The Gospel is Simple.

There is a story told of an evangelist who was doing tent meetings.  It was the end of the day, and he was at the train station waiting to head home for the night.  The evening was getting late, but as he was about to board the last home-bound train for the night, he heard someone shouting his name.  A man ran up to him, breathless and sweaty.  

"Please, sir, I have been at the meetings each night, but I don't understand what you are saying about Jesus.  Can you please stay and explain this to me?"  

The evangelist was torn, "I'm so sorry, but I am just about to board the train.  You see, this is the last one leaving for the night.  I am heading home because I do not have a place to stay here.  I'm sorry, but I have to go."  

As he started to turn away, the man grabbed his sleeve, "Please, please, I don't understand!  Can't you stay and tell me what it is you are saying?"  

The conductor was calling the last boarding of the train.  The evangelist needed to go home, but here was this man hungry for the gospel.  

"Here, take my Bible," he said, handing him the well-worn leather book, "read Isaiah 53:6.  At the first "all", bow down, humble yourself and enter in.  At the second "all", stand up and go forward because of Christ."  

"But, sir, what do you mean?" the man cautiously questioned.  The look of desperation was painted all over his face, as he reached out to take the gift from the evangelist.  

"Remember, at the first "all" bow down, humble yourself and enter in; at the second "all" stand up and go forward because of Christ!" with that the evangelist rushed off to make the train.  

As the train pulled out of the station, the evangelist saw the man gingerly hold his Bible and begin to weep.   

Some days later, in the same town, the evangelist was once again holding tent meetings.  At the end of one of these revival meetings, he recognized the same man who had met him at the train station was there and wishing to speak with him.  He gladly called him over.  The man had a smile on his face as he handed him back his Bible.  

"Thank you," he said, "before, I didn't understand the gospel, but I was making it too complicated.  You said to read Isaiah 53:6 and at the first "all" to bow down, humble yourself and enter in; at the second "all" stand up and go forward.  Now I know!  The first "all" says that, 'All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way...'  You see, I am a sinner.  There is no way for me to come to God!  We have turned astray.  So, we are to bow down, humble ourselves and enter into the salvation provided by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in payment for my sins.  My salvation is not through my worth, but found only in Jesus.  The second "all" says, '...but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'  Christ is the only way for me to stand up and go forward.  I stand in the grace of God that was given for me.  I go forward knowing that I am safely in God's hands, no one can pluck me out of His hand.  I am His!"

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful!  It reaches through time to save people for God's own purpose and glory.  It isn't complicated, but it is rich and full of treasures untold!  

At the first "All" bow down, humble yourself and enter it; 

at the second "All" stand up and go forward because of Christ!  

May we keep being amazed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!  

21 reasons...pt. 3

The final installment of things that I loved about my year being 21!  

Christmas Break 

I think that I was looking forward to this Christmas break more than some of the others.  Part of the reason is that this would be the first time going home since August.  I was looking forward to a glorious 3 weeks at home!  To start the adventure off, I had to fly home by myself.  (Not being a frequent flier, this was a new adventure for Rebekah Parker J)  Because my break started earlier than CBI’s, I was able to make a trip up to the school and visit my friends there.  
The time with my family was really nice.  I have realized how much I have taken my family for granted, especially when I lived so close.  God knows our days, I don’t.  We should love and cherish the family that God has given to us, for we don’t know the future! 

January 21^st, 2012 – celebrating my ½ birthday!!! 

I have very sweet friends!  They love me very much.  I am so blessed!!!  For this outings occasion, we were celebrating my ½ birthday.  (It was actually a week past my ½ birthday, which would have been on the 13^th)  For this celebration, Celeste, Alisha, Valerie, Beth, and I went out for breakfast to Andre’s, a Swiss pastry shop!  We had a grand time, the food was yummy, the location was quaint; it was a great way to celebrate!!! 

Moving to the new dorm!!! 

Calvary Bible College had a momentous move across the street to a new property this past January.  At least the students got to move into the new dorms!  It was a great day of packing, loading, hauling, shoving, and going up and down lots and lots of stairs!

