e premte, 16 maj 2008
e shtunë, 29 mars 2008
Resources
Due to the influx of great discussion today in our meeting, I've felt compelled to recommend some great resources to help us. You are not being forced to purchase these books, but I do highly recommend them.
The first book is called "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment." Since we talked about difficult decision making today, I felt like this is one resource I ought to recommend to us...since we do/will make difficult decisions in our life. We need to learn to be discerning so that we can be more effective in serving God in this life.
The second book is a recent bestseller. It is called "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. It is a response to all the atheistic literature that recently came out. He wrote it as a "modern day 'Mere Christianity,'" which means at least one of us will be interested in it. If you want to check out a little of it, go to youtube and do a video search for "tim keller;" he gave a series of talks all around the U.S., presenting tidbits of his book. Get this book. It sounds amazing.
The first book is called "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment." Since we talked about difficult decision making today, I felt like this is one resource I ought to recommend to us...since we do/will make difficult decisions in our life. We need to learn to be discerning so that we can be more effective in serving God in this life.
The second book is a recent bestseller. It is called "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. It is a response to all the atheistic literature that recently came out. He wrote it as a "modern day 'Mere Christianity,'" which means at least one of us will be interested in it. If you want to check out a little of it, go to youtube and do a video search for "tim keller;" he gave a series of talks all around the U.S., presenting tidbits of his book. Get this book. It sounds amazing.
e martë, 25 mars 2008
Screwtape, part III
This week the reading is chapters 7-9. The chapters are short and sweet, but the content is not. Lots of fun stuff we get to talk over; we might even get to another discussion of freewill, but we don't choose what we want to talk about :] Please please please mark up your books with underlining and questions in the margins; not only will it help you pick out information more quickly, but you are actually making your book heavier by writing in it! See you guys soon!
e premte, 29 shkurt 2008
More Letters that were Taped with Screws
'ello men, long time no see! Here are a few "guidance questions" for the reading this week:
Chapter 4
1) What topic does this chapter focus on?
2) What is the "best thing" Screwtape tells to Wormwood about what to do with his patient?
3) What different methods does Screwtape give to Wormwood to use on his patient?
4) Do we have any of the habits that Screwtape writes about? Can we identify with what is being written in this chapter?
Chapter 5
1) What is the big event that happens in this chapter?
2) What are Screwtape's concerns about this event? What makes him glad?
3) Here's a phrase that blew me away. It's in the second to last paragraph in the chapter: "And how disastrous for us is the continual remembrance of death which _____ enforces. One of our best weapons, contented worldliness, is rendered useless. In ______ not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever." What does this quote show you as being one of the main modes of temptation and deception that we come under?
Chapter 6
This was a slightly confusing chapter for me, so I hope our conversation can clear these things up
1) What role does fear play in this chapter? How does Screwtape encourage Wormwood to use fear?
2) Are there any parallels to us in terms of how fear affects the way we live and interact with God?
Chapter 7
1) What type of world does Screwtape want to create? (He talks about this in the first paragraph)
2) What does Screwtape want the church to become?
3) The final paragraph is fascinating. What becomes of religion (Christianity) when it is swallowed by those issues Screwtape writes about? Do we see any parallels today with what Screwtape is writing about? How does our faith become affected by what is going on around us?
Chapter 4
1) What topic does this chapter focus on?
2) What is the "best thing" Screwtape tells to Wormwood about what to do with his patient?
3) What different methods does Screwtape give to Wormwood to use on his patient?
4) Do we have any of the habits that Screwtape writes about? Can we identify with what is being written in this chapter?
Chapter 5
1) What is the big event that happens in this chapter?
2) What are Screwtape's concerns about this event? What makes him glad?
3) Here's a phrase that blew me away. It's in the second to last paragraph in the chapter: "And how disastrous for us is the continual remembrance of death which _____ enforces. One of our best weapons, contented worldliness, is rendered useless. In ______ not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever." What does this quote show you as being one of the main modes of temptation and deception that we come under?
Chapter 6
This was a slightly confusing chapter for me, so I hope our conversation can clear these things up
1) What role does fear play in this chapter? How does Screwtape encourage Wormwood to use fear?
