A Kindred Spirit

Other religions have always been looked down on by my family, friends, and community, which has lead me to be highly uneducated about religions other than Christianity. Prior to attending this event, I had not had any type of personal experience with the Buddhist religion. My grandparents live down the road from a Buddhist temple recently built and are in amazement of their bizarre practices. Because of our ignorance of the Buddhist religion, my family has never spoken of it or other religions…

the resistance to help the directee to notice what is happening, to name it and especially to track when the movement away from God begins. I will let the directee to invite the presence of God in directee's life, to note the movement of the Holy Spirit and to pray for God to help the directee to overcome…

a person must comprehend how each gift is manifested in the Holy Spirits character and thus is an example for how we as Christians should choose to live our lives, based off of these principles. Also, one must fully explore and research each individual theme and how they can incorporate it into their own life, if they wish to become fully immersed in every aspect of the Christian faith. I plan to discuss each gift of the Holy Spirit, which include the following: wisdom, understanding, counsel,…

For my research paper, I have chosen to look at a personal situation to research, apply and adapt certain principals in dealing with a highly sensitive matter. The issue is between a staff pastors family and a family in the church. It was brought to the attention of the lead pastor there had been some inappropriate conversations made via texting between a staff pastors wife and a fellow member of the church. The sensitivity of the matter is the fact that there are families involved with the…

I was born and raised in a Christian environment and as a believer in God. I was homeschooled my whole life up until freshman year of high school where I moved on to attend a private Christian academy. Being homeschooled helped prepare me to assert my faith for the “real world” where it would be assessed. Though at times being homeschooled was the most difficult part of my life- being someone who loves meeting new people- it was a felicitous decision which allowed me to grow divergently from…

There were many moments in the Guided Meditation where I was connected with Jesus. One, moment is in the story when I first got comfortable and relaxed I felt that Jesus was right next to me ready to pray with me. The second time is when the prayer started and I was placed into the story. I saw Jesus right next to the Pharisees and everyone around him. The third time was when the paralyzed man was being lowered into the room I saw Jesus face looking up and then down at the man to heal him. After…

This section of the reading is mainly focusing on regulation by faith repentance, and on how fear and forgiveness are connected. Section four particularly highlights how many people tend to distinguish between legal repentance and evangelical repentance. Furthermore, Calvin brings in many biblical references supporting his viewpoint and clarifying what repentance means for mankind. Calvin concludes that repentance is a product of faith (“Institutes of the Christian Religion" - Book III, I, 1).…

Hello Robby; Thank you for your post, I learned much from reading and absorbing your well-studied views. As you stated, personal experiences and training may create a different Christian counseling philosophy from one in a pastoral role, in which I have found to be true, due to your position today as a counselor. In knowing your background in counseling, I can understand why you stated, the need for more treatment provisions through Christian counseling, due to studies showing that churches are…

The book Transitions: Leading Churches through Change, editor David Mosser compiles a collection of writings, be it academic essays or sermons, focused on assisting leaders of congregations experiencing change. This is a rare read for me, as in my thirteen years of ministry and Church leadership I have mostly encountered literature regarding change within organizations from a business perspective rather than a church point of view. To my delight, the contributors of this book offer an…

In the Bible, there are many passages from the Gospel where Christians learn about prayer from Jesus. Prayer as many Christians already know is the communication between us and God. Jesus learned how to pray from his beloved mother Mary, the Jewish tradition and even on his own. During Jesus’ ministry, Jesus taught us how to pray by giving us instructions on how to pray and using parables in order to teach us about a message or prayer in the Gospel. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and…