Conclusion of Theology 2

This final blog post for Theology 2 is my thoughts on this course in regards to what we studied, what I learned from each of the points we looked at and how they are still impacting me today. The learning approach was different this term than in the previous term. Instead of as many study guides and papers, we as a class were challenged to practically apply the theology to our lives. The topics of study were:

      -The incarnation/kenosis of Christ

      -Substitutionary Atonement

      -The scapegoat/taking up your cross

      -Identity gaps

      -Ekklesiology

Some of these topics I have dwelt on more since it was studied in class. Other topics, I have even tried to communicate my experience with others to further my understanding. Some topics, I have encountered while evaluating deeper issues in my life. This concluding blog is not creative, but has been enjoyable to go back and recapture the assignments and the reasoning for actively applying them. 

The incarnation/kenosis of Christ: 

This is the act of Jesus when he as God took himself and became human nature. The theory of kenosis is that Christ gave up his divine attributes while he was on earth as a man. The greek word means "to empty." The scriptural passage that is referred to in regards to this topic is Philippians 2:5-11. This passage states that Jesus became nothing in order to take the nature of a servant and human nature. This defines Jesus as God who became man. He is equal with God (vs.6), humble (vs.8), took on human flesh in the physical and the emotional sense (vs.7). And he experienced death (vs.8). 

By Jesus being fully God and fully human made it possible to atone for our sins. 

Substitutionary Atonement (forgiveness):

The atonement was a topic I liked studying because it is so necessary to daily life. We do not deserve the forgiveness of our sins, but yet Jesus died on the cross to pay the price necessary for us to commune with him. The separation between God and humanity is because of sin. With the cross, Christ atoned for our sins. We are to forgive and keep no record of wrongs, just as Christ forgave us. To apply this practically, we took a rock or a rose to demonstrate someone we wanted to extend forgiveness to, or the burden we carry around with us of un-forgiveness. A lot of what I wrestle with in regards to identity is rooted in places where I have not forgiven someone. 

The Scapegoat:

The scapegoat was presented alive before God and then sent out to the wilderness to represent the sins of the Israeli society. This was not a sin offering, because it carried all the sins of the society rather than just one individual's sin. The hand's on learning experiment was done by building our own cross out of wood, and then carrying it around with us everywhere we went. I found that I had more conversations about what I believed when I forgot the cross. I was embarrassed by the cross depending on where I went with it. As I think about that assignment now, it has crossed my mind that no one really cared that I carried a cross around with me. It's not the topic of conversation at my work. Therefore, I should not have been embarrassed about it. But what is talked about is how I live my life and conversations about religion and what I believe happen regardless of the cross I carry around for me. "Take up your cross and follow me." Matt. 16:24

Identity Gaps:

Jeff Roth challenged us to think about the lie we believe about ourselves and to write a verse or truth the counteracts that lie on a notecard. This I carried around with me for a week. At least that was the assignment. But since that week of discussing our identity, I have continued to remember that I am not alone. I have a tendencay of putting myself in a form of isolation when I feel misunderstood or begin to compare myself to others around me. I even did this when I read the assignment for this final project. I'm not a poet. I don't have a beautiful writing style. I can't write a song to save my life. But I instantly compared and put myself down for this. Then I remembered how God views me. And how people don't like me because I can do what they can do. I want to live in the kingdom of God. The kingdom that is present right here on earth. The truth I held onto the week of this assignment is, "I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now!" (Phil 3:20; Eph. 2:6)

Ekklesiology:

Ekklesia is the Greek translation as "church" in the New Testament. It literally means "assembly." What I learned by going and attending a church that was a different denomination than my upbringing was different people assemble together using different methods of coming together. However, the reasoning for coming together is to worship God. I was reminded of biblical truths about who God is and His worthiness to be praised. 

In conclusion, Dr. Dangaran asked us at the beginning and at the end of this term to not let God's word and truths become head knowledge. The approach to this term was different than a typical theology class because of the desire to know these truths in our heart. Learning these things is not to be smarter or set apart based on knowledge, but to lead us to reverence of God and grow closer in awareness of ourselves because of the relationship with Him. These topics helped me do that this term. I will carry these practical theologies with me as I continue to learn and journey with God. 

Church Visit

ooooOOooOOoo. I really liked this assignment!

