Word of the Week -- Intro to the Names of God

My aim with the Word of the Week is to learn something new about God and/or my place as a Christ follower and to focus on one such aspect each week. I also would like to offer my gleanings up for anyone else who’d like a little extra education or meditation each week – something informative but easy to tuck away and wonder about later. Last semester, I focused on the Attributes of God – the things that God IS (faithful, righteous, love, good, genuine, omnipotent, sovereign, immutable, etc). This semester, I will concentrate on the Names of God – the Names by which He introduces Himself to us and which will, I’m sure, teach us a lot about HOW he is -- how He relates to us.

Throughout the Bible God is known by many names. Unfortunately, they are all translated into English as God or GOD, Lord or LORD, or a combination of those or in conjunction with other words. The impact is, fairly often, completely lost in translation. What’s the big difference between upper and lowercase?? In Hebrew, they are completely different words with different meanings! Did you know that?

Here’s just a taste of the intrigue of the Names of God:
In Exodus 3:14 (ESV), Moses asks God “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God answers cryptically, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh” – "I AM WHO I AM.” This can be translated, I am what I am, or I will be what I will be, and contains the idea that God has always been, is, and always will be just what He is. He is the essence of the verb “to be.” This name drips with meaning and with mystery. One Jewish midrash (interpretation/commentary) states that “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: You want to know My Name? I am called according to my actions, El Shaddai, Tsevaot, Elohim, Adonai. When I judge creatures, I am called Elohim (God). When I wage war against the wicked, I am called Tsevaot (Hosts). When I suspend judgment of a person’s sins, I am called El Shaddai (Almighty). And when I have mercy on My world, I am called Adonai” (Exodus Rabbah 3:6 – Jewish midrash (commentary) on Exodus 3:6).
(Sources: ESV Study Bible, www.kolel.org/blog, www.hebrew4christians.com, www.jtsa.edu)

Next week Tuesday (February 3) the Word of the Week will commence with the Name “Elohim.” New postings arrive each Tuesday!

All caught up

So, I can't decide if that was overly lengthy or not quite enough information... but it's what you get for now. I have to tell you that this job is awesome and God is awesomer for preparing it for me and me for it, and even working out our living situations and other activities so perfectly (in His own weird way). It is awesome to be trusting Him so fully on this grand adventure.

Please pray with Rob and I that our presence at TCF would further open the doors for God to be at work in all His supernatural power. Pray for us, also, that we will remember to take time for ourselves and each other, and that God would raise up financial support. We are trusting Him; please trust Him with us!

Please keep up with us here AND be in touch! We need to know what you are up to also!
Katy -- 262-344-2630, Rob 262-909-9318.

Many blessings friends!

Catching Up Installment 5: Ministry in Full

Here’s some details about what I do in as Women’s Campus Minister of Titan Christian Fellowship:

Ministry in general:
Prayer. I did three official sermons throughout the fall semester, and I’ll have more over the spring semester. I co-lead two small groups –Lifegroup with Rob, and Questions Group with Kyle, my co-campus minister. I write a blog called Word of the Week – this past semester I discussed the attributes of God, next semester I’ll do the Names of God. I’m heading up our Student Leadership training. I do advertizing/public relations/outreach across campus. And I’m immersed in the behind-the-scenes bits of ministry to include database organizing, supply purchasing, planning and preparing for our various events and studies.

Women’s Ministry in Particular:
The #1 most important thing I do is disciple women 1-on-1. I met weekly with four girls during the fall semester, and I’ll meet with seven spring semester. I also lead one small group bible study of the Gospel of John. I lead the large group women’s bible study (called STICH – Sister’s Together In Christ’s Hands). And I “shepherd the flock,” helping these girls make smart decisions, encouraging them to communicate in their relationships, offering a shoulder to cry on, and living as an example to watch. Daily I live out my God-given purpose: “…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).

TCF itself is on to some new ventures as well: we are purchasing a house (which has belonged to a fraternity for the past 14 years) which will function as a house for some of our male students as well as offices TCF staff. It will be our new ministry center where students can come for fellowship and meet together for discipleship and studying. Also, this fall saw the advent of a church service on campus co-founded by TCF and one of the churches in town. It’s called 180. We have seen some new faces through this venue and are excited about the possibilities of getting more students involved with Christ and the community involved with the students.

