1 John 5

1 Jn. 5: Anybody interested in memorizing this over the next month? I am!

no man left behind

I was thinking about how the Big Man says "I will never forsake you..." to us. hold fast to Him. thats insanely cool.

5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
Hebrews 13.5

Ahole in one

Whoppas, it might have been a while since you have considered this, but in the fall of 2005, 5 young men lived in an apartment appropriately coined "A-hole". A few zealous members of that house created what became the A-hole-in-one country club. 18 holes of goodness. There were even explicit ideas for customized frisbees. (I still think this should happen). The reason I am writing is because I attempted to play the course tonight. My Biblestudy meets in B and because numbers were small, we decided to take our meeting to the links. It was awesome to remember long drives, holes in one, and create new memories w/ similar men sorting out life and living for Christ. Ephesians was our guidebook, specifically armor pieces of righteousness and the gospel, highlighting the life we live in Christ. Very powerful stuff. Remember youre a whoppahead. Remember that Jesus paid it all, you are righteous because of Jesus, and that the peace you have in him is your foundation. Stand firm. Actions and Truth brethren.

Biology lesson 101

Slug shooting love darts at its mate and a lungless frog: my kind of guys.




"Creation's revealing your majesty!"

Spring cleaning

These are some pictures of some women who really get at the heart of service. Their job is to be the grounds keepers of Hebei College of Finance, the school at which I am currently employed as a teacher. Their jobs in the Winter are to scrape snow off of the streets (no plows in Baoding city) using wicker brooms or makeshift shovels (usually a board nailed to a stake/ stick of PVC pipe); they sweep the streets daily, a never-ending job in a dusty campus with little or no grass; they clean windows and pick up bicycles that have been knocked over by the wind. However, the job I'm most impressed by is their "Spring cleaning" gig: before the school authorizes the lake to be refilled with water (during the winter, it is emptied to ensure no one tries ice skating and falls in), they sit on tiny stools in a row of ten-twelve, picking up every rock and stone on the lake bed and clean it off, ensuring that the lake is clean for the Spring. Check it out:

Nine of the twelve women cleaning the stones

A wide-view of the lake before it is refilled

Piles of already-cleaned stones dot the path the women take to clean the lake bed.

I'll never complain about having to teach 16 hours of class ever again.

A request for Asking Intentionally

Gentlemen,

I want to invite you into my head a little bit (a dangerous prospect, I know, but one I'm sure you'll enjoy walking through with me):

I'm currently engaged in a discerning process about my life ahead. I was accepted to a school in Vancouver called Regent College (cheers and jeers abound). I talked with my parents this weekend: my mom said, "Oh...here's your little sister," which kind of just made me laugh because I guess she didn't really know how to say whatever else she was thinking, while my dad was very supportive of the idea of going out there. So, having spoken with my family, I appeal once more to my Family. I'm excited to work through my heart over the next several weeks. I'm asking you guys to be lifting me up during this time in several ways:

* Discerning decisions
* Being in the word often over the next several weeks. I'm learning right now that my perceptions of Judges is wrong and that there's great glory to behold there. Hopefully I'll keep learning this about all things until I'm dead.
* Holding close to my team here in China: Jon, Tim, Kerry, Bethany, Amelia, and Cameron. There's a lot of change happening within the context of our team, which is a beautiful thing, as all circumstances are being engineered by an Engineer of perfect judgment (Sorry, Josh... not you).
* Asking daily for the hearts and minds and bodies and Rest and turning away from the old and into the New for my students here. This is something that I'm taking great joy in.
* Praise for Spring: http://ryaninbaoding.blogspot.com/2010/04/its-baoding-tianjin-spring.html
* Fantasy baseball is really fun. And Brian said that "my personal goal this season is to pay attention," something that is note-worthy, indeed.

I love you all a lot. Thanks for giving me your lives,
Ryan

Easter

Happy Easter Whoppaheads!! We are alive today because of the Lord! Live well brothers!

Kev