Life from death

With Good Friday and Easter approaching, the focus is on the death and resurrection of Christ--death and life, the former which we dread and the latter which we seek. We hate death, and yet so often we cooperate with it by choosing hurtful things. We want life, and yet so often we cling to the things which fight against it. Our self seems to lead us exactly the wrong way--away from life in Christ. If self is in charge, we're in trouble.

That's why the self-control given by the Spirit is different from the self-control that helps us get what we want. If I control myself only as a means of achieving my own goals, it is not the Spirit of Christ who is in charge.

But, as it says in Romans 8: 11-15, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

Imagine that--no, do better than that--BANK on it: the Spirit of the resurrected Christ lives in us, bringing life where once death reigned. It's not Easter yet (hide your eyes if you're a stickler for following all the Lenten traditions), but I'm going to say it anyhow, "Hallelujah!!!!"

Contentment and Self-control

One of our verses this week says, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." That idea of contentment and its role in self-control has been rolling around in my brain all week. Usually we think of words like discipline and organization and planning and denial in relation to self-control, but it seems to me that contentment does more than all of those to help me put my trust in God rather than in my own desires.

If I am content with what God has provided and confident in his tender, all-knowing care, I don't need to be always looking for more, more, more. If I realize that God has created a safe place for me--a place hemmed in by warnings against unhealthy and harmful things--it's easier to say "no" to those things that God tells me are not for my good. If my worth and sufficiency come from my position in Christ as a beloved, redeemed child of God, I don't need to try to make myself feel good by indulging my ravenous sinful nature. Christ fills me; why would I stuff myself with anything (any excessive behavior) that competes with him for my affection, attention, and adoration? Being content with Christ, the ultimately satisfying "portion" God assigns me, is a key to self-control.

Link to a GodTube Video

Have you seen this video? A member of our class sent it to me with the warning to have tissues handy. She was right! Click on the link below to go to the video.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5&ref=sv

Not the good fight

Paul tells us to "fight the good fight of faith" but there's a fight that's NOT the good fight of faith but the bad fight of pride. In our lesson, gentleness was described as "the complete surrender to God's will and way in your life." Its opposite was defined as "fighting against God." Here are a few characteristics of those who lack gentleness: "They push and shove. They fear that to give in means to lose." To me, this is a picture of an "I must win" mentality. It makes all of life into an opponent to be mastered, a contest to win, a trophy to raise high which will prove our worth and success. It focuses on what Paul calls "confidence in the flesh"--what I can accomplish or do or be--and is what he came to call "rubbish" compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.

Coincidentally (NOT!), these concepts were reinforced in a book I just happened to randomly pick up at the library yesterday. It described how we often pit ourselves against others in our relationships (with God, spouse, children, friends) instead of placing ourselves next to them in unity or, heaven forbid, even putting ourselves under them in submission. The picture is a boxing ring, hands lifted in aggression and self-protection. Lest you think that too dramatic an image, let me share some of the behaviors these authors suggest indicate lack of gentleness and an "I must win" attitude. They call these "invalidations" and include anything that lessens the value of others. (Many of these are most visible in interactions with people, but I'm firmly convinced that we treat God the same way we treat people; we just fake ourselves out better with him.)

Here's a quick synopsis of some common invalidations in various categories:

Blatant slams
Rolling eyes, glaring, name-calling, sarcasm, uncomplimentary names, mocking intelligence or skills, criticizing, complaining.

Slamming by Association
Ridiculing the person's friends, family, occupation, gender. Belittling beliefs, projects, or creations. (Belittling a person is belittling God's creation!)

Unflattering comparisons
Drawing attention to the flaws or mistakes of others. Insulting by saying, "You're just like...." Always having a better idea.

Physical Aggression
Any use of physical power to intimidate or control another.

Negative Interpretations, Labels, and Expectations
Assuming the worst, using "You always" or "You never" in arguments, neglecting to notice or praise the positives (this applies especially to God), rehashing old mistakes and issues.

Withholding Self
Refusing to listen or hear, not reciprocating love and affection, rejecting sexual advances of a spouse, failing to verbally express pleasure in the other, isolating yourself physically or disconnecting emotionally, indifference. (I think this category is a biggie with relation to God.)

