Some of you may know this already and some of you not, but it is required of us, in order to graduate DTS, to complete 4 semesters of Spiritual Formation. This is essentially a small group. We meet once a week for about an hour and a half. There are 7 of us in my group and it is all women. At first I did not want to do this. See we don't get credit for it and I was a little erked, if you will, that they would add something else to our list of requirements that fill our schedule and not give us credit for it. Oh yeah, did I mention we don't get credit for it. I guess you could say I had a poor attitude about it. Well as usually happens when I have that kind of attitude, I was wrong, and for those of you who know me well, you know that is not something I like to admit ;) .
Today was the second time I have met with my group and again I throughly enjoyed it. We have a good range of ages and definitely a huge mix of backgrounds, but that is what makes this group so perfect. I can totally see how God brought this group together and I'm so thankful for that. These women are already challenging and stretching me in such a good way. I know I'm going to learn a lot from them this semester and I'm just so excited to see what God does with our group.
I will share just a little of what we talked about today. (Nothing personal because confidentiality is part of our covenant.) At the end of our hour our group leader asked us to think of our "happy place". The place that just makes you feel at peace and closer to God. The place that brings rest to your soul. Do you have a place in mind yet? Go ahead and get one. . . . . .
Did you ever notice that when asked this question most people pick a place outdoors? Nobody ever says that their special place is in the bathroom or in the kitchen. Now it may be on a porch or near a window, but usually it is some place in nature, some part of God's creation such as near the ocean, in the mountains, on a lake, looking at the stars, etc. . . It is usually some place where we are in awe of God's creation. Now think about the fact that above all these things You, man, is God's crowning creation. We are His greatest work. Think about that for a second and how amazing that is.
Yes we have fallen short of God originally intended us to be because of sin, but that is why as Christians it is our goal to be more like Christ. He was perfection and without sin. this is our spiritual formation, our growth, our goal to be like Christ. The problem is the more we study and grow closer to God, we realize how amazing, how wonderful, how maginificant Christ is and that there is a huge gap between where we are and where we strive to be. Even with that gap, God still loves us and still considers us His crowning creation. Pretty awesome to think about. What an amazing love.
So for this first semester of Spiritual Formation we are talking about Identity. Our Identity in Christ. And I will write more as I grow and learn. That's all for now. Don't want to be late for class. :)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Conviction
If you have ever felt convicted by the Holy Spirit then you know how powerful it can be. The last couple sessions of my BE 101 class (Bible Study Methods) have been some of the most convicting moments in my life. My professor is about 80 years old and one of the wisest, loving men I have ever met. He has a huge heart for the Lord and for the word (and for his students). I look forward to attending his class because I know he is going to share not only practical and proven methods of bible study, but also his heart and his life experience.
The last couple of weeks he has had us focus on Acts 1:8 so we can practice the principles of Bible study we are learning class. I think he also chose this particular verse because of the message. If you were to try and summarize the book of Acts, you could easily say that it is primarily about 3 things. 1. Christ going up - ascension. 2. The Holy Spirit coming down - gift from God. 3. The church going out - Christ calling the apostles (and us) to go out as witnesses. Acts 1:8 says that we will receive something, the Holy Spirit, and we will be something, witnesses. We will be Christ's personal representatives to all the inhabited parts of the earth.
After Christ tells the apostles to go be his witnesses, he tells them where to start. He tells them to start in Jerusalem. That is exactly where the apostles were when Jesus was speaking to them. Begin where you are. This was so convicting for me because I thought who have I shared the gospel with that is in my everyday life. Have I had that difficult conversation about who Jesus is with the people I love the most? What about the people I interact with daily? Will they know the love of the Father, the freedom of a life in Christ, will they know grace? Why is it so scary to do this? Jesus said the Holy Spirit will come and inhabit us and give us the power. So as Prof said today and as I have written in my notes: Why be scared to share your faith. The Holy Spirit will do it through you. Trust Him!
The last couple of weeks he has had us focus on Acts 1:8 so we can practice the principles of Bible study we are learning class. I think he also chose this particular verse because of the message. If you were to try and summarize the book of Acts, you could easily say that it is primarily about 3 things. 1. Christ going up - ascension. 2. The Holy Spirit coming down - gift from God. 3. The church going out - Christ calling the apostles (and us) to go out as witnesses. Acts 1:8 says that we will receive something, the Holy Spirit, and we will be something, witnesses. We will be Christ's personal representatives to all the inhabited parts of the earth.
After Christ tells the apostles to go be his witnesses, he tells them where to start. He tells them to start in Jerusalem. That is exactly where the apostles were when Jesus was speaking to them. Begin where you are. This was so convicting for me because I thought who have I shared the gospel with that is in my everyday life. Have I had that difficult conversation about who Jesus is with the people I love the most? What about the people I interact with daily? Will they know the love of the Father, the freedom of a life in Christ, will they know grace? Why is it so scary to do this? Jesus said the Holy Spirit will come and inhabit us and give us the power. So as Prof said today and as I have written in my notes: Why be scared to share your faith. The Holy Spirit will do it through you. Trust Him!
Friday, September 4, 2009
What is Beauty?
One of the classes I'm taking here at DTS is entitled A Christian View of Art. This class begins at 7:45 am and it is on Friday mornings and last for two and half hours. You would think one would need lots of coffee to make it through such a course. So far it has proved to be the exact opposite.
