Thursday 2/26/2010

Wounded Heart - The primary premise for the rest of the book.  We all agree we have one.  The shift focuses on the young ones and how to grow them up in faith.  To allow them to explore and become what they are to be in Christ

Where is the battle that would interest a want to be warrior?  The word battle come up 201 times in the OT, but only 6 time in the NT and 4 of those are in Revelation. Possibly all the great battles have been fought.  Is the war against "terror" a war against satan and his evil?

^{Ephesians 6:10}Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Does God care if all the evil goes on and people participate in it? God would care that people are hurt and separated from Him?  How does God know about a person that is separated from Him since he can not look on evil? Where is it said that God is so Holy that He cannot look on Evil? In the days of old, He had Israel destroy evil people.  He discussed the Evil people in Soddam with Abram.   Maybe He knows about evil and chooses to destroy those that practice it in defiance of His calling them back.

Does "adventure" replace battle?

Election or chosing to be unelected

Hollis's Elected makes a lot of sense backed up with good bible verses.  To say that we save ourselves is an undermining of God's glory, especially since we are like filthy rags to Him.  Hollis hangs his hat on

^{Romans 8:27}And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. ²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,^[a] who^[b] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Without a full blown move to predestination and Calvinism which would negate the verse. 
^2Peter3:9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

What if like sanctification we work through our lives becoming more fully like God, we are all elected from the foundation of the earth, but some choose to turn away from that election. Some choose sanctification and some choose to turn their backs on God.

 ^{John 3:1}Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."  ³In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.^[a]"
 ⁴"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
 ⁵Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You^[c] must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
 ⁹"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
 ¹⁰"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? ¹¹I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
 ¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Getting Lost

What if we start out "found" and elect, then get lost and deny God.  Do babys go to heaven if they die at birth? 6 months?  Most people would say yes, so what age is it that if you die you are not "elected" by choosing to repent and follow God?

^{2 Timothy 2:18}who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"^[a] and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
 ²⁰In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.

This is not done... more work it needs.

Chapter 4 - The Wound

The premise for the rest of the book is that we are wounded by our fathers in some way that then rest of the book shows how God can heal the wound.  Does the wound dominate our lives?   Was Jesus wounded?  Does everyone have the wound?  What does it look like when our wound is healed?  Is this just a set up for more counseling?
My Wounds - words, not shown the confidence, never given the keys to the kingdom
What happened when I failed and it was exposed?
Welcome Joel

Sage

I think I would like a Sage in my life. No not the department store that used to be at I-10 and the beltway. I wonder if God has sent me sages and I discounted them, so they left.

So I looked for the Fathered by God handbook and came upon this http://www.ransomedheart.com/p-46-wild-at-heart-sword.aspx

I don't know what to say... I want to say how trite, for real warrior stuff go to Home Depot or Carter's Country... I am not sure.

I think through the list I know and wonder which one is a Sage.  I think Ed Jensen may be one,  I am not sure.

Don't get off the trail

Even in the wilds we can't get off the beaten path. Sad. Why? Who was the one that was allowed to get off the beaten path? Luckily I get to be that person at Stephen F. Austin state park. Even when I go out into places that most folks don't get to go, I still want to be the first one there. That thought is crushed when I find trash from someone that beat me there.

Don't know

So reading the fathered by God book. I don't know if he give enough information for people to know what stage a person is in or what stage you might have missed. I guess there is some point that God will show you if you let Him.

Funny

The Fathered by God Book by line is "Learning what your Dad could never teach you" Then Eldredge dedicates the book to "To Pop"

The risk - Chapter 3 & 4

God risks it but we do not

God risk it back in the garden with Adam, and we try to make it safer day by day. Mr. Eldredge would suggest this is what is wrong with us. Is it because we missed a stage? The Stages suggested are:

• boyhood
• cowboy
• warrior
• lover
• king
• sage

One feels like he missed the warrior stage and does not know how to fight, two are new to the concept and must explore the stages further.

God is good and put the good in us, God is also adventurous. God wanted Adam to choose good because God formed him in His image.
One wants to head out on a motorcycle for two weeks. Unfortunately that is not long enough to make it out of Texas

Oh I did that and survived

Does that mean it was suicidal to begin with? But yet we gain confidence to experience the next adventure.

Is it OK to be OK

Sometimes I think we miss out on God's wonderment because we are too busy being not OK. And OK is a level of perception. If you don't get shot at or spit on traveling to church, then everything else is OK. We are so rich in this country that we don't know what not O.K is.
Walking through a darken field letting/teaching a little girl know it is O.K. to walk without the light on.
I was listening to the wife of @troylivesay their blog on a runner show (click through to the middle) talk about Haiti and she kept breaking into tears. Haiti (poorest country in western hemisphere)is not OK, but yet they praise God.

Level of Riskyness

1. In bed
2. car with helmet, five point harness and roll cage
3. car not wearing a seat belt or helmet
4. motorcycle with gear/helmet
5. motorcycle with no helmet

I think we can all agree that there is an increasing level of risk that goes along with each of these activities. But no one thinks about jumping in a car with no helmet, but race car drivers can't race without a helmet. We don't wear helmets when we ski, because we were brought up that way, but to rent skis for youth, they have to have a helmet. What is the acceptable level of risk and where is God in the protection of us with or without helmets? What is your list of what you are good at?