Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
5 essential elements for marriage
1. Severance (leaving) you have to leave your father and mother physically and emotionally. Your primary allegiance is to each other. You have to become your own family.
2. Permanence- being joined together forever. Permanence.
3. Unity- not uniformity, but unity. Recognizing each unique personality, and each choosing to give their life away for the other person.
4. Intimacy – There shouldn’t be shame or embarrassment, each should be focused on the pleasure or delight of the other person. Not physical intimacy only but shared conversations, joys, sorrows, and triumphs. That is what makes physical intimacy so sweet anyhow.
5. Submission/headship
Husband and wife are put in a hierarchy of roles. It’s not about the person, but the role. God set it up, somebody has to lead, and He knew the best person for the job. Why do women try to buck the system? A man doesn’t lose any value or dignity by being submissive to Christ; Christ doesn’t lose any value by being submissive to the Father. As a woman, the same value is being submissive to my husband (or father) and should submit to him with the same fervor as to Christ. The more that we divert from these roles, the less godly our lives become. When you obey God, something supernatural happens. When you give Him your whole life, trusting Him to do it, He can give you something that is otherworldly. The woman's rights movement is nothing more than a tactic of satan to destroy God's created order.
Headship principles:
Husbands are never commanded to rule over their wives but only to love them.
Headship is never portrayed in Scripture as a matter of self-exaltation or self-satisfaction, it is always other oriented.
Headship is not a power of a superior over an inferior Eph. 4:1-3 Gal 5:22-33. Gentleness is strength under control.
Headship is never to be defined as an issuing of cammands.
Headship does not mean that husbands must make every decision in the house.
Headship is more a responsibility than a right. When a husband feels that responsibility and it is honored by the wife, a sacred trust is established. Chivalry has really been lost in our society, but truly that’s the kind of leadership women are looking for. Headship is an opportunity to lead… with Christ as an example. He led them in regards to them; in teaching, setting an example, spending time with them, delegating authority to them.
Headship don’t give the husband a right to be wrong, he has to be sure he is right with God, communicating with Him before his family, being one with Him.
Headship means loving and caring for one’s wife as himself
Headship means loving and caring for one’s wife as Christ the church.
The closer a husband is to the Lord the more he’ll understand this, the better of a husband he’ll be and realize idealistic marriage comes from intimacy with the Lord. The problems/conflicts come from a lack of true drinks from the well. If your intimacy with the Lord is secure, all will fall into place. “Godliness is what makes you a real man” Jeff Sutton. J
Eph. 5:26-27 Purposeful, pro-active love, encouraging the other to grow in the Lord. A husband’s desire is that the wife would be washed and spotless. He wants to see his family sanctified… realizing that it’s not about not upsetting her, it’s about being the spiritual leader for her that she needs; even if it’s challenging things that need it. Not providing spiritual leadership is much more the failure, than lacking in monetary provision.
1. Severance (leaving) you have to leave your father and mother physically and emotionally. Your primary allegiance is to each other. You have to become your own family.
2. Permanence- being joined together forever. Permanence.
3. Unity- not uniformity, but unity. Recognizing each unique personality, and each choosing to give their life away for the other person.
4. Intimacy – There shouldn’t be shame or embarrassment, each should be focused on the pleasure or delight of the other person. Not physical intimacy only but shared conversations, joys, sorrows, and triumphs. That is what makes physical intimacy so sweet anyhow.
5. Submission/headship
Husband and wife are put in a hierarchy of roles. It’s not about the person, but the role. God set it up, somebody has to lead, and He knew the best person for the job. Why do women try to buck the system? A man doesn’t lose any value or dignity by being submissive to Christ; Christ doesn’t lose any value by being submissive to the Father. As a woman, the same value is being submissive to my husband (or father) and should submit to him with the same fervor as to Christ. The more that we divert from these roles, the less godly our lives become. When you obey God, something supernatural happens. When you give Him your whole life, trusting Him to do it, He can give you something that is otherworldly. The woman's rights movement is nothing more than a tactic of satan to destroy God's created order.
Headship principles:
Husbands are never commanded to rule over their wives but only to love them.
Headship is never portrayed in Scripture as a matter of self-exaltation or self-satisfaction, it is always other oriented.
