Prezi for Class #3 - Good Uses for Bad Ideas - Gnosticism

Week 7 - Change Your Prayers; Change Your World Starter Video

What is "The Gospel"?

What is the "good news" that Jesus came proclaiming, showing, defending and dying for?

I have grown increasingly - over the last 15 years - uneasy with the composition of "the good news" that i have learned and promoted myself that solely concerns me, God and our relationship. I clear presentation of this understanding of the gospel in contained in this blog post from Ligonier Ministries R.C. Sproul.

Why i am uncomfortable with that presentation of the "good news"?

Andrew Murray Quote for the Week of September 29th 2013

"In the Church of our day it is to be feared that the great majority of believers have no conception of their calling to be perfect. They do not have the slightest idea that it is their duty not only to be Christian, but to be as eminently spiritual, as full of grace and holiness, as it is possible for God to make them."

David and Goliath as told by Malcolm Gladwell

Favourite Line: "If you do the calculations on the stone in David's sling it is roughly the stopping power of a 45 millimetre handgun."

Moral of the Story: Don't bring a spear to a sling fight. With apologies to Sean O'Connery.

Pastor Jacob Birch and Andrew Murray's quote on Jesus as Master

From page 51 of The Secret of God's Presence...

"To take Jesus as Master, with the distinct desire and aim to be and live and act like Him--this is true Christianity. This is something far more than accepting him as Saviour and Helper."

Pastor Jacob Birch and are we Christ-ians or Bible-ians?

Mark Moore - a blogger my brother Rich Birch linked to - wrote a very intriguing post today that i want to interact with. The post is entitled The God Who Is Like Jesus. It's an introduction of sorts to three sermons he has preached on similar topics that i have yet to listen to, but hope to soon.

The 1 sentence observation that summarizes his message is:

Christians in all times and all places are CHRIST-ians, not BIBLE-ians.

I get it... I mean the founder of my denomination preached the same sermon over and over again so many times he turned it into a hymn entitled Jesus Only. A ramped up recent adaptation of its lyric and tune is here:

Pastor Jacob Birch and a Prayer for Tim Bosma

Psalm 10^[a]

¹ Why, Lord, do you stand far off?^(A)
    Why do you hide yourself^(B) in times of trouble?

² In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,^(C)
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
³ He boasts^(D) about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.^(E)
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.^(F)
5 His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by^[b] him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶ He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”^(G)

⁷ His mouth is full^(H) of lies and threats;^(I)
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.^(J)
8 He lies in wait^(K) near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.^(L)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
⁹     like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;^(M)
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.^(N)
10 His victims are crushed,^(O) they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, “God will never notice;^(P)
    he covers his face and never sees.”^(Q)

¹² Arise,^(R) Lord! Lift up your hand,^(S) O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.^(T)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?^(U)
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?^(V)
14 But you, God, see the trouble^(W) of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;^(X)
    you are the helper^(Y) of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man;^(Z)
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

¹⁶ The Lord is King for ever and ever;^(AA)
    the nations^(AB) will perish from his land.
¹⁷ You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;^(AC)
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,^(AD)
18 defending the fatherless^(AE) and the oppressed,^(AF)
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

Psalm 10

Pastor Jacob Birch's Prayer for the Day - Deuteronomy 9:26-29

²⁶ I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(C) your own inheritance^(D) that you redeemed^(E) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^(F) 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(G) of this people, their wickedness and their sin.²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(H) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(I) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^(J) 29 But they are your people,^(K)your inheritance^(L) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(M

Deuterononmy 9:26-29

Pastor Jacob Birch's Prayer for Today... Habakuk 3:17-18

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,^(A)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,^(B)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,^(C)
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.^(D)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=habakuk%203:17-18&version=NIV