So Long, Farewel, Auf Weidersehen, Goodbye. Week12

It was like a concert. Pretty sweet.

Easter Sunday the majority of us went to Sydney. Got to check out the Opera House. That night we went to HillSong church. Which was crazy! There were actually animals brought in like camels and brought through. I actually expected the preacher that night to be all "Hallelujah! Praise Jesus" but he was hilarious. He created stories for us so we could visually imagine things. He was great. 

As the last week I was thinking about how it might be boring as we are all getting anxious to leave. Dave told me Monday morning that no, this guy is really engaging. My first thought was "Yeah right." and I completely lowered my expectations. Well, apparently when Dave says something it comes true. This guy was incredible. Super funny, and just really, really knew how to teach. 

Growing up, especially for those growing up in a Christian home, we come to just believe everything our parents tell us. Because we have the answers our parents have given us, before we make our faith our own and ask why questions, we just tend to spit out what we've been told. I think that's why I like it when people ask questions in class. That way we know they haven't just watched or been lectured on it before, but that they've actually studied it, experienced it, reasoned it, and learned from God the truth. Just because we love Jesus, doesn't mean we think like Him. He has a completely different way of thinking than you, our parents, our leaders. Sure, as time goes on we can learn to think more like Him, but sometimes it's hard to change that habit of it.

We discussed values quite a lot. We tend to think of women lower than men, even though we all know that we are created equal. He quizzed us on this and I've come to realize that I perhaps don't hold women quite as highly as men. I can preach it, but I don't quite believe it. More than that, I don't hold myself very highly. I don't mean it in a cocky way, but the reality of it is, I don't value myself much. I tend to hold other women higher than myself. I don't know why I do it, but I do.

There are generally 4 boxes people think in. 

The bible

Trust in the bible, hear from God. Try to think God's thoughts, try to dream God's dreams, try to feel God's emotions, try to say what God says, and trying to do what God does. 

Reason

 We reason with ourselves to make decisions to what is logical in our mind.

Experience

When it comes to later decisions, sometimes we're in the same situation that we have been in the past. Then, we act according to what happened in the past. If it was bad, we may do the opposite, if good, we may repeat.

Institutional Authority

We act according to our culture. How we were raised has an influence in choices we make.

The world tends to encourage us just to make choices through reason and experience. But we need to work in all the boxes. When making a tough decision and you don't feel God is giving an answer, going through all the squares is a really good filter. Even if the choice you come out with isn't what God may have wanted, it's probably can be a fairly decent decision. I hope that makes sense and doesn't offend anyone. I do completely believe in following God for decisions. There are times where people feel like they can't hear God, and if you're desperate and have a time limit, then this could be a good system. 

For my baggage I didn't know entirely how to deal with it. It has to do with a lot of processing I know that, but Richard brought up a way of how to get started I suppose. 

Also, don't look at your ability to do things. If God's asking you to do something and it seems to be out of your capability that's really God asking. You can't heal people, but God can. If you're doing it out of your strength, it's too small.

I found more baggage to deal with this week. Quite a few tears were there. Some has to do with affection and I'm finding it hard to admit the truth of the matter. I just end up making excuses for it. There are some really difficult things for me. 

Anyway, sorry for the super short blog and kinda abrupt. Hard to focus. 

Update on project Get Pissed. There was breakthrough! Praise God! Please continue to pray that more will be done in this person's life. 

Pray for a change in the nation during the next week. Because our God is so big, He can do the impossible! Amen? 

Please continue to pray for my friend who is trying to receive enough finances for her missions trip to Europe.