Headship is not a power of a superior over an inferior Eph. 4:1-3 Gal 5:22-33. Gentleness is strength under control.
Headship is never to be defined as an issuing of cammands.
Headship does not mean that husbands must make every decision in the house.
Headship is more a responsibility than a right. When a husband feels that responsibility and it is honored by the wife, a sacred trust is established. Chivalry has really been lost in our society, but truly that’s the kind of leadership women are looking for. Headship is an opportunity to lead… with Christ as an example. He led them in regards to them; in teaching, setting an example, spending time with them, delegating authority to them.
Headship don’t give the husband a right to be wrong, he has to be sure he is right with God, communicating with Him before his family, being one with Him.
Headship means loving and caring for one’s wife as himself
Headship means loving and caring for one’s wife as Christ the church.
The closer a husband is to the Lord the more he’ll understand this, the better of a husband he’ll be and realize idealistic marriage comes from intimacy with the Lord. The problems/conflicts come from a lack of true drinks from the well. If your intimacy with the Lord is secure, all will fall into place. “Godliness is what makes you a real man” Jeff Sutton. J
Eph. 5:26-27 Purposeful, pro-active love, encouraging the other to grow in the Lord. A husband’s desire is that the wife would be washed and spotless. He wants to see his family sanctified… realizing that it’s not about not upsetting her, it’s about being the spiritual leader for her that she needs; even if it’s challenging things that need it. Not providing spiritual leadership is much more the failure, than lacking in monetary provision.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Traditional (dumb) dating, and what’s wrong with it. (7 things)
1. Dating leads to intimacy but not necessarily to commitment
A close association or detailed knowledge of a person without commitment is dangerous! Intimacy outside of marriage is ultimately defrauding to that person’s future spouse. God is outside of time, he sees every marriage in place that will ever happen.
It’s much healthier to develop a deep friendship among friends than in a dating setting. Dating is often superficial and both putting best foot forward. If friendship isn’t the main focus you are in for trouble… it’s a breeding ground for lust, and also when married the good feelings and fuzziness fade…
3. Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love
The physical in a dating relationship adds so much confusion. You think things are much more serious than they are. A physical relationship does NOT equal love. If anything, error on holiness.
4. Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships
Becoming attached to the other person often causes you to lose perspective of you own identity. You cannot let your identity be found in the opposite person. If you’re not to the marriage point focus on being friends, and lay it down. Trust is important in a relationship, but exclusiveness makes you totally wrapped up in each other outside of marriage. It promotes jealousy and mistrust. How do you deal with jealous feelings? Get along with the Lord and express it. If the other is not trustworthy you have to take that into account…. But jealousy is not real love.
5. Dating often distracts you from doing what God wants for you right now
You cannot forsake what God has for you because of the other person. Often you might be called to lay something down for the sake of following Christ’s leading. But it’s got to be Him (more relevant actually in marriage). If you are not sure about God’s leading about something, let go of it. If He establishes it in your life, fabulous, if not He has something better for you. Walk through life with your arms wide open to Him. Eph 5:15-17
6. Dating can cause discontentment with God’s gift of singleness
Dating is very distracting. You just want to get on with the next step. Bash in singleness! When married, there is another person to always consider. You can’t take off unless it works for the other as well. Redeem the time that you have; enjoy now and listen to Jesus. Your time truly is an issue of stewardship.
7. Dating creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s character
Being cute/fun on a date says nothing about being a good husband/wife.
‘Nuff said. Prov. 31:30
A better approach to… whatever you want to call it (6 things)
(deliberate dating with a purpose {D wap})
If you love someone more than anything… you will be selfish, bitter and disillusioned.
If you love Jesus more than anything, you’ll enjoy others and will be someone worth marrying.
The triangle concept; the closer you get to God, the closer you get to each other. You can’t pursue a human, as a believer as a separate thing. It’s a pursuit of God and where He takes you become obvious
2. Make every relationship an opportunity to model Jesus Christ’s love
Col 3:12-17
Live it out. Jesus love is for everyone; sincere, honest, brotherly love.
The point of any relationship should be to point them to Christ.
3. Recognize that your unmarried years are a gift from God
Gen. 24:1-33 Rebekah wasn’t out on the look for a man. She was going about her business, but obviously serving the Lord.