2) Are there any parallels to us in terms of how fear affects the way we live and interact with God?
Chapter 7
1) What type of world does Screwtape want to create? (He talks about this in the first paragraph)
2) What does Screwtape want the church to become?
3) The final paragraph is fascinating. What becomes of religion (Christianity) when it is swallowed by those issues Screwtape writes about? Do we see any parallels today with what Screwtape is writing about? How does our faith become affected by what is going on around us?
e enjte, 14 shkurt 2008
Week 1 Discussion Questions
Yo fools. This is a little late in the week to have prepared for Saturday, but maybe we'll go over them depending on what you guys bring. Anyway, this will be a good indicator of what to expect from discussion questions in the future.
Letter 1:
Why does Screwtape tell Wormwood that argument and logic are not the way to lead a man astray?
How did Screwtape lead his atheist patient away from becoming a believer?
Why are demons supposed to avoid teaching their patients?
Letter 2:
Even though Wormwood’s patient has become a Christian, how does Screwtape say that they can win him back to “Our Father Below”?
Why is the church an ally to the demons? Why is it a disappointment to humans?
Why does God leave man to reach His goals for him on his own? Why doesn’t He carry him there?
What thought is it that seems impossible for Wormwood to keep out of his patient’s head? What does Screwtape say about this thought?
Letter 3:
How does Screwtape say Wormwood should use the patient’s relationship with his mother?
How does Screwtape instruct Wormwood to render his patient’s prayer life useless? What things does he have the patient pray for and what things does he have the patient avoid?
How does Screwtape say that facial expressions and tone of voice can be used to separate the patient and his mother more and more?
God bless you all and see you Saturday!
Pat
Letter 1:
Why does Screwtape tell Wormwood that argument and logic are not the way to lead a man astray?
How did Screwtape lead his atheist patient away from becoming a believer?
Why are demons supposed to avoid teaching their patients?
Letter 2:
Even though Wormwood’s patient has become a Christian, how does Screwtape say that they can win him back to “Our Father Below”?
Why is the church an ally to the demons? Why is it a disappointment to humans?
Why does God leave man to reach His goals for him on his own? Why doesn’t He carry him there?
What thought is it that seems impossible for Wormwood to keep out of his patient’s head? What does Screwtape say about this thought?
Letter 3:
How does Screwtape say Wormwood should use the patient’s relationship with his mother?
How does Screwtape instruct Wormwood to render his patient’s prayer life useless? What things does he have the patient pray for and what things does he have the patient avoid?
How does Screwtape say that facial expressions and tone of voice can be used to separate the patient and his mother more and more?
God bless you all and see you Saturday!
Pat
e diel, 10 shkurt 2008
Hey guys,
I was digging around on the internet and I found a site that gave a list of all of the chapters of the book with a summary title for each one. So here they are; I hope this will help guide each of us through the book a bit.
1. Preventing Conversion
2. The Church
3. The Family
4. Prayer
5. The War
6. War & Fear
7. Extremes
8. The Law of Undulation
9. Temptation in Trough Periods
10. Acquaintances
11. Laughter
12. The Safest Road to Hell
13. Repentance
14. Humility
15. Time
16. Attending the Parish Church
17. Gluttony
18. Sexual Temptation, Marriage & Family
19. God's Love and Being "In Love"
20. Sexual Temptation, Continued
21. Ownership
22. "Losing in Love"
23. Theology, Politics & "The Historical Jesus"
24. The Christian "Inner Ring"
25. Change
26. Unselfishness
27. Prayer, Free Will & Old Books
28. Life & Death
29. Cowardice & Courage
30. Reality
31. The Ultimate Failure & Victory
I was digging around on the internet and I found a site that gave a list of all of the chapters of the book with a summary title for each one. So here they are; I hope this will help guide each of us through the book a bit.
