Jay Kennedy
Friday, March 11, 2011
Students are safe in India and all is well.
Received word from Jim that they landed in India and everyone is well. They didn't hear about the earthquake until after they landed.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Direction
I had nowhere to go.
After my departure from camp Qwanoes, I was crushed. I havent felt this emotional in a long time. It was not because of my premature departure at camp, it was because I felt that I let down myself and others. Before this year my life was content. "Go to school, work, church and get married, thats life right?" Now its in chaos because i know better.
"What prompted you to go to Kaleo?" Some of you may have seen glimpses of my desire to change. My goal for this year was to find out what those changes needed to be. The first semester was difficult for me because I had trouble trusting in myself and others At one point in time I gave up and saw no point in trying. Where was God in my life? People continually approached me with a smile on my face and i brushed them off . I rejected them because I didnt want to accept the convictions taking place within myself.
At times during second semester, I felt I was taking small steps to change, however i was merely changing my external actions and not my interal thoughts. In my head I got caught up the small details such as Calvanism vs Arminism and predestination. The focus should have been on understanding the foundations of which my belief is founded on: God's Love for us. Jesus has said the greatest commandment is love; this is the principle in which Jesus taught us to live. You, the Kaleo body has shown me this this year through your actions.
Throughout this experience I learned to rely more on God. I have lived life planning and depending on myself while conforming to the norms of society. My success was defined from the worlds point of view not from the Bible. This experience has been an eye opener because it has pushed me out of my comfort to seek out God's will and rediscover myself.
I boarded the ferry that night thinking "I had no where to go". While lining up a guy helped me with one of my bags and we began to talk. His name was Aaron, a 21 year old living in Victoria. He was a single father who has been suffering from depression since his accident in 2009 which crippled him from working. We began sharing our testimonies and I discovered that he was a reborn christian. Soon enough I realized I was speaking into his life, telling him of God's desire to know him, the gospel, and the true meaning of being a follower of Christ. We both prayed and went our separate ways. His last words for me was: "Now go and live life the way God wants you to."
When I arrived at Tssawssen I realized i needed a ride to the mainland but saw no means of getting there. I looked around and saw an old classmate from two years ago, who happened to be there because his sister was five hours late. He offered to give me a ride and we began to share
our stories and process it. We discussed we, Christian's role in secular universities and how we ought to stand up for what we believe in. Can there be non theistic objective morality? Our priorities and the world's priorities differ; they cant overlap. Jim told me one day when he was dropping me off at the ferry. "A monkey cant grab the nut from the jar if he already has something in his hands." Let go Nathan.
As I fell asleep that night it all made sense.
The next day I attended the Apologetics Canada Conference in Coquitlam Alliance Church. I went in there with no expectations and was blown away. They flew in professors from the U.S. that covered issues confronting New Atheists to The Existence of God to why God allows suffering. It was enlightening hearing from educated Christians teaching from a critical point of view. That night ended with a high grade archeologist claiming to have found Sodom and Gomora (One of the last unmapped locations cited in the bible) I remember vividly a pottery shard they discovered on the site. On one side of the pottery was molten glass which at first glance scientists thought to be Trinite (A decayed substance that resulted from the Atom bomb) on the other side of the pottery was unscathed pottery. It was not Trinite; this artifact was discovered in the mid bronze age. It was interesting to get the holistic view, not just the theological but historical and geographical evidence. (If you want my full 2000 word notes on the conference let me know and ill give it to you)
A few days ago Jay confronted me with an opportunity. An anonymous donor has given me an a fully paid solo missions trip to Mexico.
I was blown away.
As I'm writing this to you the plane is landing in San Diego. When you have read this I'll be on my way to El Papalote by car and I am going to work with Northern Lights Ministries. I have left Qwanoes as a student of Kaleo but now im venturing to be a disciple of Jesus. I don't know what God has in store for me, all I can do is pray and have an open mind.
I also wanted to say I miss you guys dearly. Be safe.
Love, Nate
P.S. Make good choices!! ^_^
After my departure from camp Qwanoes, I was crushed. I havent felt this emotional in a long time. It was not because of my premature departure at camp, it was because I felt that I let down myself and others. Before this year my life was content. "Go to school, work, church and get married, thats life right?" Now its in chaos because i know better.
"What prompted you to go to Kaleo?" Some of you may have seen glimpses of my desire to change. My goal for this year was to find out what those changes needed to be. The first semester was difficult for me because I had trouble trusting in myself and others At one point in time I gave up and saw no point in trying. Where was God in my life? People continually approached me with a smile on my face and i brushed them off . I rejected them because I didnt want to accept the convictions taking place within myself.
At times during second semester, I felt I was taking small steps to change, however i was merely changing my external actions and not my interal thoughts. In my head I got caught up the small details such as Calvanism vs Arminism and predestination. The focus should have been on understanding the foundations of which my belief is founded on: God's Love for us. Jesus has said the greatest commandment is love; this is the principle in which Jesus taught us to live. You, the Kaleo body has shown me this this year through your actions.
