Visually

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities
—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made.”
(Romans 1:20) 

               Books: 

                  Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God by Sybil MacBeth

                  Praying in Color Kids’ Edition by Sybil MacBeth

                  Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri Nouwen

                 Beyond Words: A Treasury of Paintings and Devotional Writings;

                Were You There?: Find Yourself with Jesus; Tell Me the Story;

               Tell Me the Truth; Tell Me the Secrets by Ron DiCianni

Websites:

      Peruse through some of Ron DiCianni’s paintings. Spend some time reflecting and praying on one that sticks out to you. http://www.tapestryproductions.com/products/artist/rondicianni

Auditory

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
(Proverbs 1:8) 

Audio Bibles Online

Free Download :: English and Spanish: http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/ambassador/free-audio-bible-download

NIV :: http://www.biblica.com/bible/audio/index.php

(*Mac users may find it helpful to use the flash Player option. PC users may find the Real Player more compatible)

KJV :: Download Free mp3:  http://www.freeaudiobible.net

God’s Word Bible :: New Testament // Listen Online or Download Free mp3: http://www.theboc.com/bible/archive.html

New Testament :: Listen Online or Download Free mp3: http://hideyourword.com

Proverbs :: http://www.wordproject.org/audio/sp/matthew_audiolist.ht

Nuevo Testamento con Salmos y Proverbios // Spanish New Testament // Listen Online or Download Free mp3: http://www.audiobiblia.org

Spanish New Testament :: Listen Online: http://www.wordproject.org/audio/sp/matthew_audiolist.htm

               Websites:

Every month Christianaudio.com offers a free audio download. www.christianaudio.com/free

Kinesthetically

“Taste and see that the LORD is good.”
(Psalm 34:8)

Books:
      Praying With the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life by Roy DeLeon
     BodyPrayer: The Posture of Intimacy with God by Doug Pagitt

Websites:
      Interactive Prayer Journey: http://www.yfc.co.uk/labyrinth/online.html

Multiple Learning Styles

3-Minute Retreats (online guided prayer-devotional time – new each day) // offered in English and in Spanish: http://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer.htm

Daily Online Prayer Reflection: http://sacredspace.ie

Book:
     Opening Your Child’s Nine Learning Windows by Cheri Fuller
     Talkers, Watchers, and Doers: Unlocking Your Child's Unique Learning
     Style by Cheri Fuller

               Online Assessments
              *As with assessment, often taking a few different versions proves helpful.

                              http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

                              http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html

                              http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php

                              http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” (2 Samuel 11:1)

In short, first of all, we are told that every year “in the spring” the kings would “go off to war.” It was a part of the rhythm of the king(s). On this particular occasion, the text says, “David remained in Jerusalem.” Things go down hill from there…

Something happens every year about this time. As schools wrap up, people begin to get in “summer mode.” There’s a mindset that many people undertake. An element of ease fills the air. We begin to think about vacation. About unwinding. About getting away.

            Is there anything we could learn from 2 Samuel 11?

Interestingly, studies among Christian publishers show that books sales significantly drop during the spring-summer season. People still buy the Christianized romance novels and the like. However, as it relates to the books on spiritual formation, growth and development -- sales diminish.

Many churches even seem to fall prey to this. Expectations are lowered. At times less energy, creativity and resources are invested in messages, series and programs. Numbers are expected to drop.

Be that as it may, summer is actually a time to be intentional about one’s personal growth. What would it look like for you to be very intentional about developing your "walk" with God this summer?

This Holy Week, we will be reflecting on the sacrifice of Christ, where the Infinite, Eternal God stepped into time and space. As such, this week, we will be fasting our time.

Go out of your way for others this week. Fast from indulging yourself time-wise. Get up a half-hour or an hour earlier. Make it a goal this week to bless someone else through your words or actions daily; to give someone else the gift of your listening ear. Resist the urge to share your troubles, and instead focus on someone else and helping to share in theirs. Commit this week to doing something for someone else. Perhaps, help a friend move or paint, serve the poor, stop and help a stranger, especially if you are in a hurry to get somewhere.

Keep journal entries of what it’s like to spend your time on others.

Food and Meals
Jesus is the ultimate example of what it looks like to abandon our will to the will of the Father. Abandonment always requires surrender. So, this week we will physically be engaging abandonment and surrender by fasting food.

Pick either a type of food (like meat or carbs or even “solids”) and fast from them for the week. Or alternately, pick a meal (like breakfast or lunch) to skip on a daily basis. If you skip meals, spend that time you would have spent preparing and eating food in doing something like prayer, reading Scripture or serving others. Perhaps take these blocks of time and find a way to bless someone, even if it’s just time spent listening to them.

Keep journal entries of what it’s like to go hungry, even if it’s just for one meal. What has it been like to begin to assert some mastery over your body these past two weeks?

How does your body/mind respond to that?

If you forgo a whole category of food, consider:

• What is it like to deny a craving? Is it easy or hard?
• How does that craving grow the more you deny it?
• Does it eventually become easier? Why?

For more resources on fasting: Basics, Purpose of, Frequently Asked Questions & Guidelines, Biblical Examples, Types of Fasting.

Each week you will be provided with a fasting focus for that wek. They are meant to be supplementary to any other form of fasting you have sensed God's leading in thus far.

Second Week of Lent :: Intimacy

Distractions

This week we’ll be focusing on growing in intimacy with Christ. As such, we will be fasting from distractions. As we saw last week, often we are most uncomfortable in silence and solitude when we are left to ourselves.

This week spend a minimum of 15 consecutive minutes a day in prayer and meditation.

Talk to God about more than just the things you want. Share your dreams with Him; your fears; your questions. What does it feel like to really and truly bare yourself before God?

What does it feel like to offer Him the time to speak to and restore you?

Television, Music & Media
This week we will be fasting television, music and media. As such, forego the usual television shows that you would watch. In fact, turn off the TV altogether. Drive without the radio. Leave the iPod at home.

Pay attention to the following: What is it like to increase the silence by decreasing the media inputs into your life? Do you miss it? Does it make you anxious? Relaxed? Something else?

What does your reaction to this fast tell you about your connectedness to media?
Keep journal entries of what silence does for you, what missing certain shows/events means.

This week’s devotional entries will guide us through activities and practices we can do to fill the place of noise. In all of them, the goal is to help us in developing an ear to listen for and become attune to the still small voice of God.

Things that have began to transpire as you engage the disciplines of fasting, prayer and giving. Perhaps, an area where you've been challenged by God or are beginning to experience some kind of "break-through".

Regardless, we'd love to hear about it...

You can share your stories and the like, by simply "commenting" on this (or future) posts.

