Briercrest in Perspective

Going backwards again.

5 October 2009 (10:34 p.m.)
God has a way about Him that is impossible to describe, but I shall try to offer a keyhole's glimpse. I just had a very odd experience reading about Christian history. The curriculum covers 2000 years of history over two semesters, so we necessarily study hundreds of years at a time. In other words, broadly. But the past few weeks have been a slower pace, and we've been trapped in the fourth century learning about Constantine and the Council of Nicaea, and such pillars as Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Ambrose of Milan. (After suffering through the half-Christian works of Justin Martyr, Origen, et al, it's kind of nice to encounter five in a row that seem to have their theology in order.) But I was suddenly swooned by the Spirit in reading about how Ambrose had been a governor when the Roman Empire was swamped in Arianism (which argued that Christ was created) and was elected bishop because of his popularity. In spite of the fact he wasn't even a believer. And to read some of his statements in defense of the faith is just, well, beautiful. God took hold of him. And when I got the part about how he baptized a young fellow by the name of Augustine, who had been drifting from his faith, it just makes me feel so intimately conscious of how my faith is not a product of the twenty-first century. There is a continuum that started before creation, and God has invited me into it despite my infinite unworthiness (that's the only infinite part of us humans). And for what it's worth, I felt compelled to share that.


5 October 2009 (2:00 a.m.)
I was trying to pull an all-nighter when the power suddenly went out. It was frustrating, but it focused me on God at a time when I probably would have been content to "get some work done." We were overdue for a good heart to heart, not for a lack of effort on His part. The truth is, being at such an academically rich college is a double-edged sword. Because this place is accredited and all my courses can be instantly transferred to several Canadian universities, the requirements tend to be study heavy--which can bury the discipleship and practical elements at times. On more than a few occasions God has seemed as if He were an otherworldly object of study, rather than a personal, jealous Creator who burns with love for us. At present I am struggling to finish some weekly reading for tomorrow, and I will probably be permitted to stay up a little later than the ideal (though not as late as this morning). So, with that in mind, it's nice when God forces the issue onto us that we are to keep things in check and our eyes focused on Him.


Last week
Seriously, God has blessed me so much that I would have to multiply the hours in a day to report it all. All I can do to compensate is make a very generalized statement about how wonderful it is to be surrounded by wonderful and genuine people. I couldn't name them all, but He sends them my way in a flurry of divine appointments every passing day, and He should be recognized and praised for His faithfulness in this.