We need to redeem the time we have, take advantage of it to do things on your heart that you may not have the opportunity to do when married. Many people are actually married longer in their life than they’re single. Don’t rush it!
4. Acknowledge that intimacy is the reward of commitment.
It doesn’t need to be a part of a relationship before commitment. If you aren’t ready to marry someone, why do you want to put yourself in a place of so possible compromise!? Sexual intimacy awakes desire in you that isn’t created to be restrained. God did not design us to go there even in measure before we are married. It clouds your mind so much! God set up great things for marriage intimacy; it’s not at all about struggling through merely coping (see Song of Solomon). Full intimacy we won’t experience until heaven… but marriage is a picture of it. It’s totally a lie to think you need to have some sort of intimate experience before you get married. “You’ll never regret purity”
5. Stop “playing marriage”
True commitment to somebody really comes when you say vows, get married. In a dating relationship, if you aren’t ready to commit to marriage you cannot stake claims to the other. Don’t expect things from them that have not yet come. Making those demands of each other before the time only breeds grounds for jealousy and greed.
6. Practically avoid situations that could compromise the purity of your mind and body.
Purity is so much more than remaining a virgin. It’s wise to set standards, but
your heart purity is truly the issue. Don’t be a legalist over it, that won’t grow you spiritually before the Lord.
Matt. 6:33- It’s not about seeking the out the things we want but seeking God and recognizing what He brings.
Content in the Lord, unless He brings marriage.
1. Seek God’s Word: does this person match up with what Biblical standards you are seeking?
2. Award of responsibilities – are you ready for marriage? (don’t date for recreation)
3. Approval/support of parents, pastors and godly friends. (they may have a clearer view)
4. Obey God above all. Do you have peace? The peace of God will rule (umpire) your heart.
God will not force the next step DTR (defining the relationship). You can’t be afraid of the future when God is moving your forward, you have to address it, and you need clear purpose.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Good and happy October, sweet, dear and lovely friends! It’s time to figure out a blog update. Recent studies have been John and Genesis. Needless to say we have to fly through each book in only a week. They were a delightful study. Truly, both of them! Tom Morris, associate pastor at Calvary Chapel here in Yakima taught through the book of John last week, and Jeff’s (the uh, campus father) brother Ken Sutton went through Genesis all this week. A word of encouragement to anyone that has not previously loved the OT, it is totally beyond comprehension how many parallels there are simply in Genesis to the NT. To the Messiah. The Gospel story. It is entirely intimately one with the life of Jesus the Christ.
To share a driving point that hit me this week was the fact Jesus was not lacking in confidence. Shocking, right? Well, he not only created the entire world including mankind, but He then delegated to his creation a job; helping Him in this work. He asked Adam to be in charge of naming the animals. Quite possibly this was the first communication between Adam and God, and God was asking him to be involved in this great work! God was not incapable, but he was not afraid to partner with Adam, His own creation, in His work. How dare we be stingy with what God has entrusted to us, or so pious to think that we are the only one capable to accomplish His work. We are called to partner together in the work of Elohim, the trinity!
Another sweet thing to think about (also from the first day of Genesis study) is that God demonstrated a day of rest for us at the time of creation, as we all know. However, God rested because His work was done. Then in the NT Jesus, after stating that His work here was finished, also entered into His rest. He sat down at the right had of the father. As believers, we are at rest in Jesus Christ; I am at rest in my following of him. I won’t have rest if I don’t abide in Him though. It’s not that God don’t desire for us a day of rest during the week, He does, but our work here is not done until the day of Jesus Christ. We never take a rest from the Lord; He is our rest, Heb. 4. We know God now, but have no idea what our role could be in future generations; what God has in store.
Staring into another weekend! Tonight a group of us are planning to accompany the youth mission and its charges to a local corn maze. Sure to be aMAZing.
The rest of the weekend lies open! A few are going home to Seattle, and Emily F. is gone for the weekend… the rest of us are just chilling here in the compound. Oh, and perhaps watching the 6 hour version of classical, “Pride and Prejudice”. Hope I can catch up with some folks via telephone! Peace you all.