Throughout this experience I learned to rely more on God. I have lived life planning and depending on myself while conforming to the norms of society. My success was defined from the worlds point of view not from the Bible. This experience has been an eye opener because it has pushed me out of my comfort to seek out God's will and rediscover myself.
I boarded the ferry that night thinking "I had no where to go". While lining up a guy helped me with one of my bags and we began to talk. His name was Aaron, a 21 year old living in Victoria. He was a single father who has been suffering from depression since his accident in 2009 which crippled him from working. We began sharing our testimonies and I discovered that he was a reborn christian. Soon enough I realized I was speaking into his life, telling him of God's desire to know him, the gospel, and the true meaning of being a follower of Christ. We both prayed and went our separate ways. His last words for me was: "Now go and live life the way God wants you to."
When I arrived at Tssawssen I realized i needed a ride to the mainland but saw no means of getting there. I looked around and saw an old classmate from two years ago, who happened to be there because his sister was five hours late. He offered to give me a ride and we began to share
our stories and process it. We discussed we, Christian's role in secular universities and how we ought to stand up for what we believe in. Can there be non theistic objective morality? Our priorities and the world's priorities differ; they cant overlap. Jim told me one day when he was dropping me off at the ferry. "A monkey cant grab the nut from the jar if he already has something in his hands." Let go Nathan.
As I fell asleep that night it all made sense.
The next day I attended the Apologetics Canada Conference in Coquitlam Alliance Church. I went in there with no expectations and was blown away. They flew in professors from the U.S. that covered issues confronting New Atheists to The Existence of God to why God allows suffering. It was enlightening hearing from educated Christians teaching from a critical point of view. That night ended with a high grade archeologist claiming to have found Sodom and Gomora (One of the last unmapped locations cited in the bible) I remember vividly a pottery shard they discovered on the site. On one side of the pottery was molten glass which at first glance scientists thought to be Trinite (A decayed substance that resulted from the Atom bomb) on the other side of the pottery was unscathed pottery. It was not Trinite; this artifact was discovered in the mid bronze age. It was interesting to get the holistic view, not just the theological but historical and geographical evidence. (If you want my full 2000 word notes on the conference let me know and ill give it to you)
A few days ago Jay confronted me with an opportunity. An anonymous donor has given me an a fully paid solo missions trip to Mexico.
I was blown away.
As I'm writing this to you the plane is landing in San Diego. When you have read this I'll be on my way to El Papalote by car and I am going to work with Northern Lights Ministries. I have left Qwanoes as a student of Kaleo but now im venturing to be a disciple of Jesus. I don't know what God has in store for me, all I can do is pray and have an open mind.
I also wanted to say I miss you guys dearly. Be safe.
Love, Nate
P.S. Make good choices!! ^_^
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Well, the Argentina team has landed in Buenos Aires...
And boy, is it ever hot!
It has been a crazy time getting here, from the get go! So as some of you (or all) might already know, we had a bit of a passport scare with Michael's passport having gone missing on Monday night. We realized it at 10 pm when it was too late to get it from the island to the mainland in time for our flight. So while we were trying to figure out where it was, we stopped to pray. No joke, just after we finished praying, Michael thought to call his mom to check if it was in the bag that he had given her for after Argentina. Sure enough, it was in that bag! Then the challenge was getting it to Vancouver from Port Moody. Enter Chris Downey. He saved the day! He brought the passport and we were able to make our flight on time, with all of us onboard.
Thus began our approximately 25 hour journey to Buenos Aires. And that's not including ferry time. Most of us got really bad sleeps (or in my case, no sleep at all) on the plane and so we are at about 35 hours being awake. I don't know how we're still functioning...
Buenos Aires is gorgeous and the weather is amazing! Actually, it's super hot and humid but it is definitely an improvement on Vancouver's weather... Sorry, Vancouver team! Here's hoping that you'll have sunshine while you're there.
Please pray for us as we begin preparing tomorrow for a retreat this weekend. Pray for the kids who are going to come and pray for us as we lead this retreat. We got to meet some of them about 45 minutes ago and they're super cool, so it should be really sweet!
God is good and He goes with all of you as you go! Praying for you all! Love you!
It has been a crazy time getting here, from the get go! So as some of you (or all) might already know, we had a bit of a passport scare with Michael's passport having gone missing on Monday night. We realized it at 10 pm when it was too late to get it from the island to the mainland in time for our flight. So while we were trying to figure out where it was, we stopped to pray. No joke, just after we finished praying, Michael thought to call his mom to check if it was in the bag that he had given her for after Argentina. Sure enough, it was in that bag! Then the challenge was getting it to Vancouver from Port Moody. Enter Chris Downey. He saved the day! He brought the passport and we were able to make our flight on time, with all of us onboard.
