Posts Tagged personal growth
100 Words or Less
Posted by Chance in Community - Lane 2, Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on March 4th, 2010
In response to a sermon series by Ron Woods, I wanted to create a forum where people could post their homework assignment. I know most people didn’t do it, but that isn’t your fault. It is probably a low accountability hangover from your previous educational experience. I know that I have suffered those myself and even created them for others.
However, let’s grow together.
What is your story?
The critical contrast is Jesus Christ, so respond and let us know what story you are prepared to tell to those who the Holy Spirit leads you to.
Chance
Spiritual Heart Rate
Posted by Chance in Discipleship - Lane 3, Spiritual Growth on February 18th, 2010
There is a discipline in sports that requires you to control your breathing as you increase in strenuous activity. In fact, it goes beyond breathing into managing and understanding how your heart rate effects your ability to compete. It is a physiological look at the old story of the “Tortoise and the Hare.”
In short, you have the “Rabbit” (anaerobic)
Strenuous exercise, low oxygen intake, high heart rate, inability to turn carbohydrates into fuel, longer recovery period
Then you have the “Turtle” (aerobic)
Medium exercise, high oxygen intake, medium heart rate, effective use of carbohydrates and fats for fuel, shorter recovery period
So what does this have to do with spiritual growth?
While swimming and monitoring my own heart rate, I began to understand a parallel between our physiology and our spirituality. In order to maximize your ability to compete and achieve success you must be willing to use both anaerobic and aerobic activities. Through planning the level of strain and trauma you put on your body, you can increase the effectiveness of your exertion and create sustained success.
Spiritually, God needs us to go through periods of hardship, strain, and trauma in order to teach us how to rely on him. The problem is that if we rely on him in only short bursts, we experience spiritual anaerobic side-effects. We suffocate our spirit, cut off our understanding that comes from the word’s nutrition, and we find ourselves unable to recover.
The parallel continues with those nagging hardships that are designed to keep us on a regular rhythmic path. However, we don’t grow in God by only experiencing one type of strain. Together, all the events of our life our used as an opportunity allow us develop quickness and endurance.
Don’t fight your spiritual training…recognize it, and use it to become effective and successful.
Chance
What Good is My Faith?
Posted by Chance in Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on November 17th, 2009
From the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), to the bold statements in James 2 about faith and actions, our soul begs us to ask the question; What good is my faith?
A handful of years ago, there was a short kid with a small frame that entered my classroom. His image would make you cold as you noticed the thin layer of insulation between his skin and his bones. His hair was overgrown, but managed by his hands and finger tips. He was wearing a pair of glasses that bent out wide to reach his ears. Research would show they were the same pair he was given in 2nd grade through a state vision program. He wore the same shirt and pants everyday, and never a coat. His catching appearance was matched by his consistent attendance. He never missed a school day or a free lunch
This very real story paints an image of boy in need. However, it is the educational quandary that I would like to dissect and then transfer into our lives. There was an educational economy that expected him to show up, teachers to teach, him to learn, and society to grow. However, somewhere along the line, the reality of life sunk in. His mom was in a mental hospital, his dad was a drunk who urinated on him when he came home in his stupor. With no clean clothes to change into, he would go to school and slowly face the onslaught of adolescent vicisousness and teacher fatigue. The result was a passive-aggressive coping mechanism that led to multiple suspensions and a long term confinement to “the bad school.” It was only here he found a currency exchange that replaced the academic curriculum with service passion. He was given a his only meal of the day at school, his clothes were washed periodically, and he was surrounded by God’s love. This was not a government initiative, but a Godly passion held by a great administrator. She surrounded herself with teachers that cared more than they were required to, loved more than the were expected to, and gave more than they had to.
This should not be the exception in life, because it is the mandate of life. The purpose of your faith and belief is to create closeness with God the radiates a servanthood, which transcends busy schedules, routines, and norms. We are taught not to judge the intent of a person, but the fruit they bear (Matthew 7). However, when it comes to education or even personal servanthood, we seem to claim to the notion, “It’s the thought that counts.” Let me reassure you, it is not the thought that counts. Thoughts don’t clothe, feed, or love a person. To believe in God and pursue him with passion is more than an emotional or cerebral connection. It is only fleshed out through the fruit of our efforts towards humanity.
As we have been challenged by the recent messages from James, I challenge you to become involved in the following activities. However, my challenge should be squandered by God’s call on your heart to USE YOUR FAITH!
Connect to the Outreach Resources Page to see where you can begin your journey!!
Chance
Purpose of this Blog
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth on October 6th, 2009
The Assembly is launching a spiritual growth plan this winter. It marks a pace changing initiative to connect our decision to serve Christ with a determination to become a disciple of Christ.
The foundation to any resource or supplemental support for growth is the personal, laser focused examination of your own heart. In Exodus 19 God tells Moses to have the people consecrate themselves for three days before He would show Himself. This included ceremonial cleansing, washing their clothes, and other preparations. Now is the time for us to prepare for growth by looking inward at those things that inhibit the habitation of God in our lives, for it is His indwelling that allows us to grow.
Continue to connect to this blog for spiritual growth discussion and resources.
Chance Bosch
Executive Pastor/Discipleship