Life With God:Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation-Introduction

Author: Richard J.Foster

I got this book over the summer, and I started reading it over the summer, but I would always stop at the same place in the introduction and then get too busy with other books or events or stuff and so it took me about 2 months to finish the introduction of this book! LOL the good part is that since I read it so many times, I feel like it sunk in a little better than it normally would have. but I loved the introduction to this part, and it has really made me think and am  not even at the actual book yet!

this book, as you can tell, is about life with God. am bad at explaining what books are about, unlike my friend Brent. when Brent does a book post, he can explain to you so well what the book was about.however, i have trouble with that. my way is just to write about the parts that jumped out at me, the quotes I liked, and why. sometimes I do compare myself to Brent a lot and find myself lacking, but when it comes to writing, not so much. we just have different strenghts when it comes to writing. he's really good at nonfiction writing, like this kind, and am better at creative writing, writing stories,etc. anyway, totally got off track there.

the first thing that I totally fell in love with was on the first page:
"through scripture we hear God whispering down through the centuries: "I am with you! "I am with you!" "I am with you!" then, we heard God asking a question that searches the human person to the depths: "are you willing  to be with Me?"the scipture reveals that saying "yes" to this invitation thrusts human beings into life with God...daily...Hourly...moment by moment."(page vii).  I loved this because...it rings true for me. God has done so much for me when I stop and think about it, and all He asks is that I love Him, love others, and follow Him. if you consider all God does, even those things you will never know He did for you...doesnt seem like such a big request does it? I also like the last part, being in life with God daily, hourly, in every moment, not just in certain settings but in everything and everywhere. that appeals to me.  in my current hearbreak over Dan, i need someone to care enough to be there for me, and it seems like God is the only one that is doing that because He has always done that, you know?even when I knew Him but didnt really give Him any of my time.

on the next page, he writes: " just as God kept saying in ancient times, so God keeps saying today:"i am with you in all the love abd terrror and pity and pain and wonder that is your life. I am with you. are you willing to be with me?"(page viii)  I love this because it is saying that through it all, God is with me. no matter what, 24/7, whenever I need Him I dont even have to call Him, He is already there, He already knows. that's...amazing to me. and even though sometimes this isnt very comforting because sometimes, honestly, you need someone with skin, human touch. with this Dan heartbreak thing, I cannot tell you how much i long for someone to just...hold me, let me cry on their shoulder, and listen, but mostly just...hold me.  but I never tell anyone that. am not very comfortable with touchy, huggy, but mostly because am not used to it at all. sometimes, a hug can go such a long way towards making someone feel even a tiny bit better, or even loved and cared about. anyways, off track again. but the idea of God wanting to be with me, all the time, wanting to get to know me and spend time with me and teach me to love, and care and to do His work...if you think about it, it is pretty cool that the creater of the entire universe...loves you.  it's easy to lose that amazing feeling over that, but if you stop and think about it, it is so awesome.

"but we must seek this life out,turn into it because there is also a principle of death within us,stemming from the fall. therefore, we must be constantly saying "yes" to life and "no" to death. we must always be discerning life-giving actions and attitudes from those that are death giving."(page x). It really struck me that God is offering us this amazing life with God, but its not in our nature anymore because of the fall, so we have to always be choosing it, going against our nature in a way. God is life, and we have to always be choosing Him. it made me have this thought that maybe,before the fall, choosing God was in our nature, and everything else was not important, God was first, but after the fall, our nature changed. when you judge this, be kind, i am only a christian baby(2 years old on november 23!!). this was a new idea to me and also...revelied me a bit to think that its super hard on all of us, not just me, that it is in all of our natures to choose us over God, death over life, and we have to work against it. we all have to do that, not just me.

