posted on how that pans out.

In other news, my New Year's Resolution is food-related. I love that the Holy Spirit doesn't just stick to the realm of my "spiritual life". My whole life is His, so He has the right to convict in whatever darn area He chooses! Recently, He has been convicting me in regards to my sugar addiction. My resolution is to exercise and tone my self-discipline muscles, which have become quite flabby (along with some other literal muscles!!)

Last thought from one of the books I'm currently reading. (Surrender by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) In one chapter she is discussing the idea of a bond slave, one who would choose to submit his entire lifetime to his master. In discussing the shift in the church from "full surrender" to "commitment" she quotes Josef Tson. "Translators (of the Bible) did not like the term "bondslave" to be applied to people. Who wants to be somebody else's slave? Therefore, they replaced it with "servant." Again, a reflection and demand of the independent spirit! In the Greek, "slave" is doulos; a "servant" is diakonos. In the Greek Bible one never, never diakoneo to God--one never serves God; one only duoleo to God--that is, one slaves to God." (pg. 71-72) 

Here's to a year of learning to truly duoleo!

More praise!!

At the end of yesterday's blog, I shared how I was still unsure about how I was going to get from Chicago to Kalamazoo on Christmas eve (it was beginning to feel like a remake of Home Alone!). Well, God answered my prayers in a big way, just like I knew He would!!

A friend of mine, from home, happens to live in Chicago, and happens to be traveling home on Christmas eve! Praise the Lord for His sovereignty and for the way He takes care of His children.

I'm feeling very blessed. (even more so when I think about all the money we save on not paying for a Christmas eve flight!)

I hope seeing God work in my life encourages you to look for how He works in your own. Because, my friends, He is working.

Praise and Relief (a bit)

So, one praise for the day is that I didn't get hurt when a car side-swiped me on my scooter. It was turning right and didn't bother to slow down or check for smaller vehicles in the way. I was a bit at fault...I saw its blinkers and didn't move (because I assumed the driver would check...silly me!). But nothing was damaged and no one was hurt. Phew! It's my goal to be more cautious from now on (I am admittedly a kinda-reckless scooter driver...but only when I'm riding solo!)

Had another snafu with my flight. United changed my flights (hmm...similar story to last year!), but the problem this time is that it interfered with my Chicago-Kalamazoo flight via American Eagle. With the changed times, I was left with only 30 minutes to claim my bags, change terminals, check-in, and board. Not happening. After a bit of research on orbitz.com, I was nervous my ticket was non-refundable. After praying about it, I called their customer service and she gave me a 100% refund on my ticket. I was shocked and so happy, I thanked her about a hundred times. After the call, I was in tears of relief. And then a minute later I hear from my computer, "um...Miss Walker?" HA! I had forgotten to hang up the skype call and she had heard my sniffles and sighs of relief! Hahaha. Whoops!

Still don't have it all figured out as to how I'm getting from Chicago to Kalamazoo on Christmas Eve, but I'm trusting it will all work out. It has this far!! I just love watching how God takes care of me. Even if things had not gone this well, I know something good would have come of it. That's the kind of God I have.

Slacker

I realize I've been a terrible blogger lately. The semester got away from me, and before I knew it a month had passed since my last (lame) post. Let me give you brief update on things since October.

*Went to Beijing for about a week. Had a company-wide conference there, and then spent some time sight-seeing. One of my professors from Cedarville was at our conference, which was super-cool! Plus, there was a Children's Lit track, which made the whole thing awesome. Finally saw the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square at night, and generally bummed around.

*My class went from 18 to 17. We discovered one student had accidentally been put in 1st instead of Kindergarten. Whoops. She's with her peers now, doing well.

*My online course for my master's degree is busy. It's Research in Children's Literature. Blech. It's been fairly interesting, but not so much that I'm really excited to do the work. 2 more weeks and then it's over, and I'm hitting the pause button my degree. I'll have a Certificate in Children's Literature, so I at least have something to show for my work!!

*We got a new kitten. Captain Chino Briyaqn Von Bootsensteve. He's cute when he purrs (which is often), but he's got some super-annoying tendencies. i.e. digging in the trash and carrying it all over the house.

*Ran my first organized run/race this morning--Chengdu's first annual Turkey Trot. It was almost 5k (measuring was a teeny bit off), and I did it in about 30 minutes. I was proud of myself.

*I'm healthy for my 2nd Thanksgiving in a row!! My first three here in China I was sick. I was beginning to think I'm allergic to Thanksgiving. Ate too much, watched some football highlights, and enjoyed time with my huge Chengdu family.

*Arcades have their own universal language. I LOVE ARCADING. It's super-fun, and today I went to one for the first time in China. I rock at racing games, I'm pretty good at shooting games, and with time I could kick some butt on the percussion master game. AND, there's a Karaoke Booth. Awe.some.

See why I haven't blogged much? There's so much to say, I get overwhelmed.

But to my "dedicated" readers, I do often think of what I could write about in my blog...it just usually comes to me as I'm brushing my teeth and don't have time to blog that second. I'll try to do better.

Happy Thanksgiving! In Chinese, it's 感恩节快乐 and you pronounce it kinda like this: "gahn un jeeyeh kwai luh" Now you can show off at your Thanksgiving parties. 

Unused Miles?

This feels like a lame place to ask, but do any of you have unused frequent flyer miles sitting around? I'm looking to fly home at Christmas, and it's a bit pricey.

Please leave a comment if you do, and I'll get in touch with you to work it out.

Thanks in advance!!

Accidental Theology

So, my class memory verse for the week is Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." In unpacking what it means, we've had some good discussions this week.

One of my most favorite lessons from this verse, though, was when one student accidentally recited it like this: "Let us not become weird in doing good..." I laughed to myself, but thought about how true this is! Sometimes, when we do good things for our own sake or of our own effort, we get weird. Cranky, exhausted, bitter, selfish.

Let us not become weird, my friends!