“And great multitudes followed Him,
and He healed them all.”
(Matthew 12:15)

“Christ was concerned not only with humanity’s spiritual condition,” writes Schmidt “but also with its physical state. The healing acts of Jesus were never divorced from his concern for people’s souls, their spiritual well-being.”[i] “For him no healing was complete which did not affect the soul.”[ii] Christ was a holistic healer! He told his disciples, “I was sick and you looked after me” (Matthew 25:36). Schmidt continues,

“These words did not go unheeded. History shows that early Christians not only opposed abortion, infanticide, and abandoning infants, but they also nurtured and cared for the sick, regardless of who they were. Christian or pagan, it made no difference to them.”

The world the Christians entered during the Greco-Roman era had a colossal void with respect to caring for the sick and dying. Dionysius, a Christian bishop of the third century, described the existing behavior of the pagans toward their fellow sick human beings in an Alexandrian plague in about A.D. 250. The pagans, he said, “thrust aside anyone who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died.”[iii]

And we thought the after effects and response to Hurricane Katrina was under par!

The response of the early Christians was something different all together. They did not run out of fear or thrust aside the sick and dying. Rather they risked their very lives by tending to the contagiously sick and dying. Many of these faithful followers of Christ not only risked their lives, but lost them in helping others. One name that is known is,

Benignus of Kijon, a second-century Christian who was martyred in Epagny because he “nursed, supported, and protected a number of deformed and crippled children that had been saved from death after failed abortions and exposures.”[iv]

In the first century, there were no hospitals as we know them today. As already stated, those that were sick or diseased were often left to die by themselves. The only exception was those who were a part of the military. It was the Christians who would frequently take into their homes the sick and dying and care for them. It was the Christian church who began to develop centers for people to be taken care of.

The first ecumenical council of the Christian church at Nicaea in 325 directed bishops to establish a hospice in every city that had a cathedral.[v] Although, these early Christian hospitals or hospices were not what people understand by hospitals today. Their most important function was to nurse and heal the sick, they also provided shelter for the poor and lodging for Christian pilgrims.

The first hospital was built by St. Basil in Caesarea in Cappadocia about A.D. 369. It was one of “a large number of buildings, with houses for physicians and nurses, workshops, and industrial schools.”[vi] Some historians believe that this hospital focused exclusively on those with sickness and disease.[vii] The rehabilitation unit and workshops gave those with no occupational skills opportunity to learn a trade while recuperating.[viii]

It is important to note – and the evidence is quite decisive – that these Christian hospitals were the world’s first voluntary charitable institutions. There is “no certain evidence,” says one scholar, “of any medial institution supported by voluntary contributions… till we come to Christian days.”[ix] And it is these Christian hospitals that revolutionized the treatment of the poor, the sick, and the dying.

By the mihttp://www.palmvalleychurch.com/am_cms_media/sermons.jpgs there were 37,000 Benedictine monasteries alone that cared for the sick.[x] Nearly four hundred years after the Christians began erecting hospitals, the practice drew the attention of the Arabs in the eight century. Impressed with the humanitarian work of Christian hospitals, the Arab Muslims began constructing hospitals in Arab countries. Thus, Christ’s influence which moved his followers to build and operate hospitals, spilled over into the Arab-Islamic world, demonstrating once more that Christianity  was a major catalyst in changing the world, even beyond the boundaries of the West. In this instance, it changed a world in which the sick were once largely left to fend for themselves, to one in which they were now given humanitarian medial care, a practice not known previously. Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan had become more than merely an interesting story.

In the early church it was the bishops and monks who “took charge of lunatics at a very early period, and gathered them together in houses specially assigned for that purpose.”[xi] During the early Middle Ages, the mentally disturbed were primarily cared for in the monasteries. It was the Association of Friends (Quakers), who in 1709, erected a general hospital in Philadelphia that housed “lunatics.”[xii]

The physician and medial historian Fielding Farrison once remarked, “The chief glory of medieval medicine was undoubtedly in the organization of hospitals and sick nursing, which had its organization in the teachings of Christ.”[xiii] Thus, whether it was establishing hospitals, creating mental institutions, professionalizing medical nursing, or founding the Red Cross, the teachings of Christ lay behind all of these humanitarian achievements.

In the nineteenth century hospitals in the United States became more common, especially after the Civil War. As the growth of hospitals spread across the nation, it was predominantly local churches and Christian denominations that build them. This was evidenced by many of the hospital’s names. Most reflected their affiliation with a given Christian denomination or honored a Christian Saint.  The Christian identity and background of many American hospitals is now being erased, however. In recent years, as health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have been purchasing more and more private Christian hospitals, their Christian names are being replaced. Thus, people, at least in America, will soon have no more symbolic reminders that the hospital(s) in their town or city had Christian origins.

The American church historian Philip Schaff summed it up well when he said, “The old Roman world was a world without charity.”[xiv] It was the teachings of Christ that inspired Christians to demonstrate selfless charity and love, even to the point of risking their own lives, and utilizing their own resources to care for them.

•  What places in our community (hospitals, collages etc.) were Christian founded establishments?

Read and meditate on Acts 3:1-6.

“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.  And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us.  "So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." Acts 3:1-6 

•   What are some ways you can “give what you have” to those in our community who are in need?

[i] Schmidt, Under the Influence, 151.

[ii] V. G. Dawe, The Attitude of Ancient Church Toward Sickness and Healing,” (Th.D. theosis, Boston University School of Theology, 1955), 3. Quoted in Under the Influence, 153.

[iii] Works of Dionysius, Epistle 12.5

[iv] George Grant, Third Time Around, 27. Quoted in Under the Influence, 153.

[v] Howard W. Haggard, The Doctor in History, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934), 108. Quoted in Under the Influence, 154.

[vi] Fielding H. Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, (Philiadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1914), 118. Quoted in Under the Influence, 156.

[vii] Grant, Third Time Around, 19. Quoted in Under the Influence, 156

[viii] George E. Gask and John Todd, “The Origin of Hospitals,” in Science, Medicine, and History, ed. E. Ashworth Underwood, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883), 323. Quoted in Under the Influence, 156

[ix] Garrison, Introduction to the History of Medicine, 118, Quoted in Under the Influence, 157.

[x] C. F. V. Smout, The Story of the Progress of Medicine, (Bristol: John Wright and Sons, 1964), 36. Quoted in Under the Influence, 157.

[xi] Burdett, Hospitals and Asylums, 1:16. Quoted in Under the Influence, 160.

[xii] Thomas G. Morton, The History of the Pennsylvania Hospital, (New York: Arno Press, 1973), 4-5. Quoted in Under the Influence, 161.

[xiii] Garrison, Introduction to the History of Medicine, 118. Quoted in Under the Influence, 166.

