Winter Quarter

What a quarter it has been!
I appologize for not updating for a while, for all those watchers and readers out there. (Thanks by the way :)


We have been working our way through the Old Testament. The following is a brief account of that "work through."


It has been life giving, harsh, meaningful, and packed with lots of questions of who this God is that we serve, that can only be answered by maybe the vision of the entire bible, and God's intentions for mankind in history and well, just talking to him about what he meant when he did this, or said this. Erika and I both have had some pretty impacting times of study, and that is largely due to the intense hours, and time that we get to spend with God during those intense hours. To be quite honest, there have been a little more down than up times, and we have struggled through it, and ended up with a better understanding of the faithfulness of God during those struggling times. The struggle is attributed to the way that the Bible is able to tear down walls, and demand change because of who God is, the holy one, the just one, the gracious and loving one. Those are just some of the characteristics that we have been noticing, and have become more and more of a reality as we dive into who he is, and what he wants to do with people, and us.


This next quarter is going to be Kings-Matthew(exclude Psalms and Proverbs). And then we graduate!


On a more personal note: Our marriage is going great, really! We have been able to work through communicating better, and learning how to love each other even when life is quite busy. It seems God has had a large involvement in the way that this has played out, and all the prayers that people have poured out on us for our lives. Thank you.


With love always,
Jason and Erika.

What we've been up to lately!

On the San Antonio Riverwalk

Hey friends! 


Its been a little while since we have updated, but as you all know, we are studying like mad people, and enjoying just about all of it. Since our last post, we have moved into the Old Testament, and we are into the book of Deuteronomy, in the Pentateuch. So far is has been a trip. I have never really read much of the Old Testament too much, but Erika has, so for us on both levels,  it has been a pretty exciting time to go deeper into reading and re-reading what God was doing thousands of years ago, and knowing his intentions. 


Our marriage has had a monument just a week ago now, it was our one year anniversary. We enjoyed it a little early over the Christmas break by heading off for a night in a beautiful bed and breakfast and saw the Alamo, but last weekend we went out to a local Italian place and had a nice time. 


On The Side Events
We are house sitting for a couple, and they live up the mountain a little bit, and have a big beautiful house overlooking the lake and mountains. So we were heading out for our anniversary dinner, heading down their driveway in their car(our little camry doesn't make it up and down very well) and all the sudden, the car goes into an ice slide straight into a tree!! So we had an exciting start to our night :) Everything is worked out, insurance is kicking in, and things are good. 


So there, that wraps it up for this update my friends! Till next time! 


Jason and Erika Goodfellow 

At our class Christmas party

Alamo

Exodus retreat :) 

Anniversary dinner

Our incredible view housesitting!
Can't believe we live in such a beautiful place.

A little visitor....right outside our window!

I dream of a world.

I am dreaming of a world. A world where darkness doesn't exist. A world where pain and suffering are no more. A world of new beginnings, and happiness. A life eternal, full of enjoyment of God, and one another, where the days go on forever, and the sun never goes down. Where anger, guilt, greed, divorce, adultery, aren't even in people's vocabulary. Where the beauty of the sea, and the colors of the nations are alive. Can you picture it? Sometimes, I can. 

This week we have been studying Revelation, and I got a glimpse of what God has been trying to tell the world since the very first time that he spoke to Abraham. Today, as I was trying to make sense of my role as a Christian i was just struck by the absolute truth that God is ruler, and that we are to worship him for who he is, and what he has dreamed for us. A dream that we could never dream without him. In the mean time, our goal should be brokenness over the people of the earth that don't know the truth about who God is. Our lives, as best we can(which isn't even close to perfect) would be to live as if we believe our God is coming back, and he loves the world so much. What that looks like, only each person's true talents, and mind's can reflect the reflection of what God had in mind of putting you on the planet. So i dare each one of us, including myself- do we look into his face, see his love, shrug off the ambitions of self, and be captured forever? 

These few months of SBS has showed me really how much I took my life for granted. I have learned about God his amazing love, and patience that he allowed his creation to spit in his face, literally(Matthew 26:67), that in itself has blown me away. The patience of God is incredible. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do brings a whole new meaning. God has begun to bring me to a place where I can no longer see why I should have my way.  That he came for us, the biggest losers(in the truest sense of the word) lived out life, as a winner, a winner over selfish desires, and was a pure, and living example of what a life for God could look like, if we will only say, Father, have your will. 

I pray that everyone who reads this questions their intentions in life, and questions who they are living for. Themselves, or God. Whether you be a believer, or not in Jesus. 

Jason

The Gospel of John

I thought it would be nice this week for me to post a small taste of the work that we are doing.  We studied the Gospel of John last week and it really impacted both of us strongly, particularly with who Jesus really is and how much he loves everyone.  The writing below is a theme summary of the book.  For each book we study, we pick one prominent theme from the book and trace it throughout the book.  We write this summary after we have studied and written about more of the details of the text of the whole book.  This theme summary is part of our final application.   

        The theme that appeared to be most prominent in this book was Christology, or the personhood and character of Christ.  This book is packed with descriptions of who Jesus was and the function that he has in the world.  The book starts right away with who Christ is and basically covers all the aspects and themes about him that will be expounded upon in the book. (Chapter 1)  He is described as the Word, or embodiment of all wisdom, that he has been from the beginning, with God, and he is God.  He is described as life and the light of men.  He became a man and is the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.  Jesus is the only true God, and he reveals God. (Chapter 1:1-18)  Some of the most significant statements about Jesus are the ways he described himself.  He describes himself as living water (v 4:13-14) and also as the bread of life (v 6:35).  He refers to himself as God, I am. (v 8:58)  Jesus also calls himself the good shepherd (v 10:11, 14).  He refers to himself as the resurrection and the life (v 11:25)  Jesus calls himself the way, the truth, and the life (v 14:6), as well as the true vine. (v 15:1)  All these illustrations pointed to aspects of his character and the way he acted toward his people.  

        To the original readers of John, these ideas would have been a lot to take in.  Certain things would have spoken different things to different people, for the readership of this book was likely quite varied.  Regardless of their background, these descriptions of Jesus would have showed a few main points: that he loved them, and they must believe in him in order to have eternal life.  They would have seen him as the one they were looking and waiting for, whether they were Jews waiting for a promised Messiah or Greeks seeking ultimate knowledge.  Jesus is portrayed as the eternal hope and rest for all, who brings life and healing to a world that is broken and desperately wicked.  They would have seen in him a God who can identify with their sorrows and troubles and who is not afraid to be personally involved in their lives.  To the Greeks particularly, this would have been quite revolutionary, for their understanding of God was that they would never attain him, but had to strive through many levels of spirituality and knowledge throughout their lifetime.  The Jewish readers would have particularly identified with all the analogies Jesus gave about himself.  They would have seen him as both their spiritual and physical provider.  They would have realized that only in him could they find true life and be near to God.  

       The things that Jesus meant to the original readers are very similar to the meaning he has to today's readers.  A much more diverse audience has access to this book today, but these words about Jesus are timeless and relevant to all people.  All are looking for life, wisdom, and sustenance, whether they realize it or not.  Jesus is portrayed in this book as the answer to all man's problems.  He is the only one who can truly unite people and bring peace to the earth.  Most of all, he is the only one who has answers to the questions of the soul.  Not only does he bring more abundant life on earth, but he also brings eternal life, the true hope of glory for weary souls.  Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly" in John 10:10.  This is ultimately what he means to us all.  

Hope you enjoyed this and that it gave you a small picture of what we are learning.  Know that Jesus loves you deeply and he gave everything so that you could have life, to the fullest.      Erika