Update on Life Itself
As most of you have noticed, I haven’t really been posting a lot lately, so here’s a rundown of what’s been going on. We’re going through a lot of discussions and changes in our youth program. I’ve had a couple meetings with some staff members to pick their brains and to see what their opinion of what was going on. The staff has been great with the change of leadership and I’ve been refreshed with the discussions about what we are going to do.
It has been pretty difficult to get my mind around everything that i’m supposed to be in charge of. I pretty much have that feeling like I have to be missing something, and hopefully that something isn’t something big and significant.
This upcoming weekend we’re having an all day staff meeting where we’re going to bring everything into question. We’re going to talk about all the staple events that we have, see what the purpose of it is, if we’re meeting that, how we can better do that, and even maybe asking ourselves if we should be doing that. It has been a relief being able to step up into this position with a knowledge of how things work. I’m not new to the program. I know the way things go and I know the staff and how they operate, so its been easier to evaluate things right away.
In high school we’re about to start a section of Theology Proper in Sunday School. I’m looking forward to teaching deeper theology to some kids that can think on a deeper level. We’re going through Grudem’s Systematic Theology, and they just finished Bibliology.
I’ll give a little more of an update after Saturday, when we make our decisions. But please pray that this meeting will go well, and that I won’t abandon school because I’m doing what I love to do!
News from the Archaeology Front
Archaeologists digging in Tell es-Safi (Gath of the Philistines) recently presented a pottery sherd they’ve found. The Philistines, as you may know, are thought to have been part of the Sea Peoples migration, believed to have come from the area of the Aegean (Greece and ALL those islands). The sherd, dated to only about 100 years after the time of David, contains two Indo-European names written in Semitic letters. This inscription using Semitic script and giving Indo-European names (basis of Greek language, among others) is among the earliest hard evidence found thus far for this migration into the area where the Philistines lived. Evidence of the migration has existed in Egypt, thanks to wall carvings displaying their invasion (they have distinctive feathered headdresses). But this sherd serves to give some solid evidence of their existence in Gath very close to the time of David. The Bible doesn’t NEED evidence to be proven true, but it is so very exciting when evidence is found!
I also recently heard from some friends who spent a few weeks volunteering at Tel el-Hammam site in Jordan. This is an exciting spot that may turn out to be the biblical Sodom. It’s never been dug before and they are finding exciting things, which we won’t get to see until the archaeologist releases his report. One friend reported significant char at the middle bronze level, which would have been the time of Abraham and Lot. He also narrowly missed being bitten by a venomous snake, which he wouldn’t have survived. So in your prayers be sure to mention all those archaeologists and their volunteer help!
Guest Blogger Joins Team
I’ve been asked to “Guest Blog” whenever I have a thought I just HAVE to share. Apparently my “Comments” have been a tad long. Sorry, but I’ve never been able to make a point in just a few words. [I'm terrible at IM!] I also like to share from things I’ve been reading and would enjoy people’s thoughts, comments & questions. I’ve had to promise NOT to mention any embarrassing stories connected to male offspring. (I’ll just save those for the “Comments”.)
To get you thinking…currently I’m preparing a Ladie’s Study on Matthew 5-7 (for SOME day) and am reading John R.W. Stott’s “The Message of the Sermon on the Mount” along with the Matthew passage. Mt.5-7 demonstrates how Kingdom dwellers are to be different from the world. They are to be the “counter culture”. So long as they are conformed to the world, they are contradicting their true identity. In Lev.18:1-4 God instructs Israel that they are NOT to be like the Egyptians or the Canaanites, BECAUSE He is the Lord, their God. In Jeremiah- “Learn not the way of the nations”. I know when I examine my own life, I see a lot of little “ways” of the world. I think it’s important to examine ourselves and ask if we’re really part of a “counter culture” or if we’ve gotten caught up in the subtle ways of the world. We’re usually pretty good about the “big” things, but I think we can become callous about or overlook the more subtle things.
Beth’sMomToo