[xiv] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896), 2:373. Quoted in Under the Influence, 167.

“These commandments that I give you
today are to be upon your hearts.

 Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.”
(Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NIV)

“The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge.”
(Proverbs 1:7 NIV)

“Every school you see – public or private, religious or secular – is a visible reminder of the religion of Jesus Christ. So is every college and university,”[i] writes Dr. James Kennedy in his book What if Jesus had Never Been Born?. He continues,

“This is not to say that every school is Christian. Often the exact opposite is true. But the fact is that the phenomenon of education for the masses has its roots in Christianity. Nor is this to say that there wasn’t education before Christianity, but it was for the elite only. Christianity gave rise to the concept of education for everyone.

From the beginning of Christianity, there has been an emphasis on the Word of God. This grows out of its strong Jewish roots, since Christianity is derived from Judaism. Christians have often been called the “people of the Book,” which implies a literate people. Dr. J. D. Douglas, general editor of The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, writes: “From its beginning the religion of the Bible has gone hand in hand with teaching. . . Christianity is par excellence a teaching religion, and the story of it’s growth is largely an education one. . . as Christianity spread, patterns of more formal education developed.[ii]

Many of the world’s languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in order for people to read the Bible for themselves. Similarly, a monumental development in the field of human learning was the printing press. Johann Gutenberg (1398-1468), was the first to develop a movable type printing press that made it possible to mass produce books. Gutenberg is reported to have said, “I know what I want to do: I wish to manifold [print] the Bible.” To achieve this, he “converted a wine press, so it pressed pages onto the type blocks.”[iii]”

“While Christians were not the first to engage in formal teaching activities in school-like settings,” writes historian Alvin Schmidt in Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization,  “they appear to have been first to teach both sexes in the same setting.”[iv] Schmidt continues,

“Given that Christianity from its beginning accepted both men and women into its fold and required that both learn the rudiments of the Christian faith, both men and women were catechized before being baptized and received into church membership. Furthermore, catechetical instruction commonly continued after baptism.”

Instructing both men and women, as the early Christians did, was rather revolutionary. Although there is no unanimity among historians, many indicate that the Romans before the birth of Christ did not formally educate girls in literary skills. Their schools, says one educational historian, apparently only taught boys – and then only boys from the privileged class – in their gymnasia, while the girls were excluded.[v] In light of this ancient practice, Tatian, once a student in one of Justin Martyr’s catechetical schools, proclaimed that Christians taught everybody, including girls and women.[vi]

Formally educating both sexes was also largely a Christian innovation. W. M. Ramsay states that Christianity’s aim was “universal education, not education confined to the rich, as among the Greeks and Romans…and it [made] not distinction of sex.”[vii]

Christians taught individuals from all social classes and ethnic backgrounds, especially in preparation for church membership. There was no ethnic bias.

The most significant move in the direction of universal education occurred with the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Martin Luther and John Calvin both advocated for universal education. Calvin’s Geneva plan included “a system of elementary education in the vernacular for all, including reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, and religion, and the establishment of secondary school for the purpose of training citizens for civil and ecclesiastical leadership.”[viii] Martin Luther, along with co-worker Philipp Melanchthon successfully persuaded the civic authorities to implement the first public school system in Germany, which was tax-supported.[ix]

Thus, the desire to have public tax-supported schools, whether wise or not, even in a society where Christian values predominate, has its roots in the thinking of prominent Christian reformers like Luther, Calvin, and Comenius. Although public schools have by now become totally secularized, especially in the United States, they originated with individuals who were motivated by the love of Jesus Christ, whom they wanted taught for people’s spiritual and material benefit.

In addition, it was Christian ministers who were responsible for bringing Sign Language to America and developing educational schools for the Deaf. It was also a Christian man by the name of Louis Braille, who by 1834, gave to the world of the blind six embossed dots, three high and two wide, for each letter of the alphabet. So that Braille’s accomplishments don’t seem divorced from any influence of Christianity, listen to what he said as he lay on his deathbed, “I am convinced that my mission is finished on earth; I tasted yesterday the supreme delight; God condescended to brighten my eyes with the splendor of eternal hope.”[x]”

Finally, let’s look at universities.

The best evidence indicates that universities grew out of the Christian monasteries. However, given the powerful influence that secularism now has on most Americans, they are probably not aware that “every collegiate institution founded in the colonies prior to the Revolutionary War – except the University of Pennsylvania – was established by some branch of the Christian church.”[xi] Nor are most Americans aware that in 1932, when Donald Tewksbury published The Founding of American Colleges and Universities Before the Civil War, 92 percent of the 182 colleges and universities were founded by Christian denominations.

Catechetical schools, cathedral schools, Episcopal schools, monasteries, and medieval universities, schools for the blind and deaf, Sunday schools, modern grade schools, secondary schools, modern colleges, universities, and universal education all have one thing in common: they are the products of Christianity. Individuals in Western societies spend many years in schools, colleges, or universities, but they have learned very little about the contributions Christianity has made to education, so highly treasured today. In the absence of this knowledge, it is not only Christianity that has been slighted, but Jesus Christ as well. Were it not for him and his teachings, who knows what stage of development education would be today?                                                                                                                

Consider the following excerpt written by Dr. James Kennedy[xii]:

While more than 200 years of Christian education in this country produced a .04 percent illiteracy rate, what has public and increasingly secularized education succeeded in doing? In spite of the fact that more than a trillion dollars have been poured into the educational system, what has happened? The illiteracy rate has increased 32 times. Today, we have 40 million illiterates! In addition there are an estimated 30 million more functional illiterates in this country.

A report entitled A Nation at Risk, released by the U.S. Department of Education in the 1980’s, sums it up well: “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. . . we have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.”[xiii]

Pray: Take a few moments and pray for our local school
            system.

[i] Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 40.

[ii] Douglas, The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, 330-331. Quoted by James Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 41.

[iii] Hyatt Moore, ed., The Alphabet Makers: A Presentation from the Museum of the alphabet, Waxhaw, North Carolina, (Huntington Beach, CA: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1990), 13. Quoted by James Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 43.

[iv] Schmidt, Under the Influence, 172.

[v] Kenneth J. Freeman, Schools of Hellas, (London: Macmillan, 1922), 46. Quoted in Under the Influence, 172.

[vi] Titian, “Address of Tatian to the Greeks,” in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2:78. Quoted in Under the Influence, 172.

[vii] W. M. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire Before A.D. 170, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893), 345. Quoted in Under the Influence, 172.

[viii] Lars P. Qualben, A History of the Christian Church, (New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1958), 270. Quoted in Under the Influence, 176.