1. Preventing Conversion
2. The Church
3. The Family
4. Prayer
5. The War
6. War & Fear
7. Extremes
8. The Law of Undulation
9. Temptation in Trough Periods
10. Acquaintances
11. Laughter
12. The Safest Road to Hell
13. Repentance
14. Humility
15. Time
16. Attending the Parish Church
17. Gluttony
18. Sexual Temptation, Marriage & Family
19. God's Love and Being "In Love"
20. Sexual Temptation, Continued
21. Ownership
22. "Losing in Love"
23. Theology, Politics & "The Historical Jesus"
24. The Christian "Inner Ring"
25. Change
26. Unselfishness
27. Prayer, Free Will & Old Books
28. Life & Death
29. Cowardice & Courage
30. Reality
31. The Ultimate Failure & Victory
e martë, 29 janar 2008
SUPER BOWL
Hey Guys, it's Erik. I just asked my mom and she said I can have a few people over to my house for the Super Bowl on Sunday.
e diel, 27 janar 2008
The End is Here
We finished our semester in the Old Testament!!!
Now you may be asking: "So, what's next?" Well my friend, let me tell you. You, dear reader, have the chance to voice your opinion as to what material you would like to go over this next group session. Here's what I'd like ya'll to do:
PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS POST AND LIST SOME OF YOUR IDEAS FOR MATERIAL TO COVER.
If you have a devotional book that you like, or a certain Bible book you'd like to get into in more detail, or you want to explore a few issues from a biblical standpoint, or study different doctrines of the faith, or read through a classic Christian work, LET US KNOW!!! Any input you have is good input.
Now you may be asking: "So, what's next?" Well my friend, let me tell you. You, dear reader, have the chance to voice your opinion as to what material you would like to go over this next group session. Here's what I'd like ya'll to do:
PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS POST AND LIST SOME OF YOUR IDEAS FOR MATERIAL TO COVER.
If you have a devotional book that you like, or a certain Bible book you'd like to get into in more detail, or you want to explore a few issues from a biblical standpoint, or study different doctrines of the faith, or read through a classic Christian work, LET US KNOW!!! Any input you have is good input.
e hënë, 21 janar 2008
So brethren, we are running out of books in the Old Testament. Can you believe that each of you (depending on how often you attendted) have gone through 10 books! That's excessive!
So now I'd like ya'll to start thinking about next semester: what you'd like to go over, some areas that you'd like to touch on more, really anything in general. We'll have a little bit of time to talk about it, so please feel free to bring your ideas. If you want to go through different books, or address certain meaningful topics or questions, or find out how well Erik sings, please let us know at the next meeting!
This week's reading: Ezra 1; 9 (skim the chapters inbetween to get a feel for what goes on with the restoration of the land); Nehemiah 1; 8-9
So now I'd like ya'll to start thinking about next semester: what you'd like to go over, some areas that you'd like to touch on more, really anything in general. We'll have a little bit of time to talk about it, so please feel free to bring your ideas. If you want to go through different books, or address certain meaningful topics or questions, or find out how well Erik sings, please let us know at the next meeting!
This week's reading: Ezra 1; 9 (skim the chapters inbetween to get a feel for what goes on with the restoration of the land); Nehemiah 1; 8-9
e martë, 15 janar 2008
New Stuff and Old Stuff
Old Stuff:
So the assignment from last week didn't play out well due to my lack of clarity. So here's a second attempt at explaining what I'd like ya'll to do. Write out a summary/overview of each of the major themes/events from each of the books we've covered. It doesn't have to be a full paragraph with nice margins or anything; a simple list with a few words for each event will be great. We will have a quick sharing/discussion time to refresh our minds and hearts with the material we've covered, so write down enough so that you can articulate your thoughts well to others.
New Stuff:
Reading for this week!!!
We're here in Daniel now. Chapters 1; 2; 4; 9:1-19
So the assignment from last week didn't play out well due to my lack of clarity. So here's a second attempt at explaining what I'd like ya'll to do. Write out a summary/overview of each of the major themes/events from each of the books we've covered. It doesn't have to be a full paragraph with nice margins or anything; a simple list with a few words for each event will be great. We will have a quick sharing/discussion time to refresh our minds and hearts with the material we've covered, so write down enough so that you can articulate your thoughts well to others.
New Stuff:
Reading for this week!!!
We're here in Daniel now. Chapters 1; 2; 4; 9:1-19
e diel, 13 janar 2008
Hey gang,
Our friend Richard asked me a question the other day about how to grow and renew our love for God. So I shot him back this response, and I feel it would be helpful to the rest of you. So here it is.
