SGTS - Week 4, Day 4

Jesus replied, ‘My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice."
– Luke 8:21

It is not enough to read Scripture, to know the Bible. One is only truly a disciple when he or she lives the Word. What are the difficulties of putting this book into practice? How do you approach life "under the Word"?

SGTS - Week 4, Day 3

"Reading the Bible, if we do not do it rightly, can get us into a lot of trouble. The Christian community is as concerned with how we read the Bible as that we read it. It is not sufficient to place a Bible in a person’s hands with the command, ‘Read it.’ That is quite as foolish as putting a set of car keys in an adolescent’s hands, giving him a Honda, and saying, ‘Drive it.’ And just as dangerous. The danger is that in having our hands on a piece of technology, we will use it ignorantly, endangering our lives and the lives of those around us; or that, intoxicated with the power that the technology gives us, we will use it ruthlessly and violently."
– Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book.

How can reading the Bible get us into trouble? What are guidelines for reading and living this book we should follow?

SGTS - Week 4, Day 2

"Christians do not believe in the Bible; they believe in the living God attested by the Bible. Scripture is indispensable in bringing us into a new relationship with the living God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and thus into new relationship with others and with the entire creation."
– Daniel Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding.

How have we confused the Bible with God? How can Scripture contribute to our relationship with God?

SGTS - Week 4, Day 1

"It was during the Enlightenment that the foundation of the Christian faith shifted from the centrality of the person and the work of Jesus Christ to the centrality of the Bible. Theology shifted from the God who acts to the God who spoke. In the worst scenario faith shifted from trust in Christ to trust in the Book. Therefore, the first question we must address as evangelicals in a postmodern world is this: Do we believe in a book or a person?
"The issue in a postmodern world is not to prove the Bible, but to restore the message of the Bible, a message which, when proclaimed by the power of the Spirit, takes up residence within those who know how to hear."
– Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Faith.

How have you mis-focused on the Bible? Is your focus on Christ- the Historical Figure or Christ- the Living Son of God?

SGTS - Week 3, Day 5

"Being Christian is not just believing in some propositional statements about a man whom the church says was God. It is not only accepting the good news that two thousand years ago Jesus absorbed our sin on a cross and endured the punishment for it that we deserve. It is much more than that. Being a Christian involves something happening to us in the now. It is linked to an intensely personal relationship with Christ in our everyday lives. Each of us should be able to testify to being aware of a mystical presence that enlivens us, convinces us we are loved, leads us, directs us, and strengthens us to live out the will of God. Each of us should be experiencing an indwelling presence that enables us to taste a special joy and a love that is difficult to describe to anybody who isn’t familiar with the same kind of experience. Because of what Jesus is doing in us now, each of us should be evidencing a change in personality whereby the fruit of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance–are increasingly obvious to others."
– Tony Campolo, How to be Pentecostal Without Speaking in Tongues.

How have you changed since becoming a Christian? For some of you, that’s a long time to think back on. How does God continue to work in your life today? In what ways are you resisting the Spirit?

SGTS - Week 3, Day 4

"You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory."
– Ephesians 1:13-14.

God deposited His Spirit in us. How do you invest in the Spirit to guarantee that inheritance?

SGTS - Week 3, Day 3

"The Holy Spirit in the New Testament sense is the presence of God which bears witness to, and makes effectual, the historical Christ as a living personal presence. The operation of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the Word about Christ to become the Word of Christ for us, and for the Word of Christ to become the Word of God."
– Emil Brunner, The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation.

When do you hear the Spirit? Do you feel Christ’s presence through the Spirit? If so, what atmosphere promotes that feeling?

SGTS - Week 3, Day 2

"Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
– John 14:23-26

Jesus says that God’s Spirit will teach us all things. How does the Spirit continue to teach you?

SGTS - Week 3, Day 1

"The work of the Spirit is the bringing to be of the vision of God. . . the capacitating of persons to 'see visions' and 'dream dreams'. . . The birth of the Church is the beginning of the End. . . The Kingdom of God as the miracle of ocular newness when 'the blind see' makes its impact on history in the creation of a visionary community . . . Therefore in this birth of the Church, the risen and ascended Lord takes to himself a Body on earth with eyes opened by the Spirit to see the future.
– Gabriel Fackre, A Christian Story, p.157-8, The Descended Spirit

What has been your personal and church background for accepting the work of the Spirit? How do you see the Spirit’s working now?

SGTS - Week 2, Day 5

"You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."
– Romans 8:9-16.

What does it mean to have Christ living in you? How do you continue to live according to the sinful nature? Repent of these failures and ask God to enliven the Spirit within you.

SGTS - Week 2, Day 4

"As my class in Chicago read the Gospels and watched movies about Jesus’ life, we noticed a striking pattern: the more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons.
"In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.
"I remarked to the class how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth. What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus day? Why don’t sinners like being around us?"
– Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew.

What are "Jesus movies" that you’ve seen? How is Jesus portrayed in these movies?

How can we become more approachable for "sinners"?

SGTS - Week 2, Day 3

"In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death– even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
– Philippians 2:5-11.

