Well, I finally made it…almost!!! Just a couple more weeks. I don’t think that I was ever actually convinced that I would be at this point in my life. I am truly ready and excited.

I wanted to this to be open invitation to anyone who would like to come and celebrate with me what God has done in this area of my life. My parents are hosting a graduation party for me immediately after graduation. Here are the details.

When: May 5, 2007
Where: Grace Bible Church
107 West Rd.
Moore, SC
Map to Grace Bible Church
What to expect: There will be some food provided there. This is a drop in anytime between 1:00pm and 5:00pm. If you can only make it at for a few minutes, I would still love to see you.

If you have any other questions, please e-mail me at ricky@rickyblaha.com

I want to thank my friends Gwen and Tim for designing my groovy invitation. Thanks guys!!!

this is “grace at work”

Things are slowing down a bit from last week. I had mid-terms and many other extra-curricular activities. It was very burdensome. But, it is finished, and I am praising the Lord for all things.

I have less than two months left of school, and I will be graduating. I am growing more excited as the day draws near.

This is just a tidbit, since I had a break this morning. And as I say:

this is “grace at work”

Today, Pastor Danny Brooks of Heritage Bible Church preached. It was a glorious message. The message of the Cross was preached with relevance, accuracy and zeal from 1 Corinthians 1. It was medicine to the soul. I will post a link to the message so that anyone can listen to it, if they would like.

Praise God for his glorious Cross!!

this is “grace at work”

I figured that the first day of classes is merely a session of overview and hand-outs, so i did not think that it would be to critical to miss. However, I didn’t really take into account the fact that I didn’t have my syllabi or my textbooks and that I wouldn’t even be able to get them until we were already into quizzable material. So, needless to say, I started out more behind than I had planned.

The other thing was that I wasn’t really mentally prepared to come back. Probably because I was enjoying my time with my friends in PA too much, I was not ready to jump right into classes and books; but ready or not here they are.

This week has been a little overwhelming on a number of fronts; however, God has graciously seen me through it. I am one week closer to graduation!!! I am still trying to gain my footing and am unsure of a lot of things in different areas of my life, but i was just reminded of the truth that he formed me. He knows my frame that I am just dust. And His thougthts of me and ways for me are far above me. They are too wonderful for me, I can’t even conceive of them. Praise the Lord for his perfect wisdom and His power to carry it out. I am humbled to think that He would care for me.

Praising Him,

this is “grace at work”

Over Christmas break I plan on working as much as I can to prepare financially for the upcoming semester. However, I hope to be able to relax as well, and enjoy the glory of God and be refreshed through His Word.

this is “grace at work”

I must to share a huge blessing that I received within the last couple of weeks. My initial plan when registering this year was to take classes this semester, next semester, and then finish by August. However, I was encouraged by a friend to try to get everything done these next two semesters, so I do not have to attend summer school. In order to accomplish this, I needed to take at least 20 credits this semester. I am not the most disciplined student, so this idea was suicidal. But, I decided to do it anyway.

After registering I began to try to do everything that I needed to do to finish my transcript processes. I embarked on a long but wonderful several week journey that had unexpected benefits. I transferred all my class credits from Greenville Tech, but when viewing my credits from Northland I decided to take a music theory placement test that would allow me to transfer credits that initially were not granted. When talking to the music office and the records office they determined, because I am not a music major, that they would transfer my classes with out needing to take a placement test. In other words, I was granted 9 credits from Northland that were not originally granted. This allowed me not only to plan on graduating in May, but it let me drop two classes this semester that I was taking just as electives.

I was so excited! God has blessed me with this for whatever reason, and I praise Him for His grace. Lord willing, I will finish this semester with 16 credits, next semester with 16 credits, and graduate in May. After eleven years, I will finally be finished. I am a blessed man!!!

I hope to write more often now that I am settled in with school. We will see

This is “grace at work”

I am in the computer lab at ole’ BJU, but now I am off to work. I need to make money to survive in this world. All for now!!!

This is “grace at work”

I have had a good week. Last sunday my pastor preached a message from the first chapter of 1 Peter. It mainly focused on the Gospel of Christ, but I was suprised at the repeated reminders to rejoice. I was reminded that joy comes only from our life in Christ. Peter says us that we were purchased with Christ blood which is imperishable and not with perishable items such as silver or gold. We, who were once sojourners on this earth, now are residents in heaven. We are now beneficiaries of an imperishable purchase.

This just reminded me to rejoice in my life in Christ. My joy should not be set on the things of this world. Those things will fade away. Only Christ is my joy.

this is “grace at work”

Before I say anything about my class tonight, I want to say first that I am so glad that this week and last week are over. I have been so busy. But I am sure that is true of everyone, so I will be quiet.

Tonight, in my biology class we as students gave open oral presentations on evidences for/against evolution. The teacher divided the class; half of the class defended evolution, and half of the class attacked evolution.

I was given the topic anatomical evidences against evolution. I must admit that I procrastinated a bit, but by God’s grace I feel that I did well. I actully ended up in a full discussion reguarding evolution and evolutionary thinking with my teacher and other students. (What I mean is I was asked scientific questions regarding evolutionary science and philosophy, and I was able to offer answers and rebuttals.) I praise God again for His grace, because I am totally inadequate. He gets all the glory. I will see what my grade will be probably Monday.

I am so thankful for a Almighty Creator God Who does all things well and for his own pleasure. I am amazed at the complexity of God’s wisdom in creation.

Last night in my American Literature class, my teacher discussed the providence of God, the function of the church and the incarnation of the Gospel for the believer as taught in the writings of John Winthrop. It seems that my teacher, who I believe is not a Christian, has a better understanding and application of these areas than a lot of Christians.

Last semester I had World Literature with the same teacher. We studied the Old Testament. We had been discussing the characteristics of a hero. We observed other heroes in other ancient texts, but when we got to the Old Testament my teacher made an astounding observation. He pointed out that in other texts the heroes were humans. However, although the Old Testament contains many stories where the main characters are the protagonist – characters such as Joseph, Abraham and Moses – they are not the heroes. He said that in this text (the Old Testament) the hero is God Himself. He said that these stories are merely the acts of God through the lives of His people. It all centers on God.

I was amazed! My literature teacher had a better understanding of the Old Testament than some Christians I know. I later expressed my appreciation to him for his view of the Old Testament and asked him how he came to that conclusion. I told him that I know some Christians who teach the Old Testament as merely a book of stories of men who model good moral living for people to emulate, rather than one main story centered on the Sovereign work of God. He, once again, made a interesting statement. He said that the reason people have that opinion is because they do not read the Bible. He said that if they truly read the Bible in its entirety, they would see that it is centered on the will and work of God. What an incredible observation from a person who I do not think is a believer.

The reason that I bring this up is because this story has caused me to begin working out a personal understanding of what the Gospel ought to look like in a secular setting. My teacher has studied the Bible, the writings of the Puritans and other Christian writers, and he has developed a very Biblical view of Christianity based only on his literary analysis of these works. He made the observation to me last night after class that if people truly understood the Gospel as taught in the Bible, they would live more humble and loving lives. They would not be so concerned about their specific religious hang ups, but they would rather be concerned with living out the true Gospel of Christ. (Obviously, I paraphrased, but this is the basic idea.)

I am going to follow this post up with other encounters that I have had at Greenville Tech. God has used this time to shape my understanding of the Gospel. I would appreciate any observations or comments on this topic. My understanding is still being constructed so bear with me.