also on page x, foster wrote: "now, all this struggling  and learning to live "with God" has a rock-solid purpose to it: to transform us into the likeness and character of Jesus. God's everlasting intent for human life is that we should be in every aspect a dwelling place for God."(page x). I really like the first part of this. I want to be like Jesus, as dorky as that sounds. granted, we can never fully reach that goal, but we can try and try and try, each and every day, and in each and every moment. it ties back in with what he wrote on the first page, about being in life with God hourly and daily, moment by moment. the part about a dwelling place for God, I must admit I don't fully...grasp that concept yet. I understand it, but I still have to...work on a bit more. I guess it has to do with Jesus/Holy Spirit being in you, and living your life to reflect that. a concept that I am still working on. still, i like the idea of living my life to reflect Jesus and be a good ambassador for Him.

in a previous post, chapter 2 of the Good and Beautiful Life, I wrote how I loved James Bryan Smith's message about the kingdom of God/Heaven being here and not far away. well, foster writes: "Hence, we want to become the kind of person inwardly so that when we do get to Heaven we will want to stay there.our feelings and passions and affections will have been so transformed that we will feel right at home in heaven.nor does this transforming process have to wait for heaven.oh,no, it begins now...today."(page xi). I loved hearing the message that smith wrote about being written about here as well. I especially loved the part about this transformation not having to wait for heaven. if the kingdom of God is here, and we are children of the kingdom, then we should start...acting and living and loving to reflect that. it's like my china prep...I know am going to China, and so am doing all I can to prepare myself,so that even though I wont learn nearly all I need to know until I get there, it wont be such a total shock. what if Heaven begins...right now.  what if the kingdom of God has been here all along, and we have been living in it and claiming it but not acting and living like it. one of my favorite songs is this 80s pop hit called "heaven is a place on earth" and I think that says it all; heaven is on earth, and the "place" is...you. me. us. makes me wonder why we don't act like the children of the kingdom, children of God, that we claim to be.
 "entering a "with God life"baptizes us into the milieu of the Holy Spirit. everything around us becomes scented with the fragrance of heaven..."(page xi). no deep thoughts here, I just love the idea of the very air around me, my essence, having the fragrance of heaven. am a romantic soul,and I am a creative writer/fiction writer(to be formal) so this idea appeals to my soul.
the last thing that really stuck out to me was this: "the heart is deeply and surely healed and restored and redirected by God alone."(page xi). I am currently more heartbroken that I can say over Dan, and when I read this, my thought was that this is exactly what I need. I need God to come in and healed my heart, restore it, and sent it in a new direction. it was also...comforting in a way, to read that God is the only one that can do this for me. that I cant do it for me, Dan cant do it for me, not even Brent can do this for me. only God can, and He will. last spring, before I knew that Dan knew I was in love with him, during the period when I didn't want to like Dan because I KNEW I would end up like this, I heard God telling me: "dont be afraid of a broken heart. I will heal it." either heal it or take care of it. but it seems as if foster is going along those same lines. and that's what i need.
this introduction was so good! I am so excited to read the rest of the book, and how to read the bible for living a "God life" and I think I'm gonna learn a lot from this book.

The Good and Beautiful Life:Chapter Two

Author: James Bryan Smith

Chapter two of this book has taken me awhile to get around to, mostly because I've been busy with school. I love my classes this semester, but they are all so intense and so much reading! anyway, I finally read it today and it was a really good chapter! this chapter's title is "the gospel many people have never heard." in this chapter he talks about how most of have know the message of the gospels as "jesus came to earth to save us." which He did, and that is part of the gospels of course, but smiths talks about  how the central message of the gospels, what Jesus preached, was about the kingdom of God. smith wrote: "i  came to realize,thanks to some gifted teachers,that the gospel Jesus   preached includes even more than being loved,forgiven,reconciled, and given a new identity.i failed to know for over 10 years of my christian life that the gospel also includes an invitation to a great adventure,which i have come to know as 'living in the kingdom of God' ."(36).      I had trouble understanding this when I first read it. it was...strange to think of what else the Gospel could be about. but the more I read the chapter, the more I got it, and the more I came to see that maybe, just maybe, we are missing Jesus' greatest message to us.

