The End Of Hermeneutics

Hey all

We have come to the end of Hermie class! It has been a long haul and very dry in learning but now that it is over I am glad I took it. Even though this course may have been as dry as it was I learned what I really think I needed to learn. Instead of being taught something through someone else's teaching and extensive experience I learned how to literally dig into the scriptures on my own and find out what it really means. This course has given us the tools to read the scripture on our own and anelize what it is supposed to mean, what it is asking and then to see what it must mean for us personally now.
But now I am glad, because it has been a looooonnnngggg and sleepless week, with lots of homework and group projects. I really have to say group projects are so hard to do, just because you are relying on a group of other people and not just yourself. Especially when others get distracted or could care less or even just don't do any of the work. Personalities run high and people really rub against one another. Sometimes I have to realize I am a overacheiver and I can't really expect that from everyone else. It would be nice though.

Now that it is over and done I am going to take a nap.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Class

Hey all

Today we are in the middle day of our Hermeneutics class. It is a tough go for a guy like me who finds it hard listening to a teacher sit and lecture all day long. Even though a course can be very interesting and something I want to learn, the lecture phase can do its number on me. Me especially being a visual and physically interactive kind of person. I just don't learn as good when sitting still listening. I get distracted, get bored, constantly change my positioning and fiddle or play with things.
So this course is a hard course for me compared to say Spiritual Formation course where we were very interactive and longed for the next day of classes. That class I felt involved and that I was challenged in what I was learning. As well in Camp Ministry class, even for being some fairly dry subject material and lots of review for me, being a former councilor. We were always constantly actively working together as groups and doing fun teaching games. To get us actively involved and help ground what was being taught. But now Hermeneutics is strictly lecture, just like I remember from Malaspina. Reminds me a lot of my Anatomy class; Sit and digest and poop out. I was really hoping In teaching us we would take the time to dig deep into a section of the Bible and in that learn how to go about that with the rest of the bible...
Well Luckily in Kaleo we are only in a Modular system, because I don't think I would be able to do 3 months of this. Or maybe if it was only a hour or two a week I could do it in 3 months.

Well Today I look forward to our BS (bible study) group. Tonight it is Jer's turn to lead the study. I am interested in what he is going to teach on and how he is going to do it this week. As well I do look forward to the drive out and back. A good time to just chill, the two of us roomies. I also look forward to meeting Matt, a friend of Natasha's from the Next Wave boat, and just give him a little bit of advise on bible college and as well some information on Kaleo.

God Bless
Aaron

Another week has come and gone

Hey All

It has been another week of studying and catching up on our pre-course assignments and finishing off some of our essays and projects that where do this weekend. I am fairly ahead of myself on my work so I have been spending my time working on assignments that are due later on in the semester, because I now very well this month is going to be a big month for me.
We started our week off with some work on the SALTS ships. We helped winterize the ships by taking down sails and booms, sanding and hauling. It was a lot of fun and it was good to see the crew again from when we did go on our little sailing expedition.
This weekend though was a fast pace and very intense time with the Jr's retreat here. I was staffing the weekend as one of Stevie G.s All Stars. That has to be one of the best jobs we got here at Qwanoes. I got to help organize the group games and lead them. Also in doing that I got to be right in the center of the games as well. There was one relay game where the kids had to run around this garbage can that I was sitting on. Well the game turned soon from them running around the garbage can to "who can maul Aaron the best". I suffered many body checks form kids on all angles as well as being clinged onto and draged around back to team lines. Ya it was painful but the most fun I have ever had in a Wide game like that ever.
I also did some belaying with my Ausy buddy Phillis on the weekend too. It was so much fun even when we didnt have kids around, we amused ourselves with random Portuges and playing football on his cell phone. Over all this weekend was a blast and I am looking forward to my next two that I am serving at.

Talking about serving, my group at Cobble Hill has been very active in this thing we call the Bridge. I am not sure if I have mentioned it yet just because I really dont read my own blog :P. Anyways we go to the Church on the Sundays and then usually go out with someone from the congergation for lunch to get to know the people of the church a little better than just a Sunday service. This weekend we went out with a couple who had their son go through Kaleo before. We went to this cute little dinner where they sold this monster burger. Tom took up the challenge and actually ate the whole thing. Oh man was it big, and oh man did he have gas afterwards :P actually it wasn't the bad. But yes then we went back to the church in the evening to run the Youth worship night that is our big involment at the church. It went very well and has been going on for the past few weeks now. We run it every weekend on Sunday at 7, hint hint nudge nudge, we would love to see people come out :)
But yes it is a great community that we are involved in with Cobble Hill and I look forward to the next months of being involved with them. I have really grown a love for this church and its people.

