|
rayhnwater |
|
|
|
Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World
So, I have a question...did I
ever offend you? You can be blatantly honest, because I think it would be helpful
for me to know. Although in your situation, I really believe I was led by God,
because I had no clue what I was doing. Anyway, some points that stood out for
me from the first chapter... 1. Evangelism is about loving
people like the way Jesus did and the reason we want others to accept Christ into their lives is because we want them to receive
the grace and joy that Christ brings, just as we have received. It is easy to
forget this and be caught up in getting people to accept our beliefs and sometimes even trying to prove ourselves right. I have a bunch more to say about this, but this is the gist of it. 2. We shouldn't worry about how badly things might go (or have gone).
In doing so, we limit the way God uses us to do His will. One way or another,
God's will will be done, whether through us or some other means. Why not let
it be through us? And we also must remember that God redeems. 3. It is very arrogant for us to think that we can mess up Christianity for someone else. It is, for one thing, thinking that we are fully responsibile for people coming to Christ, and then also
thinking that God can't fix things. We ought to trust that God is in control. 4. We must to be bold in our belief, not "wishy-washy" or "appologetic".
We need to be authentic. It seems like for any other thing, if we believe in it whole heartedly, we're firm and bold
in advocating for it, but when it comes to Christianity, we have this fear that keeps us from speaking openly about it. Maybe that's not very true for you, but I know that I don't bring up the topic with
my friends who aren't Christian unless it comes up naturally, and even then, I'm always careful to filter what I say. I guess I've always seen Jesus
as God and never really thought of Him as a great teacher figure, but I think that worked against me. I failed to see that there’s so much to learn from the way Jesus lived and interacted with people. He didn’t just come to die on the cross to save us from our sins, but He came
to model for us how to live and what a perfect relationship with God is like. But
yeah, I do think that it is important to recognize that Jesus is God and not merely a great teacher. So, I’m not really getting
what you mean by the “storybook” part of the Bible, and by “this” do you mean “Jesus as God”? And so you think that if you could convince AC to study the Gospels, he will
come to see Jesus as God? I kind of had the opposite effect from studying
the Gospels, sort of. I mean it didn’t make me think of Jesus less as God,
but it made me see more the humanness of Jesus, I guess. Just how He’s
so down-to-earth and connected with people. I guess the miracles and just the
amazingness of Jesus alludes to His being God, and His own claims to being God, and maybe some other things I’m missing. And then a question I have for you, say AC comes to a point where he doesn’t
disagree that Jesus is God, do you think it would only be a mere belief for him? I
guess what I’m asking is what implications do you see it having for him? I know this keeps coming up,
about how we can trust the validity of the Gospels, and then the interpretation of the Gospels and Scripture in general. A Case for Christ didn’t do it for me.
I think I’ve come to accept it by faith and experience and even a little bit of common sense. Some thoughts and questions I
had... There was that one paragraph
in the beginning that talked about Jesus being a model of openness and identification and it made me think back to the IV
talk on God being cross-cultural. I guess the identification part connects more
with the being cross-cultural. I think it is really important to be able to connect
with people whom we’re trying to minister to. It goes along with loving
the person. It’s how we demonstrate that we care. And then the openness part builds a certain trust for one thing, but it also lets them look into our lives
and see how God is at work in us. So I was a little confused about
stereotypes. Is she saying this is what outsiders think about Christians? Or is this how Christians think they are perceived by non-Christians? Or something else? Basically, whose view is this? So I had more to say about this
chapter. But before that...I thought more about the longing thing. I was thinking that longing for companionship is just like longing for any other thing and the misery comes
from looking outside of God to be filled. Or also failing to trust in God and
not taking a risk in asking but just waiting and agonizing. I don't know that
that is all of it, but I think for the time being, I can be satisfied with this explanation.
So yeah, I definitely agree with
you on the part about in selecting a passage, we shouldn't worry that we might be judging people, but it just might be something
that they need to hear. And isn't it good that it is relevant? I really connected with Cathy's
story, about faith being "personal, subjective, and private". I mean, I probably
wouldn't have done what Cathy did if I were in her situation. I know that for
me, I was a pretty God-fearing child and was conscious about following the rules and going to church and service and stewardship
and all that stuff. But I certainly did not make Him the Lord of my life. I think that it was just not really knowing and not really comprehending that this
is what faith and Christiantiy is all about. I remember talking with RH about
this and questioning, why didn't anybody tell me this before? So I kind of see that this is
how it is for AH. He's stuck. He's
been in the same place for so long. I think what he needs is to be challenged,
to count the cost and decide if this is what he wants. I mean, just from that
last gig he did with you, he sees the sin in his life and he knows he doesn't do anything about it. And then the whole challenge thing, it was like he didn't want it badly enough. But i don't really think that that is it. I think maybe he
needs someone present in his life to show him by example what it all means and also to hold him accountable. I guess I'll just keep praying that God will put someone in his life to disciple him in a sense. The online thing just isn't going to do it.
