Sunday, August 9, 2009

Bungy Jumping



Our team went to Queenstown for two days last week. If you have ever seen the Lord of the Rings, this is where most of the mountain scenes come from. It is the extreme sports capital of the world, and is also the place where bungy jumping was invented. I have always been the kind of guy who loves getting an adrenaline rush from things like that so I decided to go bungy jumping with a few of my friends...  I have been bungy jumping before, and it was the scariest thing I have ever done... this bungy was 4 1/2 times higher than the one I did previously, making it in the top three highest bungees in the world and New Zealands highest. 


The name of the bungy was Nevis. The platform was suspended between two very tall mountains... We had to ride a gondola to get to the jumping platform. You jump, then fall for nine seconds, ( it doesn't seem like a long time, but look at your watch for nine seconds... that's a long fall) 440 ft down towards a rocky river then bounce back up. It was terrifying! 


The night before the excursion I sat on my bed trying to imagine what it would be like jumping of a ledge and then free falling for 440 ft. I wondered if I would be able to throw myself off that ledge. Then I realized the spiritual implications of a bungy. The Christian life is like bungy jumping in so many ways. 


“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life...” Matthew 16 :24-26


As Christians we are called to have faith and believe in Christ for our salvation. When I was about to bungy jump, everything in my flesh told me not to jump. My flesh would say,” no that's a stupid idea... it will be scary, and you might get hurt or even die”. But I had to have faith in that bungy cord in the same way that I have faith in Christ. If I jump in a spiritual sense outside of my will and into his, then my life, though uncomfortable, will be so much more fulfilling... and in the bungies case, thrilling. I had to die to myself and all my fears or worries and jump. It might sound cheesy, but if you have ever heard of a leap of faith, this is a good example. To be a Christian seems silly to most people... to jump off a ledge that's 440 ft above rocks seems silly too... without faith it would be silly. We as humans may be able to conjure up  faith in a bungy cord on our own, but only the Lord can give you true faith that leads to repentance. 


Before the Jump

Me right after I jumped off the platform

Falling...


A Shot from the mountain. This picture doesnt show how long the drop is. Below me are mountains, and a river.




Sunday, August 2, 2009

Swine 09

For the past week I have been sick... with what you might ask.. I am not totally sure... but I have a feeling that it was the swine. It might be the weirdest sickness I have ever had... and now I have developed a sinus infection. Don't worry I will be fine, but please pray that I will get better soon. I really want to be able to get on campus this week. I got some antibiotics today so hopefully that will help. Sorry this is a short post, but I didn't really do much but sleep this week. Sweet as...