Thus began our approximately 25 hour journey to Buenos Aires. And that's not including ferry time. Most of us got really bad sleeps (or in my case, no sleep at all) on the plane and so we are at about 35 hours being awake. I don't know how we're still functioning...
Buenos Aires is gorgeous and the weather is amazing! Actually, it's super hot and humid but it is definitely an improvement on Vancouver's weather... Sorry, Vancouver team! Here's hoping that you'll have sunshine while you're there.
Please pray for us as we begin preparing tomorrow for a retreat this weekend. Pray for the kids who are going to come and pray for us as we lead this retreat. We got to meet some of them about 45 minutes ago and they're super cool, so it should be really sweet!
God is good and He goes with all of you as you go! Praying for you all! Love you!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Making Disciples of all Nations
The Mission trips are here! I can't believe how quickly they came. May God do great works through us, and I hope that this can be a time for us all to learn to lean on our Father when we don't have the strength ourselves. God be with us!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
praise the Lord.
So I'm in no pain. No tailbone problems anymore. I also never ended up going on antibiotics. Praise Jesus!
Thanks for praying!
Thanks for praying!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Update On My Dad
It feels like I have been away a long time already, not like I was with you in chapel yesterday. My dad came through the operation okay, and it seems that the cancer was contained and hasn't spread, though more tests are to come. But there will still be tough days ahead for my dad, with at least six days in the hospital, and it is uncertain how we will make sure he gets the care he and my mom will need after I leave. So thanks for your past and continuing prayers. I am still not sure how long I will be here, but likely it will be to the end of Reading Break, and possibly a couple days after. Please pray for me too - my rough voice turned into a cold the day I came here, and I really don't want my parents to catch it. Between that and looking after everyone here, I am kinda tired. I hope you are having a good start to your break!
Friday, February 4, 2011
After a week of Theology we have...
JIM PAULSON QUOTES!!
Yet another way Jim Paulson has to humble himself--buying a Bible with large print.
(About whiteboard markers) Blue is starting to lose it, purple... purple is still juicy, brown starts off promising.
I had to write their ages down cause they keep changing...
I’m a pro at muddying the waters. Let me take the clarity and confuse it all I can.
I started blogging to tell the great stories of my life and I told about 15 stories and then I ran out of life.
You could have little, sexually mature Brontosauruses running around...
Thanks for nodding, cause I confused myself even with my musings.
I say it until I get bored, so I just imagine how you feel.
Good, banging-your-head-against-the-wall, tempted-to-choke-your-neighbor kind of fun stuff coming up this afternoon.
I am willing to be your punching bag, guinea pig, test case, whatever.
I know I’m throwing something flaky at ya here in the waning hours of the day.
Angels were having babies with human women. I wanted to freak you out at least once more today.
How do you take this and put it in your pipe and smoke it? (followed by...)
Forgive me for the tobacco, anything else you might wanna smoke allusions... [speaking to himself] No BC jokes, no BC jokes.
For example, someone taking a Tarzan swing into the ocean, that to me is “a sin leading to death” if you are talking about physical death.
God will have a visible backside because that’s what Moses saw... I knew that would come out wrong.
I don’t know why we need a king. I’m just enjoying posing the question.
I’m too break-minded. It’s my people pleasing nature. They’re paying all this money to have me come out here and tell them they have a break.
I said that so enthusiastically that death got a cheer!
I can’t even say it cute, so let me just say it... stupid.
I should have lightened up and sprinkled...
Yet another way Jim Paulson has to humble himself--buying a Bible with large print.
(About whiteboard markers) Blue is starting to lose it, purple... purple is still juicy, brown starts off promising.
I had to write their ages down cause they keep changing...
I’m a pro at muddying the waters. Let me take the clarity and confuse it all I can.
I started blogging to tell the great stories of my life and I told about 15 stories and then I ran out of life.
You could have little, sexually mature Brontosauruses running around...
Thanks for nodding, cause I confused myself even with my musings.
I say it until I get bored, so I just imagine how you feel.
Good, banging-your-head-against-the-wall, tempted-to-choke-your-neighbor kind of fun stuff coming up this afternoon.
I am willing to be your punching bag, guinea pig, test case, whatever.
I know I’m throwing something flaky at ya here in the waning hours of the day.
Angels were having babies with human women. I wanted to freak you out at least once more today.
How do you take this and put it in your pipe and smoke it? (followed by...)
Forgive me for the tobacco, anything else you might wanna smoke allusions... [speaking to himself] No BC jokes, no BC jokes.
For example, someone taking a Tarzan swing into the ocean, that to me is “a sin leading to death” if you are talking about physical death.
God will have a visible backside because that’s what Moses saw... I knew that would come out wrong.
I don’t know why we need a king. I’m just enjoying posing the question.
I’m too break-minded. It’s my people pleasing nature. They’re paying all this money to have me come out here and tell them they have a break.
I said that so enthusiastically that death got a cheer!
I can’t even say it cute, so let me just say it... stupid.
I should have lightened up and sprinkled...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)