>>> It was a year of going to IV
talks and witnessing it in people's lives that it finally clicked for me. It
was a similar experience for RH, and so we both had that thought, if only someone had told us.
It kind of makes me think like problem sets, I could have easily gotten the solution from someone or even just a little
hint to help me out, but it's always been spending long hours struggling through on my own until I finally arrive at a solution. That's how I kind of how I feel this is like, if someone had just told me, I would
have gotten it, but instead I had to go through the long, hard route that involved a couple of years of misery. I guess like you said, that's the path God decided was best for me, and I don't doubt it. It's pretty funny how she dramatizes
the stories. I think I have a tendency to do that as well, but not to the extent
that she does it. It helps to get across the point, I think. So about your comment about the
Pharisees, I think that they were lost and misguided. And their pride kept them
from changing their ways, but maybe also just not seeing, like being blind. I
think that we're pretty lucky (not lucky, fortuante?) to have Jesus to show us what it is to be holy and obedient to God and
to have a relationship with Him. And even then, it took me a long time to realize
that. I think what I get out of this
chapter is just more emphasis on relating with people and loving people. We see
by Jesus' example that that's what came first. And then everything else just
naturally followed. That little anecdote about that guy who was so focused on
getting beliefs straight and making sure to mention all four points that he didn't even remember the actual people, that was
pretty sad. But even if he did get to say his four points, the people probably
wouldn't even remember it. What they would remember though is if he actually
cared about them and loved them. I think it's just something to be wary of, because
I know that sometimes I can get caught up in the little details. And then besides,
that there's the other problem... I don't think that I suck at
loving people, I know I do. I don't understand why it's such a struggle, because
people seem to naturally like being around other people. For me, it's always
an internal battle. I mean, you say that you're bad at loving people, but it
doesn't show and at least you like being around people and people like being around you.
Seriously, and I know we've gone over this before, but I don't think my presence counts, which makes me want to run
away. And when you're not around people, it makes it that much harder to love. Anyways, yeah, that last story was pretty awesome, and the bookstore thing is cool. This Becky person is so amazing.
So that part about her spending
time with people watching a movie instead of praying and preparing for her talk was pretty convicting to me. Because I've done that a lot, where I've passed up opportunities to spend time with people and opted instead
to pray, go to church, or some other "religious" thing. It reminds me of that
time after our gig that we spent with KL and JD, I asked if we were going to pray first and you said we can pray some other
time. Basically, we can always make time to pray or read Scripture, but people
aren't always going to be there and be available for us to spend time with, so we should take it up whenever the chance is
there. So, the other thing that it led
me into thinking is that I worry too much about whether people value my presence and always thinking that if people don't
even care that I'm there then why waste my time, which is a pretty selfish way of thinking.
I mean, it just makes logical sense that spending time with people shows that you care about them, and it shouldn't
matter to me whether i feel like people appreciate my being there because the point is not self-gratification. Although, upon further thought, the self-gratification is not really what I'm seeking, but rationalizing
my way out of spending time with people. Maybe if I can identify the root of
why I don't like being around people, I'll have an easier time with this. Maybe
I can just pray for God to give me a heart to love people and enjoy people's company.
The main theme in this chapter
is the understanding, or rather, misunderstanding of holiness. I thought it was
pretty interesting how for the Pharisees (and even us, like our present day concept of it) it's something that separates them
from people, but for Jesus, holiness is what brought Him to people and people to Him.
