Return of the Rare and Endangered Weekly Update
BY AARON SANDFORD
Well, it's another year, and, finally, another Beacon update. It's hard to believe that a whole month and a half has passed since school started, but here we are, and now you non-Fairwoodians can finally be in on the action.
It's shaping up to be a really good year. The student body is small, but that doesn't mean it is not awesome. Oh, no, this is a dynamic group of students if ever there was one. From mighty third-years Josh and Kate, to wicked awesome second-years Jane, Ben Bobby, Stephen, and Aaron, to fantastic first-years Amy, Mary, and Heidi, this is a group of stout-hearted youths that's going to change the world!
Speaking of change, one thing that's different this year is that Amy has taken over the responsibility of the Beacon, very good news for you. With a choleric at the helm of the website, I am willing to guess that more people will end up posting than ever before, despite the decreased number of students.
This article is billed as a weekly update, and so far I have said nothing about the past week. That is about to change. Unfortunately, however, I don't have a whole lot to say about the first half of the week due to an insufferable head cold that left me bed-ridden from Monday evening to late Tuesday afternoon. In fact, a sizeable percentage of Fairwood residents ended up being affected by the virus, and sniffing and coughing are still common pastimes. Your prayers are welcome.
One significant event that took place this week (after I was well enough to be aware of it) was Ben, Bobby, and Craig's visit to Keene State College to pray for the students and the campus. Keene State has been the subject of much heartfelt prayer ever since we went there last Thursday (the 9th). Gerry had organized survey evangelism for outreach that day, and all the students (except Mary, who was on dinner) piled into the van to spread the Good News. No one was actually led to salvation while we were there, but we planted some really good seeds and enjoyed some really good conversations. It was quite eye-opening to hear people actually say that they believed they could get to heaven by virtue of their own...virtue - as almost everyone did - and to talk to people who had no idea of what Christianity is really all about.
"I'm a good person with well-rounded views," one guy answered when I asked him why Jesus should let him into heaven. This guy, whose name was Mike, also told me that he had never thought an impure thought because "he defined his own morality." Another student I spoke with said that economics was that basic problem of humanity, and that he did not believe God existed. After talking with people who are so blinded by lies and misconceptions, I came away feeling simultaneously more grateful that the truth has been revealed to me and far more deeply desirous that others come to know the truth. I think it would be safe to say that the other Bible school students felt the same.
Back to this week. Bobby, Ben, and Craig went to pray for the students at KSC for a couple hours. They walked around the perimeter of every building on campus, praying for the covering to be removed and people to know the truth of the Gospel, and sang songs in faith for that to be accomplished. "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Mat 21:22)
One subject that has been foremost in the thoughts of many minds recently, particularly those who follow sports, has been just that of the world's greatest baseball team: the Red Sox. The 2007 World Champions were in the playoffs again this year, and at the start of the week things were not looking pretty. The Sox won their first game, but that was followed by three successive - and substantial - victories by the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. Thursday night, true fans of Boston's team listened to Game 5 with dismal discomfort as the Rays racked up the runs - 1, 3, 5, and finally 7 - while Boston remained completely scoreless. The situation seemed hopeless.
It struck me later that that scenario bears several strong similarities to the life of the Christian before he is saved. The world, the flesh, and the devil keep crossing home plate while you watch helplessly. Sure, you do your best to stop them, and you try to make progress yourself. Maybe you make a couple hits in a while, but in the end, "All is vanity, saith the Preacher."
Nevertheless, that's not the end of the story! Suddenly, in the bottom of the seventh, out of the blue the Red Sox - the real Red Sox, the team that makes us love being Red Sox fans so much - show up. First a couple singles, then an RBI double, then a 3-run homer, and so on, until in NO time at all, Boston has pulled ahead and defeated the Devil Rays (we will call them by their old name under artistic license) 8-7!
OK, I admit it. There is basically no parallel to the story of salvation in the story of the Great Red Sox Comeback of October 16. Trying to make a good analogy out of it is like trying to describe how a peppermint patty is like a rainbow. It's comparing apples and the fruit of the tree of life. But there is one parallel that could hardly be truer, and that is the feelings before and after the score has turned around. First dismay and hopeless depression, but then! Oh, but then such joy, such excitement, such feelings of redemption and hope as can hardly be described!
And then the Sox lost in Game 7. But as my sister Bria put it, "Not ignominiously."
