I took this picture today while driving in Seattle on I-5. It was probably dangerous but definitely worth it.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Rainier
I took this picture today while driving in Seattle on I-5. It was probably dangerous but definitely worth it.
Crawford Rhythm
So, we have i have lived for 28 years, been married for 7, had 4 kids and never had a schedule. All that has now changed. In light of some recent thoughts that I will share with you I have decided to come up with a family and person rhythm. While I feel like i was able to survive without a schedule i feel like this will be a much more productive way of accomplishing our goals as a family especially on the macro level. when i say macro level i mean things that are on a week and bigger type basis.
so this is how we created our rhythm. we wrote down all of our values on little pieces of paper. there were a lot of them and some of them were written numerous times depending on how frequent we wanted them to happen. There were 2 different criteria for things that got written down.
1. Things that we consider personal or family values that will not happen unless they are scheduled on a weekly or monthly basis.
2. Things that we don't necessarily need reminders of but unless they are planned out ahead of time will conflict with us being able to accomplish things in category "1."
that is why you will not see breakfast or lunch on the schedule but you will see racquetball. There are also some things that I put on the calendar where the goal was to accomplish more specific goals within the normal task. for example with my work days i now have specific days that are carved out for organization and research instead of just doing whatever seems the most urgent.
this is the beta version. i'm sure there will be some changes and i must admit that when we first put this on our computers it felt slightly claustrophobic but i think it brings some much needed changes. i would be interested in hearing comments from others about things that they have incorporated that they find useful.
a few notes on navigation:
1. i recommend viewing it on the day view.
2. in order to find out my notes and specific purpose on most of the items just click on its title and my notes will come up.
3. check out the first sunday of every month. that is when we will have our monthly "remember" meeting.
You can view my calendar at:
http://ical.mac.com/teamcrawford/Crawford%20Rhythm
For mac users:
You can subscribe to my calendar at:
webcal://ical.mac.com/teamcrawford/Crawford%20Rhythm.ics
Thursday, November 1, 2007
is anyone reading this?
i just wanted to take a quick poll to see if this blog is being read by anyone. if it is not i will end it and not shed a tear. if you are reading it could you please do me a favor and either respond to this post or send me an email. thx
bnc
bnc
Week 6 - The Spiritual Disciplines
I would like to take this time to state once again that if you are reading these blog posts out of order they will not make that much sense. They are meant to explain the mental, emotional, and spiritual journey that i have been going though in the process of the "story formed life" discipleship course and each step is built upon the previous.
With the whole concept of the spirit lead life being so new, the concept of spiritual disciplines became a bit overwhelming, especially since it seemed to restructure my whole picture of what they looked like and what they were for. Now that i come to think about it, i'm not sure if i really had any firm grasp on what i even thought they were for. i think i seemed to know that they made you a more spiritual person and probably helped you understand jesus and while i am still a long ways away from understanding them fully, much less practicing them, i feel like i have enough of a preliminary concept to start to incorporate them into my life in a healthy way.
I think one of the first things that was important to me was even the understand of the purpose of spiritual disciplines. the purpose of the disciplines is not to make you a better person or make you stronger but they are a training ground to make you less dependent on the flesh and more dependent on the spirit. In the past i often used disciplines to try and become stronger and in turn became more dependent upon the flesh. one of the things i realized about the disciplines is that if i am not doing them for the wrong reason i am actually counter acting the whole reason they were created and should be practiced. by "practicing" them in the wrong way i am actually working against what God wants to do in my life by making myself more dependent upon myself instead of him.
I think one of the most important passages we looked at was matthew 4 when jesus was tempted by satan after not eating for 40 days. we dialoged about this passage and concluded, contrary to natural intuition, that after 40 days without eating and probably BECAUSE of 40 days without eating Jesus was able to completely turn down the temptation of following satan's words instead of the Spirit's words. the reason is this. for 40 days jesus had been saying no to his flesh. that really is the ultimate issue. when we become christians we are given the spirit but we still have the flesh which will always war against the one inside us. our ability to but down the flesh and depend entirely on the spirit is the only real determining factor that we can gauge personal success on. when it came time for jesus to be tempted by satan he had been saying no to his flesh 1000's if not 100,000's of times already so it was not that big of a leap for him to say "NO" instinctively.
