Not to long ago, my good friend, Jason, and I splurged a little bit and went to one of the more ex-pat/tourist friendly places downtown, and I had one of those moments of grace that I need to have every now and then when it come to learning this ridiculously hard language. The waitress, who was a Czech, said, “You speak good. My manager, an American, has been here 6 years and she couldn’t speak half of what you have spoken tonight. Keep studying because you will get it.”
Praise God! I need these moments every now and then. It would seem that I’ve received a couple of these as of late. A week ago I went to see a movie with a friend and well I was waiting a Czech man approached me, asking me about the tramline that was under construction and how to get somewhere. I respond, in Czech, with telling him that the tramline wasn’t running through there but there was a bus and then I told him where it was. He looked at me and asked, “Odkud jste?” (Where are you from?) I responded, “Jsem z Ameriky.” (I’m from America) He had a look of shock on his face. He said he didn’t think Americans would take the time to learn Czech as well as me. This encouraged me personally, but as far as “Missiology” is concerned it was deeply saddening. This is for another post and another time.
Now I have a long way to go, but these moments keep me on that journey! I have to start getting after the language again here this summer. Or I should stay I need to continue to press forward on this journey toward fluency of this seemingly impossible, at times (okay most of the time), language.
Search Results for: Erik
bloggn’ from the middle of nowhere in hungary
Good evening from Tihan, Hungary! I’m sitting at my computer on some all together too slow internet in my “bungalow”, but I guess I should be stoked that I have net at all, SO PRAISE GOD! I’m here for the Area Staff Conf. that takes place every three years. It includes “Eastern Europe” and Russia. It has been a blessing so far. Our main speaker thus far is an acquaintance and friend from when I was in Xenia, OH at AIA headquarters – Erik Thoennes (click here to see a previous post about Erik.). One word to sum Erik up – STUD! Last night he introduced his talks for the next 3 days and brought it and brought it strong, in a simple introduction! I was pretty exited for his talk this morning and it floored me. Over the last year, or so, I’ve been getting bombarded by the need to have the Gospel permeate through my being more holistically than it has ever before.
See I, like so many other Christians, regulates the Gospel to the nonbeliever, the person who hasn’t entered a personal relationship with Christ. Well folks, I’ll be honest – WE ARE WRONG! Christians need the Gospel each day. This morning Erik brought this theme and it hit home for me! One of the thoughts he talked about what how foolish it is, as believers, to live as if we have to earn something that has already been paid for and given to us! That being, life anew from Christ’s life, death and resurrection. I thought of this illustration afterwards as I reflected:
Imagine me buying a great gift for my 12-year-old sister, Mikaela, for her birthday coming up. I take the time to shop, and then pay for it with money from my salary that has come from God, but also from many amazing ministry partners that are behind me that God connected me with after lots of hours on the phone and meetings as I raised support. So I take the time to buy it, send it to her, and upon receiving it she loves it. She calls me from Wisconsin and thanks me. Then imagine a week later me getting $40 in one-dollar bills in the mail from her. Let me remind you, she’s 12 and gets a minimal allowance. Then imagine that in the envelope there being a note that says, “Zach I love the gift, but I must pay for it. So here is two months of my allowance.”
Ridiculous, right? What an insult would that be? I did the work. In love I bought it and gave it to her and then she is trying to earn the gift! Well, take that times infinity and that is what I do to God every day when I try to impress or prove myself to this world in an effort to receive acceptance that God has already giving me in a insane-gracious-God-manner. May the Gospel sink into our hearts and minds deeper and deeper and may we never tire of our need for the Gospel! Okay, I have to go to dinner and then another session. Be A Revolution!
p.s. Thanks for the prayers about my final on Thursday. I, by the grace of God, rocked the verbal, but then got rocked by the written! Praise God my identity and worth doesn’t come from that test! blessings…
a great day of curriculum
Some of you are aware of what my training down here at Athletes in Action’s World Training & Resource Center looks like but I realize that most of you probably don’t. Let me sum it up quickly for you: Monday – Bible Interaction (we wrestle through the background of a book of the Bible and then wrestle with a section of the text) & Curriculum (we bring people in from inside and outside AIA to share on a wide variety of topics with us new staff peeps); Tuesday through Thursday – We work on campus with student-athletes and also receive one-on-one training from our directors; Friday – Prayer, discussion, and staff meetings. There you go a quick run down. It has been a blessed 14 months since I have moved down here! I wouldn’t trade it in for anything!
But yesterday was a unique day! We had the privilege of having Dr. Erik Thoennes, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology at Biola University, (for some bios on Erik click here, here and here) come and teach us about Loving people for the long haul: The Image of God and Perseverance in Ministry. I would love to give you a run down of my notes right now but I have to get going, but I wanted to give you some links to read and listen to some of Erik’s stuff. Other staff people said that it would be the best curriculum of the year for me and it didn’t disappoint! So here are some links for you:
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Thoennes on the Top Books
Laughing Through Tears
Good Question: You Are or You Aren’t
Interview with Dr. Erik Thoennes on his book “Godly Jealousy: A Theology of Intolerant Love.
Godly Jealousy: A Theology of Intolerant Love
I hope that you are blessed by Erik like all of us were yesterday! Another interesting note about Erik is that he played American Football in Europe too! I man after my own heart! Have a revolutionary day!
faith in the face of pain & cancer
This morning at our fall planning meeting with our staff team, Matt and Sally, our campus director and his wife, shared about one of their friends who appears to be in the last stages of brain cancer. It was a sobering experience as we began our meeting today. I wanted to direct you to Erik and Kelly’s website, because they need prayer. Hearing Matt and Sally talk about the faith of Erik and his wife, Kelly, blew me away and had be asking myself, “Would I have the same faith in my Savior if I were in their shoes?†I pray I would, and I pray you would as well. Click here to visit their website and I encourage you to pray for them as things seem to be getting worse before better, as far as his condition goes. Here is a portion of one of the more recent blog entries:
Kelly was reading Ps 91 to Erik today, and as she finished the final verses:
14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Erik said “that’s wonderful!” and fell asleep. It’s the perfect picture of what we’re asking the Lord to do right now: that Erik’s mind would be fixed on Christ; he would dwell in His presence; he would be at rest, and not fixed on fear.