So I did some thinking about your question last night, and I came up with this. You wanted to know where/how to start renewing your relationship with God. Here's the biggest thing I've learned in the past few years: every single day, you need to be preaching the Gospel to yourself. The Gospel is the center of our relationship with God, and we cannot let go if it. The only way we can fight sin, grow in holiness, and love God and others more is to plunge ourselves into the ocean that is the Gospel. It is impossible to live a life that thoroughly honors God and keeps us growing towards Him if we don't understand the Gospel. Here's a quick rundown of what I try to do when I preach the Gospel to myself:
1) All of mankind was created by God to live out His character in the world. We are to show how great He is by our thoughts and actions.
2) I am a horrid sinner. I desire evil things that do not only hurt myself and others, but first and foremost my sin is against God. Every one of my sins screams at God, telling Him "You're not God, I am! You are not infinitely great and glorious and holy, You are a liar and not God!!!" Not only that, but I love my sin. And because of my sin, God deserves to punish me. The whole world, in fact, deserves this judgment. We deserve to have fire come down on us from heaven and consume us; it's amazing that you or I are not in hell already.
3) God sent Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, and then to die. Jesus took our sin and our judgment because we could not do it ourselves. We cannot get rid of our sin, our guilt, and our deserving judgment. Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice for sin. God is perfectly holy and wrathful, and our sin makes us deserving of death and hell. Yet, He is loving and merciful and gracious, and instead of sending us to hell, He sends his Son so that we can be saved from His wrath and our sin. When we believe in Him for eternal life, our sin is taken from us, and we are made righteous before God and we no longer deserve judgment and destruction. And we have been given the Holy Spirit, who works within us to keep us growing in holiness. We now have perfect, unrestricted access to God, and we no longer are deserving of judgment. We still sin, and will continue to sin as long as we are in this life, and our sin is still ugly and it offends God. But we have Jesus' perfect righteousness, and our sins can be forgiven and we do not deserve judgment. We must press on to grow in holiness, but we can do that now through God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.
So that wasn't very quick, but I pray it helps. One thing that preaching the Gospel to yourself every day does is that it helps to keep us humble before God and others, and it teaches us how ugly our sin is, yet God is so loving and kind in spite of it. This also means that we need to be involved in prayer and Bible reading so that we understand the Gospel correctly and be continually reminded of the great grace and kindness of our great God!
Our friend Richard asked me a question the other day about how to grow and renew our love for God. So I shot him back this response, and I feel it would be helpful to the rest of you. So here it is.
So I did some thinking about your question last night, and I came up with this. You wanted to know where/how to start renewing your relationship with God. Here's the biggest thing I've learned in the past few years: every single day, you need to be preaching the Gospel to yourself. The Gospel is the center of our relationship with God, and we cannot let go if it. The only way we can fight sin, grow in holiness, and love God and others more is to plunge ourselves into the ocean that is the Gospel. It is impossible to live a life that thoroughly honors God and keeps us growing towards Him if we don't understand the Gospel. Here's a quick rundown of what I try to do when I preach the Gospel to myself:
1) All of mankind was created by God to live out His character in the world. We are to show how great He is by our thoughts and actions.
2) I am a horrid sinner. I desire evil things that do not only hurt myself and others, but first and foremost my sin is against God. Every one of my sins screams at God, telling Him "You're not God, I am! You are not infinitely great and glorious and holy, You are a liar and not God!!!" Not only that, but I love my sin. And because of my sin, God deserves to punish me. The whole world, in fact, deserves this judgment. We deserve to have fire come down on us from heaven and consume us; it's amazing that you or I are not in hell already.
3) God sent Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, and then to die. Jesus took our sin and our judgment because we could not do it ourselves. We cannot get rid of our sin, our guilt, and our deserving judgment. Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice for sin. God is perfectly holy and wrathful, and our sin makes us deserving of death and hell. Yet, He is loving and merciful and gracious, and instead of sending us to hell, He sends his Son so that we can be saved from His wrath and our sin. When we believe in Him for eternal life, our sin is taken from us, and we are made righteous before God and we no longer deserve judgment and destruction. And we have been given the Holy Spirit, who works within us to keep us growing in holiness. We now have perfect, unrestricted access to God, and we no longer are deserving of judgment. We still sin, and will continue to sin as long as we are in this life, and our sin is still ugly and it offends God. But we have Jesus' perfect righteousness, and our sins can be forgiven and we do not deserve judgment. We must press on to grow in holiness, but we can do that now through God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.
