I had waited in line for hours upon hours, the water from the nearby lagoon sloshing around my feet as it tried to take me back into the receding waters with it.  Tilting my head far back I looked up at the towering structure that I waited in front of  just to be rushed through and out the other side.  The hours of waiting were worth it.  That was until I walked up to the entrance and the guard pointed to my bag and said in Italian, ‘you cant have that, you have to put that in storage.’  So I walked out of line and walked around the building to a small ally that was the storage facility that the guard told me to go to.

So I got back in line and waited another hour.  I walked past the guard and into the inner layer of this fortress of Holiness.  I walked through a tremendous 11th Century doorway and there it was.  Saint Marks Basilica, Venice, Italy, that’s where I stood at the present moment.  Within a gorgeous gold covered building.  There was not a single inch of the inside of that roof that wasn’t covered in gold!  Decorated with mosaics older then the entire country that I call home.  To think of the stories, the music that was heard inside these walls, it was mind blowing.

But the ceiling was not the reason why I was here. I came here for the choir lofts and the organ.   Those lofts I had studied about and understood their purpose.  It was for them that I waited hours in line to see.  I stepped out of the moving line that was walking around the outer edge of the transept crossing, and sat down on the floor and just gazed at the Organ and imagined the sounds that would be called forth from that wondrous slumbering beast.

I had just learned about the development of Oratorio, that is, the dramatic interpretations of biblical stories and texts in Latin music for the Masses and such.  This was something that was popular, but came into its element while St. Marks was being constructed.  The first Composer to write music for the Basilica was Adrian Willaert, he used the lofts and a new huge wooden structure called pulpitum magnum cantorum (great pulpit of the singers).  Together with these elements and the large vast caverns of the church where music could echo and cause what we would now call delay. With this Willaert created unique patterns of musical compositions and texts, that would give the music a call-and-response effect, while the choir would only be singing one line.  Due to the echos and the positions that the instruments and singers were placed, the music sounded as though hundreds were singing and playing inside the church.  This was achieved by creating layers upon layers of text and notation.  Then came the man whose music I had listened to in preparing and listened to imagine what would be sung here, Giovanni Gabrieli.  Gabrieli wrote the music to exemplify the structure of the church and would place the singers across from one another, so as to surround the audience below with blended harmonies.  As I sat on the floor and imagined what it would have been like to listen to tenors and altos calling back and forth with the basses laying down solid beats and adding into the mixture, I was brought into that time period and was able to truly imagine what a marvelous era it would have been to hear such beautiful melodies and sounds praising God.

It was a beautiful and humbling experience and brought the lessons of music and history together.  It was an opportunity that I am grateful to have experienced.

As I move quickly through the land of Italy to my next destination, fully content from the last. I find myself wondering how this would be if we as humans would all seek to find something more. To look for something more the the carnal, for something more then the immediate, and for something more then the fleeting. We look in all directions for something that draws us to itself, but then as we approach, we are pushed away, given only a time for solace. We look for completeness and only find a gaping hole given residence. Small yet significant is the gap, for within this gap a driving force so large and global that that to resist is futile (cliché but true). This force widens the gap, making it longer and longer before we find that same solace. Just in the same way to achieve the same high, a user must intake more and more. So finally struggling in the end to achieve even a fraction of what is dreamed, we succumb to frailty and resolve to acquiesce ourselves to defeat.

I am reminded of this only because of what I have seen and what surrounds me now. All around me I see need. I see the need for something, a universal search that needs no language. I see it on the faces of those that give their all to their lovers, yet feel empty after release. I see it on the faces of all those who pass by me in a rush to see the next site before their time runs out. No time to enjoy, and not enough enjoyment to fulfill. Kinda’ Catch 22 when you think about it.

I’m reminded of one of my classes back in Scotland, my Paul class. Though I saw nothing relating to Paul, I saw the needs he must have seen. I see the fervor and the love that he must have poured out. Those kinda events, those kinda things that occurred; they are what excite me for the future. They make me willing and just daring to go forward into the unknown with the understanding that God will care for his servant.

I find it so funny that now that I’m writing this, Andrew in Glasgow church yesterday preached on the very same essence or topic that I’m discussing here, being a people that are not only lovers of God but ‘doers’ of His work also.  Seeing the needs of the people sometimes can be heavy and feel like a burden to people.  There is just so much that needs done.  Then why do we not respond to our Saviors call for the need of workers, ‘the fields are ripe for the harvest’.   Didn’t Isaiah present a great example of what to do?  When he heard God calling out, “Who Shall I Send?”, He answered “LORD send me”!  All throughout the entire sermon in Glasgow I was smiling and shaking my head in agreement.  Never better put of whats in and on my heart then what I heard then.

Back to Paul though, the needs.  The needs that Paul saw within the people that he reached out to, I saw them too.  Right now I’m learning that Paul didn’t just wish to spread the Gospel, he saw the potential of the Gospel as a element of healing.  He didn’t go into each town, say some words, and then carry on.  No.  He spoke and spread the Gospel in a way that made it impossible to not want more of it.  So that even when he had left, that there had been established a new church to tend to its young flock.  Eventually that church would find ground in which to root itself and to rise from the dust and make itself a fountain of healing and renewal.  Even then Paul didn’t stop, we see his letters to the churches even after he has left them and is on the way to another section of the world.

