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.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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.
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