The Lord is fighting for you

Fear Not, the LORD is fighting for you...

Bronze band depicting Shalmaneser III attacking Hamath (852BC)

   The Psalmist writes to the people of Israel saying, "Give thanks...to Him [God] who struck down great kings, for His steadfast love endures forever...Sihon, king of the Amorites.... and Og, king of Bashan" (Ps. 1

36:19-20). You may recall that when God made His covenant with Abraham He said that Israel would be captive in Egypt for 400 years and they would come back to the promise land in the 4th generation "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Gen. 15:13-16). These were kings of great nations and they themselves were men of renown. It is said that King Og was very likely 11 feet 10 inches in height which would have dwarfed the size of Goliath who fought David. And yet, God says, "Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand" (Deut. 3:2) and later Moses himself exhorts Joshua, "You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you" (Deut. 3:22).
   In the same way, dear Christian, you have no cause to fear for the Lord is fighting for you. What a great encouragement is the fact that our salvation also has already been won and that battle does not have to be fought again for Jesus Christ is a victorious warrior. One in whom the greatest Foe has cause to tremble.

A COETAIL meal prepared by Zest catering group

Master's Program (COETAIL)
I am now finishing Course 2 in my COETAIL cohort (there are 5 courses). At this rate I should be halfway to a master's by the end of next spring. Course 3 and 4 are next fall. Course 5 will be next spring. COETAIL stands for a Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Literacy. 
If you are interested here is the blog that I am creating as a part of the course Inspiration. As an educator I am all for use of technology but I also hold it with an open hand, knowing that technology is not the savior of education as some think it is. My educational philosophy is such that I believe technology is not limited to computer. Technology could be pen and paper, or saw and hammer. That is technology. Technology is a tool to be used. It is meant to enhance learning not substitute learning. Unfortunately, there are those who have taking technology wholesale assuming that it will fix all their problems and essentially compensate for their poor teaching skills. The truth is: good teaching is good teaching. If one cannot teach without technology then you will never be able to teach with it. 


Book Reading

An thought-provoking read.

Recently I have not had as much time for casual reading but I did pick up the following. 

• Reflections on the Psalms -C.S. Lewis 
• Excellent read and I wholeheartedly recommend!
• Evening by Evening -C.H. Spurgeon 
• Again, excellent devotional which you can read each night...highly challenging and motivating!
• The Apocrypha -Revised Standard Version 
• This was to be able to get a better understanding of what other texts were present in the early church since I talk about where our Bible came from with my seniors. I haven't finished this but have read parts of Esdra which parallels with the book of Ezra
• Biblical Approach to the Muslim -Dr. John Elder 
• This is a short book that is now out of print written by a man who spent more than 40 years as a missionary in Iran. It served as a basis for my lessons for a comparative religions unit that I do with the 9th graders at CAJ

Movies
Recently I watched the video The Cross and the Switchblade which is the story of David Wilkerson who, in 1958, felt led to reach out to New York City gangs. Great story and very inspirational. 

Humorous Bible Mistakes
Here's a few mistakes/typos from my high school Bible classes that you may find amusing. I hope they give you as good a chuckle as they did for me!

Solomon 1:39 (Don't know that book...)

Duet. 15:11 (Musical book...)

Colosisians (Consonant issues...)

Palsm  (Sort of like a possum but not)

1 Cor. 13:47 (A verse...that doesn't exist!)

“The Holy Spirit dwells in Christians and helps us through tragical moments in our life”

“The Bible also says that people who are rich have a harder time entering the land of God, and is exemplified for us as harder than a camel’s leg going through a hole in a needle."

“Adam and Eve both got punished for eating the tree”

“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called both Jews and Geeks...”

“[Polycarp] was sentenced to be burned on the steak”

 “...The flashlights of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the darkness. The something of the Lord is something. The love of the Lord is firm and all of his commandments are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great blessing. But who can memorize Psalm 19? Forgive me my sins. Keep my whole body from committing sins; may they not trespass against you. Then I will be pure, innocent of great sin. May these prayers and this something something be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and Redeemer.” (Psalm 19)

“In the beginning God created heaves and earth...”

“Just like Christ’s condescending love for his disciples and for all of us, we need to love

one another in the same way he loves us.”

"Sin interosculates naturally with people"

“On the contrary, we who live in the marred world of sinfulness, have an innate propensity towards the aversion of solitude.”

“Currently, the discipline of simplicity seeks to restore the modern psychosis over materials and affluence. Unfortunately, the modern world has turned out to be an insatiable and avarice one. We feel so obligated to keep up with this fragmented society that it is not a hyperbole to say that we are trapped in a labyrinth of unreasonable an unpractical attachments. Even the simplest decisions are made convoluted by us being concerned about what others think of what we do.” 

Prayer Requests

• That I will finish all of my grading and end-of-year-wrapup in a timely manner
• For the ministry at Joy Bible Camp. I will be assistant directing with Co-cheebs...my dad :)
• For summer planning as I visit the U.S. for about a month
• This summer I will be teaching a Red Cross Lifeguarding course again at Nojiri 

Some Pictures

A wet track meet. Dad is in the bright yellow.

Our blooming veranda garden. Recent addition: lavender and basil.

My confetti spaghetti masterpiece. Color is the key!

Lavender for Mother's Day

My CAJ community group: a mix of students from all grades.

Community group outing to an italian restaurant.

Mulberries are out!

Yum! Yum!

Flowers along the river.

Bumble bee looking for nectar.

Purples.