To share a driving point that hit me this week was the fact Jesus was not lacking in confidence. Shocking, right? Well, he not only created the entire world including mankind, but He then delegated to his creation a job; helping Him in this work. He asked Adam to be in charge of naming the animals. Quite possibly this was the first communication between Adam and God, and God was asking him to be involved in this great work! God was not incapable, but he was not afraid to partner with Adam, His own creation, in His work. How dare we be stingy with what God has entrusted to us, or so pious to think that we are the only one capable to accomplish His work. We are called to partner together in the work of Elohim, the trinity!
Another sweet thing to think about (also from the first day of Genesis study) is that God demonstrated a day of rest for us at the time of creation, as we all know. However, God rested because His work was done. Then in the NT Jesus, after stating that His work here was finished, also entered into His rest. He sat down at the right had of the father. As believers, we are at rest in Jesus Christ; I am at rest in my following of him. I won’t have rest if I don’t abide in Him though. It’s not that God don’t desire for us a day of rest during the week, He does, but our work here is not done until the day of Jesus Christ. We never take a rest from the Lord; He is our rest, Heb. 4. We know God now, but have no idea what our role could be in future generations; what God has in store.
Staring into another weekend! Tonight a group of us are planning to accompany the youth mission and its charges to a local corn maze. Sure to be aMAZing.
The rest of the weekend lies open! A few are going home to Seattle, and Emily F. is gone for the weekend… the rest of us are just chilling here in the compound. Oh, and perhaps watching the 6 hour version of classical, “Pride and Prejudice”. Hope I can catch up with some folks via telephone! Peace you all.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A week on the Oregon coast. What an amazing time! It was an intense time, as we focused in first on worship, primarily on who it is that we worship. Then moving on to sharing the Lord with other's, outreach and evangelism, and taking time to recognize what the Lord has done in for us in our personal walk with him. We all shared our testimony the last day we were there, it was the most spiritually bonding time I could imagine. Baring our souls to each other and allowing, recognizing the Lord's healing and forgiveness, and seeing the power the Lord has over His children's lives is incredibly miraculous. Hallelujah! I've always thought I didn't really have a story, but that was only because I was so blind to my sin and need for repentence. My need for God's grace is becoming more and more evident all the time. I have so much pride and greed in my heart... it's a good thing His grace is abundant. Acts 3:19, 20a "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..." I would like to share my personal story of God's mercy with you now, praying it will bless you.
It is nothing less than a blessing to live in a family that knows and loves God; whose faith has been part of their parents lives as well. Since my life began, I have been taught about Jesus as Savior and living the life He wants me to.
My childhood was carefree and easy. Living on a farm provided a lot of fun experiences with both my dad and mom, who really lived out Jesus’ love in their lives. Being the youngest of four, two sisters and a brother, I’ve always had built-in mentors and friends to learn about life from. As far back as I can remember, I was fearful of going to hell. I didn’t grasp exactly what the Gospel was all about, but prayed often that Jesus would save me. I had a pretty good grasp on what it meant to be good, but has little concept of grace. Life remained stable and easy through elementary and middle school, I went to a private Christian school so I was still surrounded by believers. Not to make it sound perfect, I messed up a lot while learning what life was about and age eleven through fourteen was still really awkward and embarrassing, but for the most part, life was smooth sailing.
Through high school I had a lot of friends and we kept ourselves well entertained, living from one great time to another. Though I was well accepted with my peers, I battled a lot with feeling self-conscience; always comparing myself with my friends and coming up short. God really provided older people in my life, to guide me through my emotional woes and share their own experiences they had come through. Some wisdom I was thankful for, some I wasn’t, but I now recognize God’s mercy and faithfulness to lead me towards Himself. The different people I hung out with never got involved with parties and things that were considered bad, but we lived a rather self-serving lifestyle of fun and busyness.
Through all the good times, the Lord was showing me there was much more to being a Christian than attempting to life a good life. I always felt like I was waiting on something to change, waiting for real life to begin. A group of us started meeting every other week to study the Word and share what we were learning. God instilled a desire within me that wanted everyone to know that I truly wanted to live for Jesus and wanted to personally sell out to Him, so I was baptized shortly after I turned seventeen. That spring was a spiritual high for me, but my definition of Christianity was still mostly centered around my performance. The last two years of high school I switched from the Christian school I had been in, to a vocational school. My life quickly became a lot less sheltered than it was previously, but I wasn’t very open about the gospel. My classmates knew that I was a “good girl”, but beyond that they really didn’t hear the good news from my lips.
