Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Jonathon Neumann
Professor Poelarends
CE 131
14 October 2013
If our parents have sent us to Oxfordthis is prima facie evidence that the life which
wecan best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life. C.S. Lewis
During my time at Wheaton College, I desire to grow as a more whole and effective
disciple of Christ and be equipped to serve Him and His Kingdom through the various learning
facets of life. I realize my time is short and I need to prepare for the day I will be handed my
diploma. To be ready, I must depend on God as I struggle with challenges, overcome barriers,
A few weeks before going to HoneyRock, my eyes were opened to my tendency to run
away from God. I grew angry with myself, and I believed God was disappointed in me for not
seeking Him. I longed for peace and desired transformation. Eventually I told my brother
Matthew and he advised me to ask God to help me seek Him. After presenting my problem to
God, I began to experience peace, and even though I struggled to spend time in solitude with
Him, His grace began to heal me. At that time I was in a close-knit community, but many of my
friends were not Christians. This gave me opportunities to evangelize and show the love of Jesus,
but did not provide a Christian community. I agree with Kenda Creasy Dean when she wrote:
Gods chosen location for transformation is the Christian community.1 I was attempting to
live without solitude or Christian community; therefore I was not allowing the Spirit to work in
me or meet with friends who minister, build up, and challenge me to be transformed.
1 Dean, 151
Neumann 2
I made my way up to Wheaton On August 14th. I was still struggling spiritually and
socially, and I was also slightly stressed because of the transition as well as all the work I
neglected to do for Wheaton Passage. I have struggled with stress my whole life. Yet, when I
arrived at HoneyRock, many of my worries faded away as I met brothers and sisters struggling
with the same problems as me, and I spent time in silence and solitude with God. I discovered
that the staff as well as my peers cared for me. I needed care then and I also need it now. I wrote
during my time at HoneyRock: We [Christians] are to care for physical, emotional, and spiritual
needs. Through thoughtful discussion I realized that I wore many masks and started to take
them off. Also, the questions they asked me challenged me to think deeply: Who am I? or
Why am I here in this time? Before Wheaton Passage I saw community as important, but
during my time at Honeyrock, I was reminded that we live as parts of the body of Christ, and we
can only exist as the body in and through Christ (Colossians 1:16).
On August 22nd I returned to Wheaton to move in and start orientation. On August 23rd I showed
my anxiety when I wrote in my jounral: I am afraid I am not doing all that I should. But,
fortunately, on August 27th (after all the orientation was over) I wrote: I feel at peacenot
because of all the information I have been given but because of the supremacy of Christ.
And now it is October 10, 2013. I must agree with myself in my journals when I say the
days are going by so fast or it is hard to believe September is coming to an end. The past two
months have been life-changing. My life requires much more discipline than my high school
years did. God reminds me I cannot perform for Him I must work with Him. Sometimes my
bust schedule causes me to neglect my time for praise, silence, and conversation with Him. Deep
down I know solitude is necessary for transformation and growth, yet I place my trust in myself
rather than presenting my problems and requests to God. As I already mentioned, stress is one of
Neumann 3
my barriers, and many days I let it motivate me. When stress is motivating me, it prevents me
from being present during class or conversations, and when I am not present, I am missing out on
the time I have here at Wheaton. This is an on-going struggle, and I pray that God will help me
So far my classes have been both challenging and thought-provoking; they are
contributing to the way I view the world around me. I am developing a passion for learning. I
have declared Integrated Bible and Theology as my major, and I hope to study ministry as well.
