DOES LIFE SEEM A LITTLE TOO COMPLEX?

Dear CCR friends,

The New Year at CCR promises to be one of many new beginnings. We are growing. Soon we will be giving you information on a second worship service.

This week we are starting a series that I am eager to share. I think it is especially relevant to Kigali today.

For the last 5 years I have been fortunate to teach Ethics at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). I like university students. Their questions and debates help me become wiser with joy. Life in contemporary Kigali is like nowhere else in the world. The challenges that we face are different from the generations that have gone before us. We live in a season of building. I would be foolish to teach with yellow notes. Every week I re-write old notes as these students push my understanding.

I imagine their questions are much like your own. Rwanda is complex.

Yet in the midst of complexity sometimes it is good to remember that there are principles that for thousands of generations have shown themselves true. Sometimes it is good to read the old with fresh eyes.

Eugene Peterson translated an old story in Exodus 20:13, “God spoke all these words: I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery. No other gods, only me.

His translation will be our message this Sunday. God existed from before time. He is personal. He saw each one of us from before time began. He rescued the nation of Israel when they were slaves. He rescued us when we were slaves to oppression, addictions, and delusions. While there are many that strive for our allegiance only He is God.

I hope you will join us on our journey through the 10 Commandments. I promise you will not leave CCR bored as we wrestle with timeless truths in our contemporary Kigali.

Dave