After graduation in the spring of 2005, my time was pretty much overtaken by a specific male figure. He was a believer and I was more the certain he would be the one for me. We had several differences in our view of Jesus and the Bible, but tried to ignore them most of the time. A year later, when it was obvious that the differences were mot to be pushed aside, the relationship dramatically ended leaving me devastated and for the first time really realizing my need for Jesus Christ. Before, He’d been more of a sidekick, and I’d had everything I needed throughout life with no real issues. Now I was wondering how to get through this crisis and what I was to do next. My questions were directed towards God, wondering why this after I thought all my life I’d tried to dedicate myself, my friends, my lifestyle to Him. I was sincerely broken. Falling on Him was not an option, but mandatory. That coming year was full of prayer, questions, studying, confessions, repentance, sorrow and joy. It was time to discover exactly who the Lord I’d always known of was, and the direction He was taking me. He had always known me so personally, but my experience of Him had been so shallow.
That summer I volunteered at a Christian retreat for families that had a child with a disability. The unity and love extended there was so impacting. Seeing the body of Christ come together and build each other up so dramatically was life changing. The theme verse for the week was Jeremiah 29:12-14a “You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord…” the promise in those verses hit me in the center of my heart. For the first time I knew that what God wanted most was simply for me to search desperately for Him alone and that if I did, He would be found by me in personal way.
In March 2007, I left the country for the first time. To Ghana Africa I went with fourteen people I did not know. Spending over two weeks in a nation that had so much less in material possessions, yet so much more faith was humbling. My “good” life, reduced to nothing. It was a sickening reality to re-enter America, realizing the greed in my heart and lack of focus on eternal things. From there God placed me in a small group of people within the church dedicated to searching for and following Him in community ministry. He also paved the way for me to take 4 months to do nothing but seek Him and learn to know Him at a discipleship school. I can only imagine where the journey goes from here!
The control of my life really transferred from me to God the spring of 2006. It took the harsh reality that nothing and no one but Jesus could be my sustainer or confidence. Continually He convicts me of sin, bringing me back to Him; back to where He can use me. He has proved Himself through His word, through His Spirit, my comforter and healer, and through so many other people on the same road as I. No matter what may come in life, or how complacent I become, He is always in me; guiding me towards the Truth even when I do not know it. I have confidence that He will be faithful, and that joy is found only in His presence.
It is nothing less than a blessing to live in a family that knows and loves God; whose faith has been part of their parents lives as well. Since my life began, I have been taught about Jesus as Savior and living the life He wants me to.
My childhood was carefree and easy. Living on a farm provided a lot of fun experiences with both my dad and mom, who really lived out Jesus’ love in their lives. Being the youngest of four, two sisters and a brother, I’ve always had built-in mentors and friends to learn about life from. As far back as I can remember, I was fearful of going to hell. I didn’t grasp exactly what the Gospel was all about, but prayed often that Jesus would save me. I had a pretty good grasp on what it meant to be good, but has little concept of grace. Life remained stable and easy through elementary and middle school, I went to a private Christian school so I was still surrounded by believers. Not to make it sound perfect, I messed up a lot while learning what life was about and age eleven through fourteen was still really awkward and embarrassing, but for the most part, life was smooth sailing.
Through high school I had a lot of friends and we kept ourselves well entertained, living from one great time to another. Though I was well accepted with my peers, I battled a lot with feeling self-conscience; always comparing myself with my friends and coming up short. God really provided older people in my life, to guide me through my emotional woes and share their own experiences they had come through. Some wisdom I was thankful for, some I wasn’t, but I now recognize God’s mercy and faithfulness to lead me towards Himself. The different people I hung out with never got involved with parties and things that were considered bad, but we lived a rather self-serving lifestyle of fun and busyness.
Through all the good times, the Lord was showing me there was much more to being a Christian than attempting to life a good life. I always felt like I was waiting on something to change, waiting for real life to begin. A group of us started meeting every other week to study the Word and share what we were learning. God instilled a desire within me that wanted everyone to know that I truly wanted to live for Jesus and wanted to personally sell out to Him, so I was baptized shortly after I turned seventeen. That spring was a spiritual high for me, but my definition of Christianity was still mostly centered around my performance. The last two years of high school I switched from the Christian school I had been in, to a vocational school. My life quickly became a lot less sheltered than it was previously, but I wasn’t very open about the gospel. My classmates knew that I was a “good girl”, but beyond that they really didn’t hear the good news from my lips.