In theology a couple weeks ago, Jeff Roth was teaching on the Church. Ecclesiology, the study of the Church. I've done some research in the past about this word. What it means, what the purpose of the Church is and what methods are to be implemented for a Church to come together the way God intended it to. The assignment was to visit a Church that is a different denomination or has different worship styles than what we are used to at Salem Alliance. There was a questionnaire given as followup with our visitation. I was really excited when this assignment was given because I love to learn by viewing other people's perspectives.

I went to Life Church, which is a non-denominational Church. I decided to go there because I heard it was more Charismatic than what I would be used to. I have attended a few services that would fit in this category before, but I wanted to go to this kind of church with the questions that I have now. I have learned a lot more about the book of Acts and the way the Spirit moved at Pentecost. So to attend a Church that was more focused on the movement and filling of the Spirit excited me.

The observations that I made were not very surprising to me. It was a lot less emotional than I expected, although still very passionate and moving service. There were people jumping up and down. There were flags being waved. There was a man praying for healing over another man. There was laymen addressing the congregation with what they believed God had put on their heart to share with everyone else.

These methods of worship in the past would bring mixed emotions the same way they did this time while attending this type of Church. But the emotions were slightly different. In the past, I would want to jump up and down. I would feel the emotion of happiness rise up in me, and there would be such a strong feeling to scream out how happy I was. Even though I do believe this could have been or was the Holy Spirit moving inside of me, the awareness I have now of myself, I question if that feeling was the Holy Spirit moving inside of me. I am an extravert, so being around people gives me energy. I also feed off of the emotions and energy of those around me. So I could be at a concert, or in a large sports arena filled with people cheering for their favorite sports team, and the same emotion would rise up in me. This is why I wonder if the feeling rising up in me during these typer of worship services are actually the Holy Spirit moving inside me, or my own emotions. They could be both, and that would be great!

Therefore, the way I felt during this service was great. I loved seeing people worship freely. I loved that there was a sense of unity within the congregation and the pastors. Through use of all the physical senses, people were experiencing and worshiping God. There was not very many practices taking place that I thought could be placed against scripture and it not be valid.

I liked this assignment because it reminds me of the different ways we were all created. Although many questions still arose during my time at Life Church, it was a great time to branch out and be reminded of the many methods there are to running a church and to approach God. The freedom that we have because of Christ and His gift of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to commune with God. I hope that others will also see that just because one church has different methods of congregating together for worship, does not make it better or worse than the others. 

Basking in the Glory, not the chaos.

Between January and June, I spent a lot of time reflecting on suffering and what it means. I was going through so much pain that was unexplainable. During this time, I was trying to write my personal development plan for school. One of the things I got from those six months was that God created me with a lot of feeling. This is one of the ways He will use to speak to me, and how He will use me to care for those around me. I put as one of my goals that I wanted to learn more about my emotions. The goal is to be able to name an emotion when it rises, and discern what to do with it. Is it for someone else? Is it an insecurity? Is the emotion necessary for me to dwell on? What is the root of this feeling? Have I felt this before and what was the context?

One of the downsides to this is feelings of insecurities rise, and can be easily dwelt on. This assignment this week was to address what identity gap is present in my life, and to replace that lie with a truth about my identity in Christ. I am a people pleaser. I have a hard time feeling worthy. I feel the need to bend over backwards to make sure those around me are happy. For a long time, I was willing to change things about myself in order to impress or to meet the expectations others have of me. I have come a long way since I was there, but learning how to know if helping those around me is out of love and desire to serve, or out of feeling like I need to impress and find my worth in what I'm doing. The get extremely hard on myself if I feel I have let someone down, even on such a little thing. That is my identity gap.

This is the verse that always lifts my spirits when I hear it:

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

What I've processed a lot this week is gonna seem a little off compared to what my "identity gap" is. But for me, it was a really good thing to process.

I drove to Minnesota with one of my best friends this past weekend. Along the way, I had a lot of time to think about the assignment and my insecurities. Along the way, I saw a large range of beautiful landscapes. Mountains, tree's changing colors, dry flat lands, and a great view at the stars. I found myself saying multiple times how I just died and went to heaven.

While I was driving, I was thinking about how perfect everything seemed in this creation I was in. If God created the world perfect in the beginning, and then sin entered because of human error. So how much of what we see, and the life we live is how God originally intended it to be? We already know we are sinners. So what am I dwelling on? My sin? My mistakes? When I dwell on this, an emotion that arise can be chaotic. I'll start to dwell on the chaos rather than the real emotion that I needs to be addressed and move on from.

