Today I attended my little sister's graduation. So far Dad and Mom have 6 down and 1 to go. It's unbelievable! I was thinking how it makes me feel old when I go to the graduation and the graduates look like little kids. Then I thought about the fact that I've been in college for 5 years. 5 years! How in the world? I started out taking it semester at a time and figuring I'd be doing good to last a whole year.


It's amazing how time has flown and how much I have changed. I'm not talking so much about what I look like, though I have gained a few pounds (pure muscle) and lost a few hairs on top of my head. I'm talking about perspective. Time, learning, knowledge, experience, etc. have changed my perspectives on a lot of things. The things that I used to consider to be important are no longer important and vice versa. It's all part of growing up I suppose.

Recently I have realized that the single most important thing in my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have been realizing how defenseless and limited I really am on my own. Not only am I unable to be effective for God in my own strength, but I also am unable to even defend myself against Satan's attacks on my own. I am no match for the power of sin, but my identity with Jesus Christ is more than a match. When Satan has no footholds in my life he has a lot less power. When Christ owns every part of me there is certainly no "hold" of sin any more! That is the power of Christ! That is God's grace in setting me apart entirely to Himself and filling me with the Holy Spirit to live above sin! It is so liberating and exciting to live a completely guilt free life in Jesus Christ!

Surely the End Must be Near

Growing up in a home where Premillenialism was not the accepted escatalogical viewpoint, whenever there was a series of earthquakes, or "wars and rumors of wars" in the Middle East (continual since the Old Testament days) someone would jokingly say, "Surely the end must be near." Now, in these "last days" of my 5th year of Bible College, I can say with the best of them, "Surely the end must be near."

I have reached that point of not really caring. (OK. I admit, this isn't the first time.) Some call it "senioritis," others call it "spring fever," and I choose to call it "End Times." There are wars and rumors of wars inside me about finishing up that one stupid assignment that I put off because it was only worth about 2% or less of my grade. There are great earthquakes as my roommate crashes from his bunk and hits the floor right beside me - getting up for class. Who does that?

Not to mention my weekends (albeit only 2 of them left this semester in which the choir goes out both times). Saturdays used to be "get-r-done" days where I would arise at some ungodly hour like 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. and hit the homework for a few hours, go to breakfast, go to the library and do homework until it closes, go to the snackbar and do homework until suppertime, eat supper, go to Starbucks or somewhere (taking date time) and do more homework until time to return to campus for curfew. All in all my Saturdays could often add up to somewhere in the realm of 10-12 hours of homework. Oh yeah. I said all of that to say that this Saturday homework really isn't all that important. I might get around to spending an hour or two doing homework, but that's only if, by some weird turn of events, I find myself with an overwhelming load of ambition. Not too likely.

Surely the End Must be Near!