In that same sense, I want to fulfill and be filled with God’s Will and Presence.  So that I may indeed not only spread the Gospel but create healing within the Church itself and in the community that it resides.

Coming off an amazing travel experience, I find it hard to not want to continue moving, continue learning about people and their lives and continue getting to know people and tell them about how God has changed my own life.  So that is the next goal, to find that time, that space when I can share and demonstrate His change within me and within His creation.  To continue on with what He has commissioned me to do, and not to let anyone or anything stand in the way.

As I sit here in Germany thinking about what to do next, waiting for a vessel to carry me across the sky once more, I ponder the beauty I have already seen. The beautiful coast of Scotland, the vast North Sea, the mainland of Europe. I flew right over Amsterdam and fifty miles away from my first destination we began to descend. As we came out of the cloudy cover I saw something that was more then beautiful, it looked like it was taken out of a movie put into my eyes. The rolling hills, the beautiful wind farm, the elegant and precise rows of field after field. They were gorgeous. The girl next to me Julia Ka, from Germany was holding her breath and closing her eyes, she was afraid of flying. For me this was the exhilarating part, the part that would make or break the deal, the landing. Looking out the windows I watched as the pilot reversed the engines and, having just rained, the tarmac spit up its excess water as the blow of the forced air hit it and was now being pushed to slow us down. A sigh of relief came from Julia and she said, (thank you God, or Gott sei dang) for a safe landing.

Its overwhelming sometimes to see such elegance and beauty all within the same substance. Doing some research for my fall break I stumbled upon a peculiar symptom of this action, its called Stendhal Syndrome or The Florence Syndrome, it is the reaction or more so condition that occurs when one it overwhelmed emotionally and psychologically by the sight of beauty and is driven to silence and reverence. Many documented cases have occurred in history. I might have experienced a couple occurrences myself, being almost to the point of tears when coming face to face with one of my favorite Renaissance paintings. The beauty, the elegance, the magnificent skill and care that can be seen, it overwhelms.

In the same sense of being overwhelmed by beauty and something that seems so unattainable, where does God fit in? As the song November Rain plays on the radio (in Germany), I am reminded of the way music can also elicit this type of response, I have had it happen many a time to me. So many times in fact that sometimes I lose the sense of the magnitude of just how intense the experience really is. To be taken into a place that some rarely enter, a land of reverence and excellence, becomes more then a seperatate experience itself, it turns into something that feels normal. When we accept the sacred or elevated as the normative, we let its “specialness” fade.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes we become numb, we give into apathy and try to cruise through each and every experience. This world has become a source of experiences in a bag. Nothing is speical unless it costs an arm and a lung. There is nothing elegant that cant be explained, and theres nothing true that cant be turned to lies. So overloaded with experiences and entertainment coming from all directions, we must find a way to lessen its impact and resonance with ourselves that we dampen and lower the way that something can get to us, so raw and so intimate can one lesson be that we must decrease the exposure of ourselves to not be ‘overwhelmed’. We have lost a love for being overwhelmed, for being taken by surprise. We have accepted the mundane and ordinary as parts of life and take them in stride. Was there ever a moment that we ever wanted to just run in the rain, to dance or shout in a great big hall, just so that we could hear our echo. A blond hair blue-eyed German tot is standing in the middle of the terminal shouting, he is listening to his echo, so fascinated by the simple sound of himself after he has yelled. When did we lose this? When did we become so hollow and so shallow that even the beauty of the rain falling and giving the world life becomes a nuisance?

I think its time not to find an inner child, as millions of people waster their life trying to relive their childhood. It not time to find yourself, you were never lost. It not time to let go and let live, to let go is to not care. It is not time to wake up, you were never dreaming. It is time however to sense, to learn, to take in, and give out. To live, not with just a purpose, but to live with a meanings beyond yourself. We find it so easy to block out the beautiful. Why? Because we never loved it in the first place. We are taught that beauty can only be seen, false. We are taught that love can only be found, false. All these things that we think are true, that we think can help us make sense of this tiny portion of time that is our life, they lead us in the wrong way. I’m not saying that I have the answer, but I’m saying I’ve found a way to it.

Theres only one way that I have found to answer this question that i have been asking myself since I can remember myself having semi-rationale thought… what am I doing? The time to leave has come and I yet have not answered my simple question, I think it will take much more time to find that for answer for myself.

When we first made contact with Ambrose Okot, Dean of Humanities and Education at Gulu University we were impressed with his dedication to children and willingness to partner with our organization. As a leader in education, he has insights into the needs of children beyond what we as Americans could possibly understand. In order to facilitate our program, he enlisted the aid of Jennifer Oyaro, a primary school English teacher and Allan Ongom a secondary teacher of Geography.

The secondary school is divided into 3 terms. Our mentors meet with the students twice each term. During these visits, students fill out a questionnaire, which is then sent back to us electronically. Though most of the papers deal with the usual questions of how they are getting along in the various classes and with living in a dormitory situation, there are some interesting details that are mentioned. It may be reports about bouts of malaria, eye or ear problems, cases of items having been stolen in the dormitory setting. When certain situations arise, the mentors may advise students or refer matters back to Mr. Okot and to ourselves. It is important to support students beyond just paying the tuition.

