Attack #1: Inadequacy & Fear of Humiliation

After our Last night of class one particular student, our wonderful foreign student from Nagaland, admits his feelings of inadequacy and fear regarding his academic performance in another class and his ability to be what the teacher expects of him. Never mind that he's a NEW Christian taking theological courses. OR, that he's studying in English - a second language for him! Both factors that reveal he's a man of great courage. As usual I was too full of advice but hopefully I'm learning to ask more questions than give answers...and take my own advice:

Q:
Inadequate to WHO?
Who is it you are fearing?

Certainly not THE LORD. God of heaven and earth who according to Zephaniah 3:17 "takes great delight in you. Quiets you with his love, and rejoices over you with singing.

This little afterclass conversation also reveals that feelings of inadequacy and fear of being humiliated are what has kept or is keeping most of us from being all that we are meant to be. It's pan-cultural. The Enemy's univesal-no-fail-power-attack.

Even if you're from Nagaland!

Singlish Speaking Pig Farmer from Mark ch5

Here's a recent guest performer my Tuesday Night class. Christine Yong, of a local drama ministry, dusted off this monologue from a performance in 2003 (search this blog for Traveling Light for a production notebook of the show). The sound's not too great, and if you're not from around here, you may not understand much. But to us it's pretty funny to see a peripheral character from a Bible story sound like a local.