Catching Up Installment 4: What we're up to otherwise

Rob has gone back to school – as a student again. He is studying at UW-Oshkosh to attain his second bachelor’s degree – this one in his dream topic, Archaeology. He also works almost full-time at BASIC, the local Christian bookstore, with Christina. AND he’s still in the Army. He has just returned from 16 days in Florida, helping to train other Wisconsin National Guard units to deploy (there has been NO word of another deployment for Rob, thank God).

I am also still in the Army, and I twiddle my flute pretty happily there. I’m hoping to get promoted to Staff Sergeant in the next few months. My unit, the 484th Army Band, has a pretty big concert coming up on March 28th, and anyone can make it to Milwaukee is certainly invited to come! I’ve also joined the Oshkosh Area Community Band, AND I’m taking a class at Moody Graduate School this spring -- Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Whew!

Catching Up Installment 3: Moving In.

No, the Kenosha house didn't sell, but my sister, Christina, also moved to Oshkosh! Yay! It is a HUGE blessing to have her near and live our dream of living *close* to each other. She came up to visit with me over the summer and miraculously got a job while she was here. Since we didn't have a place to stay, and so no where to offer her to stay, she lived in the sun room at the Campus House (the ministry center for TCF) for a couple of months before she was able to buy a house (an amazing story in itself).

Since October, the three of us have been packed cozily away in her little home. :)

It’s a tiny one-bedroom house – Rob and I live in the living room (so it's aptly named!). The house needed a lot of love, and Rob and I have tried to earn our keep by adding our ideas and labor to fixing it up – it’s been mutually beneficial! (***UPDATE: there is a family from our church in Kenosha that would like to rent our house for the next year with the intent of buying it in March 2010. They are only able to pay bills and a little more than ½ of the actual mortgage payment, but we are excited to help them out and have someone to keep an eye on the house while we are so far away. Please pray that the details will be worked out for everyone’s best benefit, and that we and this other family can also mutually benefit one another!)

Catching Up Installment 2: Ministry Begins

In August I went to the National Student Conference with TCF's student leaders and staff. Being at the conference was a lot like going home: a lot of my friends from Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State were there and it was AWESOME to reconnect with Roger, Lyndsey, Melissa, Eyo, Rachel, and Brian... and to see so many other familiar faces doing familiar things. But this was the first time I had met some of the students from Oshkosh, and my first real opportunity to get to know most of them. They were incredibly welcoming and made the job of getting to know them easy. We played, prayed, learned, sang, ate, slept, travelled, EVERYTHING together for 5 days. We made lots of plans for kicking off the new school year.

During the first week of school I got fully reintroduced to the craziness of campus ministry. I planned, prepared, played, all sorts of other "P" words until I was pooped! I became a keeper of lists, a PR person, a carnival worker, a cook, a creative artist, and an all around go-get-it type, all the while doing my best to learn names and remember faces (which is nearly impossible for me, btw).


After that, things settled down a little and I was able to start planning and scheduling the main part of my job: Women's Bible Study, discipleship partnerships, and activities.

Catching Up Installment 1: Summer 2008

I sent a snail mail letter out in August/September to announce that God has called Rob and I to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, specifically for me to serve as Women’s Minister at Titan Christian Fellowship. Now, hopefully, I'll be able to keep you updated on our lives and the ministry from this blog! I'm going to give a brief synopsis of the ongoings since the summer:

The last five months have been a whirlwind of learning and trying new things and, best of all, watching God work around and through us.

Rob and I spent this summer of 2008 slowly moving our many possessions to Oshkosh and tucking them away in the basement of my new boss, TCF’s Ministry Director, Jeremy Rush. We had the crazy idea that our house might sell quickly and we’d be in a new one before school started, but, alas, here we are in January and the house in Kenosha is still under our name. Needless to say, living 124 miles from the house we own (and the only one we can afford) has been interesting! We stayed in basements and spare rooms for almost three months....

giving it a try

hello. this is my trial message. if you are reading this: welcome! i want you to know that my hope is to have very functional and informative blogs here! i want to tell you about what's going on at Titan Christian Fellowship, and, of course, in mine and Rob's life. one main purpose of this blog is to simply stay up to date with people; another is to influence them (YOU) to prayerfully and financially support the ministry by showing you what God is up to at UW-Oshkosh. Hope to have this all up and running soon! Please be in contact so we can be up to date with you too! theophilus34ad@hotmail.com or 262-344-2630. and i'm on facebook! blessings friends.