God Bless
Aaron

Hey All

In this past week there has been a fair amount of stuff happening. Jogging my memory... well in the whole activity aspect of things life has been slow but even being at camp and not running from trip to trip or being in class at the moment, we are still able to keep ourselves busy. I personally have had time to get lots of school work done as well as work on other personal things in my life. It has a been a busy week mentally I would say; sometimes that is more tiring than being on the go with out trips.
I have to just finish off some formatting for some reports and essays I have written for my classes and proof read them as well. Even though I have so much work done already and compared to the others I am way ahead yet at the same time I am stressed with all the work... I don't know why, like maybe just the fact that I haven't handed it all in or just the fact that there is always more or ya I don't know... Life right now is stressful. If you guys could pray for me right now in that area, cause I am stressed out about everything, work, relationships, expectations of me, and even time to enjoy myself like I am finding it hard to balance time.

Hmm I really don't have anything else to say besides that... Pray for my state of mind, for my attitude going into things, for my selfishness to leave me, for me to just give up my own desires sometimes, because I sometimes hurt myself more thatn others actually hurt me. Pray that I dont self destruct.

Aaron Denninger

Hey All, again so soon

Just wanted to update you all on my past weekend. It was thanks giving as many of you know or at least should know... well I spent my thanks giving with my family. It was really nice to see everyone at home together again, except Alex the youngest happened to have to work so that kinda sucked but at least I got to see my older brother and his wife. Havn't seen a whole lot of him since he got married. Is to be expected I guess though. Anyways it was really nice to see the fam again and just have a good sit down meal and chat with everyone. The dinner was great except for the stuffing... my mom makes the best stuffing in the world and has made it every year. But this year she decided to make it a little different and ruined it. Grr, normally we would be fighting over it all but this year we had leftover stuffing.. not a good sign. Back to the same good stuff mom, please.
It was a good weekend to just relax and get away from the business of Kaleo, yet on the other hand it was kind of boring because well as anyone who knows me I love to be busy with things to do and going out and about, so I did long to get back at Kaleo. We watched the hockey game and yet again Canucks triumphed over the Flames... and that was the highlight of the weekend. I also spent the rest of my time getting well ahead on my school work too.

To my church family, thank you so much this Sunday. It was very nice to talk with all of you whom I talked to. I couldn't beleive how many people were talking to me and ya... I felt very loved and important to you guys. Thank you for that.
If you want anything spacific to pray for me it would be the funds to go on our missions trip and also for us to come to the conclusion as to where we are going. Also for my emotions as well I am still going through a hard time emotionally.

Aaron Denninger

Hey All

Surfing has been the theme of our past week! As I said ya we went surfing this past week in the deserted West Coast of the Island in the Pacific Rim National Park... other wards known as Tofino, by most people. Most of our crew had never been surfing ever in their lives, so this was a very cool and new experience for most of them. Also thus making me their resident expert... ya right!
So we started the trek up the island early on Tuesday morning. As we drove up the island we stopped by the much loved little country market called Coombs. Most everyone loved it, but then were very disappointed that we had missed the goats on the roof by ONE DAY! Oh man it would have been great for the guys to actually see those goats in action... eating grass... and pooping on people, te he.
It was a long 3.5 hours of driving from Crofton here but we managed to end up making it. We pulled into our camp ground at "Bella" located on Mackenzie beach. Everyone split up into sleeping groups and set up our tents. After setting the tents up we went down onto the beach front and played some soccer, went skim boarding and Phil and I took photos of everyone. As well we had some amazing 25 foot swells out on the ocean. Now that was a awesome site to see.
Later that evening we had tacos for dinner. Josh had picked up some hot sauce from Coombs thinking it would tast good and be fun to put into some food. When him and some of the other guys decided to have it and were complaining of how hot it was and how much it hurt their mouths, I figured they were being wimps. I decided to make my taco with some of the hot sauce and eat it too to show that I could handle this stuff. Well it so happened to be very hot! I spent the next 3 hours of the night very much in pain. First it started as a burning in my mouth and then totally enveloped my face. Then it moved down into my throat making it hard to breath and finally settled as a bad stomach ake in my tummy. That is something I will never do again.
The next day we woke up and took on the surf! It was soo much fun! The waves were about 5 feet tall that day, so pretty good waves for all the beginners but Bruno and I were having difficulties just because we both needed something a little more intence to surf on. I ended up exchanging my 6 foot board for a longer 7.6 foot board so that I could coast on the small waves. Overall though it was soo much fun just crusing along the waves with all the guys and seeing the smiles that lit up their faces as they played in the water.
The last day I went beach combing with a few of the guys along Chestermans beach, taking more photos and checking out the critters that inhabbited the beaches. It was a good relaxing day to just relax in the beauty of this place God has created.

