Sunday, August 23, 2009

New beginnings

It is finally the beginning of a new semester at UGA. New freshmen, new living situations, new classes, new buildings, new friends, new teams, new, new, new, new. Just writing "new" that many times makes the word look and sound differently. We all talk about this new football season, the new fall semester, the new administration, our new class schedules etc. But what does "new" actually mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "different from one of the same category that has existed previously" or "of dissimilar origin and usually of superior quality." There is so much newness going on at UGA, in Athens, and all over the world. Things are happening in Athens that have never previously taken place. The Lord is doing a new work here. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says "therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come." In this passage "new" can be translated to mean "recently made and fresh." I believe as Isaiah did that God is saying to us "Look! I am doing a new, refreshing thing!" This "new thing" that the Lord is doing is "of superior quality" to the work that He has done here in the past. The purpose of this blog is to follow everything that the Lord is doing and what his followers are doing for Him. Or at least, as much as I can keep up with. 
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3 comments:

  1. Courtney SmithAugust 24, 2009 at 12:09 PM

    Or, at least, what you think is divine work being done in Athens. Is this going to be only church related? Youth groups, mission trips etc? Because, I once gave out free sandwiches downtown with my boyfriend and Athens PB&J told everyone that God brought us there and our actions showed his grace. Nice people, but that was their mission and not ours. Really bugged me.

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  2. nateAugust 24, 2009 at 6:36 PM

    Have you thought about the possibility of the "impossibility of the new?" Nothing new under the sun, etc. I like how your repeating the word makes it "new" for you. Words are tricky things. How do things, words, ideas, people "mean?" Oh, what is Athens PB&J? Worthy (with no "e") of a PSA campaign?

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  3. CJ3395August 25, 2009 at 5:25 PM

    I'm praying you're right. I think God has always wanted this for Athens, it's just people are actually trying to do something about it now. Putting faith into action definitely takes effort. School, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. can all contribute to making your faith the last thing you think about, or at least it does for me. Hopefully this year will be different.

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