Next year, baby!
Well, it's another year, and, finally, another Beacon update. It's hard to believe that a whole month and a half has passed since school started, but here we are, and now you non-Fairwoodians can finally be in on the action.
It's shaping up to be a really good year. The student body is small, but that doesn't mean it is not awesome. Oh, no, this is a dynamic group of students if ever there was one. From mighty third-years Josh and Kate, to wicked awesome second-years Jane, Ben Bobby, Stephen, and Aaron, to fantastic first-years Amy, Mary, and Heidi, this is a group of stout-hearted youths that's going to change the world!
Speaking of change, one thing that's different this year is that Amy has taken over the responsibility of the Beacon, very good news for you. With a choleric at the helm of the website, I am willing to guess that more people will end up posting than ever before, despite the decreased number of students.
This article is billed as a weekly update, and so far I have said nothing about the past week. That is about to change. Unfortunately, however, I don't have a whole lot to say about the first half of the week due to an insufferable head cold that left me bed-ridden from Monday evening to late Tuesday afternoon. In fact, a sizeable percentage of Fairwood residents ended up being affected by the virus, and sniffing and coughing are still common pastimes. Your prayers are welcome.
One significant event that took place this week (after I was well enough to be aware of it) was Ben, Bobby, and Craig's visit to Keene State College to pray for the students and the campus. Keene State has been the subject of much heartfelt prayer ever since we went there last Thursday (the 9th). Gerry had organized survey evangelism for outreach that day, and all the students (except Mary, who was on dinner) piled into the van to spread the Good News. No one was actually led to salvation while we were there, but we planted some really good seeds and enjoyed some really good conversations. It was quite eye-opening to hear people actually say that they believed they could get to heaven by virtue of their own...virtue - as almost everyone did - and to talk to people who had no idea of what Christianity is really all about.
"I'm a good person with well-rounded views," one guy answered when I asked him why Jesus should let him into heaven. This guy, whose name was Mike, also told me that he had never thought an impure thought because "he defined his own morality." Another student I spoke with said that economics was that basic problem of humanity, and that he did not believe God existed. After talking with people who are so blinded by lies and misconceptions, I came away feeling simultaneously more grateful that the truth has been revealed to me and far more deeply desirous that others come to know the truth. I think it would be safe to say that the other Bible school students felt the same.
Back to this week. Bobby, Ben, and Craig went to pray for the students at KSC for a couple hours. They walked around the perimeter of every building on campus, praying for the covering to be removed and people to know the truth of the Gospel, and sang songs in faith for that to be accomplished. "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Mat 21:22)
One subject that has been foremost in the thoughts of many minds recently, particularly those who follow sports, has been just that of the world's greatest baseball team: the Red Sox. The 2007 World Champions were in the playoffs again this year, and at the start of the week things were not looking pretty. The Sox won their first game, but that was followed by three successive - and substantial - victories by the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. Thursday night, true fans of Boston's team listened to Game 5 with dismal discomfort as the Rays racked up the runs - 1, 3, 5, and finally 7 - while Boston remained completely scoreless. The situation seemed hopeless.
It struck me later that that scenario bears several strong similarities to the life of the Christian before he is saved. The world, the flesh, and the devil keep crossing home plate while you watch helplessly. Sure, you do your best to stop them, and you try to make progress yourself. Maybe you make a couple hits in a while, but in the end, "All is vanity, saith the Preacher."
Nevertheless, that's not the end of the story! Suddenly, in the bottom of the seventh, out of the blue the Red Sox - the real Red Sox, the team that makes us love being Red Sox fans so much - show up. First a couple singles, then an RBI double, then a 3-run homer, and so on, until in NO time at all, Boston has pulled ahead and defeated the Devil Rays (we will call them by their old name under artistic license) 8-7!
OK, I admit it. There is basically no parallel to the story of salvation in the story of the Great Red Sox Comeback of October 16. Trying to make a good analogy out of it is like trying to describe how a peppermint patty is like a rainbow. It's comparing apples and the fruit of the tree of life. But there is one parallel that could hardly be truer, and that is the feelings before and after the score has turned around. First dismay and hopeless depression, but then! Oh, but then such joy, such excitement, such feelings of redemption and hope as can hardly be described!
And then the Sox lost in Game 7. But as my sister Bria put it, "Not ignominiously."
Next year, baby!
posted by Aaron at
8:53 PM
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