Sacred Pathways

One of things we learned in the school about is how different people get closer to God. Personally, when I learn more about the universe, science, morals, apologetics then I feel like I understand more about God. Writing and discussing things with other people does something similar for me because my second highest pathway is relational. So for me to express that I am getting closer to God, I don’t express what I am feeling necessarily, but more what I am thinking. Small groups are very important to me because I am so high in the intellectual and relational pathways, but I have to be careful not to make other people do things that are a high priority for me.

Some people feel like they get closer to God in a 10 minute conversation with a fellow Christian and some in an hour sermon. Some people get closer to God through a walk in the park and some by an intensive Greek exegesis of the scripture.

Gary Thomas writes a book called Sacred Pathways in which he expresses all of the different ways which people worship God and get closer to God. I will try to summarize briefly, but you should read the book:

o Naturalist – Gets closer to God through being in His creation
o Traditionalist – Gets close to God through ritual, knowing that they are doing same things as his father, his father and the same as Christians one 1000 years ago.
o Ascetic – Gets closer to God through Solitude, Fasting, and Suffering
o Service – Gets closer to God through service to others
o Activist – Gets closer to God through actively challenging injustice, protesting, etc
o Contemplative – Gets closer to God through meditating on God’s character, love etc.
o Intellectual – Gets closer to God through their mind, learning something new about Him
o Relationship – Gets closer to God through being around other believers, activity may not matter so much as being in community with other believers
o Sensate – Gets closer to God through feel, taste, smell, seeing, and hearing. All senses engaged. Music, incense, beauty are all important
o Enthusiast – Gets closer to God through intense worship experiences.

I am high with Intellectual, relationship, musical worship, and naturalist in that order. I am low on ascetic and contemplative. Now if everyone we know in the body of Christ is spread out between these: How can the average church service appeal to everyone? In fact you can see people you know and even whole denominations in these categories.

The concept that is expressed in this book is fairly simple, but once you get hold of it I think it could be life-changing.

Catholic and Orthodox churches seem to believe in putting their folks on the tradition or ritual paths in the congregational setting.

The discipleship path that churches sometimes put their followers on can be pretty formulaic. The classic formula of Protestant churches is usually to put people on the musical path in the large group and then put them on the contemplative and intellectual path at home in their quiet times. We are told quiet times are the way to get closer to God, but we are usually not informed of the variety of activities of which this could be composed.

So what is the point? The point is that if you find that something brings you closer to God, then you should make a plan to do more of that. Make a spiritual game-plan based on the ways that you naturally experience God, but also plan to improve on the ones you are really bad at. For me this would be contemplative and ascetic, ie solitude, fasting, praying alone etc.

Awesome Reminder

This morning, the pastor at the church we have been attending spent the entire service going in detail over Luke 22...the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. Honestly, I have not heard a pastor speak on this in a long time. It was hard to listen to, which is why we probably often skip over the details of His death and straight to the resurrection. How much more His sacrifice means to me when I am reminded of what He went through to save us!
We had several significant breakthroughs this past week. Tim was visiting an apartment complex in Clarkston this week and started up a conversation with a Muslim man from Somalia. They ended up talking for 2 hours about this man's life, and he was very appreciative and open to the Christian faith! Tim is planning to meet with him again this week....
On Friday evening, we spent some time with Khaled and Rasha's family. We read through Luke 19 in Arabic and English together and then discussed what we learned. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of us studying the Bible together on a regular basis.
We also had an answer to prayer yesterday! We have tried several times in the last month or so to reconnect with the Hispanic family that had lived in our building. They moved to another building (I know, it doesn't sound far, but it does make a difference!). Yesterday, Tim prayed that we would hear from them or see them yesterday if God wanted us to continue to invest our time in them. After dinner last night, Tim was giving the boys a bath when we heard a knock at our door. Sure enough, it was Louis, Gladys, and their two children! This was the first time they have ever visited us! Not sure what God has planned for in our relationship with us, but it is very clear that we are to spend time with them in our remaining weeks here.
Please keep us in your prayers!

Over the Mid-way Mountain

Thank you for your prayers...this past week and weekend has been much better! In fact, this past weekend was the best we have had here yet. We spent Friday evening at the park with our Iraqi family, Saturday we spent most of the day with other GFM families, and on Sunday we had a date night. One of the things Tim and I have learned here is how crucial having a close community is for us. When we don't have that, we both seem to dry up and lose focus. We really thrive on relationships with others. Surprise, surprise! :)
We are a little over the half-way point of being here in Atlanta and have been reflecting on what we have learned and what we still have yet to learn. One thing that has been reinforced to us is that we are in a season of life that requires a lot of time spent on our children. They are God's gift to us and we have a responsibility to disciple them. At some point, we pray they will be able to fully participate in our ministry and be a ministry to others. As frustrating as it can be sometimes, our outside ministries are naturally limited for the time being.
Our gifts and passions have become more clear - Tim and I both love to teach, disciple, and bring others together. We are still thinking through ways we can use these gifts more effectively when we return to KC.
We have been convicted of our lack of evangelism to non-believers. Whether or not we have a "gift" to share the Gospel or others is not the question, God still calls each of us to share His truth. This definitely requires us getting out of our comfort zone! Please pray that we will take advantage of all the opportunities that God gives us in this area.

Honesty is Humbling

I have been avoiding updating our blog for several weeks now. To be honest, I have been really homesick and have been questioning my purpose here. I hate being negative, so I was just waiting until I felt more like my more positive self. And here I am, several weeks later, not feeling much better. Maybe it is the pregnancy hormones, maybe it is the half-way slump, maybe it is another lesson God is teaching me.
Our true selves (struggles, fears, etc) come out when we are put in uncomfortable situations, and I am not liking what is coming out in me. I think one of my biggest problems is pride - I thought I was stronger than this. I didn't want anyone to know how much I really am struggling. It is difficult for me to understand why I am so unhappy when I know God called us here. Obviously, I have relied way too much on myself and not on Him. We are to have trust and joy in Him in every situation. God never promises that our lives will be easy. We are to follow Him, no matter the cost.
I've been reading one of the class books - The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola. I really recommend it - it is a walk through the New Testament in chronological order. It puts Paul's letters in perspective, and I have finally realized that his "defensiveness" in many of his letters has good reason! Paul was persecuted so often for preaching the Truth, and he too, questioned his purpose and had many disappointments. We are not supposed to be strong on our own. We can't do it - only He can carry us through the difficult times. Now if I could only listen and follow my own preaching....