Gen, Ex, & Job

Hey! Long time since my last post because the lecture phase of DTS ended and I've been on outreach (if you haven't yet heard all about it I added a tab for you to go back and read our newsletters :), but last week I finished my first full week of DBS in Gold Coast and here are some side notes I took away from lectures with Joren Berry! (Over the next three months my posts will be similar to how they were in Queenstown)

Good is relative. Your good may be different from my good. The Bible is not everything we can know, but everything we NEED to know! Western culture is based on a lot of Christian values whether we are atheists or not. Anger is not bad! Righteous anger is good, not prideful. Jesus flips tables and God is wrathful. God is whole, don’t take any portions out. Don’t make an idol out of a portion of God. Israel is God’s toddler. He will scorn them for running out into the road because He loves them. Fact is science, and value is religion.

Everybody believed it was God until the scientific revolution when we could start doing things on our own, we don’t have to rely on Him anymore. We believe in scientists because we put our trust in our human knowledge, but humans can’t understand all things. God starts to seem confusing when we pluck random verses out of the Bible and say, “That’s how I’m going to live my life”, but it's just like reading an email or a text where you need context. Why does it say that no man shall know the end? Because we are not supposed to! (Matthew 24:36) We are meant to live each day out of faith that it will come and if we get up each morning not knowing the end then that’s a lifetime of faith. If we knew the end time then we would put off walking with Jesus because it wouldn’t matter, we could procrastinate.

(Genesis 1:31) All creation was good but man was very good, this is a distinct difference between mankind and all other creation. His point was to dwell with them, enjoy them, let them be. God created us to be co-creators! (Genesis 2:18) The Bible says helper but the direct translation from Hebrew is a lifesaver. Adam got the warning and watched as Eve took the apple which just shows how wrong it is for a man to stand back when he was created to be a dangerous leader. God wants dominant men and submissive wives not because wives are to stand back then, but because we are meant to help raise men higher, and in return, they are meant to love us.

Between predestination and free will, there is both. Imagine a highway that leads to hell but then God places an exit road (Matthew 7:13-14) that says “Everyone is welcome” so some go down that road and when they look back the sign says “Congrats you are the chosen”. Now ultimately you chose but God always knew how it would pan out. 71% of Americans say they’re Christian but only 4% say they are disciples of Jesus. This shows that 71% think that Christianity only means being right with God and having good morals, but that’s just not all that it is.

(Romans 6, 7) Our bodies are ripped apart by sin but God’s Spirit dwells in us. When Jesus died, we got a new spirit and new heart, but when Jesus returns, we will get a new body. Massive silt layers all over the world signify there was a massive flood, that’s a scientific fact. Far too often we try to explain God’s miracles logically, but in truth, we should leave them as just that, miracles. God chooses to work through us but isn’t dependent on us. (Genesis 22:5) The first time that worship was mentioned was when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac. His one and only son whom he was banking on being the fulfillment of the covenant. He was willing to give up Isaac for God. Worship is meant to come with sacrifice.  

It’s a stupid idea that God only has that one person for you because in that case it only takes one person choosing the wrong person to mess it up for the rest of us, therefore God believes in covenant and once you say “I do” that person becomes ‘the one’ no matter what. What is freedom? Imagine yourself as a kite, the thing that limits you is the string and you start thinking “If only”, “if only I could go over there”, but if you cut the string the kite can fly around a bit but inevitably it will crash. Limitations are good. Like gravity. God is more concerned with the bigger picture than the here and now. He cares more about who we become than what we do. What we do is secondary to who we are.

Godly wisdom is the ability to make Godly choices throughout life, hate what He hates, love what He loves, and then base our actions/choices on that. Do we love the gift more than the giver? Job suffered BECAUSE he believed… that should challenge our faith. Don’t put your desire to be right above friendship. Suffering is a promise but have trust that God knows the bigger picture. Challenge that mindset of if life is good I’ll live for God and if it’s not good then I won’t live for God. Stop preaching the prosperity gospel. What brings God glory is not loving Him amidst gifts but loving Him amidst loss. 

I welcome you if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback to click on the contact tab or slide to the bottom of the main menu and shoot me a message therefore I can further explain what I mean by some of these concepts :)