Shepherd Voice

Hey guys!
After reading these articles about we neglect our Bibles, I realized how lame these common excuses are. The first excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it seems irrelevant to us however the Bible is supposed to be guidelines for us on a daily basis whether we are at work or at school. Therefore, the Bible applies to everyone. The second excuse, we don't read our Bibles because we don't have time, however, we can easily find time to disciple our children and family or friends even in little ways- like talking over a coffee about what God is doing in a persons life. The third excuse, that we don't have to read the Bible because we go to church, but that shows how little we desire to know God-its not good enough to only "wet our tongue." The final excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it is confusing, however, there are many ways to make it less confusing like a commentary, asking a friend for help, or even doing a little research. None of these excuses are valid for giving up.

To me I find the second and third excuse the most convicting-"I don't have time" and "I go to church." It is true that I don't always have time for spending time in Gods word or in prayer, but that means that something is off. If I believe in God, and if I claim to passionate about what I believe, why cant I find the time? My priorities are off, Christ should be first and I know that. I need to balance everything-my schoolwork, family time, and time to get to know God-but right now school has taken the priority. There is so much pressure for me to do good and I don't want to let me teachers, friends, parents and sisters down-so I try to do my best in school. But really, school is important, but so is spending time with God and spending time with my family. The third excuse that I sometimes struggle with is "I already go to church, to mission every day and to bible class every morning, do I really need to spend more time with God?" Well I already know the answer to that-yes. I am working out currently on taking my faith onto my own hands-in three years mom and dad wont be there to make sure I attend church-soon I will be an adult. Soon Bible and mission wont be something I have to do. I need to take ownership of my faith now and stop expecting everyone to do it for me. I am very privileged, I have a bible, a Christian family, a Christian school-I have no excuse to work out my faith and ask for help along the way. I hope to see my self as an independent believer-one who is not completely dependent on the school or on my parents to help me get by.

Thanks for visiting, let me know what you think in the comments and see you next time! 

Big Teach 5

Hey guys and welcome to my blog as I will be working out what  it means to be a spiritual follower vs. a shallow follower.

In this final sermon, Pete raised the question of what people will say at your funeral. Will they say you were a genuine believer, an example to others, a light to the world, or a fake, a phony, a shallow believer? I thought wow what a tough way to open a sermon. This is because that question has actually on my mind recently. I mentioned in a previous blog that if others cant see what I claim to believe, am I a fake Christian?

 But upon the opening of the sermon, I began to understand what it means to be "spiritual." Its not a peaceful thinking you enter on top of a mountain, or a meditation but an acting or living out what you claim to believe (Galatians 6:1). Pete makes three points to back this up:
1) Spiritual people live for others- but cant do that in isolation (Galatians 6: 1-5)
2)  Spiritual people love the Word of God
3) Spiritual people look to the future

So overall, I should "should not think less of myself but think of myself less" (C.S Lewis) and serve others with an open heart-even in little ways. I should also have a passion for the Bible- and have a constant (daily) time with Christ. Finally, I should look to the future- encourage others and keep my eyes on Jesus- the ultimate redeemer. These will help me see what a spiritual Christian looks like vs a shallow and fake Christain.

Thanks for visiting, until next time!

Believe- Reflection

Hey and welcome back to my blog! 
In the unit of believe, the key concept was answering the question of what would it take to experience a bold and confident faith? I am going to answer this question based on what we have learned  in class.  

We had said that to have a bold and confident faith we must have an active faith and this begins with the humility to repent. Belief is the step following repentance, and we are invited to experience that confidence. However, to achieve this boldness we have to grow in our understanding. We have to change our thoughts to Christ's thoughts, we actually just need "new thoughts" according to Romans 12:1-2. To add to our confidence, we need to have reasoned belief. Belief in itself is not enough. Even Satan believes in God, so what does that say? It means that we need something more-we need reasoned belief. This looks like knowing the scriptures that we claim to base our lives upon as well as actively living out what we claim to believe.  According to the parable of the sewer, unreasoned faith is like a plants without root-completely meaningless. 

Our faith is meaningless if we are not growing and if we can not differentiate the right from wrong. Our hearts and actions should add up to what we believe, and currently I am wondering if others can see Christ living in me by the way I live my life. Otherwise, my faith is meaningless. Also, I am trying to work out whether or not I am growing, this is a stressed issue for me. I am worried because if I am not growing is it a fair question to see that I am not a true believer? I don't want this to be so, but honestly I don't know if I have seen a change. This is probably something I will talk about with my mentor-so that I may know for sure if I am growing, and if I am not, how can I grow? I do have interest in growing I really do, but I first need to work out where I am in my faith.  

