Last two weeks

"If it matters to me or is important to me, than it matters to God and is important to God."

In the past couple weeks we have talked about world view and father heart of God.
The first week, World view, we talked about the four different views: Animism, secularism, biblical,fatalism, and evangelical gnostasism (spelling).

World View:
Interprets, explains and defines the world. reveals and even determines knowledge, reality and existence, values, and morals.

Biblical:
-an unlimited and personal God.
-created us in His image with great and creative abilities and we have immense VALUE!
-He made one world (no secular and spiritual division).
-He put us on earth with plenty of food and ways to take care of ourselves. We are to have dominion(power) over creation (not creation over us).
-The universe is both physical and spiritual.

Fatalism:
is the sense that "what ever will be will be"
they believe "we are poor because our for fathers were poor" "just surviving mentality"
God has a purpose for our lives beyond survival. We have HOPE for today.
CORAM DEO: We are to LIVE before the face of God 24/7.
We are allowed to believe what ever we want to believe, but what consequences will it have?

Secularism/Humanism:
-The universe is all there is (only physical, no spiritual)
-Materialism, atheism, Darwinism.
-What is real: no God, but nature: if you can touch, see, taste, and smell it, then it's real.
They believe is there is no God i can live how ever i want and not give account to anyone in the end.

Animism:
-The world is ultimately spiritual. no reliance of physical.
- What is real: spirit, the physical is an illusion-not real; eyes playing a trick on you.
-don't ownership of what they have. it has no importance.


One of my favorite teachings during this week was the "ideas have consequences" tree.

-Roots = our beliefs
-Trunk = our values
-Branches = our behavior
-Fruit = Consequences

Everything above is going to represent your beliefs. You can keep picking the fruit off that is "bad", but it will keep coming back if you don't take care of the roots; your beliefs. The fruit ultimately displays what is at the roots.

Some good quotes that were mentioned during the week:

"God doesn't need you to prove he exists, he doesn't need your help. Your job is to extend an invitation."

"Arguments don't win people, relationships do."

-Truth is knowable because God is personal.
-Truth is objective because God is the only perfectly objective(infinite) being in the Universe.
-Truth is constant because Gods character doesn't change.
-Truth is absolute (w/o a doubt, nothing can prove it wrong)
-Truth brings Freedom-it's REAL, practical, DOABLE, livable, safe. (does not weigh you down)

Don't let your purpose become your passion-How?
-Love God supremely
-Pursue excellence
-Take risks(don't fear failure) this last week we went into Mbonsweni and did a prayer walk and had to walk up to random strangers and ask if we could pray for them. we were split up into groups of four or five and our group took the risk of walking up to a soccer team and asking to pray for them. We didn't know if we could get rejected or not, so we took a risk.
-Connect with a community of FAITH.

This last week was Father Heart of God. I'll explain as much as i can, but this week was kinda disappointing because the speaker really didn't touch on the Father Heart of God, but this is what i have:)

-You can only have a concept of God that you are willing to live up to. So for example: If God is love and i don't live up to loving my neighbor, it will limit me in understand God and living Him out. What we live out is what our concept of God is.

Heart: most inward place, absolute secret place (thoughts, feelings, emotions, intentions, and motives) but some of this is hidden to us and only God knows.

Love: love IS a CHOICE!! not a feeling. Love is an emotion, a willingness to do what is best no matter what.

The opposite of love is selfishness; doing it for yourself. Sin is also a choice; moral decision of disobedience.
We have he capacity like God to GIVE and RECEIVE LOVE.

Bad things happen, but therefor He lets consequences happen so that we learn from errors.

who influences our lives?
-God
-angels
-satan
-others
-own choices/desires
-circumstances


In order to have CHOICE God had to create the POSSIBILITY to SIN.
For God to be consistent in who HE is and says HE is, he can't intervene in free-will that he has given us. So he can't stop bad things from happening, HE can, but WON'T because it would lie about his character.

-If God is a God of love, then why does he allow suffering?
* if we never suffer, we can't comfort others.
*suffering can strengthen character
*Roman 17:8- Eternal Glory out weighs suffering.
*The one that has the deepest and most suffering is God.

"People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Finally, the Cross:

-an atonement for sins
-allowed God to be merciful and just at the same time
-it was the sin offering which replaced all other sin offerings
-it was the greatest demonstration of LOVE that eternity has EVER seen.
-it was a ONE TIME visual demonstration of Gods grieve over sin.

Grieve: emotional suffering proportional to intimacy that is lost.

couple last notes:
-true love is ALWAYS unconditional
-the more you love, the more it hurts when it's lost. the more you understand the deeper your desire for intimacy and the greater is your emotional suffering when you lose it.
-the more you love the more you value the relationship. the more you value the more you love.
-when you have greater understanding, you can have compassion.
-the standard of biblical beauty is in your body.
-Jesus died of a broken heart. not anything physical, but all emotion. our sin.