Skiing in Missouri???  Feb. 4^th, 2012

I’ve been skiing before in places in Colorado and South Dakota, but never in Missouri!  That is until February!  A group of friends from the school decided to take a Saturday trip to go skiing.  It was a fun group of people that descended upon the slopes (steep hills).  The day was really nice, and almost too warm!  And, no one broke any bones!  J

Ladies conference at MCC

The month of March got off to a great start with my churches Ladies conference.  We watched several speakers from a previous “Desiring God” conference.  The topic was the “Supremacy of Christ in a Post-modern World”.  It was a great weekend spent with other women, talking, praying, and listening to God’s Word being preached.   

Spring Break at Home

What do you do when you have 10 days off of school???  Go home!  My room-mate, Valerie, lives in the same area that I do, so we decided to car-pool and go home for Spring Break.  I got to see all of my family—which is getting harder since we are all spreading out!  I sewed a bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding in June.  I spent some much-needed time in the kitchen (Philip and I even made our “traditional” egg-rolls).  And then, Valerie and I traveled 12 hrs. back!  It was a great trip!    

Easter at Celeste’s (St. Matthew’s Passion and Handel’s Messiah)

Easter is Not about pretty pink bunnies, or egg-hunts, or candy!  It is a time that is set aside by our calendar to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!  Many times, Easter celebrations consist of Good Friday and Sunrise services.  This year was not so typical!  My friend Celeste, invited me to her house for the Easter weekend to spend time with her family.  In addition to that, she got tickets to go to the “St. Matthew’s Passion” by Bach, and “Handel’s Messiah”.  What made the performance better was that I had just sang the “Messiah” at Christmas.  The music was still fresh in my mind.  There were many times when I wanted to jump up and start singing with the choral!  (Don’t worry, I didn’t!) 

Banquet

Spring just wouldn’t be complete without a Senior banquet.  This year at Calvary, the juniors planned a beautiful masquerade banquet, complete with masks!  My date was the lovely Un Joo Christopher!  We had a good time!  Thanks, Junior class!!! 

Random Outings with friends (dates with the Colonel and the Pacifist)

Beth, Alisha, and I started a tradition of going on a date at least once per semester.  It all started out when we would go out with Beth’s car, lovingly named “the Colonel”.  We trooped off in December to IHOP, to enjoy a nice piping hot cup of Caramel Hot Chocolate!  Sometimes, we just drove around for a while.  Or drank iced tea while star-gazing.  By spring, Beth had a new car, this one was not quite as intimidating, so we named him “the Pacifist”.

And this doesn't include all of the trips to the Plaza, shopping trips, Starbucks runs, and many more adventures!   

God’s provision for the future

Now, you may be thinking why this is one of my reasons for loving being 21.  You see though, it was about this time of the year—Feb/Mar/April—that I was in limbo concerning the plans for the next months of my life.  Basically, I knew what I would be doing till June 1^st, and then the calendar stopped! 

“Silly Bekah, is that too hard for God?!” 

No, and this is why I loved this time of life.  It was hard.  Very hard.  But the lessons that I learned from trusting in God and taking steps of faith were needed!  God is so good to provide for His children!  Need I say any more?

Graduation

The long awaited day came with baited breath!  It was finally here.  All the months of studying and studying were over.  We were graduating!  All of those painful hours of figuring out transfer credits and such were finally paying off. 

I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies. 

Trip to the zoo with my Family that came for Grad.  

Evidence tour

The month of May was booked solid with Evidence venues.  Our group was granted permission to live in the dorm till we were done in Kansas City.  It was really nice not to have to move All of our stuff out of the dorms right after graduation.  We had a few days to chill, and then hit the concerts hard!  It was a great time.  We did a lot of concerts in the KC area and also did a weekend in central Kansas and a week in Nebraska.  Aside from singing, the other great plus was traveling with Gracia Burnham, the missionary from the Philippines that was held hostage for over a year.  It was encouraging to hear the story of God’s mercy and grace in her life as she was trudging through the jungle. 

