Bibles and basketball

I visited my sister at Georgetown this weekend.  My mom and I went with her to see her roommate's show ("Black Comedy" by the same guy who wrote "Equus"), which was excellent.  It was pretty much hilarious.  After that I went back to Caelah's flat and watched "Pride and Prejudice" (the Keira Knightley version) with her roommates and her.  We went to the Georgetown vs. Cincinnati game today, which was equally excellent.  Mom and Dad have season tickets, so I took Mom's because she decided to stay home.  I had a lot of fun with Dad, and it was cool having good seats in the Verizon Center.  Georgetown won the game by about 20 points, so it was really worthwhile.  :)

I also got to see Langley beat McLean in the District finals today.  That was pretty cool, especially because I know a lot of it has to do with the great coaches.  ;)  So, I watched a lot of live basketball today!

We also went to Saturday night service at TFC.  John spoke tonight on James 3:1-18 and Matthew 12:33-37 on "Taming the Tongue."  He noted that what we say is a mirror of what is in our heart, and our words can bring both life and destruction.  We have to remember that our words have power, especially because we will be held accountable for them.  It's a message I've heard before, but really need to keep hearing on a regular basis.  It's hard for everyone!  James acknowledges this in his book, and the whole point is, controlling our tongue isn't something we can do in our own power.  We need the Holy Spirit and the power of God, through salvation and belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13) :).

It's back to Lexington tomorrow.  It will be great to see everyone again, but I have to admit, this break was great and exactly what I needed.  These next few weeks will bring changes, but it'll be okay.  It was good to relax and wait and ponder.

Another good read

Two posts in 30 minutes, haha...I briefly forgot that I was also going to give a shout out to my friend Kate, who wrote this great piece for The Virginian-Pilot.  She made the front page!  Kate and I are sorority sisters and fellow journalism students.  We've had pretty much every journalism class together, and she's pretty awesome.

Kate got the idea for this piece from our copy editing class.  One of our fellow students is giving up Facebook for Lent and Kate wondered if this was a general trend.  She did some great reporting, so give it a read!

News: Some give up Facebook and MySpace for Lent

Letter from an Oppressed Minority

In light of the fact that I am on break, I decided to make a more light-hearted post than what I've been writing recently.  Sorry about that.  :)  If you look over at my "Perspectives" blog links, you'll see that the first one is a woman by the name of Anne Kennedy.  She is an ordained Anglican and her blog is great, but her husband, Rev. Matt Kennedy, has written something that I think is just brilliant.  He is a regular contributor to Stand Firm (can also be linked to in the "Perspectives" section) and he wrote this about a year ago.

*DO NOTE* this is a parody.  It's Matt's response to current issues being debated in the Anglican Communion, which you would have to live under a rock to not hear about.  So, he's not being serious.  Just want to make that clear.

Enjoy! An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from an Oppressed Minority, by Matt Kennedy, circa Feb. 8, 2007

My favorite line:

"Jesus spoke from within a primitive culture.  Had he known then what we know today, his opinion would undoubtably more closely resemble by own."

Williamsburg

I just got back from a weekend in Williamsburg with my parents.  We had been planning on going up to Ocean City, but the weather wasn't looking too great, so we decided that a trip to the birthplace of Virginia was a better idea.  ;)  We stayed at the Kingsmill Resort, which is really nice, I highly recommend it.  Besides taking advantage of the spa (massages) and sporting complex, we spent a lot of time reading in our suite and sampling the restaurants.  All good.  Mom, Dad, and I went to the Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg for dinner last night, which was great.  We didn't have a whole lot of time to explore, unfortunately.  Hopefully I'll have much more time to explore over the next year.

I got to go to church with Meghan at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Williamsburg and then have lunch with her afterward at the Caf in the William and Mary Student Commons.  The worship and prayer were both very nice, and everyone seemed friendly.  The pastor spoke on Acts 16:6-40 about how God's mission is to bring the Gospel to everyone, not just to people who have it all together or to people whose life is falling apart.  Paul and Silas bring the Gospel to three very different people in this passage: the widow and merchant Lydia, a slave girl, and a Roman jailer.  Each of them had different needs and different circumstances, but God worked in all of their lives to meet them where they were at.  It reminded me of IV Winter Conference last weekend when John Teter spoke about the fact that God is always at work, even if you can't see it.  He's at work in every person's life.

