RegentWorldApril06w

Page 1

The Regent

Spring 2006 • Volume 17, Number 2

You Belong to the Regent World Inside: You Belong to the Regent World....1-2 Members of the Regent World.......2 “Googling” J.I......3 Introducing Paul Williams.......4 Introducing Richard Thompson... 5 The Next Chapter ............6-7 Pray for the World................ 10 Summer Programs............ 11 Regent Bookstore........... 12

I

s it pretentious to tell our readers that they belong to the Regent world? In I Corinthians 12 and 13, Paul unpacks an important principle about belonging by using the image of the body and the virtue of love. I want to take the liberty of reworking those two chapters while staying committed to the foundational argument: In the Regent world there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All members of the Regent world contribute and in so doing they are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the Regent world has many members, and all the members of the Regent world, though many, are one. So it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the Regent world does not consist of one member but of many. If the person who does not live in Vancouver would say, “Because I have not been to Vancouver for years, I do not belong,” that would not make them any less a part of the Regent world. And if the faithful donor who can only give a small amount each year would say, “Because I am not a donor that contributes a large amount of money, I do not really belong,”

that would not make them any less a part of the Regent world. If the donor community was only made up of donors that have been blessed with significant wealth, Regent would miss the prayer, support, and friendship of many individuals who want to be part of what God is doing among us. But as it is, God arranged the members of the Regent world, each one of them, as he chose. If everyone in the Regent world was only a student, or a staff member, or a faculty member, where would we be? Imagine if we only had alums or volunteers or donors? Where would we be? As it is, there are many members, yet one Regent world. The faculty cannot say to the staff, “I have no need of you.” Nor can the students say to the Board, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the Regent world that are not as visible and obvious are


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.