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Name: Kristina
Birthday: 5/14/1984
Interests: I enjoy finding humor and beauty in everyday life. . . . I am fond of taking long walks outdoors. . . . Above all, my greatest passion is to know and share God's heart and the life-transforming power of His Word.
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/4/2005
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| Friends who pray for me, thank you! I really appreciate your rallying around me in my journey of faith. You are part of that “great cloud of witnesses” helping me to run the race that is set before me (see Hebrews 12:1), and I want to let you know where I am right now on the racetrack.
This evening I updated my facebook status: “Kristina is praying for discernment regarding some big decisions in her life.”
Ever since I first learned of the Spiritual Formation and Discipleship graduate program at Moody Bible Institute I have been excited about enrolling. Earlier today I was just about to mail in my on-campus housing form, along with my deposit, when my parents advised me to wait. Around the lunch table we discussed my situation. My financial resources are pathetically inadequate, and it just doesn’t seem prudent for me to go into major debt for a Christian ministry degree. With the likelihood of our already declining economy getting worse before getting better, my desire to go to graduate school is all the more impractical. No, our family discussion did not burst my bubble. I personally have been wrestling with these questions all year long, so I found it valuable to consider them candidly as a four-some.
People ask me why I want to go to graduate school and what I plan to do with the degree when I’m done. I am enthusiastic about the Spiritual Formation and Discipleship program at Moody because I want to be further trained and equipped to live a life of fruitfulness in Christ’s kingdom—however and wherever God leads me. Yet, even as I am eager about going to Moody, I am fully aware that God can provide just the right opportunities He knows are best for me, in ways and in places that I did not expect.
As I have been thinking through and praying about all my different options for next school year, a phrase from one of the Apostle Paul’s letters keeps going through my mind: “He wavered not in unbelief.” That is why I have updated my facebook status. I need discernment to distinguish God’s hand of guidance and provision in my life. My human-reasoning thoughts and my faith thoughts get all jumbled inside me.
I appreciate what Paul wrote of Abraham, the great father of faith: “He [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:20-21). Is God intending to use my apparently insufficient funds to strengthen my faith as I witness Him provide the money as I need it? Or is He redirecting me to something else for next school year? Whether or not I get to attend Moody next year, I trust that God will bring about His will in my life—bearing much fruit for His glory (John 15). | | |
| Hi Friends,
As many of you already know, I am looking forward to attending Moody Bible Institute this coming fall. While I have been home on Christmas break, I have been working on finding scholarships to help me pay for my school expenses. I recently entered the Crosslites Essay Scholarship Contest, and I would appreciate your vote for my essays. =) Click on the two links below to read and vote for my essays. The contest closes December 15, 2008.
http://www.crosslites.com/scholarship.aspx/Essay/b8d8199d887e84b52fbdb22f9345f26e
http://www.crosslites.com/scholarship.aspx/Essay/ada9f139775123c6d2c4d7736fb70052
Thank you, friends!
Kristina
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| I’ve had another paradigm shift. Somewhere in my internet surfing this
past week (I forget exactly where) I came across an article that
mentioned Matthew 22:17-22 in one of its points. It’s one of those
Bible stories I’ve grown up hearing but never fully grasped until now.
. . .
In this passage (see also Mark 12:14-17 and Luke 20:22-25) the
Pharisees are playing their games again, craftily trying to ensnare
Jesus. A group of them corner Him while He is teaching open-air.
Smugly they approach Him. “So, Jesus, tell us what you think, is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not?”
Jesus’ response is brilliant: “Show me the tribute money. Whose image and inscription is on this coin?”
“Caesar’s,” they reply.
To which He answers, “Render therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Scripture records that when they heard these words, Jesus’ accusers “marveled, and left Him and went on their way.”
Whenever I used read this story I would always think, “Ha! Jesus was so
witty! He showed them!” This week, however, the light-bulb came on for
me, and my own smug “Ha!” changed to an awe-filled “Wow.”
What I realized is that Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees is
about so much more than Jesus demonstrating that He can trump their
logic. Rather, this encounter is one of many during Jesus’ earthly
ministry in which He cuts through centuries of man’s tradition to
reveal to His people the true heart of God.
“In whose image?” Jesus asks the Pharisees of the tribute coin. Implied
in Jesus’ question is reference to Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in
His [own] image; in the image of God He created him.”
“Therefore what bears Caesar’s image give to Caesar, what bears God’s
image give to God,” Jesus tells the Pharisees. Between the lines Jesus
is clearly saying, “Sirs, you have asked Me about taxes, but that’s not
the real issue. The issue is dedication to God. You bear God’s image;
you owe God your self—not just some of your money, but your entire
being.”
Profound, is it not? And timely too, during this Presidential election season.
Today America stands at a cross-roads. I am praying that Christians
will “render to Caesar” our patriotic responsibility to head to the
voting booths and elect leaders who will uphold Truth, Justice, and
Righteousness in our land. As Jesus pointed out in this passage,
though, the issue is not so much government policy as it is individuals
being totally dedicated to God. However the elections turn out, may the
Lord raise more of His people to live in recognition that we bear His
image. | | |
| Do you ever get one of those “Wow, I never saw that before! That is SOO cool!” paradigm-shifting insights when you’re reading the Bible? I had one of those revelations this morning; and I’m so excited about it, I want to share it. =)
The passage is in the second chapter of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus performs His first miracle: turning water into wine at a friend’s wedding feast. That His first miracle is at a wedding is no mere happenstance. Rather, it is, as I realized for the first time this morning, a profoundly significant event. . . .
Two weeks ago I was deeply inspired by a message I heard Dr. John Piper present at the True Woman conference, and I have been meditating on the concept of marriage since then. Dr. Piper shared that marriage is not some afterthought in God’s idea book. From before the beginning of time, God intentionally designed marriage to be a core part of His unfolding plan. It is noteworthy that the Bible both starts and ends with a wedding. Depicted at the commencement of “His-story” is the first human marriage as the crowning touch of all God’s creation. “And God saw that it was very good.” (See Genesis 1-2). Throughout Scripture we further see His intention that marriage between a man and a woman be an illustration and a foreshadowing of Christ the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride. The plot builds, finally culminating at the marriage feast of the Lamb (See Revelation 19-21).
Is it not then all the more magnificent that for the first miracle of His earthly ministry Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding celebration? I’m overwhelmed by the wonder of the moment. In the setting is the symbol of what life is about—marriage between Christ and His Bride. In the miracle itself—the turning of water into wine—is the contrast between our own human inadequacy and the saving blood of Christ that makes possible this relationship.
Illuminated in the midst of ordinary life, the essence of the Redemption Story.
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