This is where spiritual disciplines take a role in our life. i know for me, personally, i am so used to being in the habit of saying yes to the flesh and no to the spirit. this happens in 1000's of small ways every day. because of that, when the spirit is prompting me or guiding me it becomes very difficult to hear and therefore follow because i have built so many habits that are based upon saying "yes" to the flesh instead of "no."
i think fasting is a good example but since i have been in ky i have also been able to be a part of what they call PT(physical training). i think that the reason that they practice this is a good example of the issue. every week certain members of the body get together and physically exert themselves for approx one hour. the goal is not to get stronger or work as a team, although sometimes these things are accomplished. the goal is to put yourself in a situation where your flesh is telling you to do something (in this case usually it is saying "stop") and you can train yourself to ignore it. it is pretty amazing how these very spiritual concepts can be learned though something so mundane as sit-ups or running. at it's essence though it becomes not that different from fasting.
these are some thoughts. this whole idea is still very new to me and i am anxious to see how my understanding of it will empower me to put it into practice by incorporating new habits but also by using existing practices that i have for this new purpose.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Week 5 - The Spirit Led Life
I've had a little bit of time to reflect since this week about the content. I think i learned more this week and more of an information shift than any other week. Growing up in Christian contexts i've heard the word "holy spirit" used but i have never really been in a healthy context where i felt like any goo explanation was given much less any weight given to the idea. One of the main reasons for this is obvious. most christians like me are given examples on tv, and other, of how the name of the holy spirit is used for all sorts of wacky behavior. after attending this weeks midrash though, i am now convinced that this is no more of a shame than the downplaying or flat out ommission that evangelical christianity gives to the subject of the Holy Spirit.
well, let's begin.
here are the main thoughts that hit me hard and the order in which i think they are important:
1. Living a life of under the lordship of christ is not possible to do on our own.
Very little attention is given to the subject of depending on the power of the Holy spirit. I know that in my own life this is a new topic and i'm assuming that since i have heard so little about this from the people around me that it is new to many. i think most of the revelation that came to me is wrapped up in the idea that as much as christians say we need jesus, most of what we do is different in outward appearance more than the actual drive or power source. in other words you have your vegetarian that believes that meat is bad and doesn't eat meat, you have your athiest that believes that religious institutions are bad and doesn't attend and you have your christians that believe the gospel and try and go to church and not sin.
2. Therefore we need the Holy Spirit who is the "helper" that jesus promised us to fulfill our mission while on earth.
What should make christianity unique is not just that it is a different belief system with different practices but that the whole way in which we will practice it is through a supernatural means. That is ultimately what will make all the difference and brings out the weakness of humanity and the power of the gospel.
3. Most people continually try harder to accomplish things in the flesh instead of relinqushing all together and surrendering to the will and direction of the Holy Spirit.
One thing that has really struck me about how misguided we are in this subject is the solutions people (including myself) propose to "christian living" questions. i often find an area of my life like lust, love or patience and i try and set some boundaries or exert more effort in trying to be better in that thing. no there are two problems with this. the first is that it usually does not work. battling the flesh is a task that is generally to big for the flesh. the second problem with that is that if it actually does work it creates a self-sufficient and self righteous attitude that is directly contrary to the gospel. instead of pinpointing tiny points or outward signs that the spirit exists it would be far better to flat out surrender to the spirit and be able to exhibit the fruit of the spirit in it's entirety ...love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Week 4 - Lordship
In the course of the story formed life, week 4 has the most emphasis on personal response. Weeks one through three really challenge what you believe which does change your actions but week 4 is where there is a fork put in the road and the response of the individual is the main focus.
Week 1- We have established that God is the Creator and Lord of the universe
Week 2 - We learn that we have left and lost that and will not receive eternal life as a race
Week 3 - We learned that God followed through on his promises and brought one who can bring eternal life
Week 4- Lordship is about whether or not we are willing to accept God's gift of salvation by submitting to the Lordship of Christ. Or to rephrase that, submitting to the Lordship of Christ is the sign that we have accepted salvation
There were quite a few things that influenced me pretty deeply about this week. One of the first ideas that was thrown out there was that if the Gospel has not influenced us on an emotional level there is a pretty good chance that we do not undertand or even believe the Gospel in it's entirety. This idea really reasonated with me. I know that there are times when I am emotionally involved with the gospel, or at least have been in the past but i realize for the most part the gospel has been a very atherial knowledge based thing. The verses and ideas that we discussed in this week were, therefore, very threatening to someone in my position.