I like her pseudo-definition of it, how she says it is connected to how we treat people and how it is rooted in relationship,
because this is definitely how it is for Jesus. She does bring up an important
point though, that we need to recognize as well that being Christian does make a difference in our lives, there is a distinction. Those two stories at the end
about the friend realizing her sin and the new age neighbor kind of is a reminder that we witness to others and convict others
by the way we live our lives and how our lives gives testimony to the difference of knowing God. It's just something to be aware of, and more reason to be out there instead of hiding in my room. I know that God gave me a lot of joy during the last two weeks of school, despite that
one night where I was just wiped out, and it could have been a blessing to other people to share that joy because joy tends
to be contagious. Anyway, so then authenticity comes into play in this as well. Sounds great! Sounds like things are going really well for you at home. I'm
glad. =) So about what happens after Mudd, I dont' think you need to be concerned
about isolating yourself and not being around non-Christians. Three things. First, it's something that you don't want to happened, so you're not going to let
it happen. Second, whatever you decide to do you'll be in a position to
interact with non-Christians whether you want to or not. Lastly and most importantly,
you need to trust that God will be using you to spread His love, His Word, and His teachings.
He didn't invest in you only to have you slip away when you leave Mudd. He's
not going to let you go that easily. So don't worry! Have a merry Christmas!! I really like this book. It emphasizes a lot of great points and includes some truly inspiring stories. I really think this book was God-given. I
mean, I'm still pretty amazed that there just happened to be two copies just sitting there.
So anyway, chapter 6... So the first thing is just having
responsibility for what we know and responsibility as well to be learned. We're
called not to be blind. I know that I haven't been super diligent about studying
Scripture. Like I read it, but I haven't been investing time truly studying it
and trying to get a lot out of it. It's kind of hard doing it on my own too,
since I tend to miss things and I'll want to bounce thoughts off of people, but I guess that shouldn't be an excuse. I know that I hunger for a really good teaching, and I've been starting to feel discontent
again at the Catholic church because I don't get anything out of the sermons. It's
pretty frustrating. And it makes me worry about what happens after Mudd when
there isn't going to be IV anymore. Faith through obedience....totally... The notebook thing made me laugh,
because I'd been thinking to myself recently, at this rate, i'm going to need another one soon. But I like what she said about, I don't need to see your notebook to see how much you've learned, i'll
see it in the way you live your life. So another thing that struck
me was what she said about "act as soon as we can on whatever strikes us to be true".
She was saying this more as advice we can give to our seeking friends, and I think yeah. That story about the thesis table was pretty cool (people actually get thesis tables?) but I would have
like to know more about how she felt afterwards about giving up the desk and what about the experience convicted her of the
truth. I think this is applicable for us as well.
Think about how many more testimonies/amazing, faith-growing experiences we could have if we put this into practice.
She made this comment about how
we need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our friends lives but also challenge them to as much commitment
as they are prepared for. Any thoughts on this in regards to AH and SC? Also, another comments she makes - help
our friends to see that God is alive and present. Initially, I thought, okay
but how? Then I realize, that's what this whole book is about. Last comment, evangelism as a
lifestyle, that's one of her big main points, and I agree completely. I think
that's why im kind of skeptical of these evangelism training events and how they seem to be standardizing and systematizing
things. I do value the teachings but some of the other things kind of bother
me. Just got to be wary, i guess. That's pretty odd that you would
forget if you write stuff down. But I guess it kind of makes sense, like you
won't make the effort to remember if you don't write it down. Or, I don't know. For me, i tend to remember things in general, but forget details, so i like to jot
them down. And it's always nice to have something to look back at. It is always harder at home. There's less structure, less accountability, and less that you can do to practice
faith it feels like. I think maybe what you need some concrete things that you
can be doing, and I guess you kind of recognize that, but figuring out what those concrete things are. Like for me, one way that I love my parents is to serve them, so like doing house work. My mom always hates it when there are a pile of dishes in the sink when she comes home from work, and there
always are, and so i make sure that the sink is all clear when she gets home. And
then vacuuming the whole house and hanging up the laundry is always a huge time suck for her every weekend, so i do it. Look for ways that you can be serving them, and then just do it. And obedience certainly comes into play in this, I feel like that anyway. Also, and I don't know if you
do this already, but you can plan the evenings that you spend with your parents. Think
about something you know your parents like to do, and ask them if they're available at whatever time, and then make all the
arrangements. They'll see that you want to spend time with them. And then another way that I bond with my parents is to ask him to teach me something. So like with my mom, I practice my Mandarin, and with my dad driving was something where we spent a huge
chunk of time together. Parents love to teach their kids stuff. Anyways, I certainly pray for you. So yeah, we definitely don't
want to abandon the little ways that God calls us to obedience. And we need to
be listening carefully for those and following through, which despite what JE said, I still don't think is a strength for
me. I already mentioned to you the judging thing. For ways to be obedient at home..hmm...it's
harder to see, but there's definitely stuff. Do you know people that you can
be ministering to? For instance maybe SC, like maybe you can help him with some
of the work he has to do? I don't really know the situation so I don't know how
practical that is. Do you feel like there's stuff that you struggle with while
you're at home? Like for me, I can see one big thing. I still have a hard time loving my uncle. I saw him at my
brother's graduation, and my heart turned cold. Oh yeah, so he's taking my two
cousins and me out to dinner and to this Chinese acrobat show some time next week, so maybe you can pray it won't be too painful
of an experience. Or maybe the pain will be good.
