Prayer Walk & Infant Baptism

I know, too many posts in such a short period of time. I guess interesting things are happening and I feel the need to share them and get feedback.

Tuesday nights are GBU (University Bible Group) meetings and we were going on a prayer walk around the UQAM campus. We were only six people (three leaders…) so I went on a prayer walk with one of the leaders. He’s actually learning French at l’UQAM so we went to a few of our classrooms and prayed for our teachers, classmates and the university in general. We prayed about many different things, but at one point I asked a question that made us stop and talk for the remaining time.

“I know everything is possible with God. But since the world is always getting worse and will one day reach a point where it’ll be judged by God and will be destroyed, can we pray and hope for a revival in the Québécois society?” That was my question.

I’m sort of tired to pray for God to move hearts, to bring life to the students, to help them make right choices and be delivered from sin because if they don’t hear the message of Jesus Christ, no change will come. I do not mean that we should not pray for those things to happen, but we should pray that God would open our hearts and eyes to see what we can do and how we can bring His gospel on campus. We need to pray that God would strengthen and equip US to shine His life around us.

My conversation with my prayer partner though was very inspiring. I’m realizing how superficial I am when it comes to the things of God, how quickly I get discouraged at praying and how I forget about the spiritual battles that are going on around me. And because of that, I’m no threat to Satan and his demons.

We were three people going for something to drink after the meeting. The leader and I had some stuff to talk about and the other person accompanying us was a student. We didn’t know he was Catholic so it opened up a range of discussion topics. I had to stop them on infant baptism and make sure my understanding of it was real. It’s quite interesting the views people hold and it’s good to rub shoulders with them. Both guys were pretty much for infant baptism. The Catholic guy seemed to change his view or words as we talked (going from “it’s to ensure the baby will go to heaven if he dies before a certain age” to “it’s the symbol of a blessing to be born in God’s family” - I might lack some info here though) but anyways, what I’m wondering about it that they were saying that early Christians associated baptism with circumcision. Circumcision was not to be performed anymore (no more blood needed) but baptism was a replacement for it (an alliance of water). I get the point and see how people at that time could have linked the two together, but I personally don’t see any evidence for it in the New Testament (if you have some Bible sources about it, please let me know). But the guys argument was that this thinking (link between circumcision and baptism) was so deep into the philosophies of the Jews, that there was no need to write about it in the New Testament (to me, this is quite a weak argument, they might have sources, but I have no idea what they are). It’s okay if baptism is a symbol as described in the Bible, but the only baptisms talked about in the Bible are done after repentance and I don’t think we should baptize for any other reason than what the Bible tells us we should. I have little knowledge about this all, so your comments are welcome!

After the Casual.

Hello, so the Casual is behind me now.

We were six people to ride the metro after class, going to my place. We had lunch together and then played Skip-Bo, drinking tea and eating some Pepper and Spices cake (it turned out just like my mom’s!). So that was the Casual. Most of them were tired or had to go out for lunch with the rest of the class at 2pm so we didn’t spend a lot of time together, but eh, I’m glad anyways.

We had a very short discussion on Jesus as Savior. Very short. A guy felt bad for exclaiming, “Jesus Christ!” (because there was a Catholic girl and I around) so he apologized but couldn’t express himself properly like, “Sorry, I said, eh… I said…” so I helped him and said, “My Savior’s name”. Another girl thought I was a bit selfish for saying, “MY Savior’s name” (in her mind I should have said ‘our’ instead) and she continued in saying that the way I was saying it, made it sound as if Jesus was my Savior and not theirs. So I told her, “Well, maybe Jesus is not your Savior and that’s why you feel that way.” She didn’t seem impressed and only had a “whatever” type of expression on her face. We continued to play and had a good time.

I pray that God will use this mini conversation to make her reflect on Jesus and that she takes the time to think, “Is Jesus MY Savior?” Because that’s what she wanted me to say, that Jesus was pretty much everybody’s Savior.

The Casual.

The Casual

Be led upward.

 

Since our semester is over (well, apart from the internship starting in two weeks), one of our teachers asked us if we’d be interested in going out for lunch this week to celebrate. People picked the place and we figured out who’d be coming. A fellow student came to me and told me that I should open my house to give another option to those who were not interested in alcohol and the kind of lunch we were going to have. Interesting.

 

How could I say no. I’m a party-pooper myself (no surprise eh) so I organized a “Casual”. That’s how I’ve been calling the “event”. People from my class who aren’t interested in the lunch can come to my place tomorrow. We’ll eat lunch together and then eat some Pepper and Spices Cake and enjoy some tea. Oh, we’ll be playing boardgames too.

 

You can pray about it. It’s not that I love hanging out with university people, they’re nice people for sure, but you know how it is probably. But I want to use this opportunity to have unbelievers at my place and so create a new atmosphere, a place where people will feel welcome and hopefully will open doors for us to have meaningful conversations about God and His Word. They’ll read plenty of verses in my room and in the kitchen. They’ll ask questions about the missionaries posted on the wall, we’ll, hopefully.