This weekend, is going to be Thanksgiving! I am leaving Camp today to go home and spend with my family. It should be a good weekend with the whole family back together again. I have really missed seeing everyone all at home together and to have this will be a good thing to have again.
Other than that, there hasn't been too much else in my week. I look forward to this weekend and you guys will probably hear a little bit about it when I get back.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Perseverance Through Trials

Ok... so lets see what my week has looked like

Where do I start! Well lets start with Marv's class. As I have already posted a few things that stuck out to me during his class, that only gives you a glimpse of what we learned. Oh man! Marv showed us soo much good stuff and really encouraged and challenged us in our Christian walks. Whether we thought we were on track or not, there was so much to learn and aspire to work towards.
On of the topics that I distinctly remember was Prayer, Meditation and Solitude. These are all things that I have struggled with in my life. I am and have been the type of guy who has the need to be around people all the time and to keep myself constantly busy and on the go. This is not always a bad thing, but when it comes to spending time with God, he tends to get the shaft. I was able in this course to really focus on how to talk with God and to meditate on his word in that. I have also gained a appreciation for solitude and just time alone with God and me. The cool thing is you can talk to people all you want and work on your own strength to try and get through trial but the going is hard if not impossible. If I could have planned when to have this course I wouldn't have change the date for any other. I had been going through some real tough times this past week with some personal and friend issues. With Marv's guidance I was able to really understand the significance of talking with my Father and listening to what he has to say to me through his word. I am still not through these trials in my life 100% yet but God is soo faithful and I can see that the hardest part has passed and God has got me in his arms of Love. If I relied on my own strength I would be in utter depression and say and do things I would have regretted, but with Gods strength I can go through the hard times with a positive attitude. It has saved me from putting my foot in my mouth many times. God has helped me think through a lot that has been on my mind this week.

As well this weekend I have been crazy busy! I went with my buddy Josh to the Qwanoes Road Tour. The Road Tour is where the staff here at Q go out to the communities and put on a get together night full of games and music and speech. It is a way of introducing those kids who came to camp the past summer with the local youth pastors, and to get them involved with a church. Taking the next step in our ministry here at camp. Then Josh and I came home (Qwanoes) and I had to drop my bags and take off again for youth group. We had a youth sleep over event at the church. It was a lot of fun running around and goofing off with the kids, even though I got no sleep at all that night. The next day we all had to keep our heads up and not fall asleep in church, but Lech is good at keeping you focused on the Sermon. Then Sunday evening we hosted the first Bridge of the season! If you can make it at all it is at 7 pm. It went very well for a first one, a small croud but over all went very well. Now we are taking a break to see family on Thanks Giving and then back into it again the next week.
Thank you all for the many prayers that have been lifted up for me. They have really helped me immensely this past week and it is so encouraging that there are people that care about me. I love you all and God Bless

Aaron Denninger

Have We Excused Our Sins?

When minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new sessions of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

THE PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good,," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We confess:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the Name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on "The Rest of the Story" on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called one nation under God.

Meditatoin on God, what is it???

To Meditate

med·i·tate /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[med-i-teyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -tat·ed, -tat·ing. –verb (used without object)

1.	to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2.	to engage in transcendental meditation, devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to consider as something to be done or effected; intend; purpose: to meditate revenge.

Before today in class I really didn't know what it was to meditate in a biblical way. I had always wondered why I never was successful at meditating, and in this I mean I could never before and even now sit still and clear my mind. I thought I had to clear my mind of everything and sit for a period of time, however much it would take God to speak to me. Well I would get very frustrated thinking I was something insignificant and that I was lacking something, because I really couldn't manage to do this. I always had something on my mind to think about.

Today in class though Marv gave us some verses and some insight into what the word "Meditation" actually meant. He explained to us through the bible, especially in the Psalms that meditation isn't the new age emptying your mind and letting whatever wants to come in come in kind of thing. That honestly is a scary thing because that opens up the doors ya to God but then it also opens up the doors to the Devil and his trickery too.

Psalm 1:1-3 states

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does no wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

In this God is asking me not to empty my mind but to actually fill it; to fill it with thoughts of him. He asks me to dwell on his law for me and to think about the things he wants for me in my life and the things he has already given me in my life. This brought a utter relief and excitement to me. I love to think and ponder on the word of God! I have been meditating all this time when I didn't know it! And I love it! I love getting into deep thought about God and conversation with him and then also discussing him with others!
My inadequacy is no more :)