the copycat baker: Peter

One of my favorite Bible characters of all-time is Peter. He is introduced in the gospels as someone headstrong, quick-tempered (remember how he sliced off a servant's ear?), brash. Yet, he undergoes such a huge transformation. He failed so badly when he denied Jesus 3 times before the rooster crowed, yet Jesus used Peter to be a pillar of the church.

Our Bible Study just finished studying 1 Peter. Uncle Huan gave a really great (great = new and deeper insight + touched my spirit) summary of 1 Peter. I wished we had this perspective before or while we were studying 1 Peter. First of all, the key theme of 1 Peter can be encapsulated by 1 Peter 1:9- "obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls." I've read this verse many times as we studied this book, and usually I just pass it by, regarding it as more spiritual "fluff." One of those verses that has big, spiritual words in it (salvation, faith, soul), but not sure of application. Uncle Huan revealed that this verse, when it talks about the "salvation of our souls", literally is talking about the process of sanctification. Plus, he drew a diagram that helped me understand more clearly! I love diagrams, they're always easier to remember than lots of words!

How I understood it afterwards was that after we are saved (our spirits are saved by the redeeming work of Christ), however, our souls (comprised of our will, emotions, and mind), still need to be refined and perfected. The process of sanctification is then, becoming more like Christ in our will, in our emotions, in our mind. As those arrows represent, this refining work permeates out from our spirit, where Christ's spirit resides, and is a slow, gradual process of transformation.

For some reason, this clicked for me last night. We (especially I) hear about these big Christian concepts (sanctification, justification, salvation) ALL THE TIME. But a lot of times, they're just words and doctrines. The diagram really helped me remember and understand what sanctification is all about.

In other news, we have our January College Saturday Meeting tonight. We will be having a few different discussion groups, each group has a different topic. Please pray for us! My group will be leading on Time Management (balancing church life, school, friends, clubs, volunteering, etc.) and Choosing a Major/Career. Ben will be helping out with the Drinking Alcohol group. And our last group will be on Choosing Relationships. I hope that discussing these VERY PRACTICAL college issues will open up our eyes and touch our hearts, all of us including the leaders. We don't have a concrete answer for all questions, but we do want to steer people in the right direction. Lastly, I really do hope that our discussion can be a start for college students to analyze their lives right now, and really re-dedicate it to God.

Random Food Pictures From January: