Consider the Cow
A cow. Domesticated ungulate. Bovine. Four legged, milk producing, grass chewing animal. There are many ways which humans find uses for a cow. We drink the milk for healthy bones. We drink the milk to help moisten a chocolate-chip cookie. Steak, ribs, and jerky come from cows as well. The hide is used for leather products, yes, the cow is a very diversified animal.
But the thing that I want to focus on is the fact that the cow chews its cud. You may be asking at this point, what exactly does this mean? In the least gross way possible, chewing the cud means that the cow will eat the grass, chew, swallow, spit it back up, and continue chewing. This is chewing the cud. So how does this apply to us today?
As someone who claims to follow Christ and have a relationship with God, one of the things that I do is read the Bible. Yet, in order to fully understand and connect with God, I can't just do a surface reading of the text, which is what I and many other frequently do. We need to mull over what we have read in Scripture, we must chew the cud. I've been mulling over this idea for awhile and I've still had difficulty implementing it in my life.
Why is this? Maybe it's because I'm afraid of what I will find. Maybe it's because I don't want to get that close to Scripture. Or maybe I'm just lazy. All of these reasons could be arguments that any person uses, and it could be a mix of each. What is important is that we must realize our problem and do what we can to fix it.
This means in my case, purposely setting aside time each day to spend chewing the cud of Scripture, getting in elbow deep and learning what I can about the truths of God. I know that for me it will not be easy, and will take a few weeks to get into the habit. However, I know that through the grace of God, that it will be possible. Which means, it is possible for you too.
What?
I did not realize that my previous post was the 100th post since I started this blog. It has taken awhile to reach this point. Hopefully my 200th post will come a bit quicker than the 100th.
Just 99 more posts to go!
Injury and Preparation
Realizations
Realizations.
The thing about realizations is that they usually come when you least expect them, and when you never want them. Realizations are something that I both love and hate, they cause greatness and strife. Realizations are something that happens to everyone. Here is my realization.
As you may have noticed, the theme for my blog has changed, again. I have had difficulties with the other theme regarding uploading, resizing, and adding pictures. So I have decided to go with a more blog friendly, less back-end intensive theme. While I enjoy taking pictures, I did not enjoy the constant resizing of pictures just to make it fit the theme. I want to upload pictures and share them with you readers, but I don't want to worry about resizing them before uploading. This theme allows me to do that.
I have also noticed that my blog has tended to focus on familiar understanding to familiar passages of Scripture. How boring is that? I am still looking for some sort of niche that I can fill, but so far it has been frustratingly difficult between study, school, and training for a bike race. I would like to find a way to make the Scriptures seem fresh while incorporating many of my life experiences into the blog as possible. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
I am looking forward to then end of my educational journey coming up in a few months. This has been another frustration of mine. The grilling time commitment that school entails has been difficult to work on this blog. I hope that as the year ends and I am able to have my own schedule that I will be able to more frequently work on this blog. I am greatly looking forward to that day.
Thank you for all you who read this blog, I know that there are only a few right now. I appreciate your comments and emails. They are a source of encouragement to me.
AU Music and Worship Conference
This weekend I have the opportunity to attend Andrews University Music and Worship Conference. An excerpt from their website (click here):
Hosted on the University campus, this conference is a training event for pastors, worship leaders, church musicians, and lay leaders involved in worship ministry.
As a participant, you will have access to a variety of seminars, workshops and worship experiences. Important issues relating to creativity, diversity, and excellence will be discussed, outlining a biblical framework for understanding worship and worship music. Presenters will also share techniques and strategies that can be used to improve the music and worship in your local church.
Come and be inspired to honor God more fully in your worship. Be equipped to minister more effectively through worship and worship music. Connect with others who share your passion for God and your desire to serve Him. Don't miss this exciting opportunity to grow in your ministry!
As you can see, it's a training event for ministers, elders, and anyone interested in learning more how Music and Worship can work together more effectively. There are many guest presenters coming to Andrews and it will prove to be a very Spirit filled event.
Look for some updates here on PastorNick.com and on my twitter feed http://www.twitter.com/nicholasjones4.
Sabbath Rest
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work...For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." --Exodus 20:8-9,11
Since this is a study on the ten-commandments, we knew that this topic would be coming up, the Sabbath. Oh boy, here we go. Begin arguments on both sides about which day is the Sabbath, or whether the Sabbath should be kept. Ok now end them. I'm not going to be talking about Biblical support for either side. My purpose in this blog is to share what specific Bible verses mean to me. If that means that it's in line with the particular denomination that I belong to, so be it. I hope that we can still have conversation even if we disagree on the topic, and maybe come up with some good principles from it at the same time.
These days people worship on the day that they see fit to worship on. Most Christians worship on Sunday, others do not believe that any particular day is sacred and that Sabbath is any day that one would worship on. So many different ideas, so many different thoughts, so many differences. Is it important which day that we worship on? No doubt this is the argument that would happen if we were to be talking about this in person.
As many of you know I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. Which means I take this fourth commandment from God literally. I believe that the seventh day, or Saturday, is the true Sabbath. That being the case, I honor and rest on the Sabbath, and I believe that the Sabbath is something that is very important. The day to me is a day that I honor God's creative power and follow His example at creation where He rested on the seventh day.
Why do I do this? Well first and foremost I do it because I love God and want to obey Him. My relationship with Him is getting closer and closer everyday and I find myself wanting to do what He asks me to. Obeying is a word that I would use. I find myself obeying because I love Him. I believe that it is important to keep the Sabbath day. Now does that mean I believe that if you do not keep the Sabbath day you won't be saved? No way. One things I must make clear is that I am not God. I don't decide who goes to heaven and who doesn't. My job is to witness to the grace and love that Christ has given me and is offering you and to share Biblical truths that I have discovered on my spiritual journey.
What is the Sabbath anyway? Traditionally it is a day where one rests and worships God. In the Old Testament the Jews would not do any work on that day and would spend it in worship of God. Unfortunately later on in their history they would make all sorts of laws that would make the Sabbath a burden instead of a delight. They could only walk so far on the Sabbath, and they could not start a fire or extinguish it, and there was more. All these were to put a "hedge" around the Sabbath so they would not break the commandment. I don't ascribe to this view. I believe when Christ said "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" --Mark 2:27, He was saying that the Sabbath was for us. We were to use the Sabbath as a day where we rest and worship Him. A day that God made just for us!
So if you don't believe that Saturday is the Sabbath, I encourage you to do some digging and research and find out what you believe about the Sabbath. I also encourage you to take a day off each week where you can rest. A candle burning at both ends doesn't last very long.
Vacation
If you haven't noticed, there has been a lack of updates recently. There is a good reason for that. My wife and I were on vacation during Christmas, in Europe. We spent 3 1/2 weeks touring (backpacking) 6 different countries in Europe. I did not take my laptop so I did not have access to update the site.
Some of the pictures that I took on the trip will probably end up on the site on some of the posts. This is good for me, but I will still need to get out and take more pictures.
Some things that I noticed about Europe:
1. Train travel was less stressful than airplanes
2. People generally spoke English as long as I asked if they would in their language first
3. People were very friendly and helpful
4. I love the autobahn
5. Europe is cold in the winter
Both my wife and I had a great time and hope to return someday. We were able to see my old home where I lived when I was 2-6 years old and some of the town surrounding my old home. Unfortunately I do not know enough German yet to feel comfortable knocking on the door to ask if I could see the inside of the house (would they even let me?).
Overall our experience, though lonely on Christmas, was a good one. I definitely wish to return and continue traveling through more countries in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe. We shall see what happens in the future.