"This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ.-That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of, there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up...The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep... O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder...It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite...
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.""
Those are excerpts from Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." I don't know if I agree with his methods: literally scaring the hell out of his congregation, but he certainly does have something important to say. Us 21st century Christians have forgotten about the holiness and wrath of God. We have gotten so caught up in our "7-11" songs, and our "God loves you", "You are forgiven" messages that we have lost sight of this God whom we are supposed to fear. Whom we are supposed to fall trembling on our faces before. Don't get me wrong, it is good to sing of God's love and share it with the world, but I think that today, we are more concerned with keeping people happy, and keeping people content in our churches that we are afraid to speak of how God is also a Jealous God. He is perfect and in his perfection, can't even look upon such dispicable sinners such as us, were it not for Jesus' saving blood. We deserve to have hell, a hell such as Jonathan Edwards describes: more terrible than we could ever imagine. Nothing but the grace of God stops us from falling into that dreadful pit.
I've been reading through the Old Testament the last few weeks. I have a hard time staying interested and getting excited about reading about all those laws and regulations, but they really do show how holy God is. I think we focus too much on the New Testament. On it's "good news" of salvation, and the cute little parables. We need to go back to the Old Testament and focus again on this God who speaks out of mountains with fire, thunder, and lightning. This God who condemns to death those who would even dare to brave his presence without permission. This God who burns up those who dare disobey his temple regulations. The Israelites knew about God's holiness. They feared him. They begged Moses to speak to God in their place so that they would not die. They fell on their faces in worship of him. They had hundreds of rules reminding them that God must be treated with the utmost of respect.
Holy. Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty... let us remember that and come before him in fear and trembling, as well as praise and thanksgiving for his never ending and incomprehinsible love. God is awesome. Hallelujah!

blah?

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth mom, in fact I would be talking to you right now if you were home, but unfortunately you're not. A lot has happened since my last post. Nothing hugely life changing, but great all the same. Let's see... last sunday we created "the Academy" (was it really only a week ago?!?!), which is our way-cool hangout/ fort in Wendy's old room. It has a lounge area with mattresses, a t.v., CD player and such, it is where we spend pretty much all our time now; a "library" (a chair and our new-found words on top of the bunk-bed), some other room with no purpose, and a dungeon. We've been spending much of our time since then perfecting it. Pictures coming soon. Then on monday Jack Bauer found out his brother is involved in the terrorist attacks (oh horror!). Coffee-house on Thursday (um... no comment, Ryan and Matt's video was great though). Friday Ree, Katrina, Danielle and I went sledding, which was really fun. And my great little brother Josh started blogging. check it out!!! Next week is pro-life awareness week, which hopefully should be awesome. Please pray that God will work through us to motivate the students here to do something for the pro-life cause.

Ree now has a blog... so you should read it. Ree's Blog

Contrast

I don't think words can describe how beautiful it was outside when the sun came out and shone brightly on the jewled trees. It was truly breath-taking, and my pictures far from do it justice. Snow is also a beautiful thing. The whole world blanketed in white. Fluffy flakes softly falling, creating a calm, comforting silence. It's amazing when you think that these picturesque scenes are only reflections of the beauty of the God who made them. He is so much more breath-taking. So much more awe-inspiring. He's so gracious to send us these reminders of his goodness, of his true intent for creation. Imagine how beautiful the earth would have been in it's perfection!

I had another glimpse of God last night during hot spot. It's so wonderful to hear God's children, from all different backgrounds, with all different stories to tell, singing their hearts out to Him, responding to his beauty and his love in praise, adoration, and humble thanksgiving. It truly is humbling to sit at the feet of God; in view of all his holiness and perfection, and to realize how sinful I really am. To realize how I don't live for Him as I should, but rather for myself and to please others. To realize that I am far from having it all together. I am far from having a passion for his name, the name that brought me out of the depths of my sin and hell. To realize that I have so much more that I could, and should do for His kingdom. And yet it is beautiful to lay all my faults at His feet and have him push them away and lift me up, and allow me to lift my voice in song to Him.

Constrast these glimpses of the kingdom with the short film I watched on Wednesday night. It is called "the Feilds of Mudan" and is about a little girl, probably around 5 or 6 who was sold into the sex trade. She held on to hope that her mother would come for her and bring her to America, the place where dreams come true. At the end of the film, Mudan looks outside and sees an American flag. She is in America. She had been transported in dark trailers and containers and never knew she was brought accross the ocean. It seems there is no hope for this young child.

It's truly incredible how evil our world has become. Something like 100,000 girls aged 5-14 are trafficked into North America each year. They are used and abused for years with seemingly no hope of a better life. Millions are dying of starvation while thousands feast in their comfortable homes. Millions of unborn babies are unfeelingly slaughtered each year. Governments are corrupt. Wars are waged. Ethnic differences cause hatred, even slaughterings. Rape. Porn. Homosexuality. And the list goes on and on. It's amazing how immeasurably far we have fallen from what we could have been had we have chosen God in the beginning.