For a few years now I believe God has called me into pastoral ministry. My youth pastor is a tool
God used to turn my life around he guided me through some of the toughest and most
confusing years of my life. I too want to be a tool for God. I must say Foundations of Ministry
(CE 111) is teaching me many things about God and the souls I am to care for. In my
Fundamentals of Oral Communication class (COM 201) I am learning about the intricate and
beautiful ways man communicates. In addition, my Theater Survey class (COM 271) is
encouraging me to get rid of all the faades I put on for others, opens me to be creative even if it
means failure. Henri Nouwen in Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry states: If
you know you are Gods beloved, you can deal with an enormous amount of success as well as
Even now God is equipping me to help build the church He has already given me the
opportunity to spread the Gospel through the online ministry Global Media Outreach. Often, the
questions people ask me make me think, and the responses I get fill my heart with joy I see that
it is a blessing even though it requires a sacrifice of my time. I hope to get involved in a youth
group sometime soon I must trust in the Holy Spirit to guide me as I take a position that
2 Nowen, 163
Neumann 4
Community is important in the life of every whole and effective Christian. I recently
joined a floor Discipleship Small Group, and our meeting time is one of the best parts of my
week. I love fellowship. I remember the Bible studies I had with brothers in Christ in my early
high school years that helped me overcome deep sins plaguing my life. Yes, we worked joyously
together to seek God and knowledge of Him. I treasure those memories. I want to learn more
about God with my brothers here, and I desire to be transformed with them. Without friends to
hold me accountable, how will I bring glory to God? We are to build each other up as we run this
race together. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together wrote: Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity this is Scriptures praise of life together
under the Wordwe can rightly interpret the words in unity and say for brethren to dwell
together through Christ. For Jesus alone is our unity.3 We will struggle to remain unified we
need the love of God coming through us because our opinions and backgrounds clash. Times of
difficulty come but we are to still love each other even though it is not easy, and I trust Christ
will help us develop strong relationships that will last throughout eternity.
We must not forget we live to serve and improve the world we live in. How do I serve the
world while living, in ways, separated from it? This is one of the reasons I applied to Moody
Bible Institute. Wheaton College is a community, but it is also a bubble. I need to know what is
going on in the world in order to pray for it and reach out to it because that is my calling whether
I am a pastor, lawyer, doctor, or plumber. We are the light of the world, we are the city on a hill
(Matthew 5:14). We are to share in joy and love the healing Christ has done in our lives by
redeeming us. Corbett and Fikkert, the authors of When Helping Hurts, write: The task of Gods
people is rooted in Christs mission. Simply stated, Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom
in word and deed, so the church must do the sameGods people have been commanded to
3 Bonhoeffer, 39
Neumann 5
follow their Kings footsteps into places of brokenness.4As I watch movies, listen to music, and
read literature I see emptiness of the world as everyone searches in all the wrong places for
healing and unconditional love. What am I to do? Perhaps I need only be present with those
hurting so I may love on them tell them what I have witnessed (Acts 1:8). God has placed me
here in this time for a purpose, and over the next few years I believe He will guide me slowly.
Looking forward, I do not know what is to come. Because I believe God has called me to
be a pastor, I see that of primary importance is complete dependence on Him and His plan. An
excellent verse to remember the next four years is Luke 10:27: You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself (NASB). The liberal arts education I am engaging in is
about loving God with my entire mind and continuing such a pursuit for the rest of my life.
Before coming to Wheaton College I did believe all aspects of life are spiritual, but the study of
ministry was enough for me to handle. Now, I see that even in the ministry it would be good to
be able to identify with others with different interests than myself. In Faithful Christian
Learning Jeffrey P. Greenman states: We should consider ourselves ready for every challenge
that comes with genuine academic inquiry since we can stand firm on the presupposition that
Christian faith provides a compelling, unrivaled account of the truth in a wide-ranging frame of
reference that applies to all of reality.5 As Christians, we need not fear the world, for Christ has
overcome it (John 16:33), but in order to overcome the world we must have Christ, we must
think from His perspective. I must have a Christian mind and I must be ready to stand firmly
planted in Christ no matter what comes my way. I believe suffering and trials will come, I will
5 Greenman, 89
Neumann 6
practice thankfulness and walk not by myself but with Him who gives me strength in and
through Himself.
In conclusion, I see that I am called to be a student, and though my time is short, I will
not worry but trust in God as my guide. During these years I hope to grow and develop so I am
ready to boldly proclaim the Gospel in humility as well as show compassion and love to both the
Church and the world. I will not simply increase my knowledge of God but grow closer to Him
as I become more dependent on Him so I can overcome barriers, face challenges, and develop
within this community of believers. I open up myself to the work of the Holy Spirit. All glory be
to God.
Neumann 7
Works Cited
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. "Community." Life Together. New York: Harper & Row. 34-45. Print.
Corbett, Steve, and Brian Fikkert. "Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?" When Helping Hurts: How
to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2009.
31-49. Print.
Davis, Jeffry C., Philip Graham Ryken, and Leland Ryken. "Faithful Christian Learning."
Liberal Arts for the Christian Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. 81-89. Print.
Dean, Kenda Creasy. "Vessels of Grace." Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a
Passionate Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pub., 2004. 145-75. Print.
Nowen, Henri. "Moving from Solitude to Community." Christianity Today (1995): 160-164.
Print.