As I look around me and see people to my left and right claiming they have found something they believe in apart from God, as I look to myself and find myself constantly deceived by this world and by my own flesh, as I look upon creation and see it constantly ringing forth praise to it’s Creator – I find that there is power in knowing the truth.
Archive for March, 2007
Finals week.
Been pretty happy with the work I’ve put into this round of finals. I’m beginning to see more and more that it really is about the effort and the means through which the end is reached. Glorifying God through studying is definitely way better than trying to do so by getting that “A.”
Also, the A’s can come easier if you study hard. Haha. Bye everyone!
dear Ralph:
this morning was probably the last time i’ll see you for a long, long time. years, probably. I hugged you for the last time, and we watched you leave, slowly losing sight of you as you were buried in a sea of travelers. You left on a plane to Germany at 7am, taking along with you your beautiful family.
I never got to know you like i should. There were so many times these years where i could have stepped out and become even more of a friend and more than a servant in your church. But enough regret.
I reflect on the incredible amount of wisdom you have shown me from your own life, your actions, and the way you deal with River of Life. You have shown me God’s love in its truest form, loving me unconditionally before i even knew you. You have led me to His presence countless times over the years. Only you could have shown me Jesus the way i see Him now, and only you have brought me this far.
I thank God and lay prostrated before Him, giving Him the HIGHEST glory and honor for being merciful enough to let our paths cross for all of my high school. I thank Him for your strength, discernment and honesty which you have not only taught, but reflected from your personal walk with Christ. I thank Christ for showing me that true Strength exists in my weakness, and that true Love exists only when I am dead.
I thank our Lord that we were able to share this communion together, that we could drink from the same cup of blessings bestowed upon us by our gracious Father. I thank God for the teaching you have given us, the jokes and laughter i’ve experienced from being with you, even the sadness and sorrow felt from times of trial.
I can’t even IMAGINE what River of Life will be without you to make jokes on stage before the sermon, to yell at the n00bs for talking and messing around, for pretending to know all the newcomers when its hard to even try. Its hard to believe that you have actually left this country, and will probably not return for a long time.
Ralph, my pastor for 6 years, my friend and companion, I will miss you.
Ralph, I’ve never been good at saying bye. I never cry for a farewell, never shed tears for a goodbye. But this is the hardest see-you-later,maybe-never i’ve ever felt. I cried today, and tears roll down my face right now as I think that I will never see you again in this life.
But even in my sorrow, I will praise God, and find joy in the midst of this valley. For I know that God truly loves both of us, and as a new chapter begins for both of us, He will continue to do great things. For His Glory, and His Glory alone.
Ralph, with my heart throbbing I look forward to the day when we both reach our goal, and we will find ourselves together again the warm, welcoming embrace of our Christ.
Before you were lost in the wave of people at the airport, I remember seeing both your hands flail up as a last attempt to say goodbye to us. Haha, and that will be my last memory of you.
Ralph, you will never read this. I miss you already, and though I’ve never said this in words to you, I love you, Pastor Ralph Weber. I love you.
i love you.
Your loving son,
Richard.
He’s back! This is a re-post of a private entry I wrote in my xanga 2 years ago. With any luck, I’ll run into him over spring break. God, You are amazing in Your will and providence to bring him back here.
Recently, some friends and I were talking about some random junx and started talking about what impresses us. We talked about the different ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ traits that a guy or girl can have that will REALLY rack up the points and impress that special someone. Some of these traits were true of all people, some of them were personal, and some where just plain WTH. We were all in lighthearted conversation and so I don’t think any of us really thought about the significance of what we were saying.
However, I started thinking more deeply on the mere concept of impressing people, whether it would be some girl I am really into or my prospective future boss. Do we really believe that the practice of impressing people and routinely trying to do so is really acceptable and “natural”?
J. I. Packer says this about knowing people (The passage is meant primarily to introduce a theme about knowing God, but I believe we can all learn from this section as well) :
“One does not know a living thing til one knows not merely its past history but how it is likely to react and behave under specific circumstances. A person who says “I know this horse” normally means not just “I have seen it before”; more probably, however, he means “I know how it behaves, and can tell you how it ought to be handled.” Such knowledge comes only through some prior acquaintance with the horse, seeing it in action and trying to handle it oneself.
In the case of human beings, the position is further complicated by the fact that, unlike horses, people keep secrets. They do not show everybody all that is in their hearts. A few days are enough to get to know a horse as well as you will ever know it, but you may spend months and years doing things in company with another person and still have to say at the end of that time, “I don’t really know him at all.”
Thus, the quality and extent of our knowledge of other people depends more on them than on us. Our knowing them is more directly the result of their allowing us to know them than of our attempting to get to know them. When we meet, our part is to give them our attention and interest, to show them good will and to open up in a friendly way from our side. From that point, however, it is they, not we, who decide whether we are going to know them or not.“
Knowing God, by J.I. Packer.