Pray that I can be loving. But anyway, there is the service project
thing you're going to do when you get back (haha, i say it like you don't have a choice).
In that story about Mary and
Martha, she tells us that in order to serve others, we first need to let ourselves be served by Christ. And I think about it and yeah, Jesus is the greatest servant of all.
But what does it mean to let ourselves be served by Him? How do we let
Him do that? She kind of talks about this by saying we need to let God's Spirit
be central in our ministry and ask Him to annoint us and equip us to what He calls us to, but I still don't feel like that
answers the question really. Any thoughts? Prayer...yes....diligence and
persistence in prayer...very much so.... So in the story about the multiplication
of the loaves and fish, she talks about how Jesus first took care of the people's needs and loved them before proceeding to
teach them. So we're called to mimmick that. We
need to love and to provide first. I think that it's always a danger to get caught
up in getting our friends to believe and to accept Christ, and we forget about meeting their needs and loving them. I guess that's a message she's constantly repeated, love first, preach after. The ice cream thing is definitely
cool. Wow, the message about how to
love the poor and not only the physically poor but recognizing spiritual poverty as well is really getting ingrained in me. It's pretty cool how she talks about Mother Teresa since I just read one of Mother
Teresa's books. I love how that happens, how I get the same messages from different
sources. It's like God speaking to me. The extrovert/introvert thing
was kind of interesting. It's kind of reassurance in a way that we don't have
to try to be who we aren't when we try to share the Gospel. Like, JE is an amazing
evangelist, JT is an amazing evangelist...i'll never be like them. i lack the
charisma, the personality, etc., but it's okay. i can still be an amazing evangelist. God has gifted us in different ways, and He will use these gifts if we open ourselves
to being used by Him and if we practice obedience. The rabbit-hole Christianity
is what stuck out for me most in this chapter. i'm totally like that without
even intending to be. It just happens like that i guess because i don't make
the effort step outside the group im comfortable with. i don't even make the
effort to be around the people im comfortable with sometimes. =/ i really really really really want this to change. im so afraid
though that after all this im just going to fall into old patterns, and by 'all this' i don't just mean this rabbit-hole thing
but everything we've been talking about and everything i've been thinking about over break.
i guess I need to pray that God won't let that happen. one thing i get from this chapter
is how we ought to be enthusiastic with what we share. i mean of course, why
shouldn't we be? this is the greatest news ever!
but i think for myself, my tendancy is to say things in a matter-of-fact manner.
like i remember that one time i was sharing my first ember health experience at the cell group dinner, and JB made
a comment on how i say it so calmly like it's something that happens every day. i
think it's just that ive trained myself to conceal things, like emotions, and it's been difficult to unlearn that. i don't think "unchurched" captures
it, but i guess it's hard to find a concise word to refer to people who are not Christians. she talks about how we might
assume that certain people won't be open to spiritual matters. that's something
to be aware of not to fall into because not only is it not our place to judge but it also limits the ways that God can work
through us to reach out to certain people. But along with that, not to push people
into considering spiritual matters when they are not ready or willing. we need
to be sensitive to both. i really like the quote, "Evangelism
is not the imposistion of a point of view but the overflow of a thankful heart." there's the whole Christian-speak
thing reiterrated. i think her main point is to
just be authentic, be real, be yourself. Chapter 10: Chapter
11: Cultivating the Soil Chapter
12: Planting the Seed i thought that was a pretty interesing
question - how much does a seeker need to know in order to make a legitimate commitment of faith? how would you answer this question? i find, it's easy to say have
hope or don't lose hope, but really, it's hard to do when things seem resolute or nothing's changed after so many years. but we need to believe that God does do the impossible and to trust His timing. that story about that lady who made up her mind that she wasn't going to become a