[ix] Douglas H. Shantz, “Philipp Melanchthon: The Church’s Teacher, Luther’s Colleague,” Christian Info News, (February 1997). Quoted in Under the Influence, 179.

[x] Etta DeGering, Seeing Fingers: The Story of Louis Braille, (New York: Julian Messner, 1951), 11. Quoted in Under the Influence, 183.

[xi] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, (Rockville, Md.: Assurance Publishers, 1984), 157. Quoted in Under the Influence, 190.

[xii] Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 55.

[xiii] A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education by The National Commission on Excellence in Education, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Eduation, 1983), 5

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.”
(Psalm 139:14 NIV)

“I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
(John 10:10 NIV)

Prior to the coming of Christ, human life on this planet was exceedingly cheap, especially in the Roman Empire, during the times of Jesus and the Early Church.  In those days abortion was rampant. It was not uncommon for unwanted or inconvenient babies to be taken out into the forest, mountainside or valleys to starve to death or be consumed by wild animals, or to be picked up by some stranger passing by who would then use them for whatever perverted purpose they had in mind. Frederick Farrar has noted that “infanticide was infamously universal” among the Greeks and Romans during the early years of Christianity.[i] The Twelve Tables of Roman law states “we drown children who at birth are weakly and abnormal.” If the parents were poor, they would abandon the babies. Moreover, female babies were often abandoned because they were considered inferior.

Early Christian literature repeatedly condemned the killing of children, both born and unborn. And, infanticide (murdering of infants) was no small part of society during the times of Christ. “Infanticide,” said the highly regarded historian W. E. H. Lecky “was one of the deepest stains of the ancient civilizations.”[ii] Greek poet of the fifth century B.C. mentions infants being thrown into rivers and manure piles, exposed on roadsides, and given for prey to birds and beasts.[iii] In Sparta, when a child was born, it was taken before the elders of the tribe, and they decided whether the child would be kept or abandoned.[iv]

In response to this, Christians leaders didn’t only speak out about the sanctity of human life, but they took action. Christians frequently combed through the forest and mountainsides looking for abandoned babies. They would then take them in, nurse them to health, care for them and raise them as their own. Another commonly practiced means of disposing of unwanted babies was to throw them over bridges to drown in the waters below. Christians would hide out underneath these bridges, catch the dumped babies and take them in. Infanticide, abandonment and abortion began to disappear in the early Church.

The low view of human life was repeatedly made manifest in these widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. But what was the root of such cruelty and low view of humanity? Some “historians and anthropologists tend to site poverty or food shortage as the primary reason for their prevalence. However, historical data indicates that poverty was not the primary cause for the high abortion rates among the Romans in the century preceding and during the early Christian era. At this time in history the Roman honor and respect for marriage had virtually become extinct.”[v] Roman “marriage, deprived of all moral character,” as one historian has noted, “was no longer a sacred bond, and alliance of souls.”[vi] Moreover, chastity was virtually nonexistent and adulterous relationships were par for the course within Roman marriages at this time. As a result, when an adulterous woman would become pregnant, she would destroy the evidence of her sexual indiscretions, thus adding to Rome’s widespread abortions. One does not have to have a doctorate in sociology to see the parallel between the culture of Rome and that of Post-Modern America. The sacred bond and alliance of marriage is quickly deteriorating. Adulterous promiscuity is so common that there is hardly a television mini-series, sitcom or mini-drama that doesn’t currently glamorize such activity. Could it be that these factors have also begun to erode at the American value of human life like that of the Romans? And, the response? Protest and picketing rarely produce the desired results of those involved. In fact, they are typically motivated out of a foul-spirit in the name of righteousness. Rather than constructing picket signs, the early Christians constructed baskets to catch babies being thrown over bridges and abandoned along the hillsides. Love was the operative verb of these first followers of Christ. Love for one another. Love for those who practiced injustice and deceit. 

George Grant points out that in the seventh century, the Council of Vaison met to “reiterate and expand that pro-life mandate by encouraging the faithful to care for the unwanted and to give relief to the distressed.”[vii] At that time, the Church reaffirmed its commitment to adoption as the alternative to abortion.

Grant demonstrates how, in centuries past, the Church – through word and deed – gave rise to a pro-life view of human life. After reviewing much of the evidence for how the early Church and the early medieval Church impacted the value of human life, Grant sums up:

“Before the explosive and penetrating growth of medieval Christian influence, the primordial evils of abortion, infanticide, abandonment, and exposure were a normal part of everyday life in Europe. Afterward, they were regarded as the grotesque perversions that they actually are. That remarkable new pro-life in consensus was detonated by a cultural reformation of cosmic proportions. It was catalyzed by civil decrees, ecclesiastical canons, and merciful activity.”[viii]

[i] Frederic Farrar, The Early Days of Christianity, (New York: A. L. Burt Publishers, 1882), 71.

[ii] W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals: From Augustus to Charlemagne, (New York: Vanguard Press, 1927), 2:24.

[iii] Euripides, Ion, trans. Arthur S. Way, (New York: William Heinemann, 1919), 51. Quoted in Under the Influence, 52.

[iv] Kenneth J. Freeman, Schools of Hellas, (London: Macmillian, 1922), 13. Quoted in Under the Influence, 52.

[v] Alvin J. Schmidt, Under the Influence, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), 55.

[vi] C. Schmidt, The Social Results of Early Christianity, trans. R. W. Dale, (London: Wm. Isbister, 1889), 48.

[vii] George Grant, Third Time Around: A History of the Pro-Life Movement from the First Century to the Present, (Franklin, TN: Legacy, 1991, 1994), 20. Quoted by James Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 14.

[viii] Grant, Third Time Around, 46-47.

Many are familiar with the 1946 film classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, wherein the character played by Jimmy Stewart gets a chance to see what life would be like had he never been born. The main point of the film is that each person’s life has an impact on everybody else’s life. Had they never been born, there would be gaping holes left by their absence. This is certainly true of every human that has ever been created, most notably one – Jesus Christ. He has had an enormous impact – more than anybody else – on history. Had He never come, the hole would be a canyon about the size of a continent.[i]

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as the one solitary life.[ii] This week we will look at a few of the affects that the cause of Christ has had on civilization.

Yet, we live in an age in which only one prejudice is tolerated – antichristian bigotry. Michael Novak, the eminent columnist, once said that today you can no longer hold up to public pillorying and ridicule groups such as African-Americans or Native Americans or women or homosexuals, and so on.  Today the only group you can hold up to public mockery are Christians. Attacks on the Church and Christianity are common. As Pat Buchanan once put it, “Christian-bashing is a popular indoor sport.”

