We had a tremendous Bible Talk last night at the Keysers' house--sitting room only! We had a rather open-ended discussion about Vacation, the Journey, and Heaven; yes, it was a challenging thing to pull together.
One insight from last night worth repeating for the day out of Heb 4:12ff--in the context of not wanting the Hebrew Christians to miss their chance at the ultimate Sabbath Rest (heaven), the writer dwells on the power of God's Word and how all is laid bare before God to whom we each must give account.
What's the link? I think this: God sees us as we really are: "I see you, Scott." His Word goes deep and exposes the Truth about us to....ourselves as we read it.
When we read God's Word, then, we see what He sees about us. And that helps us "make every effort" to enter the promised land.
"I see you, Scott. Do you see what I see?"
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Serving Temporal Ends
I've now finished about half of my academic curriculum at SPU in Marriage & Family Therapy. I have, however, about two years to go including all the impending practicum and internship hours. This augmenting of my ministry calling and career has been an inspiring, though sometimes tiring, experience.
One overarching insight about being a "therapist": it will be the first thing I have ever done professionally that primarily serves a temporal interest--a value in "this life" rather than for "eternal life." Everything else I've ever done in the ministry--evangelism, teaching, counseling, training, discipling--has pointed more towards eternal things: how and in what condition we get to heaven.
And so this endeavor has helped me see the world through the lens of most of our members--doing the kind of work (accounting, engineering, computing, teaching, whatever) that does not directly connect to the life that is to come, but rather serves the temporal times in which God has placed us for now. It's different. But it's normal.
Perhaps then, indirectly, we labor for our own stewardship, which has eternal value for our character, and potentially eternal value for those we serve and work with.
Shalom,
Scott
One overarching insight about being a "therapist": it will be the first thing I have ever done professionally that primarily serves a temporal interest--a value in "this life" rather than for "eternal life." Everything else I've ever done in the ministry--evangelism, teaching, counseling, training, discipling--has pointed more towards eternal things: how and in what condition we get to heaven.
And so this endeavor has helped me see the world through the lens of most of our members--doing the kind of work (accounting, engineering, computing, teaching, whatever) that does not directly connect to the life that is to come, but rather serves the temporal times in which God has placed us for now. It's different. But it's normal.
Perhaps then, indirectly, we labor for our own stewardship, which has eternal value for our character, and potentially eternal value for those we serve and work with.
Shalom,
Scott
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