Ultimately, for me to experience the boldness and confidence of faith, I need to be growing, changing and developing. Also, I need to know if others can see me changing, developing, and changing otherwise- is what I claim to believe meaningless?  Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you back for my next blog! 

Big Teach 5

Hey and welcome back!
Todays big teach was about freedom-freedom from sin. In this talk, Pete used 4 dogs to make an illustration -Spike, a dog who was always struggling and strangling, Buster, a dog who was totally out of control, Max, a dog that stands by the side of the owner, and Benji, a lazy dog with no desire. In this illustration, Pete said that Max was the way a Christian should live their life- a person who grows and desires to be with their master, in our case, with God. However, the journey isn't easy being with God, in fact, its much more of a conflict or war zone between ourselves. We are battling with our old selves, "we are saved from sin but we battle with sin within us." But Pete described this as normal for christains we will mess up, but we know that God will keep calling our names to keep us aligned.
Thanks for coming and hope to see you back for my next blog!

Big teach 4

Happy Sunday and welcome back!

Todays sermon was about identity-where do Christians find their identity?

Pete spoke about how new Christians are vulnerable to being swept away by Satan. This reminded me of last months unit-understand. As a class, we had looked at the different types of soil-and how the vulnerable Christians resignate with the rocky places. A quick review- the rocky place resembles christains with not much soil . "It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." This is similar to vulnerable christains- they spring up quickly with intrest but are later swept away because they have no foundation.

So where are you? Where do you find your identity? Do you have a strong foundation or are you vulnerable too?

Thanks for joining me and see you back for next weeks blog!

Reflect- What version of Christ am I persuing?

Hey there and welcome back! 

Today I am reflecting on the version of Christ I am following. However, to start things off, the biblical definition of repentance, the act of which a person changes their mind and thinking about Christ. A verse that not only backs this up but hits me personally is Romans 5:15 "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" We had discussed in class that Gods grace is a free gift but also an unlimited gift, his grace comes in abundance-it overflows! I don’t know why, but I feel sometimes it is hard to believe in His abundant grace. This is because I find myself often feeling hopeless when I cannot meet all of His expectations, I want to please Him, I really do, I want to earn Hs favor. However, I know that this is impossible to do for I will mess up and I am not trusting in Gods grace. Is it because I'm full of pride? Is there part of me that feels despair because I cant keep up with all these rules? And finally, am I following a gracious Jesus or a Jesus full of rules? 

In the beginning of this unit we began to discuss what the fullness of God looked like. We had said that "we want to follow Jesus but different teachings are leading us astray- and it all starts with our minds." I quickly discovered how true this was when as a class, we began looking at the glory, grace and truth of God. When looking at His glory, I saw how powerful and majestic God was, no one is like Him. But at the same time, I began thinking about Luke 2:9 "An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Sometimes, I forget that God doesn’t only stand for His abundance in grace and His power of truth, but He also stands with judgement. Luke 2:9 says the people had seen the glory of God and were terrified. I too am scared of judgement and prefer to focus on His grace and truth more.  Maybe because I want to escape His judgment? I cant think this forever though because I know that when God comes a second time to judge, no one will be able to escape His judgement.  

Overall, I may be following the wrong Jesus by fooling myself into thinking He is just a God of rules and that He is a God of only grace and truth. I know that God is a combination  of glory, grace, and truth and that none of Him can be avoided or in other words its all or nothing. 2 Timothy 3:7 says that there will those who wont understand the truth and to ensure I wont be one of those people, I am on a journey to understanding the fullness of God or more specifically – what it means for me to understand that God rules with a power, saves by grace, and gives the light or the wisdom to those who wish to have freedom in knowing who He is.

Understand- Romans 9

Hey there!
Today for class, we looked at Romans 9- a confusing passage if we are being honest. In this passage we are told that before anyone was born or had done anything good or bad—God had already elected those who would be saved. And then continuing the passage, "[he] will have mercy on who [He has] mercy, and [He] will have compassion on whom [he has]  compassion.

