March 23, 2012
Well the new semester is in full swing! I am really enjoying my classes this quarter. One is Foundations of Biblical Eschatology and the other is Basic Christian Beliefs. The Eschatology class is basically just the study of end times. Although somewhat hard to follow at times because there is just so much, I have really enjoyed the class because he is taking us through the 150 chapters in the Bible that have to do with the end-times and it’s kind of like he’s putting puzzle pieces together and I am beginning to see how this verse fits with this verse and why people think that means this. I also love it because he’s not just saying this is what IHOP believes and so you must believe it too. He is actually playing devil’s advocate and giving arguments for things that IHOP doesn’t believe and making us search it out for ourselves and make sure that we understand for ourselves. That’s one of the main things I love about this place. They say it over and over again; don’t believe anything I say unless you can find it for yourself in the Bible. They want us to be like the Bereans and search it out for ourselves.
The first day of Daniel's class was so good! IHOP gets a lot of flak about studying the end-times and it tends to cause people to think it is cultish. Well Daniel made such an amazing point to open the class with. History started with a wedding (Adam and Eve) and it will end with a wedding (Jesus and His bride). We are the bride of Christ. What bride have you ever met that wasn’t actively engaged in preparing for and planning her wedding? What if she just set a date and then went about her life living as though she wasn’t getting married? Then she just showed up the day of the wedding and expected everything to be perfect for her wedding. She didn’t even take the time to get to know her groom! THAT is why we study the end times. It’s because we are preparing for our wedding! The book of Revelation is actually called the revelation of Jesus. Not only is it God’s end time plan for how things are going to go down at the end of the age, but it is the revelation of who He is and what His heart is really like. We give ourselves to studying it now and getting to know Him now so we will be in agreement with His heart on that day. That’s why studying the end times is so important. We are getting to know our bridegroom as well as being prepared and preparing ourselves for that glorious day when Jesus splits the sky and finally gets to have the desire of His heart- He gets to marry His bride!
We had to write a final paper for our Basic Christian Beliefs class about the "good news of the gospel." Here are my 2 concluding paragraphs of that paper. I feel like it communicates my point.
Now most people will tell you that’s the end. You ask Jesus to come into your heart, you’re saved and amen you are not going to hell. Praise God that is true, but there is so much more! The good news gets even better because it didn’t end there! Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.[1] When Jesus died He didn’t stay in the grave! The cross was just the beginning. He was buried and He rose from the grave three days later.[2] He was resurrected and now He sits at the right hand of the Father unceasingly making intercession for us.[3] This isn’t the end of the story; it’s only the beginning. Now because of His sacrifice on the cross, when we die, we will be resurrected to everlasting life.[4] God’s original plan is going to come to pass! God the Father will have a family and His Son, Jesus will have a bride. It’s all about a wedding![5]
The cross was actually a marriage proposal. Jesus was asking us to give up our lives and be joined to Him forever in the wedding of all weddings. He prayed “Father I desire that they would be with me where I am.”[6] The good news of the gospel is that the Kingdom of God is coming to this earth.[7] Right now, we can rule and reign with Jesus through our intercession, but one day, we will rule and reign with Christ forever as His beloved bride. We were not just saved from something, but we were saved unto something. God does promise us that we will have trials and tribulation in this life,[8] but He also promises us that we have everything we need for life and Godliness[9] because He has sent us Holy Spirit, who is our helper.[10] We aren’t just supposed to grit our teeth and bear it until we get to heaven. God desires for us to have life and life abundantly now and forever.[11] This is our hope and the anchor for our soul.[12] There’s a Kingdom coming down and when it does, Jesus will come with it. He will end the separation once and for all.[13] We will finally marry our Bridegroom and live with Him again in the Garden where there is fullness of joy for all eternity.[14]
[1] Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life ( Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 1977), 41
[2] 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
[3] Hebrews 7:25
[4] Ephesians 2:5-6
[5] Revelation 19:7
[6] John 17:24
[7] Revelation 11:15
[8] John 16:33
[9] 2 Peter 1:3
[10] John 14:16-18
[11] John 10:10
[12] Hebrews 6:19
[13] Revelation 21
[14] Psalm 16:11
Another thing that’s really exciting this semester is our practicum rotations. Because of the new nightwatch schedule, we get to be more integrated with the daytime students and we have the same practicum and chapel as them. This semester is the first time they are doing the sophomore practicum like this and they said this is actually what they have envisioned since the first year the school opened. So we are the first class that gets to do it the way they have wanted to do it so that’s pretty special. Anyway starting junior year, we will get to choose a concentration that we would like to focus on for the remainder of the two years we are in school, basically like declaring a major. So this semester for our practicum, we get to rotate through smaller versions of the different concentrations to kind of give us a feel and experience for each so that we can make a more informed decision, having tried all of them. Each rotation lasts 4 weeks and we rotate through CEC, Justice and Mercy, Teaching and Preaching (definitely not looking forward to that one…) and Prophetic Healing and Deliverance. The sophomore FSM class was broken down into 4 smaller sections and in each section we have about 30 students and these will be the same people we get to rotate with the rest of the semester.
My first rotation was CEC. I was super excited about it because I know I am called to lead the next generation into the Lord’s battle…whatever that means. The only thing about this first rotation was that it was only 3 weeks because the first week was an introduction to the practicum. It’s ok though because since I’m pretty sure this is the way the Lord is going to direct me, I didn’t need as much time to experience this one. Every week we had a teaching by Lenny LaGuardia or one of his assistants and then we got to go and serve in the classrooms on Sunday mornings. I was really hoping to be placed in early childhood in the 3-5 class as that is my favorite age, but I was placed in the 8-12’s. Obviously I have more experience with that age since I taught 2nd grade, but the little ones are still my favorites. I really enjoyed worship the most because it was all child/teen-led. All the singers and musicians were like 12 or 13 years old. Man I love to watch kids worship! It’s so beautiful even when it’s pitchy and the musicians play the wrong notes. You just know that the Lord is loving every minute of it! My next rotation which starts this week is Justice and Mercy. I don’t know too much about it yet so I will fill you in on that one once I do.