The mentors also make a point of visiting the family homesteads once during the first year. This is an important component of our program. It is important to work with the parents who often have not had educational opportunities. They need to realize how they can help their child and take responsibility where it is possible. It also helps the mentors to understand the home situation, especially if there are difficulties at home that may affect the student.

We are indebted to the fine work that Ambrose Okot, Jennifer Oyaro and Allan Ongom provide to our students. Thank you very much.

What does it mean to be HOLY?  Why do we as nations fail to fall to our knees from the single thought that there is a being far above our lowly means that debased Himself to LOVE US?

When is there a time when we come to know that there is something higher, something bigger?  When do we realize that there is a time that there was nothing but this higher being? When is the time that we realize that we do not fit into any time line that can be compared to this higher entity?  When?  There needs to be that moment when we realize that we are an infinitesimal cog in the workings of an infinite machine.   What do we do when we suddenly realize that there is something HOLY, something that is above and set apart.  We forget sometimes that this word, that commonly came to be used in expletives in the 1880′s and later, was originally a sacred word.  It was used to describe very few things, things that were meant to be either, “complete or something that is set apart”.

We have forgotten that our God is Holy, not that he is, but that HE IS.  The difference comes when its gets down to the practicality of this being an attribute of God.  Simply put, how is it that we respond knowing that we serve a Holy God?  Do we lock up our children?  Do we try to avoid that small little voice in the back of our conscious that says that we have no room for pride?  Do we try to do what we can to recognize such a tremendous chasm between us and God?   Do we run from the chasm?  You see, I’ve come to learn that without that actions of this HOLY and SET APART being that, this is all we could have done.  That’s not where the story ends, this amazing HOLY being has set himself apart from us, but yet has lowered himself to act on our own accord.  This is the true difference of Christianity, this one component is what sets us against a cacophony of other shouting religions trying to capture the heart and minds of those that have not yet seen the truth.  The difference is that, unlike all other gods of the world, our God acted on our part to redeem us, he himself not only acted but LOWERED himself to reach his creation.

Again, coming back to the question, what do we do when we realize that this HOLY God acted for us when we could not do so ourselves?  The title of this segment is ‘Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh!’, it is the Hebrew word for Holy.  This phrase, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY” is used many times within scripture to describe and give praise to God.  Not only does it signify the outright Holiness of God through its proclamation of this attribute three times, a number itself that is considered to signify holiness, but when it is used or uttered it is by angelic beings that are praising God.  One of my favorite passages of scripture within the OT is Isaiah 6, the Throne Room Scene.  In this utterly amazing and beautiful scene, Isaiah is given the vision of God on his throne.  He cannot see God, no one may lay eyes on such a HOLY being.  What he sees is angels, seraphim to be exact, these angels God specifically made to live within His presence.  To be within the vicinity of such Holiness, they had SIX WINGS.  Two to fly, two to cover their face, and two to cover their feet.  These beings then flew around God at all times, their only job… to praise him.  To one another they cried, which means, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! (Isaiah 6:3)” (read from right to left) קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת; מְלֹא כָל-הָאָרֶץ, כְּבוֹדוֹ.

As Isaiah realized into what company he had been brought and what he had only partially glimpsed, he knew that he was unworthy of even the life that he lived.  “Woe is me! For I am UNDONE (אוֹי-לִי כִי-נִדְמֵיתִי); I am a man of unclean lips…(Isaiah 6:5)”  Do we react in this way?  Do we find ourselves almost mindless with the thought that we have seen the ultimate being of the universe, its CREATOR, lower himself in a selfless act of love for his creation.   we forget ourselves in the order of creation, we may be high on the list, but we still needed invited to the party.  We could not get here on our own,  it is not by anything that we have done or could do that we have come to this point in our lives.  It has taken me a long time to realize that, that all that has happened, all that will happen, it’s all HIS.  Even this act of my life, it is to be HOLY, set apart from me and for the Glory of him.

The last thing that I will say is what I’ve come to learn in my class as consequences of those who have come to knowledge of the Holy.

1. We will learn to hate sin: naturally this is not our response we need to find that same hatred and righteous that our Creator feels towards sin.
2. We will learn to Love righteousness and strive for it: 1 Peter 1:15-16 says it all, Jesus told us, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Remember this does not say ‘as I am holy’ we cannot achieve that.
3. Finally, we must look for the day when all people will finally come to know the Fullness of the Holiness of God:  we must remember that we were once like those who do not know.

With all of this in mind, we must come to reevaluate our view of what we see of Holiness. The church needs a new doctrine of Holiness, or at least to restore the one we have, because we have lost much of what can be learned from this attribute of our Creator.

The scenery changed as we traveled further and further from what I had come to know as comfortable and acceptable. To a land or strange scenes and even stranger accents. We arrived in the dark, I knew by the maps I had looked at that somewhere around me was a large body water, but I failed to distinguish its presence in the darkness.

