On Monday I'm flying from Helsinki to Budapest, then getting a train to Arad, Romania. I'll be spending a week there, visiting some friends I met this summer at the 24/7 Balkan gathering in Ohrid, Macedonia. They are part of a charity called Networks that "are involved in helping the poorest of the poor in northwest Romania." For more on the work, visit http://networks.org.ro/
I'm going mainly to connect with people there, find out more about their work, and spend time worshiping and praying with them. This will be my first visit to Romania, and I'm pretty excited about it.
Feel free to pray into the trip - for provision, traveling mercies, and that God plans for the trip would fully come to pass.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
To love God with my mind
I'm currently planning to do a degree in 'biblical and missional theology' - see here for more details on the actual course. My plan is to start the course in January, although I'm trying to sort out some of the practical and funding details at the moment. I would be part of an organisation called ICY, who facilitate this course in Europe.
So why would I want to do this course? Well, firstly I feel that it will give me a lot of skills I will need in the future, in particular in terms of leadership, mission and building communities. Although I don't have a very clear picture of my future, I'm quite sure it will involve these things. I've also realised that I'm quite passionate about getting deeper in my understanding of Who God is, the Bible, mission, and the Church. The idea of doing courses such as "Pioneering Leadership for the Missional Church" seems pretty exciting to me. These subjects are all so linked, and there's so much to explore - as many have said, our Christology should shape our missiology, which should in turn shape our ecclesiology.
I've been reading "What Saint Paul Really Said" by N.T. Wright recently, and it's been challenging my thinking on a range of different subjects, such as Saul's agenda before his conversion, the message of the gospel, who Paul believed Jesus is, the righteousness of God, justification and more. But one line in particular stood out to me a few weeks ago - "The language of theology, properly understood, gives birth to the language of love." Studying theology for me is about going deeper in the knowledge of God, both in my intellect and in my heart. I want to know God, Who is love.
"Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence."
Matt 22:37 (the Message)
So why would I want to do this course? Well, firstly I feel that it will give me a lot of skills I will need in the future, in particular in terms of leadership, mission and building communities. Although I don't have a very clear picture of my future, I'm quite sure it will involve these things. I've also realised that I'm quite passionate about getting deeper in my understanding of Who God is, the Bible, mission, and the Church. The idea of doing courses such as "Pioneering Leadership for the Missional Church" seems pretty exciting to me. These subjects are all so linked, and there's so much to explore - as many have said, our Christology should shape our missiology, which should in turn shape our ecclesiology.
I've been reading "What Saint Paul Really Said" by N.T. Wright recently, and it's been challenging my thinking on a range of different subjects, such as Saul's agenda before his conversion, the message of the gospel, who Paul believed Jesus is, the righteousness of God, justification and more. But one line in particular stood out to me a few weeks ago - "The language of theology, properly understood, gives birth to the language of love." Studying theology for me is about going deeper in the knowledge of God, both in my intellect and in my heart. I want to know God, Who is love.
"Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence."
Matt 22:37 (the Message)
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