But the truth is this: Had Jesus never been born, this world would be far more miserable than it is. In fact, many of man’s noblest and kindest deeds find their motivation in love for Jesus Christ; and some of our greatest accomplishments also have their origin in service rendered to the humble Carpenter of Nazareth.[iii]

Napoleon, who was well accustomed to political power, said that it would be amazing if a Roman emperor could rule from the grave, and yet that is what Jesus has been doing. (We would disagree with him, though, in that Jesus is not dead; He’s alive.) Napoleon said: “I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel . . . nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the Church remains.”[iv]

Despite its humble origins, the Church has made more changes on earth for the good than any other movement or force in history. This week we will only highlight a few contributions Christianity has made to civilization, and we will only be able to scrap the surface of each of those touched on. There are volumes of historical accounts substantially validating each of the following. (If you would like to study any of the items discussed this week in further, it would be recommended that you read Under the Influence by Alvin J. Schmidt and What if Jesus had Never Been Born by James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe. Under the Influence would be recommended for grander research and thoroughness, though it may be harder to locate than the other.) That being the case, below is a bullet list of a few of the many positive contributions Christianity has made through the centuries.

“We must consider
that Christianity’s ‘initial thrust’
has hurled ‘acts and ideas’
not only ‘across centuries,’
 but also around the world.’”[v]
(Thomas Cahill)

Read through the following. As you do, see if you are aware of how each of these was initiated and propelled by Christians.

A Brief Overview

• Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages.
• Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition,
• most of the world’s greatest universities were started by Christians for Christian purposes.
• Literacy and education for the masses.
• Capitalism and free-enterprise.
• Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the
• American experiment.
• The separation of political powers.
• Civil liberties.
• The abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in more modern times.
• Modern science.
• The discovery of the New World by Columbus.
• The elevation of women.
• Benevolence and charity; the ‘Good Samaritan’ ethic.
• Higher standards of justice.
• The elevation of the common man.
• High regard for human life.
• The codifying and setting to writing of many of the world’s languages.
• Greater development of art and music. The inspiration for the greatest works of art. [vi]

“No one is like you, O LORD;
you are great, and your name is mighty in power.”
(Jeremiah 10:6)

[i] James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 4.

[ii] Some have attributed this to Philips Brooks, the writer of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Quoted by Kennedy, 7-8).

[iii] James Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, introduction to book.

[iv] Philip Schaff, Person of Christ: The Miracle of History, (Boston: The American Tract Society, undated), 323, 328.

[v] Thomas Cahill, Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus, (New York: Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 1999), 311.

[vi] James Kennedy, What if Jesus had Never Been Born?, 3.

He was taken in especially by the trapeze act, a team of brothers who called themselves “The Flying Rodleighs.” He watched them perform, and then he got to know them, learning more about their craft.

There were 5 members in the act- 3 “flyers” and 2 “catchers.” The flyer climbs the steps, mounts the platform, and grasps the trapeze. He leaps off the platform, swinging through the air. He uses his body for momentum, swinging with increasing speed and height. The catcher hangs from his knees on another trapeze, with his hands free to reach out. Trapeze artists usually use a safety net nowadays, but even falling into one of those is dangerous and sometimes fatal.

The moment of truth comes when the flyer lets go. He sails into the air with no support, no connection to the earth. He does a somersault or two. Picture him in the middle of a somersault and freeze the frame. There is absolutely nothing, at the moment, to keep the flyer from plunging to his death. What do you think he feels like? Do you think he feels fully alive- every cell in his body screaming out? Thing he’s feeling any fear right then?

In the next moment the catcher swings into our view. He has been timing his arcs perfectly. He arrives just as the flyer loses momentum and is beginning to descend. His hands clasp the arms of the flyer. The flyer cannot see him; to the flyer, everything is a blur. But then, in an instant, the flyer feels himself snatched out of the air. The catcher takes the flyer home. And the flyer is very, very glad.

Nouwen spent some time getting to know the flyers. He learned that flyers are small, weighing 150 pounds or less, because if you’re a catcher, you don’t want a flyer with a sweet tooth. He learned about the equipment they used. They had socks filled with magnesium dry powder for their hands, because Joe was one of the catchers. They told Henri, “Joe sweats a lot.” and if you’re the flyer, you don’t want a catcher with sweaty hands.

Here’s where the trusting comes in. Letting go is always an act of trust. One of the flyers told Nouwen, “As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think I’m the star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.”

Nouwen asked him, “How does it work?”

He answered, “The secret is that the flyer does nothing. The catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait.”

Henri asked him, “You do nothing?”

“A flyer must fly and a catcher must catch. The flyer must trust with outstretched arms that his catcher will be there waiting for him,”

To say, “I believe” involves intellectual assent, it’s true. Saying “I believe in God,” takes humility and honesty. But in the end, confessing your faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the words of this creed means letting go, taking a leap, and trusting that there will be someone there to catch you.

There is no way to God that bypasses the call to let go…. The truth is that we are all born holding onto a trapeze- a little trapeze we call our “life”. We hold on to it tightly: our security, our “okay-ness”, our success, our importance, our worth, our stuff, our bodies, our heath, our influence. [1]

[1] Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, 40, 70-75.

…Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,
always be prepared to give an answer
to everyone who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15

As we launch into a new series, we do so with the prayer that God will help us to live our lives is such a way that we actually become compelling to the world around us. Not merely because of the clothes that we wear, the bumper-stickers we sport or the declarations we proclaim, rather by the expressions of "hope" and authentic love that simply permeate our very being.

It seems, that Peter assumed that there would be such compelling life expressions as hope and love were simply the natural byproduct of someone "sanctifying Christ" in their "hearts". As this community of followers of Christ withstood persecution and suffering with steadfast-consistency, others looking on would be stuck by the essence and quality of their "hope" and be moved to inquire the "reason" and source of such strength.

The word Peter used here for “reason” is the Greek word apologia. We get the English word “apologetics” from it. Not to be confused with giving an “apology” of “I’m sorry.” Apologetics is an intellectual response that gives reason or defense for what one believes.

In this series, Faith & Doubt, we are going to explore some of the questions that are being asked about Christianity and faith in God. In recent days, there has been a resurgence within academic settings, that has brought some of the age-old questions and challenges regarding God, faith and science to the forefront of the conversation. In this series, we’ll be exploring some of these questions.

To get started, there will be a lay-out of a few terms that are commonly used in such philosophical conversations. Secondly, before we begin to engage specific questions, it may be helpful to introduce several writers who have been instrumental in reframing specific questions in an attempt to discredit the claims of Christianity and such. There will be a few excerpts from their writings to help us get a sense of the types of things they are writing and the tone in which they are being written.

A Few Terms:

• Apologetics: apologia (1 Peter 3:15) – to give a reason, answer, instruction or defense.
•  Apologetics is an intellectual response that gives reason or defense for what one believes.
  
