Transformation Blog

22  that, in reference to your former manner of life , you lay aside the old  (False) self , which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  23  and that you be  renewed in the spirit of your mind,  24  and put on the  new self , which in the has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.  Ephesians 4:22-24 Pastor Tony talked this weekend about who God is, and who we perceive Him to be.  He said, “You will never rise above your image of God.”   That really struck me. Scripture tells us that we are God’s workmanship, made in His likeness and image, and that we are being conformed once again to His image by the Holy Spirit through all of the circumstances that come our way in this life…which is full of hope and comfort, if you know who God is. But what if our image of God was formed by less-than-perfect people and circumstances in our early childho...

Come and sit with me at the foot of the Cross for a few minutes.  It's a peaceful place-- a place where we come to realize that there was never anything to worry about in the first place.  We can sit here with Jesus amidst the weeds of our lives and just ... be.  And it's ok. This next week is a week of remembering Jesus' path to the Cross.  We remember His resolute journey.  Luke says, "He turned His face to Jerusalem".  He knew where He was going and why, and He did not turn away.   Jesus calls us to not "turn away" from ourselves.  Just has He had to deal with fear and dread as He walked obediently toward His death, He calls us to continue, unflinching, in our quest for the whole self He made us to be. Last week we talked about the Shadow Self in each of us--the hidden parts of our hearts represented by the low scores on our Myers Briggs tests.  I have been meditating on my hidden places.  None of them is as extreme as my i...

Transformation February 27, 2012 Knowing Me, Knowing God Exploring Spirituality with Myers-Briggs by Malcolm Goldsmith Opening Prayer Myers-Briggs is a personality survey that shows you your God-given personality, even though it is not essentially a Christian instrument.  Remember as we go forward that no personality type is better than another, but it's important to understand each other's differences. Our uniqueness affects everything we do, including prayer.  Self knowledge is extremely important in the Kingdom of God.  St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assisi, and John Calvin all insisted that you must know yourself to know God, and vice versa. Although we are made to be unique, we sometimes attempt to model ourselves after someone else.  Jesus doesn't say "Imitate me", but rather, "Love as I have loved you." We must start where we are, not where we think we should be, to relate to God and others, and to brin...

Last week we looked at 3 world views and compared them.   This week we will look at them again, but from the perspective of evaluating them in terms of helpful and unhelpful aspects.  I would encourage each of you to look critically at what you consider "normal" and ask yourself, "Is this way of looking at life 'Truth', or is it the construct of man?" As a group we talked through each of the views we had studied.  The following was our consensus: None of the world views we studied is a Christian way of life.      The Classic Virtue View was first detailed by Aristotle, and because it works, societies have adopted it for the most part up until the 20th Century.  Because it emphasizes the group rather than the individual, it built strong societies and families over the centuries.  It held people together, using shame as a motivator.  People need a compelling reason to stay together.  Our sinful nature doesn't lend itself to harmony...

We discussed the 3 major World Views that have existed since the beginning of time.  The first, the Classic Virtue View, was originally attributed to Aristotle, although much of the world ascribed to this view for all of history right up until the 19th century when the next world view began to gain momentum.   It's amazing to me that the musings of a few mortal philosophers can alter the course of human thought!  These are mostly the teachings of the Western world.  We'll talk next time about the relative merits and downfalls of each view.  Remember as you think through these that none of them is a Christian worldview. That remains for us to pray about and sort out with God. As you think through these views, imagine where you fit in to them.  Think about where your parents fit, and your grandparents.  God has a lot to say to us about this topic. Classic Virtue View Beginnings ·       Typical of Roman...

For  our citizenship is in heaven , from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ;  21  who will  transform  the body of our humble state into  conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.   Philippians 3: 20, 21 What does it mean to be 'in Christ'? The Promise -- A Call to Grace For centuries the prophets of God foretold a time when a Deliverer would come and Sin would cease to be.  Israel was called to a life of relationship with God, to keep His commandments and live out His statutes.  But they couldn’t do it.  They tried repeatedly, but always fell prey to their sin nature.  So God went  a step further:     “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,  WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT  WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;  9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH ...

Welcome to the transformed Transformation Blog !  This is the new format for our blog.  It's a place where we can keep up with our studies in how God transforms us from the inside out.  Paul said, "Christ in me--the hope of glory!" I will repost the last few blogs to this new address. The old address is about to become obsolete, so this new free format will replace it. This new format will allow you to read, post comments, and keep up with what we are doing on Monday nights.  I hope you will participate and encourage others to do so as well. You can sign up to receive notices of new postings as well, so you won't have to remember to come to the blog--it will send you a notice whenever there's a new entry.  All of this is free.  You just need a Google account to have access, which is also free.  :-) Since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, I will also post some random thoughts and reflections on this season of Lent leading...