Immediately we realized we were locked out, we needed a code. So we knocked and someone came to assist us. We can to find out, the code was easy as the act of knocking. Revelations 3:20 says it all, Christ stands at the door and knocks, we have but to answer and let Him come in. We came in from the darkness and the cold to a atmosphere that could be captured by many Hollywood films but never imitated, a comfortable and welcoming hotel scene. We entered and the rest became a story of learning and experiences to be in memory vaults for a long time.

I think that thing that came to the most when I was in Arbroath was the speaker and the way he presented the Romans 12 passage. The study of giving ourselves wholly to the act of following Christ. Not only in the act of following but in the act of discipleship, learning, and becoming more like the Son of God. The fullness of the situation and the depth into which the speaker took the few passages that were covered showed me a deeper appreciation of something that we as followers of Christ take for granted, the giving of ourselves.

The later part of the weekend brought more lessons and more friendships to be made. Walking alongside the beautiful scenes of water and land, brought me closer to my creator. For me, to peer into the creation is to peer into the face of its creator, so as I walked alongside the beaches and gazed into sunsets I found that ideas that the speaker gave more and more reachable.

By the end of the weekend I had found myself laughing and joking with a group of complete strangers who had now become friends. When it comes down to it, the weekend was better then anything I could have imagined and I learned a lot from the speaker and from just opening and getting to know others from the weekend.

Given the opportunity, I’d do it all over again.  Talk more, laugh more, and come to realize that I can always DO more.  I can always give more of myself, I can always GIVE MYSELF. It has to be something more then just the act of sacrifice, it has to become more then an act of selflessness. In the act of selflessness, we as humans always find ways to make it selfish.  So…go beyond, go above, and go make someone laugh or let them make you laugh, its good for the heart don’t ya’ know.

THERE are some places you just must go, this is one of them, London. The city thrives with life and with the pursuit of something more. Surrounded by memorials to the past and to sacrifices made; the city pushes forward with a tense and earnest pursuit of something more then itself. The buildings they speak of beauty, the people they speak of progress. As I sit here writing this little blurb of a blog, I am struck by just how menial and nonexistent one can be within a city like this. How insignificant one can feel within the confines of a logical and driven city is absolutely amazing.

I only bring this up to realize what is really occurring within myself. The feeling of being a small tiny infinitesimal cog within the clockworks of an immense and functional time piece is beyond the words that are necessary to describe even the feeling let alone the implications of such a revelation. I’m not one to rightly express emotions or to attribute much adherence to a single one, but right now I can say that I feel…lost. Not geographically, I know where I am; a Starbucks situated on Piccadilly right across from Green Park, near the Buckingham Palace. That is not the problem, its the immersion into an environment that doesn’t need you. That is the one aspect that I can figure out is different, the single element that truly, when push comes to shove, is the reason for this element of immense waywardness. There is one thing that I must see when it comes to this feeling, that is will pass. That once back into the society and company that I know and coming to love will I find that sense of purpose and feel less like a single entity on the outside of an aquarium glass, tapping the pane and trying to figure out if I could swim.

ONCE the feeling of lost fades, then the feeling of amazement and absolute awe take their hold. This is where much of what I am all about began, well at least one half of me, the other part is across a channel. The push to go across a huge ocean began here, or at least I think it did. Not that much of what gave the push still remains. There is the still the thought and feeling that here is history, proper history, none of the American ‘oh we have history’ kind of history, but the deep and sometimes dark history that makes or breaks nations. Walking past some buildings that are older then the country that I call my own can be very intimidating, but it brings a sense of what was and what can be. We’ve done it different, and we’d like to think we’ve done it better. When that world around me is blazing past there still remains one element in them all, they are a single unit, a human. Something that is organic, something that cannot be removed and if it must, then only by force.

IT amazes me as people streak by, completely focused upon their tasks at hand, that they pass the very objects that I’ve come to see, as though they are no more important then a hostel they will never enter. The grand palace and the regal cathedral, they seem to have lost their significance and importance to all other then the common tourist.

Now that I’ve gotten all of that off my chest there seems little to say other then, seeing is believing, the sites, the views, the scenes they all seem to be from another world. They all seem to point to one thing, that there is something greater, something more then, something higher and worth pushing towards. That’s why I’m here, not just for the fish and chips, but for the sense of filling up, collecting evidence if you will. Evidence that is not needed but seen and respected for the beauty that it represents.

Appreciate, Culminate, and Affiliate. IF it be Great, then Prostrate.

]]> http://semesterinscotland.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/i-come-from-a-land-way-over/ Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:12:28 +0000 semesterinscotland http://semesterinscotland.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/i-come-from-a-land-way-over/ There’s a moment when something feels so right, you know that you have to do it.  This feels right.  Being in Scotland of all places to me is something that I had never thought of.  Then again who thinks of the moments when God interrupts our perfectly laid plans that wish to superimpose His Will?

Hearing the program described to me in my Globalization Class, I sat there totally uninterested thinking that I had my plan for my life until some Almighty moment may come and prove me wrong.  I didn’t have to wait long for that moment.  It wasn’t long before my plans began crumbling before my eyes, doors began to close on opportunities and for me and God, that’s how I begin to understand that His Will is for something else.  I had no idea what is was but I listened and prayed about what new thing was to come my way and I remained open to the fact that maybe God didn’t want me to travel.