Christian and then accepts Christ 15 years later is pretty amazing and gives evidence to His power. in response to your question
about whether God extends His offer only through Christians, i don't believe so. God
does work through other means, and some He even calls directly. yeah, it's pretty awesome to
witness someone come to Christ, and it's even greater an experience to be able to lead someone to Christ. getting to see His power and then knowing that He chose to use you and that He can use you as a vessel for
His work, i wouldn't doubt it's the most joyful and amazing thing ever. i have
yet to experience either. but i am grateful to have the opportunity to help people
and to pray for people in their journey to Christ and to know that God uses me in that way is pretty exciting. so what are some of these doubts
you have about God portrayed in the Bible? about asking the question, i
remember before feeling like it's not my place to ask. i always thought, when
and if a person is ready to accept Christ into their lives, they will and i don't need to ask. besides, if the person said yes, what am i suppose to do? the
whole saying the prayer thing, i didn't know about that until after reading Basic Christianity, and it still seemed weird
for me (i guess it's because i was brought up in the Catholic Church, and that's more of a Protestant approach). but i now see value in asking the question. like sometimes
people just need that invitation. and maybe for some people they want to accept
Christ and the only thing keeping it from happening is not knowing how or what they're suppose to do. so yeah. in regards to SC, i had actually
been thinking about that. i know that it's been a while since our last gig with
him and it's been a while since either of us had really talked with him. but
still, i wondered if maybe we should ask. i thought about discussing this with
you before you left for So thoughts on salvation, not
a lot of thoughts but some and very scattered. (And I talk of salvation in terms
of going to heaven, and not salvations as in being saved from our sins.) I've
thought about it in the direction of what actually happens to us after we physically pass away, of purgatory and heaven and
hell, and who goes where, and I guess I've talked with you about this some, on purgatory anyway. I know that some Christians believe that only Christians have salvation.
I can't say that I believe this because that would mean that I believe that Christianity is the only way. I know that I don't believe the opposite either, that there are other means to salvation other than Christianity. I really don't know. And then just believing
that salvation is guaranteed to those who are Christians, I think I believe this, but it's not something definite for me as
other beliefs. I too have wondered whether this is unbelief on my part, like
if it is that I lack faith in not firmly believing this. I guess the conclusion
I've come to that I'm comfortable with, as unsatisfactory an answer it is, is that we don't know, and we won't know until
the time comes for us. Related to salvation but not
on salvation itself and this is more the thoughts that I've kept to myself, I've wondered, why are Christians, and maybe just
people in general, so fixated on the afterlife? What if there is no afterlife
and this is the only life we have to live? Okay, I don't believe that. There are too many places in the Bible that point to something afterwards, but still. And I'm not questioning this in a disparaging manner but more just seeking to understand. I know that for some it's wanting to be in a place where there is no more pain and no more suffering and
where people can be reunited with their loved ones, but I think it's deeper than that but I haven't figured it out. This also brings up the question on why people are so afraid of death.
And then just in general, like outside of the Christian context, there are people that long for a part of themselves
to continue after they die, whether it be a soul that continues in existence, reincarnation, or continuing on in the memory
of humanity, like leaving behind a legacy, or something else. This starts to
tie in to the thing I mentioned that was discussed in the mind/brain/society seminar.....there are too many tangents and it's
so convoluted. On evangelizing to your parents,
I think that's awesome that you can talk with your parents about spiritual matters and stuff.
