Thursday, December 20, 2012

Eleventh Link Year Recap 12/18-12/20

I've noticed that in life solitude is very important. My favorite band, as some of you know, is Relient k. I have always appreciated Matt Thiessen's honest, clever, and thought provoking lyrics. In one song, called "Therapy", Matt penned this lyric, "Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused.". What a true statement that I think many people need to hear! I know this past week, what solitude I have gotten, has been very helpful for I have needed to think about a lot of things. Along with the thoughts of solitude I've noticed my need of wisdom. While wisdom is needed every day of every week of every month of every year, this week it especially stood out. It's amazing how often I forget to ask for it. How could I forget to ask for wisdom when it is so often pointed out in King Solomon's life, the books of Poetry and Wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon), and just throughout the rest of the Bible. It's filled with wisdom! So how do I so easily forget to simply ask for it? Well anyway, this little intro doesn't have a huge amount of relevance with what the speakers talked about this week, but I've noticed that I seem to be learning more from the situations and people around me than the actual speakers (although the speakers are fantastic). So yeah...I'll actually talk about the speakers this week.

Tuesday and Wednesday was definitely a treat. We got the privilege of hearing from DA Horton, executive director of ReachLife Ministries which is an extension of Reach Records. On Tuesday he talked about Heart Transformation using Romans 12:1-2 and Psalms 51:1-12. The fact he talked about Psalms 51 was really cool because the song, "White As Snow" by Jon Foreman had been in my mind for a few days. On Wednesday he talked about Maximizing Moments. I've heard this talked about a lot since I've been at Link Year but something clicked this time. I don't know if it was so much DA, (even though he did a great job of communicating the point behind maximizing moments), but just the scenarios around me that helped drive home the point he was making.  Not just maximizing moments here at Link Year, but also back home. Thursday we got to hear from Darrel Shemwell. We have had him once before and I really enjoyed him, which proved to be the case this time as well. He spoke about the sovereignty of God. Quite a hard topic to explain in one day but I thought he did a good job with it, through videos and his own talking.

Five things!

1) What I said at the beginning of this post, the whole thing about loneliness and solitude. That was really just emphasized and reaffirmed throughout the whole week. I was really able to see the advantage of just getting away from the everyday bustle of Link Year and getting some time in solitude to pray and read. But more than that, just listen.

2) This ties into point one, but the whole thing about listening. So many times we get caught up with just talking to God but we never take the time to listen. It's so important to just be quiet sometimes. With this being a culture of always doing something getting time to be quiet and not say, pray, or move is just really helpful.

3) The advantage of using time management in and outside of Link Year. Whenever I heard about the time management I just confined it to only Link Year but I need to take those lessons back home.

4) I was really challenged by a fellow friend and student with the correlation of free will and God's sovereign will. As a full five point Calvinist I should really be able to answer the question better than I did, but it is something I'll be working on for sure.

5) If God resurrects us in our dead trespasses than what in the world is the purpose of evangelism? It seems simple to me, God uses people to accomplish His will. Does He needs us to accomplish His will? Heck nah, but God in His mercy and grace uses us. Also Jesus commanded us to evangelize so that's sorta a thing.

Well that's about it, thanks for reading, yada yada yada, adios.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

Myths and Introverts


So guys this is basically not anything I've written, but it's something from Adam Young's blog that he got from a book on introverts. It was really good and I thought a few of you guys out there would like to read it. So yeah...let me know if these sorta things are things you'd like to hear more about. Like info like this. By the way here is the link to Adam's actual post he put...

http://www.ayoungblog.com/post/28350402077/10-myths-about-introverts




So here are a few common misconceptions about Introverts (I put this list together myself, some of them are things I actually believed):

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

It can be terribly destructive for an Introvert to deny themselves in order to get along in an Extrovert-Dominant World. Like other minorities, Introverts can end up hating themselves and others because of the differences. If you think you are an Introvert, I recommend you research the topic and seek out other Introverts to compare notes. The burden is not entirely on Introverts to try and become “normal.” Extroverts need to recognize and respect us, and we also need to respect ourselves.



Thursday, December 13, 2012

Tenth Link Year Recap 12/11-12/13

This week we got the great privilege to hear from our very own Brian Wang on Tuesday and Thursday but on Wednesday we got to hear from Julie Coxie. Most of Brian's teaching was over Luke 9:23 which is a great reminder of what we must do if we choose to follow Christ. Julie is Kanakuk's Human Resource person so she taught about what employers look for in employees and how to conduct yourself in future job interviews.

Let's first start off with Brian's talks on Tuesday and Thursday. As I said before he mainly spoke about Luke 9:23 and broke that down really well. He basically broke it down into three different main points. Self denial, complete dedication, and finally, willing obedience. I'll talk more about those later.
On Wednesday Julie brought us all some great information about how to present yourself well to your potential employers during job interviews. This was a really helpful day because it's just simple and practical information that is easy to apply in real life.

Onward to five things that stood out to me or I learned this week.

1) I really like how Brian talked about the boiling point of water. At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils and with boiling water, comes steam. And with steam, you can power a locomotive. One extra degree can make all the difference. It was really cool to see such an analogy. Basically that little bit of extra effort can result in great things. So put forth effort, you never know how close to success you are.

2) To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done. This is just a really cool quote. I don't know who it's by but Brian brought it up in correlation with the 212 degrees comment. It was a really good reminder about how you can't just get stuck in a rut of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You gotta change things up sometimes.

3) Julie talked about three things she looks at for an ideal employee. They were dependability, consistent performance, and positive behavior. This was really cool to see mapped out by a very good Human Resource worker. I will have to keep striving to become better and better at these three things if I desire to be a worker that exemplifies Christ well.

