This week at The Tute...

(You see, I usually start my entry with that saying…. so instead, I titled my post as such.)

Kerby Anderson came and spoke on Apologetics. We learned about religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, and Islam. Here are some key points that I learned about each of these…

Hinduism: 3rd largest religion in the world, has many gods and goddesses, incarnations, idol worship, nature worship, spirit worship, sacrifices and offerings


Buddhism: 4th largest religion in the world, suffering is universal. The cause of suffering is desire and attachment. Suffering will cease when desire ceases. The path to cessation of suffering is: The Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consist of Right Views, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Occupation, Right Effort, Right Contemplation, and Right Meditation.


Mormonism: There is no qualitative distinction between God and us. We are all the same (God the Father, Jesus, angels, human beings). Intelligences→ spirits→ incarnations→ gods. Mormonism teaches the eternal progression of gods. Jesus becomes a savior and a god. Humans can become gods and rule planets.

Islam: 2nd largest religion in the world, they deny the trinity, deny incarnation, and deny the crucifixion. Muslims teach the though Adam and Eve sinned, God forgave them. They don’t believe in our sin nature. Instead we have the ability to save ourselves through obedience and submission to Allah.

Through all of these religions, I think what hit home the most was the fact that Christianity is the only religion with a loving and person God. Wow! That's crazy.

Information obtained from:

Anderson, K. (19 November 2013 – 22 November 2013). Apologetics. Kanakuk Institute. Branson, Mo.

Evangelism

This week, we had the privilege of hearing Matt Chandler speak to us for 3 days! He spoke on sharing the gospel and the key points to getting this message across. He started his lecture off with this saying, "God-Man-Christ-Response." Through these 4 points, we learned many things. First off, God. He said that you have to start with God; we will never understand the complete sinfulness of man without understanding the greatness of God. Man-by our nature, we are drawn to the creation (stuff) and not the creator. God allows us to go ahead and chase that, in hopes that we will realize that we need Him when we crash. Christ - He was without sin, and he is unlike anyone we have ever known. His death wasn't to show us a model of sacrifice, but it showed the value in the sacrifice. Response - No one can not do nothing with the gospel, you either love it or you hate it.
There were three main points that I learned about salvation from Matt Chandler. 1.) God didn't send His son to die for me. God is for God. 2.) Through God, I can enjoy life. Nothing brings God more glory than me enjoying life. 3.) God made relationships between man and women to represent His longing to have a relationship with me. Right there, #3, blows my mind. God WANTS to be with me. God LOVES me.

Marriage and Relationships

     This week, at The Tute, we learned about marriage and relationships. Interesting. Considering I'm involved in neither at the time, I thought this week would be boring… on the contrary. Some of the things I learned are… 1.) If you pollute your brain, you pollute your heart. This applies to EVERYTHING. Anything you see or do or say - goes into your brain, and thus polluting your heart (voluntarily and involuntarily). 2.) I want my spouse to be proficient in the Bible, and amazing in ministry. Having learned an immense amount of knowledge already in my time here, I find my heart wanting someone of equal proficiency.  3.) And finally, ask permission to address conflict, or at least be invited into the situation. I shouldn't fear bringing things up, but I should also make sure that the other party is ready to discuss these things.
     With this being said, I have come up with three goals that I want to implement in my future marriage. 1.) When my spouse is speaking, I want them to have the spotlight. Whether I am in the middle of something and need to stop, or if they are speaking, I want to make sure that I am not interrupting.  2.) I learned that, for men, sex starts with the eyes. I want to make sure that my husband is always looking at me, implementing this by "whatever means necessary." 3.) And I want to use sex as a means of multiplying, pleasuring, and protection. Genesis 1:28, Proverbs 5: 18 & 19, and 1 Corinthians 7:2 - 5.

Homosexuality (Tim Keller)

This week, the topic is homosexuality… What we think, what God thinks, what the world thinks.
The best way to say it…. hit it, TK!

The Kingdom Era

     This week in class, we learned about the Kingdom Era. I, unfortunately, was sick and missed all but the last hour of this lecture. I was able to look at a few people's notes, and what I saw throughout was the Old Testament being referred to in the New Testament.
     Growing up, its so hard to put the bible together. Some think its just a great big story line, from start to finish. Others think that there isn't much order, its just how the Bible was put together. What I see is the "golden thread". There are so many connections as you go through the Bible, connections that I never saw before. This has made digging deep and learning the Bible so much more interesting.

