The wilderness is a place where growth is difficult, water is scarce, and you plod on when there's no end in sight. You can have a wilderness experience anywhere: at a graveside, at the Job Centre, or in a divorce court. In the wilderness: (1) There seems to be no way out. In Scripture, the number forty represents struggle. Noah experienced storms for forty days. Moses spent forty years alone in the desert. Jesus was tempted by the Devil for forty days. (2) You begin to think the worst. The wilderness weakens your resolve. It makes you look for an easy way out. A troubled marriage can make you look the wrong way at somebody else's husband or wife. It's the breeding ground for dishonesty, depression, even pornography-things you normally wouldn't find appealing.
'Jesus...was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil...' (Luke 4:1-2 NLT). Notice: going face to face with the devil was God's idea. Jesus, the last Adam, came to succeed where the first Adam failed. 'Because one person disobeyed...many became sinners. But because one righteous person obeyed...many will be made righteous' (Romans 5:19 NLT). Jesus overcame the devil by using God's Word. Three times He said to Satan, 'It is written' (Luke 4:4, 8, 12 KJV).
And God's Word is still your wilderness-survival guide. After using it, Jesus left the wilderness clothed in the power of God's Spirit, ready to launch His ministry. And God can do the same for you. 'He...guided them in the wilderness...He led them on safely, so that they did not fear...' (Psalm 78:52-53 NKJV)
I am in the wilderness with my Psychology assignment!
A 3000 word presentation describing how behaviour is influenced by both biological and environmental factors to give to a group of probation officers.
Sounds easy right? Nature vs nurture and all that jazz?
Trying to paraphrase the brain and nervous system structures and functions, and then relating that to the relationship between brain activity and behaviour, and then explaining the relevance of understanding the biological basis of behaviour for professional practice in the addiction field - is not as easy as it sounds!
And that is only section one - of five - of the marking criteria for this presentation.
I'm all good though. I have spent half a day on the cover slide.
It is a REALLY neat cover slide.
:-/
I spent all day yesterday working at a church in Panmure. I am finishing up the last of my community service hours. What a humbling experience that was. It made me realise just how loaded the Salvation Army are. I thought i had seen poverty while working at the Sallies in Howick.
Ummmm. Not. So. Much.
This church is run by a Maori family. The pastor is a lovely Maori man. He and his whanau all live at a house on the church land. Three generations i think it is. They run a free day care centre during the week for people in the community that work but cannot afford daycare. They run a gym out of the church for youth in the community that want to learn Martial Arts...they cook a hangi every Thursday and feed whoever turns up.
I sat in that Church yesterday, after cleaning it. I looked around at the run down old building with all the mismatched furniture that they had set up for Sunday Service and reflected back on what i had seen at The Salvation Army. I had lunch with three generations of a family that dedicate their life to helping their community. I thought about how wonderful it must be for the younger generation to grow up with that culture and extended family.
It was a pretty cool day. I went over to T's place when i was done. I was telling him all about this family and the church. T expressed cynicism and started bleating on about how much money all of those churches have, what the land is worth etc etc...
He now wants to know where his "right wing, bordering on fascist" partner has gone.
Hmmmm. I don't know - but all i saw was a big extended family who give to their community. It was pretty cool. I have now left T to keep searching for his fascist girlfriend, while i force myself to move on to slide 2.
Posts
