Faith

Today in church we talked about the recent beliefs survey and who we thinks Jesus is. The general consensus was that Jesus is “A human ‘incarnation’ of God himself—Jesus is divine and is God.” I believe this as well but am getting hung up on the God/Jesus distinction. Why the different names? Why don’t we just say we worship God, and leave it at that, since Jesus=God? Is this just an artifact of our efforts to distinguish ourselves from Christians who don’t believe Jesus=God?

What was it like for you to take the “Beliefs Survey?” We would like to have some open discussion about the personal reactions each of us might have to some of those direct challenging questions.

After having a rather intensive knee surgery on July 3rd, God has taught me a HUGE lesson in surrender…sometimes I hate it when God gives me exactly what I ask for.

I certainly expected that the doctor didn’t know what he was talking about and that I would bounce right back from this surgery and be up on my feet and running around within a few weeks. More than a month was a ridiculous thought to me, much less three to six months.

I am not sure I’ve ever heard God, how would you know? When is something direction from God or just an everyday thing? Is there signs? How do you know what is his plan for you? How do see something you’ve never seen a “sign”? Is all it a matter of faith, do you just believe your life is where it is because it’s suppose to be? Is there a plan for everyone? The choices we make change the course of our lives how do know how to make the right choices?

I watched this happen at a gas station in Nicaragua Christmas 2007. It looked like gold dust that appeared out of nothing around her neck and spread to her arms the moment she confessed faith in Jesus. It was dramatic in the bright and hot tropical sun.

Interesting things are happening in Lakeland Florida… lots of healings and salvations.

you can see it on youtube anytime and 5:30-8:00pm on god.tv

http://www.god.tv/stream?quality=Low&region=USA

I am planning a trip to Nicaragua for my family this August. We plan to take a lot of supplies down with us (six of us are going) to give to an orphanage that I visited and a remote indigenous people group in the Atlantic Autonomous Region (Rama Cay) that I have been in regular contact with. We still have room for more items. There is a special need at an orphanage for underwear and clothing for children 1-16 yrs and misc medical supplies.

Before Sunday, we would love to hear some reflections from Journey folks:
What has been meaningful to you from our study of Colossians Chapters 1-3 ??

I have this friend who used to wonder, “can God microwave a burrito that is so hot that he could not eat it?” i know it’s a silly musing, but it makes me think about other, bigger faith questions. in one of my seminary classes we learned that many aspects of the christian faith are paradoxes. i started thinking about the ones i could name:

-jesus is fully god and fully man
-the first will be last
-the beatitudes (matthew 5:3-12) which boil down to “lucky are the unlucky”
-god is both just and merciful
-the bible says sin’s power is destroyed, but i still struggle with it in this life

Okay, so you’ve probably heard about the classes coming up in the next few days a lot, but the truth is they actually are good!

If you feel shaky about your knowledge of the Bible, there are 2 interactive classes that will help you learn about what is in the Bible and how to apply it to your life. See more details:
Walk Through the Old Testament:
http://www.talkinchurch.com/group/journeygrowthacademy/event/2008/01/21/walkthrougholdtestament
Bible Basics:
http://www.talkinchurch.com/group/journeygrowthacademy/event/2008/01/21/biblebasicsjgasundays