I love Williamsburg, so I had a great time.  I'm really hoping to be at William and Mary for graduate school...so close to finding out!  Just a few more weeks to wait.  I know that God might have something else planned for me, but I really hope and pray that this is it.  Being there for the weekend really solidified that in my mind.

I also started reading "The Heart of Racial Justice" and "Finding God In Harry Potter."  More updates on those as I get further along throughout the week.  "The Heart of Racial Justice" is about "how soul change leads to social change," i.e. how the Gospel is the antidote for racial and ethnic barriers in the world today.  Christians should be at the forefront of breaking down stereotypes and bringing healing to this broken world.  

"Finding God In Harry Potter" was written by John Granger, an evangelical Christian father of seven who wrote the book after having to eat his words when he told his children they couldn't read the books, then discovered their spiritual content and got hooked himself.  Granger argues that while Rowling was definitely not trying to create a Christian masterpiece, her Christian faith (yes, she's stated in numerous interviews that she is a Christian) does provide a solid and very clear background for her books about Harry, especially evident in her themes of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, self-sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, love, community, communal sacrifice, etc.  He says that the reason Harry Potter resonates with so many people is because it is an echo of the Great Story, the story of Jesus Christ.  He also says that it's amazing that the books are so popular in this day and age when people are touting the notion that there is no universal truth or good and evil.  The popularity of Harry Potter means that people still believe in the idea of good and evil and in a story bigger than themselves.  It gives hope for the real story of sacrifice and love and its continuing impact in this world.  I met Granger when he spoke at W&L last fall, and I'm loving the book so far.

God send your mercy this way

News: Gunman targets students at Northern Illinois University
*note* if the link doesn't work, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/; it's their lead story. I'm sure every other U.S. paper is running it today

This breaks my heart. I found out about it last night when a friend invited me to a prayer facebook group for the victims and I literally started crying. There is no difference between 21 and 32. Those 21 have friends and family, as do all the other students at NIU who are dealing with this now. I would never wish upon anyone the fear that I felt last April when I first heard about Virginia Tech. I was in Germany, and I heard about 6 p.m., so noon in the States, and for fifteen mintues I felt sick to my stomach, completely terrified. Every person I knew at Tech flashed through my head, even if I had only met them briefly through my cousin Jesse. And Jesse...hearing my mom telling me that everyone I knew was okay was, I think, the most relieving sentence I heard all of last year.

Oh goodness, I'm going to make myself cry again. If you have any links whatsoever to someone at NIU, I'm praying for you. If you have no links to NIU or Virginia Tech and have no conception of what I am describing, I hope you never have to experience it. But everyone has lost someone dear to them, everyone has been afraid, and I'm sure everyone has, at one point, felt their entire world shatter in an instant. This song from "The Season," written around April 16, is what I have to offer:

"Forever Changed VT"

On just an ordinary day

A weapon drawn and lives forever changed

One act of violence made the world stop and watch

And on a drill field by candlelight we prayed

The questions on our minds

We wonder where the future lies

As we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

And to the ones who fell that day

In our hearts your love will never fade away

Picking up the pieces to build a better tomorrow

We'll find the joy, yes, to move on from the sorrow

By the colors of the leaves

You know God has us on His mind

So we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?
Can we overcome this fear?
And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

The spirit lives on

Don't let it be gone

Let it shine forever

And through the heartbreak

For the lost and their sake

Let it bring us together

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain
And see the sun beyond the rain
We've got the strength to endure
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world filled with hate
We need to become something great
Oh God, send your mercy this way
For we're all Hokies today

From my copy editing professor

Prof. Luecke sent this to us today while we were creating our front pages:

"An English professor wrote the words: 'A woman without her man is nothing' on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All the males in the class wrote: 'A woman, without her man, is nothing.'

