Today was very enjoyable. I was going to get up and go to church, but I didn't know what times any of the churches within walking distance started, so I decided instead to attend an evening service. I'll get to that later.
First, my day started with Sunday Brunch in the cafeteria. I think I ate my body weight, but I'm a runner so I'll run it off. After eating, I went to the Shirk Center and rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes while watching football. (It was a bit bittersweet watching Brett Favre for the Jets). After that, I walked into the locker room and found my laundry (it had been lost for 5 days, so it was big news)!!
After that I went to the library and succesfully completed my first paper as a college student. It was a paper arguing whether or not Abner Doubleday invented baseball, so it was rather fun to write. I'm glad now that I took American Studies; writing a 3-page paper felt like a breeze.
After this, it was time to go to church. I went with three friends that I met at DRL (see previous posts if you're lost) to Eastview Church to attend "FUEL." It was an amazing night! The worship was very contemperary, and following that we had a greeting time. I mingled around and met new people from ISU, Heartland College, and Lincoln Central College.
After fellowship time, the pastor got up. He was a young guy named Brandon Grant, an alumn of IWU! His sermon was so interesting! He taught us about the tabernacle. At most youth meetings, to me, it seems the pastors pick cultural themes to speak about, but Brandon chose to teach us about the tabernacle. Maybe I was so blown away because it was different, but whatever the case, I was blown away! His teaching was elequent, descriptive, and very to the point. His main focus was on the Brazen Alter and how it foreshadows God's ultimate plan of sacrifice.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that modern Christianity (at least at the youth level) is very New Testament based. So many people seem to have even a basic understanding of the Old Testament. However, I love the Old Testament; it's the foundation of the Bible! To me, not reading the Old Testament is liking picking up "War and Peace" and starting in Chapter 23. You can get the story, but you're missing so much foundation and background depth. Jesus's death on the cross for our sins makes SO much more sense when you understand God's ultimate design behind the Tabernacle. The tabernacle had only one gate by which to enter, and the first thing you saw upon entering was this huge brazen alter. There was no avoiding it. And seeing it there was a constant reminder of your sin and need for forgiveness. Well, when you recognize the alter as a symbol of Jesus, and the only way we get to God is through him, it all makes so much more sense!
I could ramble on for hours about this, but I'll stop becuase a.) I'm tired, and b.) I just realized I have a 9:00 class tomorrow. If you ever want to have a deep theological discussion about Old Testament symbolism, I would love to participate. That's all for now.
2 comments:
Sweet post, and I agree with you. I suffer from wanting to avoid the OT as well, but after getting into the books of the law I found they're better than I thought...
I'll have to get up to Bloomington some Sunday night and go to FUEL with you. That sounds pretty neat. Definitely different than most contemporary youth services I've been to.
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