Rodeo Bible Camp 2012

After the Evidence tour, I had three days to get home and get ready for our churches Rodeo Bible Camp.  (talk about switching mental gears FAST, from singing to rodeo!  Whew!)  I was very excited to be able to be apart of the whole week of camp (last year I was only able to be there for a couple of days).  I was excited to get to minister to the kids.  And I was helping lead the music, which was a wonderful new experience for me!  God really worked in the hearts of the kids that week!  Many were saved, and all were challenged in their walk with God! 

The music part went well too!  God is gracious, even with my piano playing!!! J 

The Wedding Month 

 June shall now be dubbed “The Wedding Month”.  The first wedding was in Northern California, which precipitated another plane ride—actually, Becky’s dad picked me up from the airport in a small 4-seater airplane because he was giving a flying lesson, so it was two plane rides!  It was great to visit that area of the country again.  Wow, are those mountains gorgeous!!!  Becky had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and I was honored to be there for her.  We got to decorate and prep and do all of the pre-wedding things!  It was a beautiful wedding! 
Just two days after I returned from Cali, I jumped in my car to head two-and-a-half hours west of us for another wedding.  This was the wedding of a dear, childhood friend, Jackie.  She asked me to sing and be her personal attendant.  I was already in “wedding” mode, so the prep and decorating was a snap!  I was also so honored to be my friend’s personal “slave” for the day.  It was some much fun! (but only for a day!!!)    

    

21 things from being 21...pt. 2

So, last post's ramblings included a Detailed explanation of how I broke one of my phalanges.  This time, I shall strive to stay away from any more teeth-clenching, bone-smashing stories! 

September 10^th, 2011 (4)

There is really nothing like being in Nebraska on a Saturday during football season!  Some ignorant folks like to tease Nebraskans about their "idol", but we just smile and nod; knowing that they just don't understand!  I took my former room-mate and dear friend Aryn Sturgeon to her First NE game.  It was a great experience and loads of fun!  (I think that Aryn--a Kansas girl--might even be warming up to the Huskers!)  It was a great time of seeing her and some other friends (Andrew and Phil Johnson) and getting to see some NE Football!!!  The game was good, and we won!

Aryn's 1st NE game...:)

We Won!!! 

Evidence  (5)

After auditioning for a vocal ensemble from Calvary, I was accepted as one of the sopranos for the 2011-2012 tour.  I have been privileged to sing and spend time with some awesome musicians!  Not only have I learned A Lot music-wise, but I have also been stretched and challenged in many other ways personally!  I am so thankful for music and the way that God ministers it to my heart and through me to the hearts of others! 

Evidence with Gracia Burnham

 Thanksgiving 2011 (6)

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to set aside to spend with family and friends, thanking God for all His blessings.  This Thanksgiving was a little different, but still a great time.  I was able to see Leah Herrick (it had been about two years since I had seen her) and Clara and Levi Williams (and my “honorary” niece Jemima) and Aryn Sturgeon.  These are all very dear peeps from my CBI days, so it was wonderful to get to spend time with them and catch up on all the things that have been going on in our lives.  You know a true, good friend when it has been years since you have seen one another, but you are able to immediately reconnect and enjoy one another again! 

Leah didn't like her Thanksgiving meals' cheese

Traveling on Thanksgiving Day ...this is my turkey!

Hooray for Friends!!! 

Handel’s Messiah  (7)

Celeste and I after singing in the Messiah

The music dept. at Calvary put on a production of Handel’s Messiah for Christmas.  As a member of Evidence, I was required to sing in it.  But what an experience!  There were several times during the performance that I was so blown away by the music that I almost forgot to sing.  It was a awesome experience!

Reflections on my 21st year of Life. Pt. 1

It is 6 days till my birthday!!! 

For some reason, I am more aware of being an adult now that I am turning 22!  The feeling in un-nerving.  But I am excited for what God has in the future.  So, in preparation for the 13th (my birthday), I thought that I would post about some of the fun things that I got to do this past year that I was 21!  It was a good year, God is good!!! 

