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Life Giving Rhythms Daniel’s Rhythm Daniel 6:10-3 times a day he prays The presence of the living God is within them. My Rhythm Sabbath, Exercise, Meditation Rule of Life-when monks use the word “rule”,  they mean a trellis. This allows more light, growth. Our fruit bearing is something God does. See John 15, Philippians 2:12-13 Not a have to, but a get to. Sabbath allows me to work from rest. Centering Prayer It’s biblical and practical. God in My Everything Book Not a self created routine but Spirit directed You will have a rhythm by design or by default. My prayer is that you would know God in your everything (work, family, friends, play, service, church, etc.)

Cross Vision What is your mental conception of God? Not what is your theology, but what goes on in your head when you think about God How beautiful is your conception of God?  If your conception of God doesn’t seem too good to be true, your view might be too low. Love is not just a verb God does, but also a noun about who God is. Hebrews 1:1-3-The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and exact representation (character) of his being (essence) All Scripture points to Jesus-John 5:39 1 Corinthians 15-everything in Scripture points to Jesus’ cross centered ministry The Bible is divinely inspired. How does the cross reveal the definitive revelation of Jesus? On the surface, the cross is ugly but the cross is beautiful in its depth as we see it by faith God loves us as we are so we can become who He wants us to be.

Jesus reveals who God is. Love is not just what God does (verb). Love is also who He is-God is love. (noun). Jesus endorses the Old Testament. I believe in the inspiration of the entire Bible. Jesus says all Scripture is about Him. Luke 24 What is your mental conception of God? What I discovered: The violent portraits of God actually point to the cross. How does the cross become the definitive revelation of God? Surface of the cross is hideous, mirrors sin.  Depth of the cross is love of God, what God stepped into. The cross is not a one off event. Jesus is saving, atoning throughout not just at the cross. Where else do we find examples of portraits of God that we need to look beyond the surface? God is said to have done things that He merely allowed. Someone else actually did it and they attribute the act to God. The surface tells us what the people understand. What is their understanding? Their interpretive lens?

Cardigan Sweater, Magnolia Tree, Brioche: The Overlooked Paths to Christ Scripture Offers My imagination of who God is was very limited. What do the Scriptures say about this? We bring an archival knowledge of God. Jesus used the ordinary to help us know who God is. Metaphors for God in the Scriptures God as a tailor-Genesis 3 People make clothes for those they love.  The clothing for Adam and Eve was an offering of love. Picture of God’s provision for us.  The expectation that we will grow (hems let out) Sensory Perception Details Both literally and metaphorically Smell-perceiving and omitting odor Soothing odor in OT (incense sacrifice) In Revelation, prayer of the saints are incense rising to God in golden bowls Shepherd Image we talk about often in the church, but we don’t have a personal experience with shepherding Picture that was handout out-What was a young girl doing as a shepherd? Exodus 2-young women shepherding Jesus as good Sh...

What questions are rolling around after the session? Jesus grew up in rabbinical system that asked a lot of questions.  Why does he ask so many questions? That’s what rabbis do. I learned more about the passage by asking 100 questions than trying to have the answers. (Story of Abraham and Isaac) Chuvruta-Hebrew process of asking questions To Ask Great Questions You have to be curious You need Wisdom (Holy Spirit, Emotional IQ) You need Compassion You need Courage There are four levels of questions. Level 1-Simple Facts Level 2-Feelings, Emotions, Motivations Level 3-Desires, Passions Level 4-Vulnerability, Intimacy How to get better at asking questions: Preparation What type of question am I about to ask?  Motivation? Is it worth it to ask this question? What have you done this week that has made you feel alive? Tell me your story. Does this person want to be asked questions? Right time, Right place How can I ask this question in an ...

The Soul of Jesus’ Questions and the Questions of our Soul What is it about questions? Why are we so quick to give answers but slow to ask questions?   How do we ask questions that are timeless and also timely? What if following Jesus was not about having all the answers but instead about asking great questions? What other questions have changed the trajectory of your life? Great questions take us on a magnificent journey. Socrates-The Curious Questioner A good question provokes (gadflies) and brings new life (midwifes) into the world. He died because he asked questions. Questions-What Jesus utilizes in order to bring about transformation in people’s lives. Physical Field Trips (walking around) Imaginative Field Trips (storytelling) Mental Field Trips (asking questions) Jesus used questions brilliantly. Asking questions was central to the teaching of Jesus. There are approximately 980 questions in the New Testament. Jesus asked over 30...

The Magnificent Journey Early Christians called themselves people on the way. Journey-a good metaphor of the Christian life It is to be magnificent, epic. You can live in the available kingdom now not just in heaven. Robert Frost-The Road Not Taken-Metaphor as an act of surrender I am going to surrender the kingdom of Jim for the kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33-Seek ye first the kingdom-center of Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:13-14-Jesus is telling the truth, there is something about the human person who does not like to surrender We live in a world whose values are very different.  They are telling us to stay in control. The key to the Christian journey, wrote Dallas is the “surrender of a lesser, dying self for a greater eternal one.” Put simply, the yes of surrender is greater than the no of self-denial. What is gained is far greater than what is lost. Two Prayers of Surrender Wesley’s Covenant Prayer St. Ignatius of Loyola “Suscipe” Pra...

Today, I am attending The Apprentice Gathering at Friends University in Wichita.  During the day, I attended a workshop led by Mimi Keel. Below you will find notes from the workshop: John Westerhoff in “Will our Children Have Faith?” writes,  In the formation of children we do four things: We tell and retell God’s story until it becomes our own personal story We participate in the Eucharist and the liturgy We listen and talk to each other about our relationship with God We practice acts of ministry together Holistic-Relating to the whole, rather than dissection of the parts; whole is greater than the sum of its parts The Whole Child Multiple-Intelligence Theory Educational philosophy that is based on developing the whole child Creates environments for the whole child to explore Types of multiple intelligences-Bodily, Verbal, Musical, Naturalist, Interpersonal, Mathematical (Logical), Visual See Handout: Multiple Intelligences and Prayer Video...

Today, I am headed to Wichita to attended The Apprentice Gathering at Friends University.  I have wanted to attend this conference for several years.  I first heard about the conference when we were using the book Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith for a Sunday School class.  James Bryan Smith is a professor at Friends and will be one of the speakers.  I look forward to these few days as we focus on the theme-Journey: Living Deep in the Kingdom. Check back over the next few days for quotes from speakers.