Click here to download the Chapter 14 Personal Study Guide
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Chapter 13 - Personal Study Guide
Click here to download the Chapter 13 Personal Study Guide
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Aspects of God’s Providence
One other part of Gary's teaching involved a discussion about the providence of God. I thought this was particularly insightful and wanted to pass it on to you all. Take some time to read these passages and consider what the writer was experiencing as it related to how God dealt with each situation.
Protection from – Psalm 91 (sometimes God protects us from things/bad situations)
Preservation through – Isaiah 43:1-3a, 5a (sometimes God preserves us through things/bad circumstances)
Presence in – Psalm 23 (sometimes God's presence is felt in the midst of trials and tribulations)
How is God working in your life right now?
Protection from – Psalm 91 (sometimes God protects us from things/bad situations)
Preservation through – Isaiah 43:1-3a, 5a (sometimes God preserves us through things/bad circumstances)
Presence in – Psalm 23 (sometimes God's presence is felt in the midst of trials and tribulations)
How is God working in your life right now?
Godly Growth Through Crisis
This past Wednesday night in our Midweek Connection Gary Evans shared with us some great material from Richard Dobbins that we promised we'd make available on the blog. We were discussing whether or not Naomi and Ruth experienced a crisis of faith during the loss of their husbands.
Here are some of those notes for those of you who wanted more time to study this material.
Godly Growth Through Crisis (see James 1:2-4)
Trials = shock: point of impact - several minutes to several hours - numbing, stunned, dazed, fight/flight responses, disorientation, distractibility
Testing of faith = storm: emotional turbulence – several hours to several days – ambiguous thoughts, uncertainty, moods ranging from euphoria to depression, coping ability compromised
Perseverance = search: mobilization of resources – several days to several weeks - relinquishing old plans and goals, exploration to create a “new normal”, professional mental health intervention if necessary for return to adaptive functioning
Maturity = sequel: long-term reconstruction – several weeks to several months (or years depending on incident severity) – making long-term adjustments rather than “getting over it”, learning from the past without living in the past, anticipated growth and improved level of adaptive functioning
Here are some of those notes for those of you who wanted more time to study this material.
Godly Growth Through Crisis (see James 1:2-4)
Trials = shock: point of impact - several minutes to several hours - numbing, stunned, dazed, fight/flight responses, disorientation, distractibility
Testing of faith = storm: emotional turbulence – several hours to several days – ambiguous thoughts, uncertainty, moods ranging from euphoria to depression, coping ability compromised
Perseverance = search: mobilization of resources – several days to several weeks - relinquishing old plans and goals, exploration to create a “new normal”, professional mental health intervention if necessary for return to adaptive functioning
Maturity = sequel: long-term reconstruction – several weeks to several months (or years depending on incident severity) – making long-term adjustments rather than “getting over it”, learning from the past without living in the past, anticipated growth and improved level of adaptive functioning
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Chapter 12 - Personal Study Guide
Click here to download the Chapter 12 Personal Study Guide
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Common People With Uncommon Faith
Today I finished reading and reflecting on chapter nine in “The Story.” The tale of Ruth is short yet very relevant to each of us in our daily journey with Christ.
Here are a couple observations that I made about the story of Ruth:
Ruth was such a common person that any of us could relate to and God’s will was accomplished through her faith.
The book of Ruth doesn’t have any miracles or revelations, but the overarching theme of kindness and redemption sticks out like a sore thumb.
You can surely see through the story that God rewards the faithfulness of His people, which was accomplished here by God using Boaz as the “kinsman-redeemer.” (Kinsman-redeemer refers to a relative who helped a troubled family member so that the family was not dispossessed of land or left without an heir)
I am also reminded that God achieves His purposes through the faithfulness of his people. Obviously we believe that God is sovereign and has complete lordship over the history and the future, but through the book of Ruth we surely see how human decisions and actions do play a significant role.
The story of Ruth reminds us that God has a way of using common people with an uncommon faith to help His will to be done.
My hope for us today is that we would continue to listen for the voice of God to lead us and direct us to do His will even if we don’t feel adequate or fully equipped.
Here are a couple observations that I made about the story of Ruth:
Ruth was such a common person that any of us could relate to and God’s will was accomplished through her faith.
The book of Ruth doesn’t have any miracles or revelations, but the overarching theme of kindness and redemption sticks out like a sore thumb.
You can surely see through the story that God rewards the faithfulness of His people, which was accomplished here by God using Boaz as the “kinsman-redeemer.” (Kinsman-redeemer refers to a relative who helped a troubled family member so that the family was not dispossessed of land or left without an heir)
I am also reminded that God achieves His purposes through the faithfulness of his people. Obviously we believe that God is sovereign and has complete lordship over the history and the future, but through the book of Ruth we surely see how human decisions and actions do play a significant role.
The story of Ruth reminds us that God has a way of using common people with an uncommon faith to help His will to be done.
My hope for us today is that we would continue to listen for the voice of God to lead us and direct us to do His will even if we don’t feel adequate or fully equipped.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Chapter 11 - Personal Study Guide
Click here to download the Chapter 11 Personal Study Guide
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
As with all pdf files such as this, be sure to click on the save document icon in the toolbar within your browser to save this pdf file to your computer. You can also print directly from that toolbar.
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