Then I received an email introducing me again to the program but I wrote that off, thinking that everyone got those emails, so that wasn’t anything special.  Eventually events came together to make me realize that there was more to this program that met many of the things that I had been praying for God to bring to light or make me realize.

So, I’ve been here for almost three weeks now, and each day seems like a dream.  I wake every morning wondering when the beautiful scenery will turn into white walls and I’ll wake up in one of those hot rooms of Old Main on campus.  That moment never comes and I’ve come to settle well into this dream state of mine.

Every moment I need to give thanks for, every site I see takes my breath and it feels like murder to walk away to see another murderous scene of beauty and history. It’s so hard to not just sit down on that cold floor of The Glasgow Cathedral and imagine the bustle, the odors, and the presence that resided within those walls.  To not feel as though only an inch of time and space disconnects you from that noose or that blade that took the lives of many before you, for the same reason that you find confidence to not fear death.  Then it hits you, that raw feeling of being hopelessly overwhelmed by what surrounds you.  You can do nothing to avoid its collisions within your mind and your heart.  Its so hard to envision a public killing ground in this day and age even within the view of a gorgeous monument of mans achievements there stands a monument to mans darker facets.

Through this all, this taking in so much beauty it comes to remind me that there is so much within this world that elicits thoughts of something greater then self.  The first time I saw the Ocean, my only thought was, ‘How can anyone not believe in God?’.  The same thought invades my conscious as I look over the valleys, hills, mountains, and scenes of Beauty that tongues cannot tell.  His hand painted it all, each time I leave a site that really gets to me, I say goodbye in my own way. I tell it to keep doing what its doing, Glorifying God.

That mountain may never hear my words or that ocean never raise its waves to the roar of a song, but I find myself wishing for God to call His Creation to praise Him in only the way it knows proper. While they keep their silence, I will sing to the Maker of heaven and Earth, where my help comes from.  I  keep taking pictures to remind myself what a beautiful place this truly is and I will keep on being blown away and wish for this to never end.

I have been interning in Panama with the United Nations Development Programme Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean  (UNDP RCLAC). I’ll be here until August 2nd.  The pictures included are of the views from a friend’s apartment building in Panama City,  and me inside the ruins of the tower of a church from the first settlement of Panama City (Pacific Coast) looking toward the current metropolis…

It is only this blog’s second week and already I have to cheat a little bit.  This week I have been working on getting common final exams together instead of learning new things.  I would love to learn the best paper cut remedy though!

I would like to tell about something that I learned this semester.  I could not easily update my course webpages at the college.  If I used the college server it was easy to update on campus.  I just saved a file  in the appropriate directory.  But, to move files from home I would have to log into a web portal and just move one file at a time; I’d pull it down, edit it and then have to upload it- FTP was not an option.  If I made it easy to update the files from home by using http://msumorfords.com/jeff/current_courses.htm then it was hard to update from work.  I use FrontPage/Expressions to update the webpages.  The campus wireless network will not allow FTP  and FrontPage does not use secure FTP.

I solved the problem by putting a Twitter widget on my course webpage.  I could update from any computer that accesses the internet.  I could update from my phone.  Twitter handled pictures perfectly so I could share screenshots and photos of work .  I signed up for Jing and Screencast so that I could create, upload and then give links to short videos.

Students can choose to have announcements pushed to them by following the Twitter account or can visit the webpage to see announcements.

This solution has worked very well for me.  I started mid-semester so students never completely got in the habit of checking the announcements page.  I am looking forward to seeing whether students who are introduced to this at the start of the semester will visit frequently or follow.

Here is the outline of a presentation I’ll give at my college about this during the winter semester.

Tuesday October 14^th, 4.15 pm – Health and Safety Lecture (mandatory)

Friday October 17^th - Latest dates for Program Students to drop courses without penalty (not receiving evaluations). Fall and Winter – by the end of the 6th week / Spring – by the end of the 5th week / Summer Intensive – by the end of the 2nd day.

Monday October 20^th – Winter registration opens for currently enrolled students (not necessary for Full-time students).

Saturday November 29^th – Last day of Fall classes. Please check with your instructors whether  you have any classes in the make- up week (December 1 – 6, 2008).

Monday December 8th – Wednesday December 10th - Clean up and hanging for Open House (Student Council organised)

Thursday December 11th – Saturday December 13th – TSA Open House

Monday January 12^th – Winter term begins.

Saturday January 31^st – Last day that Incomplete marks from Fall term can be adjusted – IMPORTANT – this is the deadline that marks must be adjusted on file, all completed assignments must be handed in in advance to this date to the instructor at an agreed upon date.

Brenton Green – Overall, my time here has been a time of growth and maturity, both mentally and spiritually. It has been a time of the further development of my character and leadership skills, which God has given me. As I return home in about a week’s time, I look back and realize that this was a vital step in life, which caused me to put my faith and dependence on Him through every circumstance. God has caused me to rely on Him when no one was around, and when Satan and His demons tempted me. This time has given me clarity of thought into my calling of what I am going to do. I thank God, the leaders at the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and Geneva College, for the opportunity to attend the CTI program in Scotland.   