I agree to an extent- I do believe that God is all powerful and knowing, but I also think that in a way He limits himself. I think He may know the final destination of our lives, but He may also change His mind. Meaning that He has granted us free will, correct? Free will to chose whether or not we follow Him. I think that He is aware of our hearts and attitudes as well as intentions. However, in my opinion, I believe that God cant see the details of our journey- he leaves that part up to us (because then would be the point of free will?!?) We decide how we get to our destination. Plus John 3.16 tells us that ALL who believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. So...if this verse was made for all of us, we all have the opputuinity to chose, therefore, I don't think there are only specific people chosen. What would be the point of living if we knew that we didn't mean anything to Him and if our faith wasn't based on on human desire  to follow him or on our effort, what would it be based on? Again, in my opinion, God is just- we have been taught that our whole lives. So if God is just, He wouldn't just choose SOME  to show mercy to but ALL should receive mercy. Here is why I am thinking this, Jesus came to die on the cross for sinners- everyone. That right there is already showing mercy- we don't deserve second chances, but still He came to save us.   The verse doesn't say He came for "some, no it says "whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Therefore, Heaven does not have a boundary of how many people can enter and I don't think certain people are chosen, I think all who believe receive His glory and a spot in Heaven.

So thanks for visiting and please don't be offended if you disagree, this is just me trying to work out the meaning of this verse. Leave a comment about what you think below and see you for my next blog!

Big Teach 3

Hey there again! Welcome back today as I reflect on Big Teach 3. In this sermon I learned several things as Pete outlined 6 points. The first being that the law was given to us to show us that we are law-breakers and that we are rebellious. The second point explaining that the law was temporary until the coming of Jesus. The 3rd, the law is conditional-meaning everyone just plays their role. The 4th law being that the law is not opposing to Gods promises. The 5th law, the law imprisons us- we fail and try again. the 6th and final law that the law is a guardian- temporary. Overall, the main point was that we shouldn't have to follow the law just for following it but so that we may be set free- and we can find a delight in that.

Thanks for visiting, leave a comment and see you next time!

Biblical Formations: Theological Reflection Project

 Hey there and welcome back to my blog!

To begin, the invitations of Christ. The first invitation of Christ is repent- this invitation was for people who had rejected Christs invitations. These people had eager hearts to listen,  as a result, some turned from their ways while others still rejected Him. An example, Matthew 4:17- Jesus is warning those who have rejected Him that the end is near and that they still have time to turn from their ways. Then there are the believers- Jesus was speaking to everyone, they had all believed by the things they had seen Jesus do. They had peace knowing that Jesus would accept them. An example, John 1:50- Jesus goes around and people acknowledge He is not a normal man by the miracles He performs. Also the followers, they were ordinary people that Jesus spoke to. They were curious as they asked many questions and were obedient and brave when they left everything to follow Jesus.  An example, Matthew 19:28- Peter asks what he will get for following Jesus and Jesus tells him that when He comes to judge the world, His believers will inherit eternal life. Next was the love/deny invitation- Jesus spoke to all different types of people; believers, non believers and His disciples. All people had shown interest but needed to pick up their cross to follow Him. An example, Matthew 5: 46- Jesus tells the audience to love their enemies and Mark 8:3- Christ tells the crowd they must pick up their cross. Finally, go/teach, God spoke to the people who had been rejected- still somehow they found peace in hearing Him. They all had open hearts and minds and felt encouraged by Jesus to share with others what they had been taught. Jesus had also prepared their hearts for persecution. An example, Matthew 11:1- Jesus instructs His disciples to go and teach in Galilee and Matthew 10:16- Jesus prepares the hearts of His followers for persecution. 

Moving on, the stages of spiritual growth. We have looked at the invitations of Christ, now to analyzing and comparing the invitations to the parable of the sewer. The parable describes how the heart of men respond to the word of God. We know that ultimately Jesus is the word of God, and that the word of God is living and active and penetrates the hearts of the reader. In the first invitation- repent- the hearts of the people are hard and skeptical and they are not receptive to the word of God. This means that they are the "path" in the parable, they are hard-hearted and not receptive to the word of God, therefore they can not bear fruit. Then the believers, they are people in need of understanding as their hearts are seeking Jesus. They are quick to believe but their faith is like the "shallow soil"- short-lived, have no root and are later scorched by the sun. In the third invitation-followers- their hearts are new in their faith, they have many questions and need to know more about Jesus. Like the "shallow soil", they lack knowledge, need answers and lack foundation. Next the invitation of love/deny-these people have been followers of Christ but are facing the challenge of having to decide between following worldly pleasures of following Jesus.Who will they love and deny? In the parable they are the "weeds" they had once been growing but the weeds came along and chocked the life from the plants. Finally, the invitation of go/teach- these are people who are following their rabbi, they are growing and multiplying in number as they share with others what they have learned. In the parable they are "bearing fruit" as they understand why they are following, as they multiply in number and as they are ready to go out and share the good news with others.  

