Giving up?

That didn't take long. Well, maybe you can just read the book, eh?

:)

Update - April 25

Hello lovely gals!

I'll give you all another week to post through page 17. I don't want to get to far ahead of what you are posting.

I'll post questions for the next section (pages 20 through 31) next week - May 2nd.

Let me know how this process is going for you.

Love,

Jere

Part Two - Pages 10 through 17 - Due Monday, April 19

I love the story about Gary, the young life leader. Not because I can relate, but because I am jealous. I wish I had a Gary, or more appropriately a woman, who took that kind of interest in me as a young teenager.


WHEN YOU WERE STEVE'S AGE DID ANYONE INVEST IN YOU LIKE GARY DID TO STEVE? IF SO, TELL US ABOUT IT. IF NOT, WHAT ARE YOUR REFLECTIONS ABOUT THAT?

I remember singing about the Year of Jubilee, but I never knew what it was all about.

So it seems it's all about trust.

CAN YOU SHARE A TIME WHEN YOU TRUSTED GOD FOR SOMETHING AND THERE WAS NOTHING YOU COULD DO BUT WATCH GOD MEET YOUR NEED?

At the beginning of this section Steve shares a bit of how he felt prior to Gary connecting with him. It's obvious that Gary filled a big void in Steve's life. Now we know that he had loving parents, but as teenagers we don't identify with our parents as someone who meets our needs and makes us feel important.

Are you guys too young to remember the TV show 'Cheers?" The theme song went like this:

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?


Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LONELY...OR FELT LIKE NO ONE WAS THERE FOR YOU? IF SO, WHAT BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THAT PLACE?

Part One - Foreward, Introduction - pages 1- 9

Read Hosea so as to have some context.

The way I see it the Bible is full of stories.

Meaningful stories for sure: but none the less, stories.

Jesus loved telling stories too! In fact, story telling was the entertainment medium of the day.

In the New Testament there are numerous stories that tell about a persons conversion. From the lepers to the thief on the cross, there are stories that tell of people coming to believe and know Jesus as their savior. Lives changed.

??What is YOUR coming to Jesus story?

One of the things Christians like to do is group themselves together, those who are like minded with similar values and beliefs. They find others who like the same 'flavor' of Christianity as they create church. For me, the problem with this is that it creates a culture of exclusivity and when someone comes into the group that acts, looks or sounds different, rather than embrace them human nature tends to convert those 'outsiders' into thinking and being just like the collective group.

??Can you think of a time when you experienced a similar response that Steve gave to John? Which part of this story do you relate to the most?

A wise man (Wade) once said to me, "We cannot begin to understand God, so why do we try?"

On page 6 Steve hits the nail on the head: Referring to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, he says that thousands of pages of theology have been written trying to nail down what all that meant.


??So why do you think so much time and energy (and conflict) is given to trying to understand the magnitude of God? Especially in light of the fact that Jesus told us to come to him as a child?

Reading Instructions

Each week I will post the discussion questions.

As you read take notes, underline, write in your book - whatever works for you.

Write your own questions to post, ideas, questions you think of, ideas you love, ideas you disagree with. These thoughts that you have should be posted in response to my initial post.

Each week I'll start with the discussion questions and ideas from the section we are reading. Along the way I will suggest different portions of scripture to read to give you more information and supplement the part of the book we are reading.

If something is confusing, please let me know. I am open to suggestions to make this easier for everyone.

My hope is that we can get together at the end of the book for a 'week-end' with just us 'prodigal girls' to reflect and share.

This blog is dedicated to the discussion of the book 'Embraced, Prodigals at the Cross' written by Steve Sherwood.

Life on this rebel planet is not how God intended it to be. The proof that evolution is false (in my opinion) is found in the deterioration of our world. Disease, destruction, fear, loss, corruption, etc.....if the theory of evolution was true then things should be getting better on earth. Sadly, they are not.

Know this: I do not have all the answers. Also, I am not a theologian and my ability to understand deep and important things is limited. What I do know, I tend to feel. The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator proved this. My emotions drive who I am.

When I was younger I struggled with this. I wanted to be just like my friend Denise. She was soft spoken, thoughtful and wise. When I turned 40, my hopes of being like Denise began to wane. Try as I might, I am emotionally charged and often make decisions with my feelings rather than my mind.

By the age of 50 I gave up hope of ever changing. And truth be told, I am beginning to like who I am. (Thanks, Sondra.) At least most of the time.

So the question remains, just who are we supposed to be? My faith in God tells me that I am beloved by my creator. And while I am never going to meet his expectations, he knew that from the beginning of time. He used the writers of the Old Testament, the Torah and other books to point out that we are woefully inadequate in the area of perfection.

So he sent himself and the person of Jesus Christ to show us the way. This is what the New Testament is about.

And once Jesus, who died on the cross and then returned to the land of the living, left earth to return to his Father, we were given the Holy Spirit to help us while we wait for Jesus' return. That's my theology. Told you I wasn't that deep of a thinker.

I believe the Bible is the word of God. And while it's pretty easy to see how far we all fall from understanding every, single intention of scripture (it is a translation after all), here are a few of my favorite verses that I purpose to live by:

Micah 6:8 (The Message)

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

Lamentations 3:22-33 (The Message)

22 God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. 23 They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! 24 I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. 25 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. 26 It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. 27 It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. 28 When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. 29 Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. 30 Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst. 31 Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return. 32 If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. 33 He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way.

This isn't a verse, but it's a pretty good motto to live by:

"Christians should comfort each other in distress, assist each other in doubts and difficulties, embolden each other by example and assist each other through prayers." ~ John Witherspoon


2 Corinthians 1:4

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.


Matthew 22:36-40 (The Message)

34-36When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?" 37-40Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Romans 2:3-4 (The Message)

3-4You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.



Philippians 2:1-8

1-4If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.


And so, let's journey through this book together. As we share our thoughts and feelings about what we read, let us open up our hearts to hear what God would love for us to understand and believe.