July 13^th, 2011 

I started out my 21^st year with a birthday at Pinehouse Lake Saskatchewan.  I was with a group of about 20 people who were spending two weeks in a rural Canadian village to spread the Gospel of Christ.  This was my “first” mission trip to go out of the U.S. (even though it is just Canada!)  We were told, in preparation for this trip, to beware of having to high of an expectation.  In a way, we were all surprised by what we found.  It was only by God’s grace alone that we were able to reach out to 100+ kids, teens, and adults.  I was very thankful to be used of God in the lives of those people.

August 17^th, 2011 

I arrived at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, MO as a transfer student to complete my bachelor’s degree.  My car was Fully Loaded Down with just about everything that I possibly thought I could use at college.  This place was much farther from home (CBI was just 1 ½ hrs. away from home), so I had to be much better at packing/planning for what I was going to need.  Let’s just say that the packing was a challenge, But I got it all in!!!  (It was quite the personal accomplishment!

August 29^th, 2011 

 It was a beautiful day that marked the event that gave me my first broken bone and stitches!!!  No, I don’t even have a cool story to go alone with the slightly bent middle finger on my left hand.  But here’s the story.  It was just after lunch.  Some of the girls and I were hanging out in the dorm lounge on our floor.  We were laughing and having a great time.  Well, one of the things about this old dorm building was that there weren’t screens on the windows, and on the third floor there are many things that hyper minds can conjure up to do from an open window.  It started out very innocently.  We just decided to throw things out of the window, like hats and flip-flops (just stuff that had been left in the lounge).  After depleting our arsenal of things to throw out the window, I decided (as the gallant one!) to run downstairs and retrieve our tossed items.  Once outside, I quickly realized that just hauling it up the stairs wouldn’t be as fun as trying to throw it back through the window.  However, I missed and the flip-flop landed on the landing just outside the 2^nd floor windows.  I wanted to make good impressions, so I knew that I should get the lost flip-flop.  Therefore, all of us girls trooped down to the 2^nd floor lounge to get it.  The problem was that you had to climb out the window onto the ledge to get the shoe.  I was assured that the ledge was quite safe for a person to climb on, but I didn’t get that far.  In my attempted to open a window, I pulled a bar that was in the window (in my hurriedness, I didn’t realize that it was the bar that was holding the 8 ft. window open…).  It happened very fast, but I know that the moment the bar was removed, gravity took its hold and smashed my left hand!  I was so thankful that others were there with me to help me get the window up!  I was determined Not to make a big deal about this, I was going to be fine.  But as a looked at my finger, which had a big cut down to the bone from the lip of the window, I figured that it was probably more serious than I thought.  Long story short, it was bleeding A Lot, I was trying to stay calm while all of the other girls are frantically running all over the dorm looking for band-aids and other first aid materials.  I ended up getting a ride from Security with the dean of women and one of my friends to an Urgent Care.  A couple of hours later, I emerged with 5 stitches and a massive bandage on my hand.  I am very thankful because I never really felt a lot of pain.  I cut and broke my finger, yet the worst amounts of pain were only when they numbed my finger to put the stitches in and when they took the stitches out.  I am very thankful to the Lord for that!!!  Within a couple of days, I had to go to a hand specialist (the doctors were afraid of an infection in the bone, because the cut was on top of the broken bone).  The hand specialist gave me an upgraded cast (No, this was no small, un-noticeable wrap on my finger, but a massive cast that was hard on the outside and wrapped from my forearm to the tips of my fingers, leaving only my thumb exposed! J  It was always funny to have to explain that I hadn’t done anything to my hand/wrist, but I had only broken my finger…) 

• Lessons learned
• Typing one-handed is difficult, but possible; and with practice a person can be almost as efficient as with two hands
•  It is okay and necessary to ask for help.  Others want to show that they care for you, by helping you do things that you can’t do as easily because you only have one  hand.  Yes, it is humbling, but it is good!
• I can now sympathize with people a little better having gone through this experience.
• I am much more comfortable going/talking to doctors.  They are rather intimidating at times, but the main thing is just to Ask Questions…even if they seem inconsequential and stupid.

Massive cast thing
(pardon the bad hair day)

Almost Healed!!! 

My first stitches...

Sweet Scar