We had a very interesting conversation in class today about Aesthetics and I wanted to share it with you. What makes something beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. I study done by the University of Texas Austin showed that young children (with no influence of culture yet) from all around the world smiled or enjoyed the same set of images. The one thing these images all had in common was symmetry. We know from the Word that God is beautiful (Psalm 27:4, just to give one example). His beauty is the symmetry of all his attributes: omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, loving, patient, just, merciful, gracious, etc. . . We also know that God created us in his image. Everything he creates reveals His character, something of who He is. Therefore by definition we are creative, all of us. Making choices is a creative act. Difference is God created from nothing and we create from what exists. Ideally we should create in what reveals His nature and character. We should create with Integrity - what is true to it's creator.
This inevitably brought up the discussion of pornography. I was glad that it did because it always makes me angry when people say that pornography cannot be defined. (I'm pretty sure I know what it is when I see it. ) Our professor gave a very good definition of pornography that I don't believe most people are aware of. . .
Porno in Greek means evil, wrong or a "lie". Graphy means to write or portray. Therefore one could safely say that pornography is the portrayal of a lie. It is not the naked body part, it is the lie the work portrays that makes it pornography. Statues of Greek nudes are considered works of beauty, afterall the human form is beauty. It is not a lie. It was created by God. Pornography creates the lie that this relationship is free, it's available, it is self-indulgent. Beauty is found in truth. Pornography violates the truth God has set in place.
This inevitably brought up the discussion of vulgarity. If you are an actor playing a non-fictional character who always used "swear words", isn't it truth then to keep those words in your performance. Hollywood I believe takes this too far and uses this type of language for a shock value, but there can be truth there and in turn beauty in that performance.
This inevitably turned to a discussion of, is a Christian going against what they believe in playing a certain role or using language like this in a song, story or poem? Our professor suggested that there is a reason that Harry Potter was more successful than the Left Behind series. Left Behind classified people as either good or bad, which is not usually the case. Harry Potter deals with real human emotions and real struggles humans have. The classic good vs. evil. So this resonates with us. We have to be careful not to put ourselves or things into the "safe category" or as we like to call it the "Christian category". There is truth in art and truth comes from the Father. I heard Donald Miller speak once and it really stuck with me when he asked, "When did Christian become an adjective?". Anything that is good or true or just or right or beautiful comes from the Father not just those items which are labeled "Christian".
We finished with this and I'm sure we will continue these topics more and I will keep you updated. But our final notes this class period were as follows. . .
If we are a reflection of God himself (imago dei) with a capacity for creativity that imitates His then
- to exercise creativity is a spiritual act.
- the evaluation of creativity is a spiritual act.
- the appreciation of creativity is a spiritual act.
because each enhances or demeans the spiritual act.
Sadly, class had ended at this point. I'm sure we will discuss more next week.
We had a very interesting conversation in class today about Aesthetics and I wanted to share it with you. What makes something beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. I study done by the University of Texas Austin showed that young children (with no influence of culture yet) from all around the world smiled or enjoyed the same set of images. The one thing these images all had in common was symmetry. We know from the Word that God is beautiful (Psalm 27:4, just to give one example). His beauty is the symmetry of all his attributes: omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, loving, patient, just, merciful, gracious, etc. . . We also know that God created us in his image. Everything he creates reveals His character, something of who He is. Therefore by definition we are creative, all of us. Making choices is a creative act. Difference is God created from nothing and we create from what exists. Ideally we should create in what reveals His nature and character. We should create with Integrity - what is true to it's creator.
This inevitably brought up the discussion of pornography. I was glad that it did because it always makes me angry when people say that pornography cannot be defined. (I'm pretty sure I know what it is when I see it. ) Our professor gave a very good definition of pornography that I don't believe most people are aware of. . .
Porno in Greek means evil, wrong or a "lie". Graphy means to write or portray. Therefore one could safely say that pornography is the portrayal of a lie. It is not the naked body part, it is the lie the work portrays that makes it pornography. Statues of Greek nudes are considered works of beauty, afterall the human form is beauty. It is not a lie. It was created by God. Pornography creates the lie that this relationship is free, it's available, it is self-indulgent. Beauty is found in truth. Pornography violates the truth God has set in place.
This inevitably brought up the discussion of vulgarity. If you are an actor playing a non-fictional character who always used "swear words", isn't it truth then to keep those words in your performance. Hollywood I believe takes this too far and uses this type of language for a shock value, but there can be truth there and in turn beauty in that performance.
This inevitably turned to a discussion of, is a Christian going against what they believe in playing a certain role or using language like this in a song, story or poem? Our professor suggested that there is a reason that Harry Potter was more successful than the Left Behind series. Left Behind classified people as either good or bad, which is not usually the case. Harry Potter deals with real human emotions and real struggles humans have. The classic good vs. evil. So this resonates with us. We have to be careful not to put ourselves or things into the "safe category" or as we like to call it the "Christian category". There is truth in art and truth comes from the Father. I heard Donald Miller speak once and it really stuck with me when he asked, "When did Christian become an adjective?". Anything that is good or true or just or right or beautiful comes from the Father not just those items which are labeled "Christian".
We finished with this and I'm sure we will continue these topics more and I will keep you updated. But our final notes this class period were as follows. . .
If we are a reflection of God himself (imago dei) with a capacity for creativity that imitates His then
- to exercise creativity is a spiritual act.
- the evaluation of creativity is a spiritual act.
- the appreciation of creativity is a spiritual act.
because each enhances or demeans the spiritual act.
Sadly, class had ended at this point. I'm sure we will discuss more next week.
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