Paul Blogpost

In the beginning of Saul’s life, before he became Paul, he tortured Christians. He was evil until he met Jesus. Saul was on his way to persecute some more Christians that were nearby. He was on a road to Damascus, when all of a sudden this BRIGHT light flashed around Saul. Then Saul started talking to Jesus, and Jesus told him to go to the city. When Saul got up, he could not see, so the men walking along with Saul had to guide him. The other thing that God did that made a change is Saul’s life was changing his name to Paul. God has given me some amazing gifts that make me who I am today. One gift that God has given me that I can use to further God’s kingdom would be the kindness that God has given me. God loves us all, and He gave him a part of his love so that I can show compassion towards others, when others don’t show compassion towards me. The second talent/gift that God has given me that I can use to further his Kingdom is using my faith to help others start their own faith story, so a chain of revival can be started.

Reflecting on this past week during Coronacation

So, starting yesterday, Monday the 23rd, it was our 2nd week of distance learning during our Coronacation. We actually started our “online” classes on Wednesday, so we kind of got a little longer break than probably needed. So what has been challenging for me this past week is getting my work in on time, and having the time to do it, but most importantly being able to focus on what needs to be done, versus what I can do later in the week. What has been rewarding for me during this week, is being able to sit at home and eat food and do almost whatever I want when I am not doing homework. I can just Hulu and Chill… The next question is What hobbies have you been able to pour into? Some hobbies that I have been able to pour into is getting back into reading and drawing. Gaming doesn’t fit in this category because I’ve been involved in gaming for a long time. The last question is What are ways you are hoping to grow in this time of uncertainty?
I’m hoping that I can grow closer to God and grow closer to my family as this time of uncertainty continues on.

Have a good day everyone!

Stoning of Stephen Reflection

This is my project/picture.

  1. For my project, I did a journal entry/story and a drawing
  2. On this project what I think I did well was the drawing, because I think it looks pretty good, but the story was even better, as it kind of explained the story more, and gave in-depth details on what happened.
  3. I think, it would be kind of scary watching somebody get stoned, and not knowing what to do. Also I might get grossed out from all the blood.
  4. I would probably thing that he is some sort of mean person who is selfish and only wants things for himself.
  5. They knew that Jesus the Messiah was coming, and so they didn’t need to worry. Their faith in the coming Messiah kept pushing them and giving them more faith.

 

Beginning of the Year Reflections

So, so far it has been four weeks into the school year. With a lot of stuff happening. One thing that I’ve enjoyed in these past four weeks is hanging out with my friends. For me hanging out with friends on almost any day possible is really fun, and really nice, we get to hang out during school, and after school. When we hang out during school, we often talk and sometimes play pig/basketball. 1 Thing I’ve learned is, is that things change, and just because life seems hard it isn’t hard. Even though I get tons of homework, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world, and this is just me growing up. This is all that’s really necessary. Finally, the one thing that I am excited about this school year is making new friends, and being a leader for my school. That’s the end for now, bye.

 

3 BIG Things I did this summer

Okay, so officially, this is my first blog post of the 2019-2020 school year.

I sat at home on my couch for the first week or two, in preparing, for the biggest event of my summer. I went to Nts, which stands for Never The Same. It is a very big event for me because I get to go to Indiana for a week, and I get to meet new people, eat good food, and play plenty of games. Not only is it a religious camp, but you also have the opportunity to win a trophy! I can explain this way better in person, if you know who I am and can hangout with me. Michigan’s Adventure. There is no better way to describe it as fun, and scary. To be honest, my favorite part of Michigan’s Adventure is the water park, because in my opinion, water rides are more fun than roller coasters. About 10 or 15 minutes into being at Michigan’s Adventure,( Besides the long ride from Church) we, on our first ride of the day, went on Shivering Timbers. When we went on, everybody was telling me to scream, almost every time as we went downhill at crushing speeds I tried to scream, but I couldn’t because of air pressure. The second and final roller coaster I went on, was at the last part of the day before we had to go home… I went… on THUNDERHAWK. Honestly, it is at least ten TIMES better than Shivering Timbers. After that, we had the fun and long car ride home.

African Union (AU)

Recently, for the past two or three weeks, we have been studying Africa and The African Union. Basically, it was long and somewhat boring. I can say there was a lot of talking, and a lot of caucusing,  it was definitely an adventure.

Africa Post

Yes, I hold a single story on Africa. My single story is, is that my friend went and lived in Kenya many years ago. Back when we were in kindergarten. I thought that Africa was all just a small place at first, then slowly learned that it is a huge place, full of people, and it’s not a place where it’s all black people. Although there is a lot of black people, it’s a community, just like America. We might not be the best community, but we are a community.

Some stories that I might be missing are, the ones where people do more than what they tell us, that although some people can look rich, they can be possibly poor, people that look poor can be rich. No matter what, people aren’t always what they seem.

The danger of a single story is, is that people can misunderstand you, because of how you look, because of how you act, and because of the clothes you wear.

Mountain Film Festival and Saugatuck Dunes

What did you do/see/experience?

At first in the day we left school, and we headed towards Saugatuck on a school bus. We then arrived at the Saugatuck Center of The Arts and went into their theatre to watch the Mountain Film Festival. It consisted of bikers, racing, piñatas, and really, just cool events. One of my favorite films was probably the one where you could zip line, and then on top of the rope was a surfboard and someone would be on that surfboard. When they are ready they would fall/jump off the surfboard and land down safely with a parachute. While we were standing on stumps, I was preaching inside my head… and I think because of what I was thinking, it was creating the strong winds that we were experiencing.

How did that impact you? What did you learn?