• Theism: is the belief in the existence of a god (or gods); specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world.

•  Agnostic: a (without) gnosis (knowledge) –is one who does not know whether or not there is a God.

• Atheist: a (not/negative) theos (god/deity) – Without God –an atheist is one who does not believe in God. Additionally, the atheist may or may not actually deny the existence of God.

"The atheists no longer want to be tolerated. They want to monopolize the public square and to expel Christians from it," writes Dinesh D'Souza. "They want political questions like abortion to be divorced from religious and moral claims. They want to control school curricula so they can promote a secular ideology and undermine Christianity. They want to discredit the factual claims of religion, and they want to convince the rest of society that Christianity is not only mistaken but also evil. They blame religion for the crimes of history and the ongoing conflicts in the world today. In short, they want to make religion - and especially the Christian religion - disappear from the face of the earth."[1]  

In recent days, there’s been a resurgence, particularly in academic circles of what’s being called, as I mentioned earlier, “The New Atheism.” It’s more than a casual dismissal of the belief in God…

            New Atheism: don’t simply – not believe in God, they are antitheist.

It’s more of an evangelistic crusade to remove the belief in God from the consciousness of humanity… Richad Dawkins  calls it “militant atheism.”

As stated, New Atheist, don’t just not believe in God, they are opposed to God and the belief thereof. It’s not just a stance of, “I don’t believe God exists,” rather its one of “God does not exist and you’re ludicrous if you believe He does…”

They contend that since belief in God is so LUDICROUS, there must be some biological reason that causes them to do so. Especially, since no one in their right mind would do so.

As such, Richard Dawkins, in his book The God Delusion supposes, “The proximate cause of religion might be hyperactivity in a particular node of the brain.”[2]

Or, as cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker suggests, there might be a “God module” in the brain that predisposes people to believe in the Almighty.[3]

The contend that such belief in God goes against all reason, not to mention, all the evidentiary facts of science.

Scholars like anthropologist Scott Atran presume that religious beliefs are nothing more than illusions.

Atran contends that religious belief requires taking:

            “what is materially false to be true” and

            “what is materially true to be false.”

Atran and others believe that religion requires a commitment to “factually impossible worlds.”[4]  

The New Atheists refer to themselves as “brights.”

“I am bright,” writes Richard Dawkins, which he defines a bright as one who espouses "a worldview that is free of supernaturalism and mysticism."[5]

According to Daniel Dennett, "We brights don’t believe in ghosts or elves or the Easter Bunny – or God.”[6]

Christopher Hitchens, in his book, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything says,

“All religions and all churches are equally demented in their belief in divine intervention, divine intercession, or even the existence of the divine in the first place.”[7]

Question:

[1] Dinesh D’Souza,  What’s So Great About Christianity, xv.

[2] Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, 168.

[3] Steven Pinker, "The Evolutionary Psychology of Religion," lecture at MIT conference, October 14, 1998.

[4] Dinesh D'Souza, 15, cited by Robin Henig, "Darwin's God," New York Times Magazine, March 4, 2007; 
  Scott Atran, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary landscape of Religion, 264.

[5] Richard Dawkins, "The Future Looks Bright," Guardian, June 21, 2003.

[6] Daniel Dennett, "The Bright Stuff," New York Times, July 12, 2003.

[7] Christopher Hitchens, "Bush's Secularist Triumph," Slate.com, November 9, 2004.

It was a very beautiful and moving painting. From looking at it one could see that the tempest was a symbol of the hopeless situation of mankind. And true to the gospel, that only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", the only hope amidst the storm. 

But as the artist looked at the painting he realized that something was wrong. In order to correct his error he discarded the painting and went to work on another. It was very similar to the first. It had the black clouds, the flashing lighting, the angry waters, the little boat being crushed by the pounding waves, the crew struggling vainly against the waters. In the foreground the seamen was still clutching the large rock for salvation. But the artist had made one change: the seaman was only holding on with one hand, and with the other he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend.

That is a picture of God's intent for His followers.. We have the honor of reaching out to the world with Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul states in Philippians chapter two, we are, "shinning lights" or as the NIV puts it "shinning stars". "holding out the word of life."

1. Using large sheets of paper, everyone in the family draws pictures of things they're thankful for. Keep the artwork for next year and display them side by side. (PETA)

2. Create a Thankful Box, in which family members put slips of paper telling what they're thankful for. After dinner, read the papers out loud. (ETA)

3. Encourage each person to bring some special object to the table that represents what they are thankful for this year. Let each take a turn to share their object and how it represents their thankfulness. (ETA)

4. Experience dinner together with only candlelight. Reflect on what it would be like to be without lighting, heat, shelter, etc. Spend some time praying together, thanking God for all that you have, as well as praying for those in need this season. (PETA)

5. Write a card to someone you are especially thankful for. Be sure to allow time, material and stamps so this project will work. (PETA)

Who Am In Christ?

All bible verses (quotes) quoted in NIV

I am accepted...

• John 1:12 I am God's child.
  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
  
  
• John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
  
  
• Romans 5:1 I have been justified.
  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
  But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ's body.
  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
  
  
• Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
  
  
• Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgive of all my sins.
  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
  
  
• Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.
  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
  
  
• Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.
  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I am secure...

• Romans 8:1 I am free from condemnation.
  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
  
  
• Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
  
  
• Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughter"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  
  
• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
  
  
• Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
  
  
• Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
  
  
• Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
  
  
• 2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
  
  
• 1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.
  We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

I am significant...

• John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
  
  
• John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God's temple.
  Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
  
  
• 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
  
  
• Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
  
  
• Ephesians 2:10 I am God's workmanship.
  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
  
  
• Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
  In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
  
  
• Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1. What features you deem most important as you create a definition of Spiritual Formation.

      a. It’s a journey…process…continuous…ongoing…
      b. It’s intentional.
      c. It’s relational. True formation can’t happen void of community.
      d. It’s influential (to others in our community and the world at large).

2. What issues are at stake?

      a. Spiritual Formation (and the quality of my life) is always transforming… is it “integrating” or “disintegrating”?

      b. others…?

3. What categories re-surface in the definitions I provided?

      a. It’s a process…
      b. It’s our response to God’s initiative…
      c. We’re being formed to the likeness/image of Christ.
      d. It influences others…

What are some key elements to spiritual formation from your perspective?

Which of the above definitions do you like best and why?

 The Latin term for “rule” is regula. From it we get our words regular and regulate. Very simply, a rule of life, is a pattern or rhythm of spiritual disciplines that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness.

 A rule is not meant to be restrictive or legalistic. However, it does require a commitment. It is intended to help us establish a rhythm of living.