Quite a list, huh? Some of those sure hit home with me. Invalidations often stem from pride in both its forms: needing to be the winner or wallowing in being the loser. But in Christ, neither of those matters. In Christ we are fully loved, fully desired, fully beautiful. We don't need to prove anything or achieve anything or claw our way to the top or punish anyone for not cherishing us. We are his beloved--there's no need to fight; we can rest.

A couple of things that might help us stay in that place of rest are:

Confession: admitting to God the truth about ourselves, agreeing with him, agreeing with his Word

Adoration: verbally expressing appreciation and love to God

We honor God when we humble ourselves in his presence, put our hope fully in his Son, and let his Spirit fill us with all good things--including gentleness.

I'm way behind this week...

I'm only up to Day 3, so I have some catching up to do. Two sentences from Day 2 have stuck in my mind. They are:

If your faith is based on what God is doing, you are in for the scariest ride of your life.

And

Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of his company, not for his results.

Plenty there to think about, wouldn't you agree?

Goodness me

Goodness is a little harder for me to get a handle on than kindness was. I've had to stop and think what is even meant by the word good. The phrase that keeps coming to me is: God is good. He defines and illustrates goodness. He IS goodness. So, then, everything that comes from him or has its source in him is what we would call "goodness." That would include things like truth, justice, love, fidelity, honor--all in their purest, most untainted forms. The good stuff is the God stuff.

When the Spirit works goodness in us, it shows itself as zeal for the good things of God. And because the world doesn't always love the good things of God (like truth, justice, or fidelity) and in fact is often an active enemy of the goodness of God, zeal for God's goodness sets us in opposition to some of the things this world (and we as creatures of this world) holds dear. For that reason, sticking up for goodness or doing goodness can mean confronting the "badness" in ourselves and this world. As Beth said, that is not often comfortable or pleasant, and it can get downright ugly unless accompanied by the tender kindness of a soft heart.

That's why my prayer now is that along with zeal for the good things of God, the Spirit will give me kindness. And along with a tender heart, he will give me the backbone to make no compromises with evil.

Kindness, nurture, a tender heart

You can't be a Christian for very long or be around Christianity without hearing that God is love. It's the heart of everything in Christianity. It's why God has anything to do with us. But love is a big word, and even that most wonderful description of God's devotion to us can get to feeling almost impersonal and far-off and matter-of-fact. That's why I appreciate this week's focus on kindness, which takes the word love and puts it into pictures.

We see God the nurturing parent who knows our needs better than we do and generously provides. He takes us by the arm, he heals us, he fills our mouths with good things, he leads us to the well of salvation, he uses his mighty arm to save, he delights in us, he quiets us with his love, he rejoices over us with singing. He will never forget us. His heart is tender toward us, even more tender than a mother gazing with love on her baby.

As Jesus gathers the little children to him and blesses them, we see a heart soft with love. Of all the artwork depicting Christ, the scenes of him blessing the children are my favorite. And when I look more closely at that picture, I see myself there, too, with his hand on MY head.

It's worth thinking about: how and when have you seen and experienced the tender heart of God?

Barriers to Being Patient

Sunday's video on patience introduced another Greek word: anecho, which the Bible translates as bearing with. It encompasses both "holding up" and "holding back." That got me thinking. "Holding back" is SO hard to do! The temptation is strong to "let it all out" when we're frustrated with someone or we think they're wrong.

Being a mom is not good training in holding back. The second our kids start getting out of hand, we're on 'em like hounds on a meat bone. Sometimes that's a good thing; I don't want to wait till every last person in the 8 o'clock service is wide awake thanks to my kid's noise before I shush her or wait till a playmate's nose is bloody before I curtail my kid's hitting, but sometimes my action is more out of my personal frustration (or being worried what people will think of me) than a desire to lovingly train my child.

Moms are conditioned to take action, not to wait. And I daresay we're frustrated a lot. :-) Put those two together, and there might not be a whole lot of anecho-ing going on in our lives.

