Sunday, November 28, 2010
Muse of the Day.
This evening I looked at Hebrews 7. It was talking about how Jesus was descendent from Melchizadek, a high priest in the Old Testament, and not from Levi. I guess the Levites were typically highpriests for the Israelites and Jewish people under the Mosaic law. Jesus Christ is the last (and eternal) high priest having fulfilled and satisfied the mosaic law that bound the Jews from a close relationship with God. Now through Jesus Christ we may enter into a close relationship with God.
about the the old law...NKJV(Hebrews 7:18-19) "For on the one hand there is annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God."
of the change in priesthood from the tribe of Levi to the tribe of Judah and the necessity of the nature of the law thence to change: Hebrews 7: 11-17
Hebrews is some pretty heavy stuff but it is just abundant in theology and provides greater understanding of how it all works (e.g. why the law changed; how the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was able to pay for the sin of all people in the world of all time) and in my opinion greater understanding reaps greater commitment and provides the foundation for "dynamic faith".
There were also a few small passages in Psalms:
Ps. 111:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His Praise endures forever."
That part about "do His commandments" reminds me a lot of the book of James in the New Testament. In James 1:22-26 (NKJV) it says "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his nautral face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetfu hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."
Later in chapter 2 of James, James (the half brother of Jesus Christ) he goes on to say that only faith saves, but serving others is the evidence in our lives of our faith in Christ. He goes as far as to say that faith without works is dead. (This is certainly not to say that salvation is earned, rather it is what we do as a result of the redemptive and transformative work of Christ in our lives). Check out James 2: 14-26
That's all for tonight,
Adieu
Weekly Playlist.
The lineup for this week:
-Hillsong United (I heart Revolution)
-some Phil Wickham (Cannons)
-Liberty University Campus Praise Band (Uncover)
-Lecrae (rebel)
-Coldplay (viva la vida)
-some Josh Groban (closer)
-some hawk nelson (smile)
-some relient k (mmhmm)
For now,
Adieu
Thursday, November 18, 2010
On the playlist.
The weekly lineup (the following are artists and albums that are on my recent playlist for the week):
Attack! Attack! (some day came suddenly)
The Devil Wears Prada (plagues; with roots above and branches below)
And then there were none (who speaks for planet earth)
brand new (your favorite weapon)
cold play (x&y; parachutes; viva la vida; a ruch of blood to the head)
family force 5 (remix album)
I wish wasting time paid money, because I would be filthy rich.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Day 2
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
All's well that ends well.
That's all.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tour de PA.
Adieu,
Claire
Thursday, July 8, 2010
tough stuff.
In conclusion, after reviewing my goals previously set, some do need revised and I need to work harder at fulfilling the ones that stand. I will not be returning to LU and hence clubs pertaining therein may be transferred to MU.
My reasons for leaving LU are as follows:
-first and foremost and primarily because the academic department of biology and chemistry still lacks the resources and rigorousness of curricula that will prepare me for graduate school if i should so choose to pursue such ventures.
-secondly, MU offers the rigorousness of curricula and further academic opportunities to gain experience in undergrad for a third of the cost of LU
-thirdly, if I choose to pursue a teaching career (as the case seems to be set) my pay will not be able to sustain the basic costs of living and the absurd payment I am sure to have to fork over (it is absurd as of now and I only pay interest on my private loan from this past year, but that interest payment would be doubled on top of other bills that I need to cover.) by the end of this year I would have to make interest payments of 240 a month to sallie mae on top of 120 to another company for a parent plus loan which I pay for myself, as well as 20 to my credit card co. which is just the minimum payment. In order to cover such exceedingly high costs, I would have to work like a fiend and then try to find time to study for a full schedule of 18credits with all of my core classes (o.chemII and upperlevel bio courses)
In conclusion, my choice has been made. I do not regret my time at LU in the least, in fact I am rather glad that I had the experience I did. I had my Liberty experience, it was just shorter than most.
Yesterday Germany lost to Spain 1-0 for the semifinals of the worldcup which is a big let down but the netherlands play uruguay today so we will see what happens! This being my day off, I can actually watch the game today! :)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Doin' Work.
Remember: "He who says he can and he who says he can't is usually correct."
-Confuscius
That's all.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Hard Work Pays.