Jasmine Martin – I listen to the rain falling outside the window of my home in California, and it’s reminding me of Scotland. It’s hard to believe that the time has gone by so fast.  I know that I am not the same person I was before I went to Scotland, I have grown in so many ways. God has caused me to be bolder, less fearful, and more trusting than I once was. Even through times when it seemed like our efforts were futile, feeling like you were nothing more than a dead weight, or you were not contributing anything to the benefit of others, you were, in fact, having a big impact on all those around you. God uses us in ways we don’t see, and probably never will see. Just because we are unaware of what He is doing through us doesn’t mean that we should give up and go home. Rather, we press on toward the goal that He has set before us. Whether you are stuck in a small, cramped room reading a never ending list of books, listening to lectures, assisting with mums and tots or CY, or simply listening to a friend share their struggles and praying with them, God has put you in that particular place at that precise time for a reason. We touch each other, encourage one another, and share the love that He has given us. I learned so much from my studies with CTI, I learned even more with my encounters with the people involved.  

This past week we had our normal reading and seminars and we also went ice skating in Glasgow with the Covenanter Youth group and we went into Edinburgh on Saturday.  The best part of that day was that it SNOWED!!!  It was so exciting!!

So, for this week we finish up our last week of reading and seminars.  It is our last week in that little classroom that has basically been our home for the past semester.  It’s amazing to think about how much of our time we’ve been in that classroom this semester.  In less than a week there’ll be no more days spent in that tiny, freezing (or boiling depending on how long the heater has been on) classroom.  Even though it has gotten a little old spending large amounts of time in that classroom, I still like it.  I’ve learned a lot in that little classroom and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.  If I was to try to tell you all that I have learned this semester, I would have trouble thinking of an answer that would be able to summarize it all.  Stephen actually asked me the question a couple weeks ago along the lines of “what have you learned so far?”  I couldn’t really give him an answer because I had no idea where to start.  So if you’re going to see any of us when we return home again and you want to ask that question, make sure you have a few minutes to hear the answer because I don’t think it’ll be a very quick one.

On the schedule for the rest of this week we have presentations on Thursday, and dinner and a ceilidh on Saturday.  Please pray for Jasmine as she flies out on Saturday and for the rest of us as we fly (or maybe take the boat in Stephen’s case) out on Monday.  Also pray that we will remember the things we’ve learned this semester and that we would apply them to our lives when we get home.  

I think this is the last post of the semester.  Thanks for reading!  Come to Scotland and do CTI!  Sending your college-aged kids is also acceptable.  Tell your friends!  Oh, and Reformation Tours is also strongly recommended.  You’ll find all the links on the right hand side of this page.  

Cheerio!

Brenda

Classes continue as usual. Today we spent part of our seminar looking at the Westminster Directory for Public Worship. Rockin’.

One thing that has cropped up a few times recently, particularly in the Ministry Practicum module, is what the role of the Christian Minister actually is. It would seem that many today see the role of the minister as just preaching, with a token pastoral role just to make sure people are happy. The role of the minister is to put the food on the table – whether the people eat it or not is up to them. However we have been challenged to think of the minister as someone whose task it is to ‘present everyone mature in Christ’ (Col 1:28). He can’t just, in effect, tell people to take it or leave it – but he must ‘toil…struggling with all his energy’ (v29) to enable people to actually GET it. The job is not merely to feed the sheep, but to see them grow. The ministers’ aim should be ‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ’ (Eph 4:12). And we, as out of favour Arsenal goalkeepers, need to understand this too, so that we know what our role is.

As Reformed Churches which place great emphasis on preaching, it may seem dangerous to say that preaching is not enough, but Charles Bridges for one had no qualms about saying it – and his whole section on ‘The Pastoral Work’ is very helpful. A few quotes:

‘Preaching – the grand lever of the Ministry – derives much of its power from connection with the Pastoral work; and its too frequent disjunction from it is a main cause of our inefficiency.’

‘How little can a stated appearance in public answer to the lowest sense of such terms as Shepherd, Watchman, Overseer, Steward! – terms, which import not a mere general superintendence over the flock, but an acquaintance with their individual wants [needs], and a distribution suitable to the occasion’ (p.343)

‘There is a sort of mental deafness among the mass: so that, except the word is brought to them in the smallest parcels, and with the most direct application, the sound only is heard; while the meaning is never fixed upon the mind with an intelligent or permanent apprehension’ (p. 350)

Oh – and we had Thanksgiving since the last post!

And for my second and final pronunciation tip: I hate to break this to you so late in the day, but just because you pronounce it ‘Edinboro’ instead of ‘Edinberg’ doesn’t mean you’ve got it right

Initially as we began to read this book, I like many in the church had a skeptical mindset stating, “A class culture no longer exists in today’s world. Our nation is a land of opportunity, where everyone has the chance to succeed.” However, my mindset had changed drastically since coming over to Scotland. Our culture has readjusted the system to include another subsect, the middle class. The middle class is not entirely impoverished like the working class, nor is it wealthy like the upper class. Once the middle class was introduced into the scheme, the whole class system had to readjust. The working class seemed to get poorer, and the upper class seemed to get richer. In society, church’s began to neglect the working man in their evangelistic effort. They knew where the river of milk and honey would be flowing from.

