From rshadian@hawaii.eduThu Oct 12 20:08:57 1995 Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 20:05:17 -1000 From: Ritchard Shadian To: Chi Alpha Subject: The Brotherly, volume FA95, issue 4 *** * * *** * *** ** * * * *** ******* ****** ****** ******* ** ** ******* ****** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** ******* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ******* ***** ** ** ** ****** ******* ***** ** ** ** ******* ****** ** ** ** ****** ******* ****** ** *** ** ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** *** ******* ** ** ****** ** ** ** ******* ** ** ****** *** THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA CHI ALPHA CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ OCTOBER 12, 1995 VOLUME FA95 ISSUE NO. 4 ______________________________________________________________________________ Hey gang, I hate to sound like a cracked CD (that's the modern lexicon for a "broken record"), but I NEED YOUR ARTICLES!! I want this newsletter to be more than announcements which are repeated every Friday night. This is the best chance you will have to share your opinions or experiences with your fellow Chi Alpha members. I find it hard to believe that nobody has a voice, or something they are just dying to tell their Christian brothers and sisters. I'll take virtually anything, I can even make the articles anonymous if you want (I've done that before). Please, send stuff to me. My address is rshadian@Hawaii.Edu. This newsletter goes out approximately every two weeks. That's plenty of time to conjure up something. With that said. Let's get on with the show..... ----------------- | ANNOUNCEMENTS | ----------------- SEE YOU AT THE POLLS? --------------------- Chi Alpha has been selected to help with the ASUH special election booths on Wednesday, October 18, between 10:00 and 2:00 at Campus Center. We're getting $100 for it. If you want to help out, sign up this Friday for a time. PRAYING IN THE WEEKEND ---------------------- You all know about the integrated prayer meeting that goes on every Wednesday morning at 8:00 at the free speech stairs across from the Campus Center information booth. In addition, you all know that the more we pray, the better. So, Chi Alpha has also set aside Friday mornings at 7:30 to pray. The prayer meeting is in the barbeque area next to the basketball courts behind Wainani G. It's the same place we had the cookout last month and the same place the prayer meetings were held last semester. TENNIS ANYONE? --------------- This is one of those "plan-on-a-whim" events that I am trying to put together. I didn't announce it at the planning meeting, so it's sort of unofficial. How about some tennis this Saturday at 9:30 am? For those who are interested, let's meet down at the UH Athletic Dept. tennis courts. SALT ---- You all know about the SALT conference. It's that big Chi Alpha week up in California this winter break. The cost is $150 for the conference itself and about $300 for airfare. The deadline for the nonrefundable $30 deposit is December 16. If you want to go, start saving NOW! Joel has a broschure about it, so see him if you want more info. BE OUR GUEST ------------ This Friday we have yet another guest speaker. This is Joel's way of making things more creative and also easier for himself (nah, just joking). But anyway, our special guest will be cool Jeff McKay, pastor of Hope Chapel Millilani and, incidentally, my former youth pastor (from way, way back). He's a great speaker, so come and hear him and make him feel welcome. BROTHERS AND SISTERS, DISUNITE! ------------------------------- Don't get the wrong impression from the heading. This is just a reminder about the "segregation night" I talked about last time. It's still going on next Friday (10/20) after the general meeting. For info on the gals' event, contact Cheryl. For info on the guys' event (or main event if Craig and David take to the gloves again), contact Gregg. PROGRESSIVE DINNER UPDATE ------------------------- This is another reminder about something I mentioned last time. On Saturday, October 28, we will be having our progressive dinner. We're starting in Amy's house in Aiea for appetizers, then going to Craig's in Makakilo for the main tray, and finally back to Aiea to Jen's dessert pad to round off the night. Pickup will be at 4:30 at Chi Alpha Corner. ______________________________________________________________________________ ------------ | FEATURES | ------------ Some pretty poetry: In the south breathless Orion hears your voice And echos back your joy The huge trembling sky is flushed with the pregnancy of dawn And the eastern clouds melt into living gold as the sun rises to tell your splendor Singleminded, the sun sings your splendor The circling gulls flow upward with the winds And the waves pound out the original chorus And the deep ocean cries out the song you sang when inscribed the circle on the face of the deep. >From the shadowed places I have lifted up my world-tired eyes Away from the darkened haze of the shadowed places Up to your brilliance. I have had to relearn the song, but Oh! Lord! now i know your glory, And more, I know your mercy. Lord I could not hold it in I knelt, trembling, wide-eyed, and sobbing with joy As your hand The hand that had touched and healed my dark hidden pains Now reached out, embracing my heart How can a human heart endure that touch? Yet my lungs still fill themselves with city-air My heart diligently keeps time within me. Oh my God! I need you! Now that I have known your prescence, Now that I have felt the fire of your love rage through me Well, I am lovesick. I see your face continually. Every time I hear your name, I turn and listen. My whole being