 

We’re on the third floor. So I made a little sign on the second floor level, in the stairs when you come in. I wrote “The Casual” and then there’s a hand that points upward and at the bottom I wrote, “Be led upward” (upward because they have to go up the stairs). My hope is that the Casual can lead them upward. Yes, I do allow myself to dream. But I’ll be spending the next two and a half years with them at university, so I’ll probably be doing more of these Casuals and hopefully, it’ll bring the upward, not just to the third floor, but to God.

Arguing.

I am quite weak in speech and I’m no good for live argumentation. I’ve always looked up to people who could do that in a constructive way with good points and good sources. I’ve been thinking about argumentation lately, from arguing about points of views on food or ecology to sharing the Gospel and revealing the pitfalls of people’s philosophies. I am not sure anymore if I want to be someone who knows and can argue well with people. Simply because the majority of the stuff that I find myself arguing about are points of views about things that are not worth arguing for.

I firmly believe that the Scriptures cannot be bent, at any cost and so I want to be able to contend for the truth (Jude 3 says, “… I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the truth that was once and for all entrusted to the saints..”). No doctrine of the Bible, no Gospel point can be altered or compromised, ever. And these are worth fighting for.

But there is little use in arguing about issues that the Bible does not speak clearly for or against. Romans 14 states that for matters of “holy days”, foods and dietary restrictions, one should simply be “convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5).

I believe that what is most important when I feel like I need to “mettre mon grain de sel” (add my grain of salt… French expression) to a conversation because I have a different opinion and want to argue my position, I should look at my motivation. Why do I want to argue? To show the other person’s wrong? To humiliate people? To elevate myself? To look smart? To look different? To help? To keep someone from danger? I think that that’s my job prior to say any word, “Why do I feel the urge to talk?”. If someone’s asking me my opinion, then that’s fine, but if I have wrong motivations, then it’s useless to argue. If my knowledge can help someone who truly is in the wrong, then I must argue and pray for the person, but if my argument is about trivial things or things that the Bible says we should personally be convinced about and that opinions can differ, then, I’m wasting time and pouring vinegar into my relationship bottle.

It’s humbling to keep quiet when the heart disagrees on issues that are not cast in black and white and have no spiritual consequences, worldly stuff. But I think that this is actually promoting love and peace. But one cannot forget to contend for truth revealed and plain found in the Bible.

This is sort of new to me. My understanding and explaining of it isn’t exactly clear, sorry about that. Feel free to add and remove. This is only my thoughts being processed.

Lloyd-Jones wrote:

“No man should like argument for the sake of argument. We should always regret the necessity; but though we regret and bemoan it, when we feel that a vital matter is at stake we must engage in argument. We must ‘earnestly contend for the truth’ and we are called upon to do that by the New Testament”

Micro Teaching

People have been asking me how it went…

As you probably know, I was getting ready for my micro teaching at university. I decided I would teach my classmates how to tie a tie. A few weeks ago, the teacher drew our names out of a ziploc bag to determine the order we’d do our micro teaching and guess what, my name came up first. That sort of things usually never happens to me.

October 23 really came by very fast. This morning I rode the metro with a tie around my neck, got to class, had people move the desks to the sides of the walls of the classroom, got people in a circle, gave them a tie and taught them how to make the Half Windsor knot. I had made it a point to take it easy, be relaxed and have a good time. Which I did.

While we were getting the desks in and out of the classroom for the third micro teaching, the teacher stopped me from helping out, took me aside and told me something like, “I couldn’t have hoped for a better start for today’s class, you really did a great job, thanks.” I said welcome.

Coming from this teacher, I was quite delighted. I thank God for blessing my morning and enabling me to do a good job. Thanks t0 those who thought and prayed about it.

Random things about today

8:30ish: I broke my capo.

9am: Rachel and I got to the bus stop just to realize that we were late. We simply took her car to get to church.

 

9:30-12ish: Church. For the first time, we were asked to choose the songs. So Rachel and I chose songs that we knew we could actually play (we’ve had a hard time playing the “Célébrons Dieu” songs (sort of French hymnal). We played on stage for the very first time, but without mics, so people, again, had a hard time following us. During the first song, a new guy that was in the church came up front and started playing on the piano, trying to play along with us, then kept on trying following us for the rest of the worship time. A little awkward, since he didn’t know the chords/notes, but eh. At the end of the service, he came up to Rachel and I and started telling us about all the great things we could do together as a worship team, he could teach us more guitar stuff and bring his music students to play with us in church. He wants to transform the whole worship part of the church and it was his first time in church! I felt like telling him to sit in church for a little and get to know the people and the church’s needs about music, and, talk to the church’s leaders about it… and make sure he is not imposing anything on us, as we’ve been planning with more people about the music team. Quite a morning. He’s really gifted though, he played at the Montreal Jazz Festival he said, and it would be neat to have him, but it was his first time in our church, so I’m hoping and praying that he’ll be guided by the church’s leaders about this and take the time to get to know the people and see for himself if he wants to go to our church for real or not.