All the females in the class wrote: 'A woman: without her, man is nothing.'

Punctuation is powerful!"

I feel that this epitomizes our copy editing class of eight girls completely obsessed with design, grammar, and writing.

Yeah.

I wish I was here...

I miss London

Song: There Is A Reason

I've been frustrated for the past few days, frustration that has at times spilled over to complaining and some tears.  Thanks to those who have been taking care of me (I know some of you are reading this ;) here is your special shout out).  You make me feel very happy and loved.  I don't think my macro midterm went as well as it could have, but it's over now and I can't do anything about it.  I'm planning on taking my editing quiz tonight and outline my history paper, which I will write tomorrow.

I cannot wait for this weekend.

And now to the point...

"There Is A Reason" by Caedmon's Call, on their album "Overdressed"

Late at night I wonder why

Sometimes I wonder why

Sometimes I'm so tired I don't even try

Seems everything around me fails

But I hold on to the promise that there is a reason

Late at night the darkness makes it hard to see

The history of the saints who've gone in front of me

Through famine, plague and disbelief

His hand was still upon them

Cause there is a reason, there is a reason

He makes all things good

He makes all things good

There's a time to live and a time to die

A time for wonder and to wonder why

Cause there is a reason, there is a reason

I believe in a God who sent His only Son

To walk upon this world and give His life for us

With blood and tears on a long, dark night

We know that He believed

That there is a reason, there is a reason

*chorus*

For the lonely nights and broken hearts

The widow's mite in the rich man's hand

And the continent whose blood becomes a traitor

For the child afraid to close their eyes

The prayers that seem unanswered

There is a reason, there is a reason

Heart of a Worshipper

Worship is our response to Jesus for what He has done for us and for who He is, in spite of who we are. It's our cry out to God when we're hurt, in pain, or afraid, and it's our shouts of joy despite suffering or in response to great things. It's not just music, but it's also a lifestyle, yet we are still commanded to lift praises to God in song, and in community. Worship is a way we live, individually and together. It's anything that we do to respond and give glory to God, be that music, serving, preaching, encouraging, etc.

To lead in worship is something that is challenging. It's a balance between musicality and sounding good, and recognizing that you are inviting a group of people into something bigger than themselves and while the Holy Spirit is the one who draws them to worship, you still have a role to play because God chooses to do His work through you. He can convict and do wonders and all sorts of things to draw others to praise Him, but because He delights in us, He allows us to be a part of that. We're His vessels, called to do His work.

This was what I hoped to convey to the extended GCF worship team last night. God answers prayer so abundantly. I was hoping for one or two people who could play guitar or piano or sing, anything, and He gave me seven. Now that is awesome, and they sounded great last night! I'm so excited that I have more than enough people and that we can rotate everyone in and out to build their skills and help them understand what it means to lead in worship and how that's different from just worshipping individually.

I came across Psalm 24 while I was at Rockbridge over the weekend and these six verses really resonated with me, as they relate enormously to the kinds of songs I've been choosing this year to help guide GCF in worship:

1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?

4 Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who do not put their trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

5 They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.

News: Christian photographer sued for refusing to photograph same-sex wedding

Christian photographer hauled before commission for refusing same-sex job

My thoughts on this case...

Isn't it within the photographer's rights to decline an offer of work?  It seems to me that the New Mexico Human Rights Division is taking this case to an extreme.  Why was it so important to the couple that Elane Photography take pictures at their wedding?  There is no evidence suggested here that they said anything discriminatory, they just didn't want to take part in this couple's ceremony.  That's their right.  This is capitalism.  If someone doesn't want to accept a job, they cannot be made to do so.

There is no law that says a photographer, or a pastor for that matter, has to take part in a ceremony if they don't want to.  It's their right to decline the money on a matter of conscience.  My home church refuses to marry couples who are sexually-active...does that mean that they are being discriminatory?  I don't think so.  They are setting standards for the marriages that they want to perform, standards that match their personal views.  I can't get married in a Catholic church because I'm not Catholic, nor can I attend a Mormon wedding because I'm not Mormon.  I don't think that's discriminatory, those are their standards.

