Monday, November 15, 2010
Desiring God
How many of you believe in Jesus? That he was crucified, died, was buried and rose again?
Ok, you have at least as much faith as the demons of Hell.
How many of you consider yourself Christians?
Why? What makes you a Christian? How do you know you are one? Are you sure?
Are you truly a follower of Christ? Have you died to this world?
We know we are Christians by our fruit. (Galatians 5 22-23)
Have you honestly taken each one of these things and assessed whether you have it? To what extent? Are you satisfied with that? When you stand before God, and he asks you if you were kind how will you answer? Do you expect God to accept your answer and say "Well done my good servant"?
God calls us to be servants (Christian means follower of Christ, Christ came to serve, but we are often too proud, too stiff necked to serve others, we put ourselves above Christ), to serve others and to die to the flesh, to be "Not of this world." This is very hard, we are in the World, so it is a constamt struggle not to be of this world. We must train ourself to think eternally, to think beyond our worldly finite existence.
But things get in our way, literally. Not only does the temporal fallen world surrounds us, but the things God gave us to help us live have replaced Him in our hearts. Tozer says in The Pursuit of God that things have grown down into our heart like roots, and we scream with pain to pull out the least rootlet.
Abstract, I know... let's make it concrete. The rich young ruler... Christ asked him to sell his things, give the money to the poor and follow Him. The price was too high, he could not give up his stuff in exchange for eternal salvation.
How would you react if God called you to walk away from home, friends, your stuff, and move half way around the world to be a missionary? #9/mt just give me the canned Sunday School answer... take a minute to think about it, giving up your friends, your TV, Xbox... going someplace where they don't know what a biscuit as you know it is, no fast food or maybe one franchise you recognize.
How does that make you feel? Scared, uneasy? If so then you are just like that Rich Young Ruler.
Do you want to serve Christ? Do you want to be able to answer these questions better? I hope so, I know I do.
So, how do we get there?
First of all, there is no magic answer. I can't do this for you, no one can. It's a process, life long and at times painful and frustrating.
It begins when you realize that salvation is the begining and not the end of the story. When you realize that you are a babe in Christ and living on milk.
Then you have to desire more, to mature, to learn to eat solid food. This is done by moving beyond simple answers. By asking hard questions of yourself like I did earlier. Measure yourself against the traits of the Spirit. Look deep in yourself, don't gloss over your faults, acknowledge them, own them, then seek God's help to resolve these shortcomings.
The only way to grow is by living and experiencing, by daring to step out on faith and fail. Then get back at it and fail some more. This is not easy, it hurts. It takes time and perseverance.
This is the only answer to sterile faith, and dead churchs. It begins with you, and me. We can support each other, we can pray for each other, but in the end we are ultimatley responsible only for ourself and our own actions.
So, for the next week be kind. Easy, right.
Location : 301-399 N Academy St, Greenville, SC 29601,
Location : 206 Ashley Ave, Greenville, SC 29609,
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Is there a God?
Tomorrow night I start teaching the middle school youth a 13 part study that is based on Christian Apologetics. I gave them an introduction last week by writing out common, non-christian, belifs on cards and asking each of them to act out that role while the others tried to witness to them. It seemed to work pretty good. It got them thinking about people they know at school that have similar beliefs and how they might be able to talk with them.
The study starts with the question, "Is there a God?" It very briefly covers 3 arguements for God's existance. The first is the Cosmological arguement. This states that the Big Bang had to have a cause, and the most reasonable cause is God. The next is the Teleological arguement. This is based on the complexity of the design of our world, how if the Earth had just a slightly different orbit we wouldn't exist, or the complexity of DNA randomly occuring. Last is the Anthropological arguement, which C.S. Lewis used so well in Mere Christianity. That we human know right from wrong, we have an inborn sense of what is fair and right, and there is no other reasonable reason for this than that it was put there by God.
I'm looking forward to teaching this. Even more, I'm looking forward to their questions and thoughts.
Location : 135 Buist Ave, Greenville, SC 29609,
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Apologetics
Philosophy of Religion » Arguments for the Existence of God
Starting a study with my middle schoolers that is based on Christian Apologetics. Last night I gave each of them a card with some typical non-christian beliefs (atheist, agnostic, new age...) and had them act out that role while the others in the group tried to witness to them. I gave them a few minutes with each to try on their own, then gave them a short example of where to start a discussion from a reasoning point of view. I'm not entirely sure how well the point got across. However, it did show them how unprepared they are to defend their faith.