1:30-3pm: Bought a new capo. I couldn’t buy a black one since Esther (roommate) as the black one. I felt like getting the blue one, but… Jason has one like that. Didn’t feel a white one and thought the red one was a little too bright. SO. I got the silver one. After my trip to Archambault, I went “upstairs”. That’s a rectangle hill where people play soccer, play with their dogs and etc. and that’s really close to where I live. So I went there and walked and enjoyed the NICE WIND.

Now I don’t feel like studying.

Gain.

I love to hear John Piper say:

“… How do you make Christ look magnificent when you’re dying? Answer: say “gain”. If you put everything this life offers over here and Christ over here and death takes all this and gives only Him, what do you say? GAIN! And when you say that, you know what happens in hell? They gnash their teeth. Fail! We failed again! we can’t stand it when those saints treasure Christ and delight in Christ and are satisfied with Christ and enjoy Christ so much that He looks so great. They gnash their teeth in hell when dying Christians say GAIN. And the angels, with tears running down their faces they rejoice, yes! Look how magnificent Christ is magnified by being preferred above everything that life can offer.”

Hey, I’ll be going to WEST for Christmas! I’ll be visiting my sister and her husband who are living in BC this year. Exciting!

by Faith

“By faith people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land … By faith the walls of Jericho fell … By faith the prostitute Rahab was no killed … And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.“

-Hebrews 11:29-38

Isn’t it interesting how faith leads to blessing and/or suffering.

A week ago or so I listened to John Piper’s sermon entitled, “The sale of Joseph and the Son of God”, VERY GOOD (thank you Jason). Piper described how Joseph kept getting the wrong stuff for the good he had done. He was faithful and righteous in everything, even though he couldn’t understand why he was going through such an odd and tough time in life. Things didn’t get better because Joseph was righteous. It took a long, long while, people’s sins and forgetfulness to finally bring Joseph to a blessed time in his life.

I wonder. Should we be looking for blessings in this life? Should I live in a way that will bring happiness and joy and comfort to me? Should I change my life or prayers if I don’t seem to be blessed in spite of my obedience and faithfulness o God?

The passage in Hebrew says that those who suffered did not get (on earth) what they were promised to receive. Conclusion: I should not think God is against me because my life is… du caca. Instead, I should simply keep going and persevere, doing what is right in the eyes of God and be sensitive to His Word. There is more to this passage and etc. but you might not want to fall asleep right now.

The Truth War

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

- Martin Luther

 

I am reading “The Truth War” by John MacArthur. Very appropriate for our world today. We now live in a postmodern society. It might not be easy for all to realize it, but for Christian university students, it is quite clear that people are swimming in a postmodern jell-o pool. “Modernity … was characterized by the belief that truth exists and that the scientific method is the only reliable way to determine that truth.” (MacArthur) “Postmodernism suggests that if objective truth exists, it cannot be known objectively or with any degree of certainty. That is because (according to postmodernists), the subjectivity of the human mind makes knowledge of objective truth impossible.” (MacArthur)

 

It’s just amazing how people around me think like that and a lot of them are actually a mixture of the two philosophies. People buy it because they buy a little peace of mind for a little while. The modernist would say that God cannot be proved scientifically while the postmodernist would say that even if God exists, He’s got no hold or say over my life because really, we can’t know for certain what He says in the Bible and what you think is just as good as what I think. So people like it that way.

 

It’s tough for me to chat with those people and try to make them realize that God exists and what He thinks and says about anything is ultimate truths that cannot be altered or changed or adapted to one’s interests. Christian people are easily dismissed by postmodernists because postmodernists will simply reply that what you think is good for you. But they deeply dislike that you are convinced about something. Anyways, it’s hard to witness to them without being harsh to a certain point.

Tying a Tie…

As some of you might know, in one of my university classes, I have to do “micro-teaching”. This is sort of fake teaching. Each student has to teach a special skill in no more than ten minutes, to the rest of our class. I really had no idea what to do. But, Jessica had an idea for me. What about teaching them how to tie a tie? Smart.

Thanks to Jason who told me to google “tie a tie” and so gave me the opportunity of learning how to do it quite easily, because I had never tied a tie before. This is me and my first attempt at the “Half Windsor Knot”:

I am indeed quite excited about this new skill I have acquired (and new style too…)

Tonight we had a leader’s meeting for more planning and thinking about our desire to start a small youth group among two small churches in Verdun. It is quite neat to have representatives from both churches as leaders and especially the input of older people. We had a couple from one of the churches for supper to talk about it all and it was really encouraging to be guided by them, see their joy about this new thing happening, and pray together. We’re embarking on a new adventure.

I remember the days when I was trying to start something at Valleyfield (my home church), a few years ago. All I wanted to do by God’s help, was to start create a bond in between the people. The majority of the teens were not exactly interested into God’s stuff and several were not even saved. What I did for them was minimal to my eyes and I could have done more. But God blessed and things changed dramatically during the summer.

Let us never look down on humble beginnings. God asks for faithfulness, not success. He gives success according to His own definition of success in our contexts and in His time.