Hungry!!

As we are nearing the half way mark in this Biblical Core Course I am realizing how much I don't know about the Bible and God but also how much I want to know. So far we have done the books Philemon, Ephesians, Mark, and now Acts. It is incredible to understand the historical background of the books. For example the book of Philemon is a personal letter to Philemon from Paul. Why is a personal letter in the bible? Well if you look into it and take time taking the letter apart and looking at history you will realize that Paul is calling Philemon to be a loving brother who shows no favoritism. Paul says to Philemon to welcome Onesimus as he would him(Paul) which is amazing because Onesimus is supposed to be Philemon's slave. (Look it up in a Bible Dictionary) And Onesimus is inspiring in this book. He puts his life in God's hands and basically says ok God do with my life whatever you will. Pretty trusting I think.
This week is Acts and the golden nugget I've taken away so far from the teachings this week is the new and old wineskin's. A wineskin in those days were made of letter and when a new wineskin was filled with new wine it would expand because of the gas that formed inside. Then after time the leather would become hard and stiff. So once a old wineskin was emptied it wouldn't be useful for wine anymore because if it was filled again it would burst because the leather was already hard and stiff and it wouldn't stretch like a new wineskin would. So how are we living today? As new wineskin's, open and willing to be stretched or are we like an old wineskin that is stubborn and stiff necked unwilling to change or be stretched. Are we being stretched or do we need to burst to change. I hope its stretched because bursting sounds painful:) God Bless everyone! Thank you for all your prayers and support! Miss you all!

What did I get myself into!!!!

God has sure taken me for a ride the past couple weeks! I went from staffing the DTS in Tijuana to finding out there wasn't one 5 days before it was supposed to start. So what next God? But God always has a plan and its always better than the one I have. Thank you Jesus! So after I found out that I was no longer staffing the DTS I felt God leading me to do the Biblical Core Course that was starting in Ensenada on September 27. So after a very short but intense process I ended up packing my bags and headed to Ensenada in time for the school to start.
There are nine of us students taking the school and we all think that it is a challenge! We are now in the third week of the school and it has been a huge blessing and encouragement to me. Last week we studied the book of Philemon. Philemon is only 25 verses but there is a surprising amount of timeless truths in it. We are learning how to study the Bible by inductive study method. Which is observing the text thoroughly and researching the historical background as well as the culture before making an interpretation of how the original hearer or reader would have taken the text. Then we make an interpretation for us today. There is a lot of work but I am really liking it so far.
The biggest truth that I got out of Philemon was trusting in God. Onesimus ran away which can be punishable by death. So when he returned to his master Philemon he was trusting God with his life.
This week is the study of Ephesians. I'm looking forward to what will be revealed to me this week. Thanks for reading, praying and your support! God Bless.