Trust that God will guide you in speaking with them. On praying for faith, I guess
it's not intuative or something like that. I guess I learned to pray for faith
from Scripture. The ones that I can think of: Mark 9:24, about the father who's
son had a demon and he asks Jesus to remove the demon, and well you can read the story, but the father says, "I believe, help
my unbelief!" I guess I've taken that to be a prayer for greater faith. The other passage is Luke 17:5-6, where the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith
and Jeses responds to them, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be up and
planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." So, the way I've seen it is that
all you need is just a little bit of faith, faith enough to ask God for greater faith, and He will give it to you. And for praying for others to have faith, we can pray for God to lead people and show people, but ultimately
they have to have faith on their own to ask God for more faith. so about the chapter, i personally
like apologetics, not so much for the purpose of evangelism, but just for understanding faith and why i believe. i like looking into the historical and philisophical stuff, and then just theology in general. i think it's interesting. contrary to what she says, i
encounter more people who hold a scientific/technological cosmology rather than a new age worldview. i guess it's mostly because most of my friends are tech people and i haven't really talked with many people
outside of this group. but anyway, i don't think i quite grasp what new age really
is besides the postmodern spiritual and experiemental stuff that she describles briefly. i think that for conversations,
the more you know and have thought about, the better you will be able to direct conversation and to have a response. as for preasnwering appologetic
questions, i think it's good to think about to help our own faith, just to understand why we believe what we believe. and then it's cool if someone asks about it, we can say, "you know, ive been thinking
about that and this is what ive come to so far..." it would be helpful in conversation
anyway. i don't really have much else to say about this chapter. Chapter
16: Revealing Truth Through Stories Chapter 17: Revealing Truth Through the Power of the Spirit I can't believe she has these
kinds of interactions with people. It seems so unreal, in both senses of the
word. So the story about David and Saul, I know the story in general from what
I've learned in school and reading those children Bible story books, but I don't know enough detail to be able to connect
it so well with human problems. I was thinking about that friend that I told
you about who was having troubles with his boss and was wondering if I could have pointed him to story in the Bible. Anyway, I guess what I get from this chapter is that I need to read those stories
again in the OT. So I have a better idea now of
what New Age is like, and from what I've heard you describe about AC, it does seem like that's what he believes in, like the
whole energy force thing. I think it would be interesting to find out more about
his beliefs. It's kind of funny how your suite is so split, pretty interesting
actually. I don't have much to say about
these two chapters. Still pretty amazed though at the conversations she gets
into, how she is able to get people to open up so much. But I guess people do
want to share their problems, because I've had people open up somewhat to me. All
you have to do is be willing to listen. But I'm not able maintain conversation
as she is able to, and so after a while people just kind of stop talking. She says that we are called not
to be lone ranger Christians and emphasizes the importance of community. I remember
that I used to be a loner and was actually pretty proud of my independence, but then I experienced community and I've since
seen the value it. She talks of two roles of the Christian community in evangelism,
to provide support for evangelistic efforts and itself being a witness to seeking friends. I kind of wonder about the latter,
because I can see the possibility that people maybe attracted to the community and their only motivation is the community. There was this one girl I knew from church since high school, she actually talked
to me a lot after church. Anyway, one time, actually this past summer, she told
me she goes to church is to see people and the reason she hadn't been around in a while was because she was having problems
with certain people at church. I thought about saying something in response but
never did. But anyway, I guess also people can be attracted to the community
initially and then be led to faith. She warns us to be careful not
to manipulate people through their emotional needs. So I kind of have this fear
that everything that I do and say is manipulative. I mean, that's not my intent,
but that it might be interpreted that way. Like the whole loving people and then
attaching the Gospel with that, I fear people will think, oh so that's the reason why you're doing this. I remember RH told me something that happened to her last semester.
There was this one girl who sat by herself on the West table and looked kind of lonely.
RH was in a hurry, but she sat down with the girl and introduced herself. Then
RH had to go because she was driving some people to the IV beach thing, but she invited the girl to come and then also mentioned
that it was put on my a Christian group on campus. The girl's reply was, oh I
see how it is, that's why you invited me. Anyway, RH felt so bad after that. I would too. But I guess, we just need
to trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in people whom God leads us to and it's okay if these things happen. We don't need to take it personally. And I shouldn't be fearing
what others might think, because sometimes it's just irrational. I really like the idea she suggests
for Christian small groups to put something fun together to invite seeking friends to, and it doesn't have to be a Bible discussion
or a God Thing thing, but just a party or some sort of social gathering kind of thing, just to have fun. It'd be cool to do something like that in cell group. She talks about making God relevant
not only through Bible studies but in all areas and getting into stuff like pop culture and current events so that we can
connect with people around us. I feel like I've been hearing that message a lot,
of being cross-cultural. I think it's an area I need to work on. That part about people blindly
accepting Christ as a child and then blindly rejectiong as an adult, I see that happen so much. How does one remedy this? Haha, the section on Bible discussions,
drawing out what Scripture says and not lecturing for an hour. I think we try
to do that with SC and AH, but somehow I feel like we end up preaching a lot. I
think the key is, like she says, just knowing how to ask the right questions. I
guess it's something that gets developed over time. That hairstylist story is totally
amazing. What we can learn from this and just from all her stories is that God
can do such amazing things if only we open ourselves up to letting Him work through us.
The pumkin story kind of tells us that we ought to speak openly about our faith and trust that God is already working
in people. Be bold, basically. Chapter
19 – Without a Vision the People Will Perish |