After graduation in the spring of 2005, my time was pretty much overtaken by a specific male figure. He was a believer and I was more the certain he would be the one for me. We had several differences in our view of Jesus and the Bible, but tried to ignore them most of the time. A year later, when it was obvious that the differences were mot to be pushed aside, the relationship dramatically ended leaving me devastated and for the first time really realizing my need for Jesus Christ. Before, He’d been more of a sidekick, and I’d had everything I needed throughout life with no real issues. Now I was wondering how to get through this crisis and what I was to do next. My questions were directed towards God, wondering why this after I thought all my life I’d tried to dedicate myself, my friends, my lifestyle to Him. I was sincerely broken. Falling on Him was not an option, but mandatory. That coming year was full of prayer, questions, studying, confessions, repentance, sorrow and joy. It was time to discover exactly who the Lord I’d always known of was, and the direction He was taking me. He had always known me so personally, but my experience of Him had been so shallow.
That summer I volunteered at a Christian retreat for families that had a child with a disability. The unity and love extended there was so impacting. Seeing the body of Christ come together and build each other up so dramatically was life changing. The theme verse for the week was Jeremiah 29:12-14a “You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord…” the promise in those verses hit me in the center of my heart. For the first time I knew that what God wanted most was simply for me to search desperately for Him alone and that if I did, He would be found by me in personal way.
In March 2007, I left the country for the first time. To Ghana Africa I went with fourteen people I did not know. Spending over two weeks in a nation that had so much less in material possessions, yet so much more faith was humbling. My “good” life, reduced to nothing. It was a sickening reality to re-enter America, realizing the greed in my heart and lack of focus on eternal things. From there God placed me in a small group of people within the church dedicated to searching for and following Him in community ministry. He also paved the way for me to take 4 months to do nothing but seek Him and learn to know Him at a discipleship school. I can only imagine where the journey goes from here!
The control of my life really transferred from me to God the spring of 2006. It took the harsh reality that nothing and no one but Jesus could be my sustainer or confidence. Continually He convicts me of sin, bringing me back to Him; back to where He can use me. He has proved Himself through His word, through His Spirit, my comforter and healer, and through so many other people on the same road as I. No matter what may come in life, or how complacent I become, He is always in me; guiding me towards the Truth even when I do not know it. I have confidence that He will be faithful, and that joy is found only in His presence.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sept 8, 2008
I totally do not know where to start. I cannot even begin to share the things we have been taught on, so I guess I will not try. Michael Turray, pastor of church in Sierra Leone has been with us since Wednesday of last week. He will be here through Thursday. It has been absolutely outstanding. His mission was to teach us an understanding of Romans, focusing on chapters 6, 7, &8 in a way that when he was finished we would truly understand the entire book. So far, we really have only covered Rom 1:16, 17.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written “The righteous shall live by faith”
To start off, it is important to understand the basics of these verses. The righteousness of God is revealed from “faith” (a beginning, saving faith”) to faith (a lifetime of experiential faith) as it is written… the righteous man shall live by faith.
Michael was quick to make us aware that last phrase is truly a terrible translation of Greek. In the Greek language, the word faith is not attached to the word live, but to the righteous man. Really, it should say something to the extent of “the righteous man by faith shall LIVE.”
You see, it is not that a “righteous” man CAN live by faith; it’s that a man is made righteous through belief in the gospel and therefore he has LIFE.
It’s not some kind of work! It’s what Jesus has given us, a free gift of salvation, yes, and in addition to that, His righteousness and true life. You have to know it to live it.
We have gone through Scriptural proof of the deity of Jesus Christ; that He is God’s Son and that His character is the complete essence of God the Father. Jesus Christ was a God-man. He had to become perfect humanity to be our Savior, and High Priest, to be the mediator between God and man and to fulfill the promise of the Davidic covenant.
“In the person of Jesus Christ since His physical birth there are 2 natures, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever! The 2 natures remain distinct and are inseparable united without mixture or loss of identity, without loss or transfer of attributes. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and at the same time He is also just as much human as you and I.” 200% mind boggling isn’t it?
