Back into the full swing of things...for a week anyways. I didn't do as much work as I had hoped to do last week. But then again, no one ever does. At least I got one essay finished. Had a Greek quiz today and then an ethics quiz tomorrow. After that, I gotta get stuck into my Mark exegesis essay.

We only have lectures for this week, and then we're off on holidays for Easter! Woo hoo! I guess it'll be more like a working holiday, since there's a fair few assessments to get stuck into. And I'll be away at the WS church camp over the long weekend. Other than running a seminar on apologetics (ie answering tough questions about Christianity), it should be a pretty good relaxing time. I especially look forward to catching up with some of the kids I used to teach back in 2000 and 2001.

<< Thank God for Research Week and being able to have time to knock over some assessments. Pray that I can continue to be disciplined over the Easter break. Pray also for my seminar at church camp and pray that I can have a good time to relax and to catch up with people.>>

As usual, Easter is a good time to reachout to friends with the news of the gospel. At church, the Simply Christianity course is coming up to its last week this Friday. I don't know what kind of response to expect from them. But timed nicely together is 2 other evangelistic events right after its conclusion. First up we have the "Trial of Jesus" on 4th April. The church will be set up like a court room and the case is "Is Jesus dead?" Basically we want to show people that there is credible evidence for the resurrection of Christ, and to invite each person to make a decision about it. Then the following week, we have a person from Jews for Jesus coming to speak on the significance of the resurrection for a Jewish Christan.

<< Please pray that all these various events will be able to present the gospel well and encourage people to see the truth and importance of the resurrection. Pray that the hearts of non-Christians will be challenged to respond to this truth rather than just acknowledging (or even rejecting) it. >>

Tomorrow night, I'll also be having dinner with a bunch of high school friends whom I haven't seen for ages. It'll be interesting to see their response when they find out I'm at Bible college. None of them are Christians as far as I know, though one of them has been interested for some time but not willing to make a committment yet. Most are nominal Catholics, quite intelligent (ie 95+ for TER/UAI), career orientiated, and generally uninterested in religious things. But I hope that I can use Easter and Bible college to bring Jesus up in conversation and to challenge them as well.

<< Please pray that God may open opportunities for me to tell the gospel to my friends. Pray that I may be bold and not shy away from the topic of Jesus. Pray that I can be a good witness to them, and that they will be interested in talking about it. >>

By now, all of you should have received my latest newsletter. If not, let me know and I'll send it again. It's actually quite hard to send bulk emails, 'cause there's all these restrictions as to how big your email can be and how many people to send it to at one time. I don't know how spammers manage it!?!

I'm starting to cope a bit better with time here at college now. Not quite there yet, but I'm not procrastinating as much and I'm starting to make use of the small blocks of time. There's regular stream of assessments due now (average of one a week), and I really gotta get stuck into them. At the same time, I don't want to have my head stuck in a book all the time. I need to be spending time with people and serving and encouraging them.

Next week is Research Week - which means that there will be no lectures on and we can focus on getting some of those assignments done. Well, that's the idea anyways...Let's just hope I don't waste it!

<< Thank God that I'm slowly adjusting to college life and improving in my time management. Pray that I can be disciplined next week and use my time well to complete my essays. Pray also that I can be continually spending personal time with God in my quiet times. Pray especially that I will be able to keep building relationships with my the staff and with fellow students and not be forever hidden in my room. >>

An update on the Simply Christianity course I'm running at EYF. Tomorrow will be the 3rd week of the course. So far, we've had 2 non-Christians who've come both weeks, and 3 who have come for only one of the two weeks. Hopefully we'll have all 5 of them this time. A pat on the back for those who've been bold enough to invite their friends. =)

Generally, I think it's going ok. It's always hard to tell with a new group. People are a bit shy and awkward. And they hardly ever (or never) go to church. They all have fairly different backgrounds. They don't seem to have a lot of questions at this stage, which I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. But at least they don't seem to have a lot of pre-conceived ideas and are pretty open to the material I present to them. But I do hope that they are understanding it all and that God will use it to change their hearts.

This week we're looking at Jesus' mission - to seek and save the lost.

<< Praise God for these people who've turned up to learn about Jesus. Pray that I can be clear and faithful in explaining the gospel, and that God will move them to be challenged and in reponse turn and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour. >>

It's towards the end of week 3 here at college. Assessments are starting to pile up now and my schedule is filling up with stuff. I've started a new section on the left with some of the upcoming stuff so you can pray for me.

<< Give thanks to our God that I am really enjoying my time at SMBC. Pray that as I start to write essays and do exams that this will not become an academic exericse but instead a life changing one as God's Word lives in me. >>

Every year, SMBC is involved with a number of different missions around Australia and even overseas. Just found out that I'll be involved with a large mission in Nowra in September. I have no idea what the place is like and what we'll be doing, but I look forward to getting to know my team of 20 and working together for the gospel.

<< Pray that I can get to know the people on my mission team and that we can work well together. Pray for the lost in Nowra that God may prepare their hearts now so that they will be ready to receive the good news of our Lord Jesus christ. >>

At church we are starting a 5 week Simply Christianity course this Friday! It's a very exciting time for EYF as it is the follow up to our first outreach event a few months ago. I'll be leading the non-Christian group while Jeremy leads the Christian in doing some training for evangelism.

<< Please pray for the hearts of the non-Christians as they come to know Jesus through the Gospel of Luke. Pray that they will be teachable and will ask good questions. And pray for me too that I may teach the Word of God faithfully and clearly so that these non-Chrsitians will have an opportunity to understand and respond to the gospel. >>