 Why would I include a lot of background information? The background information helps us comprehend how the working class is viewed in today’s society. As I began to think about the working class, I felt a conviction in my heart as to whether or not I have failed the working class. The working class needs to be our utmost priority. Our churches need to stop using the elite’s language and speaking in a common every day tongue. We fail to fill their needs and meet the working class on their terrain. Their has been this expectation that the working class will come to church without invitation. Our mindset needs to change substantially, if we desire to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28) commanded by Jesus Christ. Roy Joslin writes, “It is a hard saying but a true one that until some more effective way of appealing to the artisan has been found there will be no real revival of religion in the country, since in modern post-war conditions this class has become socially more important than any other. No amount of success elsewhere will compensate the church for failure here” (Joslin, p. 1).

One church that has been going against the status quo is Airdrie RP Church in Scotland. During my stay in Scotland, I have seen a difference between the elitist church and the church I attend every Sunday. Every Sunday, Reverend Andrew Quigley preaches his messages in a clear, concise manner for every one comprehends. If he uses a theological term, he will initially define the term in the sermon. What most impresses me about the RP church is their purpose for everything that they do. Their purpose is to do everything for God’s glory, since God is head of the church. Most churches are unable to comprehend the purpose and will inevitably fail because of it. Further, programs such as moms/tots encourage Christian mothers in the congregation to bring their non-Christian mothers, and toddlers to church for a play time and fellowship.

In closing, the church has become an elitist culture filled with rules and regulations that no done out of a routine. If the people of God desire a revival, then we must follow the guidelines stated by Jesus in Matthew 28:16-20. It states, ”Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. The Jesus came to them and said, ’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Are we as a church body willing to evangelize to the working class outside of the church?  

Brent.

The rest of the week I spent time with my mother as she came to visit me and to tour around Scotland for the first time! Stephen spent the week off at home in Northern Ireland, Brenda spent good time with her friend Karen and Brent bought a kilt!

This week we continue forward in our studies. We have now begun a book entitled “Urban Harvest” by Roy Joslin.

We are all missing Beth as she is in America speaking with Churches for a total of three weeks– please keep her in your prayers as she will need a lot of strength.

Thanks for your love, interest and prayers! God Bless!

In Him,
Heather

PS We will be celebrating Thanksgiving while here(we’ll have it on the 24th), which we’re all pretty psyched about!!!

One of our courses here at CTI is Ministry Practicum, and not only does this course involve reading and seminars, but it also involves assisting in some of the ministries of the church.  The ministries that we are involved in are: Mothers and Toddlers, Covenant Kids Club, and Covenanter Youth (CY).  Heather, Jasmine, and I help out with Mothers and Toddlers; Stephen and I help out with the Kids Club; and all of us help with CY.  I’ve really enjoyed being involved in these ministries and I’m really glad that it is a part of the CTI course.  It really makes you think about how you can be a more active member in your own church at home and it’s great to be involved in these parts of the church life of Airdrie. 

My favorite thing about CTI is that it’s not just about gaining knowledge about Christ and His church, but it’s also about applying this knowledge to your life.  Without applying the knowledge to your life, it won’t do you too much good. 

I hope you’ve been enjoying reading about our time here in Airdrie so far and about what we’ve been learning and such.  Keep reading!  Oh, and if you’re interested in doing the semester in Scotland for yourself, definitely do it!  You won’t regret it!

For ‘Biblical Theology’ one of the books we’re studying is G. I. Williamson’s commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith. The WCF was written at one of the purest times of church history, by some of the greatest dudes ever. It’s so key to Presbyterianism, and we can talk about it a lot, but how well do we actually know it? Well, after this semester of CTI we’ll certainly know it a lot better!

‘Ministry Practicum’: One of the books which we study together for this is Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines, which recently made frequent-US-visitor Prof Edward Donnelly’s ’10 books you absolutely must read’. And no matter how many times you have, it’s still challenging. Brenton and I are also studying Charles Bridges’ ‘The Christian Ministry’ and we have seminars on it each Thursday with Andrew. It’s brilliant – and you can’t often say that for a book that’s dedicated to ‘His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury!’

For Reformed Evangelism, we’re studying a book called ‘Every Thought Captive’, which is Van Til apologetics for High Schoolers (as it is described on the back..). So obviously a book that is going to be very helpful – but one I would probably never have read if it wasn’t for the CTI! Next semester we are moving on to study ‘Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God’ (Packer) and ‘Urban Harvest’ – both of which should be good.

The CTI is far more than books of course – but if you gained absolutely nothing else from it you would have been able to read some immense books and discuss them both with each other and with experienced pastors.

Though if that’s all you gained, you’d probably have bigger issues than not being able to pronounce ‘aluminium’ correctly.

…This week was a bit uneventful, especially compared to last week’s Reformation Tour (which was amazing!) Last night, the CY ministry started up again. CY is the Covenanter Youth—the ministry geared towards the teenagers. Carla Quigley organized games we played; teams against teams would play to win the most points. Things got a bit crazy in clean up… a whole lot of cereal and milk ended up on the street and pavement outside the church’s steps. I found it quite amusing.

I do enjoy riding the train to Glasgow, it’s only a 30 minute ride which seems like no time at all. Jasmine and I did some window shopping last weekend there. Tomorrow we hope to go to one of the free art museums in the city and come back for a Mexican Food Night at our flat.