My question is why. Why is it so hard to hold back?

I think maybe (personal opinion here) a "take action" and "it's my responsibility" mindset encourages and masks control issues. I think we have a hard time with restraint, with forbearance, with patience, because we have a hard time letting go of control, a hard time letting God's Spirit lead us and fill us--a hard time letting God be God.

Chew that around for awhile. What do you think? Does it make sense?

A Clean Slate

My favorite verse from Day 5's homework is Psalm 85:2-3:

You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sin.
You set aside ALL your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.

Maybe because I grew up around a lot of anger, I so appreciate knowing that God, who has good reason to treat me with anger because of the damage I've done to his precious creation--including myself--has set aside ALL of his justifiable wrath.

Taking it a step further is Ephesians 3:12: In him (Christ Jesus) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I learned early and well to be afraid of approaching certain people and certain circumstances because I had so often been met with anger, either in someone else or in myself. I learned that it was safer to stay back. But this verse says that hanging back from God is not necessary--there is no longer any anger in him toward me. Because of Jesus, I have the freedom to come to God boldly, knowing that I am welcome and loved and wanted. And he won't be mad at me! What a blessed relief!

Help, I've fallen behind and I can't catch up...

Actually, I'm doing okay now since I finally had a free morning in which to work on my study, but it's been a packed week. And also I'm finding myself in a strange place of having not much to say--like I need to sit quietly and listen, to turn over in my mind the ideas I'm reading about, maybe to watch and see what's really going on in my life and heart. It seems that God wants me to contemplate more deeply how this patience thing fits or doesn't fit into my world right now.

What about you? What speed bump have you encountered lately in your thoughts? What has God continued to bring back to the front of your mind, as if he wants you to take some time there?

He himself is our peace

Some of you know that I'm a theology buff. I'm no great theologian myself, but I love reading and thinking about what the great theologians have written. A huge theme in Lutheran theology is the distinction between Law and Gospel--the difference between rules and grace. The homework for Day 2 reminded me of this dichotomy because it talks about the source of peace. We learned that peace on earth comes from peace with God. Because we are reconciled with God, the "unpeace" that pervades and taints our world can begin to be erased and will someday be totally gone. That's the gospel--the Good News--that Jesus Christ is in himself reconciling us to God. Our peace comes at the price of Christ's blood.

So that's the Gospel side of it: Jesus Christ is our peace with God. But what about the Law side of it? What does that have to do with peace?

Frankly, I think there are two ways to live life: focused on Gospel (the mercy of God poured out on us by faith in Jesus to bring us peace) or focused on Law. Another way of saying it is: focused on Grace or focused on Performance. 'Cause that's what Law is--performance orientation, always looking at ourselves and others to see how we're doing, whether we measure up to some standard. Performance orientation breeds comparison and guilt and pressure and expectations and disappointment. It makes us uptight and leery of sharing ourselves. I'm not saying we should never look at performance. Sure, we should evaluate ourselves for the purpose of following Christ more closely and for repentance and for learning to love others better, but the question is where we LIVE. Do we LIVE in grace or do we LIVE in law? Which characterizes our thoughts and behavior towards ourselves, others, and God? If our focus is Law--performance, measuring, comparing--peace will be elusive. Peace DOES NOT COME from the Law. Peace comes from Gospel--from the rich gift of God's mercy to forgive us and no longer judge us based on our performance. God's love and acceptance of us are not based on what we do or how we do or whether we do. By works of the Law will no one be saved...it is by grace we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the Gift Of God. We have been freed from slavery to impossible performance standards. We can stop obsessing over grading everybody all the time. We're FREE. We're at peace; God has called us Beloved. We walk in the light of love, not the gloom of failed efforts to earn a good grade from God.

All of the good stuff--love, joy, PEACE--comes by grace. So if peace is hard to find, kick that old condemning law back where it belongs and bask in the warmth's of God's unconditional acceptance and love for us in Christ Jesus.

Peace and Unpeace

Job 3:25-26 provides what Beth considers a good description of the absence of peace. It says,

"What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness
I have no rest, but only turmoil."