So that wasn't very quick, but I pray it helps. One thing that preaching the Gospel to yourself every day does is that it helps to keep us humble before God and others, and it teaches us how ugly our sin is, yet God is so loving and kind in spite of it. This also means that we need to be involved in prayer and Bible reading so that we understand the Gospel correctly and be continually reminded of the great grace and kindness of our great God!
e hënë, 7 janar 2008
This week. Reading. Here.
1 Kings 15 (this bit is to give ya'll a feel for how the author presents the different kings; more on that in the discussion); (if you want to read the story of Elijah it is found in chapters 17-19, but I don't plan on talking about it unless ya'll really want to); 2 Kings 17; 22-23; 25:1-21. Again, we will be skipping over a lot of material, and it would be excellent to read over all that we're skipping because there is too much good stuff in here. Please remain in prayer for one another, for we all are needy of God's grace and care. Thanks brothers, I'll see you soon.
Also, I got a crazy idea for an assignment. For the next meeting, I would like you all to go through the books we have read thus far and note some of the major events and themes that pop up. I pray this will help us to keep the big picture of the Old Testament in mind. You won't be turning it in, but write it well enough that you can share your findings with the group. Thanks men!!
1 Kings 15 (this bit is to give ya'll a feel for how the author presents the different kings; more on that in the discussion); (if you want to read the story of Elijah it is found in chapters 17-19, but I don't plan on talking about it unless ya'll really want to); 2 Kings 17; 22-23; 25:1-21. Again, we will be skipping over a lot of material, and it would be excellent to read over all that we're skipping because there is too much good stuff in here. Please remain in prayer for one another, for we all are needy of God's grace and care. Thanks brothers, I'll see you soon.
Also, I got a crazy idea for an assignment. For the next meeting, I would like you all to go through the books we have read thus far and note some of the major events and themes that pop up. I pray this will help us to keep the big picture of the Old Testament in mind. You won't be turning it in, but write it well enough that you can share your findings with the group. Thanks men!!
e martë, 1 janar 2008
Stretch out those Bibles, we're going in. How about some 1 Kings 1, 8 (feel free to graze over chapters 2-7 to get a bit more info), 9:1-9, 11-12.
Important information for this week:
Here's a list of names to help decrease the confusion (as always, pronounciation isn't too important):
David: you know who he is
Solomon: David's son and heir to the throne
Jeroboam: the guy who is given the kingdom of Israel
Rehoboam: Solomon's son and heir to the throne of Judah
After the kingdom splits we have two kingdoms. Israel is in the north, and Judah is in the south. Judah is where Jerusalem and the temple are located.
Ahijah: a prophet who tells Jeroboam that he will be king
Bathsheba: David's wife (you know, "that" wife)
A lot of our discussion will (hopefully) revolve around the kingdom, the king, prophets, and the temple. Come with questions/insights into those issues; I hope our discussions from the past few weeks will aid in your understanding of these themes. Feel free to mention Jesus and what he has to do with all this.
Important information for this week:
Here's a list of names to help decrease the confusion (as always, pronounciation isn't too important):
David: you know who he is
Solomon: David's son and heir to the throne
Jeroboam: the guy who is given the kingdom of Israel
Rehoboam: Solomon's son and heir to the throne of Judah
After the kingdom splits we have two kingdoms. Israel is in the north, and Judah is in the south. Judah is where Jerusalem and the temple are located.
Ahijah: a prophet who tells Jeroboam that he will be king
Bathsheba: David's wife (you know, "that" wife)
A lot of our discussion will (hopefully) revolve around the kingdom, the king, prophets, and the temple. Come with questions/insights into those issues; I hope our discussions from the past few weeks will aid in your understanding of these themes. Feel free to mention Jesus and what he has to do with all this.
Abonohu te:
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