How do we, as Christians, live in this dark world? How do we justify the wealth that we have and the materialism we live in in the west? How do we stay rooted in the light, far away from the darkness all around us, which strives to pull us in? How do we utterly submit ourselves to God as his instrument for bringing light? This is a crisis I have been going through lately. I know I don't deserve all the stuff I have, and I know I spend money on things I shouldn't: shirts, CD's etc that I don't need. I'm throwing away $10, $20 or more here and there with little regard for those around the world who need that money. I know it is wrong and yet some part of me doesn't want to change. Some part of me wants to stay living as I always have in this materialistic society. Why do I deserve all this wealth? I know many people around the world would appreciate it much more than I do. So what do I do? How do I change? Do I have to pack up and move to Africa or something? Sometimes I want to.

a glass world

For all the danger, destruction, and bitter cold of freezing rain, it sure is beautiful. Everyday branches, leaves, and grass encased in shimmering glass; making them fantastic crystals, little wonders, shining reminders... that God is good.

A Poem

This is a poem from "Scribbling in the Sand" by Michael Card, a book we're reading for the art class I'm taking, it might be one of his songs or something. I found it really powerful:

Amidst a mob of madmen, she stood frightened and alone

As hate-filled voices hissed at Him that she should now be stoned

But in the air around Him hung a vast and wordless love

Who knows what luminous lesson He was in the middle of

At first He faces the fury of their self-righteous scorn

But then He stooped and at once became the calm eye of the storm

It was His wordless answer to their dark and cruel demand

A lifetime in a moment, as He scribbled in the sand

It was silence. It was music

It was art. It was absurd

He stooped and shouted volumes

Without saying a single word

The same finger of the strong hand

That had written ten commands

For now was simply scribbling in the sand

Within the space of space and time He'd scribbled in the sand

They came to hear and see as much as they could understand

Now bound by cords or kindness they couldn't cast a single stone

And Jesus and the woman found that they were all alone

Could that same Finger come and trace my soul's sacred sand

And make some unexpected space where I could understand

That my own condemnation pierced and broke that gentle hand

that scratched the words I'll never know

Written in the sand

the world-wide genocide

Six million Jews murdered in the Nazi holocaust. 2 million killed in Cambodia from 1975-1979. 20,000 exterminated in Bosnia from 1992-1995. 1 million killed in 100 days in Rwanda in 1994. 126,000 slaughtered per day around the world through abortion. That approximately 40 million per year. Imagine how many that is since 1973 when abortion was legalized in the US. I don't understand. Look at the pictures. This clearly is a baby that is being ripped apart or poisoned. Why is this allowed to continue? Why do we just stand by and allow it to continue? 44 babies are being killed every minute, and we are silent. In Canada, babies are killed right up until the moment of birth, and we are paying for it through our taxes. 7/10 Canadians profess to be Christians, so how is abortion still legal? We need to seriously stand up and speak out. We need to petition, picket, write letters, offer support to pregnant mothers, raise awareness, and pray until we drop. We can't just stand by and allow this second holocaust to continue.

the Plort

Oh to be a kid again! Just playing and imagining worlds of your own safely away from all the worries and cares of the adult life. I always loved to pretend, in fact, I think I missed most of my childhood being away in my own little world. Life was great. Always adventures. Always some new land or new friends such as princes or dragons or elves. Yesterday we had a little jump back in time. Ree and I were bored and in weird moods at home alone. But out of our boredness there formed... a plort!!! As James called it. It was actually a very elaborate fort made up of all the mattresses and sheets in our house. We had a lot of fun in this jump back to our childhood. Everyone else came home, James, Ryan, Gavin, and Joe came over, and after they got over their shock, we hung out, played games, and Gavin made some sweet pizza. The guys stayed till around 3 and then us girls had a "slumber party". It was awesome... except for when I was almost killed in the middle of the night by a falling table and mattress, but thankfully Ree saved my life. Then after we woke up at noon Ree made us some cinnamon buns. Here's some pics!

Back at Redeemer

So I'm back at Redeemer and it's life as usual. It actually feels like I never left except for the fact that some people are still gone and things are a little quieter that usual. There's still no snow. It has actually been raining the last couple of days, and it's quite warm. It's been just hanging out around here. No school worries. I had one class so far. I was supposed to have one other one but I skipped it to watch the world juniors... which of course Canada won. Go Canada! That's about the only excitement around here, it's actually kind of boring. Everyone is just content to hang around and do pretty much nothing. But it is nice to see everyone again. I think it will be a good semester.

Happy New Year!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq9fxXP6C3o

So this is the New Year, and I don't feel any different. To tell you the truth, I kept thinking it was 2007 pretty much all of last year, so now the only difference is that I won't have to think twice every time I have to write the date. We have a little more than the typical hurricane-like southern Alberta wind outside, the snow is melting, my family is lounging around here in the kitchen, and soon I will be headed back to Hamilton to begin my last semester of my second year of university.

It was a good year. Last year about this time I would have been getting ready to go back to good old dorm 24. We had an awesome dorm last year. We all got along really well and had a lot of fun together. My classes went well. I really grew as a person and grew closer to God. I learned not to care so much about what other people think. I became more independant. I learned to place God more in the center of my life. I learned to value my family and friends back home more. Then there was the summer. There were low points such as when Tim and I broke up, but we've both grown because of it and are still great friends. This past semester was probably the best few months of my life. I made some great friends and had a ton of fun. There will be some moments I will never forget. Then this year ended with a bang with a great get together at my house.

God is good. I don't deserve to have an awesome family. I don't deserve to have great friends that care so much about me. I don't deserve to have a lot of fun with hardly any cares. I don't deserve to do well in an expensive private school. And yet I have all this and so much more. I pray that God blesses each of you in this New Year.

Let us open this new year, given to us only through the grace of God, with God at the center. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds then all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17