"Jesus' narrative: getting heaven into us now." (36). this is the title of the first section of the chapter, and I love it. I always think of  heaven as a place to get to; a place. but what if heaven is more than a place?what if it's something that is inside of us....what if heaven is our heart, our soul, our love...I know am not making sense at all, but this is something that stuck out to me, so I want to write it on here. you know, I can always express myself and my feelings so much better in writing that I ever could with words, but sometimes, even in writing it's hard. some things are just...beyond words.

one thing that I loved in this chapter was when smith talked about how Jesus's message, what He preached about, was the Kingdom of God. smith wrote how in Matthew 4:17 we are told that after His temptation in the desert "...Jesus began to proclaim,'repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.'(37). smith explains that the greek word for "repent" is metanoia, which means "change your mind." this changes the meaning of the verse. as smith says, most of us hear "repent" and think of behavior change, of doing something wrong and changing it. i know that's what ran through my mind when i read this verse. change your behavior, you're doing it wrong. but if you take the word Jesus actually used,"metanoia", then you start getting idea that he wasnt talking about behavior per say, but about changing your mind, the way you think because the kingdom of God is near. think about that part: the kingdom of God is near. what if Jesus wasnt talking about near in a a sense of time but location....what if He was saying that God's kingdom was coming to us? something that i found interesting was smith's explanation of "proclaim." he said: "the word proclaim was commonly used in Jesus' day for a herald who offered a very special word from the king."(37). so in His time, the word proclaim meant a very special amazing annoucement from the king. so matthew is telling us that Jesus went out to tell people this increable message the king had sent. pretty cool, at least i think so. it do find it kinda...ironic that i found the use of the original greek word and how they used the word proclaim  because this is something Brent would get super excited over, and it's one of the reasons why he loves greek so much, so it kinda...scares me when i find myself having a reaction to something or thinking about something in the same way that he would. not saying he isnt a great person, but the idea of thinking like him does scare me a bit. lol :)
 one thing that am not sure whether or not I agree on, or that confused me a bit, or got me thinking a bit...is this: "by labeling the kingdom as an eschatological(end times) reality that will come at the return of Christ,its role and value for our present lives is negated."(42). am not sure whether i agree with this or not. it seems to me like i hear all the time about "doing work for God's kingdom" or "part of the kingdom" so am not sure whether this is true or not. maybe i just dont understand what he meant. if your reading this, i would like to hear your thoughts,advice,etc.

one thing that smith wrote: "the kingdom of God is a present reality that will be fully consummated in the future."(42). I found this contradictory when i read it but at the same i liked it. i tend to think of the kingdom of God as a future thing, far off, but maybe it's a present thing and a future thing all at once. what if I have been...preparing,working,etc to enter something that is right here in front of me? ever wondered that? what if that thing that your working towards, that you are looking for, is right there in front of you? i have. maybe the right guy for me is right in front of me, and i just dont see him. or maybe the guy am meant to be with doesnt see me right here, right here in front of him.

i tend to get sidetracked a bit, so bear with me :)

i wont talk about it a whole lot, mostly because i didnt have a lot of deep thoughts about this, i just really liked it and it inspries me: "...He not only taught about it, he ministered by its power.and by its power Jesus' disciples changed the world,not only in the first century, but in every century since."(42). this inspires me, and i want do work,love,with the power of God's kingdom.

for the rest of this entry, I'm gonna simply write down parts of the chapter that stuck out to me and that I really loved.