Jesus’ life was characterized by humility. What is the definition of humility? How can you embody humility?

SGTS - Week 2, Day 2

"There is a world and wisdom according to normal. There is a world and wisdom according to Jesus. The world according to normal is the world that is. The wisdom of the world is ‘normal.’ People who don’t know who Jesus is are the ‘normal people.’ People for whom God is, to quote Edwin Muir, ‘three angry letters in a book’ are the normal people.
"It is not enough to say that Jesus redefined what it means to be ‘normal.’ Everything Jesus taught goes against how ‘normal’ people see and function in the world. Turning the other cheek, going the second mile, giving the spare coat, washing underlings’ feet, heaping blessings on those who curse you, living without anger, laying down your life– all these things ‘normal’ people have a hard time understanding, much less thinking and living."
– Leonard Sweet, Jesus Drive Me Crazy!

List other ways that Jesus redefined normal. What comes easiest for you? With what do you struggle?

SGTS - Week 2, Day 1

"Standing on a London street corner, G. K. Chesterton was approached by a newspaper reporter. ‘Sir, I understand that you recently became a Christian. May I ask you one question?’
‘Certainly,’ replied Chesterton.
‘If the risen Christ suddenly appeared at this very moment and stood behind you, what would you do?’
Chesterton look the reporter squarely in the eye and said, ‘He is.’"
– Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child.

How are you doing at sensing the living Christ behind you?

SGTS - Week 1, Day 5

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
– Psalm 46:10

How are you at "being still"? Spend some time being still. What distractions creep in? What can you do to silence the distractions?

SGTS - Week 1, Day 4

"To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, ‘I am human and you are God.’ At that moment, conversion occurs, the restoration of the true relationship. A human being is not someone who once in a while makes a mistake, and God is not someone who now and then forgives. No, human beings are sinners and God is love."
– Henri J. M. Nouwen, With Open Hands.

How would you describe your current relationship with God? Do you have a proper perspective? What needs to change for true conversion to occur?

SGTS - Week 1, Day 3

"It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. ‘Look out!’ we cry, ‘it’s alive.’ And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back–I would have done so myself if I could–and proceed no further with Christianity. An ‘impersonal God’–well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads–better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap–best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband–that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (‘Man’s search for God!’) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?
– C. S. Lewis, Miracles.

In what ways do you sense that God is alive? When do you feel you’ve most found God or that God has found you?

SGTS - Week 1, Day 2

"Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate– bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.
How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number– living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works– he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
– Psalm 104:1-32

This psalm is one of many that describes God. What characteristics stand out to you? How does the psalmist describe God?

SGTS: Week 1, Day 1

Yesterday we began our Spiritual Growth Theological Series. We began with the subject of "God is God . . . and I am not." The readings will be about God this week.


"If you find God with great ease, perhaps it is not God that you have found."
– Thomas Merton.

How do we most deceive ourselves about God? How do we ensure that it is the true God we are following?

Yancey: Prayer

I want to conclude this series on Yancey's book, Prayer, because we're starting a new series at church on Sunday and I wanted to include those readings on the blog each day. Yancey's last section, deals with the practice of prayer. He has chapters on "Prayer and Me," "Prayer and Others," and "Prayer and God."

But I wanted to include one other story he cites. He writes:

"Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Catholic archbishop of Manila who played a key role in the People Power revolution there, liked to tell the story of a woman who attended his weekly audience to inform him she had a message from God. He brushed her off several times, but she kept coming back. Finally he said, 'We Catholics have strict rules governing visions and messages from God. I need to test your authenticity. I want you to go back and ask God about a particular sin I recently confessed in private. If you ask God and he tells you the answer, I'll know your vision is genuine.'
"The next week she returned and he quizzed her, a bit nervously, 'Well, did you ask God about my sin?'
'I did.'
' And did God answer?'
' Yes.'
' What did he say?'
' God said that he couldn't remember.'"

I wonder if she got her audience. But what a powerful view of God's love and forgiveness.

Yancey: Prayer and Physical Healing

When we pass around the prayer list at church the list is often full of health concerns. Some on the list we have been praying for for a long time. Some aren't on the list any more, but are still on our mind.

Yancey writes, "I would never want to dampen someone's faith, because bold faith surely impressed Jesus. Yet the stack of letters from my file cabinet convinces me that we can do equal harm by holding out false hope of physical healing."

Yancey proposes that God has created our human bodies that they seek health for themselves. We regularly heal from cuts and colds. In addition, God has given us minds to seek health and healing. Doctors and researchers, nurses and technicians, have dedicated themselves to healing and these avenues should not be denied. But sometimes healing does not come. Paul prayed about his "thorn in the flesh" but he did not receive healing.

Yancey offers these questions as filters for our approach to prayer and healing:

• Am I expecting a miracle as an entitlement?
• Am I using the benefits of God's 'common grace'--the healing built into our bodies and the medical knowledge we have gained?
• Do I wrongly blame God for causing the suffering?
• Am I prepared for the possibility that physical healing may not take place?