I attended chapel at Kuyper College this morning ... not with entirely pure motives, but mostly because I wanted to hear Dylan lead in worship. He was delivering the message this morning and I wanted to share in his joy.
This is Dylan's senior year at Kuyper. After he graduates this spring, he hopes to enroll at Calvin's Seminary for his master's degree and then pursue his doctorate somewhere in the arena of Ethics, Philosophy, and Patristics.
Dylan read parts of Hebrews chapter 11 as well as a few verses from chapter 12. Since All Saint's Day is November 1, he focused his thoughts and comments around that remembrance. He reminded his colleagues that just as there were heroes of faith from the Old Testament, there were a host of faithful people who came out of the Early Church as well, people we would be wise to study and to imitate. He summarized the lives of several of these dear followers of Christ.
"By faith these people overthrew kingdoms,ruled with justice, and received what God promised them.
They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
and escaped death by the edge of the sword.
Their weakness was turned to strength ...
" ... but others trusted God and were tortured,
preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free.
They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life ...
preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free.
They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life ...
" ... some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips.Others were chained in dungeons.
Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half;
others were killed with the sword.
Some went about in skins of sheep and goats,
hungry and oppressed and mistreated.
THEY WERE TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD.
They wandered over deserts and mountains,
hiding in caves and holes in the ground ... " Hebrews 11: 33-38 NLT
While I was visiting down in Austin at Sabrina's house, she loaned me a series of fiction The Mark of the Lion to read. It's a really compelling story of first century Jews and Christians, and how many of them died violently for their faith in the living Christ. There is a love story woven throughout, but not just between a man and a woman ~ a love story of the Father for all of us! It's been really sobering and challenging to read. It was all or nothing for them. Why isn't it for me? So I am praying and thinking and searching ..." ... since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd
of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.
And let us run with endurance
the race that God has set before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
He was willing to die a shameful death
on the cross because of the joy
he knew would be his afterward.
Now he is seated in the place of highest honor
beside God's throne in heaven."
of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.
And let us run with endurance
the race that God has set before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
He was willing to die a shameful death
on the cross because of the joy
he knew would be his afterward.
Now he is seated in the place of highest honor
beside God's throne in heaven."
Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT
I can remember family reunions from years and years ago where Suzie and I sat down together, started talking, and so thoroughly connected and enjoyed each other's company that hours flew by before we came up for breath! Last night was no different. I think we actually talked nonstop for almost seven hours ... just Suzie and I ... reliving family moments, talking about the deep things of the heart, screaming with laughter, answering each other's questions, reconnecting all of the years that have gone by ... and again finding that the love we have for each other is a special and very precious kind of love. I'm so thankful we could do this.
Since we are making two very important stops on our way back to Grand Rapids, we routed ourselves north and east through New Mexico towards Alamogordo and Tucumcari (which I think I have misspelled) and then back into the panhandle of Texas, making a diagonal northwest crossing into the Oklahoma panhandle, essentially cutting diagonally across the middle of it, and then crossing the Kansas border to ... Liberal! When the cold front came through here last night, it brought 70 mph winds and some damage with it ... glad we were safely in El Paso!
Most of the trains we saw were Union Pacific, but we also saw Burlington Northern Santa Fe. I tried to shoot some pictures through the window while moving at 65+ mph ... those shots don't turn out very well for me. Actually, I saw so many amazing desert and mountain scenes I wanted to photograph that if we had stopped for each one, we would STILL be on the road.