This was just an introduction to what will be at least a 13 week study that addresses the 13 Most Common Questions About God. I have been doing a lot of reading and studying to prepare for this class. It will be very interesting to see how these kids grow over the next few months. I know I have a much firmer grasp on the reasoning behind my faith.
Location : 135 Buist Ave, Greenville, SC 29609,
Friday, August 13, 2010
Back again
Where to begin... I continue to learn and grow in my faith. This has led me to taking on several tasks. A mission trip to VA last year and one to NOLA this year. Teaching adult sunday school for almost a year now, hard to believe. The latest has been taking on the middle school youth bible study on Wednesday nights with Karen assisting me.
Outside of reading my bible I've also read Dante's Devine Comedy, Crazy Love by Francis Chan(great book, highly recommend), and a good bit on Christian Apologetics.
Probably a good thing I've been doing all this reading, 11-14 year olds can ask some pretty tough questions. In order to both help clarify my thoughts and share my studies I decided it would be good to resume posting here.
All constructive comments are most welcome.
Location : 135 Buist Ave, Greenville, SC 29609,
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Regret
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
Alexander Graham Bell quotes
“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both.”
Soren Kierkegaard quotes
“Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets; then can come the best of benedictions - "If I had my life to live over again, I'd do it all the same”
Regret-Thesaurus entries
Regret is a very common emotional experience for most of us. I don't think many people would argue that statement. If that is the case, why is the term nearly absent from the Bible? Here is the one substantive quote regarding regret I could find:
2Co 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Why? Because regret is a hollow emotion. I would go farther and say it is a useless one. It is feeling sorrow for something one did, or failed to do, but without any sense of responsibility or guilt. Feeling that you didn't necessarily do something wrong, but that you could have done better or differently and brought about a more satisfactory result. That's an understandable feeling, but, what do you do with it? Regret comes after the fact, so you can't change the outcome. The incident is in the past, so you can't fix it.
Are you really feeling regret, or is it remorse? What's the difference you ask? Remorse includes with it the feeling of guilt and responsibility. That's a horse of a different color altogether. There is an entire chapter of the Old Testament dedicated to the expression of remorse (Lamentations). There are several other synonyms of regret that include guilt that are used profusely throughout the Bible.
So. If you did something wrong, sinned against God or another person and are remorseful, repent (see 2 Cor. above) and release yourself from your burden. If you didn't do anything wrong, then what? The only use for regret I can see is that it teaches us. Learn from it. Don't repeat your perceived failure. Grow from it. But stop punishing yourself for something you can't change, and resolve to do better next time.
Alexander Graham Bell quotes
“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both.”
Soren Kierkegaard quotes
“Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets; then can come the best of benedictions - "If I had my life to live over again, I'd do it all the same”
Regret-Thesaurus entries
Regret is a very common emotional experience for most of us. I don't think many people would argue that statement. If that is the case, why is the term nearly absent from the Bible? Here is the one substantive quote regarding regret I could find:
2Co 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Why? Because regret is a hollow emotion. I would go farther and say it is a useless one. It is feeling sorrow for something one did, or failed to do, but without any sense of responsibility or guilt. Feeling that you didn't necessarily do something wrong, but that you could have done better or differently and brought about a more satisfactory result. That's an understandable feeling, but, what do you do with it? Regret comes after the fact, so you can't change the outcome. The incident is in the past, so you can't fix it.
Are you really feeling regret, or is it remorse? What's the difference you ask? Remorse includes with it the feeling of guilt and responsibility. That's a horse of a different color altogether. There is an entire chapter of the Old Testament dedicated to the expression of remorse (Lamentations). There are several other synonyms of regret that include guilt that are used profusely throughout the Bible.
So. If you did something wrong, sinned against God or another person and are remorseful, repent (see 2 Cor. above) and release yourself from your burden. If you didn't do anything wrong, then what? The only use for regret I can see is that it teaches us. Learn from it. Don't repeat your perceived failure. Grow from it. But stop punishing yourself for something you can't change, and resolve to do better next time.
Relationships, pt. 4 (final)
Resentment
Job 5:2 For vexation killeth the foolish man, and jealousy slayeth the silly one.
Resentment is something that takes time to form in any relationship. It does not appear overnight. All it takes is one decision you didn't really agree with, one choice you feel your opinion wasn't taken into consideration for, or one time you failed to do something small. If that is left unchecked it will start to grow. The next time you aren't happy with something you will add it to the first one, tuck it away and save it for later. Much like the proverbial snow ball, this small annoyance can grow and grow until it is a huge impediment to any kind of honest and heartfelt communication. We are warned, "...that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled." Heb 12:15b This is so easy to let happen, to just ignore at the time of the perceived slight. But, buy the time it becomes evident that you have this mountain of resentment it becomes almost impossible to resolve it. It is a huge pile of so many small, petty, and by themselves almost insignificant things that you cannot untangle. You are just angry at all this "stuff" and when(or if) you try to explain it or seek redress you sound foolish because each individual thing is so petty. The only way to avoid this is to be aware of it, and don't let it get out of control.