• "the rightesousness we need to enter the kingdom is humility,purity of heart, and a desire to work on those aspects of our soul that are most important,such as intergrity,gentleness,respect and mercy."(44).
• i loved this because he is saying that its not the outer things, such as going to church, reading the bible,or even doing service to others, that counts, but its the inner parts that do. for example, its not the act of doing service that matters but the heart, the spirit, in which you do it. it inspires me to stop concentrating on my actions, and start concentrating on my heart, my soul.
• "to enter the kingdom,we must work on our inner life."(44)
• same as what i put above.
• "...children are innocent,trusting and have little self-consciouness. they do not naturally judge others or hate people those are learned activities.love comes naturally to children. of course,children convey more than innocence and love and trustl the can be petty and selfish and fearful.but children do not naturally need to be in control.they have very little authorityor power,and live each day in dependence and trust,receiving everything as a gift.and this,i believe,is what Jesus is advocating."(44).
• this is only part of a paragraph, but i love it! i love especially the part where he writes that love comes naturally to children. i want that so much!
• "the Holy Spirit has been leading me tos Jesus for some time, and when I relinquished control of my life,the Spirit then infused my entire being with new life and new capabilities."(45).
• i love this because its such a beautiful image for me, and also because I want that! i want the Spirit to just...take over me and make Jesus shine through me.
• "some may feel as if their experience is inferior,but in reality it is far better to have walked a whole life with Jesus."(45).
• this is the same idea that Alex Ketterman talked about at the Southern Hills Retreat saturday night devo, that those that havent had a tough, difficult journey to faith feel inferior in a way. however, this kinda...hurt my feelings, because I did not grow up going to church,hearing or talking about God,etc so it kinda makes me sad to hear that it's better to have grown up in it.
• "the wind blows where it chooses,and you hear the sound of it,but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."(john 3:8)(45).
• smith explains that the word for Spirit and wind is the same in greek. so knowing that, it changes the passage a bit for me. what if its not a comparision but a description of the Spirit? plus, i love the image, the idea of the Spirit moving, and you hear it, but you dont know where its going, where its been, or where it'll take you. it makes me excited!
• "we enter the kingdom through surrender,humility,trust, and a willingnessto begin working on our hearts in order to become the kind of person God desires us to be."(46).
• this is what smith says at the end of the chapter, and i love it!

this chapter was so good! i learned that maybe the kingdom of God is something that will happen when Christ comes back, but it also something that  is right here. after reading this chapter, I think that part of a Good and Beautiful Life is...putting Heaven inside of you(or working towards that, none of us are perfect)...the love, purity, gentleness, endless love,caring,etc that Jesus had and putting it inside our hearts and making it   part of our soul. does that make sense?i hope so lol

They Like Jesus But Not The Church: Chapter 1

Author: Dan Kimball

This is the first chapter of the book and it deals with the idea that people that don't like church,that don't like christians,etc usually feel that way because of christians that they have met, or how they've been treated by christians. the chapter's title,I problaly wouldnt like christians if I werent one, is one that i can certaintly relate to. i've had that feeling of being thankful that christianity is about Jesus and not us. i've had those moments where the only thing stopping me from quitting this christian thing, was Jesus/God. i wonder how many other people have had moments like that. Gandi was like this emergening generation: he loved our God but he didnt love us.

He starts out the chapter by telling this story of going to a gym and talking to the trainer( a woman) and she was showing him the machines, and they were talking, and finally she asked what he did and he said he was a pastor. she flipped out, as in she accindely tripped over one of the machines. she couldnt believe that this nice, friendly man she had been talking to was a pastor. to her, pastors are supposed to be creepy, and hate homosexuals,etc.  He wrote that her image of pastors is a growing one in the country: "In certain areas of the country  which are more conservative,such as the Bible Belt,there is a strong historial christian presence and churches are everywhere.there is some degree of cultural respect for Christians and church leaders, and so you might not find such a strong reaction as the trainer's. but please don't assume that even in conservative areas the sentiment about Christians and churches isnt changing,especially among younger generations."(page 26).    being in Abilene, it's hard to wrap your mind around the idea that there are people outhere that dont like christians. this is a town where christians are the norm,everyone seems to go to church, and that's all respected and even part of the town's...culture for lack of a better word. I didnt grow up going to church, or talking about God,etc. so i feel that i look at things a bit differently than a lot of my friends, who did grow up in it. not better, not worse, just a different perspective. i problaly come across as rude or something when I ask for advice and all I get is "oh pray about it" and i say that doesnt work for me, that it sounds like a cop-out, what you say when you dont have any advice but feel you have to say something. or when people try to make me feel better by pulling out the "everyone has  gift from God" speech.  from my perspective, outside of the Christian "culture" those things just sound empty, mostly because Christians say that so many times that by now, it's just what they tell everyone. but in a town like abilene, i suppose am a minority. and i guess i am a little used to it being respected, to it being the norm. yet in China, i might run across people like that trainer, and it makes me wonder, what i will do, what my reaction will be...how it'll make me feel. i think that it would be such  a blessing for me from God to...change someone's perspective of Christians a tiny bit  for the better or even that by meeting me they learn that maybe, just maybe, not all Christians are like the  ones that yell at people, that are judgemental and more focused on their religion that loving people. another thing i can relate to in a way is this: "....and that the only thing they have experienced from Christians is being told right away how wrong they are."(page 27).  this is about non-christians, but i can relate to the feeling of being told, though not directly, that am wrong. the night of the "Dan talk" i ended up asking anne to give me a ride, and we talked a bit, but it quickly became obvious to me, that she might have been trying to help, but all she was doing was telling me how what i wanted wasnt what i should want, and she basically did tell me i was wrong for wanting a relationshio with a guy, for not wanting to be single(coming from someone who is dating someone and has been dating him for years). and once i talked to abigail about the campus ministry thing and she basically told me i was wrong and that i was being selfish. so i can relate to feeling like sometimes Christians,despite motives, just end up telling someone why they are wrong, why they shouldnt want something,etc. i try not to do that,i try not to make people feel like they have defend/justify how they feel to me, and i might not be perfect at it by any means, but i do try. putting someone in the position of being told in a nice fancy christian way that they want the wrong thing is not a good way to love them. at least, that's my thought.