A rule of life gives us a way to enter the lifelong process of personal transformation.

 The concept is called different things by various authors, but the core of it is essentially the same. Ultimately, a rule will help you love God more.

 St. Benedict simply called it a “Rule of Life.”

Ruth Haley Barton in her book Sacred Rhythms refers to it as a “rhythm of life.”

Dallas Willard, author of The Spirit of the Disciplines refers to it as
                        “Curriculum in Christlikeness.”

John Ortberg in The Life You’ve Always Wanted  calls it a
                       “Game Plan for Morphing.”

 Adele  Calhoun, in Spiritual Disciplines Handbook writes,

 “A rule for life is a simple statement of the regular rhythms we choose in order to present our bodies to God as our ‘spiritual acts of worship’ (Romans 12:1).”

 Each rule, or rhythm, is a way we partner with God for the transformation only he can bring. Rules keep our lives from devolving into unintended chaos. (So we don’t cast off restraint) They are a brief and realistic enumerating everything you might do in a day. Life-giving rules are a brief and realistic scaffold of disciplines that support your heart’s desire to grow in loving God and others.”

           Practically, draw square with four quadrants. Label the top left one Daily, top right one Weekly, bottom left one Monthly, and the bottom right oneYearly.

 Ruth Haley Barton has suggested that a rule of life seeks to respond to two questions:

• Who do I want to be?
• How do I want to live?

 Barton has combined the question to:

• How do I want to live so that I can be who I want to be?

 A few things to be mindful about when considering on a rule of life:

• A rule of life is different for everybody. No two individuals will have exactly the same rule of life. We have a lot of latitude in a personal rule of life. A rule of life should be diverse, reflecting the needs and spiritual aspirations of the person.

 We are have been called “heavenward in Christ Jesus.” As we said last week, spiritual growth is for all of us. God desires that each of us in engaged in the process of becoming transformed into the image of Christ.

 We all have the same goal,
and though there will be many similarities,
each of our journey’s toward Christlikeness is unique.

 Thomas à Kempis writes,

 “All cannot use the same kind of spiritual exercises, but one suits this person, and another that.  Different devotions are suited also to the seasons [of life]....”     

• A rule of life should take into account your personal circumstances at this point in your life. A personal rule of life can change with the seasons in your life.

 Marjorie Thompson in her book, Soul Feast, says,

 “Whatever your circumstances, it is always possible to include some form of spiritual discipline in your daily priorities.

 If you want to become and remain physically healthily, you eat sensibly and exercise regularly. If you want to become spiritually healthily and remain replenished, you practice spiritual disciplines regularly.”

• Be careful not to become legalistic about your rule of life. If it becomes a legalistic way of earning points with God, it should be scrapped.

 "Our primary task is not to calculate how many verses of Scripture we read or how many minutes we spend in prayer. Our task is to use these activities to create opportunities for God to work. Then what happens is up to him. We just put up sails: "The wind blows where it chooses..." (Ortberg, 51-52)

 John Ortberg in his book, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted,” says this about our attitude toward spiritual formation,

 “But God’s primary assessment of our lives is not going to be measured by the number of journal entries…. The real issue is what kind of people we are becoming. Practices such as reading Scripture and praying are important – not because they prove how spiritual we are – but because God can use them to lead us into life.” (Ortberg, 39)

 Barton suggests that, once we have developed a rhythm of spiritual practices, that we should have a great deal of flexibility. This is not a once and for all time decision. A rule of life needs to be realistic in light of the stage or season of our life. We should avoid being rigid and legalistic. This is a rhythm not a law.

 Remember, the Spiritual disciplines are a means to an end; they are not the end.

 The definition of spiritual transformation is the process of being changed into the likeness of Christ for the sake of others . . . that is the end.

• Don’t try to take on too much at once.

 FlyLady.net: The 5 Minute Room Rescue

To spend just 5 minutes clearing a path in your worst room. You know this area of your home: the place you would never allow anyone to see. Just 5 minutes a day for the next 27 days and you will have a place that you can be proud to take anyone!

                     5-Minute Soul Rescue:  There's a principle we can learn from Fly Lady here as it relates to our spiritual growth. Many, often set out to do too much, too long, too fast, only to end up discouraged and disheartened. Small, practical, doable steps are the best first steps, regardless of the venture (engaging Scripture, prayer, serving, etc).

 If the rule of life contains too much, albeit good stuff, it can soon turn into drudgery and we won’t follow it. The question is: What can I realistically commit to? This is about honoring personal limitations. It is better to commit to a single practice and stick with it than to take on five and quit altogether because you cannot keep up.

• Barton also suggests that an effective rhythm of spiritual practices will be balanced; a balance of disciplines that come easy to us and disciplines that stretch us.
  
  
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with your rule or rhythm. It can easily be changed and revised, but it shouldn’t be subject to whims. Give yourself time to settle into your rule of life so that it has time to shape your life.

“If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion,
probably God is as weary of it as you are.” 
~Frank Laubach

Resources and Further Reading:

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us 
Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation
Marjorie J. Thompson, Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life
John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People
Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives
Celebration of Discipline: The Path of Spiritual Growth – Richard Foster

One of the things that has been helpful to me in understanding the process of growth (spiritual formation) and the inter-workings of “grace,” “effort” and “discernment” is comparing the differences between a motorboat, a raft, and a sailboat.

Motorboat
In a motorboat I'm in charge. I determine how fast we're going to go, and in what direction. Some people approach spiritual life that way. If I'm just aggressive enough, if I have enough quiet times, I can make transformation happen on my own. Usually that results in people becoming legalistic, then pride starts to creep in, and things get all messed up.

Raft
Some people have been burned by that kind of approach. So they go to the opposite extreme and will say, "I'm into grace." It's like they're floating on a raft. If you ask them to do anything to further their growth, they'll say, "Hey, no. I'm not into works. I'm into grace. You're getting legalistic with me." So they drift. There are way too many commands in Scripture for anybody to think that we're called to be passive. 

Sailboat
On a sailboat, however, I don't move if it's not for the wind. My only hope of movement is the wind. I can't control the wind. I don't manufacture the wind. Jesus talks about the Spirit blowing like the wind.

John 3:8

The wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from
or where it is going.
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Jesus talks about the Spirit blowing like the wind. But there is a role for me to play, and part of it has to do with what I need to discern.

A good sailor will discern, Where's the wind at work? How should I set the sails? Spiritual formation is like sailing.[1]

Wise sailors know that their main task is being able to "read" the wind - to practice discernment. An experienced sailor can simply look at a lake and tell where the wind is blowing strongest, or look at the sky and give a weather forecast. A wise sailor knows when to raise and lower which sails to catch the wind most effectively.[2]

Reflection:

• Where is the Wind blowing in your life right now? How will you begin to orient yourself to catch-the-wind?