Forgiveness
The way you can stop it from getting out of control is by forgiving the other person. Think about the slight, really think about it. Is it worth destroying your relationship to hang on to? Probably not. It can be very helpful to tell the other person about it (later, not when you are still upset). Let them know how it made you feel, why you didn't like it, and how you would like do to things in the future. While you are at it, let them know that you have forgiven them and don't hold it against them (not necessarily in those words). Even if you can't bring yourself to speak to them about it, or if it seems too insignificant to bring up, you still need to honestly forgive them. Forgiveness to the point that you don't remember what was done a day or two later. Really forgive them and let it go.
I know this goes against human nature. Someone hurt you and you are going to forgive them and forget about it. Self sacrifice is involved in all substantive long term relationships. I know we all would like to be on the receiving end of the kind of forgiveness. How can you expect to get it if you don't give it?
An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
Mohandas Gandhi
While this act may be far smaller in scale, it is essentially the same thing that Christ did on the cross. He forgave those who crucified him. He did it without them asking for it, without them apologizing, and he did it not expecting anything in return.
Job 5:2 For vexation killeth the foolish man, and jealousy slayeth the silly one.
Resentment is something that takes time to form in any relationship. It does not appear overnight. All it takes is one decision you didn't really agree with, one choice you feel your opinion wasn't taken into consideration for, or one time you failed to do something small. If that is left unchecked it will start to grow. The next time you aren't happy with something you will add it to the first one, tuck it away and save it for later. Much like the proverbial snow ball, this small annoyance can grow and grow until it is a huge impediment to any kind of honest and heartfelt communication. We are warned, "...that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled." Heb 12:15b This is so easy to let happen, to just ignore at the time of the perceived slight. But, buy the time it becomes evident that you have this mountain of resentment it becomes almost impossible to resolve it. It is a huge pile of so many small, petty, and by themselves almost insignificant things that you cannot untangle. You are just angry at all this "stuff" and when(or if) you try to explain it or seek redress you sound foolish because each individual thing is so petty. The only way to avoid this is to be aware of it, and don't let it get out of control.
Forgiveness
The way you can stop it from getting out of control is by forgiving the other person. Think about the slight, really think about it. Is it worth destroying your relationship to hang on to? Probably not. It can be very helpful to tell the other person about it (later, not when you are still upset). Let them know how it made you feel, why you didn't like it, and how you would like do to things in the future. While you are at it, let them know that you have forgiven them and don't hold it against them (not necessarily in those words). Even if you can't bring yourself to speak to them about it, or if it seems too insignificant to bring up, you still need to honestly forgive them. Forgiveness to the point that you don't remember what was done a day or two later. Really forgive them and let it go.
I know this goes against human nature. Someone hurt you and you are going to forgive them and forget about it. Self sacrifice is involved in all substantive long term relationships. I know we all would like to be on the receiving end of the kind of forgiveness. How can you expect to get it if you don't give it?
An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
Mohandas Gandhi
While this act may be far smaller in scale, it is essentially the same thing that Christ did on the cross. He forgave those who crucified him. He did it without them asking for it, without them apologizing, and he did it not expecting anything in return.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Relationships, pt.3
Part 2 is here
Insecurity can also be destructive to relationships. As I see it there are two ways that this effects how we relate to others; An inward manifestation and an outward one. Our own self-doubt and feelings of insecurity cause us to put up walls when people start to get to close. We become afraid of exposure, that others will see our faults and imperfections, that they might see us as we truly are and not as we would like them to see us. It may be a fear that once they see us for who we really are, they won't like what they see, or we won't be good enough anymore. We also fear rejection from others. Both of these fears tend to cause us to keep people at a distance, keep them from getting too close. This is a way of protecting ourselves from being hurt. It also keeps relationships from becoming truly deep and meaningful, they remain shallow and easily discarded. Other people may sense this, may even run right into your wall, but it is a passive defense.
The outward, aggressive manifestation of some of these same feelings is jealousy. This is one of my failings and as such, I don't feel comfortable writing too much about it. A small amount shows how much you care, any more than that reveals a lack of trust, even when it's all about your own fears it still looks like you are impuning your partners integrity, motives, sincerity...