That's all for now. I'll update about my goal list tomorrow.
note to self, check out gal. 2
Monday, May 24, 2010
Hit the Road…
Hey yall! I just set up my runnersworld profile..I haven't used it for a while, but it's a great tool to track mileage and map out routes!
check it out:
http://traininglog.runnersworld.com/profiles/c6abb7729161473da6cec763f1de1d4e
Sunday, May 23, 2010
So much to do…
There is so much to do, and so little time and energy in which to do it. That past few days have been really productive for the most part and I've been working on my list (The monster list project I've begun). So, I'll run through some of the stuff I've knocked out this week.
#8. At the moment I'm finishing up Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. As others have said in the past it is truly a deeply saddening book. It is a book of crushed dreams and a broken life. Otherwise it is a well written book that I'm glad that I am reading. I'm at the part where Jude returns to MaryGreen after having failed at Christminster and returns to the place of his youth, his Great Aunt's house.
#24. I hung out with A and T the past two days which was so much fun! I saw 'Letters to Juliette' which is now one of my favourite movies. It is a fairytale, but nevertheless is excellent.
#17. I had the opportunity to volunteer at church today. What a blessing it is to reach out to others! In helping other people, it makes the helper happy and is consequently helped!
I'm slacking on #11! I made my friend, M a bday card but forgot to give it to her and I completely forgot to give L her graduation card! All will be well in a week when I see them again though. Hopefully I remember to give it to them then. I always make cards, and then fail to give it to its intended recipient.
#12. I've been reading in the book of Luke lately, and it has been really good. I'll have to share some of what I've been learning in my next post (I don't have my Bible beside me at the moment).
#3. I'm working on cleaning the house top to bottom and in upkeep of that I dusted the living room and vacuumed it. Unfortunately the sweeper I used did not have adequate attachments to vacuum the couch so I'll have to do that soon. I also need to do behind the couch which is atrocious with dust, cat hair, and etc.
#46. I've missed out on a couple of vitamin days, but have done good for the most part. On the days I haven't had a vitamin, I've had a nutritious smoothie with kale and other good things.
#19. I have been doing really bad at studying every day and hence will start studying again. I need to learn to persevere when it's easy so I can learn to persevere when it's hard.
#27. I only was able to give a few dollars in tithe, but I gave what I had on hand.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Summer days. Day 1000. retitle 50/1001.
101/1001 Day Zero Project
I first must formulate my goals, which may take a couple days, but I can start now.
Goal #1: Graduate undergrad.
#2: Make deans list.
#3: Clean the house top to bottom.
#4: Get our yard in proper order (weeded, edged, mulched, etc.)
#5: Run a Half Marathon.
#6: Run a Marathon.
#7: Build up a base savings of 1K.
#8: Read a book a month.
#9: Get my BMI to an adequate distribution of muscle:fat
#10: Practice violin at least 2 hours every week.
#11: Follow up with thank you, birthday, special occasion cards on time.
#12: Read through the Bible by 12/31/2010 and again by 12/31/2011
#13: Get accepted into teachers certificate program and masters program after undergrad
#14: Study and do awesome on my GRE and Biology GRE
#15: Grow out my hair
#16: Stop procrastinating (including doing something that needs done but using it to procrastinate something else)
#17: Volunteer 100+ hours in my community.
#18: Become a better time manager.
#19: Over summers study for at least one hour/day (this summer study organic chem and physics)
#20: Read the chapters for my classes before the classes.
#21: study at least 1hr/class every day during school semesters.
#22: Set up potential lessons for information sessions about bio and/or future potential curricula and activities for future lessons when I eventually teach
#23: Become more organized.
#24: Spend time with at least 5 friends every week.
#25: Stop eating ice cream (I'm part lactose intolerant i think, and it's bad for me)
I think that's good for now! This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. This gives me an idea to set up lifetime goals, but not today. I have to get started on working my A list at the moment. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I begin to formulate. I found this awesome site I want to check out though that I highly reccomend:
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
It talks about how to set up goals and life goals and how to break down life goals to the every day!
That's all.
Schools out for the summer!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sayings and Such.
"Never be content with mediocrity. It is the seed of apathy and the fertile ground for a misguided leader to steal the freedom that allows you to enjoy your mediocrity, or to make something more. In so stealing that freedom, you have no choice and must wallow in your chosen state until you wake up and realize what has occurred, or you must live with it until you slip away forever."
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Devotions and Reflections.