4) Luke 9:23 says, "And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Something that stuck out to me and that Brian proceeded to point out was how it says, "If anyone would come after me...". I think it's key to look at the fact it's a decision. You can't just accidentally stubble into following Jesus, you have to make a conscious decision.

5) During The Fort Wednesday night Adam Donyes taught over Proverbs 13 and gave a really good example about Righteousness and Wickedness. A brief overview of his story/example. A man was conducting dog fights between his two Huskies and making a lot of money off of them. There was a white dog and a black dog. Every time they fought he would bet on one of those dogs and he was always right. Basically he was rolling in the dough. Finally someone just asked him how he got it right every fight. He said, "It's simple. I know which dog is going to win because I feed only him that day.". So basically which are you feeding? Righteousness or wickedness? Because whichever one you're feeding is the one that's going to win that day. Stay in the Word and continue to look at Christ. It's a good question to ask yourself and I know I'll be asking myself that question a lot more now.

Alright everyone here is where I leave you all awkwardly stranded...

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Ninth Link Year Recap 12/4-12/6

Smooth intro!

Let's see, this week was pretty cool. We got the opportunity to have some pretty wise speakers. Three different speakers for all three of the days, so that was a little different. Tuesday we had Kyle Unruh who is the president of K-Life, Wednesday we had Antione Mack who is the director of Kids Across America 1 in Missouri, and finally on Thursday we sort of had two speakers, first was the mayor of Branson, Raeanne Presley, and second was Adam Donyes. I know that last sentence was long but this one isn't that bad.

Five things I learned or stood out to me this week is what I shall be writing about now.

1) I thought it was interesting how Kyle Unruh pointed out that the first sign of authority you have as a parent over your kid is naming them. I'd never really thought about it that way but it truly is the first act of authority over them. The doctor doesn't hand the baby to the nurse and ask her what its (Yes I said "its") name is, he hands the baby to the parents and asks what its name is going to be. Important decision.

2) Antoine Mack was really cool. He talked about psychology and as some know that is an area I am really interested in and may look into during college. His main point was how our time perspective affects our thoughts and actions. An example he gave from a really good looking book, "The Time Paradox" was this: The time perspective is different the closer you get to the equator in terms of things are a lot more relaxed and not much is rushed. But the farther away you get from the equator the more things become punctual and "on time". Take the Caribbean for example, time over there is much more laid back. One reason is because they don't need to rush and get work done because the weather is basically the same throughout the year. No need to hurry up and get things ready for the cold winter when there is no cold winter. But the farther away you go from the equator the more things are on time and punctual. They have to worry about the weather because it does change a lot more than right next to the equator. They need to get all the work done outside before the freezing cold pushes them inside. Interesting thoughts. One of my questions that I never got a chance to ask him was what about once you get to the extreme North or South? If it's always cold in those areas wouldn't the time perspective also be relaxed because they don't have to worry about the weather changing that much? I'm not really sure but it's just a thought. Whew, that was a long one.

3) Antoine also gave us a different perspective of temptation than I'd heard. Temptation is a matter of time. It is the persuasion of now. You want something now instead of later. This generation especially is very "now" oriented. Example would be sex. The temptation for sex is that people want it now, instead of waiting till the proper context of marriage. There is nothing wrong with sex in and of itself, it's a wonderful gift from God for one man and one women in marriage, but if the person is not willing to wait for marriage they succumb to that temptation and want it now. No patience. Another example would be stealing. Maybe you see some nice piece of electronic in the store, so obviously you want it. Are you tempted to steal it? That's because you want it now instead of waiting and earning money to buy it later. That whole concept kind of puts patience in a different perspective than I have thought of it before.

4) Something that was really interesting that goes along with the whole temptation thought process of it being the concept of wanting something now and not later is this; God can't be tempted. If temptation is a matter of time (I want this now) God is outside of time. Another reason is he has everything. We cannot give God something he does not have. So that was a pretty interesting thing because I'd never heard or thought about it that way. I'll be sure to think about it a little more.

5) Today I learned that I am a Golden Retriever.

That's it you guys, thanks for dropping by and reading. Hope you enjoyed it!










Ok just kidding, I'll expand on number five a little more because some may be confused. What I meant by that is after the mayor of Branson spoke Adam gave us all a personality test. It was that kind of test that puts you in the category of animals. Let me tell you the animals first because some of you may be unfamiliar with this kind of test. The first animal is a Lion. This kind of person is more of a leader in terms of the guy on front stage. They take charge and are more bold. Then you have the Otter which is the party animal (Which I find strange, have you ever seen otters partying? Maybe they're just pretty sneaky about it. Sneaky Otters.) These type of people are ones who just want a good time. They usually help others not take themselves so seriously so they are a good fit for Lions. Next you have a Beaver. No sneaky ones here, just analytical type personalities. Details, details, and more details. This is the animal I am farthest from. Bleh, details don't work well with me. Finally you have my group, the Golden Retriever. Adam said these people are the most loyal. Which in turn usually makes them the best spouses because of how loyal they are and the fact they will want to work through things. I can attest to this because I feel like I am pretty dang loyal to those I call my friends. Also apparently we let people walk over us too much because we don't like conflict. Oh well, as long as they are happy (That was a joke by the way). Something kinda funny was Adam kept guessing what everyones personality was and when I asked him to guess mine he said, "Well you are more of a quiet Lion, but very loyal, so I am going to guess Retriever, Lion, Beaver, and then Otter.", he was basically right except Beaver and Otter are switched. But what I really got out of what he said with that was this; I am either a fierce Golden Retriever, or a quiet and tame Lion. What? I've never heard of a quiet Lion or a fierce Golden Retriever, but I guess that's what you get when you mix a regular Lion and Retriever. Anyway it was pretty cool to see everyones personalities and stuff.

Well this is the official sign off. Yup.