 If I'm living with the mindset that parts of heaven is already here on earth, then I want to bask in the glory of God as much as I can. I want to live as the heir to the throne that I know I am, rather than in chaos and confusion.

"I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven Right now." Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6

In the last 10 months, I've processed a lot about my emotions. I am thankful for the ways I have grown in the way God created me as a feeler. I want to commit my weaknesses and insecurities to God, rather than dwell in the chaos. 

This week with a cross

Last week in my Theology 2 class, we took the time to each build our own cedar wood cross. It was a lot of fun, and I hear my father's carpenter voice in my head through out the whole building process. (I only nailed the board to the table twice, Dad...I'm making progress!)

Anyways, the point of the assignment was to take Matt. 24:16 literally and see what comes from it. Would people be so turned away? Would they ask questions? Would God use this as a time to do miracles and start a movement within Salem, drawing people to Him? Or would I forget it in my car or on the kitchen table 50% of the week?

The week went well and refreshed my thoughts on why I believe what I believe, and what a Christ follower looks like. Here's a few of the encounters that took place this week:

1. Friends laughed at me. Especially when I told them how the process of making it went, and that it broke multiple times from me nailing it to the table.

2. I got strange looks while in the long line at Costco for a polish dog. As well, as while walking through the store. My thoughts after my time in Costco went back to the symbol of the cross, and how people must have interpreted my actions of taking this around with me. I think the cross is a symbol that people associate with the Catholic or Christian religion. If they are not believers themselves, they can be turned off by this symbol. I think the cross can speak to some people as-"here, I am a christian, so I wear this around my neck, or carry a 2 foot piece of wood around with me, but my actions don't reflect this at all. Add me to your list of hypocrites that wants to save you." Thats a more critical, bitter perspective, but the symbol can often be looked at this way.

This got me thinking about my life, and others around me. What if the passage in Matthew really was literal and we all carried a plank around? It would just be one more thing to add to the list of rules. I really want my life to reflect Christ by the way I love, accept and serve those around me. I want to be set apart by those things, rather than by a symbol I carry around.

3. I took the cross to work with me. The only time it was viewed was when I walked in, and when I walked out. It brought up a small comment the first day, and the second day a brief conversation took place as I tried to explain the assignment to my friend/coworker that asked. He told me he already knew all that he needed to know about God. He would listen to more of what other people might try to say to him, but he knew what he needed to know, and that was enough for him.

4. I intentionally did not take a cross with me into a bar while hanging out with a few co-workers. One of them is an Atheist, the other was the same guy that already knows what he needs to know. I thought about it here and there while I was with them and wondered if I should just go grab it. It was more guilt and obligation than Holy Spirit nudging me because He was going to use this symbol to draw people to him.

BUT WAIT! A guy came and sat down with us that I had maybe met briefly once before. I told him what I was going to school for (because he asked), and instantly he would NOT stop talking to me about religion, his perspective, his mormon family, and his ministry on cross dressing in the church in order to bring awareness to their legalistic ways. The whole time the conversation was happening, I wanted to talk. I wanted to defend myself where I felt like his perspective on the Church may have been good, but about me and my walk with Christ he was wrong. I wanted to speak truth and love to him. I wanted to give an insight that would make him walk away thinking differently...SO MANY THINGS I WANTED TO SAY. But I remembered my time of wrestling over the summer, and how no matter what anyone was going to say, I still needed to verbally process and come to a conclusion on my own. And what I concluded, was that in this relationship with Christ I can't abolish one way of doing things to just create a new one that works better for me. Life in the spirit is how I know how to live, and how HE will then be reflected through me. So I asked God for some insight because I wanted to preach at this guy (out of love, and truth, and the desire for him to know God, of course. Not because I'm prideful, always want to be right, and can't shut up). But that's what I heard. "Be quiet. Whatever you say is not going to be heard by this guy. He is hurting, he needs you to listen."

So that's what I did. I don't know what the others with me thought about the conversation we had. I didn't have my cross in there with me to initiate a conversation. I was simply myself. And asked the Holy Spirit for direction, and to be at work.

5. Another conversation came after my workout at the Courthouse. I am training to instruct a class, and I took it in the gym with me. My instructor who is helping me learn the material is a Christian and attends Salem Alliance. She asked me at the end of the training about the cross, and we ended up talking for 45min about her husband, family and the things I've been learning about rules, and relationship with Jesus. It brought us closer, and left me with a desire to pray for her more often. I told her about my encounter last night with the guy at the bar. When the Holy Spirit wants to move, He will move.

