Breakfast with Dad

On Sunday, January 23 I had breakfast with my dad before I went to church. It was really fun and I loved every minute of it. We talked about his work (he is a CPA), how it was stressful, we talked about our family and how they are doing, we discussed how exciting it is that my cousin, his niece, is pregnant, and how it it a miracle from God that she is pregnant because she had to go through invitro in order to get pregnant. We talked about how lucky and blessed we are to have what we have. We also talked about my life, (school, friends, boys, dance) and his life (work, family, God). We talked about how different my life will be next year in college. It was nice to have one on one time with him because we are both always busy and only see each other in passing or at dinner. Also I will be gone next year, so it is important to spend as much time as possible with family. He gave me good advice for college and told me funny stories from his college experience to make me laugh, but also teach me lessons. We talked about my friends' college plans, and our plans for spring break and summer. We discussed the pros and cons of having a summer job and a job in college. We talked about how he is having trouble letting me grow up. It felt nice to be honest with him and also treat him to a meal.

The New Macedonia

Explain the difference between E-1 E-2 E-3 evangelism. WHich of the 3 does Winter consider most powerful? Why? WHich does he consider urgent Why?

E-1: Evangelism to people of the same language, ethnicity and region as yourself.
E-2: Evangelism that crosses language barriers and cultural barriers.
E-3: Evangelism that crosses borders, cultures, and languages.
It depends on the situation. It is easier for people of the same cultures and languages to relate to each other, and so the message of Jesus is more potent and the people receiving the message will be more open to listening because the people telling them about it are similar to themselves.
i think E-1 is the most urgent

"Christian unity cannot be healthy if it infringes upon Christian Liberty". Do you agree? What significance does this have for "practical evangelistic strategies"?

I agree. I think the unity of Christians is really important, and nothing should get in the way of it. However, Christian Liberty is important as well. This proposes an interesting challenge for evangelistic strategy.

World Missions Survey

The point of this article is that God is active in the world. the article express that God is known all around the world and in every country. it also says that Europe is losing it's religion as the rest of the world is gaining it. this also includes america. we had a surge of faith until recently, and now the mission focus has transferred to south america. they send out missionaries to all over the world and evangalize. i think its sad that America is losing its faith, along with Europe. we should be peaking in our faith and helping the other countries of the world instead of trying to reconvert the 'Christians' of our country. i think what is going on in China is reasuring and exciting. i was surprised to find that China had such an underground following. i think it is interesting that lots of people would consider converting to Christianity if it weren't called christianity and it didnt have all the social and cultural conotations that it has, such as the people of the middle east and in China. overall, this article was encouraging and uplifting.

HCHS culture

The culture at my school (HCHS) can be characterized in two words: People Pleasing. We, as a community, are totally focused on pleasing other people. Teachers work to please their bosses, kids work to please their parents, their peers, their teachers, the colleges they are applying to, and everyone is trying to please God. This type of culture leads to a stressful atmosphere where they often don't please themselves. Us kids are always on the go working towards some goal where we aim high and aim to please. Also this kind of attitude causes us to put everything we do in a day into a check list: get an A on my anatomy test-check, go to practice-check, have diner with family-check, hang out with friend-check. This check list attitude causes us to only halfheartedly participate in everything we do and we do these things because we feel like we have to. It is an endless cycle of running through the motions everyday, and i would know because i have experienced it and all my friends have too. This school is an excellent place to learn, but i don't feel like it is healthy that they push us so hard all the time. They also should not encourage us to participate in as many activities as possible, because it is impossible to keep up grades, participate in X amount of activities and sleep on a regular basis. I learned all of this the hard way.

The American Family 1988-2028: Looking Back and Looking Forward

The decline in the institute of marriage saddens me. It shows a lessening in the belief of God's Holy union of marriage. Many more people are getting divorced, having kids out side of marriage and living with "life partners", but not getting married. all of these things reflect poorly on Christians because a lot of the people involved in these statistics are Christians. Personally i hate divorce and infidelity, and it makes me really sad when people get divorced especially when they have kids because it traumatizes them. couples are meant to stay together forever so when they split, there is lots of heartbreak and disruption in their lives. this is God's way of telling them not to split up. I think in the bible it says that spliting up with your spouse is ok if their is infidelity, but forgiveness is really important, so i think it is important not to just give up on your marriage, but try to work through it. i have heard a lot of stories about marriages where the husband or wife cheats on the other spouse and they work through it and their marriage is better than when it started. this is not the rule, but the exception. i think, when i reflect on the issue, that when i am older and looking for a husband, that i will date the guy for a very long time to be sure that i love him and what to spend the rest of my life with him. also i will want to make sure that God is showing me that he is the one He chose for me because i don't want to be in an unhappy marriage.

How Teenagers' Faith Practices are Changing according to Barna Group

This Article that I read called How Teenagers' Faith Practices are Changing was an interesting article about how today's teenagers' spiritual practices differ from the teenagers of only 12 years ago. The article's content did not surprise me much, I could have guessed most of the data myself and I'm only 18, however the message of the article was still sobering and saddening information, nonetheless. The only thing that took me by surprise was that research shows that attendance to group activities such as youth group and young life has risen in the past 12 years. This, as was explained to me, is because of the apparent popularity of 'Christianity', however this popularity is not referring to the REAL Christianity where Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with us, and where our personal time and energy is required of us. Therefore it would make sense that there has been a massive decline in scriptural reading, prayer, and small group attendance. Coincidentally these activities lead to a personal REAL relationship with Christ mentioned earlier. The most sobering line in the article was "Talking to God may be losing out to Facebook." This refers to the fact that teens are talking less to God and more to their friends through the computer. I can definitely see how this is happening. I am even guilty of it myself. This is a habit that has go tot change. Keeping up with friends is great, but obsessions are unhealthy and self destructive. God is much better for us!!!!!!