A friend of mine calls this state of turmoil "unpeace." It's that feeling of something being not quite right, something out of whack, something that won't let the hackles of your soul lie down and rest. Usually it's a little nagging worm squirming around in your subconscious so that you might not have any idea what the cause is, much less what to do about it. Instead of immediately trying to figure out the source of the unpeace or trying to medicate it away (chocolate, anyone? shopping?), my friend believes that unpeace is a gong to get our attention and call us to go running back to the Father's arms. There, as nowhere else, we can find the true roots of our unpeace and have them dealt with perfectly. In his lap, we find courage for self-examination and self-disclosure, security for repentance, comfort for our wounds, assurance for our fears, forgiveness of our wrongs--restoration with our King.

So, as the Muslims have their call to prayer several times a day during Ramadan, we have a call to run to God in prayer, too, every time we recognize that nagging drag of unpeace.

What do you think of that idea?

A message that bears repeating

After being reminded in Bible study that there is a real kingdom and a real king and that in Christ we are royal heirs, this is what Becky saw when she went to pick up her son from Sunday School:



Isn't that so cool? The crown says, "Jesus is my King." Can you picture it? All those little cherubs in Sunday School, hearing that they are beloved princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God at the very same time we women (not so little and maybe not quite so cherubic) hear the same wonderful, amazing good news in our class. I guess God wants to make sure we get the picture! ;-)

May we, like little children, rejoice shamelessly in our royal heritage!

Thanks for sharing this, Becky. I think I'm feelin' a little of that throbbing and swelling Beth talked about; God is so good and faithful, isn't he?

Abiding Joy

This Bible verse from Day 4's homework is worth repeating: You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with JOY in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Ps. 16:11)

Beth says, "Once again we discover that the fruit of the Spirit originates in the heart and personality of God...Chara (joy), just like agape (love), belongs to Christ. He is the Possessor and Giver of true joy. Fleeting moments of 'happiness' may be experienced through other channels, but inner joy flows only from Christ." Abiding in Christ, staying firmly connected to him, allows joy to flow into our lives.

I also like the list of joy-thieves. Here it is.

We may lose our joy...

1. When our outpour exceeds our intake. How are you doing with keeping that intake up? Do you need to refuel more or stop burning up the fuel supply so quickly? Maybe both--more frequent fueling through prayer, fellowship, and God's word AND letting up on the accelerator a bit?

2. When our talk exceeds our walk.Do you know all the right spiritual words but there's a dead place in your heart? Is your spiritual life more "do as I say, not as I do" or more "the love of Christ compels me?" Congruity is important; if your words don't match your heart or your actions, the resulting spiritual dissonance will make joy elusive.

3. When we become "wonders junkies." God does do wonderful, amazing things; we should watch for them and rejoice in them. (Especially in the amazing work of raising Christ from the dead.) But are you addicted to them? Do you feel that unless God is doing astonishing things in your life, transforming you dramatically, giving miraculous guidance, that he's not working at all? Or that you're not doing what you should be? God spoke to Elijah in a "still, small voice." God works in "the day of small things." God wants to meet you in the magnificent AND the mundane.

4.When we are exhausted.Fatigue makes everything harder. My sister says, "When you're tired, the whole world looks ugly." Exhaustion snuffs out joy and blinds us to God's tender care and provision for our needs. Beth says, "God created the body. He knows we cannot function well when it is neglected. Are you neglecting your rest? What about eating? In our culture, we rarely neglect to eat; however, we neglect to eat for the body's benefit." What about exercise? It's a great energy-booster, and it helps us sleep better, too. A healthy physical body often contributes to a healthy sense of joy, too.

5. When we feel all alone. This one hits home for me. Isolation is a killer. It causes us to focus too much on ourselves, to sink into pity parties or superiority slumps, and to lose perspective and courage. Are you too much alone? Even with people all around? What keeps you feeling alone? What changes is God leading you to make in this area?

Losing our joy happens. The good news is that finding it again is no big deal; it's right where we left it--in God's presence. HE is our joy!!!

