From rshadian@hawaii.eduWed Nov 8 14:46:01 1995 Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 12:13:58 -1000 From: Ritchard Shadian To: Chi Alpha Subject: The Brotherly, volume FA95, issue 6 *** * * *** * *** ** * * * *** ******* ****** ****** ******* ** ** ******* ****** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** ******* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ******* ***** ** ** ** ****** ******* ***** ** ** ** ******* ****** ** ** ** ****** ******* ****** ** *** ** ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** *** ******* ** ** ****** ** ** ** ******* ** ** ****** *** THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA CHI ALPHA CHAPTER ______________________________________________________________________________ NOVEMBER 8, 1995 VOLUME FA95 ISSUE NO. 6 ______________________________________________________________________________ Hi once again. It's yet another edition of the newsletter. For the last few issues I've opened up with a plea for articles. This is no different. It's a little better than last time (I guess my subliminal approach worked), but I still could use more. ----------------- | ANNOUNCEMENTS | ----------------- CHI ALPHA CAMPOUT ------------------ It's set! This Veteran's day weekend we will be going to Kualoa Beach Park for a two-day, two-night stand. We even have a legal permit (muchos gracias to Rod). We will be gathering at Chi Alpha corner (between Wainani I and F) at 9:00 am on Friday, November 10, going to the campsite, and returning Sunday 9:00 am. FYI, Kualoa DOES have restrooms and showers. Things to bring: * $10 or more in cash to chip in for the food budget (important!) * Typical camping stuff (this, of course, varies for each person) * Extra camping stuff for those people who don't have (sleeping bags, tents, hibachis, etc.) * Vehicles to assist with transport * Games and sports equipment * Friends (especially non-Christian ones) * Portable musical instruments (that don't use electricity) * A fun-loving attitude (REQUIRED!) So start packing and preparing for a time of friendship, fellowship, and all-out fun. Needless to say, the regular Friday meeting on the 10th will be cancelled. MONEY FOR SALT (THE CONFERENCE, NOT THE SEASONING) -------------------------------------------------- We still haven't got the final numbers on how much the flight will cost, but we still need to send in the money for the conference itself. If you are planning to go, give a $30 down payment, or the complete $125 payment, to Craig by November 17. 3RD SEMIANNUAL XA END-OF-THE-SEMESTER BANQUET --------------------------------------------- Mark Friday, December 8, on your calendar. That is the day we are having our traditional end-of-the-semester banquet. We don't know where it will be, but the day is set aside. Stay tuned. BATTLE OF THE BANDS ------------------- Just a plug. On Wednesday, November 22, around lunch time, there will be the "Battle of the Christian Bands" in Campus Center. Only this battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil forces that permeate this university. NOVEMBER BABIES --------------- Gaby Canalizo 11/7 Claire Carter 11/8 Tim Tidwell 11/13 Eliza Fulton 11/15 Jennifer Tokunaga 11/20 ______________________________________________________________________________ ------------ | FEATURES | ------------ Here's something from a guy who found us on the Web. He sent this article to me in order to introduce himself to all of you. See, if someone you don't even know can do it, surely you can. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCING DAVE COSSABOON O.K. I admit it. I think I'd like to live in Hawaii to finish my B.A. in Accounting, to enjoy the ocean fellowship, to pay higher rent????, to be where my Savior is leading me??? I am presently at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. It has been nice here, with many cool brothers and sisters in the Lord, and many blessings pouring out from His Hand. It's just that I believe the Lord may be leading me to beautiful Hawaii. I'm originally from Rochester, N.Y. I was in the Navy for 6 years after H.S. A year after boot camp, the Lord showed me His saving love, (I don't think I would have seen Him without His grace:), and a year later my twin sister received His wonderful gift. I'm sure the angels thought "double trouble!", but God knows what He's doing, right! I'm 35 and still happily :) single, and have been given the opportunity to attend college as a disabled veteran. (1 1/2 yrs to go...) Presently, I'm an Accounting undergraduate and like music and poetry and especially the Word of God... I have severe rheumatoid-like symptoms in my feet, maybe like Mephibosheth -- for you scholars out there -- and although the weather here in Tucson is HOT most of the time, it still cools off at night, during the winter, and I have sometimes experienced a lot of pain. Get's in the 20's in winter. So you see, I heard Hawaii's temps. are a little better at night, in the winter, and I keep meeting people who've lived in Hawaii, and I think the Lord is sending me your way.........Please pray I hear His voice about this possible move. So don't interrupt your studies, (just finished Midterms!!!), but if you would like to correspond with me, (dfc@u.arizona.edu), to help me learn about Hawaii: (i.e. how close is the ocean to the beach-ha!, which campus has Business Dept. for Accounting Majors (I can ride a bike from the parking lot to classes but like to be centrally located), avg. rents for studios for 1 person (beachfront would be nice-ha!), cheapest shipping and freight companies for car and computer, etc. or if you would like to fellowship by e-mail (I promise not to take up all your time and disk