grads, this night is for you.

lon that don
so these past two days i've skipped two classes, which is more than i've skipped all term. what's been going on? on monday we had to sit outside the timmy's at 1E1 to time people arriving and lining up for stats. so ridicurous. i mean you wont believe how desperate some people are for coffee. the line can be like 15 people, and they'll still wait. thats insane. you crazy addicts! then yesterday, i went to an interview with nomcom for committee next year. it was okay. some good questions. lots of stuff to think about. after i got back home, i tried to do like a ten minute power nap before my 4 o clock class. whoaaa no luck. woke up at like 3:59. so that was a write-off. luckily, there was a supply teacher and no pop quiz, so i didn't really miss much at all.
last night, after classes, sharon and i went up to london along with rani and nate.. they were meeting for a campus challenge bible study meeting, and we just tagged along. up there connie made us the mans meal, and we had an interesting discussion. i think i learned a lot, about people, and how to work together in ministry. we left connies at about 4, got back to the loo by 5ish this morning. all in all, a very tiring night, but it was a worthwhile experience. now i can say i visited western! mwahaha!
anyways, thats about it for now. i've got all this stuff on my mind about proper doctrine/etc so i will go and mull over it now. keep workin hard kids.

timing waste

nothing like a good early morning blog to get the blood going. err right! so while everyone's been busy studying hard, gearing up for exams, i've been coasting along reluctant to do any serious work. oh man it's so bad. really though, i'll get started today. heh. :D
so this past wknd ken came over from london for the wknd, which was good times. a buncha ppl from toronto also came up like will darren etc, but im not really too close to any of them. but ken was jokes, so good seeing him again.
so since i've had so much time to use up, ive been watching quite a few flicks. heres a few that you might want to check out.
1. equilibrium - whoa. jonny boy called this one. kinda matrixy with better fight scenes. story is like 1984/farenheit 451 etc, and plot is really weak, but a great movie. a great guy movie anyway.
2. gen-x cops - watched this one yesterday, its just funny cuz the subtitles were a bit off at times, but still, gotta love that cheezy dialogue and sub-par acting.
3. 21 grams - kinda dark movie, done in a memento style where all the scenes are put in random order. plot is pretty simple, but the acting is what makes it real and powerful. probably the three best performances ive ever seen in any single movie.

so anyways, heres to a good week. study hard for both of us, cuz we all know i'm the slow one. as mr springer would say, take care of yourselves, and each other.

unfaithful bride

If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I'd ever need
or is there more I'm looking for

The church is the bride of Christ.

Tim preached yesterday about this analogy from John 3, also mentioned in Hosea. In near-East tradition of arranged marriages, the bride and bridegroom rarely knew anything about each other, and probably had never met before. The fathers would get together, and over a cup of wine, would promise their children to each other. The son, no matter how ugly the bride looked, or how flawed her character was, would promise to love her, because his father had told him to.

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don't trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

We as the bride of Christ, are filthy, dirty, tainted. But Jesus, our bridegroom, has been promised to us, and by his faithful love to his Father, has promised to love us. By his blood, we are made holy. We are beloved, we are chosen.

I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

I have been unfaithful, chasing after so many lesser loves, when Jesus himself is all I'll ever need.

I am a whore I do confess, I put you on just like a wedding dress

By the blood of Christ, I am made holy. I am beloved. I am chosen.

Yeshua

yesterday night i went to go see the passion. its really hard to write about, cause so much has been said already, but i'll try and make this more personal and give it a shot. overall, i thought the movie was very well done. the artistic liberties taken were for the most part well warranted. very real, very moving. a few afterthoughts:
1) the magnitude of my sin: the bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins. what really gripped me was how depraved our condition really is, the idea that Christ had to endure all of that suffering, as if it was the only way. it couldn't have been done any lighter, he couldn't have died on the cross any sooner, beacuse our sin was just that much. how evil am i? how bad is my sin? bad enough to hold Christ on that cross.
2) my unworthiness: i am so unworthy, especially to have someone die for me, in this way, and someone so pure, so true, so holy. what a stark contrast.. my disgusting sin, taken away by a perfect man dying a gruesome death. it just doesnt make sense.
3) no excuses: passion can be defined as 'unfailing committment'. i thought the film portrayed Jesus' struggle very well. he was so human. i have absolutely no excuses of not giving my all, not following through on my word, or not giving him the glory and worship he deserves. i have no excuses to not carry my own cross, even if it means a tough road ahead.
4) the love of God: God loved us enough to watch Christ go through such pain. think about how much God must love his son. then think about how hard it must have been for him to turn his face away in Christ's hour of need. that might just give you a glimpse of how much he loves us, and how he must have thought, heaven's not quite complete without Justin, so Jesus, you gotta do this.
5) the cross: Christ embraced the cross. what a remarkable thought.. embracing the very thing that takes your life away. so we too must embrace the cross, and daily march up the hill to crucify our will, our pride, our hatred, our prejudice, our greed, our deceit, to crucify our sinful nature.

Here is love vast as the ocean
Lovingkindness as a flood
When the Prince of Life for ransom
Shed for us His precious blood

Who His love will not remember
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout heaven’s eternal days

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains open deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed the vast and gracious tide

Grace and love like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

you've kissed this guilty man in love..

and finally, im done

swell, its been a tough week, but as of yesterday 5:10ish, im done (for the most part) until exams. im done all midterms until finals, as far as i know anyways. all thats left are a few papers, one assignment, and random pop quizzes. which i'll gladly take over anything that was like last week. so last thursday night we pulled out the stats wil 6, and that exam wasnt that great, but i guess i didnt totally bomb it so its not too bad. monday was my soc seminar, which actually turned out okay. im so glad we were first and got it out of the way nice and early, now i dont have to do anything for that class for the rest of the term.
so after class met up with lindz to study law, not too bad, only went to about 2:30ish, and the exam turned out to be pretty easy and straightforward, so im hoping to do good on that. so we've got this bizkids thing goign on where the person who gets the highest mark buys the person with the lowest mark coffee. i guess one of us will have to buy the other coffee? how does that work if its just two people? ha! anyways, yesterday was my psych midterm, which i was ill prepared for, but it went okay.. made up a WHOLE buncha stuff, but thats bound to happen with psych. hahaha..
yesterday night at lccf we had some alumni (anita and alan) come back to talk to us about whats going on post graduation, which was nice. its was really great seeing anita again! it'd been like.. a year! thats crazy. just too long. after fellowship, we had our constitution meeting. it was really long, and some parts were really boring, but i was just thinking, its kinda cool. like being able to take part in drafting up the first ever laurier chinese christian fellowship constitution, what an honor! who woulda thought, only 2 years after having like 4 ppl come out, we'd be drafting a constitution for the future. amazing how God brings stuff together like that.

anyways, before i end off, a few recommendations.
1. nickel creek.. started really getting into their stuff this past week, its SO good. kinda folk/bluegrass, so maybe not for everyone, but d/l some of their stuff, you might enjoy it. pretty sick guitar and banjo stuff.
2. switchfoot.. so i borrowed sharon's beautiful letdown cd.. this is definitely one of the top 3 cds of 2003.. unbelievable. brilliantly constructed, very artistic. give it a shot.
3. change your world: not sure how many of you might be interested, but its LOUIE. like jeez. oh and tomlin (meh) :D i might be going for the whole conference, havent decided yet, but i think i'll def go for the evening louie service..

1.5 ty4 alwz b'n w/ me - muah!