Oh yes, I’d like to also announce that the boys have moved into their house! But I’ll let them tell you about that….

But anyway, I love this program; CTI has really changed my thinking pattern. How? God has equipped others to show me what I need to know and how I can grow as a disciple of Christ. I cannot thank God enough for placing me here—for I know this was God’s calling for me—because of the people I have met, topics I have discussed, things I have observed, and activities I have participated in. May I encourage you, in turn, to pray that God will lead you to where he wants you to be and that He would give you the courage to run after these things?

I’d love to go on and on, but I must just mention one truth I have come to understand much deeper while being here: that EVERYTHING be to God’s glory. Nothing we do is for “us”— it’s all for Him.

<3 Heather

Welcome to the CTI Study Abroad Program’s blog. My name is Brenton Green. By the end of this year, I will have completed my Student Ministry degree at Geneva College.  Through the course of my 22 years, I have never really been outside of the country. There have been plenty of reasons behind my method of thinking. Once 9/11 happened I assumed that the terrorists would have a more predominant role in the destruction of the United States. There was absolutely no way I was leaving the country.  However, God changed my way of thinking. He determined that my next destination was Scotland. Initially, I was still very hesitant about doing the study abroad program. My specific reason was the program was run under a Reformed Presbyterian denomination. If you knew me during my sophomore year, I hated going to a service that was Reformed. I was and still am affiliated with the P.C.U.S.A Presbyterian sect. The mandatory chapels Geneva required students to go to each day was my study time.  Even though God has changed my mindset towards the Reformed denomination, I still was unsure that I could deal with an entire semester of Reformed worship.  After many months of constant prayer, God had decided my first semester was going to occur in Scotland. Since God had predestined this choice, how was I going to argue with God? God’s decision was final, and I was going to be studying in Scotland.

John 15:18 states “If the world hates you, you should realize that it hated me before you.” Over the course of this past week, this Scripture has really resonated with me as we visited the sites of the Scottish martyrs. Even though men like John Knox, Andrew Melville, and George Wishart knew death was imminent, they still felt called to proclaim Christ as Lord. Their entire life’s purpose was not their own, but rather of the Kingdom of God.  As the week continued, I began to wonder, would I truly die for Christ at any moment? This thought begain to pentrate deep into my inner midst. If I was not willing to die for Christ, was I then truly committed to Him?  My doubts lingered until I began to think what Christ really did for me. He has saved me from the pit of Hell and filled the void within my heart. Before Christ was in my life I attempted to fill the gap with any form of pleasure.             

Although I could probably write an entire five to seven page paper on this week, I am going to stop for now.  I do not think God has placed me here out of sheer luck. God has a purpose that is beyond my knowledge. Continually I pray that God will enlighten my mind when He sees fit.  

I would ask that all the Geneva students and faculty continue to pray for our studies and our time in Scotland.

Greetings! My name is Jasmine and several years ago I came to Scotland on a mission with my old church and the impression it left upon me was that of a land in total darkness. It was heart breaking yet I couldn’t help but feel compelled to return one day.
It has been four years, I have since changed churches and denominations, but the desire to return to Scotland continued to press upon my heart. I heard of the CTI program here and with great enthusiasm, signed up for a semester of biblical studies. I have since been amazed at what I found.
While Scotland remains a land in darkness, there is a beacon of light piercing the perpetual blackness. That light, I discovered, was that of a thriving, radiant church body in Airdrie.
Being true to 1 Corinthians 12:26, I have been privileged to witness a church functioning as it should when Christ is the true head.
I have seen them rejoice in one another’s joys and I have seen them pull together in one another’s tribulations.
During this past weekend we attended a camp with the congregation and was able to experience the joy and love of the Father that we all share. The radiant light of God’s love flooded every aspect of their lives. I am truly blessed to be here.
In our own group of CTI students we have been forging friendships, building each other up, sometimes in unconventional ways, but never the less, encouraging one another as we grow in Him and His word.
I thank God everyday for the opportunity to be here with my brothers and sisters, American, Scottish, and Irish alike.

So, as I said, I am Brenda Gladfelter. I am a student at Geneva College where I’m studying history. I’ve been to Airdrie 3 times before, once just visiting and twice on mission trips, and I really love it here. I wanted to come for the semester both because of what is being taught and because I really wanted to spend more time here. Who knows, maybe I will move here in the future!

You may be wondering what exactly this CTI semester is all about. The courses we are taking are Covenanter History, Biblical Theology, Reformed Evangelism, and Ministry Practicum. As Andrew Quigley described it to us on the first day, these courses work together to teach us where our church came from, the theology of our church, and how those should be applied. He put it a lot better, but that’s basically it. We’ve all been here almost two weeks and we’re coming to the end of our first week of seminars. The seminars are led by Dick Knodel and Andrew Quigley. Beth Bogue also leads one for the girls.

To wrap up this first post I’ll just say that everything is going well and we’re learning a lot and having fun too. I could probably say a lot more, but I’m being forced to write this right now by a crazy Irishman so that is all I have for you at this time. Stay tuned for more on our semester written by one of the others.