He's The King Of The Jungle

Hey guys! So this past week we had a full week of classes and are kinda starting to get into a normal routine. But before I get into all of that I shall tell you about Monday!

We had the privilege of going to the Young Life camp "Crooked Creek" up here about 5 minutes away from the lodge and use their high ropes course and huge drop swing. I tell ya it is a faith and trust building experience. Faith that you have been hooked into your harness correctly and trust that if you miss your step that it will catch you on the line. Once again after I overcame my initial fear of falling to my death, I was hopping along like a pro. Plus this course made me feel like I was on American Ninja Warrior! Haha. I now feel like I am ready for the qualifying round. 

Through all of these activities we have done so far I have really had to trust other people than myself and God. If you know me well, you know I don't usually like to get out of my comfort zone. I do what I know and I know what I like. I am so glad I have made the choice to be out here and really let the Lord take me out of what I know, and throw me smack dab into uncertainty. Because these great experiences I have now I probably, no I know I would have never done them without this leap of faith.

This Sunday night (yes I know it's Monday now and I am late with the post) I was finally able to play guitar at Fraser Valley Baptist during the evening service. I wasn't the leader but I was just happy to be plugged in and playing. Hopefully it will be pretty steady deal me playing or even maybe leading there.

 We had Charlie Mchall the director of the His Hill Torchbearers campus in Texas come out and speak to us for the week. He did an overview of  1st Kings and went from the end of King David's life through Solomon and finished with Elijah. I enjoyed it very much. Not only because those are some of my favorite stories from the Old Testament, but I really liked his style of teaching and the stories he used to go along with his lessons. He used many good southern terms and analogies during his lessons. Lets just say if you don't understand guns or why everything should be fried you may not get some of them haha. So needless to say if you know me well, I had a good sized smile on my face while I listened to the lectures.
As we went through 1st Kings we spent most of our time on King Solomon and even though he was the wisest man to ever live, he still made some very poor choices. We also went through the family of David and the split of the kingdom on our way to Elijah. I have always thought it to be very interesting of how wise King Solomon was yet the many, many poor choices he made. Some of witch affected him and others his family or for that matter the nation he was ruling. Such as the many wives he took from other nations. Which in turn lead his heart astray from the Lord when his wives brought in their own gods. Seeing he was so wise it is strange to me that he managed to forget the biggest of the Lords commands. Not only that, but the charge that his father David gave to him before he died.(see 1st kings 2:3) This is another great instance where being unequally yoked causes a bunch of trouble for Gods people. The part that gets me is the fact that he took all of these wives to show his power. Because culturally in that day and age, the more wives you had signified how powerful you were. I find it odd how a man who was humble enough to ask God for wisdom had such a problem with his ego, and the fact that instead of having the Lord who granted him his wisdom and everything that he did not ask for. Instead of letting God show his power Solomon did it his own way. Which in turn made the kingdom suffer because of it.

Now on to Elijah, which everything he has to do, or undo rather is pretty much directly related to what Solomon did and all the disfunction and turning away from God that his family did after. It is crazy to see how in the beginning of Elijah's story he has so much faith but has never seen any miracles and by the end his story, he has seen so many and has so much less faith that God says go anoint 3 men because they are now going to do what I had intended for you. But because of your little faith I will not have you be the one who finishes the job.

I know there is much, much more to both of those stories but that is the biggest thing for me that I saw in them. Maybe that's because I need to learn to not always put my faith in myself and my own abilities. We shall see as the year unfolds where the Lord wants to work on me.

We had and awesome time of joy in my dorm this week. As roommate who had been running from God and trying to do it his own way realized,  he can't. He then gave his life to Christ that night. It was an awesome night in our room!

As I sit finishing this up I'm trying to figure out a song to go with this and I think to best fit this post as it deals with faith would be this.

People say this world's a jungle
And sometimes I must admit
I'd be scared to death
If I did not know who was king of it
But the truth is God created
This whole world with His own hand
So everything is under His command, and...

What I feel
Is telling me this world's gone crazy
But what is real
Says God's still on His throne
What I need
Is to remember one thing:
That the Lord of the gentle breeze
Is Lord of the rough and tumble
And He is the King of the jungle


 That is something to remember weather we are trying to do it on our own. Or we get to a point where we feel like it can't be done and nothing will change. I feel that is something I do not tell myself enough. Yet I do believe those very words it's funny how when everything is going just peachy, how you forget to remember it.  Feel special you got a verse and a chorus this week haha.


Till Next Time
Love Jared