The Greek work Kenoo means to deprive ones self of proper function. Jesus voluntarily restricted divine attributes to comply with the Father’s plan for the incarnation.
Those are just a couple points that have been covered. There is so much to learn and so little time! I say Hallelujah to the depth of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By grace we will actually grasp the things that we are studying- there is SO MUCH. I’ve been so convicted of my lazy-reader Christian self. There is so so much to discover! Occupation with Christ- being so occupied with Christ that nothing else matters to you. No matter what the expression of my love to my God, it will be obedience. It is a waste of time to do anything but serve Him.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written “The righteous shall live by faith”
To start off, it is important to understand the basics of these verses. The righteousness of God is revealed from “faith” (a beginning, saving faith”) to faith (a lifetime of experiential faith) as it is written… the righteous man shall live by faith.
Michael was quick to make us aware that last phrase is truly a terrible translation of Greek. In the Greek language, the word faith is not attached to the word live, but to the righteous man. Really, it should say something to the extent of “the righteous man by faith shall LIVE.”
You see, it is not that a “righteous” man CAN live by faith; it’s that a man is made righteous through belief in the gospel and therefore he has LIFE.
It’s not some kind of work! It’s what Jesus has given us, a free gift of salvation, yes, and in addition to that, His righteousness and true life. You have to know it to live it.
We have gone through Scriptural proof of the deity of Jesus Christ; that He is God’s Son and that His character is the complete essence of God the Father. Jesus Christ was a God-man. He had to become perfect humanity to be our Savior, and High Priest, to be the mediator between God and man and to fulfill the promise of the Davidic covenant.
“In the person of Jesus Christ since His physical birth there are 2 natures, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever! The 2 natures remain distinct and are inseparable united without mixture or loss of identity, without loss or transfer of attributes. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and at the same time He is also just as much human as you and I.” 200% mind boggling isn’t it?
The Greek work Kenoo means to deprive ones self of proper function. Jesus voluntarily restricted divine attributes to comply with the Father’s plan for the incarnation.
Those are just a couple points that have been covered. There is so much to learn and so little time! I say Hallelujah to the depth of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By grace we will actually grasp the things that we are studying- there is SO MUCH. I’ve been so convicted of my lazy-reader Christian self. There is so so much to discover! Occupation with Christ- being so occupied with Christ that nothing else matters to you. No matter what the expression of my love to my God, it will be obedience. It is a waste of time to do anything but serve Him.
Week 1
Hello all!
Where do I start? I have no idea. However, I’m glad you’re interested in what’s going on here in Naches, WA. ACTS session 9. I really hope to share it with you in a small way, so you can be blessed by my time here as well.
For those who don’t really know what ACTS is, it’s a sabbatical time. 3 months of living in community with other believers who desire to fall more in love with Jesus and want to develop a passion to serve and spread His love to anyone He puts in our path.
Our days are pretty full; worship or devotions at 8:00, followed by breakfast together, the rest of the morning is an hour of solitude alone with Bible and journal, then either break into gender specific small groups for a while or else a group of about 6-7 for an hour of intercessory prayer. From there we have an hour and a half of teaching break for lunch and another hour and a half after lunch. These sessions will be lead by different teachers every week or so. From afternoon teacher we go into ministry from 3:00 to 5:30 or so. There are 4 ministry teams, 2 on outreach, 1 on maintenance (here on campus) and one on meal ministry. Fairly self explanatory I’d say. The outreach teams do various things, two consistent things are going on local campus and building relationships with people, sharing the gospel with them as we pray for God to prepare divine appointments and ready their hearts. There is also a youth mission close by for younger kids to go after school that really need to be shown Love. There will be a team at both places nearly every day. The middle of November, Lord willing, we’ll leave for Mexico for a month. A team of 8 or so are moving there in February to plant a church, they’ll be there different amounts of time, from a year to three.
I’ve been here for only a week and a half, so much has happened, it seems like I’ve been here for a long time already. We’re so thankful for the way our team is binding together, getting along and connecting. It’s great, most assuredly an act of the Lord and an answer to not only our prayers as students, but to the prayers of the staff. They’ve been praying for us all summer before we met, and will not stop! Of this I am positive, absolute praise to God.