Rejection

The video Sunday packed a punch, didn't it? When she asked the question, "Who has rejected you?" the past landed with a heavy thud in the middle of my chest. Who among us does not have a long history of small and large rejections that tear at the fabric of our peace and joy? Rejection--the fear of it, the experience of it, and the inevitability of it--is one of the most destructive forces we face. As Beth said, it can wound deeper and last longer than hosts of other injuries. It temps us to invite into our lives things we otherwise might never welcome. It can empower us to act in ways we never dreamed of behaving. Thank God that the One who has taken up residence in our hearts is greater than the one who sits outside trying to claw his way in!

Coincidentally (as if such things exist in God's domain!), earlier this week I received an email from someone close to me who has gone through severe rejection over the past several years. She's hurting. She often feels that God must have made a mistake in creating her since important people in her life tell her in various ways that the end result isn't worth much. She's bombarded with messages of failure and inadequacy. But in spite of these dark times, she has hope...because she has Jesus.

Here's what she wrote (I'm quoting it here because it relates both to Sunday's video and to Monday's homework. I think you'll recognize some of the verses referenced.): "I think the answer to my situation is Jesus, to keep my eyes firmly fixed on Him and to consider all my other dreams as rubbish compared to being with Him in His death and resurrection. Others may say I'm too radical, pushy, whatever - but I don't have to believe that. I can believe that this place isn't able to receive me. And I may never be in a place where anyone can receive me. It doesn't mean that I'm a mistake. It means that God sent His Son to those who were His own, but they wouldn't receive Him. The darkness couldn't comprehend Him. But to all who WOULD receive Him, He was the very power of God."

As she said, we live in a world that is not good at receiving; we reject one another in ways too numerous and painful to list. That many of those wounds are unintentional does not erase the damage. Our propensity for rejecting that which we should receive shows itself in our treatment of Christ. (And never think that because we personally weren't there that we aren't guilty of taking part in his rejection. If he had come to us in 2008, do you really think his treatment would have been any better? The WORLD--past, present, and future, all inclusive--is guilty of rejecting him.) The creator and ruler of the universe came to his own kingdom, his own people, and received not the homage and accolades he deserved but an outpouring of the bile of indifference, ignorance, and rebellion. Instead of a king's welcome, he was despised and rejected so violently that his final resting place on this earth was a grave with the wicked (Isaiah 53); he was tossed aside like any useless piece of junk. This is how humanity responds to the person of God among us.

But thanks be to God that in his grace that isn't the end of the story! Christ has opened up for us a way out. Into the darkness of rejection, he came as light. Although we in ourselves are horribly hindered in our ability to receive Christ or each other, Christ's death and resurrection have removed the power of our weaknesses. His perfect acceptance of us overcomes our rejection of him; his love swallows up our lack of love. There are now no hindrances left; through the gift of faith in Christ, we can come to God, and his Spirit can come to us and live in us. Here's the whole story from John 1: " He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but BORN OF GOD." What a precious gift to have God as our Father, to be adopted into his family. He never rejects us; his arms are always opened wide to welcome us. The chains of rejection have been broken.

The Greatest of These Is Love

Wow, what a whirlwind this week was! I didn't get to spend as much time here as I wanted, but I did manage to get my homework done. This week's homework was all about love. We hit eros (sexual love) and phileo (brotherly love), but the main focus was on agape love, the sacrificial, unconditional love that has its source in God's love for us. I so appreciated time spent thinking about what agape love is and isn't. I'm sure lots of us are familiar with the "love chapter" (1 Corinthians 13) and, like me, you might even have had it read at your weddings, but somehow I needed a refresher course.

In my journal I wrote two lists: the negatives (what love isn't or what it doesn't do) and the positives (what love is or does).

The first list includes these: love does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil. I don't know about you, but there's a boatload of conviction that comes along with that list!

But then comes the second list: Love is patient, love is kind. Love rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love NEVER FAILS. (Another way to say that is that love is never in vain.)