The main passages we looked at were Mark 10-22, Luke 9:57-62, Luke 14:25-33, Romans 10:9-10, and Matthew 7:21-23.
The majority of these passage revolve around Jesus sharing the Gospel with people in a way that makes them turn away and decide not to follow him. This makes for a pretty interesting thought experiment. The following was my thought process throughout the night:
1. In many cases Jesus seemed to make it really tough for people to follow him. He didn't really throw out the "just accept me into your heart" line to much, especially in these passages.
2. this is a pretty different method than what is commonly used today. I can think of story after story where an alter call is given and people are told that if they raise their hands and mutter a few words and ask a few things they will be christians and inhereit eternal life.
3. It doesn't seem like both of these methods can be right in practice or in their origin.
4. When I think about "sharing the gospel" now, I find myself thinking about a "gospel" that mimics much more the 2nd than the 1st.
5. The reason why I am communicating this "gospel" is because I probably believe it about others as well as myself.
6. Believing in the wrong gospel can be a pretty scary thing. We are told that many will come to him who performed miracles and he will say to them "I never knew you" and we are also to work out our salvation with "fear and trembling." One interesting thought i was also presented with is the idea that we are not given any personal assurance, while on this earth, that we are in fact "saved."
So, this thought process lead to some deep soul searching. There are many areas of my life that I feel i take sole ownership of. By definition they should have been transferred to christs mantel for ownership and by very definition I'm pretty sure that i can not say that i have surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. I went for a walk and found myself in the same park that I originally decided to move to KY for 9 weeks and decide to do the discipleship. I went through a process of prayer and surrender that was very difficult but very refreshing.
There are some other responses that I have had to this experience but i will post them in a different topic.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Week 3 - The Gospel
I think we've all heard the gospel so i would like to focus on some areas of thought that are relatively new to me especially in light of the "story formed life."
One of the most important things that have struck me in this class is how important it is to share the gospel (to myself) in the context of creation and the fall. Without the story of creation we do not have any sort of idea of what things should have been and what the point to all this is. Without an understanding of the fall we have no true concept of loss, desperation, or need. now we do have our own story but one thing that i am learning is that the story of loss and redemption is so much bigger than us. the more that we come to an understanding of this the more we will understand the gospel, the history of humanity, and , ironically, ourselves as individuals. i think the only story of sin that i was ever really told or understood was a very personal account of how i can look into myself at what i do or can't do and see how much i need God. the epitome of all this is the "rock bottom" line where everyone meets god at the bottom of a bottle 1 minute before they were planning on committing suicide. while this is important it is only one aspect and a sign of a much greater sense of fallenness. bigger than that, we have the fallenness in our church, our city, our country, and our race (humanity). biblically, these are referred to quite frequently yet it is so counter-cultural to accept responsibilites for other peoples actions that we do not focus on the idea much at all.
the second main idea that i had in regards into believing the gospel is the necessary implications that it brings on ones life. if the gospel can be boiled down to two main points it would probably look something like this:
1. we are fallen
2. we are loved
if i really beleive this about myself than it would only make sense to beleive this about everyone else. this was the problamatic thing that i ran into this week. here are some areas of introspection that i would like to focus on in the weeks to come that all hinge on my true belief of the gospel.
- If i truly believe those two points my natural reaction would be to identify with the fallen around me instead of judge them/us. this is not my natural reaction. in fact, not only is it not natural but i don't think that i do it much at all.
- the other main thing that struck me was the extent that practicing the gospel should be natural assuming that you actually believe it. if we really found ourselves in a story like the prodigal son, having run so far and been accepted by a father so much, it seems like it would be so easy to celebrate that joy and pass it on to others by extending grace to them. instead i constantly find myself in this battle of the wills of trying to practice things that actually go against what seems natural. this leads me to the action point that i need to take. i would like to study and experience the gospel both academically and emotionally in a way that will actually cause a natural reaction that is visible in my life. i don't think that this is an easy process but ultimately i think that it is the only option that has the potential for true life change.
