Today is my 10th birthday! (Or, for Brian, my 120th month anniversary). 10 years ago today my ears were opened to the gospel and I put my faith in Jesus Christ. It all happened at a church drama called "Heaven's Gates & Hell's Flames" which was performed at Trinity Assembly of God in Zion, Illinois on April 25th of 1995. (7:00pm, in case you were wondering). I am actualy looking at the little yellow ticket right now - it's starting to get a little tattered from being in my wallet all this time but it's still readable and in surprisingly good condition. I am grateful to my friend Jason for inviting me to the drama and being so patient in responding to my myriad objections to the gospel, for my sister April who went along with me. Most of all I am grateful to God who on that night rescued me from the kindgdom of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Thank you, Lord, for saving me even though I was hostile to you and a stranger to your promises - You are good and merciful beyond comprehension.
This time of year will always be a time of reflecting for me, looking back on where I've been, looking forward to where I'm going. I can't believe it's been 10 years - I was sure that I would have everything figured out by now. More and more I realize I know less and less. But I am confident that God is God and that His promises are true, even if I'm slow to understand at times.
This time of year will also probably always remind me of some of the hard lessons we learned about a year ago. There were some painful experiences we went through, and I wish I could say it never crosses my mind anymore and that all the difficulties and pain had all been transformed into wisdom and understanding. That's partly true, but I guess it's another case of 'already/not yet.' Maybe next year. I can say that there has been some wisdom and some sensitivity and some greater depenendence on the Lord that has resulted, and even if it never makes perfect sense at least I can trust in God to continue leading and teaching and working inside of us to renew us in His image. Lord, don't let me stand in your way!
This week I am finishing up my finals for all my classes, and I plan to post some excerpts from some of the papers on here later this week. For my Acts to Revelation survey course I wrote a theme paper on sickness and the gift of healing and I would very much enjoy getting some other feedback on it. I've also completed my translations of Ephesians & Colossians so maybe some day, 15 or so years from now, I'll have finished translating the NT. I'm actually translating from the Greek into Interpretative Dance, so I'll have to wait until I get more space so I can post the videos. :)
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