After completing the word study, I learned that Jesus is understanding. He had spoke with ordinary people, His disciples were fishermen and tax collectors (Matthew 8:23, Matthew 9:9).  He had preached to large crowds in which he understood their problems, He even healed a sick girl with a worried dad (Matthew 9:19). Later, Jesus answers Peters questions when he asks what his reward will be for following Him (Matthew 19:28). Then we see that Jesus had prepared His disciples for what it is like preaching in the big world. He tells them that they will face persecution. But he prepares them, because Jesus had been down that road before (Matthew 4:19, Matthew 10:16, Luke 10:3). These all revealed to me Jesus' understanding of human struggles and to me its refreshing to know I'm not alone. 

To conclude this essay with my thoughts I would say that I am the weeds in the love and deny category. I think this because I am a believer of Christ, however, there are times when I get distracted and lose sight of the bigger picture. The parable mentions that the worries of life side track a believer and choke the belief out of them. This is me, I am constantly worried about what people think of me as I hate letting people down. I'm a people pleaser, but I  quickly and sadly found out that really, you cant please everyone! I also am struggling to find the motivation to keep going in my faith. I want to stay strong but I am battling with my grades and schooling, my future career, and overall, with what I'm going to do with my life;  I'm worried that these worries are over-riding my relationship with Christ. I also am feeling discouraged as this unit has talked about where a person is in their faith, but not how a person can move forward in their faith. Does this mean  I will stay a "weed" forever, forever worrying about my future? I hope not because Matthew 6:34 tells me "[to] not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." And Luke 12:26 says "since you can not do this little thing, why do you worry?" I just need more clarification as well as encouragement to be able to move forward in my relationship with Christ. This way I will no longer be a "worrying weed."

Thank you for visiting and let me know what you think in the comments. Hope to see you back for my next blog!

Spiritual Formation- Repent (Response)

Hey and welcome back to my blog as throughout the reading of this chapter, I found several things refreshing, frustrating and illustrating.

I found it refreshing the way they clarified "repentance" -it is simply a change in thinking. When I first though about the word repentance, I had thought of it as a continuous recommitting my life to Christ. However, the book said that a true lifestyle of continuous transformative repentance is through changing our minds about Christ. This is so refreshing to know that all I need to do is ask for forgiveness and understand what I did was wrong and as a result, try to not repeat the same action again.

But on the other hand, they way the book describes repentance is a little frustrating. It almost makes it seem too easy when in reality it is not. It is hard to sit there and speak to God acknowledging your sin knowing that we are human and are prone to make the same mistakes. I almost feel like its a cycle of trying and failing. I ask for forgiveness and I am cleansed but then even through my efforts, I sin again. And I know that God forgives but does he grow tired of our apologies? And what happens if I forget to repent a few times? Is God understanding, does He forgive me? What is the result?

And finally, something that stood out to me from the reading was the illustrations. The short stories within the reading (bike story, quick shower illustration, the poor lawn and the game of life) really helped me focus in on what I'm reading. These illustrations are relatable and a short interlude from the lots of information. These illustrations pull me deeper into the reading as I continue to read with a fuller understanding.

Thank you for reading, let me know what you think in the comments and see you back for my next blog!

Big Teach #2

Hey there and welcome back to my blog as I will be reflecting on todays sermon.

Todays speaker talked about Paul's transformation and how humans often try to add to the Bible. The speaker first spoke about how Paul was a "terrifying man" when he had once took the name of Saul. He followed the laws not the written word as an act of trying to impress God. However, that all changed when he encountered Jesus. Right then and there he was aware of how off track he was, and I found that I sometimes have to examine myself and often I am like Paul, way off track.

Similarly, we often find ourselves following Jesus along with something else, and in Paul's case that was the law. Last year we studied that sometimes when we read the Bible, we are reading it with this "emotional baggage" and it keeps us from reading the Bible as it really is and we like to "add" to the word or to the way we follow Jesus. However, Jesus says He has paid it all and we no longer need to change the way we read the Bible or follow Him, there is only room to trust in Jesus. And to me this is refreshing as I think about todays discussion- that your belief in Jesus and trust in the word is what saves you- not your denomination, not your journey, but your faith in Jesus.

Alright, let me know what you think in the comments, thanks for visiting my blog, and hope to see you back for my next one!