One of the most important things that have struck me in this class is how important it is to share the gospel (to myself) in the context of creation and the fall. Without the story of creation we do not have any sort of idea of what things should have been and what the point to all this is. Without an understanding of the fall we have no true concept of loss, desperation, or need. now we do have our own story but one thing that i am learning is that the story of loss and redemption is so much bigger than us. the more that we come to an understanding of this the more we will understand the gospel, the history of humanity, and , ironically, ourselves as individuals. i think the only story of sin that i was ever really told or understood was a very personal account of how i can look into myself at what i do or can't do and see how much i need God. the epitome of all this is the "rock bottom" line where everyone meets god at the bottom of a bottle 1 minute before they were planning on committing suicide. while this is important it is only one aspect and a sign of a much greater sense of fallenness. bigger than that, we have the fallenness in our church, our city, our country, and our race (humanity). biblically, these are referred to quite frequently yet it is so counter-cultural to accept responsibilites for other peoples actions that we do not focus on the idea much at all.
the second main idea that i had in regards into believing the gospel is the necessary implications that it brings on ones life. if the gospel can be boiled down to two main points it would probably look something like this:
1. we are fallen
2. we are loved
if i really beleive this about myself than it would only make sense to beleive this about everyone else. this was the problamatic thing that i ran into this week. here are some areas of introspection that i would like to focus on in the weeks to come that all hinge on my true belief of the gospel.
- If i truly believe those two points my natural reaction would be to identify with the fallen around me instead of judge them/us. this is not my natural reaction. in fact, not only is it not natural but i don't think that i do it much at all.
- the other main thing that struck me was the extent that practicing the gospel should be natural assuming that you actually believe it. if we really found ourselves in a story like the prodigal son, having run so far and been accepted by a father so much, it seems like it would be so easy to celebrate that joy and pass it on to others by extending grace to them. instead i constantly find myself in this battle of the wills of trying to practice things that actually go against what seems natural. this leads me to the action point that i need to take. i would like to study and experience the gospel both academically and emotionally in a way that will actually cause a natural reaction that is visible in my life. i don't think that this is an easy process but ultimately i think that it is the only option that has the potential for true life change.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Week 2 - The Fall
In week two of the course we covered a topic that I have only really discussed in academic or theological settings as opposed to practical life application settings. In light of this course, though, it makes sense why, in order for someone to truly grasp who Jesus is or even who they are, they must have a firm grasp on the Fall did in fact happen AND what it is.
I think one of the first things that hit me this week was that God did not plan or intend the fall. Whatever viewpoint of God's sovereignty or omnicience that you have this is and can not be a possibility. It is different to say that God knew the fall was going to happen but his plan for the human race was one of love and was expressed in the beautiful design found in creation.
therefore...
the Fall was in fact probably the greatest tradegy that has occured in all of human history. The direction that we were heading and the resources and blessing that we were given were the greatest gift that any human could ask for. When it was stated in Gen 3 that man would NOT have eternal life because of adam not trusting in God, adam was devestated. in a sense, we should feel this same amount of devestation. in this same chapter it is promised that there will be one who will come and crush the serpents head. this became the israelites obsession. one moment they were living in a garden and the next they were cast out with the curse of work, the curse of pain in childbearing, and first and foremost the curse of death. the only promise that they were given is that someday there will come One who will redeem and save. this sense of need and this longing for a messiah is the context that the israelites lived in day to day.
so what does this mean for me/us?
I'm starting to realize that while i have heard about the fall and know ABOUT it i have never really believed it or associated myself with it. in order to fully inderstand my need for Christ i must first have some sort of idea not onllly for my own personal depravity and fallenness but the need for the entire human race, the line from which i have come. It is in this context that the gospel of Jesus actually becomes the good news and Jesus become an actual savior to save a fallen person and people group instead of a santa figure that brings good gifts to good people.