[1] John Ortberg, http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2004/winter/1.22.html
[2] John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, 51.

Here's a few notes, the fill-ins & reflections from this weeks teaching at New Community.

Philippians 3:15-16

15-All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16-Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (Philippians 3:15-16)  

Paul means simply this that, having come thus far, the thing to do is to go “in the same path” in which we have been traveling so far.[1]

It speaks of progress along a road to a certain point. Paul is thinking of the Philippian’s progress along the Christian path. His idea is, “so far as we have come.” The word “walk” means “to proceed in a row,” and refers to literal walking.[2]

Life is like a race. Some are running. Some are walking. Some may only be a few miles into it, but we each are on it…

Reflection #1:

Based on your walk with God up to this point, what are some prominent traits and characteristics of God that you’ve discovered?

C.S. Lewis

Why else were individuals created, but that God,
loving all infinitely, should love each differently?
…if all experienced God in the same way and
returned Him an identical worship,
the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony,
it would be like an orchestra in which
all the instruments played the same note.

         Reflection #2:

Think about a season in your life when you felt like you were growing the most spiritually. What contributed to that?

(A great exercise in reflection sometime would be to develop a timeline of your life and where you’ve come from. Identifying the key shapers (influences) via people, situations, experiences, lessons, etc…)

         Our spiritual journey is just that – a journey.  It’s on-going, progressive, moving, growing, expanding, enlarging and increasing…

         One of my favorite quotes and personal motto in life is,
“The Journey is the Destination.” 

4. Growth is a byproduct of grace, effort, and discernment.                   

[1]Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Php 3:16). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

[2]Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament  : For the English reader (Php 3:16). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

 I love the line in one of Misty Edward’s worship songs where it says,

“I don't want to talk about You like You're not in the room
I want to look right at You I want to sing right to You
I believe that You are listening
I believe that You move at the sound of my voice

 This is how I long for my prayers to be, with the intimacy and ease of simply talking to God as if He was right there – with me. The truth is, He is. Augustine of Hippo spoke to this reality when he wrote, “God is closer to your soul than you are yourself.”

 Many of us ask, “Where is God?” But that’s like asking the location of air or the direction of sunlight. The divine Presence is not a “thing” that is “out there.” Lovers abide in God and God in them. “For then the soul is in God and God in the soul just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish.” (Catherine of Siena)

 “Every time I get into an automobile,” writes Albert Haase in his book coming Home to Your True Self. “I look at those words printed on the bottom of the passenger side-view mirror: ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.’ That speaks of the divine Presence. God is closer to us than we have ever imagined or dreamt. Genesis portrays Adam and Eve experiencing the divine Presence in the evening breeze (Genesis 3:8).”

 Have you ever paused long enough to listen to yourself pray? 

Do you find yourself praying about the same things over and over or the same type of things?

When you pray, is there a sense that God is in another room or is there an awareness that He is right there with you?

This week in New Community, we explored Paul's prayer for those in Philippi:

“And this is my prayer:
that your love may abound more and more
in knowledge and depth of insight,
so that you may be able to discern what is best and
may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
—to the glory and praise of God.”
(Philippians 1:9-11)

 What can we learn about talking to God (prayer) by reading and reflecting on Paul’s prayer for the Philippians?

How do your prayers compare to Paul’s?

The spirituality of this exercise, the Contemplatio, is the spirituality of finding and loving God in all things. The Contemplatio assumes God's love for us and it is an aid to help us in gratitude to grow in our love and service of God. This exercise has a contemplative quality to it and is focused on our inner experience of the Trinity. How is God "drawing" me (John 6:44) in my existential awareness or consciousness? Hence, the name Awareness or Consciousness Exercise. In the Awareness Exercise we are not focused on our conscience but on our consciousness, i.e., on our awareness of what is going on in our interior experience. Thus the Awareness Exercise is related to the discernment of spirits.

The discernment of spirits is about detecting among the various influences at work within me which ones lead to God and which ones lead away from God and how I am responding to them. The Awareness Exercise, then, is a daily focused exercise of discernment in a person's life. Our focus in the Awareness Exercise is on the presence and action of God in our lived experience.

This spiritual exercise asks the questions: how has God been present to and active in me today in the people, events and circumstances that I have experienced? How have I responded? The St. Augustine's Seminary Spiritual Program states it this way: "The focus of this exercise is your growing awareness of the presence of Christ in situations, events and persons during that day, and the nature of your response to this presence". [emphasis mine]

 Presence-- this spiritual exercise is interpersonal, that is, it is about the mutual presence of one person (risen Christ) to another person (you)

Situations, events and persons -- how is the presence of Christ mediated to me during the course of my day? The answer is in the persons, events and circumstances that I daily experience.

Your growing awareness -- Christ can be present to us, but we may not recognize or pay attention to Him. This exercise helps us become aware of Christ's presence and to grow in that awareness. Further, it is your awareness that is important, not someone else's. We are not contemplating the awareness of St. John of the Cross or of St. Therese, as helpful as that may be in other times of prayer.

Response -- the reason we want to grow in our awareness of Christ is so that we can live in closer union with Him, recognize His will and respond to Him by uniting ourselves to what He is doing in our life, in the lives of the people we encounter and serve, and in the world.

This spiritual exercise practiced faithfully can with the help of God's grace form you into a contemplative in action, that is, it will enable you to find God in all things and so unite yourself to the work of the Trinity in the world. The Awareness Exercise takes about 15 minutes and is often best performed daily towards the end of the day.      

Endnotes:
1. These notes for the use of seminarians at St. Augustine's Seminary, Toronto, draw heavily on the work of the following Jesuits who have written about the Awareness Exercise: John Veltri, John English, Joseph McArdle, Douglas McCarthy, George Aschenbrenner, Michael Ivens and Joseph Tetlow.

2. The Awareness Exercise is also commonly known as the Consciousness Examen or Awareness Examen.

3. It is rooted in three spiritual exercises in the Spiritual Exercises of St,. Ignatius of Loyola. These three exercises are: General Examination of Conscience (#32-43, especially 43), Daily Particular Examination of Conscience (#24-31), and the Contemplation to Attain the Love of God (#230-237, known by its Latin name Contemplatio). The first two exercises are similar to what is known as the Examination of Conscience. The Examination of Conscience is usually done in preparation for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and focuses on faults and sins, sorrow for them, and the need to eradicate them. Hence the Awareness Exercise is broader and more foundational than the Examination of Conscience. Our focus in the Awareness Exercise is not primarily on faults and sins but on the presence and action of God in our lived experience.