space), would you drop me a line sometime? Thanks to you all for prayers and thanks to Ritchard for his neat newsletter, (send those articles to him!!! [Hear! hear! ---ed. note] free plug Ritchard, o.k.!) and if any of you are discouraged today, I want you to know that God loves you very much, and He cares about what you're going through. He understands it all, and He is so quick to forgive and heal you again. So HEY from Arizona, and God bless each of you. Your forever brother, Dave Cossaboon PO Box 85602 Tucson, AZ 85754 I promise my next e-mail will be shorter-ha! :) e-mail dfc@u.arizona.edu tel#:520-770-9235 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IF THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN TODAY... by Joel Elies As if there aren't already enough Bible translations out there, I would like to introduce just one more: the JNV (Joel's Nineties Version). This is not a scholarly work but more of a speculative work that I like to do for fun. Here's Psalm 16 (JNV). 1 Save me, God! You're the One I'm counting on. 2 I said to Yahweh, "You are my Master, my Lord, my Everything. Without You, I don't have anything in my life worthwhile." 3 Well, there's my fellow believers, too...they're pretty cool. Everytime I see them it picks me up. 4 But life just gets worse and worse for those who are chasing after other gods, other idols. 5 I'm not even gonna mention all the sacrifices these guys make for their chosen masters. I won't even mention their names. 6 I have to admit that You have given me a lot. Thank you for giving me so much. 7 I praise You, Yahweh, 'cause You counsel me so well. Even in the middle of the night, You're waking me up with wisdom and stuff! 8 I always set the Lord before me, making Him my only focus. When He's standing right there next to me, I can face anything...Nothing can break my stride! 9 That's why I'm so happy! That's why I can't stop talking about Him! I can just relax and cruise in His love... 10 'cause You'll never leave me even when I die. (You sure didn't leave Jesus for the worms!) 11 You show me where I'm going in this life! You give me true, complete joy when I'm with You! Next to You is long-term pleasure! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HEAVEN AND HELL A forwarded allegory A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell." They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each person had a handle that was so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible. "Come, now I will show you heaven," the Lord said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy and full here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?" The Lord smiled. "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ KEEPIN' WITH THE TIMES by Ritchard Shadian Once I was talking to a guy about God. He seemed open, but had many questions. One which plagued him was "why do bad things happen to good people?" He used an example: "Take someone who is a good person, someone who believes in God and loves God. Suddenly a lightning bolt comes down and hits him. I've heard this happen too. Now, how can you explain that? Why would that happen?" Well, I knew how to answer that. Just say that it was God's will, right? But just as I opened my mouth to say that, he quickly threw in "and please don't tell me that it's God's will, okay. I hate it when people say that and I can't accept it." I quickly had to alter my answer. Yet it leads to an interesting point. Exactly what is God's will and how quick can we jump to conclusions about it? In today's world, answering a hard question with "God's will" is not only unacceptable, it's quite arrogant. Sometimes we use it as a cop out. When a Bible-believing Christian is hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed from the neck down, does God will that? If a missionary is murdered or tortured ruthlessly for spreading the gospel, does God want that to happen? Sure, God can and does use these things for good, but that doesn't mean that it was His idea in the first place. Yes, God does know what will happen before it happens, but that doesn't mean that He initiates it necessarily. Just because He allows things to happen, doesn't mean that He has given his stamp of approval to them. There are times when He will give us trials, but we can't automatically say that everything bad that happens is the will of God, or even that it is MEANT to be. Though submission to God is stressed, fatalism is not one of the tenants of Christianity. We have to be careful when we start making fatalist judgements on God. So, how do we answer this question? Although it may seem like an even worse cop out, me must recognize the supremacy of God. We can't answer one way or the other about whether it is God's will when something bad happens. To do that would be to play God. The only one who knows what's on God's mind is God Himself. It may be His will, it may not be. Only He knows and we would be foolish to assume otherwise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NET PRAYERS These are some prayer requests I've gotten over email (feel free to send your own so that we can all pray for you). [The home] page gave me a headache after 5 seconds of looking at the background. I'm Foursquare. Will you pray for healing of my eyes. -->From: Steven Reames Would you guys pray for my mom and my brother. Most of you have met them (those that went to the Progressive dinner) and please pray that God will put a desire to seek Him actively in their hearts. Thanks. -->From: Craig S Matsuura ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Remember folks, I like articles and I'd like to see more of them. 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