I think one of the first things that hit me this week was that God did not plan or intend the fall. Whatever viewpoint of God's sovereignty or omnicience that you have this is and can not be a possibility. It is different to say that God knew the fall was going to happen but his plan for the human race was one of love and was expressed in the beautiful design found in creation.
therefore...
the Fall was in fact probably the greatest tradegy that has occured in all of human history. The direction that we were heading and the resources and blessing that we were given were the greatest gift that any human could ask for. When it was stated in Gen 3 that man would NOT have eternal life because of adam not trusting in God, adam was devestated. in a sense, we should feel this same amount of devestation. in this same chapter it is promised that there will be one who will come and crush the serpents head. this became the israelites obsession. one moment they were living in a garden and the next they were cast out with the curse of work, the curse of pain in childbearing, and first and foremost the curse of death. the only promise that they were given is that someday there will come One who will redeem and save. this sense of need and this longing for a messiah is the context that the israelites lived in day to day.
so what does this mean for me/us?
I'm starting to realize that while i have heard about the fall and know ABOUT it i have never really believed it or associated myself with it. in order to fully inderstand my need for Christ i must first have some sort of idea not onllly for my own personal depravity and fallenness but the need for the entire human race, the line from which i have come. It is in this context that the gospel of Jesus actually becomes the good news and Jesus become an actual savior to save a fallen person and people group instead of a santa figure that brings good gifts to good people.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Some ideas on belief...
I originally was going to make one giant post for week 3 but decided to create this as a separate one because i think it deserves its own thought and response category.
As far as the first point I have been thinking about what it means to actually believe something and what teh ramifications of that are. Or, equally, if you do not truly believe something what the ramifications of that are. The most applicable way of explaining this is to show my initial reaction when reading the Bible, studying the gospel, or even just looking at a hero. I think my first reaction is to try and change my actions to match or mimic whatever actions i think are good. This is a pretty faulty way of doing things because most of what i do is motivated by my belief system. when i look at pornography i am looking at it because fundamentally i believe that i will be happier or better off or more satisfied than actually listening to god's commands in regards to sexual morality. this is a very stark and important distinction to make. i think my most common mode of operating is to assume that i believe truths found in the bible and gospel because i have heard them when in fact my life would prove that i do NOT in fact actually believe them in faith. In some ways this may seem discouraging but in a whole nother sense it can provide quite a bit of freedom because it does provide you a and the only true sense to change your actions and that is to change your belief. Ultimately it can only be god that softens our heart but through a class, like this, i have found that having your own beliefs thrown in your face and having them challenges with scripture really acts as a catalyst for some thought and therefore change. it really does all begin, though, with being willing to ask yourself the questiong of: "maybe i don't really believe all these things that i think i do, or claim to?" Even though this is a very simple question, i think that it may compose 90% of the work load in changing a belief system, especially if you were raised in a christian family and were tought that you actually believe something just because you "know" it. From there though, that is where the real work begins. I think that i will need alot of meditation that is baptized in prayer and scripture reading. these latter two i am particularly bad at.
As far as the first point I have been thinking about what it means to actually believe something and what teh ramifications of that are. Or, equally, if you do not truly believe something what the ramifications of that are. The most applicable way of explaining this is to show my initial reaction when reading the Bible, studying the gospel, or even just looking at a hero. I think my first reaction is to try and change my actions to match or mimic whatever actions i think are good. This is a pretty faulty way of doing things because most of what i do is motivated by my belief system. when i look at pornography i am looking at it because fundamentally i believe that i will be happier or better off or more satisfied than actually listening to god's commands in regards to sexual morality. this is a very stark and important distinction to make. i think my most common mode of operating is to assume that i believe truths found in the bible and gospel because i have heard them when in fact my life would prove that i do NOT in fact actually believe them in faith. In some ways this may seem discouraging but in a whole nother sense it can provide quite a bit of freedom because it does provide you a and the only true sense to change your actions and that is to change your belief. Ultimately it can only be god that softens our heart but through a class, like this, i have found that having your own beliefs thrown in your face and having them challenges with scripture really acts as a catalyst for some thought and therefore change. it really does all begin, though, with being willing to ask yourself the questiong of: "maybe i don't really believe all these things that i think i do, or claim to?" Even though this is a very simple question, i think that it may compose 90% of the work load in changing a belief system, especially if you were raised in a christian family and were tought that you actually believe something just because you "know" it. From there though, that is where the real work begins. I think that i will need alot of meditation that is baptized in prayer and scripture reading. these latter two i am particularly bad at.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Week 1 - Creation
The Text for week one was Genesis 1 and 2
The first thing that takes place in the class is a midrash discussion. midrash was a jewish tradition of teaching that was characterized by dialog and interaction. in this case the bible passages were being shown on a screen and jeremy lead the discussion by asking questions and responding. the discussion was fuelled by everyone asking and responding to questions and comments.
