I had a chance to tag along with my parents to the Bible study they attend on Sundays. There were several things that I found very interesting. First off, we were studying the book of Ruth, and were focusing on the relationship between Ruth and Naomi, and the parallel they share with Israel and the church. I am horrible at taking notes... so I didn't. I will, however, do my best to share with you what I gleaned from the study. Here's the basic idea - Israel is God's pride and joy. Unfortunately, Israel is going through troubles due to not recognizing Christ as the Messiah. Now, the Bible talks about the church being grafted into the family. Picture this - Israel is a tree stump, and the church (vine) is grafted into the trunk. When the trunk is dying, the grafted limbs will die with it. Why do you think that church attendance is down to single-digit percentages? Well, the health of the church is directly related to the spiritual health of Israel, and until Israel realizes that Jesus was the Messiah... things won't change. Ruth then found her "kindred redeemer"- Boaz. [by this point, my mind started to overload] I won't be able to go into much more detail than that.
The Bible study leader, Dave, mentioned that there is going to be a massive revival (or similar event) happening within this next year - based off of prophecies in the Bible, and literary connections with characters and people (such as Ruth and Israel).
The next thing that Dave briefly touched on was the misinterpretation of Romans 13. You're probably familiar with this verse since you have used it against someone or someone has used it against you. If you're not familiar, the verse is sometimes translated as "submit to your government". This is a terrible misinterpretation. Paul, who wrote this book, was found escaping from authorities many times, which you would think wouldn't happen if he was "submitting to authority". In many translations it says "subjection to higher powers", and Dave commented that the original translation for one of the words (I can't remember what word it was, but it is often translated as "government") is "Deacon", not "government". Hitler used this verse to control the Christian population in Germany, and the people, by lack of knowledge, bowed to his will, and marched to their death. (here's a link that explains it in better detail - http://www.remnantradio.org/Archives/articles/Romans13.htm)
So! Other than that...
This is my last week in Colorado! I could hardly sleep in this morning. I was wide awake at 6:30 a.m. (disgusting, I know). We have a new office in Boston! This is very exciting because my home will not be being used as the base office and kitchen - less mess, more space, more fun. I am still wayyyy behind in my monthly support, so that's going to be a challenge. (If you would like to get on my newsletter, or get involved in support, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page!) I'm currently working on making support letters/fliers to mail out and post at my local churches.
I ask that you keep my fellow DTS students in prayer. I have talked to a few of them, and they're being challenged with where to go next in their lives. Pray that God gives them wisdom to chose the path He has for them!
I'd love to hear from you!
Shalom!
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