Baptism, Communion, Bible

Wow... has it seriously been that long since I was last here? Well, no, it's not. You were all denied the privilege if a highly informative post at the beginning of reading week (roughly 9th October) giving a run-down of all the vital stats, pages of books read, volume of notes written etc. With hindsight I am glad it did not work...

Currently I am in the throws of hurling myself from one mid-term to the next with attempts at research for a couple of papers due. One is a comparison of leadership structures in the Celtic church and Roman church in the 7th century, and the other is on soteriology in the early medieval church, zooming in on the role baptism played in that. Interesting...

I feel that the way in which I interact with fellow Christians has been challenged and changed when discussing issues that have tension. My stance usually was attack/defensive. But not so now, in large part because I took that up once early on in the term and feel incredibly embarrassed looking back on it. The other part is that there is a real richness in listening graciously and attempting to interact with other ideas. For example, Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper or whatever you will call it. I am unsure where I sit on this right now...but have met several people who firmly believe in the physical presence of Christ in the elements. I would have got up on my haunches previously, but this time I heard what they were saying and was really challenged as to how I view Communion. It may sounds very simple, in my description of the interaction, but to me it was very profound and one day I may even disclose further where I am with this!

One last thought. If you have never just picked up the Old Testament and read it as a narrative (using a good book to help you out with the context, "How to Read the Bible For All its Worth" by Fee & Stuart) you should DEFINITELY think about forcing yourself to do it, as big a chunk as you can manage at a time. Don't worry about the detail, don't worry about trying to find something in every verse that 'speaks' to you. Read the story and get to grips with the flow of it, God's choosing and loving and redeeming. I trust that if you do this God will speak in fresh ways. Don't hear this from a bible-college guy (I don't want to be that guy), but Iain who struggles to pick up the Bible and is more skeptical than he ever lets on.

12 credits is a full academic load

...and I'm not an academic! Ever wondered what the outside of the Tabernacle was made of, all those descriptions in Exodus and Leviticus? Well it is one of these... A sea-cow or dugong. The things you learn when you take it to the next level.

I'm just back from a lecture and subsequent debate on "The Cappadocian's and Trinitarian Theology." The stuff is good, but it requires a serious effort and expenditure of energy on my part to stay focused and follow the lecture and questions. 

My appetite to learn more has been whet by hints being dropped here and there at Regent on some of the Professors' understanding of what the Bible teaches about the relationship between creation, heaven and the Christian life. I'll not say anything other than it's stuff that seems to make a lot of sense and I feel a worshipful pleasure at being made in God's Image!

Last weekend was the Regent retreat. So unique, how often would your entire uni get up and go away together for the weekend!? This weekend I am tackling an academic writing course, oh my...

Currently reading for pleasure/not study:

The Shack - William P. Young

We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families - Philip Gourevitch

Listening to:

Earth - Thrice

The Atonement - Shai Linne

Week one down

So week one has been and gone, it went by in a flash!

The whole week has been pretty intense, starting classes, trying to find a routine, steep learning curves, still getting to know people, still sorting out aspects of life in Vancouver and coming to terms with the vast volume of reading required. It's intense, but I still remind myself of the amazing opportunity I have to come here, to learn and to grow. 

Challenge of the week: Jargon. Not having a decent background in theology has left me feeling like I'm standing still on a motorway. Or as one wise 2nd year said to me, it's like standing under a waterfall, trying to drink it all in with a teaspoon. So much to grasp in such a short space of time. Not to mention the crash course in film studies last Wednesday night, which I really loved! We get to watch a movie every Wednesday night for a course called Christian Thought and Culture, and pull the theology from it. Exegesis. Jargon.

Joy of the week: New friends. Suzanne and I have had a really great couple of evenings with new friends. It's been so much fun getting to know people, to hear their stories and to read all the different personalities. We are throwing off the shyness. Learning names. New friends.

Orientation

We are currently going through orientation, we are only half way through and I don't know how much more information I can digest! But it's been a great chance for both of us to mutually meet people, and for Suz to get a feel for what my life is going to consist of.

Today has served to cement what I already knew but had not given a lot of consideration to. I have no idea where God is taking us post-Regent. Nothing. I thought I used to know lots, but I now know nothing. That's not to say that I am no longer interested in anything, I absolutely am. But I think this a good place to be in, God's place to be in. So that he can shape and mold and work on me, not so that I am a product at the end of it all, but in fact someone who knows what it is to have God continually shaping and molding a life into the likeness of his Son's. 

I am thankful to God for the timing of this all. I observed something about myself today. I felt really shy. I haven't spoken out once, but for moments when required to. I used to want to be the centre of attention, to be the funny guy, to be known by people. But that isn't me now. It's just the strangest thing! But again, I am thankful for God's timing, waiting for me to be in the place he currently has me, before putting me in the place he currently has me. Amazing.