These are some of the random thoughts that I took away from the midrash:
- From the very beginning we get a look into the character and attributes of God. He is an artist and expreses creativity. If you want to get a better look into why God created the heavens and earth, go and ask your local artist why they create art. Their answer will reveal the character of God.
- Starting in verse Gen 1:27 we get the first case for Imago Dei (that man was created in the image of God). This becomes the ultimate groundwork for how we are to view all humans.
- Because of this we have no right to devalue the worth of ourselves or others. This is where we should derive our ultimate sense of worth and apply it to those around us. This will directly battle against our natural process of valuing people based upon their performance or any other criteria that we naturally gravitate towards.
- In Genesis 1 we are given some answers to the question of why we were created and why we are here. These are questions that need to be addressed by everyone.
These are some random thoughts that i have that revolve around the content of what i learned in the creation week but also the method of teaching things via the "story formed life". I've been realizing that it is very difficult to fully and accurately explain the gospel without beginning at creation. If you do not begin at creation and the fall and you go straight into being told about Jesus than Jesus becomes a part of my life to the extent that i realize that i need him. For me, i was told that i accepted jesus into my heart when i was 4. because i did not have much of a grasp of the creation or fall or how it fit into that story. because i only feel like i need jesus on the merit of my 4 year old short comings, accepting jesus becomes more of a straegic move that i make to get out of hell and or make my life better. this cheapens grace and elevates my human position to a point that seems to diminish the gospel incredibly.
One of my final thoughts, that piggybacks, on this previous idea is coming to grips with what god's original plan was in creating adam and eve and placing them in a perfect garden. i've never really spend much time considering what god's actual "plan" was. in studying and meditating on gen 1-2 for the last 2 weeks i've come to grips with the fact that what happened with the fruit at the tree knowledge of good and evil was probably the biggest tragedy in all of human history. right now i say that in a very academic sense but i think to truly understand the gospel i must start to believe that through faith. the effect that this will have on my viewpoint of god, the human condition, and my own need for the gospel is prfound.
This week i would like to begin focusing on what it means to view all humans as created in God's image. I would also like to attempt to think through the story of my life in light of the narrative that God was the beginning and is the center.
i could proofread this but i would be way less likely to ever post again.
The first thing that takes place in the class is a midrash discussion. midrash was a jewish tradition of teaching that was characterized by dialog and interaction. in this case the bible passages were being shown on a screen and jeremy lead the discussion by asking questions and responding. the discussion was fuelled by everyone asking and responding to questions and comments.
These are some of the random thoughts that I took away from the midrash:
- From the very beginning we get a look into the character and attributes of God. He is an artist and expreses creativity. If you want to get a better look into why God created the heavens and earth, go and ask your local artist why they create art. Their answer will reveal the character of God.
- Starting in verse Gen 1:27 we get the first case for Imago Dei (that man was created in the image of God). This becomes the ultimate groundwork for how we are to view all humans.
- Because of this we have no right to devalue the worth of ourselves or others. This is where we should derive our ultimate sense of worth and apply it to those around us. This will directly battle against our natural process of valuing people based upon their performance or any other criteria that we naturally gravitate towards.
- In Genesis 1 we are given some answers to the question of why we were created and why we are here. These are questions that need to be addressed by everyone.
These are some random thoughts that i have that revolve around the content of what i learned in the creation week but also the method of teaching things via the "story formed life". I've been realizing that it is very difficult to fully and accurately explain the gospel without beginning at creation. If you do not begin at creation and the fall and you go straight into being told about Jesus than Jesus becomes a part of my life to the extent that i realize that i need him. For me, i was told that i accepted jesus into my heart when i was 4. because i did not have much of a grasp of the creation or fall or how it fit into that story. because i only feel like i need jesus on the merit of my 4 year old short comings, accepting jesus becomes more of a straegic move that i make to get out of hell and or make my life better. this cheapens grace and elevates my human position to a point that seems to diminish the gospel incredibly.