7:3-5 "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck from your eye, and look a plank is in your eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
I think that sometimes we as fallible human beings are prone to the bad like self-righteous prideful and vain conceit that gives us a false sense that we are always right and it is the other person and the whold world who is wrong or needs to change. If we adjust our view and rid ourselves of that self-righteousness, we may find that the speck we may have seen in our brother's eye was not really the fault of the brother rather a scratch in the lense of the glasses we had worn and the plank in our own eye inhibiting us from seeing reality and truth.
7:7-11 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
I think three things may be surmised from this passage: the goodness of God, the power of our communication with God through prayer, and the need to step up and do it.
God likens himself to an earthly father and a child. The child asks the father for something he needs and surely the father will provide for the child. This passage tells us that God is like this and so much more, because well, He is God and that father is only human and still has evil tendencies. The second thing to keep in mind is the power of prayer. God says that if we ask (pray), seek (continual prayer and keeping eyes open to the people and situations around you and going on with confidence in the direction of your request), and knock (again pursue with confidence in God and His grace to fulfill your request) and the door will be opened (request answered).
This next passage is critical to the Church in maintaining a biblically sound doctrine that adheres to the essentials of the faith. With our relativistic agnostic culture, it is rather easy to try to soften up or water down the message. When that happens the carriers of the message become less salty, and what is the point of salt that has lost its saltiness? We are to be carriers of the truth. To deny absolute truth would be to deny one of the laws of logic; the law of noncontradiction. Without further ado...
7:13-14"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Listening to the last bit of David Wheeler's sermon tonight I felt convicted of being indifferent to my fellow peers and fellow citizens. I go through these calloused stages that render me indifferent as a form of self-preservation and self-defense because if I don't care, then I don't have to feel, or rather I don't have to deal with the feelings I feel when they leak out of their compartmentalized box. I wrote in my previous post about those who are ignorant martyrs who walk around with a lum face as though they had got the worst hand. Have I ever stopped to ask them why they force a half-smile/grimace? have I asked them if there is anything I can pray for them for? For all I know, a tradgedy could have just taken place in their life and are still cleaning up the shattered pieces and piecing them back together. Each person deals with grief differently and I need to have compassion, and ACT on that compassion.
I read Chapter 1 of Building dynamic faith by Jerry Falwell and I suppose these are a few things that God has been showing me today, so Thank you Lord Jesus :)
martyr complex.
Please help me to work through my bitterness and frustration. It makes me so bitter when people get martyr complexes about them and they think that their situation is the worst on the face on the earth and feel the need to walk around looking constipated with an irritable forced grimace to meet my smile. Do they honestly think that they are the only ones going through trials? Do they honestly think that my life is a picnic with the prairie dogs and a stroll with lollipops, rainbows and unicorns? Ha! But God, my bitterness needs to turn to compassion for they do not know; in short they are ignorant. Lord, I lay down my bitterness at your feet. Please now give me your strength and power to overcome this foothold of sin; bitterness. You are God most high and my Father in heaven. Thank you I can approach you, and for giving me the strength to overcome trials and temptations. Please give me wisdom to know how to uniquely handle all of the situations that will arise today.
Love,
your humble daughter
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Life of a Biology student.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Science.
-peace
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunshine.
Tomorrow will be an early start..I'm working for my g-rents at 6am! So I better hit the sack.
Proverb of the day: Proverbs 11
12"A man who lacks judgement derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue."
13"A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret."
14"For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure."
Friday, March 12, 2010
Project Runway
"Have no fear of perfection--- you'll never reach it."
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Initiative.
I need to take initiative and stop the daydreaming and procrastination.
Interestingly enough Oswald also included a strange bit at the end of his devotional for the 20th of February:
"If you are in love with someone, you don't sit and daydream about that person all the time-- you go and do something for him. That is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Daydreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him."
Though this is example is meant simply to parallel non-initiative after our Lord has spoken, I need to keep the former in mind as well.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
School.
It is quite fortunate though because my classes are exceptionally interesting. Online "western civ.", Chem, and bio. Oh, and GNED :)
I need to start focusing on how I am projecting myself with regard to how I pay attention to my studies. I need to be learning this information now so I can be a better ambassador for Christ in the future ministry that He has prepared for me to serve. In complaining and half-studying/studying for the test I am not glorifying my Maker, and am not reaching the full potential that He has gifted me with.
So I guess that is my new years resolution..To be a better ambassador for Christ through how I handle the daily affairs of my life.