responds. The hours flee unnoticed when I am with you. Shocked, we all check our watches. Has it really been five hours we've been praying?!?! I find myself insatiable Like a desert in the at-long-last rain I feel that I can never get too much water And I moan at the soft thudding of drops across my cracked and shriveled ground. The dried grasses rustle and stir as each sphere of clear, cold life is welcomed. I thirst for your words, I hunger for your touch Reports of your doings set my heart racing. Oh Jesus! I have never met anyone like you. No one has healed me, like you have healed me No one has even come close. And I know what you are You are faithful Your faithfulness rises on me, like the singleminded sun So intense, its all I can do to look at you I worship you. And who wouldn't? I worship in the temple. How many times have I spoken lightly of your temple? Now I tremble, Let no one speak lightly of your temple - it's where your glory breathes. Your love, oh Lord, lasts forever, And I turn to find that I am forever changed. The path behind me has burned up And in the shock-wave of your dangerous love, I hold onto nothing, but rush into the flood. I am dumfounded as you alight so gently And tenderly, tenderly, you cover me with the heavy warmth of your wings. I look for the familiar shackles And watch for the familiar grief But I can't find them anymore Shaken, I laugh - they truly are gone. In the throne room We pause in silence And I can no longer hear the well-known voice of accusation. The sweet fragrant silence stretches like a dew covered field around my feet. The stillness stands, flexing and stretching slowly in the new morning. Then I hear the rush and thunder of your nearness And the growing laughter in your precious voice as you call out "Run with me! Run with me!" Oh Lord! I love you!! I love you oh my Lord!! In the canyons of my life, Resonant echos of your glory gather themselves around the place where beauty smiles. The wind of your Spirit rushes down on the waterfalls Flinging morphous diamonds and liquid rainbows high into the blue air Righteousness dances with Mercy beside the river They splash and play while Joy sings from the rocks above. And I - I am reduced to tears. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEEPIN' WITH THE TIMES by Ritchard Shadian This is the new name for what was previously called "The Editor's Column." I felt the old name was too bland, and this one is more descriptive. This regular feature will be in keeping with the same theme as the last entry: thoughts and comments on the "Godless Generation." I sometimes eat with this non-Christian graduate student who teaches a Philosophy 110 class. He knows I'm a Christian and he was telling me about a discussion he was conducting one day. He had just finished going through Rene Decartes' proof for the existence of God, and he offered up this question to the class for debate: Do you think God exists? A couple of students said yes, one said no, and the rest said "I don't care one way or the other." Generally these answers were along the lines of "It doesn't matter to me whether God exists or not; as long as He doesn't interfere with my life, He can exist or not exist as He pleases." Basically what these students were saying is that the question of God's existence is irrelevant. When asked whether they believed any absolute truth or absolute standard existed, they said that all morality is relative, and that each person makes his or her own rules. Now, if it is possible, let's analyze this standpoint because the apathetic are the hardest to talk to and indifference is most difficult to pierce. What do people mean when they say they don't care? Well, it isn't a matter of intellectualism here; you can prove God's existence beyond doubt and still get a blank stare saying "I really couldn't care less." You can point to God's signs and wonders of healing, and although the person might say "cool," soon it's back to "well, it doesn't really matter." Even a moving spiritual experience may ride them along for a little while, but after it's over, the response is "it's gone now; who cares if it was God or not?" So where does the solution lie? It's in the view that "as long as God doesn't interfere with my life, He can exist or not as He pleases." The bottom line is, people do not want to subject themselves to a standard imposed from above. They would rather make their own rules than allow God to dwell within them and help them live life the way He wants them too. Of course, if you live your life for God, you will be living a much better life than you could ever manage on your own, but there is a standard which we have to follow. We were bought at a price, and we belong to God. This standard may be difficult, but the rewards are tremendous. God offers that better life for us if we are willing to accept Him and live pleasingly before Him. The decision is up to us though; God's not going to force us to follow Him. We can either reach for the fresh fruit from the tree or continue to share the rotten stuff that falls on the ground with all the rats and roaches. If people are unwilling to humble themselves before their Master, there's little we can do but pray for them and love them. Perhaps by our actions we can show them that God's standard is not impossible, and that we are all the better for it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Until next issue, goodbye. Remember, I WANT YOUR ARTICLES! In Christ, Ritchard (rshadian@Hawaii.Edu) ============================================================================== Mailing list address: chi_alpha@Hawaii.Edu World Wide Web page: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rshadian/chialpha/homepage.html