One of my final thoughts, that piggybacks, on this previous idea is coming to grips with what god's original plan was in creating adam and eve and placing them in a perfect garden. i've never really spend much time considering what god's actual "plan" was. in studying and meditating on gen 1-2 for the last 2 weeks i've come to grips with the fact that what happened with the fruit at the tree knowledge of good and evil was probably the biggest tragedy in all of human history. right now i say that in a very academic sense but i think to truly understand the gospel i must start to believe that through faith. the effect that this will have on my viewpoint of god, the human condition, and my own need for the gospel is prfound.
This week i would like to begin focusing on what it means to view all humans as created in God's image. I would also like to attempt to think through the story of my life in light of the narrative that God was the beginning and is the center.
i could proofread this but i would be way less likely to ever post again.
The Story-Formed Life
...is a 9 week discipleship training program. The format of it was created by my brother-in-law jeremy. This was the main reason why our family decided to come out to ky for 9 weeks.
There are 2 main reasons why i think this class is important for me.
the first is that i would like to see my life changed and be a stronger, better, closer, disciple of christ. in preliminary discussion about this class with jeremy it sounded like quite a few people's lives were being changed so this is the first thing that put the class on my radar.
the second reason why i feel this class is important is because i am thinking about replicating it, or something like it, in seattle. i have long been interested in church planting in seattle but always been hesitant beause of calling or confidence issues. the focus on this class is much more geared towards training, teaching, and equipping which is what i enjoy and feel like i was made to do and in some ways, am already doing. i do not have any idea what this will look like and don't really care yet. i have already been in talks with mike sabrucko (the associate pastor at our church) about partnering with him to disciple some men at the church and i'm sure the next 9 weeks will have a direct impact upon that but i think it will be much bigger. in order to prepare for replicating some of these ideas in seattle i will be going into this class observing and taking notes on the format, technique, and content. i will also be meeting with jeremy on a weekly basis to discuss the class both in terms of it's personal affect one me and the methodology of replicating it.
I think one of the first things i realized is that these two things may not always be compatible. often times focusing on the presentation only distracts from the whole point of the content and vice versa. i'm going to do the best i can but hope to prioritize the personal growth that needs to take place.
in reading this blog i hope some of you will see your place in partnering with me/us in learning/teaching the story-formed life.
These are the 9 weeks
Creation
The Fall
The Gospel
Lordship
The Holy Spirit
Disciplined Life
The Church
The Kingdom
Re-Creation
There are 2 main reasons why i think this class is important for me.
the first is that i would like to see my life changed and be a stronger, better, closer, disciple of christ. in preliminary discussion about this class with jeremy it sounded like quite a few people's lives were being changed so this is the first thing that put the class on my radar.
the second reason why i feel this class is important is because i am thinking about replicating it, or something like it, in seattle. i have long been interested in church planting in seattle but always been hesitant beause of calling or confidence issues. the focus on this class is much more geared towards training, teaching, and equipping which is what i enjoy and feel like i was made to do and in some ways, am already doing. i do not have any idea what this will look like and don't really care yet. i have already been in talks with mike sabrucko (the associate pastor at our church) about partnering with him to disciple some men at the church and i'm sure the next 9 weeks will have a direct impact upon that but i think it will be much bigger. in order to prepare for replicating some of these ideas in seattle i will be going into this class observing and taking notes on the format, technique, and content. i will also be meeting with jeremy on a weekly basis to discuss the class both in terms of it's personal affect one me and the methodology of replicating it.
I think one of the first things i realized is that these two things may not always be compatible. often times focusing on the presentation only distracts from the whole point of the content and vice versa. i'm going to do the best i can but hope to prioritize the personal growth that needs to take place.
in reading this blog i hope some of you will see your place in partnering with me/us in learning/teaching the story-formed life.
These are the 9 weeks
Creation
The Fall
The Gospel
Lordship
The Holy Spirit
Disciplined Life
The Church
The Kingdom
Re-Creation
The purpose of this blog
The purpose of this blog is to keep family, friends and everyone else who is interested, up to date with what we are learning/experiencing in ky for the next 9 weeks. I think there will be alot of formidable experiences and knowledge and i imagine it will be difficult to communicate all upon arrival so i figure that this is prob the best way to communicate AND a good way for me to personally debrief. my goal is to post once a week, while i am out here, and probably dump this after that, but we shall see.
please resond in any way that you think would be appropriate.
please resond in any way that you think would be appropriate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
