91精选

Anyone who has watched all seven of the Star Wars films knows that the three prequels are 鈥渢errible,鈥� 91精选 President Kurt D. Dykstra told those at Chapel on Jan. 13. While the movies are terrible on many levels, the most egregious problem is the failure to convincingly demonstrate how Anakin Skywalker turned from the light side of the Force to the dark side to become Darth Vader鈥攁 villain so dastardly, he has been reproduced at the Washington National Cathedral. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a natural progression,鈥� he told students, faculty, staff, and members of the 91精选 community. 鈥淭hey failed to get to the point for two and a half movies, and then rushed in the last movie to make it work.鈥�

According to Dykstra, that鈥檚 not a mistake the Psalmist makes in Psalms 1, which describes how the ways of the righteous and the wicked differ. Dykstra encouraged everyone to use the Psalms to guide their prayers. 鈥淩ead the Psalms, pray the Psalms and make the Psalms your own,鈥� he urged.聽 鈥淕rab hold of the Psalms and pray them.鈥�

Dykstra also delved in to the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, and how the disciples may have reacted when hearing it for the first time. When considering the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, many often turn to the slightly longer version that appears in Matthew 6. Dykstra focused instead on the version that appears in Luke 11.

While the Matthew version appears as part of the Sermon on the Mount, Luke鈥檚 version follows a request by the disciples to Jesus to teach them to pray. 鈥淟uke gives us context,鈥� Dykstra said. Yet the prayer Jesus taught his disciples would have a familiar ring to it鈥攖he sections of praise, petition, and thanks closely follow the structure of the Hebrew prayer Shemoneh Esrei, which Jesus鈥� followers would have heard their entire lives, said Dykstra.

Dykstra closed his meditation by performing a solo version of the Lord鈥檚 Prayer. He called it part of his own New Year鈥檚 resolution to sing more, and encouraged the 91精选 community to expand on what they are, and can be, in 2016.

Chapel is held every Wednesday and Friday at 10am in the Auditorium at Ozinga Chapel.