there are so many things in this chapter that i liked and that...caught my eye, but i wont talk about them all. mostly because it's almost 11pm and am kinda tired, so i do want to keep it short. lol

 He had a section wrote about a time that he  talked  to these two college aged people, and he never said exatly what their religion was, but it was different than christianity. but he talked to them, went to the bookstore they reccomended, and even though he didnt believe in their beliefs and believed they were wrong, he still respected their beliefs and took time out to spend with them.  he closed the section with: "i love the heart of Jesus, who spoke to people outside of the religious circles of his day. we should pay close attention to his example."(page 29). i love love love this! the part where he says he loves the heart of Jesus especially touched me. i think i get so caught up in trying to live like Jesus, and live like He taught us to  that...i guess I dont think about whether I am loving the way Jesus did, if I am working at modeling my heart after His. and i did just not have that thought. Jesus did teach us how to live, but he did also live it out, and His heart is the way ours needs to be, and how He loved is how we should love.

this is just a... thought I had so I thought i'll throw it on here. page  32 the author writes: "...or on seeing Christians standing outside of rock concerts with lists of sins on big signs and shouting through megaphones that everyone passing by wont find God in the concert." the author put in parentheses that he had experienced this the last 2 concerts he went to. when i read this, i had this thought: "how do you know they wont find God at the concert?" it feels to me like a statment like that is...egostical. God can reveal Himself any way He wants us, and by saying things like that, we are saying that we know God, we know how He works and how He doesnt work. and second, we are also putting God in a catergory. we are limiting Him like we are limited. i know, weird huh? but it's what ran through my mind and so I thought I'll write it on here.

the last section of the chapter, he closes with this: "we need to be careful that we dont do the same thing and make assumptions about others based on a few bad experiences."(page 34). i think this is important in so many ways, but for myself, it's very important in terms of my going to China. it's actually very similiar to one of the articles I am reading as part of my training to go. the article talked how we shouldnt get discouraged when we try to talk to someone about Jesus and it doesnt work, or we get blown off, or it doesnt work out, or they try it for awhile but then leave,etc. we need to keep trying and not let the bad experiences stop us. this is the same idea, i think. it's important that i dont let the times that it's not gonna work, that i will try to talk to someone about Jesus and it doesnt work keep me from trying with others. it's hard to write down for some reason. i guess that i am not gonna go to China and successfully tell someone about Jesus and help them to meet and see Jesus with everyone I meet, and most often it's not gonna work, but that doesnt mean I should let those bad experiences stop me.

this chapter was so good! i really took away from it that we have to stop being so...judgemental in how we view non-christian people, or even non-church people. we have a bad steroptype on us guys, and we have to change it. we are supposed to be letting Jesus shine through us, but we dont seem to be doing a good job of that.