#learningissogood

Internship week 5

Since I mentioned that our Euro tour has delayed, we had to give up going to Netherland because it was our first location to visit. So we were very sad about it and we had nothing to do for the schedule actually. But one of speakers that we were going to see in Netherland actually decided to come to our place to see us and teach us. It was so great. He is Ed Sherman, who is College Chair of College of Humanities and International Studies, and is serving in YWAM Heidbeek, Netherland.

It was really happy to meet him for me personally and for our school because he stirred our hearts again to burn again or more for God. 

 Some of his teaching or contents were repeating to previous lecture phase contents since he touched most of European histories and Christianity in it. However, his focus or approach of teaching was quite different to other speakers. And I found it very interesting and loved it. It was very powerful and biblical. How God moves and break into human’s history and lives. He did in the past and still does it. There are too many things that we learnt, but I just want to share the main point of his. His main point is that in all people God is working his plan and will. Through all people/nations the world is on shaping and changing. They all have their unique talents and abilities that God gave and uses. God is reaching to the people before the gospel reaches them; when the gospel reaches to them, the fullness of gospel occurs, and God works in them for the whole world. This may seem not too surprising to some of you because you might agree. But I know that people still do not agree or understand that fully especially many Christians because their focus will always be on the Christians, Christian inheritance and Christian cultures only. Through Ed’s teaching my view of history was changed because he knew and understood fully what exactly he meant about his point. For example, when we Christians talk about the topic of truth, our view naturally become parallel to Greek philosophy. And it easily gives us the answer that Greek philosophers are false prophet kinds. Is this right conclusion to make? If we study about many different philosophers, we can easily see that they all had different ideas, but were trying to find out the truth. Some were rational, others were irrational. Yet, still many of them found out profound fundamental things which lines up with the truth of God. They found some answers from the law of nature, which was from God’s creation, the work of God. The eminent 20th-century philosopher Alfred North Whitehead is reported to have said, “All of Western philosophy is but a footnote to Plato—and Aristotle wrote most of the footnote.” They were madly passionate about finding the truth. As I was hearing from Ed, I could see and sense that they were really close to know the fullness of the truth which from God, Yahweh. After as we see how they really impacted or contributed the world in past and also in present time’s world, we could see that they really did something significant. Their work and efforts in the life was not just wasting and nothing itself, but it was all from God’s will. God gifted and blessed Greeks with their uniqueness. (Perhaps, blessed “their brains”.) They just missed the presence of true God, who is prepositional, but also personal. They just have not met this God who was and is relational and revelational. However, how God moved in the history and met these people through Paul in Acts 17. God used his people to meet people who need God. Isn’t this what God always want from His chosen nation, Israel, and now from all the nations and all people? Through this, I changed to like Greeks more than ever. They were not the opposition of God, but same human who tried to seek the truth like anybody else. Indeed, their works were amazing and great as one of God’s creations.

 God moved and moves in our human history. And God moves with his people. I loved how God moved in Ed’s life. He said that he was born in Christian family, but who became atheist, revolution activist and hippie, and was into occults later and so on. To make the story short, then, he was ended up after man with spiritual wisdom, Mike. Eventually at the end of journey, he found the man and his friends, and one night they went to somewhere and he followed then it was church. He did not want to go in because he was very disappointed to hypocritical church in the past; he left the church because there was no life and alive seeking of God’s presence. However, when he entered this church, he was strongly drawn into the song from youngsters’ mouths in front of church; they were singing in tongues. He said that it was his first encounter of spiritual reality in the church, first personal encounter with real God’s presence. From there he became born again Christian again. He described God, God with the humility. He had this shield of pride in him for so long, but humble God was always after him, so he rather came to meet him. This humble, loving and personal God is with you everywhere, and with you and through you he wants to change the world. God is shaping and changing the world with his obedient people in the history. Bringing difference in the world was not mattered by numbers of people, or positions or powers, but faithful people’s obedient actions with courage.

Everyone is hearing God’s call. Will you take that call and change the world better with God? Do you see or have the challenges before you? How you and we respond to the challenge (of the world) will determine the history of the world!! Our lives, our choices will all matter in this world.