With the whole stump thing, we had to be silent for 7 minutes. I know for some people that was hard. To be honest, I wasn’t really preaching, God was just filling words inside of my head, words that spoke to mountains that gave them peace in their anxiety. Those 7 minutes made me experience God, just like I had earlier at NTS.

How will you think/act/live differently now?

When I need time to be alone with God I’ll go find a quiet place somewhere where I can be by myself and not be able to be disturbed, and just think, reflect and adore God, in every way possible. This not only encourages me, but it gives me strength to think that I am going to one day be a minister…

While The World Watched

The Children’s March 1963, 1964,

Birmingham, Alabama was the Most racist and Segregated City. Martin Luther King was in prison. In the movie, and in real life, there was a lot of fighting going on. Some colored people in the movie nicknamed it ‘Bombingham’, mostly because of all the bombings, and fight’s that took place there. Apparently everything had to be separate and equal at the same time, because it was the law. Someone nicknamed ‘Bull’ Connor was elected government I think for 7 years, or it may have been congress. I can’t remember honestly that or his first name. He didn’t exactly respected the law, in fact he respected white people more, and focused more on them and protecting them, than the black/colored people.

Themes of the Old Testament

Conflict/Doubt:

Israel/Jacob- means, struggles with God. In Genesis, chapter 25:19, it starts to talk about the beginning of Jacob and Esau, two brothers. As the story goes on, Jacob starts to struggle with God, there are many different things that happen to Israel/Jacob, and he continues to struggle with God throughout the rest of his story in the bible. Throughout life, everyone sometimes struggles with God, and some people still even struggle with God today. There is a purpose in everything, and whatever our purpose is, God has a plan for us. And pray be that he will lead us thru everything.

Covenant:

A covenant means, a deal or a promise. God made many covenants with people in the bible, and many made covenants with God, like Moses in a way did with the Sinai Law. In my house we have a covenant to respect each other, my dad has a covenant with his work, I think, and so does my mom. For me when I make a covenant, I must stick to it, even though how hard it may be, I still must stick to the covenant, like you would in a diet. In the beginning of the school year, everyone in choir had to sign a contract. Or in a way, a covenant. Meaning that we would do everything in choir, we would participate, we would do what we are suppose to do. The main basics of a contract/covenant. If you’ve seen the real life version of The Cat in The Hat, by Dr Seuss, then you would know that in the movie, The Cat in The Hat, makes Sally and the other guy sign a contract. A fun contract, in a way we all sign a contract. A contract, or a covenant to God. When we give our lives over to him, it is like signing a contract, or making a covenant with him. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kms8-jqXqtnEw6jEGyu3TWJoztEwLtLk/view   P.s. because of technical difficulties, I could not get the video into this, so when you press the link, you are going to have to download it if you want to hear it.

 

 

Sinai Law:

The Sinai Law is another word for, the Ten Commandments. Which most christians know. The Ten Commandments are a covenant with God, which basically keeps us sane, meaning that we have rules and regulations to follow, so that we are in order, even though we don’t always follow those rules and we break them, it doesn’t mean that God won’t stop loving us, it just means that we need to repent to God. Following these rules doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect, because we ARE perfect in God’s eyes. Because he made us who we are today. Always remember, in Genesis, and again Mark Luke and John, it in a way connects us to how God made us in his image. It may not say it exactly, but it connects us with God, it connects to show that God wants to be with us. In Genesis 1:26, it starts off with God saying. Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”. In Mark it says. ‘He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach’. In Luke it says “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. I’ll pause here a second, even though it is a weird sentence, it has meaning, just like everything else in this world does. To me, this sentence connects to the Ten Commandments, and sometimes real life. Strict rules is this what it reminds me of, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to” So in that little clip from the bible, John (It says in verses 11-14), is baptizing people, and teaching them about sharing, since we live in a selfish world, yet there are people who will share, John wants to have everyone share for the greater. Finally, in John it says “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God”. Adults always tend to say to middleschoolers, “Be an example for the little ones”, or the younger ones. Its so that when we are an example, those kids can grow up to right and truthful, so that’s why our parents and adult friends are always saying, “Be an example”. If you don’t understand now, just ask an adult. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EBv9wpKewiXeBEKkLHiSWVWWiaOaBAnm/view Due to the fact that the audio file was to big, I will probably not be able to have direct contact, so you will have to go through a small process with every file.

 

Symbol of a lamp

              A symbol, of a lamp, have you ever heard of it? In the bible, well this is what I have recorded. God promises that he, himself will make a house for them. The Israelite’s. When they (the Israelite’s) die, and they are resting with their ancestors, God will raise up their offspring to succeed them, their own flesh and blood, and God will establish their kingdom. That person will build a house for God’s name, and God will establish the throne of their kingdom forever. God will be their father, and they will be his son. When they do wrong, God will punish them with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But God will always love him/them. That event takes place in 2 Samuel 7:11-16.

              Everyone has their own symbol, when I see a cross, it reminds me of Jesus, in fact I have a cross necklace in my backpack from when me and my dad went to CityFest 2018. Which occurred about 4 months ago. Now for other people their symbols, more of idols are video games. When they are asked what their symbol is, what lights up their day, sometimes they say Jesus, sometimes they say other things. I also think of a symbol, the trinity, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They are three people in one. If you think about it, it is, well can be a triangle, because they are all connected. In the world there is something called the “Illuminati”, now I consider the Illuminati, as the trinity. And don’t get what i’m saying wrong, what I mean by this is, since the trinity is a triangle, 3 people. That’s one, then God basically is the Illuminati, except he’s not evil, he created EVERYTHING, he lives in the past, present and future. And he controls everything. Well almost, us, in order to give God total control, we have to give all of us to God.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WFn6TZWAMkKdH52QAHdjN1vZhln1XgC6/view