The first week was spent mostly in just getting to know each other, hiking, team building activities to build trust, camping, repelling (awesome!) and sharing… just learning about the grand people we are going to be living enormously close to in the next 4 months. This week is starting on the normal schedule… Val started us on the book of Eph. Yesterday and today. Today Michael will be with us and stay through next week teaching on walking in the Spirit.
My team is great, it’s the biggest one so far, I room with four girls, five girls in the attaching room, and five guys on the other side of the dorm. We also have resident advisors, a couple here with their 4 month son Dan, Miranda and Mack, along with Adina, they’re going through the session and offering mentorship as well. I cannot even touch really on what the experience is, but so you guys know sort of what’s going on and we’re learning about, I hope to update this now and then!
My request for prayer is most of all for clearness of mind and to be free from distraction! I desire so much to really focus and use the time I’ve been given to the fullest. Satan is really attacking in that area of my life. You know how sometimes you just feel muddled? Ug, I hate it, but I know our God will bless us all when we are purely searching for His face. It’s promised so many times. Jer. 29:12-14
Thanks all so much for praying, email me anytime at natlee05@juno.com, I check it now and then. I’m having trouble getting photos transferred from my camera, so I’ll let you know if it gets done. Peace in Jesus! Walk His highest path.
Where do I start? I have no idea. However, I’m glad you’re interested in what’s going on here in Naches, WA. ACTS session 9. I really hope to share it with you in a small way, so you can be blessed by my time here as well.
For those who don’t really know what ACTS is, it’s a sabbatical time. 3 months of living in community with other believers who desire to fall more in love with Jesus and want to develop a passion to serve and spread His love to anyone He puts in our path.
Our days are pretty full; worship or devotions at 8:00, followed by breakfast together, the rest of the morning is an hour of solitude alone with Bible and journal, then either break into gender specific small groups for a while or else a group of about 6-7 for an hour of intercessory prayer. From there we have an hour and a half of teaching break for lunch and another hour and a half after lunch. These sessions will be lead by different teachers every week or so. From afternoon teacher we go into ministry from 3:00 to 5:30 or so. There are 4 ministry teams, 2 on outreach, 1 on maintenance (here on campus) and one on meal ministry. Fairly self explanatory I’d say. The outreach teams do various things, two consistent things are going on local campus and building relationships with people, sharing the gospel with them as we pray for God to prepare divine appointments and ready their hearts. There is also a youth mission close by for younger kids to go after school that really need to be shown Love. There will be a team at both places nearly every day. The middle of November, Lord willing, we’ll leave for Mexico for a month. A team of 8 or so are moving there in February to plant a church, they’ll be there different amounts of time, from a year to three.
I’ve been here for only a week and a half, so much has happened, it seems like I’ve been here for a long time already. We’re so thankful for the way our team is binding together, getting along and connecting. It’s great, most assuredly an act of the Lord and an answer to not only our prayers as students, but to the prayers of the staff. They’ve been praying for us all summer before we met, and will not stop! Of this I am positive, absolute praise to God.
The first week was spent mostly in just getting to know each other, hiking, team building activities to build trust, camping, repelling (awesome!) and sharing… just learning about the grand people we are going to be living enormously close to in the next 4 months. This week is starting on the normal schedule… Val started us on the book of Eph. Yesterday and today. Today Michael will be with us and stay through next week teaching on walking in the Spirit.
My team is great, it’s the biggest one so far, I room with four girls, five girls in the attaching room, and five guys on the other side of the dorm. We also have resident advisors, a couple here with their 4 month son Dan, Miranda and Mack, along with Adina, they’re going through the session and offering mentorship as well. I cannot even touch really on what the experience is, but so you guys know sort of what’s going on and we’re learning about, I hope to update this now and then!
My request for prayer is most of all for clearness of mind and to be free from distraction! I desire so much to really focus and use the time I’ve been given to the fullest. Satan is really attacking in that area of my life. You know how sometimes you just feel muddled? Ug, I hate it, but I know our God will bless us all when we are purely searching for His face. It’s promised so many times. Jer. 29:12-14
Thanks all so much for praying, email me anytime at natlee05@juno.com, I check it now and then. I’m having trouble getting photos transferred from my camera, so I’ll let you know if it gets done. Peace in Jesus! Walk His highest path.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