And I'm reminded of something Beth said in Day 5, "Agape is more a response than a feeling." What is it that we respond to? Where does agape love come from in our lives? It's from the patience, kindness, and truth of Jesus Christ. He always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. His love is not in vain; it conquered death and made us alive in Christ. It's alive and active in us. His love is demonstrated both by what he doesn't do (does not keep a record of wrongs or delight in evil or deal with us harshly or rudely) and by what he does. That's the love that flows in a strong stream from God, and when the Spirit opens the spigot, it floods our hearts and can overflow in demonstrations of love both for God and for those around us.

And that's another word I'm thinking about: demonstrations. How can I SHOW love? How can I demonstrate to others what this love of Christ is and how it works? How can I let people know that I "agape" them? I'm praying for some specific answers; that the Spirit will lead me into action.

What about you? What thoughts did this week's homework inspire in you? What points or passages stuck out to you the most?

What's in your fruit basket?

Can you believe it? Our first day together, and the topic that comes up for discussion in our homework is sex. Now that's getting personal! I think I'll take Beth's lead and not open that subject up for discussion just yet (maybe we'll come back to it when we get to know each other better), but what an important aspect of love this is. Sexual love is personal--about as personal as you can get; it echoes the emotional, physical, and spiritual nakedness Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden, with no barriers to intimacy, no shame to separate husband and wife. It also echoes the loving connection God forges between himself and his beloved bride, the church. So sex is a beautiful and wonderful thing, a gift from God, and as such is certainly an area of life that can be touched by the Holy Spirit or withheld from his influence. The questions related to eros love that I'm pondering today are, "What would this area of my life look like if I surrendered it totally to the Spirit? How would my behavior be different? How would my feelings be different? How am I reserving control for myself? How am I hiding? How am I practicing trust and faith in God in this area? How can I step out in even greater trust?" Big questions, I know--worthy of some prayer time or journal time. And, yes, discussion time, too, but for now I'll leave that between you, your husbands, and God.

Instead, let's chat a bit. We're getting ready to learn more about all of the specific parts of the fruit of the spirit. This week it's love; next week is joy. Isn't it so fantastic that God gives us such good gifts? I love what Beth said in the workbook about Jesus being the best illustration we have of a "fruitful" human being. And although we often get negative and focus only on what we don't have, one thing we do have is the Spirit of Christ within us. His spirit lives in us, and his spirit ACTS--it creates, influences, guides, corrects, teaches, and grows us up into ripe, luscious fruits. So let's take a look at the work of the Spirit in our lives and get to know each other a bit better, too. I'd like you to reply to this post with a quick comment introducing yourself (you don't have to give your full name if you'd prefer not to; screen names, nicknames or first names are fine) and then sharing which aspect of the fruit of the Spirit you believe is most evident when you look at your own life and which aspect you'd like to see more of. In case you've forgotten, the nine aspects are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Don't tell anyone, but I had to check to make sure I got them in the right order--I'd better keep practicing that memory verse!)

I'll start. Check the comments for my intro, most evident aspect of the Spirit's work in my life (in my opinion), and the aspect I'd like to see more of.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Zion Women blog, created especially for those women currently studying "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore at Zion Lutheran Church. Because our time together on Sunday mornings doesn't allow for as much discussion as we'd like, this blog was created as a place where we can share insights, ask questions, and make comments about what we're hearing, reading, and learning. Listening to the videotapes is wonderful; doing the homework is a fantastic way to go deeper in God's precious Word. But let's face it; some of us learn best and remember more when we're TALKING. We like to bounce ideas off other human beings, tell our stories, and ask questions. We like to know what other women are thinking and doing in response to the leading of the Spirit. We like our learning and living to be active and personal. So let's dive in!

Check this blog each week for insights and/or questions based on the "Living Beyond" study. These posts are designed to spur our thinking and talking. They are an invitation to engage. Please add to the discussion with WHATEVER thoughts struck you during your time in the study and in the Word. At the end of each post is a little button that says "comments." When you click on that, a page will open up where you can write your questions and comments. Please don't be shy! And check back to see what others have contributed, too. If you get in the habit of reading the posts on the opening page, clicking through to read the comments, and adding your contributions to the discussion, we can create here a lively place of encouragement and growth. Please email Rachel Boyer at rboyer6@gmail.com if you have any questions.