Hey there sports fans! Check out this wicked cool blog
I spent my first few weeks in the office working on a booklet for students called, 'Survive: Your Guide To Student Life', and now we've decided to release it periodically on t'internet for your reading pleasure. You should go have a cheeky look - it might change your life.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Summer School Part 2
A quick one from everyone's favourite Eugene:
A pastor should be:
1) Unbusy - i.e. not over-churched, in order to spend quality with God/family etc
2) Subversive - Jesus taught in parables. People had to analyse them and search for their higher meaning; the resulting message made much more of an impact on those who heard it and, in Jesus's case, remains as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago. Pastors need to be skilled in the subversive in order to help them engage better with those they are addressing. (hence the poetry)
3) Apocalyptic - This world is finite; the judgement seat is coming. This not only a) increases our urgency towards the lost but b) reminds the pastor that is church is not a business - it does not need to conform to the same patterns and systems that the world operates in, it answers to something higher. This should then liberate the church/pastor to be what God calls them to be, irrespective of how the world says it should be done.
A pastor should be:
1) Unbusy - i.e. not over-churched, in order to spend quality with God/family etc
2) Subversive - Jesus taught in parables. People had to analyse them and search for their higher meaning; the resulting message made much more of an impact on those who heard it and, in Jesus's case, remains as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago. Pastors need to be skilled in the subversive in order to help them engage better with those they are addressing. (hence the poetry)
3) Apocalyptic - This world is finite; the judgement seat is coming. This not only a) increases our urgency towards the lost but b) reminds the pastor that is church is not a business - it does not need to conform to the same patterns and systems that the world operates in, it answers to something higher. This should then liberate the church/pastor to be what God calls them to be, irrespective of how the world says it should be done.
Summer School
A few things made a real impression on me during my time in Tarvin over the summer and I thought I'd give them the blog treatment to make sure they don't drift off my radar.
This stuff comes from 'Knowing God' by Jim Packer:
The absolute greatest thing that can happen in my life is for me to be able to say that I have known God - all else is secondary in comparison. This doesn't mean just knowing about God, but actually knowing him for who he is.
This knowing God produces a reaction in us (Packer takes the example of Daniel):
1) We have increased energy for God - in prayer etc
2) We have great thoughts of God - we recognise his sovreignity
3) We show great boldness for God
4) We find great contentment in God - peace. There is complete satisfication.
Such traits can then serve as a litmus test for whether or not we truly do know God ourselves. If the above list doesn't describe us, then we still have more 'getting to know' to do!
Philippians 1:21 - "For me, to love is Christ and to die is gain" - This is an attitude which comes from knowing God
Packer concludes by citing two main steps we can take in knowing God:
1) Stop measuring yourself on what you know, what gifts/roles in the church you have. Instead evaluate how you pray and what goes on in your heart.
2) Seek the Saviour - those who chase him with all their hearts can testify that they have known God.
In terms of 'seeking the saviour', I found this clarification helpful:
How do we know God? We know him by hearing the voice of Jesus through the bible.
How do we hear Jesus' voice? We hear it by: acknowledging his claim of being the Christ (...on this rock i will build my church), trusting his promise of salvation, and answering his call to discipleship and mission.
I want that to be me. I want to say whole-heartedly that I have known God, not just known about him - such knowledge cannot do anything else other than cause me to live a life of radical discipleship!
This stuff comes from 'Knowing God' by Jim Packer:
The absolute greatest thing that can happen in my life is for me to be able to say that I have known God - all else is secondary in comparison. This doesn't mean just knowing about God, but actually knowing him for who he is.
This knowing God produces a reaction in us (Packer takes the example of Daniel):
1) We have increased energy for God - in prayer etc
2) We have great thoughts of God - we recognise his sovreignity
3) We show great boldness for God
4) We find great contentment in God - peace. There is complete satisfication.
Such traits can then serve as a litmus test for whether or not we truly do know God ourselves. If the above list doesn't describe us, then we still have more 'getting to know' to do!
Philippians 1:21 - "For me, to love is Christ and to die is gain" - This is an attitude which comes from knowing God
Packer concludes by citing two main steps we can take in knowing God:
1) Stop measuring yourself on what you know, what gifts/roles in the church you have. Instead evaluate how you pray and what goes on in your heart.
2) Seek the Saviour - those who chase him with all their hearts can testify that they have known God.
In terms of 'seeking the saviour', I found this clarification helpful:
How do we know God? We know him by hearing the voice of Jesus through the bible.
How do we hear Jesus' voice? We hear it by: acknowledging his claim of being the Christ (...on this rock i will build my church), trusting his promise of salvation, and answering his call to discipleship and mission.
I want that to be me. I want to say whole-heartedly that I have known God, not just known about him - such knowledge cannot do anything else other than cause me to live a life of radical discipleship!
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