If you are not building deep relationships how do you expect to reach others?
Trust and love combat this destroyer, and build relationships. Without trust no relationships can exist, and that begins with trust in God, Psa 31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." You have to be willing to trust God with your life, trust that he is in control, and trust that he will guide you through any difficulties. Without this trust any attempts to form relationships with others are going to be less than satisfactory. Trusting God should be pretty easy, right? Not always, I know. The next is trusting each other, and that is far more difficult. Trust can take years to build up between two people, to some extent is has to be earned, but it can also be given. Soldiers and some law enforcement build trust between each other in hours or days in some situations. How do they do it? Lots of opportunities for each to rely on another and to stand up to the challenge for another. You can emulate this to some extent in your own life by looking for and making the most of opportunities that arise. Even if you tend to be a bit cynical like me, try giving someone the opportunity to fail. Show them you trust them (even if you don't), give them the freedom and see what they do. If they fail, you are no worse off than if you never tried to trust them. On the other hand, if they do succeed, you will have gained trust in them. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Trust has many levels and much intricacy, too many fine shades to be fully explained here. But, at some point you will have enough trust in someone that you should be able to love them. Love, a four letter word, simple and direct, yet a single word cannot come close to describing all of the variations of the concept. One is forced to use other languages to say what one really means. Agape, Eros, Phila, Storge... Greek works well for this. Whether it's love of friends, family, christian brothers(sisters), or romantic love it has the same effect on insecurity. You cannot love someone and keep them out of your life, you can't withhold yourself from them. It's a mutual interaction that requires both parties. It takes work and must be looked at regularly, and even talked about sometimes. A few words can dispel months of misunderstanding.
Building relationships like this is what we are meant to do, called to do actually. Once they are built they have to be maintained from time to time as well.
Part 4(final) is here
Insecurity can also be destructive to relationships. As I see it there are two ways that this effects how we relate to others; An inward manifestation and an outward one. Our own self-doubt and feelings of insecurity cause us to put up walls when people start to get to close. We become afraid of exposure, that others will see our faults and imperfections, that they might see us as we truly are and not as we would like them to see us. It may be a fear that once they see us for who we really are, they won't like what they see, or we won't be good enough anymore. We also fear rejection from others. Both of these fears tend to cause us to keep people at a distance, keep them from getting too close. This is a way of protecting ourselves from being hurt. It also keeps relationships from becoming truly deep and meaningful, they remain shallow and easily discarded. Other people may sense this, may even run right into your wall, but it is a passive defense.
The outward, aggressive manifestation of some of these same feelings is jealousy. This is one of my failings and as such, I don't feel comfortable writing too much about it. A small amount shows how much you care, any more than that reveals a lack of trust, even when it's all about your own fears it still looks like you are impuning your partners integrity, motives, sincerity...
If you are not building deep relationships how do you expect to reach others?
Trust and love combat this destroyer, and build relationships. Without trust no relationships can exist, and that begins with trust in God, Psa 31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." You have to be willing to trust God with your life, trust that he is in control, and trust that he will guide you through any difficulties. Without this trust any attempts to form relationships with others are going to be less than satisfactory. Trusting God should be pretty easy, right? Not always, I know. The next is trusting each other, and that is far more difficult. Trust can take years to build up between two people, to some extent is has to be earned, but it can also be given. Soldiers and some law enforcement build trust between each other in hours or days in some situations. How do they do it? Lots of opportunities for each to rely on another and to stand up to the challenge for another. You can emulate this to some extent in your own life by looking for and making the most of opportunities that arise. Even if you tend to be a bit cynical like me, try giving someone the opportunity to fail. Show them you trust them (even if you don't), give them the freedom and see what they do. If they fail, you are no worse off than if you never tried to trust them. On the other hand, if they do succeed, you will have gained trust in them. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Trust has many levels and much intricacy, too many fine shades to be fully explained here. But, at some point you will have enough trust in someone that you should be able to love them. Love, a four letter word, simple and direct, yet a single word cannot come close to describing all of the variations of the concept. One is forced to use other languages to say what one really means. Agape, Eros, Phila, Storge... Greek works well for this. Whether it's love of friends, family, christian brothers(sisters), or romantic love it has the same effect on insecurity. You cannot love someone and keep them out of your life, you can't withhold yourself from them. It's a mutual interaction that requires both parties. It takes work and must be looked at regularly, and even talked about sometimes. A few words can dispel months of misunderstanding.
Building relationships like this is what we are meant to do, called to do actually. Once they are built they have to be maintained from time to time as well.
Part 4(final) is here
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