Settlers

We've been in Vancouver for a bit over a week now, in fact this is the 10th full day since arriving. And all the drama, the stress, the difficulties, the emotional numbness... all of it seems a distant memory. Vancouver is a great city, there's so much to do, so much to see. We will probably only scratch the surface of it during our time here.

Our time here so far has consisted of a fine blend of exploration, admin, meeting new people and sorting out our new home. I have registered for my courses (New Testament Greek, Old Testament Foundations, History of Christianity and finally Christian Thought and Culture) at Regent College. It will be a fairly full semester, but I am well prepared in the respect that I had the opportunity to take some of these subjects during my time at Gerrard Street, thank you to all who encouraged me to take Greek and to those who told me to stick at it when I was going to quit! Suzanne is booked in for a medical so that she can change her work permit to allow her to work in health care.

On the house front, we are moved in and thoroughly enjoying our pleasant, if sparse, pad. We have only purchased one piece of furniture, a queen size mattress. Which we somehow managed to fit in to Jonny's Mazda 3.

And speaking of Jonny, what a guy... We would have been totally lost in all of this without him. From the admin to the exploration to the house settling he has walked us through it all. We are so incredibly thankful for him. Cheers Jonny!

Finally, the exploration:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31120&l=e04cb&id=664458441

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31606&l=c00fe&id=664458441

Vancouver

Jericho Beach, 8am, Sunday 17 August. We've arrived.

The story so far. Part2

So. We had skipped down to the postbox and sent the application to Regent. A lovely dinner and trip to the cinema followed to celebrate.

Later on, once back in our flat, we looked out of the window after hearing a lorry outside to see that it was not a lorry, but in fact a fire engine... And a fireman from the fire engine was using a hose large enough to put out a factory fire to damp down what appeared to be a pretty serious postbox fire (it was as serious as these things could be). We have never descended 2 flights so fast... The fireman helpfully gave us a phone number we could call and comforted us saying, "Yeah, it was really burning when we got here, I doubt anything wasn't damaged." Great.

We were dejected, I was angry. Who sets a postbox on fire? What are the chances that the postbox right outside our flat that has never been on fire in the 2 something years that Suzanne has lived there would go on fire the very evening we post one of the most important things we would ever post? Tirade of questions. We were consoled by both sets of parents and set about getting everything in order again, cutting our losses.

The next morning Suzanne had a text from my father-in-law, Ray, saying to remember the fiery furnace in Daniel, that the men came out without a single hair singed, or even the smell of smoke on them. So we held on to that.

We continued to get together the new application and informed referees and Regent's admissions department that they could expect some heavily burnt mail at best, or something fresh a bit later than intended at worst. The distinguishing feature between the old application and new was the presence of the application processing fee. We decided to hold out hope that it would arrive. I guess in some ways this is speculation, but I'm telling you the story as it happened in our lives, we couldn't follow the mail... All we know is that all the original mail arrived intact, this is having it been confirmed by Royal Mail that just about everything was destroyed in the fire and if not, very badly damaged. And yes, our mail was definitely in the postbox...

In a very short space of time I heard back from Regent, a yes! We believe that God has been confirming his call on our lives and this particular move through many things, many of them small. I'm just trying to share the big picture... I hope so far through this story that you have been amazed by God, by his love and goodness. Trust me, there is no reason why God should show me love and goodness, but he does and that is amazing. God is gracious.

Suzanne had her final placement for uni up in Inverness. We were going to be apart during the week as she would be staying in the nurse's accommodation there. This wasn't ideal, especially as placements can be a stressful time. But the placement turned out to be amazing, the girl really loved it! And this, Suzanne's placement supervisor was a lovely Christian lady, from Canada, recently returned from a year working as a physiotherapist in... VANCOUVER!! The whole placement really was a blessing, and has totally boosted Suzanne's confidence as far as her ability to practice as a physio in Canada goes. And she got a 1st for the placement, bonus.

So this pretty much brings us to where we've been the last few days, at the mercy of the Canadian High Commission. We missed one flight, which we've had to call a financial write-off, and have had to spend days that were supposed to be spent getting settled in to life in Vancouver pacing the streets of Milngavie. It's been frustrating. But in the midst of it all we have never lost that sense of God's peace or that this move is indeed a 'God-thing'. As we walked last night, we reflected on how time and time again during the whole process we have known God's favour. We have known that God is big and able to take care of the most ridiculous things. And maybe, just maybe, God knew that we were not going to get our visas in time. And maybe God knew that we are fragile souls who forget good things easily, but remember the bad, so maybe, just maybe he gave us an unforgettable path to walk, so that in the face of this trial, where the answer to our prayers was not necessarily what we wanted, we would know that we are in our Father's will, and we would know that he is more than able to get us to Vancouver. Praise God. God is love.