Surely the couple could have found another photographer, just like they could have found another way to get married than to go to my home church (which, incidentally, also will not marry same-sex couples).  It's against the First Amendment to force a private citizen or institution, like a church, to perform something against their religious beliefs.  That's impeding free exercise of religion.

The government can do whatever they want.  They're not following Christian standards anyway.  The US stopped being a "Christian nation" a long time ago.  The government and court system cannot force someone to break their belief standards.  That's unconstitutional.

Lent and Ash Wednesday

My family has observed Lent since I was a young child, but I never really understood what it meant until very recently, when we started attending The Falls Church and the church calendar came to mean something in our lives.

A direct quote from my father: "These church traditions were intended to be an aid to people in their spiritual walk -- not out of a sense of obligation, but out of a genuine desire to lead a richer spiritual life."

I think he's right on. I like the fact that there are times in the year to contemplate different aspects of being a Christian and remind us of Christ's coming, Christ's sacrifice, grace, and the role of the church as the body of Christ on earth. Dad sent me this brief history of Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday marks the onset of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and abstinence before Easter Sunday. Until the 600s, Lent began on Quadragesima (Fortieth) Sunday, but Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) moved it to a Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday, to secure the exact number of 40 days in Lent - not counting Sundays, which were feast days.

Gregory, who is regarded as the father of the medieval papacy, is also credited with the ceremony that gives the day its name. As Christians came to the church for forgiveness, Gregory marked their foreheads with ashes reminding them of the biblical symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes) and mortality: "You are dust, and to dust you will return." (Gen. 3:19). Receiving ashes on the head was made universal throughout the Western church at the Synod of Benevento in 1091.

The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. It has been claimed that the word "carnival" comes from the latin words caro (meat) and vale (farewell), hence "farewell to meat" or "farewell to the flesh," letting go of the earthly or bodily self.


Resources:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/easter/lent.html
http://www.orlutheran.com/html/lenthist.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/holidays/ash_wednesday.htm

Music, movies, and mountaintops

I've thought of quite a few things to blog about in the past week and a half, but I've been a little too busy to write about them all. I saw "Juno" with a couple girls from the pledge class and, like "27 Dresses," I thought it was fantastic, but for different reasons. For one thing, it has an excellent soundtrack. I've been listening to it for the past week. I also really like the humanity of the characters. They really feel like real people and not like fake, perfect chick flick characters. There are some definite twists in the movie, and it didn't end the way I expected it to end. I also really like some of its observations about relationships and family. It's my pick for best picture, I think, though I haven't seen "Atonement" yet and I really want to.

Speaking of good music, I also saw the movie "Once" with a few friends. It's an independent Irish film about a guy and a girl (named Guy and Girl) who become fast friends and push out a demo CD in a week so that Guy can go to London and become a music artist. There's not much that happens physically, but there's a lot that happens emotionally. I liked it for it's analysis of human behavior; it explores the idea of putting off an idea for so long that eventually you just never do it, but "once," you wanted to. There's also a whole lot of song writing, that's the bulk of the movie, and I really enjoyed that. Another good soundtrack that is now in my iTunes music library.

Lest you think my life is all about movies, the new worship team met for a planning meeting last Thursday night. I am so excited about everyone who is interested. Paul and John played guitar for a while afterward and I sang, and it was so much fun. I can't wait for a full practice tomorrow night. My first batch of quizzes have come back with good marks, and I'm getting ready for my first batch of essays/tests.

I spent Saturday hiking with Rachel, Robert, and John. We went up Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Pompey, both located in Amherst County between Lexington and Lynchburg. We had a great time talking about all sorts of things, ranging from Scripture study, to family, to classes, to God. The views were amazing -- we were very high up, and we could see the clouds resting on the mountains across the valleys from us. It was quite windy, but it was a warm day so it was fine. We were all inspired to go hiking more often, and we spent some time planning our next challenges. :)