I didn't like taking the cross around with me. I forgot it most of the time. But I did like this assignment because of the things I thought about. I hope people will continue to ask me about what God's been teaching me through this term at school. And I hope that I will be able to listen and then communicate well what the Holy Spirit is prompting.

Forgiveness

Something weird happened this week that lead me to the realization of how honest I am. I think this is a good thing, but this blog post is going to be full of honesty once again.

These assignments are hard for me. I sat down to look at the assignment and thought, "Oh crap! Where did that rock even go! And, why did I feel like THAT was the object I needed to take." With that said, I didn't put very much thought into this specific assignment in regards to feeling convicted on forgiveness towards another person. So, I reflected on my week and what God has been teaching me. There are a lot of things that could answer that question. I am loving the season that God has me in right now and the things I am learning.

Steve Fowler talked about friends this weekend at church, and that got me thinking. Over the summer, I was not a pleasant person to be around. I had an abnormal critical attitude, and it was reflected in everything I was apart of. Steve talked about gossip and what that does to our friends. I know I am very guilty of this. I gossip about everyone in some way. And I generally feel like it's my right, and I am justified in the things we are talking about. Yes, girls tend to be a lot more prone to this sort of conversation, but I don't like it.

Even without carrying a rock around all week, this has been a pain for me to have to carry around. I am constantly thinking about the words I say, and asking God for how to respond when someone wants to talk to me about other people. Did I improve? Not really. But I am thankful for this conviction, and more aware now than I was in class last week of an area of my life that I need forgiveness from God for, and have a few people I need to apologize to for the conversations I bring them into that are not encouraging or uplifting.

Incarnation

In the Theology class I am currently taking, we are learning about the incarnation of Jesus. So far, I have enjoyed the readings that we have done by A.W. Tozer and McClain. I think this is a theology I never thought twice about. Especially after establishing in Theology 1 that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all one and equal in their divinity. So, Philippians 2:5-11 says, "In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every knee should bow, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in hum the glory of God the Father."

The debate on whether or not Jesus humbled himself to the extent of giving up his divinity to become like us as humans. I like that the question arises to think critically, but I don't think it's necessary to spend to much time on because the rest of scriptures point to Jesus being fully God. And twice within this passage alone it confirms that Jesus was/is equal with God (v.6). With that being confirmed about God, and then following the instruction in verse 5 to have the same mindset as Christ within our relationships, then this example on humbling is to be applied.

When this assignment was first given, I was slightly uneasy about it. I did not want to do something "humbling" just for the sake of an assignment. I asked myself and God what I needed to be emptied of in my life, and nothing came to me right away. But as I reflected on my week and reread the assignment, I found moments where I set my time and money aside for someone that may not be as easy to interact with. For example, when I worked at the coffee shop, it was apart of my job to interact with those in the community that  stepped into our building. One guy who has a rough life with addictions, finances, and work would come in often and chat with me. I no longer work at the coffee shop, so it is no longer my "job" to interact with this particular person. I saw him as I was about to pull out of the Safeway parking lot. I was in a hurry, a little overwhelmed with financial stuff at that moment and didn't know how long saying hi would end up being with this guy. He didn't see me, so I could easily have left and not interacted with him.

It must have been the Holy Spirit at work in me in order to be emptied of myself in order to reveal more of Himself to someone in my world. I rolled down my window to say hi, and instantly I can tell this guy was not doing well. By turning off my car, I have him my full attention and found out he had just gotten out of the hospital, and was not doing well. Long story short, I could tell he needed a little bit of cash, and was having a really rough day. We chatted and I helped him out a bit. We talked about some mutual friends that are getting married and decided that I could give him a ride and attend the wedding with the group I am going with. It was a little thing, but initially I wanted to go on with my day and be focused on the stresses that I had myself. I hope God continues to show me how to help those around me, because when I think less of myself there is something that happens in me that I don't know how to explain, and would prefer that over my selfish ways.

I hope to continue to grow in my knowledge of the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. I pray God will continue to push me in ridding myself of the selfish things existing in me. I want to know Him more and worship Him with my life.

Theology 2!

Hey guys! This blog was recreated because I am horrible at computer things, and could NOT figure out how to post on the blog I've had for years! So here we go! I'm excited to read what you guys post on your blogs about school and the things God is teaching you through this RTI experience.