I know, you are a first time visitor to the shallow halls of all things I am Jonny King and with all accumulated knowledge of how live blogging is taking place from portals around this world, you have been lured in by the prospect of live blogging from Laidlaw… that sounds interesting… don’t see that every day of the week, might as well check that out.
Alas, while it is true that I am Jonny King is presently typing his little fingers to the bone in the computer room on the Laidlaw campus, West Auckland (I have left my Metal-lica T-Shirt at home), the only other live thing happening in my vicinity is a gentlemen sitting almost motionless at the next computer… such does not seem to be a source for a reservoir of syllablic delights with which to tantalise and bedazzle you with knowledge and information, delighting your curiosity to contentment with adventures from lands unknown (after all this is Laidlaw, can’t forget Carey, I suppose).
There is much that could be said and I do have many thoughts and reflections on my first time at this higher learning establishment from a Christian context, but these will have to wait for another day… or until I graduate (people, that is what we call faith), but I have had a really good time, met some really “graced from on high” people, and enjoyed my time in the cupboard.
Strange thing here, they have a building full of cupboards that people walk into, spending exorbitant blocks of time therein, sometimes all night…I don’t know, maybe there’s a really popular janitorial degree… or something even more sinister that could possibly explain such a phenomenon… Chortle, chortle… Yes, they are dorms, and I have had my own little piece of student paradise with which to fill my ever decrepit existence, as I recover from each day of intellectual pummeling at the hands of our Prof.
Auckland welcomed me with much love after I arrived on Sunday night with a fireworks display that shook the building. Those city slickers, always wanting to get one up on ya (yes, it was the thunder and lightning… don’t ya get creative language… you sound like my Prof.)!
In this short time that I have left, I want to comment on something that has been a blessing, and that has been interacting, particularly with other students from another culture (the locals have been adequate as well… Humour-less).
One such student’s story really impacted my comfortable western world where the grace of the Gospel is worth more than our money can buy. He talked about his country, Nigeria, and the ministry that is going on where people are being saved, where God is moving with overt signs of His grace… a place where people may live simple lives, but content lives, where their lives are so encapsulated by what God has done to them through Christ that this outworks itself in their daily lives where dating the church means betrothal in marriage.
This was not some rosy discussion as there are genuine needs and genuine issues that need changing, but when I heard his words and the stories of God glorifying Himself in such marvelous ways, looked in his face and saw the way that this moved him, I could see someone captivated by Christ and His Church.
I am here doing theological studies, which I believe is important, needed, and should be further encouraged in some shape or form in our churches… however, if I could be involved in a context that has been used to bring so many people into the Kingdom that is outliving the Gospel in such manifest ways, I think I would willingly trade my own personal education to be involved in something that would truly put God on display.
Obviously, my hope is to be able to see both of these realities in the land of my living, so it does not have to be an-either-or question… but the point is this… what do we really want to see happen in our lives?… what are we willing to do to see this happen?… and, what are we building with this moment that will be multiplied in the future, where God willing, we will see the trail of His will that we are presently on, radically impacting where He has placed us?
I can tell you, this week has been a day-to-day battle, and I have not won every skirmish, but by His grace, I am winning the war… one plodding step at a time, as I fight through this illness that will not relent, give up or subside. I have once again looked into the mirror of my life’s reality and seen the historical Jonny missing in action. I have shed many tears in my cell, as the vexations of health and hope have been unsure of their destination…. but…
But, when I have wondered if this journey would be TKO’d, I have been graced by God Who just IS, and at those times when He knew that I really needed it (not necessarily when I wanted it), He has straightened my back and kept me moving on. I have had to use my time wisely, which means my preparation for each new day, has been to rest, and although I understand that this means my studying experience will not be all that it was, I am learning to accept such limitations, and the ramifications of such that is my reality.
Tomorrow is Friday, the last day of the block course, where we will be jettisoned off to complete our assignment for some time in August, only to return in September, when we will meet again, for just one more week.
I am excited about the journey, thankful for this time, and hopeful that, although this is the first drop in the pan, God willing, it will not be the last… It has been an illuminating time on more trajectories than one!
I will write with you more soon O reader of mine, with more about this time at this place… Until then!… No…
Until Next Time
I am Jonny King
Recent Comments