Church History

     This week, we have been studying the history of the church starting in 70 AD, and going through to present day. When we get to the more recent church, my thoughts about "church" and its members were challenged. The views on current day church was broken down by generations to explain the differences in expectations and acceptances. I had no idea how much I differed from the people who are only 7 years younger than me!

     I also learned about my responsibility to the church. Not only is someone to be a member at a church, but there are many more responsibilities. Some of these are: spreading the word of the gospel, being faithful to a local church, attending local church meetings, participation in church works, submit to local church leaders, and participate in local church discipline. This means that "church hoping" and being a "Sunday Only" attender are out of the question. We are to be faithful, even through the small stuff, in order to be a better follower of Christ.

There Is Only One Fruitcake In The Entire World... And People Keep Sending It To One Another

(Turning 30 in a world full of 22 year olds... a bit of advice to them)

Let me tell you something you already know... the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Its a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently... if you let it. Nobody is going to hit as hard as life, but it isn't about how hard you are hit... its about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward.That's how winning is done.

Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, for an hour, for a day, or even a year... but eventually, it will subside... and something else will take its place. If I quit, however,... it will last forever.

The margin for error is so small... I mean... one half a step too late or too early - you don't make it, one half a second too slow or too fast - you don't quite catch it, the inches we need are EVERYWHERE around us... they're in every break of the game, every minute, every second.

You have a dream... you have to protect it.

If you want something... go get it. Period.

Don't be afraid to fail. You can't always win, but don't be afraid to make decisions.

You have to believe that something different can happen. He who says he can, and he who says he can't, are both usually right.

Most of you say you want to be successful... but you don't want it bad enough, you just kind of want it.  You don't want it more than you want to party.  You don't want it as much as you want to be cool.  Most of you don't want success as much as you want to sleep.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is your light, not your darkness, that most frightens you.

You have to dig deep down and ask yourself... "who do I want to be?"  Figuring out for yourselves - what makes you happy...  No matter how crazy it may sound to other people.

Make a choice. Just decide... what its going to be, who you're going to be, how you're going to do it.  Just Decide.

Get up. Don't ever give up.

You can stay here, get the crap kicked out of you.... or .... you can fight your way back into the light... you can climb out of hell... one inch at a time.

To be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what you are... for what you will become.

Most of you won't be successful... because when you are studying... and you get tired... you quit.  "I don't do well in math." YOU'RE RIGHT!!! YOU HAVE NEVER STUDIED! "I'm not good at writing."... because you have never written before!  Talent comes naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.

If you are not making someone else's life better... then you're wasting your time.

Don't cry to give up, cry to keep going.  Don't cry to quit! You're already in pain... you're already hurt... GET A REWARD FOR IT!

So if you know what you're worth... go and get what you're worth... but you have to take the hits.  And don't point the finger and say that you aren't where you want to be because of him... because of her... or anybody.  Cowards do that, and that isn't you!  YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!

Every day is a new day.  Every moment is a new moment.  So, now you have to go out there and show them that you're a different creature.

Show them how great you are!

It is written, "The kingdom of God is within man."  Not one man, nor a group of men... but in ALL MEN! Its in you! The people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness.  You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful... to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Now... what are you going to do?!?!?!

Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.

(Citation: Nike, Luke 17 (The Bible), Marianne Williamson)

Inductive Bible Study (11 months later)

This past week at The Kanakuk Institute (KI), we took an in depth look at Inductive Bible Studies (IBS). I have never participated in an IBS prior, and there was quite a bit of learning I had to endure. I learned how to do an IBS and its importance.

The key to studying the bible can be broken down into 3 steps: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. When starting with observation, look for repetition. Also, ask who, what, where, when, why, and how. Follow those questions by asking, "What does this passage mean by what it says?" This is the interpretation part. After completing those two steps, you must apply it. This can be broken down into two categories: Believe (doctrine) and Behave (actions). In other words, what do I do with it?

The reason all of this is important when reading your bible is that it causes you to slow down. It would be fairly difficult to do all three steps while reading the passage only once, and therefore, makes you re-read. Slowing down also causes you to look for the obvious: repeating words and significant words.

Even though this new process seems tedious and time consuming - I am looking forward to beginning to study my bible this way. I have hopes for  great outcomes from the actually "studying" of the word, and not just reading it.

(11 months later = the last time I posted.)